William Graham - The Empath

Will Graham was lying in bed when the screens appeared in his mind. His eyes flickered as he read through the messages, a faint hope blossoming in his heart. He started to select Easy Mode but stopped almost immediately.

Easy Mode... He didn't want Easy Mode after years of being stuck in this bed. Any choice he took would cure him but Easy Mode was only the least starting point in this new world.

His eyes found the Random Option. He had always liked to gamble.

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Tears poured out of Will's eyes as he moved his body for the first time in years. He could feel again. His limbs responded to his commands now. Unbidden, a laugh bubbled out of his throat. He had hoped but never expected he would walk again.

After a while, Will stood up straight and looked around at his environs. He stood at the shore of a clear blue lake with iridiscent fish dancing through it. Behind him was a forest, with large trees and plenty of undergrowth. The sky was blue and a yellow sun was halfway obscured by a large cloud. The air was clean and refreshing.

It was beautiful.

The screens had told him this was a B-Class Realm. He could enjoy the use of his new body by exploring.

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The first creature he met was a wolf. Instead of fur, it had a green mosslike coating on its skin and its eyes glowed dark green. It had long claws and its teeth, dripping with saliva, looked like knives.

He had walked into a clearing where it feasted on a fat boar. The wolf's snout lifted up from where it was buried in the boar's side and it turned to him. It started padding towards him.

Will felt fear race through him at the sight of the animal but also felt equal amounts of excitement.

He activated his first Talent.

[Talent - Empathic Bond]

He recalled the feeling of fear he'd felt when a truck had smashed into his parents' car. He recalled the grief when he survived and his parents didn't. He remembered being told he had a brainstem hemorrhage. He remembered being unable to move his body, his mind active and locked into his flesh.

He drew upon all those negative emotions he'd had to live with for a long time and afflicted them upon the wolf.

Fear. Guilt. Anger. Grief. Hopelessness. Despair.

The wolf whimpered and stopped in place. Its legs gave out and it crashed into the forest floor, its chest heaving.

Breathing slightly hard, Will stepped forward and activated his second talent.

[Talent - Energy Drain]

He touched the wolf's snout and its eyes, wet and sad, looked into his.

He drained it.

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Jason Marlow - The Boxer

Jason Marlow had lived for over 70 years and wished to live even longer. He had always enjoyed waking up to another day, no matter the circumstances. He loved the feeling of blood rushing in his veins, adrenaline pumping throughout his body.

At a young age, he had convinced his parents to sign him up for martial arts classes and he took to them like a fish to water. At 18, he joined a boxing club and eventually won several trophies before a tragic loss that left him unable to fight again.

Despite his advanced age, he always woke up early to exercise, practicing his boxing forms to keep fit.

When the System Message appeared to him, he picked Easy Mode, expecting his son and grandchildren - who lived nearby - to do the same so they could be together.

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Taking Easy Mode made him appear in a village. It looked like one of those picturesque resorts you could find on postcards. Everyone had an hut for themselves and there was plenty of food, along with a fountain in the middle of the village with perpetually clean water. There was a river outside the village, a forest full of fruit bearing plants and tame animals and lots of space.

Jason searched the entire village and saw many of his neighbours but not his son, daughter-in-law or grandchildren. Although he was worried about them, he settled in to enjoy the impromptu holiday.

Also, he remembered something about a free Talent.

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The first sign of trouble came in the form of a mishap in the forest.

A group of young men had ventured into the forest on the third day, bored without access to all those brain-rotting electronics. Jason approved. Back in his day, a true man was a man of action.

They came back with nearly all of them injured in one form or another. At first, everyone in the village was worried about wild beasts but they learned it had been from a fight between the boys.

They seemed to have settled their argument but there was an air of tension about them for the next few days.

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On the night before transfer back to Earth, Jason couldn't go to sleep from worry about his children. He left his hut and took a walk down to the river to calm his mind.

On his way back, he saw one of the young men sneaking about. This one was a somewhat short, thin male, average looking and in his early twenties. Jason remembered him as the one with the most injuries from the fight.

The youth had just exited the hut of one of the other men and was sneaking towards another.

"Hey!!! What are you doing over there?" Jason barked at him.

The boy panicked and froze in place for a moment before running towards Jason.

Jason saw him lift an arm towards him. From his wrist a blade protruded over his hand. In the moonlight, Jason saw blood on the wristblade..

Long ingrained instincts took over and Jason moved. He turned his torso, allowing the blade to slide past his side. He stepped into the boy's personal space, curling his hand into a fist and let it fly with all his strength, hammering into the boy's chin.

