Prologue

Here's a common thought – the slightest actions precede great changes. The slightest flap of a butterfly's wings can bring forth a tornado in Kansas, a nudge of a stranger's hand at the right time can save or birth untold disaster.

In my case, a step outside of my door led to an encounter that would definitely change my life.

"Do you accept the offer, Mr. Rheinlicht?"

Case in point: out of the numerous tumultuous thoughts plaguing my head, three questions stood out. Two for their mundanity and the third for the improbability of it all.

Number one: was my fly open? Did I forget to pull it up after leaving the restroom?

Number two: did I leave my dog, Skye, enough food and water in his bowl?

And finally, the third: did this mysterious, seductive, bodacious entity before me seriously insinuate that I died by drowning in a giant, gelatinous drop of snot that appeared from literally nowhere?

I know I heard something about an offer, but I can't really recall what it was about since I was still stuck on the details that stated that I died via Snot? By giant, randomly appearing booger?!

"I assure you, Mr. Rheinlicht, I was not insinuating anything. Your death was truly due to drowning in mucus. That is a fact."

Her smile just widened a tad bit more in amusement when she saw the extreme disgust on my face. Yeah, yeah, laugh it up lady. See how you like swimming in snot!

"You know, most beings in the ever-expanding Omniverse would consider bathing in a fluid produced by a nascent [Tier Y] entity to be a blessing. Look," The Lady lifted her palm up and, much to my shock, produced a holographic screen with a video of some cultists in robes kneeling in front of a figure frozen in golden amber.

…Why does that look familiar? Those white walls and those balustrades by the door look very similar to–!?

"Wait a second…! Is that me? Is that my house?! Why are there cultists kneeling in front of my house?!"

"Well, people naturally gather in places filled with power, do they not? When you were encased in… mucus, several miraculous occurrences happened in the next several days: with your body at the epicentre, all diseases were cured in an ever-expanding radius of 1.500km, plants grew even healthier and several farms near you have started producing bigger yields. Perhaps what contributed to such open worship was probably when a funeral procession that happened to pass near your body suddenly turned into a celebration. Young Timothy Carter, who had died of Leukaemia after fighting the disease for all of his 12 years of life, was resurrected in his healthiest state with all signs of his disease erased as though he had never died from cancer."

The Lady then continued to list miracle after miracle that happened due to the cause of my death. With each recount that she did, my incredulity and disbelief increased at the same rate as her moist ruby lips widened into inhuman lengths in amusement.

"–And with all the undeniable proof presented before them, the Pope and his Bishops and Cardinals had no choice but to proclaim that it was a Miracle produced by God, and that you, the boy trapped in hardened snot, are a Saint beloved by God. They call you the Saint of Amber, you know?"

I give up. I groaned while I placed my face into my hands as I felt my face, ears and my neck burn in extreme embarrassment.

Why?!

Why are people so stupid!? Saint? I am no Saint, I am just a guy who died drowning in snot! It was so embarrassing! I leapt from the chair I was on and began rolling on the chequered floor beneath me as I lost to my shame.

Saint of Amber, they call me? What amber, that was just hardened snot! It was what people of all ages call a booger! I was encased, preserved, in booger!

"EmbarrassingEmbarrassingEmbarrassingEmbarrasing!!!! Aaaah, I want to die!!"

"Technically, Mr. Rheinlicht, you are already dead."

Lady, I saw that commiserating smile of yours turn sadistic…! Don't pretend to be so sympathetic when you are literally laughing at me. See! You're not even bothering to conceal your amusement with your audible chuckles!

For a minute, I laid on the floor face down as I waited for my embarrassment to die down and for the redness on my cheeks to disappear before I stood up and sat once more on the chair provided to me.

I took a deep breath, before I released it all in a great, big exhale as I emptied my body of all remaining shame.

I am at peace. The Force is with me, and Honey Badger don't give a fuck.

"Look, Lady – actually, what should I call you?"

A huff of air escaped her lips and I felt a shudder pass through me and right into my bones. My half-lidded eyes stare at her blankly after her blatant release of power. At the moment, I really couldn't care less, and I may regret this later, but the fucks that I could give in this situation was literally equal to the number of times I received a confession from a cute girl.

Which is Zero.

Zilch.

Nada.

How sad.

"Truly, you have the most interesting thoughts Mr. Rheinlicht."

"I am currently repressing everything and have thrown all fucks out of the window. Gee, what could have caused this? Surely not 'cuz of my embarrassing death."

A small huff left her smiling lips as she leaned on the table and placed her perfect face on the palm of her hand. Pale blue eyes that somehow reflected stars and something else I couldn't recognize, crinkled like she was genuinely enjoying our conversation.

Wonder why that was?

"That is because I enjoy your honesty and frank words. I even turned my Power of Omniscience off just to be surprised by whatever you say next" How did she–? Ah, right. Being of Extraordinary Power. Why am I even surprised? She's been reading my mind all this time. It must not take much effort to read such a puny, unenlightened mind such as mine.

