♤Draft ♤
After Harmonia stabilized herself, she did her best to fall asleep and let time pass. Somehow, she gradually drifted into slumber along the way.
Unaware that the Bleach had finally reached one hundred percent.
☆ Ding —
[ NOTIFICATIONS ]
□ Bleach (100%)
> System will perform synthesis. In 3...2...1...
The system automatically carried out its function, just as Harmonia carried out hers—resting in peaceful sleep.
In Harmonia's dream, she found herself in a place that resembled some kind of dark void. The surroundings were shrouded in deep darkness, yet the emptiness was faintly illuminated by a crystalline object hovering at the very center of the abyss.
"Hmm… where am I?… What is this place? Hermay, are you there?"
But no Hermay answered her.
As she slowly looked around, her crimson eyes eventually landed upon the very source of the radiance—a vivid, bright blue glow that seemed to scatter across the entire space. Yet the true origin of that light was unmistakably behind her.
She turned around and saw it.
A massive blue crystal, suspended in midair, hovering in absolute stillness.
She began to walk toward it.
Her crimson gaze locked onto the sight before her. The light surrounding it resembled countless tiny droplets of rain, drifting and dancing weightlessly around the crystal in a mesmerizing, almost hypnotic motion.
As she drew closer, her vision sharpened, and she could finally make out what was contained within the very crystal.
A body.
Encased inside.
Yet it was incomplete.
Only a head and a torso of a human figure.
There were no arms. No limbs. Only a head and torso suspended within the crystalline prison.
She did not know what stood before her, nor what kind of being it was, yet she continued walking forward—clearly driven by her curiosity toward whatever she was encountering at that very moment.
"Uh… hello. Do you perhaps know what kind of place this is?"
Her angelic voice echoed softly as she addressed the blue crystal—or more precisely, whatever resided within it.
Her eyes remained fixed upon its head.
Then she saw it.
The eyelids slowly parted open, revealing eyes unlike any she had ever seen. Instead of a single circular pupil at the center, there was no ordinary pupil at all. At the very core of its gaze rested a cross-like pattern, while at each corner of its eyes were four curved edges, forming incomplete circular shapes.
Those eyes scrutinized her.
They stared with intense, penetrating focus, as though attempting to analyze and decipher everything about what stood before them.
Harmonia, unaware of what was unfolding, simply stared back.
Their gazes locked.
Time seemed to come to a standstill.
An absolute silence enveloped the two as they continued to look directly at each other.
Then Harmonia saw that the face before her suddenly smiled. It was only a faint curve at the edge of its indescribable lips.
Harmonia, seeing this, responded in kind. A soft smile formed on her face as she lifted her hand and gave a gentle wave. She did not fully understand what was happening, yet she instinctively returned the gesture.
"Hello… my name is Harmonia. Do you perhaps know what kind of place this is?"
Harmonia waited for an answer as she continued to stare at the crystal before her. She could not see any visible mouth, yet she felt it smiling at her—for reasons she could not comprehend.
Then, she heard it.
A faint, vibrating resonance echoed within her—low and hoarse, carrying a strange, reverberating tone. It seemed to ripple through the air, yet she could not tell if she was hearing it through her ears or if it was directly entering her mind.
It was indescribable.
Not sound. Not words.
But something else entirely.
A feeling. A presence.
"Sōru no Ōjo."
(King's Daughter of Soul.)
She had been staring at the crystal the entire time, and as far as she could tell, they were the only ones in that dark place. It was easy to conclude that those sensations—those feelings, or rather that will—were emanating from the figure before her.
"S-soru…? What is that?" Harmonia asked the figure.
But all she received in response was a quiet chuckle.
Then everything began to fade.
The light, the figure, the crystal—everything dissolved into darkness, until the entire space was completely consumed by black.
Suddenly, she opened her eyes.
And when she did, she saw the same ceiling above her—the familiar ceiling of her own room.
She blinked twice.
It was indeed her room's ceiling.
"W-what happened?"
[ Oh dear~ good thing you're finally awake ]
"H-hermay…? What happened? Wasn't I in that dark place?"
[ Dear~ you've been sleeping the whole time ]
"Sleeping…? S-so, was it a dream? But… it felt real… very real…"
Harmonia said, tilting her head in confusion as she struggled to distinguish between reality and the dreamlike experience.
"Hermay… do you know what happened?"
[ Dear~ it is likely due to the pure spiritual essence that has been synthesized into your being. Your constitution has been fully rewritten. ]
"The essence? You mean the Bleach one? But wasn't that just a source?"
