In a grand hall that seemed to be located underground, filled with many carefully - yet beautifully, crafted statues; was a man decked out in a full jet-black fancy overcoat with an upturned collar. The overcoat also had golden lines on it to give it a more regal looking aura. Then there was the hood, which was long enough to only let his mouth to be seen, and the ominous red eyes which were glowing even within the shadows.

Playing the grand piano made with sleek ebony wood, the fourteenth Piano Sonata, Moonlight Sonata by Ludwig van Beethoven, could be heard. With the shower of ethereal feathers and the moonlight coming from the glass ceiling above, it gave birth to a majestic sight.

The man began monologuing with a deep voice as he played the piece with grace and no mistakes.

"I have achieved my purpose."

For he is nothing but a shade, falling deeper into the abyss to take hold of it. To be become a king within darkness.

"Everything is as I wish it."

Wielding power rivaling that of the strongest. Achieving the pinnacle of magic. Fate loves him and caters to his whims; truly, everything is as he wishes.

"I lurk in the darkness, merely doing what must be done."

He is Shadow, a nameless lord of darkness, swimming through the abyss and pulling the roots of evil from deep within. No mere mortal, or Divine entity, can stop his advent as this is his destiny.

"The hour of awakening is at hand."

But what if he had the power to make his webs reach far beyond this world? The thing that every lord and conquer dreamed of.

"There is little time remaining."

He will conquer the darkness of not only this World, but also: the Universe, then the Multiverse, and finally; the Omniverse.

"Only..."

...For he is Cid Kagenou, The Eminence in Shadow.

...

"Aight, that's enough rehearsal. Time to get some midnight snacks." Shadow, or Cid to be more specific, said after finishing the piece whilst stretching his arms out for a bit. What you just saw him doing was actually him practicing the lines he'd say as Shadow in the future. After all, an Eminence in Shadow would always have an arsenal full of epic and deep sounding quotes up his sleeves. He's also pretty satisfied with today's session but he felt that it needs a little bit of tweaking for perfection.

Just as he was about to get up from his seat, a black feather amidst the sea of white ones landed on top of the piano. Cid would've dismissed it had he not caught sight of the calligraphed neon writing on it

[For Cid.]

"I don't exactly recall finding a black one in that feather bag..."

For all intents and purposes, it might've just been a prank by the girls. Cid simply shrugged and said,

"Alright, you girls. I'll humor you 'cause I find it quite amusing that you'd try something like this with me."

He then decided to see what's this thing about as he touched it. However, the moment he touched it, the thing disappeared into many pixels before he could actually grasp it in his hand.

"Eh? Nani?"

Cid was dumbfounded by this but he didn't show it on his face. Never had he experience something like this ever since he came to this world - though arguably, the things he did here are kinda weird and astonishing in and of itself. Then a blue screen made from those particles appeared before him. It reminded him of those trashy system stories that he used to read on a daily basis (and he loved them).

"Haha..! Girls, I don't know how you managed to get ahold of my trashy reading taste, but it's not funny to pry—!"

He had to stop himself from continuing what he was about to say when he read what was specifically on that blue screen.

[Welcome, The Eminence in Shadow, to the Omniversal Chat Group.]

"Wait! Was this the gold finger I was about to get as an Isekaied but it got delayed because of the one up there?" He tried to rationalize (read: gaslight) himself into believing that it's one of those popular tropes. But there's something wrong with this hypothesis.

"Hmm... Shouldn't it be a 'system' then, rather than a 'chat group'? If I'm being honest, it feels a bit too fanficy at this point." Cid remembered reading a couple of books that had the same trope as this chat group thingy. Out of all the things he read about this trope, only one of them was an original novel and the rest were just straight up power fantasy fanfics on steroids.

"Eh, who cares? It's a free power-up anyway, so there's no harm in trying, right?" He said after he shrugged while looking at the digital hovering screen.

[Yes.]

"Oh! So you talk as well? Gotta check "Talking System" in my bingo list." Seriously, can this guy think of anything else than just animanga cliched tropes?

[I am just a built-in AI chat box within the Chat Group to help the user.]

