Focus. What do I actually remember?
I'm... Max? No, Maximilian C... H...? Let's put this aside for now.
I... I remember childhood, school, my first year as an engineering student. Work? No, just an internship. Books, movies, games, news.
But, fuck, without personal details? No, not really. There are SOME personal details, however they're shallow, depersonalized, without people and location names, faces.
A stroke? Unlikely.
Then what? Partial amnesia right in the middle of a strange meadow?
Eerie.
One step at a time, Max. Where am I?
I'm in a tiny meadow nestled inside a shallow depression between hills.
Why exactly here? A defensive position? To keep me from seeing what's beyond the hills too soon? No, that's stupid.
Then, to keep something from spotting me? It's more plausible. So, for now, let's not wander around.
What else? I'm wearing a black T-shirt, black jeans, a black belt, switch, black socks, black underpants, and black lace-up boots. Everything is clean and fresh. I'm also completely clean, as if I just took a bhaa...
What?!
Switch?
Head switch?
What the...
Hologram? Some kind of visual chip in the head?
Seriously, what the fuck?
If all of this is just an experiment or a prank, then it must be an incredibly sophisticated and absurdly costly one.
But if it isn't experiment … if this is real...
Let's imagine, hypothetically, that this IS real. What exactly does that mean? Let's start from the first line.
First.
I'm a "trial clone"? Fine, let's assume such insanity is true.
It's... bad. That's very bad. From a narrative perspective, "trial clone" means an expendable item or lab rat. But let's not dive into this existential void just yet.
Second.
It's a System. Which is also bad. And good. It depends on the point of view.
On one hand, according to manga and novels, Systems - universal problem-solving toolkits.
Yet, on the other hand, they are harbingers of such problems. Usually, so immense that only blatant cheats can level the playing field.
Problems and drama. All stories need drama - narrative counterweights. You have overpowered System? Here's your overpowered drama, the other side of the coin. The curse. Which just isn't worth it. It's just trading one set of issues for another.
Again, in stories... Nevertheless, what else information source about Systems I have?
Also, in stories systems typically have their own agenda... Of course, they do! Who will give away reality-warping resources without a really good reason for it?
For the sake of amusement? Pff. Basic holography tricks can make global religions even in industrial societies, but let's spent top-tier sci-fi technologies on few teenager for shit and giggles! Not that such resources can be spent on something more interesting and useful! Sure, totally believable.
No, Systems more like leased working gear than an actual gifted tool. And in my case - forced lease gear for the sake of "clone trials." Which just fuck-fucking-tastic.
Third.
"Universe Redmeron" and subsequent mention of the multiverse.
Yeah, the "multiverse" is also not good news.
Even in stories, multiverse theory poisons narratives by "everything is possible, therefore not definitive, truly important, and fully real" bullshit.
Multiverse theory as part of objective reality?
Oh, boy, that's the biggest can of worms ever possible. Figuratively and literally.
All complex systems are always a tightrope walk over entropy.
If you assume that each possible "slip" is, and will be, real. Every mistake, misfortune, catastrophe, extinction-level threat.
That the universe predominantly consists of a full spectrum of bad endings, including those in the form of universe-eaters and conceptual evils.
Then, such hypothetical reality isn't so much better than with reality with ultimate heat death of the Universe, just a different, more sophisticated type of horrors. Much more dangerous for an ordinary universe resident type of horror.
At the same time, the mention of the multiverse answers many important questions.
If infinite branching reality is real, then the answer to the question "Why me?" is laughably trivial - because this kind of things happens to almost everyone.
Or, why exactly isekai with a System? What else could it be, if not the result of the merging of metaphysical concepts that almost instantly became one of the most popular metaphysical concepts in human history? What else could serve as the key to the real multiverse except of the most lucrative, pleasant, and popular information about the multiverse? Really hope that in form of Law of similarity, not of lure.
Fourth.
It seems I can earn points via "hunting" and "personal relationships."
That actually makes sense, these are two halves of natural selection and relate to most personal and group strengths and adaptations. All the rest are derivatives.
Let's stick to tradition. In relation to an ordinary life, all of this is bad as well.
Hunting will force me, at least, to become a motivated killer. If the System rewards quantitative grind, and it didn't give me related mental protections, then sooner or later such positive reinforcement will slippery-slope me into a murderhobo one way or another.
