NOVEL WEB Chapter 1 – Beginnings
MC POV - ??? - ???
I really don't understand what happened, one moment I was driving back home from the hospital after a 16 hours long shift, the next I found myself here, in what looks like my old high school auditorium, only there are a few details, that really unnerves me, first all around me are fluctuating, transparent light ball, another is that I do not remember my name, and even others little but fundemental things like my family, I know that I had them, I remember many details of my life, what I studied, what movies, anime, show I watched, all the book I read, my job as a doctor, but who my name, my family, or even my exes are lost, and even more strange, my emotions are somewhat numbed, my panic, fear, the anxiety, I slightly feel them, but an unnatural calmness overpower every other emotion and let's not talk about the fact that I can't feel my body, but if the surrounding balls of light are a hint, I'm pretty sure that right now, I'm in like them.
Then I focus on the stage where 33 featureless beings stood tall, while they all look the same, all of them release a different aura and give me different feelings, and just as I was focusing on them, one in the middle moved to the front of the stage and with a voice devoid of any feeling, almost mechanical says.
"Welcome everyone, we are the embodiments of some of the Concept that rules this Omniverse, what you have in common is that you 33 died exactly at the same time to be more precise you all died at the 23h 23m 23s and so all the condition for the Omniversal Battle are fulfilled, now I'll give you some time to digest this, then I'll explain the rest".
So I died, and so did the others around me, and from what this being said, we will have to fight against each other, but how, and what we will get from this, I just wanted to enjoy my life and save as many lives as possible as a doctor but now I can't, as I thought this I heard his voice again.
"Now let's move on, first the Omniversal Battle is a competition, between us, the concept, every one of us will bless one of you to become our champion, and your only objective is to be the last man standing, and the battlefield will be a new Omniverse of our creation, with all the universe in it that you can think of, from animes, cartoon, manga, comics, movies, books, games, porn, nothing excluded, now why did we do this, simple we are bored, and what we gain, well if our Champion wins, the winning concept, will take a fraction of power from the others 32, empowering himself, and bragging right for the eons to come, as for what you gain, first a second chance to live the life you always desired, with most of your memories and personality intact, and the winner will have its own Omniverse to do as he like with it, even becoming a R.O.B. is possible, while the losers will get a more favorable third life, but all their memories will be cleaned".
Well it could be worse, like eternal damnation, if I win, I practically become a God, and if I lose, this "me" will die, but the next "me" will have a better life and since from what I can remember mine wasn't so bad, so if this is true the next "me" will have a happy life, but man, this competition will still be brutal, and I do not know who the others are, they could be an average joe, or a genius, or a saints, or a serial killer, or a pervert, or a politician, now that I think about the last one.....I prefer to have the serial killers, better human being.
"How will this competition work? Simple, there are two ways to defeat an opponent, simply kill it and absorb his blessing, and the second is that it is challenged in an agreed competition, then the challenged one can choose how to compete, it can be anything from rock-paper-scissor to a cooking contest or anything else the only limit is your imagination, in that case, the loser will still lose its blessing, but it will keep its life until the end of its lifespan, will be returned to the starting Universe, and lose the privilege of travel between the Universes. Now on the most important part, The RULES!", So basically if someone challenges me, I can chose to compete in a math contest or something like this, but I'm sure that for some simply ambushing and killing the others is easier, why make this so complicated? So that those that do not want to kill, still have a chance to win?
As I'm digesting what It said, the Concept continues "First Rule, we concept will choose a random souls among you, in the order of the last competition, 1st the winner, 2nd the second place and so on, Second Rule, the soul will choose a world of its choice and a background for its rebirth, be warned you can't choose to be born in an omnipotent race, we want to have fun with this competition, and most fun detail, all the others souls will hear what you choose, so no hiding in an unpopular universe as a long lived race and winning by outliving everyone else, we patched that one flaw, in fact after everyone can travel to another Universe every two years you will be sent to a random universe where you will meet another contestant, and in case of one without a pair he will still be sent to a random one".
