This is absolute bullshit, Nico thought as he laid sprawled on the cracked asphalt of what was once Tokyo's bustling streets.
He tried everything—punching himself until his knuckles bled, running headfirst into concrete walls. Nothing worked. He didn't wake up; instead, he was just left bruised and aching.
Shit, this is stupid! I can't be here; tho- those disgusting pink fleshy roots crawling up every building like some kind of parasite, and that massive grotesque tree that's literally consumed the Tokyo Tower. This is definitely from the anime Alcras.
Alcras was a globally popular anime centered around the fusion of two realms: Earth and Letia. Letia was home to an intelligent species known as the Licans, and ever since the realms merged together fifty years ago, the relationship between humans and Licrans had been strained and unstable. Despite ongoing tensions, both sides struggled to find common ground and coexist peacefully. The anime followed the journey of its protagonist, Alcras, as he set out to defeat the most powerful and dangerous Abridgers, which were chaotic mutations that posed a threat to both humans and Licrans alike. Through countless trials, battles, and moral dilemmas, Alcras rose from an ordinary survivor to a legendary hero, earning the admiration of everyone.
Nico staggered back to his feet, running both hands through his hair in pure disbelief. Of all the bloody places in the universe... I can't believe my first time visiting Tokyo—hell, my first time in Japan looks like a complete hellscape. God, I just want to go back to London, back to my family.
He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. Alright, alright... if I really am transmigrated into this anime, then there's a good chance I'll get some sick power-up, a cheat skill of sorts, or at least some sort of system—like the ones in video games. Yea that's got to be it, the typical tropes of any transmigrated anime.
So, I should be fine, right? He waited for a bit, expecting something to happen. Nothing. Complete silence.
Should I say something like "system open"? It would be embarrassing... He looked around; no one was there. Then he cleared his throat and said aloud, "System open."
Nothing happened.
"System on... or... open sesame?"
Still nothing. Complete silence.
Frustrated, he kicked the ground, cursing this world under his breath. Then out of nowhere, a blue UI system appeared.
He almost fell down as the system appeared. "You almost gave me a heart attack!" he said out loud.
[System Activated]
[Welcome, lost one, to the anime Alcras]
"Alright, bet. I'm pretty sure the next step is to see my stats." Then he asked for the stats window to open. "Stats open."
Nothing.
"Stats turn on... or open up stats?"
Again, nothing. He was frustrated once more.
[Wait one second]
"What the hell do you mean wait one second?!" Nico yelled.
[I am sorry, I am new to this. Please don't be mean]
Nico was confused. "Huh? What do you mean you're new to this? Aren't you like an AI or something?"
[Kind of. Some aspects do use AI, but there is also someone else behind the screen]
"Wait, what do you mean?" Nico says.
[Well, this system model is definitely the cheapest system model. I mean it was the only model that I could afford after all, and because of that I would have to maintain it a lot as well]
"Hold up, hold up," Nico said, waving his hands frantically. "You're telling me that you bought this system? Like, with money? And you went for the budget option?"
[Well... dimensional essence, actually. Not exactly money, but close enough. And yes, I had to go with the cheapest one available]
"Oh for crying out loud," Nico groaned, slapping his forehead. "So I'm stuck in a death world with a bargain-bin system that probably came with a 'buyer beware' warning?"
[Hey! It's not that bad! It just needs some... manual adjustments from time to time]
"Manual adjustments," Nico repeated flatly. "Right. And I suppose you're the one doing the adjusting?"
[That would be me, yes. I can't tell you my name due to contract restrictions, but I'm what you might call your contractor. We get paired up with lost ones through a lottery system]
Nico blinked several times. "Contractor? Lottery system? What are you talking about?"
[You know how whenever you download an app or sign up for something, you always just click 'accept' on those terms and conditions without reading them?]
"Yeah, of course. Nobody actually reads those things," Nico said, suddenly feeling a pit forming in his stomach.
[Well, every time you accept terms and conditions, you're technically entering into a contract. And buried deep in some of those contracts—usually the really long ones—there's a clause about interdimensional transportation. When you accept, your name gets entered into a lottery system]
"You're kidding me," Nico whispered.
