When Draco woke up, his head was in disarray. All his memories were broken into little pieces, and it was difficult for him to remember his own name. Instead of resisting, Draco let some time pass. Soon, he was able to piece everything to its own place, remembering how he had fallen from the cliff.
With a grunt, Draco stood up from his sitting position, looking around. He was in some kind of room. No, rather, in some kind of hall. The ceiling stretched out far above him, and brick walls enclosed him from every direction, except one. There were no windows. "I guess I have to go in there, then?"
Draco walked towards a huge entrance, similar to those that you see in movies when a hero goes to greet the king. Draco pushed them open, this process not requiring a lot of strength. Inside, Draco was greeted with a banquet. A huge table stretched out into the distance. Steaming food, wine, and snacks were spread all over it, illuminated by candles.
However, Draco's attention was drawn to the entity sitting on the other side of the table. It was a figure of an average man…or a woman. Its skin was as white as the hospital's walls, and it had no features, except two black dots where the eyes should be, and a thin dark line instead of a mouth. Currently, that entity was in the midst of devouring an entire chicken.
It seemed to feel Draco's gaze, and the creature tilted its head. "Hello there, employee 903. Come on, don't be shy. Sit down and enjoy this feast, before we get down to business. I am sure dying was a pretty exhausting experience."
Draco contemplated for an instance before sitting down across the entity. Free food? That was an opportunity he had learned to never give up, even if he was technically not alive anymore. First, Draco grabbed a paella, putting half of it on his plate. Then, he grabbed a chicken leg, biting into it, feeling its juices spread all over his mouth receptors.
He ate and ate, till he was full. At that point, the entity was also leaning back on the chair, its eyes slightly closed, probably meaning that it had enough as well. Making eye contact with Draco, the entity nodded and snapped its fingers, causing all the food to vanish. The entity's mouth moved. "You know, you are quite peculiar from all the previous employees. You are the first one who sat down and just ate before asking any questions."
Draco's eyes, however, were still drawn to the table. "How did you that?"
"Oh, yeah, that's your first time seeing something like this, right?" The figure put a hand to its mouth, contemplating something. Then, it smiled. "You have spent your entire life searching for something special on Earth, yet you stumble upon magic right after dying. Quite ironic."
"Teach me," Draco stated, his pupils trembling.
Smiling, the entity continued. "Those eyes are exactly the reason why you are here, Draco, so I guess your life wasn't pointless in the end." Then, the entity stood up, clasping its hands. "You really are such a fascinating creature. Your mind just works in a different way, does it?"
Draco opened his mouth, then clasped it shut. This creature had been spitting facts about his life in more detail than his memories registered them. Standing up as well, Draco stared at the creature. "Are you a God?"
The entity moved its palms to the left and right. "No, no, there is no such a thing as a God. No such thing as absolute. I am just a Creator of this universe, that's it."
"Creator?" Draco raised an eyebrow.
"Yep, I'm basically the inventor of each and every world in this universe. I have granted life and aided evolution, then provided the living beings on my worlds with sufficient resources and conditions to stay alive." The entity mumbled, as if deep in its thoughts. "Fun fact: Earth was my first and, in my opinion, my perfect creation. Though, of course, humans got a bit greedy and abused their powers, so it's slowly deteriorating."
"I am getting a bit confused now…" Draco frowned. "Why am I even here? I feel like I breaking some unstated laws standing before you?"
"Finally, a question that you should have asked long ago. And, yes, you are technically not allowed to meet me, but it's whatever." The entity snapped its fingers again, causing the table to disappear. Instead, in its place, the round shape of Earth materialized alongside the Milky Way. "If you remember, I called you my number 903 employee, Draco. Naturally, that means that I have some work for you, which, I believe, you wouldn't mind, considering the kind of life you have lived."
"A job?" Draco asked with a bit of skepticism, though his blood had been boiling since long ago.
"Yeah. By the way, everyone just calls me Cal. I find 'Creator' a bit too formal for my liking." Cal said, moving its fingers as the Earth spun diagonally. "Anyway, to really explain everything to you, I must start from the beginning. A lot of my previous employees got confused when I just explained what they had to do straight away."
Draco nodded.
Cal smiled. "You really are strange, you know that? Normal people wouldn't take this much information so indifferently. Though that's what I like about Earth, everyone's so different." Lingering in that thought for a few seconds, Cal clasped its hands, causing the floating image to zoom out, revealing a bunch of different galaxies. "As I said previously, Earth was the first world I created, and for that reason, it is special. All the countless other worlds that I have created were different. They…had a certain design that would always play out."
"What do you mean?"
"It means that in every parallel universe, the fate of a world would be the same in the end. Actually, the plot of all my created worlds is written down in all of the comic books, films, and animes of your world." Cal stated. "I had a soft spot for Earth, so I implanted knowledge into certain individuals for them to spread my creation."
Draco put a hand to his chin. "Does that mean that all those words I have always dreamed about are actually real?" Seeing Cal nod with a smile, Draco continued, adrenaline in his veins. "Can I go there?"
