Unknown Place in the Void
In the long hall, there were tens, if not hundreds, of doors, all leading to unknown places across myriad dimensions and realities. The floor was white, and the entire place gave off a very weird feeling of surrealism and uncertainty, yet at the same time, it also conveyed the finality of choice.
The sole notable thing in the seemingly infinite corridor was one table, with one man sitting behind a rather ordinary-looking office desk, which gave this entire place an even weirder look than it was before.
He was a blonde man with a slicked hairstyle, looking around someone in his thirties, yet the feeling around him was vastly different, as if he was much, much older than he looked. His demeanor was saying so...
His attire included a beige sweater and a light blue colored shirt with a red tie. He wore a pair of brown, coffee-colored dress pants along with a pair of brown shoes. Like an average salaryman, he also had rectangle-framed glasses.
He also appears to be quite fond of coffee and cigars, judging by the fact that he was constantly drinking coffee and smoking cigars, aside from reading a newspaper.
"Soul Number X-185-157-99745164994 from Dimension Code Number: Primordial Earth X-185."
He tapped on the wooden table with his finger, and a translucent figure or appearance of a man appeared in front of him, like a ghost.
"For the Merit you have achieved for your World, Dimension Code Number: Primordial Earth X-185, you have been awarded with the possibility of Gacha Karmic Reincarnation if you wish for the choice. If not, then you could enter the eternal rest of the afterlife."
The man behind the table folded the newspaper he was reading and looked up at the person who had appeared before him.
This was the usual procedure with the reincarnations; if they have enough Merit, then the afterlife; if they have tremendous Merit, then reincarnation; and if their Merit is out of standards, then they obtain a chance for guided reincarnation.
"Sirius Grey, Merit Grade: Golden Law, Karma Points: 100,000,000."
Sirius Grey, as he was called during his life, looked shocked, though that would be a severe underestimation of his feelings.
"How?... shouldn't that be reserved for the Saints and others? How do you say it... Good people?"
He didn't really understand because he was very far from the definition of a good person.
Merchant of Death, they called him.
He was a weapons developer and weapons merchant who pushed the limits of Earth's weapons technology for entire decades and began developing various weapons he saw in Sci-Fi.
When he was younger, he became obsessed with weapons and decided to bring the concept of sci-fi weapons into reality; after several years of research, he achieved his goal, and the world was really fortunate for him.
Fortunately for him, the 21st Century was filled with several Civil Wars and also World War III, which allowed him to expand his weapon business as the Western Forces were buying everything that he produced.
This, in turn, further financed his research, allowing him to create even more destructive and advanced weapons that were revolutionizing how Earth functioned and society.
His company built everything, ranging from the ordinary Lasguns to large Plasma Artillery to personal shielding technology that forced people to return to close combat, as the personal shields were almost impenetrable to conventional firepower.
And that didn't mention the countless human experiments he sanctioned in pursuit of advancing the evolution of mankind. When it became widely known that the shielding technology was so advanced that people were resorting to close-combat fighting with cold weapons such as swords and spears, it opened another field of technology.
Genetic enhancement of the baseline humanity to superhuman levels. Indeed, he wasn't a genetics expert, but he was very smart and worked with many of the best geneticists on the planet.
Soon enough, they discovered ways to create supersoldiers and superhumans one way or another.
"Indeed, that should normally be the case, but at the same time, approximately fifteen years after your death, Earth was found by an advanced extraterrestrial species called Skriiin, and war broke out. While the aliens were technologically advanced and far more numerous, Earth, thanks to the technological breakthroughs of Blackstar Industries and the Earthly militaries, was far better prepared to defend against the Skriiin invasion. As a result, they managed to defeat the majority of the Skriiin, capture much of their technology, and reverse-engineer it. In the end, it was thanks to that, Earth survived and was not harvested like most of the species that were conquered and destroyed by the Skriiin."
The more now-named Sirius Grey listened, the more astonished they remained. It was weird to hear that everything that he built and made was, in the end, beneficial to mankind and Earth.