[ Technically, yes. However, your constitution has been adjusted to reach a perfect balance, and the pure spiritual essence was utilized within your body to make it possible. And not only that—the two sources can now be combined at will. ]
"There's so much to this… I don't really understand it at all… But I felt really good… and really warm… like that crystal person…"
[ Dear~ it's not just a feeling of warmth that has changed within your body. ]
"I understand," Harmonia replied, though she still did not fully grasp what Hermay was explaining. Her thoughts remained fixed on the crystal figure—the lingering sensation still present upon her skin, the will she had felt, and everything she had experienced within that place.
[ Dear~ would you like to see the changes in your system? ]
"Oh…" Harmonia raised her silver eyebrows slightly and said, "Can I see it?"
[ Of course. ] Hermay responded.
Before Harmonia's vision, the system panel appeared once more. However, this time, something had changed. The panel was divided into two distinct columns. The left side was pure white, while the right side was deep black.
"Wow… it changed," she exclaimed, her crimson eyes carefully studying the newly altered interface.
Then she noticed that from the very tip of the panel, the name HERMAY was written in capital letters. Its color had also been altered—the letters "HER" were in black, while "MAY" was in white.
Below the initial "HER," the One Piece title appeared, and likewise, beneath the initial "MAY," the Bleach title was displayed.
Not only that, she also saw a small, transparent blue panel positioned just above the black and white interface. It was a compact panel, roughly one-fourth the size of the main white-and-black panel.
Within it, she saw her information.
□
Harmonia Hermaphroditus
• Title: The Anomaly | King's Daughter of Soul (Sōru no Ōjo) |
• Race: ******* | Transcendent Primordial Being |
• Constitution: ***** | "Kusabi" (Linchpin) 4% |
• Charm: ♡♡♡
□
Harmonia carefully observed the new information she had received.
She had gained a new title, a new race, and even a new constitution. She reread the details, yet she did not understand the meaning behind most of the terms. The phrase "Sōru no Ōjo" was the same one the crystal figure had spoken in that strange, incomprehensible manner. However, the rest remained completely unknown to her.
"Hermay… what is this… t-transcendent p-primordial b-being?"
[ Dear~ it is a trait you obtain after assimilating the pure spiritual essence. With this trait within your race, you will be able to utilize the rewards you receive from the Bleach column layer. ]
"Oh… so that's how it works. But why does it have such a long name? It's difficult to say…"
She nodded her head slightly before asking, "What about this Kusabi thing?"
[ Dear~ it simply helps and enables you to link more easily within this universe's complex system. ]
Harmonia gave a small nod and muttered, "I… I don't really get it…"
Yet, hearing that it would be useful somewhere along the way, she nodded again, accepting it for now.
Then her eyes shifted toward the panel, focusing on the white column.
〔 HER —
[ One Piece ]
□ ABILITIES
• Fuku Fuku no Mi "Garb-Garb Fruit" / "Clothes-Clothes Fruit"
Type: Paramecia (!)
• Pero Pero no Mi / Candy-Candy Fruit (!)
Type: Paramecia
□ ITEMS
• Shusui
Basic Info:
Katana (Ō Wazamono – Great Grade sword; Black Blade)
She looked over the new display, noticing the subtle changes within the One Piece column, and she nodded her head slightly. Her crimson eyes then shifted to the right side of the panel, where the black column was now displayed—the newly added feature of the system.
—MAY 〕
[ BLEACH ]
□ ABILITIES
□ ITEM
"So… it looks like this…"
She murmured softly. It was similar in structure, yet the lettering on this side was white, contrasting against the black column.
Her gaze then drifted downward, where she noticed another panel positioned at the middle bottom. It resembled the one at the very top—square-shaped—but this one was wider, nearly half the size of the entire interface. Its color was the same light blue, semi-transparent, almost ethereal in appearance.
The rest of the information was displayed there.
Her crimson eyes carefully scanned and read through it.
□
¤ INVENTORY
◇ Money: 586 ¥
¤ QUEST LOG
♤ The Hollow Hunt: 「 0/10 」
¤ NOTIFICATIONS
♧ ( Bleach ) Free Gift Pack
□
"H-hollow Hunt…?"
"Hermay… what does this mean?"
[ Dear~ it would be easier for you to understand if we search for a Hollow outside. ]
"Outside…?"
"So I need to search for it…?"
"But what is a Hollow? Marshmallow? Pillow? And how will I catch one…?"
Harmonia tried to piece together the meaning, her thoughts drifting from one idea to another as her mind attempted to make sense of it all.
However, her attention quickly shifted to the notification she had just noticed.
A free gift.
"Free gift…?" Harmonia whispered softly.
AM N. NOT.(っ－＿－)っ