"Audible Sigh." If my eyes become any dead-er, I will likely be able to rival a certain rotten dead fish-eyed loner-kun. If we had a competition, would we compete on who has the dead-est eyes? How would we even decide the winner?

A snort escaped her, which might not be something she expected if the surprised expression she had was anything to go by.

"Most people don't literally say 'Audible Sigh' when they sigh, you know?"

Of course I know, Lady. So can I get a name, please?

"You don't have the required number of extraneous tracheae or a similar number of tongues with the capability to move in an inverse non-euclidean manner nor do you have the capability to resonate your soul to the correct metaphysical wavelength in order to call out my True Name," she said.

"But, if you really want to have something to call me by," lights that seemed to shine from every direction dimmed and a pillar of light surrounded her form.

The Lady stood from her desk as a halo made of otherworldly metal, engraved in words that spoke not into my mind but directly into my soul, hovered behind her head and spun in space. Her cape flapped in a non-existent wind and galaxies and stars peeked from every fold and crease while her sleeveless white shirt shifted from something physical, to something that seemed like it was woven from pure moonlight. Into her hands, manifested a pair of short blades; exquisitely crafted into the likeness of the hands of a clock. A visible shroud of power washed over her form, tousling navy blue locks with its pressure. 

"I am the Third, The Lock and The Key! I am The Warden of Time! Hear me, mortal soul, my name is–!"

"Ouro Kronii!?"

She choked.

She coughed and put a hand on her mouth while I tried to suppress my desire to cackle like a damn lunatic. I sat on my chair, back straight and hands on my lap, trembling from suppressed laughter. Kronii glared into my eyes as pink receded from her cheeks and soon the only evidence of her blush were the slightly reddened tips of her ears.

Everything snapped back into place and she fell into her chair. Light turned back on as her spotlight disappeared, and she no longer looked as ethereal as she did earlier. A wet, musky scent that I had previously not noticed disappeared and the soothing scent of lavender replaced it. It was almost as if nothing had happened.

Working her jaw open and close multiple times, she then asked me in the most incredulous tone I have ever heard, "What…did you call me?"

I stared at her confounded face, and I, Karl Rheinlicht, have never been more proud of myself than at this moment. I felt a slight pressure at the back of my head, and I knew that she was then actively searching through my memories, my thoughts, unlike earlier where she had merely read through my surface thoughts.

Slowly, mournfully, she placed her face into her hands, and a groan that seemingly echoed from hell escaped her throat.

"Why is it always VTubers? This is already the third time!"

I tilted my head as I could not understand her words. I couldn't hear what she was mumbling about, but it didn't seem like she was rejecting the name. A deep breath and a great sigh resounded throughout the space we were in, shaking the entirety of the dimension down to its foundations.

"Whatever," The Lady said as she dragged her hands down her face in exasperation. "Call me whatever you want. Might as well own it."

Giving her a shrug, I manfully ignored the pout she gave me as well as the petulant glare she had. What was one pouty Lady among the thousands I have seen before, even if it was the most adorable pout I have ever seen?

She was Kronii now.

"So you said something about a contract?"

Schooling herself, Kronii visibly gathered her composure. Reaching into the space beside her, ripples appeared in mid-air where her hand disappeared. I watched in fascination as she pulled out a bunch of papers out of nowhere.

With a snap of her fingers, I felt reality glitch and suddenly my skin heard purple flavours and an elaborate chair and desk appeared.

"Tell me Mr. Rheinlicht, are you familiar with… The Company?"

…I could literally feel the capitalised and bolded letters pressing into my being.

Eyes widening and jaw dropping in astonishment, I became speechless. They were real?!

"The Waifu Catalog is real…" I whispered in indescribable awe.

Kronii had a smug smile spread on her face as she said, "Yes, yes we are."

Patting the thick bundle of papers she set on her desk, she pushed it to me for me to read.

"It's good to know that you are familiar with us and our services. Our Marketing Department will be happy to know that their collaboration project with the Recruitment Department ended up as a success."

No shit, I am familiar with them! Considering the number of Builds I created and published on their website in my boredom, I would be a blind, deaf idiot if I didn't know anything about them!

"Am I being recruited?!" I asked with boundless enthusiasm.

After I asked that, a complicated expression flitted across her pretty face. She crossed her arms and pursed her lips before she replied,

"Well… not exactly? To be honest, while you are one of the prospective new Contractors that we at The Company are hoping to recruit, you unfortunately did not pass the baseline personality type that the Human and Other Resources Department set for acquisition."

"And that is?"

"Desperate and Lonely Virgins."

…Wow. I did not know what to say to that.

"You have to understand Mr. Rheinlicht, that Company Contractors are not clients. They are employees, and for every Contractor that The Company brings into the fold, they expend a lot of resources in order to grant them the Talents, Defences and Power that they wish for," Kronii said all the while radiating a teacher's composure.

Uncrossing her arms and posing in what was uncannily similar to the fabled Tohsaka Lecture Pose #3, she continued: "Resources that grant those are not cheap, Mr. Rheinlicht. Once The Company uses them on a Contractor, even for us it is not an easy task to get them back. Thus, The Company recruits from those who have no choice, or are enthusiastic enough that recouping the losses from their recruitment is easy while earning a nifty little profit on the side."