He would never have thought that this would be the outcome of all his research and his life's work, Blackstar Industries. Part of him didn't really know how to feel about this newfound information because it seemed that he would be immortalized on Earth as some kind of hero who indirectly saved their entire civilization.
"Now, that should probably answer the question. Now, for the next, reincarnation or eternal rest?"
The man had a small wooden plate with his name written in an ornamental font from metal that appeared to be gold.
Murasaki.
Rather a weird name if someone were to ask him, because he didn't think that the person who was most probably for reincarnating the individuals would have some sort of Japanese name, but he had to admit that it sounded a bit intimidating, coupled with his entire appearance.
Naturally, Sirius didn't dwell on that fact for long and chose reincarnation because he wanted to live even more and gain power.
Which was something that had been his obsession for a very long time already. That was the main reason why he sanctioned countless human experiments that were aimed at discovering the secrets of the human genome and enhancing the genetics of the baseline human.
Becoming superhuman and obtaining real power was his dream and goal, and of course...
Immortality.
Sirius was afraid of death, and he wanted to live forever, but unfortunately, Fate was cruel to him, and he died from a genetic disease that couldn't be cured even with the most advanced technology.
Now that he had the opportunity, he wanted to fulfill his goal, obtain as much power as possible, and preferably live forever.
Till the End Times.
"You can use the Merit to play the Gacha. Ordinary Spin, 1 million Karma Points, Premium Spin 10 Million Karma Points, and Super Spin 50 Million Karma Points. Through the Gacha, you can obtain practically everything, ranging from the ability to the world where you can be reincarnated."
Murasaki said as he put down his cigar and looked at him, while Sirius was deeply thinking.
"Is there a way of getting more Karma Points, right here and now?"
Sirius asked because, even though he had 100 Million Karma Points, he was pretty tempted to go for the Super Spins for the 50 Million Karma Points... if they were so pricy, the rewards in there should be pretty great.
"Technically yes... You can choose to go into the much more difficult starting world, and depending on the difficulty, you will be awarded an appropriate amount of Karma Points. Obviously, you would be choosing the world on blind... or else it wouldn't be the fun."
Murasaki said as several pitch-black metal cards appeared in front of Sirius, each with various values.
1 Million.
5 Million.
10 Million.
20 Million.
40 Million
50 Million.
60 Million.
100 Million.
And even more.
He looked at the cards, and because he couldn't really see which worlds were there, it would undoubtedly be much greater difficulty as he tapped on the 60 Million Card. He felt that it was a bit more than 60 Million Karma Points, and it would give him one Super Spin and some ordinary Spins or one Premium Spin.
At the same time, it wasn't really that high a number, which was another kind of added bonus.
"RWBY: Grimdark Verse of Bloody Evolution."
He read as soon as additional information appeared on the Card, as this was the world he would be reincarnated into.
[World: RWBY
Type: Grimdark, Bloody Evolution, Ultimate Apocalypse
Description: In the Grim Darkness of the 10th Millennium, there is only a war. The God of Light and God of Darkness both died, and their decayed forms created untold horrors and wonders as they fell to the Remnant and assimilated by the world.
The world is filled with the Magic and super-evolved Grimm, with humanity fighting for their survival every single day.]
Yoops...
This was really positive news.
Nevertheless, overall, it wasn't actually that bad.
"Your Ballance is at 160 Million Karma Points. Do you wish to spin? One note of warning. Every power has a price, and nothing is free. Even the things in the highest category could have some... let's say side effects, shall we?... And it should be prudent to mention that not all things drawn from Gacha would be giving you 'easy time'..."
Sirius visibly grimaces as he didn't like the implications of Murasaki's words even a bit.
Nevertheless, he nodded as he decided to go for the Super Spin straight away, as he noticed that his Karma Points were reduced to 110,000,000.
Soon enough, the golden gramdmist wheel of the Gacha appeared in front of him and started spinning at staggering speed before it stopped at one particular thing.
