Did a moment or a year pass?
After an unknown period of silence, a well-known rectangle appeared before John.
[Detecting Sufficient Wisdom]
[Booting System Connection]
[Welcome new Monsterkind User to the Origin System]
[Current Systems active for Monsterkind: Instinct]
[A new System update is nigh, time left until update: 2 days, 18 hours, and 5 minutes]
[Monsterkind update content: Skills]
…
[Current Status: Dead]
Expand?
[End of Ticket]
Was John dreaming? His Soul maintained him sane through the expanse of eternity he felt.
Well, as sane as he could be at the very least. He would probably still need to speak to a therapist or a Mind mage just to be sure.
For all he knew, a mere few minutes passed since the last System Message.
Still, the System now considered him part of Monsterkind.
He wasn’t averse to it, he was himself. He still felt like he was John, it didn’t really matter if he was John the Human or John the Monster.
Regardless, he needed to understand more about what happened, and [System Touched] was here for that.
“As John, a Pioneer, I would like an explanation of my situation from the System. What the hell is happening”
A voiceless voice rang through his mind as he communicated his questions to the System.
A few windows opened and closed quickly before him as he felt the System struggle with the query.
A few seconds passed before an answer came to him.
[Erroneous access]
[Pioneer John is deceased]
[cause: Eternal Ice explosion of Rare Tundra Island Turtle]
“Scan me if it’s necessary to confirm my identity. I am John, a Technological Pioneer, owner of [Absolute Soul].”
[Checking Compatibility, Body, Mind, Soul]
[Current Body: Missing]
[Current Mind: Similar to previous data]
[Current Soul: ... ]
[Blessing Found. [Absolute Soul] found.]
[Falsification or Reproduction Impossible]
[Conclusion: you are indeed John the Pioneer]
A small sigh escaped his apparently non-existent lungs.
The System agreed with his assessment, he was indeed still John.
Though it also mentioned and confirmed that he was missing his body… This assessment wasn’t all good but it was a positive outcome.
[Restoring Status…]
[Most Skills are unusable in current form.]
[New Skills can’t be acquired yet]
Huh, why?
[Status not human, Pioneer]
[Current Status assessment: Ghost, Monsterkind.]
[Current Monsterkind accessible Systems: Instinct]
[Achievement unlocked: First Ghost]
He… was sure he wasn’t the first ghost considering he saw quite a few in his adventures, but a quick check on the description of the achievement revealed it rewarded him not as the first ghost, but as the first ghost with a sense of self, a conscious spirit.
He was the first non-corporeal being wise enough to recognize himself and his condition.
Which was ironic, considering he was struggling to recognize his current situation. He still couldn’t see anything.
[Adding Achievement to Balance]
[Balance high enough for exchange of Ghost-type reward]
“How spooky”
[Exchanging Points from previous Achievement and Bug Report]
[Content of Ghost-type reward: Quality increase of the soul of ghost]
[Effect: all-around increase in abilities due to reliance on the Soul of Ghost-type Monster]
…
[Error: Soul is already at the maximum quality possible]
[Checking Size. Size Suitable for the current vessel.] [Size Upgrade Unsuitable]
[Checking the current most suitable Reward in this situation.]
[Suitable Reward Found]
[Awarding Skill: Magic Vision (improved)]
[effect: A magical type of vision. While most magical creatures develop their own kind of supernatural vision with time, this improved Skill directly gives you the ability to maintain the vision you possessed at your peak if sensory organs are missing or lesser.]
Light Bloomed in John’s vision instantly.
_________________________________________________________________________
‘I see blue, dabadi dabada’
All joke and teetering madness aside, everything John was currently seeing was an azure blue crystal. It seems the elemental explosion was much larger than what he first thought.
To be honest, at first, he thought he was quite unlucky to be this close to the point of impact but the expanse of crystal surrounding his body proved that a distance of a few meters wouldn’t have mattered. A literal mountain was taking up his senses.
“System, why have I woken up now? And why did I reconnect at this moment?”
[Pioneer John, you woke up due to the Eternal Ice surrounding you lessening, its hold on your Soul now weaker than ever.]
[You reconnected to the System due to the bug report made about Eternal Ice interfering with the System.]
