Note: My hands and brain are cooking up this story...
***
Ding!
"Ah, welcome!"
A convenience store employee smiled warmly as the automatic glass door slid open, welcoming the small figure who had just entered. The cool air from the air conditioner swept across his tired face after hours of standing serving customers.
The employee's eyes narrowed with curiosity. Among the regular customers buying daily necessities, the strange masked boy with a hoodie stood out. His mask had a minimalist design—plain white with thin engravings around the eyes—making anyone who saw it feel slightly uncomfortable.
The boy took a shopping basket and moved silently to the staples section. His movements were efficient and purposeful, as if he had memorized the location of every item. It didn't take long before he returned to the cashier with a basket full of high-quality food ingredients.
"...How much?"
His voice was soft yet cold, barely audible behind the mask.
"50,000 credits," replied the employee while finishing scanning the last item.
The masked boy nodded briefly and extended his advanced smartphone. The blue credit scanner light blinked before emitting a confirmation sound. The transfer notification appeared on the digital cashier display.
The employee's eyes widened when he accidentally caught the amount of credits in the boy's account.
[78,189,060,050 Credits]
'S-seventy-eight billion credits...' he thought in astonishment.
That amount was enough to buy an entire small town along with all its buildings. His fingers trembled, wanting to ask who this boy before him really was, but when he looked up—the masked figure had already vanished as if swallowed by darkness.
Only the sound of the door's bell assured him that he wasn't hallucinating.
***
Raindrops danced on the asphalt streets of the city, creating a thin mist that blurred the boundaries between towering skyscrapers. The sky was gray, as if mourning something lost.
The masked boy walked slowly under the increasingly heavy rain. He pulled his black hoodie deeper, hiding the gleam of hair too striking for ordinary eyes. Water flowed from his white mask, creating an illusion as if the mask were crying.
His steps halted at an intersection. Before him, a large crowd had formed in front of a giant screen attached to the wall of the tallest building in the city. Dozens of people stood still under colorful umbrellas, their eyes fixed on the flashing news.
Usually, people would rush home when it rained, seeking warmth in the embrace of their families. But the extraordinary events that had occurred lately had changed their priorities. Curiosity had overcome logic.
And as he had expected...
[WARNING! Life Forest is now declared a Level S Red Zone. It is strictly forbidden for civilians to approach the area within a 100-kilometer radius!]
The screen changed at high speed.
[BREAKING NEWS: The World Organization officially recognizes the Unknown Spirit as an ally of mankind! The highest level protection protocol has been implemented!]
The image shifted again, this time showing drone footage from above—a massive crater where once stood a dense forest thousands of years old. Scorched earth, melted trees, and dimensional cracks still glowing purple.
[SHOCKING! The identity of the mysterious individual who destroyed Life Forest revealed! New Hunter Rank SS+, Raiden Shogun, established as the main suspect!]
The camera zoomed in on a photo of a beautiful woman with long purple hair flowing gracefully. A purple kimono with electric accents wrapped her slender body. Her deep violet eyes radiated an aura of absolute power. In her hand, she held a katana sword that gleamed, enveloped in purplish energy.
[HIGHEST REWARD IN HISTORY! 10 BILLION CREDITS FOR ANYONE WHO CAN PROVIDE VALID INFORMATION ABOUT RAIDEN SHOGUN'S WHEREABOUTS!]
The crowd erupted in panicked whispers. Some took out their smartphones, capturing screenshots with trembling hands.
"Ten billion? Is she some kind of terrorist?"
"Fool! Didn't you see yesterday's news? She fought against a goddess!"
"I heard she split Mount Artax with just one slash."
"Impossible! Even a Rank SSS Hunter couldn't do that!"
"But didn't she save one of the cities last week? Why is she suddenly a fugitive?"
Those voices mingled with the heavy rain. The masked boy just stared in silence, rain continuing to flow from his mask.