And so plan A to avoid combat goes to the drain, now better choose a race with strong fighting potentials, such as Frost Demons, or for those who like to keep their little brother the Saiyans or even better Legendary Super Saiyan, or a Universe where one can gain a lot of power or protection, as you'll never know when you will meet a psycho that want to kill you.
"Third Rule, after one soul choose a starting universe, that universe, and if exist, multiverse that is part of, is locked from the others competitor for 18 years, Fourth Rule, after living 16 years in your universe you can travel to another universe, to grow stronger or to hunt the others or just to explore and have fun you are free to compete like you want, and after changing universe you have to wait at least 1 year to change it again, Fifth Rule, all of you will have a soul bound Terrain, where you can build your "Universe", put your families or lovers or allies so that they can travel with you, or grow some plants, or breed animals, and the stronger your blessing you have, the bigger and better that Terrain will become until it transform in a World, then in a Universe and so on, and Last Rule, if some of you are killed by some other non-competitor beings, or in case of natural death that blessing will go to a Competition Universe as a Prize, a Competition Universe is one where some kind of competition is predominat, it could be some sport, a card game, a fighting tournament and so on you have the choice to partecipate or not, it won't use your travelling quota. Oh one last advice be careful of your choice as some Universes have their own Laws that could negate, let's say for example magic... or even energies like Ki, so you could end up defenseless if you rely only on those, these Laws will stop working on you as your blessing gets stronger. This is all, we can now start with the soul selection, as I'm the winner of the last competition, I'll start!".
The figure raised its hand and from his side a big wheel with 33 numbers on it, then the unknown concept said "On your chair, you can find the number corresponding to you", and so I checked my chair and on it, I found the number 17, not really a lucky number, then I heard the sound of the wheel spinning and focused my attention on it 'Come on, number 17, 17, 17' and after a few seconds that seem like an eternity the wheel stops and the selected number is 32, 'Shit, let's hope he isn't an anime fan.'.
"Congratulation soul 32, you will be my Champion, come here," said the concept still in a monotone voice, then a soul among us moved toward the stage and the concept said, "Now tell us the universe you choose and your backgrounds, think well this is the only advantage you can have if you do not count the Blessing".
After thinking a few seconds the soul says in what clearly is a confident male voice "I want to go in the Dragon Ball Universe, and as background, I want to be born as Gohan's twin brother, but different for him I want to be a Legendary Super Saiyan-Human hybrid" 'Fucking shit, and so plan A goes to the drain, but there is still DxD, Bleach, Naruto, One Piece and Hunter x Hunter that give still a good starting point as an anime, in movie and comics there is Marvel and DC but those have a crazy level of danger, especially the comics ones, so maybe better the MCU and DCEU as there that most you have to worry about are Thanos and Darkseid that yes are dangerous but not at the level of some other comics shit that happens there, talking about movies Star Wars Universe is good too...' then my thinking was interrupted by the monotone voice.
"Good it will be done, Now you will have my Blessing, from now on you are a man of Void, you will be able to survive in the void and will have your affinities to void techniques, magic, etc raised to the max, and this is only the basic Blessing, Now its time for the next Concept to come" And so Void took the soul in his arm and moved to the side, while another concept came and started spinning the wheel.
'Come on 17,17,17 if you come out I won't fap anymore' and soon the wheel stopped on the number 11 and a young voice yelled "Hell Yeah, it's my turn" 'From the voice, he seems quite young... And I already know what he will choose', and, a feminine and sensual voice said "Soul 11 come here my Champion..." and once again a soul moved to the stage, and the new concept said "Now please tell us your choice" and the young soul said "I choose the Highschool DxD Universe, and I want to be born as the son of Lord and Lady Vassago the same year as Rias" 'Called it, what other universe would a horny teen choose to go...? Well, there are a LOT of choices...' and the Concept said "Good Choice, Now I will Bless you, from now on you will be a man of Darkness, you will have an affinity to all is dark and will thrive in its embrace" then Darkness took the soul in her hand and moved aside.