The boy fell but Jason didn't see him fall.

His eyes were on the screen that appeared to him.

[Killed T0 creature, +1,826 Essence]

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Alice Wigdahl - The Ghoul

Alice was a rising model before it all happened. She had nearly a million followers on her Instagram and had been receiving offers from popular brands. She had money, but more importantly, she had beauty.

Now, all of that was gone.

Alice had appeared in a dark, gloomy Realm with the intense feeling that something was wrong. Her instincts were right.

First it started with her feeling out of breath and then a crushing pressure that encompassed her from all directions. Then there was the burning all over her skin, like acid being placed bit by bit on every inch of her.

The pain was so overwhelming she found herself losing consciousness.

When she next woke up, she almost hadn't noticed anything wrong. The urgent blinking red screen in front of her eyes stole her attention.

She read it once, twice and took a few seconds to process what she had read. Slowly, she raised her hands to eye level.

She screamed.

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[Realm Transfer Complete. Welcome To The F Class Realm - Tryvas.]

[Detecting Incompatible Environment. Deteriorating Physique. Altering Physique to Adapt to Realm Conditions. Physique Deterioration Progressing Too Rapidly.]

[Complete Physical Overhaul And Reconstruction Required.]

[Reconstructing To Realm's Primary Inhabitants Physique. Retrieving Physique Template. Adapting Physique...]

[Physique Adaptation Complete.]

[New Physique Gained: Human Physique (Earth Humes) - Tryvasha Physique (Tryvas Ghoul)]

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Alice didn't know how long she sat there. She couldn't even cry like she used to anymore. Whatever... thing she'd turned into didn't make noises like humans did. Trying only emitted high-pitched wails that made no sense.

After a while, she looked around at her surroundings. The gloom that had been impenetrable to her was now clearer to her. The environment was flat and boring, with no distinguishing features to note. Everywhere in her sight was a dark brown plain obscured with the dark, gloomy fog that barely moved in the wind. Off in the distance, she could make out a giant structure. It seemed that was the only place she could find life.

Alice had played games before so she knew what to do. Find monsters, kill them and level up. The only way she was going to be able to get her body back was becoming more powerful.

So she stood up, her body moving liquidly, and started striding towards the structure in sight, determined not to focus on how she looked now.

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Either the concept of distance in this Realm worked differently or Alice could now move faster than she had been able to. She had very quickly arrived at the structure she sighted. It was a massive, ugly building made of some type of black glossy metal.

At the front of the building was a wide open entrance, with the fog so thick she could only barely see an wide hallway in. Mentally taking a deep breath because she wasn't able to do so physically, she walked in.

She instantly found herself in a darkened room, not at all the hallway she had seen. All around her were strange instruments and what looked to be a bloodstained table. To her left was a closed door she quickly ran to but she was unable to figure out its opening mechanism.

She fought the rising panic within her by clenching her fists hard enough that her fluid insides trembled.

'Hello,' a voice appeared in her mind.

She let out a fluty shriek of surprise and fear.

'Oh, did I scare you? I must apologize for that,' the voice said, carrying an undertone of amusement. 'I just thought we wouldn't be able to communicate effectively otherwise.

Who are you, she thought. Did you bring me here?

'Hmmm, I did.'

Why?

'Well, I was curious. The descent of several newly integrated being on a ruined world and one so close to my abode. And I even got to witness a physical transformation performed by the Origin,' a flicker of excitement appeared in the mental voice. 'I couldn't help myself.'

There are others here? Where are they?

'Oh, a few and I imagine there must be even more across the Realm. Most of them are, shall we say, acquainting themselves with the local fauna and flora. Hmmm, nice words. Flora and fauna. Anyways, you shouldn't bother yourself with them. I brought you here to make an offer to you.'

Why would I listen to you? You... You kidnapped me.

'Aside from the fact that you probably wouldn't survive without my help,' a laughing reply.

Alice was affronted. Who was this being to tell her she couldn't survive alone.

'You haven't even allocated your Integration rewards. If I hadn't cleared away the monsters in your path, you wouldn't have made it here,' the voice said. 'My offer is one you would want.'

What is the offer?

'I can give you your old body back,' the voice said and Alice's heart metaphorically jumped a beat. 'In return, you let me study the changes wrought upon you.'

Alice was excited but she tried to keep a cool head. 'How do I know you can do this? How do I know you aren't lying?'

The door she had been leaning against suddenly vanished and she turned to see an horrifying visage.

