Chapter 1 - New Beginning (Patreon)

In an empty room stood a person and a light, devoid of everything.

[You have submitted your memories to the Ak###ic Re##rd.]

"Are you sure you wanted to do this?" A genderless voice asked him.

"I don't have fond memories about them." He sighed gently.

"That's not what I mean. With a Trait like that, you won't survive for long." The genderless voice disagreed with his decision.

"It's not that bad. I have lived with this for my whole life." He shrugged weakly.

[

 Name: Nova

 Age: 21(?)/63 (125)

 Class: [Lost Soul]

 Traits: [Broken Brain], [Mental Calculator], [Ambidextrous]

 Stats:

     Unknown: Please choose a suitable starting Class

 Equipment: [Clothes from another World(Q-500): 800/1500]

 Funds: [Existence Coins: ]

 Skills:

]

"Nothing I can't deal with or control." Nova shrugged again. He quite liked this window where he could see his progress. It was a good driving point for him. The one that lost the feeling of the allure of day-to-day life.

"I disagree, if you have not offered your memories, you would start with a clean slate." The voice said. "But now that slate is all broken and crumbling, the slightest nudge will push you over the edge." The voice 'shook' its head.

"You will die a miserable death." The voice said.

"Is that my fate? Or are you pulling that out of your rear?" Nova narrowed his eyes.

"..." The voice felt insulted, so it was unwilling to reply.

"Just send me already, I will go through the system information later." He waved his hand disinterestedly.

"... You will regret not starting with a clean slate." The voice voiced its opinion.

"It's possible." He shrugged gently as the world around him turned black.

...

......

"Where are we?!"

A panicked voice woke up Nova from his inattentiveness.

They were on some kind of large floating island, surrounded by nothing but clouds and endless fall.

The water flew against its direction and the trees grew in all kinds of directions, making this experience even more surreal.

Nova shook his head, before looking around, he had to manage the amount of information that was coming into his brain, which meant that he had to shut off most information that his senses acquired.

The people around him were panicking, while he was calm. It probably had to do something with his missing memories, but it was hard to say. He did not remember what kind of person he was, but he did remember everything about computers, buildings, planes and so on.

It was a strange feeling... remembering all those feelings and things, but not remembering when he used them and if he used them.

"What will we do now?!"

Another person screamed. They were all loud and obnoxious, but Nova didn't blame them.

It seemed like there were some others who didn't panic and they were eyeing each other off. One girl in particular stared at Nova.

"Hey, I'm Sabrina." She introduced herself to Nova. Neither of them panicked or had troubled expressions.

They were sizing each other up.

Sabrina looked quite young, around 20 years old. She had freckles and dirty amber hair. Her proportions were hidden under her loose clothing.

There was something unsettling about her...

"Nova." He replied briefly, feeling bothered by her attitude. It felt like she was looking for something and he did not like that.

"How strange, I remember you being more talkative." Sabrina tilted her head. 'Surely he wouldn't surrender his memories to those strange bastards...' She was unsure of her feelings, but she still remembered everything.

She always wished to start anew and this place allowed it, so there was no need to hesitate or worry about anything. Either it would work or she would die.

Nova didn't reply and looked around. He was processing the most necessary information or any information of value.

'This certainly will be a pain in the ass...' Nova sighed. He could already feel a light migraine incoming and he didn't even process all the information available.

The panic was spreading, there were thousands, maybe even more people here. Panicking, staring, and overall being a nuisance.

"Welcome, Travellers." A being dressed in a white thin dress appeared in front of everyone.

She looked like an Angel with white wings and flowing clothing, but Nova did not believe it for a moment. There was no way that something, so holy, could feel so sinister.

Nova felt unsettled looking at 'her'.

"You have come from afar, but it's time for you to depart once again." The 'Angel' spoke gently, her voice caressing all, but Nova.

He was currently experiencing information overload with a painful headache.

'Yup, she is not an 'Angel'. The closest thing would be some kind of construct or an android.' Nova held his head as his nose bled, but he noticed that the bleeding stopped as quickly as it started.

'This place is all kinds of strange...' Nova frowned.

The 'Angel' ignored the cries of the people and kept talking.

"You will choose your main Classification." The 'Angel' said gently. "None of you can't keep being Lost Souls, otherwise other-worldly beings would consume you." She did nothing to quell the unease and stress that others experienced. No, it felt like she did not care. 'They need to survive as long as possible...' She narrowed her eyes.

"The three main Classifications are: Melee, Ranged, and ####." The Angel's voice distorted during the last word, which even more unsettled Nova.

The 'Angel' nodded to herself before continuing with her explanation as weapons flew in front of her. "The Melee Classification specialises in melee combat. Things like swords, shields, lightsabers, whips and so on."

"Did she just say lightsabers?" One dude asked another dude next to him and everyone suddenly started to gossip.

"Lightsabers are cool, but it's dangerous to be too close to others." Sabrina shook her head.

The 'Angel' kept talking about melee Classes and so on, but Nova didn't care much about it.