[With a new World Update approaching, the smaller Bux Fixes are made during the last few days leading to the Update. This allowed the System to connect with the new entity you are with the reduced resources allocated]
“Reduced resources?”
[Correct, a Human’s access to the System is stronger than a Monsterkind’s]
[A Pioneer’s access to the System is stronger than a Human’s]
[Your death incurred a change in classification, you were encased in Eternal Ice and a Monsterkind.]
[The resources allocated couldn’t find and connect you until the Update Patch and the Eternal Ice’s effect weakened]
This… left a rather sour taste in John’s mouth.
While he wouldn’t admit it, as a Pioneer, he subconsciously thought of himself as a protagonist.
Being abandoned by the System and left because they were not worth it was hard to hear. He maintained his calm as much as possible considering the situation.
Luckily, he was prepared for emotional shocks, his Blessing protected him to an extent and Iro had repeated to him multiple times that the System wasn’t infallible.
It was an imperfect tool that learned and grew through new situations.
[Considering your dead yet alive status, a special modification will be made to your data.]
[You will keep the Pioneer status in the future should death happen again to avoid recurring mistakes.]
[You remain the core and consciousness of John.]
[Please note that as long as you remain as the individual you are, Pioneer John, you will keep your status as a Pioneer]
“Ah” the situation got a pitiful chuckle out of him.
He was lucky enough to escape death yet made unfortunate enough to remain in this limbo due to a surprise new classification combined with a novel material, the Eternal Ice…
