***
What is this place?
The familiar once-alive and rusted school formed beside my hands, with me kneeling on the dirty floor.
"Huh?"
In front of me, slouching on a nearby desk, was a teenage boy with a thin scar on his limp neck. There was a pair of scissors nearby him, with blood dripping from his arms and his body.
"No!" I ran forward, gripping his body with ultimate fear. It was an intense emotion, one where it felt as if the entire world was ending alongside his death.
"Please… wake up…" I begged, holding his body closer to mind while ignoring the overflowing tears running down my face.
"... Another failure. Why is every version so utterly useless?"
Who said that?
I whipped my head forward, leaving my glance from the corpse to the new individual who was talking. The towering faceless face peered back at mine.
"Who. Who are you?" I stumbled back, still clenching the scarred boy's bloodied arm close to mine.
"In the simplest terms…
- – —"
I could feel my eyes widen in shock, as the faceless figure with a veil in front slowly peeled the skin from their face–
"Doesn't matter, at least not anymore. It's fine, I'll start from scratch. I don't plan on giving up anytime soon."
***
"Lily?"
"Huh?" I slowly blinked open my eyes.
I looked around at my surroundings, and it seemed like Mr. Simon tucked me into my bed. "Shoot, how did I pass out?" I just had a dream… but I have no remembrance of what it was.
"You passed out from using your Special Power. Do you remember everything?"
The Koi, phase three of the tutorial, and the blue heron…
"Ugh… yeah, I do. How long was I out?"
"Not too long. It's only been a few hours. I tried saving the majority of your kitchen area, it might look a little different since it's a makeshift…"
"No problems. I'm glad that you're alright, Mister." We both smiled at each other. "Hah… that was really terrifying…"
"Well, you finally got a SP! Haha, very cool, isn't it? There's no need to be scared, we just need to adapt to this new universe-"
"No, I'm not scared of this system thing, or mainly the calamity's powers itself. I was scared of dying and letting you die as well."
"... Oh. Good thing we are alive, right?"
"Yeah!" I pulled up the system screen, glancing at my SP description again. "I'll have to get used to this."
Mr. Simon nodded. "True, we wouldn't want you to keep passing out after overusing your strength."
"Urhh… I can't believe I passed out only by using my SP twice. How would one go about having enough strength for their SP?"
"Hmm, " Mr. Simon put his finger to his forehead. "It depends on the awakener. For me, I can use my SP more than you can yours, due to how much strength it takes to use a Special Power."
"Makes sense. Seems like I'll have to use this power more to get more strength, huh?"
Mr. Simon smiled gently at me. "Exactly."
We both sat there in awkward silence, and I slowly moved the blanket off of me.
Mr. Simon broke the tension in the room, "Well, you never quite finished eating your food. If you can move your body, let's go eat. Wouldn't want you to starve."
"Yes, please!"
***
"Phase four is going to begin." Already? Let me eat my food! "However, this phase is stationary." Yes! Please don't be a violent event! "Phase four, a God event, is simply going to be an introduction to the Gods from the different planes and the Galap. God events are events about the planar gods or can be an event requested by a god."
[ Phase Four of Tutorial: God's Request
Classification: Godly Event
Description: Introduction to the God Requests and the Galap System! Pull up your system screen to see which god desires to align themselves with you. (Some individuals will not receive a God Request, as it is rare to achieve it)
Time Duration: 1 day
Consequence of incompletion: N/A
Reward: N/A ]
"Awakeners and individuals can receive requests from gods and see their description as well. Gods can send in requests at any time. Alignment means a bond between an individual and a god. If you choose to align yourself and accept a request with a God, you become a resonator and potentially receive a Godly Power from that god."
System Neo monotonously pulled up another system screen.
"So, what you're basically saying, we can receive other powers, too? To become a resonator?"
"Correct, Awakener Lily. You can also create multiple alignments with different gods, which requires more strength from the individual, as taking on more power than your body can't handle leads to a demise."
"So, aligning with these gods gets us Godly Powers? Is this an alliance or a contract?"
"It depends on one's relationship. For example, the 7 sins and their bond with the resonator Mikin is a known historical precedent for alignments, as they created a close friendship-like bond. However, this doesn't apply to all gods. It depends on the resonator and the god they choose to align with."
Makes sense… so if I get a God Request, it should be with a kind one.
I pulled up the screen, as the bluish, glaring light stared right back at me. "How do Gods know which person to request an alignment with? Are all the gods watching us?"
"Gods can overlook what individual they want to request for an alignment through the Galap. The Galap serves as an intercosmic systemic connection, which in this planet's case is essentially a glorified internet service. However, the Galap does require the usage of the coins; therefore, the more powerful a God or individual is, the more information they can access by using their coins. The Galap service is exactly why individuals should accept their events to receive more coinage."
This is so much information… I really cannot get my old life back, huh?
Speaking of old life… Pira and Cara…
I wonder how Cara is doing right now…
It hurts to even think about both of them…
"In this God Requests screen, you can see different resonators/awakeners from different planets and their differing Universes. You will also be able to see whether or not you receive a request, along with God's description. Please keep in mind that different gods have different personalities, and may not always reflect in the description box below."