'I am an Utopian. Bodies and minds are my specialties.'

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Ji Ming - The Firebrand

Ji Ming was a fat, lazy procrastinating otaku who lived in his parents' basement and he liked it like that. Considering the fact that his parents were billionaires and the basement was bigger than some people's homes and filled with all the comforts he could hope for, he would say he was doing better compared to most otakus.

Okay, maybe sometimes he wished to be transported into other world's but that was all jokes. I mean, why be the guy that got isekaied when you could watch or read about that guy without all the risks of doing it all yourself.

And sure, it was cool imagining yourself as the hero of an apocalypse, killing every enemy in the way, gathering an impressive repertoire of powers, some that would probably be forgotten after a few chapters, and building a harem of the smartest and most beautiful women in the world but... That was all too troublesome.

Still, he was an otaku and he would be ashamed of himself if he just picked Easy Mode or Normal Mode when the otaku's dream came to pass. Which was why he picked Hard Mode.

Hey, hard mode was good, too. Not all protagonists had to be faced with daunting odds at the start. Hard Mode was good enough.

He made sure to take a pre-packed bag of snacks and drinks before the timer ran out, though. No way in hell was he going to enter another world without supplies. No need to make things too hard, no?

He didn't forget to send a derogatory message to that one noob who'd been arguing with him on a gaming forum. Sure, the guy probably wasn't ever going to see the message but best to get some catharsis before he left.

A new phase of his life was about to begin. This was the start of his legend; the legend of Ji Ming.

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Ji Ming appeared in an empty alley in an empty city. The alley stank and made him feel dirty but he endured it, staying there to allocate his rewards before moving. As soon as he was done, though he got the hell out of there. If the smell influenced him to make his decisions faster than he normally would, well, that didn't matter.

Ji Ming had chosen his skill first, picking the skill Fireball. Who didn't want to throw Fireballs around like a wizard? His free attribute levels had obviously gone to Arcana, because that was obviously the magic attribute. He kept his Essence Points banked just in case and went on to choose from his available Talent choices.

He had gotten the Talent Sylph's Constitution, because that was obviously an Elemental Transformation type ability or had the potential to become one and those abilities were the coolest types to him. He had felt a refreshing wave of energy encompass his body at the Talent selection and transform it.

Even now, without actively trying to use the Talent, he felt his body was lightened. Every step he took was faster, every action just a touch freer. He jumped on the spot and went higher than he'd ever been able to. Even descending, he felt like he was a leaf carried on a gentle wind, floating down to land softly.

So caught up in his newfound changes was he that he didn't pay attention to his surroundings. The city he'd appeared in looked long abandoned, with all the structures breaking apart. The architectural style was weird, with all the buildings, most of which were multiple stories, built in pentagonal shapes. The street he was on was wide and paved and had multiple narrow side streets leading away.

An eerie silence shrouded the street, with only the sound of Ji Ming's laughter breaking it.

Ji Ming decided to try out his Fireball ability and stopped running around testing his new agility. He cupped his hands together and reached for the knowledge that had appeared in his mind when he got the skill.

Slowly, an orb of flickering flame appeared between his palms. Ji Ming grinned as the ball grew to the size of a tennis ball and held it in one hand.

"Oh man, this is so cool!" he exclaimed.

He didn't see what hit him but he felt a sharp pain in the back of his head and his vision dimmed, the fireball detonating in his palm. He vaguely heard some people speaking in an unfamiliar language before his consciousness gave out.

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Vanessa Williams - The Sensor

Vanessa hated hangovers but could never quite bring herself to quit drinking as much, especially when she hung out with the crew. When she found herself waking up with a pounding headache and a dry mouth, she wasn't very surprised.

She kept her eyes closed for a few moments, grateful that for once the sun wasn't trying to dig its way through her eyes. There was also something hard digging into her back, probably one of her shoes. That usually happened a lot; her throwing her things on the bed and sleeping like that when drunk.

She only noticed something was wrong when she opened her eyes and noticed a pointed piece of rock right above her eye. Despite her hangover, she rolled away quickly from the stalagmite - or was it stalactite? Whichever type of rock formation it was.

Vanessa seriously considered going teetotaler right then. She'd woken up in some weird places after getting drunk - including in a lesbian orgy, which had been kind of weird but cool - but this took the cake. She was very sure - make that almost sure - she had gone to sleep in her bed the last night.

She remembered rolling around in bed and some nearly forgotten dream about screens and superpowers. In the theme of blue. Dreams were weird that way.