In his eyes, none of this was surprising. Of course the World Organization could identify Raiden Ei as the main perpetrator. After all, dimensional rifts were a distinctive trace of Musou no Hitotachi—Raiden Ei's ultimate sword technique capable of splitting reality itself.
The World Organization—an alliance of the strongest organizations in the world—clearly had a complete database of all combat techniques. They must have immediately recognized this unique attack pattern.
Of course, initially they were skeptical. How could a Hunter Rank SS+ fight evenly with a goddess whose power far exceeded Rank SSS? That was like an ant fighting a mountain.
But after in-depth analysis, they were forced to acknowledge that Raiden Shogun was the perpetrator. Speculation circulated that Raiden had dozens of hidden Talents—some of them strong enough to allow her to fight one-on-one with a goddess.
Not entirely wrong. Raiden Ei did indeed have a hidden form capable of multiplying her power. But ironically, she didn't even use that form in the battle. That woman, in her basic form, had managed to bring down a goddess in direct combat.
Never underestimate the Electro Archon who had fought wars against gods and goddesses for thousands of years.
'I wonder when I can unleash her full power?' thought the boy.
As that thought crossed his mind, something stirred within—a kind of new notification that suddenly appeared.
[Ding! Son of Destiny detected!]
That familiar system voice echoed in his head, making the corner of his lips lift slightly behind the mask.
'Finally... A new target.'
While tightening his black hoodie, he walked away from the crowd. The shadow of his body slowly merged with the darkness of the rain-soaked city, leaving nothing more than a whisper in the wind.
***
The evening breeze slipped through the window of a luxury apartment on the top floor of a skyscraper. The golden light of the setting sun illuminated the figure of a boy sitting cross-legged on an expensive carpet, his mask lying beside him.
In recent weeks, Lux's activities had focused almost entirely on improving his template progress. His main focus was Artemisia Bell Ashcroft—the last template that hadn't reached perfection.
The Takamiya Mayuri and Raiden Ei/Shogun templates had long since reached the maximum value of 100% since he allocated millions of his Achievement Points for forced acceleration. A drastic decision he had never imagined before.
Indeed. For the first time, Lux had used the Achievement Points he had painstakingly collected.
Previously, Raiden Ei's progress had stalled at 91%, while Takamiya Mayuri stagnated at 79%. He faced a deadlock in improving their progress, and his time was running out.
To create the perfect climax in the Takamiya Mayuri and Shou scenario, several variables had to be eliminated. The most significant variable was the presence of the Goddess of Life—a protective goddess with a special affection for Mayuri. If that goddess intervened in the fight against Mamon, Mayuri's victory would be too easy and without drama.
But that wasn't what Lux wanted. From the beginning, the reason he was willing to be severely injured was solely to harvest Achievement Points from Shou. A strategy he had meticulously planned.
Therefore, he had to prevent the Goddess of Life from intervening. Peaceful negotiation was clearly impossible given the goddess's love for Mayuri. Facing both simultaneously was too great a risk, even for someone of his caliber.
Asking for help from the Shadow Order? That thought had never even crossed his mind. The presence of that shadow organization would only complicate the situation.
Unexpectedly, he found a way to use Achievement Points to drastically improve template progress. Thanks to this method, he managed to bring Raiden Ei/Shogun to 100%, allowing him to manifest Raiden Ei's true form.
Of course, "true" here meant only a perfect physical vessel with two empty souls without memories. Raiden Ei and Raiden Shogun appeared like living dolls with empty, hollow gazes.
Lux remained vigilant, remembering the system's warning about potential complications when summoning original characters. But beyond expectations, Raiden's power wasn't reduced at all—still as terrifying as before.
He divided his consciousness into two parts: one to control Raiden who was sent to face the Goddess of Life, and the other to maintain the Lux persona (in Mayuri's form).
As a final step, he increased Takamiya Mayuri's progress to reach 100%. As in Raiden's case, the system offered two choices when reaching 90%: summon the perfect but memoryless Takamiya Mayuri character, or determine a new template with guaranteed quality.