"Not so fast, Draco. Calm down a bit, we are getting there." Cal zoomed back into Earth. "Resuming, the first thing you have to realize is that Earth is different. Unlike other worlds, it doesn't have a clear story that it should follow. There are some important historical characters, but ultimately, there is no main protagonist who has plot armor, and there are no inherently evil people who always get unlucky at the end of a story. Every parallel Earth has a different story. That's why it is so fascinating to watch it, for even I don't know which course it might take."
Draco nodded, trying to take in as much information as possible, believing it would turn extremely important later on. Draco watched, as Cal's hands forced the hologram to zoom out again. "Moving on, Draco, you have to realize that there is an order in my world. There is no such thing as evil or honorable, there is simply a predetermined order as to how things should go. And, if that order breaks for some reason, the entire world might collapse and vanish from existence."
"Now, for me, each world has a special place in my heart. It's like seeing a kid die in front of you, so, of course, I want to prevent that." Cal snapped its fingers, as a huge disgusting worm formed on the screen. Draco frowned, seeing that it was bigger than even some planets. "This is what I called the 'Mysthral'. A nasty creature." With another snap, Draco saw the worm separating its body into little, minuscule parts, as that entire swarm of worms flooded into various planets. Earth was the only one that was free of them.
"Mysthrals are still somewhat of a mystery to me, but they definitely came out from somewhere far away. Perhaps from the separation between two universes." Cal's voice turned threatening, and Draco saw what was perhaps a frown on its face. "They are intelligent and cunning. Their sole purpose is to destroy and murder my kids, and they feed upon that, becoming stronger. Basically, in simpler terms, they infect certain characters in the stories that you have read, and those characters alter the story with their deviant actions. Do that a few thousand times in each parallel world - voila, a world is destroyed. My precious little kid going by the name 'Lord of the Rings' has already faced such a consequence, and I have sworn to not let that happen again!"
Draco felt the wrath within Cal's voice, sensing the urge to step back. "With all due respect, Cal, I don't understand one thing. Why can't you just destroy this thing? If you are powerful enough to create planets, I am sure removing this worm is not difficult."
"As I have said already, I am just a mere Creator. Nothing more. I can't fight, can't destroy, can't protect. I can only create." Cal's voice turned sour. "But I can employ my own creations to fight in my stead, but considering that you are my 903th employee, I guess it isn't going that well."
Before Draco could voice his question, Cal continued. "I guess you already understood that being my employee means that I would send you to different worlds to annihilate this infectious creature. In return, you would receive rewards and powers that you have been wishing to have since your childhood."
Draco didn't hesitate at all. "I am down."
Cal smiled. "I know that this has always been your dream, but you should really think about it. Lots of employees have already died previously, and most of them during their first three missions. Napoleon Bonaparte and Marcus Aurelius were the ones who set records for most missions completed, yet, even they, in the end, died. And if you die again, your soul is simply going to evaporate. You will no longer have any thoughts, no longer have a conscience, you will simply not exist. However, if you choose to leave, you would get sent to an after-live, living a leisurely life there."
"I said I am down. This what I have been wishing for my entire life." Draco answered, determination in his eyes. "Though, I do want to ask another question. Why can't you just grant me enough power so that I wouldn't die and annihilate all of those worms?"
"A good question." Cal snapped its fingers again, the hologram vanishing. "I am not absolute, Draco. There are still some rules that I have to consider. And one of the fundamentals is that I can't grant power without any reason. You have to work for it. Don't worry, though, if I employ you, I am not just going to send you into a world like Naruto, where every cannon fodder could kill you. I am going to send you into places, where I believe you have the possibility to succeed, though, as you can imagine, that's not going too well. Mysthrals are deep-cunning. Once they attach themselves to a body, their power grows. Furthermore, the more they distort the story, the higher their level becomes. Sometimes, unlucky employees can't even find Mysthrals, or they just get killed by normal characters."
"I think I understand the core of it, though," Draco answered, thinking deeply again. "So, basically, I go to the other worlds, locate and kill those worms, get rewards, and get stronger. Does it matter if I interfere with the story, or do I have to stay hidden?"
"No, you can do whatever you want. Ultimately, if a few parallel worlds go awry, it is fixable, but if the same thing repeats thousands of times, then it is a problem." Cal mumbled. "It's a really tedious job. The frustrating thing is that I can't even help you in any way. I can feel the world and timeline which is infected, but I can't locate exactly who is infected."
"Yeah, it does seem pretty annoying to deal with." Draco nodded. "Are there any other employees operating right now? I don't see why you wouldn't just have a bunch of people operating at the same time to fasten the process."
"Another good question, Draco. You really are quite bright despite stabbing yourself multiple times." Cal grinned, though Draco got a bit taken aback, not knowing whether to be insulted or not. "The biggest issue is: only deserving people get transported to this realm upon their death, and I can tell you one thing, very few people do. Basically, Draco, you were chosen, probably due to your extreme willpower."
"Fortunately," Cal continued. "Employees number 697 and 782 are still alive and thriving. They have already had their first missions. You will probably intersect with them at some point if you manage to stay alive long enough, as there are some cases, where eliminating Mysthrals is simply impossible to do alone."