The floor of wherever she was - because she clearly wasn't in her bedroom anymore - was wet, slimy and littered with rocks and stalagmites. Yeah, stalagmites were the ones that jutted out of the ground. She remembered that now.

Good job, brain. Why not focus on how she had gotten there? That was clearly the pertinent question here. Not which stupid rock formation was which.

She scrambled to her feet and glanced around at her surroundings, taking it in as slowly as she could without aggravating her headache. She was in some sort of dark, wide cavern, which she could only make out because of the numerous lumps on the walls and floor giving off a soft, bluish light. Luminous fungi?

Where on Earth was she?

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Although her hangover was affecting her mental faculties just a bit, Vanessa felt she could safely conclude that she was no longer on Earth. Or at least, not on the Earth she knew of. Was this some parallel universe or something?

Had to be. Otherwise, she didn't know how a fucking lizard could breathe fire. A lizard. She had tried to make her way out of the seemingly unending cavern, moving in the direction where the luminous mushrooms grew in larger clusters. She reasoned that more light had to be safer.

She had been moving along when an insect of some kind floated past her, almost completely silent. She only had time to see blue and yellow patterns along its abdomen when a jet of flame nearly a foot in length streaked through the air to roast the insect.

She would have jumped in fright had the sudden flash of light and heat not triggered a painful ache in her head. So she just stood where she was, cradling her head in her hands as she watched a lizard peel itself off a stalactite to feast on the dead body of the insect in quick, rapid bites before climbing onto a stalactite and blending into background.

The sight of it sent chills down her spine. The lizard was a neon blue colour, with darker streaks running through its scales. It was over two feet in length with its tail taking up nearly half its length. It had no eyes and its face was almost completely occupied by its mouth.

Staying still like it was, it looked just like one of the luminous fungi, just not as bright. If she hadn't seen it just move into that position, she wouldn't have guessed it was there. How many fire-spitting lizards were hidden in plain sight around her? Watching her like unaware prey.

Vanessa took a deep breath and started backtracking. Maybe more light wasn't safer.

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Vanessa quickly found herself in an area of the cavern with less fungi coverage. Although the sparser blue fungi reassured her that there were fewer fire-breathing lizards around her, the lesser visibility creeped her out. Her imagination couldn't wait to throw out ideas about what lurked in the dark, each more horrifying than the last.

Only the fact that she had actually seen and confirmed the existence of the fire-breathing lizards prevented her from going back to more brightly lit regions.

Her mind didn't help, though, constantly making every shadow seem like a monster to her. As she walked aimlessly, one large patch of darkness caught her attention and a few moments of staring at it had her mind conjuring up images of a shadowy hellcat with tentacles for limbs, needle teeth and extendable hair that could drain blood out of other creatures.

Ridiculous and not what she needed. Wait, did the shadow... move?

Vanessa's heart started pounding hard as the shadow started to move in her direction. "Shit! Shit! Shit! This isn't happening," she muttered rapidly, the words stumbling over each other. "I am not dying to... whatever that is."

She moved backwards as fast as she could without running, keeping her eyes on the shadow as she did. She almost tripped on a sharp, broken off stalactite and picked it up immediately. The crude weapon immediately emboldened her and she slowed, gripping the rock tightly and preparing to fight.

"I can take it," she uttered as confidently as she could.

The creature stepped onto a dense cluster of luminous fungi and, for that moment, the seemingly ever-present shadow concealing it peeled back a little.

"What the fuck is that?" Vanessa couldn't help cursing. The creature looked almost like she had imagined, except uglier and deadlier.

A blue flash appeared at the corner of her eye and she reflexively glanced at it.

*Passive Skill: Identification*

[Nightmare Hellcat

Tier: Tier 1???

Age: ???

Race: Dungeon Creature

Threat Level: Fatal]

Vanessa didn't consider what a screen was doing in front of her face. She turned and ran.

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A passage from The First Bestiary in an old copy found in the depths of the Endless Archive. The Librarian recommends newer transcriptions.

One of the ###### races integrated into the ###### Realms, Utopians are primarily explorers and researchers ###### all the Realms. Their saturation in the Endless ###### is only third to ###### and ######. A popular claim is that in every Integrated Realm, there is at least one Utopian. Whilst this claim is ###### false, it shows how widespread the Utopians are.

Utopians are known to have the ###### to split their minds into several ######, allowing them to have multiple ###### different bodies at the same time. The ###### are not widely spread and whether or not it is a ###### granted by the Origin or an ability specifically ###### by ###### is unknown.