[Template: Ardyn Izunia / Ardyn Lucis Caelum
Origin: Final Fantasy XV
Type: Complete
Using the Template, User will Template of Ardyn Izunia, including all Abilities and Bloodline Powers, not limited to: Starscourge, Armiger, Warping, and other talents.
NOTE 1: This is a complete version, meaning it contains traces of Divine.
NOTE 2: Template's ability adjusted to the selected world. Abilities are also removed of their side effects and can be used to their maximum potential.
NOTE 3: The Complete version contains the merger of everything, including appearance, character, and ego. If the User is mentally not strong enough, he may be assimilated by the Template instead, lose his personality and become the character of the Template.]
On the one hand, there was good news: there won't be any side effects from the ability, and from the description, it sounded pretty powerful. Especially if the abilities were of Divine Origin, it then meant that this had some really serious potential.
Yet, the NOTE 3 was equally disturbing the more he read bout it.
He thought over the warning Murasaki had given him, and it was indeed true... everything came with a price... which he could accept. Even though there was a risk of getting assimilated and losing his own personality, now that he had spent one-third of his precious Karma Points, there was no real chance.
He could only very vaguely remember the character, because he played the game when he was young, but that was several decades ago, and his memory of it was already pretty murky.
"We can proceed to the next spin."
Murasaki's voice sounded through the emptiness of the space, as Sirius pondered what to do next.
"Do a Premium Spin."
Sirius said as his Karma Points dropped to exactly 100,000,000 Karma Points.
[Asura-Style Slaughter Swordsmanship
Origin: World Apocalypse Online
Type: Complete, Knowledge
Description: User obtains the knowledge on the Asura King Sword Swordsmanship Style that would be automatically uploaded into his mind upon activation of the Information Card.
Asura King Sword Swordsmanship Style is a swordsmanship developed by the ??? Asura ??? on the ???. The more user kills, the more slaughter he causes, the stronger the User becomes. The entire Swordsmanship style is centered on killing and slaughter as fast and efficiently as possible.
NOTE 1: The User only obtains all information, not the experience or the skill itself, outright.
NOTE 2: If the User's mental fortitude is not strong enough, he may succumb to the slaughter aura itself and lose all of his rationality.]
Reading the description of the second thing that he obtained from the Gacha, made Sirius seriously twitch his brows in annoyance as he looked at the Murasaki, who was only smoking his Cigar and not saying anything.
Though from the glint in his eyes, it was more than evident that the man was immensely enjoying the show. He obtained another thing that was pretty useful yet extremely dangerous if used carelessly.
"100,000,000 Karma Points remaining."
Murasaki said as he puffed out some smoke.
"Do 5 Premium Spins."
Siirious already calculated how he would distribute the spins. Five Premiums and one Super Spin.
[User obtained a pair of Pure-Blooded Elder Gyrinxes, one male and one female.]
[User obtained Legacy of Magitek of Niflfheim Empire.]
[User obtained World Adjustment: Astrals.]
[User obtained Device: Rakshasa Blade.]
[User obtained Lukifer Synergy Blueprint.]
Sirius then looked through the five things that he drew out as he clicked on the first one.
Obviously, all the things that he obtained through the gacha would be given to him only after he arrived at the Remnant, with the exception of the Template, because he would need to accept it right now.
Apparently, it was a bonus from Murasaki for the nasty side effect of the Template.
[Elder Gyrinx (Pure-Blooded)
Origin: Warhammer 40K Universe
Description: A Gyrinx resembles a large Terran domestic cat, with very thick and fluffy ginger or orange fur and bright blue eyes. They can grow up to a metre in length. They are fully sentient and have an astounding ability to empathise with other creatures, forming a mental bond with their owner that is comparable to true friendship.
This mental empathy is of great benefit to the creature's owner, whose own speed of thought and action are actually improved while the Gyrinx is in close proximity.]
Well, this was nice, he always loved cats, and throughout his entire life, he always had pet cats, so it seemed that he would have a family and companions in the same one.