“These situations are getting out of hand. How improbable was all of that?”
He looked at his reflection in the crystalline ice, finding a pocket of air in the mountain to look at his reflection on the surface.
While at first, he didn’t see anything, he concentrated on his new vision Skill and focused on seeing what he knew was here himself.
Slowly, a ghostly glow appeared in the natural mirror. First a light, then a vague shape, and finally his features appeared one by one, ending with his eyes as deep as he remembered them.
He seemed to emit a small mist with this body of spirit, giving him a mysterious appearance that, combined with his blue tint, gave him the textbook appearance of a ghost.
He focused on giving himself the colors he remembered himself having and wearing, a bit of brown appeared on his hair, a slightly tanned skin, and gray eyes in a long coat.
All of these details strained the core of what formed his ghost, his soul was what alimented him directly now.
Well, it would have if John wasn’t blessed with an [Absolute Soul].
He quickly flashed between various appearances, people of the past as he remembered them before settling back on his usual form, short brown hair, a simple face, and sharp steely eyes that seemed to glow with profoundness more than ever.
“They always said the eyes are the window to the soul, I suppose” he chuckled to himself.
He quickly flashed between visible and invisible, flexing his newfound connection to the world of the dead.
He wasn’t surprised to find that no Angel, Demon, or otherworldly creature came to take him to the Circle of Reincarnation.
The reason for this was this simple screen in front of him that appeared and could be extended once he got freed from the ice:
[Current Status: Dead]
[Circle of Reincarnation activated…]
[Error… The soul is too strong, not influenced by the Circle of Reincarnation]
[Calling Death-Related Entities to deal with the recalcitrant entity]
[Error: System not Evolved to include Afterlife Creatures and Death Aligned Creatures]
[Calling Authority in Reality with Equal or Stronger Soul…]
[Error: World creator detected with inferior Soul Grade]
[Current holders of Absolute Grade Souls: Creator]
[Attempting Connection to Creator’s office for backup…]
[Answer Received: ̴̡̗̳̙͓̯̩͈̬͉̣̆̓́́̈̃̿̍̈́̏̇̑̍̅͜“̵̧̧͕̭̹͙̭͍̲̝̓̾͗̄̃̅͌̿̕͘͠D̶̡͍̜̬̪̒̋̾͑͆̐͘ȩ̴͚͇͙̬̘̳̩̤̈́̈́͗̉̀̓̑̊̀͋̉́͂͜͝a̶̡̾̇̃̒̑̓́̈́̓̉͗͝l̵̲̠̰͔̠̃͑̽͐̒ ̵̛̖̞̗͚̻̻̹̝̈́̄͊̈̈́̏͗̽̌͋̕͠͠ẁ̴̢̱͓̼͚̗̬̬̻͔͕į̸̧̛̪̮̥̠͉̿̈̒͌͜͠t̸͓̻̟̰͇͙͕͓̞̩̺̼̲̟̓̎͌̽͜h̸̠͊̈̄̓́͒͗͂̔̋ ̷̡̱̩̰̭͈̝͔̘͓͖͛̔́̾̀́̓̇̌́i̶̢͕̝͙͖̩͙͈͙͍̼̾̈̔̎͌̎̒̔͜͝ţ̴̧͎̭̳̭̹̫̙͚͎̥̪̘́̿̈́́̒̀́͌̈̑̀̅͘͘ ̷̰̬͑̎̒ä̶̡̧̛͍̳̫͔̦̪̻̜̭̣͍͚́̑̍͑̒͂̐͝l̸͇̣̞̱͓̟̱̱̫̥̭̮̺̾͐̓͐̅̏̿̓̂̏̕͝ṓ̶̡͕̹̖̈̀̓͑́͌̉͋̓͝ń̵̻͖͉̫̞̻̳͙͔́ͅé̷̦͎͍̣̜̲̞͖̜̈́̃͠,̴͔͙͌̊̐̈́ ̷͙̟̟̗̣͉̖̜̻́̂̏̅̓̐ͅͅḬ̴̢̯̱̳̪̭̦̦̼͎̗̰̏͋͗͊̆̌̓̑͝ͅ’̵̙́̄̿̆̓͒̽̍̃̀̕͘͘̚m̴̡̜̺͉͓̤̲̹͉͓̗͗͝͝ͅ ̷̻̥̙̰̱̝̭̈̊̐̊̓̾͒̅̑̏̈̓̕̕b̶̡̤̣̺̞͓̯̬̰͉̖͖̼̺͆̐̔̔͗̔͋̾u̷͙̳̱̾͑́̈́͝͝s̸̨̡̡̢̧̨͚̩͕͎͉̳̼̼͒̒͂̄̔̅̓͛̚͝ẙ̵̛̺̯̤̩͉͇̥̀̎́̆̏̃͐́͘ ̶͍͚̙̞̦̝͐͗͊͑̆̄̿̋̀̚̕͝ͅͅe̶͎̙̩̾̇͒̌̀̈̏̊͛́͛̄͐̀͘ǹ̴̛̲̝̜̞͌̉͑̏̈͊͆̇̚ȯ̵͚̤̥̟̈́͠ũ̴̧̡̩̫̝̰͗́̊̅̕͝͠͠͝ͅg̸̟̗̀̽ḥ̷̢̟̹̯̖͉͇͇͓͕̈ͅ ̸̗̞̙̟̜̤͈͉̪͖̈̉́͌̔͌̋̓͝w̴̢͎͕̘̳͍̥̣̌̄̄͝ỉ̸̢͙̤͔͉͍͚̽́͗ṭ̷̢̨̨̨͔̱̘̱̙͇͖̰̒̇̐̍͌̿͝h̷̛̩̙͖̳̺͖͙̥͓ͅͅò̵̡͖̻̥̜̤̗̖̱͈͑̆͗̎͌̿̀̌͂̒͒͜͝͝ͅṵ̸͇͔͙̭̿̐̀͛̒͂͊̃̿̈͛̾͛̅̊ͅţ̷͇̯̩̞̟̃̒̂̉̍̊̃͒̍̌͋́̕͠͠ ̸̢̪͇̟̭̙͍̭̬͓͈́̉̋d̸̢͙̪̘̣͇̯͇̳̣̯͉̭̲͓̉̋̉̈́̈́̽e̷̞̹̭͕͕̱̯̗͕̥͔̬͎̫͂̂̋̒͋̈́͑͌̓̽a̶̧̢̨͇̼̙̬͍̙͈̥̋͆̍̿̃̌̀͊͑̌͂̀̽͜͝͝ļ̸̨̝̟͍̳̪̟͎͗͗̎̓̑͘͝͠ḯ̵̧̡̺͖͖̫̳̘̌ͅn̶̨͇̘̳̝̭̳̗͉͍͆̒͆͐͜͜g̴̗̰̺̠̹͎̯͚͖͚̮̙̲̈̂̈́̃ ̶̡͘͘w̴̢̘̣͑͗̀͐̓̏̓̚̚͠ȋ̴̧̖͍̬͙͔͇̼̈̂͗͂̉͝t̵͚̒͋́͂̌͝h̸͚͔̳͙̫̭͍́̽͊͋̎̄͗ ̸̛̘̭̪̹̮͖̱̈͒̏̀̇̎̈́͊̉̈́̽̍̚͝É̷̡̬̖̹͓͇̱̝̖̰̖̍͆̅̇͌͗̒̓͛̀̋̓͂x̶̨̛̯̯͔͊͆͛̐̀̎͌͆̊̏̕̚͜p̵̛̦̮̞̘͊͗̂̄̒͑̌̃́̅̃͂̄͘ē̷̙͇̥̰͐̑͒̒̾̃r̶̪͝i̴̢̡̢̗̱̬̖̪͓̜̻̥̖̦̼͗̓̊̋͝m̶̻̤͚̒̃̎̈́͆̄͂̎é̶̺̰̱̓̈́̊͆̍̄͠n̵̗̱̖̹̗̩̺̟͍̦̍̎̊̐̅̋̂͘t̶͖̹̹̩̘̲̘̣̭̦̱̺̬̉̀̃͊̾̇͐͘͝͠”̷̡̢̼͙͎̠͓̠̟̬͌̓̉̅̄̑͆̓̃͝]