"Alright, so... What exactly is this Chat Group? And do I gain any rewards for joining in?"

[The Omniversal Chat Group is designed to connect people from different worlds to one another. By doing so, they can know about each others' worlds while having fun trips in a new world.

Yes, you could get anything you want in the Shop section with the right price.

Note: Upon joining the Chat Group, you'd be rewarded with a welcoming Gift. Check your {Inbox} to claim it.]

"Well, here goes nothing, I guess. You seven put real effort into this prank. I'll make sure to bring you gifts next time."

He had a smile on his face due to his childhood friends going this far just to satisfy his delusions. Cid is really grateful for them.

When he pressed [Yes.], rather checking out his gift, he decided to see who're the members the girls decided to role play. After all, he told Beta a lot about many fantastic stories from Earth; be it anime, books, manga, and even some western cartoons. Cid wanted to know which characters she added to the group.

"Let's see what Beta cooked right now."

The members aside from him were:

[King of Heroes]

[Frozen Death Queen]

[Malevolent Chef]

[Eldritch Conquerer (Admin)]

But it bothered Cid when he looked at them. Not because they were unfamiliar to him (he can guess who they are), but rather, he has no memory of ever telling her about the series these guys are from - or any other childhood friends of his for that matter. Well, he'll see whether guys are the girls LARPing as them or they're the genuine article; if it's the latter, then he's truly fucked.

Also, he didn't like that he wasn't the admin but that's besides the point.

So, Cid turned on his Shadow persona and proceeded to sent out the first message to gain dominance over the others. However, he was a bit too slow compared to an angry king who participated without his own volition.

[King of Heroes: Which of you mongrels dared to force me into this mongrels' group chat?!]

[Frozen Death Queen: I suggest we should calm down for a moment, because I think all five of us got roped into this in one weird way or another. While the others are being silent, you wouldn't mind introducing yourself, King of Heroes?]

'King of Heroes' apparently was contemplating about what to type next since he was dealing with someone nicknamed 'Queen'. For what it's worth, someone with that title might be noteworthy.

[King of Heroes: You have a point there, Queen. Then so be it, let's discuss what had gotten us into this in the first place. Then I'll go first since none of the other mongrels are willing to talk.]

.

.

.

While the Admin and the Cook weren't talking for unknown reasons, Cid himself actually felt nervous for the first time ever since he came to this world. He had to close the screen to gather his thoughts and thoroughly think things through before proceeding. Sure, call him schizo, delusional, or whatever; there's no mistaking it. These guys are the real deal.

Not because of their on the nose nicknames, nor their way of speaking, and neither for suddenly name dropping themselves. It's due to one singular reason that he came to this conclusion:

They're typing like boomers!

Cid was sure that none of the girls would chat this even if they had just received the technology for it, and besides, from what he saw, those girls are too busy with their own lives so he knows they won't have time to bother with this side of his delusions.

"Am I... truly fucked now..?" He asked himself, not knowing whether or not he could still pursue his fantasies now that he has to deal with these psycho/sociopaths. The Eminence in Shadow continued wallowing in his despair for being denied from the goals in his life. Now, he has to be more careful not to trigger these other four less he wants a few megalomaniacs coming to his doorsteps.

[The Creator has sent you a private message.]

A notification from somebody that isn't from the group. That means it's most likely the true owner of the chat group and the one behind his misfortune.

[Creator: No]

"Why...?"

[Creator: *sends Cid with depressed Yuji face gif*]

[Creator: Cuz ur my special~ ;)]

Shadow's eyes bulged with the last message as he knew what those words entail.

He wasn't just "truly fucked", he's about to get fucked up beyond all recognition (FUBAR for short).

"No no no no!!! Take it back!! I don't want this! Ya hear me motherfucker?! I said take it baaaaaaccckkk!!!"

While Kirito had the time of his life hanging out with his previous Heroes that now became his friends, Cid Kagenou was having an existential crisis.

A.N: The chapter might've been short but it's probably the hardest I've ever written since I had so little to go off of. Any comments and stuff would be appreciated :)