[Legacy of the Magitek of the Niflheim Empire
Origin: Final Fantasy XV
Description: User obtains knowledge containing all information about the Magitek developed by the Niflheim Empire and all scientific research on it.]
Another piece of knowledge... and, fortunately, enough, this one came without anything negative, which was almost too suspicious if he was being truthful. Nevertheless, having access to the knowledge of the entire civilization was something that was immensely useful in building his own backround.
Coupled with his superior intelligence and research background, he believed he would also be able to quickly comprehend Magitek and use it to his advantage.
[World Adjustment: Astrals
Origin Final Fantasy XV
Description: The Gods that walk among Us.]
He stared blankly at the description of the drawer, as this was the final thing.
"What the fuck is this?!"
He shouted at the smoking man, who suddenly grinned.
"Oh? I didn't mention it before? My mistake... well, during the draws, there are also a lot of things that are either straight negative or neutral, like the World Adjustment. Which basically means that the world where you are going changed once again for better or for good..."
Hearing that created a separate need in Sirius to really punch Murasaki, who answered nonchalantly as he kept smoking his cigar and reading a newspaper dated 1944 from Imperial Japan.
"A lot of things that could be drawn out of the Gacha could make the world more dangerous... Didn't I warn you about that earlier?"
He looked at him for a few seconds, before he clicked on the two last things that needed explanation.
[Device: Rakshasa Blade
Origin: Final Fantasy XV / Rakudai Kishi no Cavalry
Description: A sword that has stayed at Ardyn's side for roughly two thousand years, flying forth at his command. One half of a pair, the Rakshasa Blade was forged alongside the Blade of the Mystic, beloved blade of Ardyn's younger brother Somnus Lucis Caelum. Rakshasa Blade is a crimson-red sword that excludes red miasma, which is extremely dangerous to anything alive.
NOTE: The sword has been adjusted to act as a Blazer Device. It's a soul-bound weapon that has growth attributes and could grow with the user.]
Finally, there was something good, and at least, depending on where he would be dropped, because he started to have feelings that it won't go according to the plan, he would have at least a means of defending himself.
The weapon seemed to be pretty powerful just from the description alone, and considering all of the things, especially the fact that he obtained Swordmanship Inheritance, he would be able to use it in combat state pretty soon enough.
[Lukifer Synergy Blueprint
Origin: Absolute Duo
Description: Lukifer is a red, scientifically engineered chemical that serves as the cornerstone of the Exceed transformation. Injected into the body, this advanced nanotechnology triggers profound physical and mental enhancements, allowing individuals to transcend their natural limitations. It empowers the user to manifest their soul into a Blaze, a weapon that reflects their innermost desires and will.
Lukifer does more than enhance the physical form; it connects deeply with the soul, fostering a fusion of strength, resilience, and spiritual energy. Through this process, the user not only develops heightened abilities but also steps into a realm beyond human capability, embodying the essence of an Exceed.
NOTE: Ingredients for the Lukifer have been adjusted to suit the RWBY verse.]
The last thing was equally problematic for him, because once again, it was just a piece of knowledge... Sirius also realized that Lukifer fit perfectly into the Theme of the RWBY: Grimdark and could be used to increase his power in a short span of time or obtain new, unique abilities.
"Now, only 50 Million Karma Points remain. Do you wish to make the final spin?"
Murasaki asked if Sirius was finished with digesting all of the information about the things that he obtained from the gacha, and gave the man a nod.
"Super Spin."
Right now, he seriously hoped that he would get something really good and something that won't fuck him over. Soon enough, the gacha grandmist wheel stopped, as even the manager was rather surprised by the sudden development.
"Well, well, well... it seems that we would see each other more... what a surprising development."
Sirius could tell that Murasaki was really surprised by this development.
[User obtained Karmic Contract.
Description: Once in a while, a user would be summoned to the Void for the meeting and could spend Karmic Points on the Gacha.]