And fast the next concept came and started spinning the wheel, that soon stopped on the number 17 for a few instants then moved on to the number 18 'What the.....is someone mocking me....just for one number...I call foul play!' and a manly voice said "Soul 18, Here!" and as soon as the soul came close he said "Now, speak your choice!" and the soul with a somber male voice said "I choose the DCEU, and I want to be born as a Kryptonian Experiment to create the Ultimate Kryptonian with the DNA of all the best people of Krypton as a last hope for their race to send away in case the planet dies, 5 Year before Krypton Destruction and of course as a male" 'God what a background, and in others universe he will be an almost invincible solar powered alien, memorandum for myself, Red Sun is good' and the manly concept said "AhAhAh it is fate, Now to the Blessing, From now on you will be a man of Yang, you will have affinities to all is Yang and now also the red sun will give you some powers" 'Ok another plan scrapped, can someone gave him the trophy already, no wait, he is vulnerable to magic, there is hope Harry Potter I choose you!'.
And Yang took the soul in his hand and went away, while another concept came and spun the wheel, now I just choose to not look at the wheel as I feel that is sentient and is trolling me, then I hear a voice that change from female, male, young and old every word it spoke "Soul number 13 here" 'Definitely trolling me here! The numbers are all around mine!'. and with a hand gesture it pulled the soul closer and said "Speak..." and so a quite female voice "...I choose the Harry Potter Universe, and I want to be born in 1980 as the daughter of Frank and Alice Longbottom and Neville's twins" then the concept "Ok, now it is time to bless you, From now on you are a woman of Chaos, and chaos will always support you, you will enjoy it" and then Chaos took the soul and left space for the next concept.
'It's is enough, I won't make any more plans when it is my turn I will see what is left if there is nothing good left I will go in the Spongebob Universe to wait for death' meanwhile the wheel stopped and a calm voice called "Soul number 19 come here" once the soul was pulled the concept asked "So what is your choice?" and the soul Old and calm voice said, "Well let's see...ok so I choose the Star Wars Universe to be born in the 57 BBY, as a force sensitive male, I do not care about the race, just not a Hutt" and the concept replies "Very well, and now to the Blessing, From now on you are a man of Balance, nothing will shake you" and then Balance took the soul away.
'Oh come on! How is this random? He chose Star Wars and he got Balance as a Concept, Once again I call hacks, they are cheating, where is the Admin?!' once again the wheel stopped and a fiery voice said "Number 9 here!" and next, a soul was flung towards the stage and the concept said "Now tell me" the soul in an almost arrogant voice said "Heh... As member of the powerful Peng Clan I can only choose that Universe, I choose the Against the Gods Universe, I want to be born in the same year as Yun Che, as a child of Feng Hengkong in the divine phoenix empire, muahahaha it's time to take all the beauties of that world from Yun Che and make my own harem!".
'And now we also have a young master to worry about... Perfect' and the concept said "Done, and now the Blessing, From now on you are a woman of Fire, may you be the one that consume all" in the next instant the soul screamed "WOMAN!!! I am a man, how dare you?.... You... Don't you know who I am?... you are courting death!" but Fire took the soul in his hand and shut him up and said "Well you didn't specify your gender so you had a 50/50 chance tough luck, in your next life you will be a woman, and I DID court Death but she plays for the other team and choose Life" and went away.