[̶̧͈͙͎̟̤̗̮̅͆“̴̨̡̤͉͍̲͉͕̤̞̙̹̥̌̔̊Ī̴̗̻͓̺͈̳̯́̇͒͜ͅ’̵͇̣̙̎͛͗̃̌̋̉̓̆̓̈́̕̕͝͝l̸̬̬̭̻͙̟̎̃̽̀͐̂̏͘ͅl̷̨̢͔͉͓̗̤̗̭̥̮̙͓̇̎̽͐̿̌̌̿́͐͝ ̶͍̟̰̝̱̟̣̭̤͍͚͚̩̏̑́͊͋͐͒̓̋̍́͐̾̍b̷̦͇͔̰̦͊͐ḽ̷̏͒̈́̎͐̽͊̔̈́̉͊̌̂̃͘ā̴̧̛͇̘̉͌̈̄͐͗̄̈̓̕̚c̷̼͚̪͇̰̰̰̟͔̓̂̅͑̉̚̚̕k̷͇̪͇͐̏̆͐̃̓̐̿l̶̠̈́̓̑͒́̒͆̿̅̕i̵̧͔̖͆ͅş̴̢̨̪̻͉͇̩̩̝̖̠̙͋͗̋͐͌͋̿̏̅̽̕ț̴̨͓̤̤͖̱̯̬͐̓͊͑́͘ ̵̧̢̛͉͎̖̼̯̥̥͚͉͊̂͂̎̉͂͂͌̇̚̕͠t̷̖̩̣̤̮̘̉̓ḧ̸̢͚̩̳̳͔̱͖̥̫̙̲̟́̏̑̿̀̐̑͆͘͘̕͠ͅį̶̨̻͓̭͍̱̼̰̪̥͒͐͛̋́s̵̛͇͇̪̪̰͗͂̆̇͂̂̍̄͆͛͜ͅ ̴̤͍̭̫̼̻̱͙̙̞̪̦̦̜̈́̋̍̍̉͒̌͊́̋͑̌̓͝ͅč̵̙̜̑͋̈́͌͠ơ̴̮͙̖͈͔͇͙͉̥͓̇̒̐͋̈̍̃ͅn̴̡̛̤̲̹̔̓̊͋͆̕͜n̷͎̔̔e̷̱̅́̔͆̈́̊̀̒͑̈́͌̕͝͠c̷̡̼͔̤̹͍͗̇͐̓̈̓t̵̨͙̝͔̯̺̬̱͖̲̿̇̔̆̃̚͘͜͝ͅi̴̛̠̼̗͖̝̍̀͒͐͐͌̈́̾̊̍̄̈́̅̚ó̶̳̺̠̪̹͚̰̗̰̜̻̱̺͍̇͛̚n̶̡̻͉͙̎̑͘͝ ̴̩̝̯͌̋̔̄́̈́̔̈́̈́̈́̑͘͝ĩ̷̝̳̘̜͚͌̎̍͛̒̈́͑͑̐̃͝͠f̶̛̛̱̝̠̬͔͚̫̈̿̅̂̔̆ ̸͎̱̲̇̅̓̈́͋̿̆̐̈́̈́͂̏͘ͅy̶͙̹̜͓͓̲̏̔̐̊̉̉͐̔̄̕͜͜͝ò̸̢̼͙̖̪̻̖͙̱̇̊͊̓̎̈́̋̋̂̀͑̚̚͠u̴̻̇͑̎̎͆͆̈́̅̑͆́̓̈́̎̃ͅ ̶̧̹̹͓̤͎̲̮̾̌c̴̛͙͇̍̐̄͒̀͊̀̓̇̔̐̿͠͝ó̸̡̬͈̳͈̬̣͒̔̈́́͐̓͑̾̒̚͝n̵̨̢̧̨̫͉͓̱̭̟̬̗͉̺͙̾̿̒̂͛̑t̵̨̩̙͇̞̖̣͓̖̩̟͔̬̃͆͗̈͛́͒̃͑̏̎ạ̵̝̽̈́̈͊̈̈́͆́̈́́̋̒͂̚͜c̵̨̡̬̭̗̲̜̥̣̞̈́̂͐́̾̕̕t̴̗̤̯͎͚̆̐̀͆̽͛͐̿̎͌ ̸̖̙̝͓̯͖̪͉̒̇̓͘͘m̸͖̮̝̩̥̤͎̗͂̀͆͝ȩ̶̢̛̬̱͍͈͕̱̗̫͍̮̻͈̃̈́͑̉̓̓̇͗̋̍̄͊̕̚ ̶͖̹̥͈̹͙͎̺̝͔̩̺̩̩͑́̌̎̅̐̌̆̎̑̚͝a̶̻̮͛̄̈́̂̊̾́̈́͐̏͠͝g̸̥͎̰̈̂̑ǎ̸̳͈̬̙͎͖̹̩̰̫̘̲̈́̕͜͝i̶̛̛̦̦͚̓͐̍͑́̕͝͠ṅ̸̛͓̹̭̭͚̉̾̐̓̐̈̄̾̕̕͝ ̵̡̠̜̣̮͚͗̇̀͒̈̚͜f̴̪̬̜̻̺̖͔͍̪̀̋̔͊̄̃̇͑͂̑̚̕͠͠o̷̗̾͒̒̂́̉͘͘͠ŗ̸̧̮̰͇̠̝̖̖̲̣͛̿̓́̽͆̏̇͗ ̵̘͈͕̿͌̓̀͆̀̚u̸̡̨͚̤̲͐̏̕͜͝ś̴̖̣̮̥̰e̵̡͒ḽ̴̡̳̳͓̮̣̣͕͖͒̐̈́̂̊͆̀̐͝͝ͅę̸͖͚̩̯̩̣̮̬̤̣̹̹͝ͅs̷͓͎̲͜͝s̴̛̫̤̙͍̙͙̻̻͈͐͗͐̋͒͝ ̶̡̹̠̜͔͕̯̗̹̝̠̫̠͕̙̔ṁ̴̡̨̧̬̗̣̤̬̜̖͉̪̟͗̌̐̍̓͒͗͜ã̵̢̠̥̤͉̦̹̘̞̗̦͒̓̎̒̆̍̒̈́̌̓͘̚t̸͈͉̻͂̈́̐́͛̏͂̔̕͠͠t̴̨͓̝̯̖̹̼̘̋ȩ̸̨̡͖̝̰̗̫̪̐̈͜r̷̛̹͚̺̣̦͍͓̱̙̘̓̃̽̔͑̽̀̍͌̓̋͘͜s̸̱͉̼͈̬͙̾̒͑̾̚͝ͅ”̵̧̡̪̣̫̠̠̦͇͎̰͎̰̜̲̉̉͑̀̏̐̎͗̽]̸̻̘̺̺̙͖̤̗͓̮̫̭̀͊̆͋͐̀̓͆̎̃͊ͅ
[Call for Help Denied]
[Only Conclusion Available: Allow formation of Spirit type Lifeform ahead of schedule]
[A single Unique Spirit shouldn’t change the world]
[Conclusion Acceptable]
[Placing new entity on Watchlist]
[End of Ticket]
