A small notebook appeared in the hands of Probatio as the giant and ominous depiction of Void Beasts slowly vanished with one last glare to their captive audience.

 

“Let’s see, talk about why you’re doing this experiment, check.”

 

“Explain the possible dangers, close enough”

 

“Show off the world origin to instill awe and respect, double check”

 

It seemed souls could feel emotions as strongly as humans. John was sure of it considering Probatio’s words suddenly pissed him off quite a bit.

“Erase your traces so that the bastards don’t catch you before you’re done setting everything up… Yeah, I’ll do that later.”

 

“Talk about the budget cuts and where they were spent. Oh right!” 

The paper accessory vanished from his hands as the whiteboard filled itself with various numbers and diagrams.

“It is with great pain that I must talk about the budget cuts of this experiment. I’ll be honest, considering the resources I used for all of this, I’m surprised you’ll get to use half of the tools that were prepared. One of these is supposed to be a whole system interface. It would help you interact with the world, allow you to learn how to use abilities faster and acquire the use of energy sooner.”

“Fear not, though, while the Beginning will be rather bare, the magic of the Evolution Domain is that, with enough time, the world will evolve to suit your needs and challenges… before going even beyond.”

“So, yes! Expect classes, skills, levels, races, jobs… erm, proficiencies, yes proficiencies would be a good idea… And luckily for you, I’m not the one thinking up these evolutions, so they won’t be limited to these!”

While Probatio moved at high speeds, writing, pointing, and erasing data on the board. John managed to realize that this divine classroom, while not made of tangible material, could answer vague commands of the soul.

It seemed that the presentation was reaching its end, so he wouldn’t enjoy it for long, but for the time being, John went from a school desk with an inbuilt chair to a small armchair with pretend snacks.

It seems precise snacks weren’t on the list of memories that made the list in his memories, but he could still throw small handfuls of imprecise snacks he couldn’t remember anything about, except maybe enjoying them.

 

“And now, the sandwich method! To quell your disappointment as the first generation, I’ve used what budget couldn’t be used to improve the Experiment and purchased a Basic Isekai Goddess Hero Pack™.”

A small stop in John’s snack marathon was created when he heard the news that the Isekai trope would be fulfilled… Followed by the realization that the world of Gods was a very commercial place to create such packs for ease of use. 

“Before anything, a disclaimer. I’m not responsible for what you will receive, It’s mostly random from a pool created of possibilities pulled through with divine script. Oh, and needless to say, don’t expect some power that will make you immortal”

 

A small chill could be felt in John’s spine.

“It’s a hero pack. Considering the first generation of heroes with god-given powers caused enough trouble for millennia to come, you can be sure that they ensured that their chosen ones don’t cause trouble anymore. In the end, these packs are made for you, the tools of Gods to accomplish their task. We don’t need an Immortal prick that rules for centuries and has to become the elimination target of the next hero generation”

 

The chill strengthened.

Why? Why was John feeling like this? It was like each moment was bringing him closer to an inevitable conclusion. Was he the only one feeling like this?

John looked around to watch if others reacted to this imminent feeling of doom that he felt but everyone was still facing forward. Their heads were occasionally tilting to follow the high speed being trying to transmit small bits of info.

Nobody was reacting except John… or so he thought until he noticed two small souls in a corner, facing a different way than everyone else. If he didn’t pay attention and searched around with all of his focus, he was sure they would have slipped his mind.

 

And worst of all for John…

The way they were facing…

It was toward him.

 

“And this concludes the details that I had to transmit to you.”

His focus was stolen by these words for a fraction of a second. Enough time that the spot he looked at for a few seconds was now empty, devoid of twin souls.

“I don’t think I forgot anything, but in case of emergency, I gave a communication method to the World Origin, it will allow for emergency corrections if need be, though I won’t be able to interact, I’ll be able to collect data that way.”

The objects surrounding them started melting, starting from the smallest objects, the handful of snacks in the imaginary bag, to the biggest, the walls and floor.

“I bid you farewell, oh Pioneers, try your best to be yourselves, whether good or evil, chaotic or lawful, drunk or sober, your actions will bring me better data through their diversity.”

The outer circle started melting, vanishing to someplace unknown.

John stared at those vanishing, the wave of white devouring those in its way, the unmoving souls instantly vanishing while it momentarily stopped on only the most profound ones.

Strange emotions started surfacing in John, should he be scared, joyful, or probably a combination of both?

It was a new beginning and a death sentence all in one.

Still, for John, the predominant emotion weighing on him was the feeling of dread that still lingered. It was slowly vanishing, but he felt, or rather, he knew, that he was merely getting used to it.

 

---

 

As the wave of power devoured everyone in the class, it left just the golden orb and the God of Experiments.

It wasn’t his only Domain, but here, in this white space and at this vital moment, it was the only one important.

The wave congregated into a whitish globe, small flashes of light appearing on its surface briefly before getting absorbed into the golden one inside Probatio's hand.

 

Various emotions appeared on his face as he held his Magnum Opus. This tiny object in his hand brought him much trouble and joy that he felt relieved and conflicted he reached the final stage of launch.

 

He brought a hand to his mask, slowly removing it, revealing an unseen face, its traits obscured by the mist surrounding the white space. After some thought, he pointed his finger at the orb, shooting even more of himself into it. This left his profound eyes slightly duller.

He slowly spoke into the nothingness.

“Do you think there will be issues?”

The nothingness stayed silent before two spots lit up. They rose to form two small bodies.

“If there’s a problem, it will be on your part” “You paid the price, we hold our side of the bargain”

Childish voices rose one after the other, 2 children merely playing one could think.

Still, their words brought a bitter expression to Probatio.

“Everything I had my hand in is perfectly calibrated. There are no issues on my part. Especially after your outlandish demands.”

The twins smiled at this remark. One calmer while the other seemed to enjoy this banter.

“You couldn’t afford the price of what you asked for so we gave you an alternative” “We may not be you but we have our share of interest in this”

He put back the blank mask on his face before facing the two beings. “And if possible, I would have preferred if you didn’t. Still, things are going to plan. Let’s hurry, uninvited guests may arrive soon. They’re already playing with my welcome mat as we speak.”

As he spoke, a look of concentration appeared on his face as a contraption of untold sizes appeared before them. He inserted his hand into it, using it as a mechanical extension of his arm before inserting the World Origin into its slot.

With one last look as it vanished into the machinery, Probatio looked at the air before him.

Gigantic arrays appeared before him, calculating the path for the last time.
The way was still clear. Rumbles began to shake the very air.

He wound up his arm.

“Farewell, Operation New Origin is a… GOOOOO”

 

In a resounding boom, he threw the world into the void, surpassing speeds beyond what could be reached by the various Gods of Speed he knew.

As it reached the edge of Reality, it vanished from their sights, the barrier between spaces blocking even their divine perception without appropriate tools.

 

A few moments passed before one of the twins' gazes left the last point of space inhabited by the golden meteor.

“Did you even mention the name of their World to them?”

…

Putting back his mask was a good idea, or else, they would have seen his blank expression facing this scene.

He really needed to sleep more to avoid such mistakes

He quickly turned around to pull out a tool he attached to his mask.

“Ok, so Origin, first command…”