All in all, it was pretty understandable. If the fabled Company recruited such desperate virgins and promised them godlike powers and an unlimited number of waifus to choose from, well, I guess they wouldn't be able to find a much more enthusiastic number of employees.

And while it is surely a surprise, I was not a virgin. A single drunken night ensured that I wasn't.

That's right people! I may not have had a girlfriend since birth, I may not have received that pure love confession that all boys secretly wished they received when they were in highschool, but I still have the RIZZ to at least get a girl to get with me for the night!

I!

AM!

HIM!

"No you are not. Shut up."

And just like that, my hype was destroyed. Such cruelty! Woman, why can't you just let my ego swell for a minute!? I just wanted to feel superior to all the other incels in the world!

"Anyway," Kronii continued, all the while ignoring my dispirited form like the cruel woman she is – "Shut up, Mr. Rheinlicht. I can still read your thoughts, if you don't remember." – as she waved her hand, the papers before me disappeared before appearing as multiple holographic screens showing some very familiar pictures.

"While you cannot be recruited as a regular Contractor due to your previous circumstances, you are, instead, given the privilege of being a client of The Company."

I shook my head in confusion. I did not understand, a client? While I may not know much about the mysterious Company, I do know that to be a client, I will need a currency that was only known as Credits.

And I certainly did not have any Credits in my possession.

"Sorry, but I don't understand," I said out loud. "Can you explain this to me, Kronii?"

"Certainly," she said placidly.

"If you would remember, I previously mentioned that you were accidentally killed by a nascent [Tier Y] entity. They were previously a Contractor for The Company that recently broke through [Tier X] to [Tier Y]. A newly ascended being is essentially a kid with no control over their powers, and it takes time for such entities to gain enough control so that incidents that you have been involved with, do not happen again.

"This is a very common event whenever a breakthrough from 10 to X levels happens, so The Company created this compensatory program for the inconveniences done by members of our staff."

Waving her hand, Kronii put aside a few of the floating holographic screens while putting a few into the forefront.

"In this program, Mr. Rheinlicht, you will be given access to the Contractor's Catalogue to create a build of your choice. All of which will be paid for by the Contractor who had damaged you. The only restriction here would be that you are not allowed to create a [Tier X] build without undergoing the necessary ascension, and unless you give permission to The Company to create clones from your binding, you will not be receiving Credits for any captures made.

"Do you understand, Mr. Rheinlicht?"

I nodded as it was pretty easy to understand, but there was something I wanted to know.

"In the Catalogue that I know of, there was an option for Worlds. Will I be able to choose which World I will be starting at?"

"I'm afraid not," She replied. "But rest assured, we will not be sending you to any world with a Danger Rating of 9-10."

Scratching my head, I sighed somewhat relieved that I would not be going to a Cultivation World or any other hellscape like Warhammer 40k.

"We've spent enough time with the briefing," tapping her fingers on her desk, the holographic screens disappeared and a sleek tablet appeared in my hand.

"Please create your build, Mr. Rheinlicht."

I gripped the tablet in my hand tightly and I took a deep breath to settle myself. I pursed my lips as I seriously began to contemplate what build I should have.

This was something that will undoubtedly affect the rest of my hopefully eternal life, as I was certainly picking Everlasting Talent the first chance I got.

 I did not have the privilege to choose which world I will be going to, and while it may not have a Danger Rating of 9 or 10, there will still be dangers to be had in any world rated from 2 to 8.

Strength will be a priority.

Inadvertently, a certain character flashed in my mind. While there would certainly be stronger characters than that person, they would still be a good base for the build that I will be creating.

Stronger powers can always be purchased later from The Company once I got some Credits to my name.

I spent a few minutes creating my build and going over it while making some changes whenever I feel dissatisfied with something. I chose not to select every Talent nor did I select every Defence. I just chose what I would absolutely need.

After a few more revisions, I finalised my build and toggled the option to allow The Company to clone any of my captures at the moment of binding and to sell any that I have bound.

Clicking on the 'Complete' button, I was led from the Build Creation page to a page with a Roulette Wheel on it. The wheel had so many Worlds on it that their names were practically invisible to the naked eye and became a kaleidoscope of colours.

Tapping on it, it spun and spun and spun, before it stopped on a sliver with the colour of purple.

The tablet began to fade from my hand in a beautiful series of blue sparkles. Looking up, the space around me suddenly blurred into an indistinct form.

"What's happening?"

I looked at Kronii in curiosity but all she gave me was a warm smile as the tablet appeared in her hand.

"Now that everything is done, you will be sent to the world that was selected for you. Once you get there, you may experience some dizziness and confusion, but rest assured that everything will be alright. If you have any inquiries or concerns, please go to the help desk app in your Company Device."

Waving her hand goodbye, she said, "Thank you for your time, Mr. Rheinlicht. I hope to hear from you again."

With that, everything faded to black.