Three months of deep and careful consideration could not prepare me for this crazy decision I was about to make.
Well, quite frankly, no amount of time could prepare a man for a fate of eternal damnation and madness.
These thoughts passed through my head as I laid on my side, feeling the cold chill of the metal floor belonging to the cargo container, the one on the edge of NQSC which I had called home for a while. But even the cold could not distract me from what I held in my hand—a simple, crystalline flask filled to the near brim with a pale black liquid, held inside by a simple cork. Countless bubbles rose from the bottom of the flask while a soft, muffled sound of a gavel hitting a wooden surface echoed from inside, reminiscent of the inside of a court.
thud! thud! thud!
Just as another round of thumping echoed from inside the bottle, my attention shifted to the simple white label that was plastered on the container. On it were written words that seemed ancient, so ancient in fact that all languages seemed to originate from them. Yet, Despite not knowing this language, the meaning was clear, and it told me all I needed to know about the contents of the bottle.
Sequence 9: Lawyer
Yes, this was a beyonder potion. A sequence 9— the first step into the alluring path to power— was right in my hand. Of course, that wasn't the weird part here. The weird part was that I was currently in the outskirts of NQSC, in the brutal world of shadow slave, while also having the key to the power system of Lord of mysteries right in my hand.
My eyes once again shifted from the bottle in my hand to the two pairs of lines of similar bottles, each filled with liquids of various colors and effects, all holding the similar white label.
Sequence 8: Barbarian
Sequence 7: Briber
Sequence 6: Barron of Corruption
Sequence 5: Mentor of Disorder
Sequence 4: Earl of the Fallen
Sequence 3: Frenzied Mage
Sequence 2: Duke of Entropy
Sequence 1: Prince of Abolition
And...
Sequence 9: Arbiter
Sequence 8: Sheriff
Sequence 7: Interrogator
Sequence 6: Judge
Sequence 5: Disciplinary Paladin
Sequence 4: Imperative Mage
Sequence 3: Chaos Hunter
Sequence 2: Balancer
Sequence 1: Hand of Order
And at the end of each of these parade of glassy soldiers were two objects. The first could barely be called an object, considering it was literally just a black void with nothing to see. Revolving around it like planets were two other items whose existence was as hazy as mist, as if existing between reality and illusions.
These were, of course the uniqueness of the Black Emperor pathway and the two corresponding Sequence 1 Prince of Abolition characteristics.
On the other line was a brass covered book with intricate patterns engraved upon its cover, and revolving around it were two simple wooden gavels. The uniqueness of the Justiciar pathway and the two Sequence 1 Hand of Order characteristics.
All of these various items had appeared next to me when I had transmigrated. Refusing to Interacting with anything but me, while also stalking me, always near no matter how far I ran.
This was one of the hard decisions I had to make. The first, was of course whether to take a potion or not. On this, I didn't really had much of a choice, because, I was almost certain that I had already been infected by the spell.
Back when I had just spawned into this world, and still dizzy from the aftermath of having my surroundings suddenly changed, I had heard it. The voice of the spell. I didn't remember exactly what was spoken word for word, but they were most definitely a welcome, just like when any aspirant enters their first nightmare. When things finally calmed down, I had thought that I was already in my 1st Nightmare after, but that thought was eventually discarded. Not just because I was dreading such a possibility, but more so because that's not how a Nightmare—at least the first one—worked.
But this meant that I was most definitely getting thrown into the dream realm when the winter solstice arrived. That, or I was getting into my first nightmare sometime before the solstice. And I would definitely be more than happy to become a beyonder before any of that happened.
And now that the 1st decision was already made...
Hiss...
It was time for the 2nd.
Well, considering my luck as a transmigrator, I can atleast already guess where I'll be sent off to by the damn spell. That makes things a bit easier atleast.
I was most definitely about to be sent to the deadly forgotten shore, the graveyard of sleepers. So, I had picked the pathway accordingly.
And now, only the dreadful truth remained in front of me, or rather, the potion.
Ah, yes, of course. You just had to give me the perfect mixture of brutality and cosmic horror. The best of both worlds!
If I had to choose which webnovel world was the worst to live in, I would most definitely name Lord of mysteries and shadow slave. One for the hidden unknown dangers originating from the power system itself, and the other for the brutal world itself which was constantly trying to devour you. Whoever you are that sent me to this world, count your fucking days!
With one last act of defiance, I flipped of the sky and turned my attention to the bottle once again. With a swift motion, I quickly uncorked it.