Draco thought for some time, processing the information. He imagined fighting for survival, gaining new power, joining hands with those other employees…and just finally feeling alive. His hands turned into fists. "So, do I have to sign some form or something?"
"You are funny. That is something humans created just because of their paranoia. Your words are enough." Cal swiped its hand, Draco suddenly seeing an ethereal glow encompassing him. "If you say 'system' aloud, a translucent screen should appear before your face. You will see all your stats and the shop. It's something I created to keep track of my employees' progress and to give them appropriate awards. Quite exciting, right?"
"System," Draco said aloud, a screen appearing before him.
"Others can't see it, so no need to hide it," Cal said, the tips of its mouth lifting upwards. "Draco, you have been smiling since a while ago. Are you that excited about your new job?"
"I am." Draco didn't try to keep his mouth from exploding into a smile, revealing a set of white teeth. His eyes scanned the contents written on the screen. Cal nodded approvingly. "If you concentrate on one part of your information, you should be able to see its description."
-
Name: Draco Ashvale
Age: 18
Title: Unhinged Lunatic, Cal's Employee Number 903.
Level: 1 (0%)
Strength: 5
Agility: 6
Perception: 5
Stamina: 6
Intelligence: 4
Willpower: 189
Luck: 25(Unchangeable)
Stat Points: 0
*Skills: None
*Summons: None
*Equipment: None
Coins: 0
-
"By the way, the average for a normal person is around 3 in each aspect," Cal added, letting Draco understand that his stats were quite good, especially his willpower and luck. He had never felt that lucky, but surviving the torture he had put himself through probably meant that it was true.
Other than that, Draco felt that the stats were pretty much accurate.
He concentrated on skills, summons, and equipment, but nothing popped out.
"You can't do that because you have none of them. If you are confused though, skills are basically like superpowers. I guess summons and equipment are self-explanatory." Cal said and Draco nodded. He then tried to concentrate on coins and three other screens popped out.
-
[Skills: EX, SSS, SS, S, A, B, C, D, E, F]
[Summons: EX, SSS, SS, S, A, B, C, D, E, F]
[Equipment: EX, SSS, SS, S, A, B, C, D, E, F]
-
Focusing on skills, specifically the EX ranked one, a list of them appeared. Draco scrolled through the list, seeing that most of them were priced over a million coins. He guessed that was a lot. He saw the skill [Time Stop] from JoJo and [100%] from Mob Psycho. In the equipment department, he saw weapons like [Excalibur] and [Death Scythe]. On the other hand, summons were the most pricey, but probably the most helpful, for he could literally buy any character from those fantasy worlds. Though, if they died, he wouldn't get a refund.
It was all really fascinating and Draco couldn't remove the smile from his face. His hands were almost trembling with excitement. However, there was one thing that made him frown. Focusing on his title, Draco almost choked when he saw what appeared.
[Unhinged Lunatic: This title proves that you are a crazy psycho, who is willing to stab and shoot himself multiple times in order to achieve the desired goal. Similarly, this title also proves that people should stay away from you if they don't want to be harmed, for you are simply unstable]
He felt a nerve popping out on his forehead.
[Cal's Employee Number 903: This title enables the usage of skills from all different worlds, without any constraints or repercussions on the body. Additionally, this title grants the ability to comprehend all languages as if they were the user's mother language. Finally, this title constantly perceives the user's surroundings, and the user would be alarmed when a Mysthral is in a 5-meter radius]
His nerves subsided as he read on. This title was quite useful. The first two parts cleared a lot of issues and confusion on his part, and the third one would probably aid him quite a lot.
"This is something everyone is given," Cal stated, prompting Draco to nod.
Removing the screen, Draco continued. "So what now?"
"Now, it will be your first mission, Draco. There is no point in any more useless talk, for even I can feel your excitement. However, things start slow. You will not be plunged into a world of fairies for your first mission, so don't be discouraged." Cal swiped its hand, creating a cotton chair. "But it will definitely be hard. There is no such thing as easy in this job, so try to stay alive. I have high expectations for you."
"Sure, any more tips?" Draco asked, hoping to receive some information.
Cal sat down on the chair, sighing and leaning back on it, like an old man after a long walk. "Usually, there is more than one infected in a world, and worms recognize their fellows, so they join their hands. Remember, their ultimate goal is to spread chaos and destroy the story as much as possible. Usually, they would hunt the main characters first. Honestly, each case is different, but I think you should manage."
Cal's face turned serious. "And always make sure that you have killed those worms. Once they are done and know that they have caused enough chaos to distort the story, they teleport to other worlds and continue to do the same. However, the worms can't teleport whilst occupying someone's body, and it usually takes them around 10 seconds when they leave their hosts."
Draco wrote down the information in his brain. It started to hurt a bit from all this overflow of knowledge, but the excitement of his future subsided some of the pain. Cal continued. "I think that's everything on my part. There are some things I haven't said yet, but you should figure them out on your own. Now, should I send you to your first mission?"
Draco took a deep breath, remembering his last 11 years of useless struggling. Then, he took a step towards Cal, face determined and wondrous. "I am ready." One swipe of Cal's hand and Draco's vision went dark.