Of course, Lux chose the second option. The experience of using high-powered templates had made him addicted—he only wanted the best and strongest.
When progress reached 100%, the real Takamiya Mayuri manifested in... unusual conditions. Although Lux had ensured that Mayuri had no memories whatsoever, the girl still showed inexplicable emotional residue.
Sometimes, her body moved on its own without mental commands from Lux—a phenomenon that had never happened before. Lux didn't fully understand this anomaly, but as long as Mayuri didn't rebel against his control, he decided to ignore it.
And here are the spectacular results he achieved...
[Ding! Takamiya Mayuri's achievements shock the world! +10,000,000 Achievement Points!]
[Ding! Extraordinary achievement! 'Wounding the Goddess of Life to the brink of death' recorded in history! +50,000,000 Achievement Points!]
[Ding! The name Raiden Ei/Shogun is now known throughout the world! +100,000,000 Achievement Points!]
[Ding! Successfully implanted fear, curiosity, and terror of Raiden Ei/Shogun's tremendous power in human hearts! +50,000,000 Achievement Points!]
[Ding! Phenomenal achievement! Disrupting the emotional stability of the Son of Destiny! +100,000,000 Achievement Points!]
[Ding! Bringing the Son of Destiny to the edge of despair! +150,000,000 Achievement Points!]
[Ding! You are the only entity that has nearly pushed the Son of Destiny to the brink of madness! Reward: two random chances for one template!]
[Ding! Shocking the world in one strategic move! This achievement will be eternally engraved! Reward: two random chances for two templates!]
A status window appeared before him, floating transparently with a pale blue glow:
...
<<[ Character Template System ]>>
– [Name: Lux Frost] –
– [Tier: 8 (Intermediate)] –
– [Title: Reincarnator, Frost Assassin, Hunter Rank S+] –
– [Talent: Divine Ice Emperor (Rank SSS), Mystic Eyes of Death Perception (Rank ???)] –
– [Character Template:
• Raiden Ei/Shogun (Progress: 100%)
• Takamiya Mayuri (Progress: 100%)
• Artemisia Bell Ashcroft (Progress: 100%)] –
– [Achievement Points: 677,050,100] –
...
Seeing the neatly arranged information, Lux nodded with satisfaction. Especially the number of Achievement Points that had reached an astonishing figure—the result of his high-risk strategy.
He had sacrificed more than 200,000,000 Achievement Points to forcibly improve the progress of Raiden Ei/Shogun and Takamiya Mayuri. Fortunately, that sacrifice was soon repaid. The amount not only returned but doubled after he showcased a small portion of Raiden Ei/Shogun's power to the world.
With enough Achievement Points to buy hundreds of top-class Talents, Lux had actually achieved his initial goal—eliminating the side effects of Divine Ice Emperor. However...
'Maybe staying like this isn't so bad.'
Lux shifted his gaze to the list of Talents he possessed, then switched to another panel. It sounded ironic, but after experiencing the influence while using Takamiya Mayuri's template, Lux actually disliked the sensation of being carried away by emotions and losing control.
He preferred to remain clear-minded and cold. Therefore, he decided to maintain his current condition.
Instead, he began exploring Talents that might be useful for his improvement. As expected, there were tens of thousands of unique Talents with various classifications and uses.
With his Achievement Points, he could even buy Talents with the highest rankings—Rank SSS or even Rank ???—but...
'Somehow everything feels ordinary.'
His expression remained emotionless.
There were many Talents focused on deadly attacks, but since having Mystic Eyes of Death Perception—the ability to see the death points of all existence—all other attack Talents seemed futile.
What about defensive Talents and endurance? That thought had rarely crossed his mind.
One fundamental aspect of Divine Ice Emperor was adaptability. Any attack, as long as Lux was given enough time to adapt, would eventually become ineffective. Of course, his adaptation wasn't absolute. After all, it was still a Rank SSS Talent that could be countered by equal or higher-ranked Talents.