The more you hesitate, the harder it'll be to control the effects.
The words of old Niel rapidly passed through my mind as I pulled the bottle to my lips with a practised motion, and with a big sip, gulped it down my throat.
The cool and sticky liquid quickly slid down my throat, causing me to gag a little, then, it slid down further, down into my stomach before getting completely absorbed by my body. Before I had time to process this strange feeling, my mind was suddenly overrun by a strange chill, then transitioning into a strange light headedness that I couldn't seem to get rid off. The seconds ticked off, while a feeling of approaching doom appeared at the back of my mind.
Not the right... time for this...you dumbass.
Just as my mind was about to quickly turn into mush, a sharp and clear sound of gavel hitting wood resounded around me, piercing through the thick lightness surrounding my mind.
"Order! Order!"
These sudden words which seem to come from the void, belonging to no one, were followed by another round of wood hitting wood. I suddenly had a feeling of having been transported into the middle of an active court. The sounds of many people walking in a hurry, pages being shuffled through, the voices of people screaming over each other and the hushed whishpers of the spectators. All these different noices seemed to want to dissolve my sense of self into them. But everytime I was on the verge of falling, a clear sound of a gavel hitting wood resounded around me, breaking past the thick black liquid or gas which seem to envelope my body, rapidly clearing up my mind.
Black liquid...My body... My body! What the fuck is this!?
Finally breaking past the cloud of confusion, I noticed the changes happening around my surroundings. A thick black, shadow-like liquid seemed to overlap with reality, silently covering every surface of the cargo container, and slowly crawling up my body.
The short moment of clarity finally allowed me to see, whatever fuckshow that was happening around me. The shadow like liquid was trying to crawl up to my face, failing each time as another round of wood hitting wood resounded in my mind, breaking it's advance.
Get this shit off of me!
Finally overcoming the sheer horror of witnessing such a scene, and taking control of my body once again, I quickly tried to take a step forward. The shadow slid down from my body without a single sensation at the movement. As I moved, the world around me changed as well. The darkness faded into a lighter shade while the shadow like liquid also dissolved away.
Phew...
But, just as my mind relaxed from the relief, akin to a hurtful reminder, the phantom appeared once again, this time fainter than before, yet still looming.
Fuck...
Following the queue, instructions on what to do next, which I had practised multiple times and were quite literally written infront me, appeared in my mind. I quickly outlined a small, exquisite, and verdant-green cicada resembling crafted palm wood, featuring translucent, veined wings. Slowly, more and more details were added in my mind, like an artist slowly and methodically putting the final touches on his masterpiece.
Spring autumn cicada!
The cruel life of the outskirts, despite how short, had definitely changed me to a degree. But there were always certain aspects about a person that were more resilient than others. And that was, of course–
Save me, Fang yuan-chan!
My love for webnovels.
The strange flow in my body–which, with a lot of effort, I identified as my spirituality– quickly converged inward as I cogitated in silence.
Finally and utterly crushing the mist in my mind, I finally got a look at my surrounding and my own state. The cargo container was back in it's original state, mostly empty with only the potion bottles resting in the middle. I, on the other hand, was completely drenched in sweat, which mixed with the dirt on my skin and cloth to make a disgusting muddy texture.
"Yikes..." A Word finally broke past the prison of my silent Inner monologue. Definitely not the first words I had wanted to say after becoming a beyonder, but oh well, beggars can't be choosers.
The words uttered with clear disgust were followed by a huge euphoric feeling, originating from finally having achieved something one had dreamed of for a long time. In this case, it was of course, me becoming a beyonder!
"Finally, my new life begins!" The not so loud, yet cheerful celebration of this newly promoted lawyer was heard by absolutely no one. After all, the outskirts weren't really a place one would find life long companions.
Just then, as if to punish me for my recent act of defiance, a sudden cold drowsiness hit me, slowly crawling up my mind like a not-so soothing lullaby.
[A/N: I got too lazy to constantly having to switch b/w notepad and wn, so I'm just uploading it rn, grammar mistakes be damned. In summary, in not a writer, this is my first draft, I suck at writing 1st person, the chapter is still getting reviewed by my friends and i only uploaded this so they're seeing the updated in the ch live. Oh, and did I tell you that I'm a failure as an author? Probably not cause I'm not an author!
Also, if you haven't already figured it, "Finally, my new life begins" Is a reference to the first chapter of shadow slave: error ]