[I wish I was. When your name gets drawn, you get transported to a random anime world and paired with a contractor like me. We provide the system support. I couldn't afford the premium contractor package, so I had to go with the budget option]
"So you're saying I'm here because I didn't read the fine print on some stupid app?"
[Most likely, yeah. Could have been anything—a social media app, a game, even a food delivery service]
"This is insane," Nico muttered, running his hands through his hair again.
[Look, dimensional essence doesn't grow on trees, okay? This system was a steal at the price. Sure, it crashes occasionally—wait, I probably shouldn't have mentioned that part]
"It WHAT?" Nico's voice cracked. "Did you just say it crashes?"
[Uh... well... sometimes the window doesn't load properly either, but it gets the job done most of the time!]
"MOST of the time?!" Nico stared at the blue interface in horror. "What happens if it crashes when I'm in the middle of fighting one of those Abridger things?"
[That's... that's why I have to maintain it regularly! To prevent crashes! Usually, they only happen during system updates]
"Oh wonderful," Nico muttered, looking around at the apocalyptic landscape. "I'm going to die because my system blue-screened, and it's all because I didn't read the terms and conditions for something."
[Wait, you mentioned stats earlier... let me check something real quick...]
"What now?" Nico asked, dreading the answer.
[Oh... oh no. I just realized something. The budget package doesn't actually include a stats system]
Nico stared at the interface in disbelief. "What do you mean it doesn't include stats? Every system has stats! That's like... that's the most basic feature!"
[I'm really sorry! I thought it was just taking a while to load, but looking at the contract details... yeah, stats are premium feature only]
"Then WHAT CAN I ACCESS?!" Nico shouted, his voice echoing off the ruined buildings. "Inventory? Is there a shop? Anything?!"
[Wait, let me check... no... no... oh, that's premium too... and that one requires the deluxe package...]
"Are you telling me I have NOTHING? What does this budget system even DO?"
[Well... it can display messages like this one! And it shows a welcome screen! That's... that's something, right?]
Nico just stood there, staring at the blue interface that was apparently completely useless.
[Oh wait! It can also display your name and age!]
"I already know that," Nico snapped. "I'm 18 years old, and my name is Nico... Nico..." He paused, his brow furrowing in confusion. "Wait, why can't I—I remember my la—last name?"
A chill ran down his spine as he tried to recall it. Nothing. Complete blank.
[Huh, that's weird. I don't have access to that information either]
"What do you mean you don't have access to it?" Nico's voice was getting higher with panic. "It's MY name!"
[The system only shows 'Nico, Age 18.' That's all the data I can see. Maybe your last name is locked behind a premium feature too?]
"My own LAST NAME is premium?!" Nico screamed, grabbing his hair. "What kind of sick joke is this?!"
[Honestly, I don't know. There could be a different reason for that one]
Nico took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down before he completely lost it. The frustration was building to dangerous levels, but screaming at his apparently useless system wasn't going to help him survive in this nightmare world.
"Okay," he said, forcing his voice to be steady. "Can I at least use Contan? The power system of this world?"
[Let me check... oh, that's interesting...]
"What's interesting?" Nico asked, though he was already bracing himself for more bad news.
[Well, according to your file, you just turned 18 recently, right? That means you should be exiting what they call the 'ignorance period']
Nico nodded slowly. He'd watched enough of the anime to know about Contan - the twisted power system that ran on trauma. During childhood, people's minds would naturally suppress traumatic memories to protect them, but once they hit 18, all those suppressed experiences would come flooding back. The trauma would awaken their dormant Contan, turning them into what this world called "Survivors."
"So I should be remembering..." Nico started, then stopped. A cold realization washed over him. "Wait. I should be remembering traumatic experiences from my childhood, but I can't even remember my last name, let alone any trauma."
[That's... that's actually really concerning. Contan is powered by trauma, and the type of trauma shapes what abilities you get. But if you can't access those memories...]
"Then I can't access Contan either," Nico finished, his voice flat with defeat.
[I'm checking the system logs, but there's no indication of Contan awakening. You should be experiencing the memory flood right about now since you're 18, but... nothing]
Nico stared at the apocalyptic landscape around him, feeling more helpless than ever. No stats, no inventory, no shop, and now potentially no access to the world's power system either.
"Then what the hell am I supposed to do?" he whispered, his voice barely audible as he bent forward, his head nearly touching the ground in complete defeat.