All the powers lined up like that looked very impressive, and Senzo couldn't help but grin at the sight.
But I don't see any explanations, only names. Even though he could imagine what some powers might do, others left him completely stumped.
And he couldn't see any prices; the interface only displayed names and tiers.
"Let's leave that for later; now I need to make a decision. Do I choose two from the beginner tier, or do I risk it by letting Lady Luck decide my fate...?" he muttered.
He started going over each power in the beginner tier first, but without any explanations and just the names, it was quite hard to accurately estimate what kind of abilities he would get when he gained the power.
"Well, one thing is for certain: going with random seems like the better choice because it gives me the opportunity to get a power from a higher tier, and even if I'm super unlucky and get two of the beginner tier that are incompatible, would two powers that I chose with half-baked knowledge and assumptions be any better?"
After voicing his thoughts aloud in this void where he had been for who knows how long, something clicked in Senzo's mind as he quickly navigated back to the chat on his phone and gave 'Him' his answer.
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Senzo Kazuko:
"Sorry for the late reply, I will go with two random powers from the theme shop."
Him:
"Oh? Interesting. Okay, I will now roll the dice then."
< Waiting >
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All Senzo could do now was pray and hope he would get lucky.
"Please, please."
A couple seconds later, he saw the three dots appear once again.
"!!"
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Him:
"Looks like the first one was rather unlucky, huh?
Your first number is 3."
"bahahaha."
< Waiting >
────────────────────────────────
"Well, that was expected," Senzo said casually, staring at his phone.
He couldn't even verify if the god was actually rolling dice or just screwing with him. It was a terrible feeling, but he'd taken this gamble knowing the risks.
"Please, at least actually roll the dice once!"
────────────────────────────────
Him:
"Oooohh!"
"The second roll was rather lucky, huh?
Your second number is 25!!!"
"Congrats! It seems like the risk has paid off!"
< Waiting >
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"!?!?"
"Yahoo!"
Senzo threw his fist in the air; he couldn't care less about anything else right now. His gamble had actually paid off.
"Calm down, stay composed. I don't know which powers these are yet, for all I know, they could be trash."
He said to himself, but he couldn't wipe the smirk from his face; he was just too excited, and just as he was about to return to the theme shop interface to claim his new powers, he saw a new message come in from 'Him.'
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Him:
"Now then, here are your new abilities, and just this once I will even add a short description for you. :)
So you can properly understand it even with your smoll brain."
< Waiting >
────────────────────────────────
"..."
Senzo's enthusiasm had vanished, and it felt like someone had thrown a bucket of cold water over him.
"I really want to punch him right now!" he growled, while gritting his teeth.
His eyes were ablaze as he typed furiously every single insult and hateful word he could think of, but right before he clicked on send, he hesitated for a moment and quickly deleted all of it.
"Calm down, stay calm. Now is not the time to succumb to his provocations; I'll definitely need those powers."
After taking several deep breaths, he finally calmed down.
And that's also when the highly anticipated message had finally arrived.
Ding!
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Him:
"Yin/Yang: wield mastery over Yin and Yang, the primal dual forces of the cosmos. Yin embodies darkness, cold, stillness, and femininity; Yang embodies light, heat, motion, and masculinity."
"Soul of the Four Riders: your soul will be fractured into four primordial aspects, each embodying one of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse: War, Famine, Pestilence, and Death."
"Do you wish to accept these 2 powers? [Yes/No]"
< Waiting >
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"Wow," Senzo was mesmerized by the descriptions.
Not only had he gotten lucky and gotten a power out of the beginner tier, but he also got a great power from inside of the beginner tier.
"Let's go!"
And after carefully reading the descriptions 'Him' had added, he still didn't fully grasp what they were about, but he was certain of one thing: gaining those powers would be immensely painful, especially the second one.
"My soul will be fractured into the four primordial aspects embodying the apocalypse? That sounds insanely painful..."
But he couldn't shy away now, after enduring all that humiliation, he refused to back down. Without hesitation, he pressed [Yes].
Nothing could have prepared him for what came next. The instant he pressed that accursed button, pain unlike anything he'd ever experienced—or likely ever would—consumed him entirely.
Not only was his soul fractured into four pieces, but his head also felt like it was exploding with knowledge, and all that was happening simultaneously.
"AAHHHHH!"
He let out a primal scream, but it didn't help at all as the four separated soul fragments slowly turned from formless husks into fearsome projections of the primordial aspects of the apocalypse.
The first piece of his soul erupted into blood red. No slow transformation— War didn't wait. The armor materialized in an instant, plates slamming together with metallic shrieks, the massive greatsword blazing into existence already mid-swing. Before Senzo could even process it, War crashed back into him like a battering ram.
He tasted blood.
The second piece turned from faint white to eerie green, but this time the change was agonizingly slow. Bone formed after bone—each vertebra appearing one by one, building the skeleton from feet to skull. The sickly green aura pulsed with each addition like a heartbeat of hunger. By the time the final piece clicked into place and merged, Senzo was already screaming.
His stomach felt hollow. Empty. Starving.
The third piece shifted to gray-green, but something was wrong with this one. The cloak appeared first. Empty, fluttering in a wind that didn't exist. Then the plague doctor mask manifested inside the hood, floating, tilting as if observing him. Only after did the body form underneath, filling the cloak like rot filling a corpse. When it merged, Senzo gagged.
He smelled decay.
The final piece didn't fight the transformation. It stayed faint white for a long moment, as if considering, then slowly, inevitably, darkened to bone. The scythe didn't form; it revealed itself, as though it had always been there waiting. The black cloak settled like a shroud, and the smoke... the smoke simply was. Death didn't crash into him like War or build like Famine or disturb like Pestilence.
Death settled. Patient. Permanent.
And Senzo felt cold. So cold it burned.
Only after it had fully formed and merged with Senzo did the soul-tearing pain finally subside, but that didn't mean he was freed from his suffering.