'HAHAHA he got gender swapped because he didn't say his chosen gender in the background, and so the harem dream goes away.....unless he goes for reverse harem and start collecting all the handsome men with jade-like skin and other description like these that last for 3 paragraph' and while I was still laughing at the failed wannabe young master the next number came out, and a gentle but profound voice said "Number 16 it's your turn" and once the soul came it said "Go on and state your choice, but learn from the mistake of others and be as detailed as possible", and an old grandmotherly voice said "Well I do not ask for much, so I choose my grandchild favorite show and choose the Pokemon Universe, I want to remain a female and can be born anywhere, but I want to be in well off and loving family" and the concept "Very well, now on the Blessing, From now on you will be a woman of Earth, and all that come from it will love and protect you".
'Ok that grandma is smart in the Pokemon Universe you will live forever unless some evil competitor just goes there to kill her, but it is so big that it will take a while to find her, moreover the human in that Universe are crazy you shock, burn, freeze them and they'll be fine, not even explosion kills them... and now that I think about it all the young ones gave away their Identities while the old ones, were very vague and choose universes where it is hard to find them, the proverb is really true the older the ginger, the more it bites.'.
Once again a concept voice called, this time it was an old voice "Number 21, it's time", and once the soul was there it told us its choice, in a youthful male voice "I choose the Naruto Universe, and I want to be born in the Uchiha clan as a male in the year 26 of Konoha founding" and the concept "Ok, ok it is Blessing time, From now on you are a man of Time, you will have affinities for time-based abilities" then Time took the soul away and another concept took his place, once again.
'Why always Uchiha, and what is the deal with that specific year?' then as I was starting to pray that all the better universe won't be chosen before it is my turn I hear a feminine voice say "I... I choose the Vampire Diares Universe, and I just want to be born in 2012 as a female tribrid" then a grave voice replies "It's done, Soul 2, From now on you are a woman of Gravity, this universal force is yours to use"
'That is some strange choice, the power levels in that universe are not so high, it wasn't even one of my possible choice' as I was lost in thought Soul 26 came forward and said "I choose the One Piece Universe, and I want to be born in a Tenryubito family as a male in the same year as Ace" and the stiff voice of the concept says "Got it, now the Blessing, From now on you are a man of Wood, be careful in the morning... Uheuheuhe"
'Really....just this kind of pun with wood, no other info on the blessing? I didn't think that the Wood concept would be like this....let's hope that the Comedy concept isn't taking part in this', number 5 was a man and he fucked up, big "I choose the Marvel Universe, want to be born as a Male Asgardian" and in a stoic voice the concept says "Done, to the Blessing, From now on you are a man of Destruction, nothing of it will escape you"
'Really he just choose the MARVEL universe nothing specific, he can be born in some really fucked up realities, with all kinds of overpowered beings like Knull, Beyonder ect, I'll pray for his soul' soul number 12 is a woman and her choice makes me a bit worried "I choose the Death Note Universe, and to be born in a well off loving family near the Yagami family of Light as a female" and the concept was even worse "Very well, From now on you are a woman of Karma, nothing will escape your sight"
'Well who does think that a Death Note and the concept ruling the spiritual principle of cause and effect, is a fucked up combo?, because I think I need soul diapers' thankfully soul number 7 made a kinda normal choice "I choose the Kamen Rider Universe and want to be born as a male with the potential to become a Rider" and a female soothing voice says "Very well, and for Blessing, From now on you are a man of Water, may your life flow unobstructed"
'Ok that is a strange one the Riders power varies from a little stronger than a normal human to fucking destroyer of the Multiverse, so not a bad choice' but the choice of soul number 3 almost made me choose the Spongebob Universe "I want to go to the JoJo Universe, and be born as Jotaro Kujo twin brother and be strong enough to support a stand" and the mixed voice of the concept said "Good, From now on you are a man of Fusion, let's fuse all together"
'WRYYYYYYYYYYYYY, I can already imagine a Stand with all kinds of fucked up powers, no! It's hopeless I'll choose the Peppa Pig Universe' my crazy thought was interrupted by soul 30 who choose "I choose the Re: Monster Universe.. Huehuehue, and want to be born as a goblin in the same litter as Ro" and the strangely normal voice of the concept says "Let's just jump to the Blessing, From no on you are a man of Evolution, you will have limitless possibilities"
'That is some curious choice, there are better universe and starting points, but who knows his plan and the concept fits very well with it' now a female voice is heard "Number 23 it is your turn" and 23 fast made is choice know "I choose the Bleach Universe, and want to be directly a male Hollow soul in Hueco Mundo, 200 years before canon" and the concept "Okay, now let's Bless you, From now on you are a man of Decay, may your enemy fall before you" and then went away with the soul.
