"Ugh, my head..."
A young man groaned, pressing a hand against his temple as he sat upright, wincing at the throbbing pain in his head.
Suddenly, the memory from yesterday came flooding back at once.
He—a 19-year old—was a rising streamer on a notorious streaming platform who was infamous for being a nuisance.
His entire career simply revolved around stirring up trouble—public stunts, social outrage, and run-ins with the law, you name it. He had made a name for himself as the guy who keeps getting arrested by authorities, only to get away scot-free by some sheer dumb luck.
Looking to make the next stint in his resume, he immediately booked a flight to another country. But this time, his luck wasn't sufficient enough to escape the consequences. Or rather, karma didn't provide him any chance to save himself.
The moment he stepped out of the airport and wandered into the first alley he saw, a group of thugs was already waiting for him.
Before he could even open his mouth, something hard slammed into the side of his head.
Then, he blacked out.
"Huh...?"
He muttered, pushing himself off the ground, blinking in confusion.
When he came to his senses, something was off.
He glanced around, his heart pounding. "Where am I?"
The dingy alleyway was gone.
In its place was a quiet, deserted square. Cracked concrete, boarded-up windows, and buildings that looked like they'd been abandoned for years. There was not a single soul in sight except for him.
Reaching instinctively for his phone just like every teenager would these days, his hand froze midway as a soft, mechanical voice echoed in his mind.
[Ding!]
And then it appeared—a translucent window just like something out of a web novel:
[Do you wish to join the Aether Net?]
[Yes] [No]
"A system!?" Surprised, the young man inadvertently blurted his thoughts out loud. Fortunately, there was no one else in his vicinity.
Without a second thought, he immediately accepted the invitation.
[Welcome to the wider Aether Net!
You are now a member of a broad network that spans across multiple universes and realities. As its first member, your user account has been automatically elevated to the highest level. Please make use of your administrator privileges however you like!
Now, sit tight! It might take a short moment to process other member invitations. We thank you for your patience in advance.]
If his head was still throbbing, then he certainly couldn't feel it anymore with all the excitement. "Oh right! Giggity!"
[Ding!]
As his enthusiasm peaked, another ding reverberated—he turned to the sound and found a screen. A new notification.
Then, another window appeared before he could even speculate what it was for.
[No username has been set.
Your username has been updated to: Jabami Salami]
He stared at the message for a hot minute.
Blinked.
Read it again.
"Are you serious right now...?" He read it again, just to make sure he wasn't hallucinating.
It was because under the string of messages was a small attachment. "This is..."
[A complementary 5* Beginner Package, granting 10 items at random. Non-sellable.]
"My cheat!"
With the system's confirmation, the young man couldn't wait anymore. "System, open the beginner package!"
[Ding!] [5*] [Great Sage x1] [The unique skill of the reincarnator Rimuru Tempest, which was eventually superseded by Wisdom King Raphael.]
[Ding!] [4*] [Elemental Sight x1] [A Perception-type superpower that allows the user to connect to the Information Dimension.]
[Ding!] [3*] [Ether Corruption Resistance x4] [An agent's must-have. It's a basic requirement for anyone looking to venture into the hollows without succumbing to ether corruption.]
[Ding!] [3*] [Physical Enhancement x3] [Physical-enhancing pill. Guaranteed to boost the user's physical strength by 2x relative to the user's physique.]
The young man—tentatively named Jabami Salami—stared slack-jawed at the floating screen. His mouth was practically touching the ground.
"Wait! Wait, wait, wait, wait...!" Breathing erratically as he paced in circles, Jabami pumped his fist to the sky, "Bro, I can't believe it! I just hit the gacha jackpot!"
It didn't even matter that his username sounded like a deli special. This was his moment. The power fantasy every forum dweller, subreddit lurker, and shut-in gamer dreamed of in their entire lives.
Still reeling with excitement, he reached out and swiped at the translucent interface like it was second nature.
Somehow, he managed to open a new tab that looked like a status window:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Status Window]
[User] Jabami Salami
[Title] None
[System Points] 0
[HP] 10/10
[ATK] 5
[DEF] 3
[STA] 10
[AGI] 20
[INT] 3
[Skills] None
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
"…Yeah." When Jabami saw his stats, his expression grew pensive. "I've seen enough anime to know my stats are garbage."
Plopping back down to the ground, he began to examine his situation.
