There is a rule in isekai stories that the stronger the cheat, the stronger the world a person ends up in, and considering that my cheat code is completely overpowered, it makes me start worrying about this world's power scaling.
He smiled through the pain. His cheat code, which he was both satisfied with and frightened by because of its possibilities, was called Slot of Blasphemy. It contains all the paths to godhood from the world of Lord of Mysteries, which is like a Lovecraftian wet dream, already setting off red warning lights.
He has to choose one path as the default, on which he will have to perform the acting method in order to absorb sequences and become one with the path to advance from Sequence 9 to 0. In Lord of Mysteries, the acting method is a way of assimilating the potion and its abilities to make them one's own and not be overwhelmed by the mad will contained within the potion.
From the information he obtained, his cheat can allow him to switch paths and thus use different abilities.
To make it easier to understand, imagine you have one class slot in an MMO game. Normally, once you choose a class, you can't change it, only upgrade the one you picked. With this cheat code, you can change the class in that slot to another whenever you want, using the abilities of whichever class you choose.
And not only that—you can also use abilities of the path not only from Sequence 9 but also from Sequence 8. Of course, this will cost far more spirituality, because even if you can use Sequence 8 abilities, you are still actually at Sequence 9, and your spirituality likewise reflects the spirituality of a Sequence 9 of the path you chose.
Of course, there is a catch. As mentioned before, you must choose a default path on which you will perform the acting method to improve your sequence. For now, that is all he obtained regarding his cheat code, but even that is a tremendous help.
The earlier sequences may not be much better than ordinary human capabilities, but the further you go, the more absurd this cheat code will become. The only thing that worries him is that this world cannot be normal, and it's better to be cautious. The more he thought about it, the more uneasy he became.
Shaking his head, Antares decided to test his ability. "Come on, it's hero time!" He reached for that flickering sensation in his soul, wanting to use a path ability, but he encountered resistance. "What? Why can't I—"
Before he could finish the thought, he slapped his forehead. "I forgot in my excitement—I need to choose a default path first!" He had literally been thinking about it a minute ago, yet he completely forgot. He couldn't stop himself from laughing at his own excitement. "Alright, but which path should I choose? That's an important question."
He focused on the situation. "Although choosing Seer sounds nice, the Sequence 3 ritual is out. Spectator is also a classic option, but I feel like I'd end up in a psychiatric hospital instead of curing others of mental illness.
Considering that this world is 90% super dangerous, there will probably be some fights and skirmishes, and with my isekai hero aura, I won't avoid them—I won't even kid myself, heh." He laughed mockingly, not even trying to deceive himself.
Of course, that doesn't mean he'll rush into every problem, but he knows that complete avoidance isn't an option, especially given his cheat code, whose requirements won't allow him to remain relatively normal.
After thinking for a while, it finally hit him. What path would be not only compatible with him, but also not absurdly difficult to play? That doesn't mean it will be easy, but it's better than nothing. "Hunter! Why didn't I think of that right away?"
Not only should playing it not be that difficult for me, the next sequence is Provoker—Rage Baiter—where I don't even need to explain why that would be easy. Pyromaniac and Conspirator should also work somehow with help from other paths, and Reaper as well. The more I think about it, the Hunter path is perfect for me. As Fors Wall said:
"Hunters must rely more on their personal growth amid blood, fire, chaos, and conflict."
Without thinking any further, he once again reached for that faint sensation in his soul, this time with the intent to choose his default path, understanding that once he chose this path, a normal life would no longer be an option due to its nature.
But knowing that for now he couldn't return home, having appeared in another world and lost everything that had meaning to him—though he didn't fully realize it at that moment—he was slightly unhinged and forced himself into such a situation. This doesn't mean he fell into despair or became apathetic; it simply means he became slightly unstable for the reasons above.
"Alright, we're going with Hunter! Time to conquer this world, haha!" When the default path was chosen, Antares felt a difference. He now felt that his body had become far more agile and stronger, and his senses were drastically enhanced.
Knowledge about setting traps appeared in his mind as if it had always been there. Slightly dazed by the changes that had just occurred, Antares looked around, feeling that he could see everything much more clearly—even small blemishes appeared sharp to his eyes.
His nose even picked up the smell of food that was most likely eaten by the previous owner of this body before Antares arrived here.
"So I've officially become a Beyonder!" He clenched his fist in excitement. "Alright, time to test the main function of this ability."
And as he said, he did just that. He focused on the symbol in his mind that resembled the Red Priest path symbol from his previous life and tried to replace that pattern with the symbol corresponding to the Seer path, wanting to switch paths.
Immediately, Antares felt strength leave his body as if it had never been there, and aside from that, he didn't feel much difference compared to when he wasn't a Beyonder yet.
"Hmm, let's try with concentration," Antares muttered, trying to imagine a mixture of lights that don't exist in the world, and after a short moment, he felt something change.
Opening his eyes, he noticed that the world was more colorful, like with a phone filter applied. This confirmed that he had gained Seer abilities, because a Hunter can't use concentration at Sequence 9 due to low spirituality, which is the exact opposite of a Seer, who is abundant in spirituality.
He immediately switched his path back to Hunter, feeling strength flow through his body again.
"Tsk, I could get used to this," he smiled in satisfaction. "Alright, time to understand where I am and gather information. As always, that's the most important part a good traveler from another world has to do, right?"