The next two soul numbers 28 and 25, a man and a girl who chose the Star Trek Universe and the Percy Jackson Universe, one chose to be born as a Vulcan male in the year 2226, the other as a female demigod at same year of the MC, and their concept are Space and Light nothing strange here but soul 22 a young man choose to be born as a random male in Solo Leveling Universe, and the concept is Death.
'But what a surprise another "lucky" combination...Where is the Admin, someone is cheating, cheating I say' and as I was trying to bash my soul for the evident preferential treatment of some souls, soul 27 a woman choose the Lord of the Ring Universe as a female elf and the concept is Order, 'She is going for the magic build, is order magic any good? where is the wiki when you need it', and the next one, soul 31 she chooses Twilight, the same age as Bella in the town with the shitty weather, as a human singer or something like that, and her concept is Dream, yup she is dreaming if she thinks that she can survive like that, even the concept itself seemed annoyed with her choice, and soul number 1 she chooses the Teen Wolf Universe in a random well off family as a woman and chose to be the same age as the MC, and she got the Yin concept.
As I was thinking about the last souls choices, a female voice said "Soul 20 it's your turn" and once again I wait for some other crazy combo of concept and universe, soon the soul started talking in a female voice "I wish to go in the Hunter x Hunter Universe, as and to be born in the Zoldyck Family as Killua big sister" and the concept "Not bad, From now on you are a woman of Reality, may she bend to your wishes" 'But of course a reality-warping assassin nen user, with her family of expert assassin too, a walk in the park... naked when there is snowstorm going on!'
And the next 2 souls numbers 32 and 24, both were young men, one chose the Kirby Universe and choose as his background to be a Kirby his concept is Infinity, while the others choose the Infamous Universe to be born in Empire City as a potential male conduit and the concept is Magnetism.
'One really scary concept with a race that can consume an infinite amount of matter, and a potential comic book Magneto, could be worse, like begin hit in the nuts with a sledgehammer, come on when is my turn? The list of Universes that I know with good power level is getting shorter and shorter, and my chances of surviving getting lower with it, and how in the holy hell Magnetism and Infinity did so bad in the last competition, did some genius choose Doctor Who Universe and Lovecraft Universe and was wiped out by some of the shit that was going on there?'
After those the damned wheel still didn't choose my number, instead, it stopped on the number 4, and soon the soul was called by a silvery voice "Number 4, If you please state your choice" and the voice of a young man says "I-I-I C-chose the Limitless Universe, I want to be b-born in a safe and loving well-off family as a male 14 b-before the story s-start".
Then the concept did the usual "Good Choice now let's Bless you, From now on you are a man of Restoration, may your journey be fruitful" and then Restoration took the stutterer soul away and another took her place, and spun the wheel with power.
'Too much power!! An hour passed and is still spinning...wait is slowing, come on number 17' and in a powerful voice the concept "Number 23 COME HERE!" 'I think I know what concept it is...' meanwhile 23 stated his choice with an old voice "I chose the Transformer Universe, born as a male cybertronian 50 years before Cybertron destruction" then the concept did the ritual "From now on you are a robot of POWER, all I can say to you is... POWER!", Aaand he is gone.
A soul is gone and a soul come this time is number 8, again not me, and in a childish voice he says "I choose the Invincible Universe, born a Mark Greyson younger brother with only one year of difference" and the concept in a shrill voice "From now on you are a man of Metal, may your toughness and sharpness prevail" and then took the soul away.