His fingers tapped the air idly, dismissing all the unnecessary panels until only the skill list remained.
[Great Sage]
Just saying the name made his spine tingle. Every power-hungry anime fan had fantasized about having this skill—the cheat that could basically empower other cheats.
Imagine having an AI-level companion capable of optimizing your thoughts, analyzing skills, constructing new abilities, and even running your subconscious in parallel processes like background apps.
"Even though it's not flashy, but why would that matter?" He mused, tapping the skill for more details. However, most of the information he received was already in line what he knew beforehand.
[Would you like to redeem this skill?]
"Heh," Jabami scoffed and crossed his arms. "My intelligence stat might be below average, but I have one for breathing, one for blinking, and one for talking. That means I just don't have to blink in order to think! My answer is obviously yes!"
[Notice. Unique skill "Great Sage" activated.]
With the sound of a different voice in his head, he felt his mind sharpened and at the same time his thoughts became clearer. It was as if his brain had been running on 3G all his life and someone just installed fiber-optic cognition.
"Holy crap," he muttered, looking more than satisfied. "This is like having a wikipedia without the internet."
Next, his gaze scanned the next item.
[Elemental Sight]
If it wasn't for the flavor text, he'd immediately assume it was the Traveler's ability from a "beloved" open-world game with gliding, waifus, and questionable drop rates. However, base from the description alone, it sounded like the ability of the same name from Mahouka.
That fact made it significantly better.
"I mean, I've been playing the game for well-over 5 years at this point, and I don't even remember the last time I used it unless it's shoehorned by the developers."
Sighing to himself, he activated the skill.
[Notice. Unique skill "Elemental Sight" acquired.]
Suddenly, the world around him shifted. Like a second layer of information blanketed reality. He could sense faint traces of energy in the air, probably from whatever ROB had dumped him here. Even the concrete beneath him gave some sort of signature, giving him a rough idea of how old it was.
"This place couldn't have been abandoned for more than a decade it seems," thought Jabami, stroking his non-existent beard. "Anyway..."
Next, were the [Physical Enhancement] pills.
Tapping the icon, the image of three small, glowing capsules appeared, sitting neatly in his inventory.
"Two times physical power per pill, the description says."
A smirk tugged at the corner of his lips. "Guaranteed gains. No gym membership required. Giggity."
As for the four stacks of Ether Corruption Resistance he had, though he didn't know what ether corruption was yet, it was clearly serious enough that the system decided to throw multiple resistances at him from the get-go.
"It says the items were chosen at random, but that can't be right."
Then it hit him—
[The invitations have been sent.]
As if on cue, notifications flooded his vision in droves.
[The Father of Humanity has joined the chat group!]
[Miss Pink Elf has joined the chat group!]
[Shiroyasha has joined the chat group!]
[The King of Magecraft has joined the chat group!]
"Talk about timing..."
[Miss Pink Elf: Testing, testing... One, two, three. Testing! One, two, three. —Ara, it really is as advertised! A chat group! Such a fascinating thing!]
[The Father of Humanity: ...A chat group, huh. Those gods wouldn't be interested in making things like this, so is it you Buddha?]
[The Father of Humanity: Hey, Buddha, are you here?]
[Shiroyasha: …The hell is this? Some kind of group therapy session for weirdos with fancy nicknames?]
[Miss Pink Elf: Oh my, someone else who can talk! Hello there, Shiroyasha, was it? What a curious name~]
[Shiroyasha: Are you gonna sell me something? Because if this is about a pyramid scheme, I already sold my last kidney to pay rent.]
[The Father of Humanity: So, you're also not the one who invited us?]
[Shiroyasha: Buddy, I don't even know what day it is. I clicked some glowing button because I thought it might be free food.]
[The Father of Humanity: You certainly talk a lot...]
[Shiroyasha: And you sound like a man who's never done his own laundry.]
[Miss Pink Elf: Fufufu~ You're amusing. But still, if no one here created the group, then who did?]
[The Father of Humanity: Not me.]
[Shiroyasha: Yeah... I've seen this setup before. Step one: fancy entrance. Step two: cryptic chat group. Step three: get roped into saving the world or fighting some multiversal war. Count me out.]
[Shiroyasha: I already fight for survival every time rent's due.]
[Shiroyasha has left the chat group.]
[Miss Pink Elf: …]
[The Father of Humanity: ...]
Jabami: "..."
The King of Magecraft: "..."