The Thrillmaker
Coping with rejection, I eyed the floating text. "Elaborate, Mister Thrillmaker. Why am I being limited?"
[The Thrillmaker is a divine relic, and the diminutive space in your soul cannot hold the entirety of it. Currently, only a fragment of the Thrillmaker lives within your soul and the rest has been placed under limiters known as Access Ranks. God has done so to avoid the destruction of your soul as the relic was never meant to be used by mortals.]
"God could've strengthened my soul if that's the case?"
[As an Ego attached to the Relic, I do not have the answer to your question.]
God is sus…
[In future, when your Soul grows these limiters will be removed, and more fragments of the Thrillmaker will merge with your soul.
As you remove limiters, you will utilize more of its divine powers. When you reach maximum synchronization, the artificial spirit — I will cease to exist.]
Alright, the System just implied that I will reach a stage where I'll create realities at my whim. That's… too much, isn't it? Well, no point worrying about that future. Right now I'm a level 1 noob with exquisite knowledge of business, architecture, management and a near-maxed level of talk-no-jutsu. Let's take it one step at a time.
"I just have to grow my soul."
[Yes, the stronger your soul becomes, the more space it can hold. Every limiter corresponds to a specific size of Soul, known as Soul Rank.]
"But how?"
[The primary methods of strengthening the soul are meditation and enlightenment. You will gain Soul XP every time your soul strengthens. When the Soul XP gauge fills, you will be able to upgrade your Soul Rank.]
That sounds exactly the way dao cultivation was described in cultivation novels. The most boring methods one could possibly think of. "Is there no other way?"
[The Paths of Karma grants you Soul XP for performing actions true to your path.]
"Basically, like game achievements?"
[That is an incorrect analogy. The Paths will grant you Soul XP for performing actions befitting your Path. If you chose the Path of Abundance and saved an innocent life, you'll be granted additional Soul XP. Likewise you'll gain Soul XP for killing someone if you walk the Path of Destruction or Hunt.]
Earning XP for actions sounded like a sweet deal.
"Can it be performed infinitely?"
[Yes. Would you like to see all the Paths?]
"Show me."
[The Ten Paths dictated by Karma:
The Path of Preservation: Those who follow the "Preservation" Path admire patience, sacrifice, and defensive behavior.
The Path of Destruction: Those who follow the "Destruction" Path admire recklessness, anger, and destructive behavior.
The Path of Harmony: Those who follow the "Harmony" Path admire understanding, support, and cooperative behavior.
The Path of Nihility: Those who follow the "Nihility" Path admire laziness, exhaustion, and meaningless behavior.
The Path of Hunt: Those who follow the "Hunt" Path admire determination, ruthlessness, and tenacious behavior.
The Path of Erudition: Those who follow the "Erudition" Path admire thinking, logic, and strategic behavior.
The Path of Abundance: Those who follow the "Abundance" Path admire selflessness, altruism, and healing behavior.
The Path of Voracity: Those who follow the "Voracity" Path admire selfish, obsessive, and gluttonous behavior.
The Path of Propagation: Those who follow the "Propagation" Path admire introspection, self-sufficiency, and independent behavior.
The Path of Elation: Those who follow the "Elation" Path admire joyfulness, optimism, and ambitious behavior.]
As I read through the paths, none seemed to suit me exactly, except maybe Hunt and Erudition. The Takamura Clan's veins ran thick with ruthlessness and tenacity. And my career as an architect has honed my strategic thinking skills. The Path of Voracity could also work given my obsessive fondness for yandere.
The God who made this System had too much on his hands. He even added rewards for doing random things for fuck's sake. Too bad he had the temper of that senile old man that got along with absolutely no one in his neighborhood.
"Can I choose more than one path?"
Imagine if I could have all ten paths and earn free Soul XP for doing pretty much anything. That'd be extremely broken.
[You can only choose three at any given time. However, you may switch between them at any moment.]
"Not bad. I'll take the path of Hunt, Erudition, and Voracity."
[Would you like to go through the character creator?]
"Of course."
As the menu vanished, I was facing a character creator which popped up at the start of every RPG. On a platform stood a lifeless copy of me, my body a shell of its former self after shedding fifty pounds over the last four years. My skin, too, had suffered — I looked far older than my age. And chemotherapy had left my head with the gleam of a moon. These days, I avoided mirrors like the plague as every glance at my face leveled up my depression.
A free character changer was a godsend opportunity to regain my confidence.
Now, with a character editor in hand, I had the chance to reimagine myself. I fiddled with the controls, picking details and altering features, molding the avatar as if I was working on a design of my next big thing. After recreating the best version of myself possible, I added just enough muscles to look lean while maintaining a sense of balance between speed and explosive strength.
As I took a pause and observed the model, it somehow resembled a younger version of Sephiroth with brown hair. In all honesty, I looked like an attractive version of a typical hentai protagonist. You know what, I was fine with that — those guys attracted yandere, too.
There was even a height option, so I let my creativity flow. I added an inch, breaking the six foot barrier. Several inches more and one more just for fun, I was staring at a 7'5" giant of a man.
"Maybe I went overboard."
I took away a few inches, leaving myself at a respectable height of 6'3. Not too tall. Not too short. A perfectly balanced height for my adventure.
"Lock this one."
[Would you like to see the world templates available for Access Rank 0?]
"Sure."
[Please select your first world from Access Rank 0!
Konosuba
Tokyo Ghoul
Owari No Seraph
Danmachi
High School DxD
Highschool of the Dead
Akame Ga Kill
…]
The list went on, revealing many bland isekai stuff. Eyeing my choices, I immediately crossed Konosuba from my choice. I loved the humor and over-the-top personalities of characters in Konosuba but it became too much at times. I chased thrill, not stress. Handling the Konosuba cast was anything but stressful.
Sorry Wiz, I'll free you from the craziness some other day. Yunyun too. You both don't deserve to live in that god forsaken world.
Owari No Seraph and Tokyo Ghoul were both nixed for similar reasons — their worlds were tainted with the constant oppression of supernatural beings and their unfriendliness to noobs like me.
Danmachi was a tempting option, especially with the potential for slow, steady physical growth through the system of blessings and Dungeon. Ryuu and Ais seemed like they could become top-tier yanderes if handled correctly. However, the gods living among mortals would be a problem for me.
High School DxD, while brimming with seductive girls, wasn't a beginner-friendly world either; it was populated with continent-level or even earth-level threats. Also, Issei's expressions are disgusting. I didn't want to deal with his plot armor.
Highschool of the Dead was a safe choice for Soul XP farm, particularly for the Path of Hunt. Then again, I could end up swarmed by zombies just as easily. It was also the world where Saeko, the crazy, murderous chick, lived. She wasn't a yandere but a couple of encouraging hands could lead her to the perfection of yandere-ism.
If I can't find a yandere, I'll turn some crazy anime chick into a yandere — my motto is simple.
My attention kept returning to the final choice. Akame Ga Kill. The anime I barely wanted to watch a second time. Sometimes it was purely disgusting, other times wholesome. The only thing that kept me hooked was one character — Esdeath, who was like an extreme version of Saeko. She was done dirty at the end, leaving me frustrated.
"I'll choose once I get my main concern out of the way. Hey, System—it's weird to call you that. Do you have a name?"
[I do not. You may provide me with any nickname for ease of use.]
"Let's go with Ego then. Ego, do I have any starting abilities?"
To survive in the brutal world of Akame Ga Kill, I needed an appropriate level of strength.
***
Big props to you if you already know the inspiration of those paths <3< p>