'And so the discount Kryptonian is gone too, no problem, I just thought of a Universe now forgotten where I can get any power I want, and can create a good foundation, only problem? dangerous as fuck, and just now I realized that I can't talk, I can think yes, but when I want to curse for missing a chance or other things like that, I am unable to talk, must be the concept doing...'
As I was thinking that an ethereal voice called "Soul 33, come here please" 'Of course not me....' then as it comes closer "Now let us know your choice" and 33 states "I c-choose... the Douluo Dalu Universe, I want to be around the same age of Bibi Dong, born in a well off family as a male, with twin spirits with strong potential" and the concept once again in its ethereal voice "It will be done, From now on you are a man of Creation, let your imagination free".
'I hope you kick Yu Xiaogang in the nuts, if we met again and you did it, the beer is on me, Creation if you hear my thought, deliver my offer to your champion' I thought almost as a joke at least until I heard Creation's voice in my head that said 'My champion accepted, but he said that he will still defeat you, but it will through competition'.
'Shit they hear everything...now emergency anti-telepath protocol -♪Baby, Baby, Baby, Ohhhh♪.....no I can't do it better let them hear my thought that thinking of that song' and at that moment I heard another concept voice "The next is soul 14" and once it was on the stage it said "Now dear state your choice" and in a strange feminine voice "I choose the Elder Scrolls Universe, as a woman Reachman 20 years before the canon of Skyrim" and then the concept started its blessing "From now on you are a woman of Growth, your possibilities are endless"
Once again Growth swapped place with another concept and the new one spun the wheel of my misfortune, and once again my number was not chosen 'Come on there were 3 choices how can I be so unlucky, let's hope that no one chose that Universe'
Soul 15 was soon on stage and soon started telling his choice "I want to go in the Prototype Universe, as a new sentient strain of the Blacklight virus branched off from the Alex Mercer's one, at the beginning of the story" 'Holy Mother of baby Jesus F Christ!! If he survives and then goes to the Resident Evil Universe or other with a deadly and powerful virus, we'll have an omniversal pandemic to worry about' meanwhile, the concept started its blessing "From now on you are a....thing of Matter, nothing will escape you" and then went to the side where the other pair of concept and soul were waiting.
Suddenly I "look" at the other soul and I seem to hear the music of the duel of the fates, only I and another soul, while the wheel spun once again, 6, 17, 6, 17, 6, 17 'Yes, Yes, Yes!'..... 6, "Soul 6 come forwards" 'Keep calm, Keep calm, Keep... Calm... ############### ######## ###### ### #######....now I feel better' while I was meditating on the meaning of existance, soul 6 in a cold female voice said "I choose the Terror Infinity Universe, born as an orphan girl in China some 20 year before the start of the story" and the concept started her blessing "From now on you are a woman of Life, may yours be inextinguishable".
'And my plan Y goes to the drain, while there you have to survive the almost impossible challenges, but in exchange, you can gain a hell lot of powers from various Universes, now it only remains plan Z, one of my childhood favorite anime/manga after Dragon Ball and Gundam and with a decent power level with 13 years old star busters'.
Then the last concept came forward and I felt myself moving toward him once I'm near him I notice just how small I'm compared with the concept, then he says in a "Come on soul 17 tell us your choice" and so I said while dreading what kind of concept came last in the previous competition "I choose the Saint Seiya Universe, and I want to be born as the younger brother of Shaina" and the concept then started his blessing by putting his huge hand on me in a jolly voice "From now on, you are a man of Culture, may you learn it and spread it!".
I didn't even have the time to think about what the fuck I did just heard that Void's monotone voice is heard once again "Now that all of you have chosen, its time to start the your journey and send you to your new life, live it, enjoy it, fight for it, may the best one win! The Battle Across The Omniverse Begin!!" then a huge black hole appeared high in the air and sucked all 33 of us in, then I lost consciousness.