Examples included Raiden Ei/Shogun's Musou no Hitotachi or Takamiya Mayuri's Angel Kerubiel. His adaptation wasn't fully effective against these two powers that exceeded limits.
'So what should I use these Points for?'
Buy weapons? Lux didn't really need them. With Mystic Eyes of Death Perception, even the most fragile wooden twig could become a deadly weapon capable of killing any existence.
Moreover, as someone who had used Musou Isshin—one of Raiden Ei's two legendary weapons—his personal weapon standards were extremely high. Unfortunately, none of the available weapons met his expectations.
This was enough to extinguish Lux's remaining curiosity. Perhaps he would use those Points in emergency situations in the future. For example, to improve the progress of new character templates.
Speaking of templates...
With guaranteed templates from the Takamiya Mayuri and Artemisia Bell Ashcroft options, plus rewards from the system, Lux now had five additional random character templates. And if each template had quality equivalent to Raiden Ei/Shogun and Takamiya Mayuri...
"..."
For a moment, Lux fell silent in contemplation.
Wasn't that something terrifying? Imagine, a dozen entities as powerful as Raiden and Mayuri joining together and deciding to dominate the world... Lux was certain that even gods and goddesses would be overwhelmed.
Of course, that was just speculation. Overall, the combat strength of creatures in this world remained impressive. Even with ten Raiden Eis and Mayuris, global domination would still be nearly impossible.
Moreover, there were still creatures without the concept of death—entities that couldn't even be killed with Mystic Eyes of Death Perception—who were still "vacationing" out there...
'And five additional characters is somewhat troublesome. I can't constantly switch forms to become various characters.'
Well... If he was lazy to act, he could always use Achievement Points. Nothing was too difficult.
Just as that thought crossed his mind...
[Ding! Latest system update available! ]
[Consume 500,000,000 Achievement Points to start the update...]
[Update started!]
"..."
Silence enveloped the room. The number on his status panel that originally exceeded 600 million points suddenly dropped below 200 million...
Seeing this, Lux could only remain silent.
If Lux still had full emotions, he might have cursed harshly. But unfortunately—or fortunately—he was unable to feel anger.
The boy just pressed his temple which began to throb with fatigue.
Although this sudden update was unexpected, perhaps... this wasn't a bad development.
He just hoped there was something newer and... more interesting behind the sacrifice of half a billion of his points.
***
Steam billowed from the gently sizzling pan, partially obscuring Lux's view. But even behind that thin veil, his sharp eyes could still catch the two enchanting figures not far from him.
The first, a woman with long purple hair cascading like a waterfall down her back. Her slightly open purple kimono revealed alabaster skin contrasting with the silk cloth patterned with cherry blossoms and lightning adorning her clothes. Her heterochromatic eyes—dark purple gradually turning electric blue at the edges—radiated beauty like rare gems found only in the deepest ocean.
But that beauty was locked in an expression as cold as ice. Raiden Ei, the Shogun, sat with perfect posture like a living porcelain statue. Her slender hands raised a teacup with movements trained over centuries. No tremor, no hesitation—just eternal elegance that made anyone feel an invisible distance between them.
Not far from her, the second figure drew attention in a different way. A girl with light blonde hair tied in a ponytail that danced gently in the breeze. Her large, clear pink eyes seemed to gaze far away, as if seeing things invisible to ordinary eyes. Takamiya Mayuri—in her clean white uniform—sat on the balcony with her legs swinging slowly, creating a rhythm known only to her.
Her golden earrings gleamed in the sunlight, changing color from golden to reddish, then bluish, as if reflecting the ever-moving changes of time. Her expression was calm, peaceful, yet there was a faint flash of sadness hidden behind that calmness—like a small cloud momentarily covering the sun.
Amid the chaotically rolling clouds in the sky, the sight of these two figures created an almost nonsensical contrast—serenity amid chaos, beauty amidst uncertainty.