He was not all that physically fit, since he would over-calculate everything, which then caused pain not only to him, but to others too.

He would get kicked out of every sports team and hobby, which made him give up on fitness.

"The next one is the Ranged Classification. It specialises in ranged combat. Things like bows, guns, artillery, laser cannons and so on." The 'Angel' spoke gently, trying to lure them in.

"Now that is Classification for me." Sabrina nodded happily, but she had a strange, distorted expression. In her delusions, she was already imagining Nova with a sword and shield protecting her and her shooting behind him arrows or maybe bullets, upon their enemies.

Nova was likewise not interested. While archery was a good pastime for him, everything would change once it came to combat. He would be unable to keep this hobby intact because of his mental issues.

At this time, another person approached, but Nova was not worried. He noticed that anyone who would try to hurt the other would get restrained, so he was in no danger.

"If it isn't the scaredy-cat?" The guy smirked. 'Look at this dumb idiot. He gets all the benefits in school just because his brain is 'special'.' He snorted disdainfully.

"Tom, could you leave us alone!" Sabrina glared at him. 'Don't ruin my moment you shitty prick, don't you already have like a dozen girlfriends?! And don't even think about hurting Nova, or I will stab you!'

They were incredibly noisy and since Nova did not have memories of them, it hurt his brain. He felt so alienated looking at them.

"Oh, please. You are my girlfriend. It's only natural that I will care for you." Tom chuckled at Nova. 'Look at me, dumb bastard. The only girl that likes you is under my thumb. Now beg me on your knees and I might return her to you after a few years!' He smiled with glee.

Nova gave no reaction. He could not spare any emotions or time for them. He realised he was being healed in this place, so he was using this opportunity to analyse this situation.

This whole place was fake, while it was not obvious at first glance, if you focused long enough, you would notice that certain parts of this place would periodically distort, like some kind of bad projection.

Moreover, the rocky ground under him with grass did not feel like that. The grass did rustle, but it felt forced, like the sound was on a loop.

"Shut up! I'm not your girlfriend! Just because we are still standing in a classroom doesn't mean I'm going to indulge you in your delusions!" Sabrina shouted angrily. 'I will fucking strangle you, you son of a bitch! The only reason girls hang around your lame ass, is because you buy them things!' She was completely fuming.

Nova gave them the tag of delusional humans(?), but the feeling of strangeness didn't disappear. He unlocked his hearing completely to ascertain what was happening around him.

"What is this girl doing in our HR meeting with just lewd clothing?"

"I never invited someone like that into my kitchen!"

"Wife, believe me, I did not give her the keys to our apartment!"

Nova bled from both of his nostrils, but he got a lot of useful information out of it. He understood the situation better, but certain nosy individuals still bothered him...

"Ew!" Tom was the first one to react and recoiled. "God-damn pervert, trying to undress the Angel with your gaze!" He smirked inside his mind. 'If I just do this, every girl will become even more disgusted with you and I will be able to complete my College Harem plan!' He smirked victoriously.

Sabrina likewise recoiled and said harshly. "I look better than her!" She glared at Nova. 'How can you undress a hideous stranger when you have a beautiful girl right next to you?!' She could not believe him, how could he do that to her when she was right next to him?! 'Am I not beautiful enough? Is that it? Do I have to get wings or some shit?!' She was completely out of her mind...

It felt like she was blaming Nova for something he did not do.

Nova couldn't care less about those two clowns. He could not remember them and could not give them his precious cognitive resources.

To sum up his thoughts and ignore those delusional people. This place was not real and possibly created from one's mind and emotions.

It would mostly show what the person wanted to see the most. In this case, it would make sense that Nova would see such a 'breathtaking' scene that was so badly broken.

His brain never worked well, so it was only natural that this place would be full of holes.

There are some restrictions on this place that prevent them from being hurt. It seemed that it would only last until they picked up their Classification or left this place, but Nova believed it was the former.

There was no need for protection after they became powerful, considering the 'Angel's' attitude, it seemed like she wanted to get rid of them as quickly as possible.

After picking the Classification, they would no longer be 'Lost Souls' and thus she would not bother with them.

This place can heal your wounds, even if they are self-inflicted, but it wouldn't get rid of wounds that happened previously, which concerned Nova.

A guy about 50 meters away is still crying that he doesn't have a leg and there is another person about 20 meters right that is asking everyone around him for help, since he is blind.

There are still unanswered questions, like where is this place, how big it is, can you die in here and stuff like that, but Nova knew that he would not get his answers, especially not from that 'Angel'. This place was distorted due to his brain not working properly; so anything could happen from here on out.

He would have to be careful at each step or blindly leap and get more information.

Nova wiped the blood under his nose. He looked like a mess and strangers around him were already taking a few steps back.

He did not care about them, this whole place was messed up, so he had to fish for more clues and information.

[author]

My apologies it took this long, I had been tackling with editing programs for quite some time and only now did I figure everything out. I will be also adjusting Aiko into this format, so it's easier to read for those on phone and such~! <3 ^-^

[/author]