{RANKING OF GOD REQUESTS FOR AWAKENERS (not a ranking of strength)
1st: Agrais from planet ENTA; Universe: The Masquerade - Requests (total: 5050) - Aligned with Michael the Archangel, Libra, Anubis, Ra, and the Seraphim
2nd: Adrian Mordred from planet CYBER; Universe: The Hyper - Requests (total: 3302) - Aligned with Chaos, Hundun, and Ginnungagap
3rd: Lord Amenophis from planet Yoto 6400; Universe: The Enigma - Requests (total: 2242) ….
4th: Nala Wang from planet Murim BM; Universe: The Engima - ….
…
5th: Xuan ZiChuang from planet Earth 2038; Universe: The Observable - Requests (total: 920) - Alignment undecided/ongoing
> PENDING REQUESTS FOR XUAN ZICHUANG: Zeus, Poseidon, Hades…
Whoa, this is pure insanity! I mean, it's rare to get an SP, and it's even rarer to get a good request! I looked over the top 5 rankings again, noticing the 1st one. Whoever this Agrais guy is, he must be insanely powerful or talented. Getting 5,050 god requests is out-of-this-world.
I also noticed the 5th placer. From Earth 2038? Our planet? Seems like our planet is in The Observable universe. Who is Xuan ZiChuang? Once again, this name sounds familiar… but I can't quite place my tongue on who this guy is.
Lily Chang Requests from planet Earth 2038; Universe: The Observable
> PENDING REQUESTS:
I took a look at what kind of god wanted to become aligned with me. Alignment means getting a Godly Power… I hope whoever wants to form an alignment with me is strong and not badshit crazy…
>PENDING REQUESTS: Kali, Doumu: Mother of the Great Chariot…
These two gods… Who are they? I have never heard of their mythology before… They are at the top of my list; it seems like they rank higher than the other requests.
[CLICK TO VIEW DESCRIPTION OF REQUESTING GODS:
Kali, nickname: "She Who is Black": The fierce and powerful Hindu goddess of time, death, and destruction. She symbolizes the cutting of one's ego and attachments.
Conditions to receive Kali's Godly Power: Find a world devoid of color to understand the importance of time
ACCEPT/REJECT/PENDING
—--
Doumu, nickname: "Mother of the Great Chariot (the Big Dipper)": The powerful primordial Chinese goddess of the cosmic energy of the heavens and governs destiny, stars, and life.
Condition to receive Doumu's Godly Power: Find the most important aspect of the night sky in your fate
ACCEPT/REJECT/PENDING
—-
….
]
"Huh, these conditions seem a little vague to receive a GP." I narrowed my eyes on the floating screen in front of me.
"Well, it'll be harder to obtain a stronger GP from a more powerful god. Moreover, it seems like these gods can rescind their god request if an individual isn't up to par…" Mr. Simon scrolled through his request screen. "It also seems like you can currently accept, reject, or waitlist a request. We would have to be wise in our choices on which god to align with, considering not every god is going to have good intentions."
"Exactly what I was thinking," I replied, "So, should we accept a request now or…"
"It would be best to wait until you are sure of which god you want to align with. Since the more power you have, the more alignments you can create, it would be hard to jump from one alignment to two alignments."
"Shoot, okay, okay. That makes sense, rationally." I grabbed my chopsticks and stirred the noodles in my bowl, which Mr. Simon had carefully placed in front of me. "Everything is so crazy right now… We have no choice but to adjust to this new world…"
"..." Mr. Simon didn't respond.
"Mr. Simon? You seem troubled. Are you okay? If it's recent events that are ongoing, I understand. But I believe everything will work out in the end, since we both can grow stronger together, no?" I have no choice but to be stronger… if I get stronger, maybe one day I can see Cara again. As soon as possible.
"No, no. I'm not concerned about us two. We'll be fine, I'm sure of it. Since our SPs are strong, more powerful gods will take notice of us…"
"Huh? Then what's bothering you?"
"... ZiChuang is."
"Ah?" Shoot! I pulled up the system window again.
[ RANKING OF GOD REQUESTS:
5th: Xuan ZiChuang from planet Earth 2038; Universe: The Observable - Requests (total: 920) - Alignment undecided/ongoing
> PENDING REQUESTS FOR XUAN ZICHUANG: Zeus, Poseidon, Hades…} ]
Wait a minute, how could I forget! That's the student Mr. Simon was talking about.
"Well… from the looks of it, he'll be okay. He's got a lot of god requests, and you mentioned he had a SP, no?"
"Yes, but that's not the reason I'm concerned. You see, mentally, he's not doing so well."
"Oh." Can't blame the kid then. In this unfair world, it's easy to stay in a hole that society dug out for you.
Mr. Simon only fidgeted with his water cup. "I'm worried about him. I want to find him again. I think it would be the best course of action."
I slurped the noodles and wiped my mouth. "Then we can go find him. Even if an event occurs, I believe we can eventually meet up with your student."
Mr. Simon looked initially shocked at my words, and then melted into a smile. "I suppose that is true. I guess this is a side-event, huh? To find ZiChuang."
"Yep!"
We both sat there, eating our food, and went on to discuss the changing cosmos around us. It felt lightheartened once again; almost as if everything was fine at the moment…
I didn't realize it at the time, but finding ZiChuang was the one moment that accelerated my destiny.
***
The moongazer has awakened.