'Raiden Ei and Takamiya Mayuri.'
Lux sighed unconsciously. After successfully summoning the original characters to this world, it didn't mean he couldn't use both templates. It's just... what for? The originals were already before him, breathing and living in their own ways.
The spatula in his hand moved automatically, flipping pieces of meat that had begun to emit a tempting aroma. His skilled fingers worked while his mind wandered.
"I must admit," he muttered to himself, "they are indeed remarkably captivating when seen up close."
Having just one of them was already an invaluable blessing. Having both? That was a miracle he didn't even dare to dream of before.
'Plus Artemisia...'
A thin smile formed on Lux's lips. If this was the definition of heaven for men, then he had created his own paradise.
Speaking of Artemisia, that girl had brought her own pride. Successfully collecting millions of points as one of the Rank S Hunters—an achievement that had her name carved in Hunter Association history as one of the fastest in rank advancement.
Not only were elite guilds scrambling to recruit her, but several kingdoms were interested in her—or more precisely, in the technology she used. In a still-developing world, the CR-Unit worn by Artemisia was like a miracle coming from the distant future.
Carefully, Lux had built a perfect background for Artemisia: a village girl who became a victim of kidnapping and inhuman experiments. Her body, injected with foreign materials and metals, changed some of her bodily functions, giving her control over technology as her unique talent—a talent that also enabled her to kill the scientist who made her a guinea pig.
That tragic story successfully dampened suspicion and excessive interest in her CR-Unit. Because once something was classified as a "Talent," it was almost impossible to research or replicate. And with the help of Truth Orbs, the CR-Unit truly became part of Artemisia with Rank A.
Lux felt satisfied. Although initially intending to make Artemisia an Irregular Hunter, his decision to place her as intelligence in the Hunter Association proved clever. With her gentle personality and captivating appearance, Artemisia was the perfect spy. No one suspected the beautiful and friendly secretary liked by everyone.
'And her latest information...'
Lux's face hardened slightly. Artemisia had found one of the Sons of Destiny. Unlike Shou who had the system as his cheat, Lux didn't yet know what golden finger this new target possessed.
'From Artemisia's report, most likely this is the type of Son of Destiny with ancient spirit assistance...'
But that wasn't a big problem. Even with the help of any powerful spirit, the current Artemisia was more than enough to finish him off. Even Shou, who was protected by 'destiny,' wouldn't be able to fight her in her current condition.
Speaking of Shou, where was that young man now? Lux didn't know exactly, but clearly, that Son of Destiny was still alive. There was a special plan for him... A psychological game that would make Shou lose his sanity before finally being finished off.
"Young Master?"
A familiar gentle voice broke Lux's reverie. He turned around and found an all-too-familiar figure standing at the doorway to the kitchen.
Bright blonde hair neatly tied in a ponytail that curved perfectly. Her glowing white face looked fresh even after a long journey. A gentle smile carved on her lips, creating small dimples that were almost invisible. Her clear blue eyes radiated warmth—at least, that's what appeared on the surface.
Artemisia Bell Ashcroft stood gracefully in a black suit and short skirt, with an upright posture showing the discipline of an elite soldier. Her high heels made no sound as she stepped in.
"Artemisia," Lux said briefly, before returning focus to his cooking.
He didn't need to give excessive attention to the original characters. After all, even though they moved like humans, breathed like humans, and might even have emotions like humans... they were still dolls.
Yes... maybe...
Artemisia showed no signs of being offended. She just stood calmly, watching Lux's back with a perfect professional smile—a smile she had practiced for years as a mask that never came off.
In another corner of the apartment, Raiden Ei and Mayuri quietly glanced toward the kitchen. No one spoke, but there was something that crossed their eyes—something deep and complex.
Behind the empty gazes of the three girls, a strange emotion began to grow. Something that should be impossible for 'dolls' like them.
Something that Lux was completely unaware of its existence.