The classics are classic for a reason. Even for such classic tropes like "collateral damage also XP!" and "why not trade a few evil deeds for power, if such power will help to do so much more good deeds in the future?"
Relationship? I have an introversion debuff for it. Under normal society domains - not a massive one. However, if I'm really in another world... If this world's humans are similar to humans as they were 99,9% of the history of my world...
Sigh. Today you're all sunshine, Max... Though just a little bit more. Soon there will be good news. Perhaps even great.
What else?
Hunting-1, Relationships-1. Tiers? Tiers of what? Difficulty? Quest chains? Time periods? Professional deformation?
2/10 for Technical documentation! Don't recommend!
Fifth.
"Hunting-1: 0/51❖ Expansion: tier; impact; odds; new."
"Relationships-1: 0/51❖ Expansion: >70 percentile; impact; odds; anomaly; completeness; new."
Hmm… So I have 0+0 points. And can theoretically earn 51 + 51 points for first Hunting and Relationships tiers.
Why 51? Why not 50?
51 seems to indicate that feats not only give points, but also expand total point pools.
For Hunting such expansion via hunting feats related to tier-strength, impact-significance, new-novelty of hunt's targets, and "odds" - the difference in power between me and the target. Yes, it's typical for RPG XP logic.
For Relationships, expansion of point pool is via… Okay, "impact", "completeness", and "new" modifiers are more or less clear, but how should I interpret "odds"? The likelihood of a peasant becoming the king's closest advisor? Plausible.
"Anomaly" modifier probably refers to extreme personal traits.
And ">70 percentile" is... Anomaly is about single uniqueness, while >70 percentile about higher end of aggregated one? Or it's about archetypal qualities? Or about somethings different altogether, like relationship efficiency or intensiveness? Fuck if I know.
Overall, it's rather simple: perform feats with modifiers, earn points, expand points pool.
If I'm in a fantasy world, then the only thing standing between me and a huge amount of points is finding a city and sending out a batch of letters filled with industrial-era knowledge.
Some knowledge I should exchange on money. Money on basic napalm and poisons. Them on hunting points. Thereafter - leveraging of System to steamroll problems. And if this isn't sci-fi world - reconstruction of good postindustrial and information age stuff.
Hey, I'm already almost beat the game, can I go home?
No? Well, it was worth a try.
Although, something in such plans feels off.
Most likely Hunting and Relationships points are awarded only for personal acts. Judging by the presence of the "New" modifier - acts with diminishing return.
Also, why list modifiers if ANY feats would still earn points and expand total pools, only slower?
No, there's a catch, isn't there? Hunting-1 and Relationships-1. It's quite plausible that the quantity of awarded feats per tier is limited.
If so, then the mentioned modifiers are the MAIN System mechanic.
You were a lazy ass who wasted Tier-1 feats on low-modifier actions? Congratulations! Instead of earning 200+200 maximal points per tier you earn measly 70+70. Lost possibility to safely fulfill Tier-2 feats. And hard-capped previously soft-capped potential.
However, doesn't that mean that, aside from feats fulfillment, I should avoid anything related to hunting and relationships?
All modifiers except "new" about rare and qualitative events. So, perhaps there are such mechanics: "you can start as many quests as you want, but the further you complete them - the more you should do it diligently and fully, because exactly such things are assessed for rewards.
Probably...
Overall it is more like some king of puzzle than RPG grind. If this were a game or a visual novel, I'd call it "cool." But this ISN'T a fucking novel!
...
Sigh. Ok, to be fair, if the multiverse is real, of course it's a fucking novel. Somewhere and somehow. But in the same way as there are novels about anything else. Therefore, this just shouldn't count.
If everything is a novel - nothing is a novel.
Sixth.
FINALLY some good news! I can spend points in two ways.
The first way is buying skills and abilities. With a little bummer in the form of the word "Apprentice..." NO, STOP, be optimistic, Max! Why "Apprentice"? Because it's just the lowest quality level! Yes, good hypothesis! Until proven otherwise, let's treat it as the main one.
And just look at the name of the second spending way!
Multiversal Service System! The most optimistic three words you have ever heard!
A Multiversal shop? The possibility to purchase services? Hiring of companions and teachers? Travel to other universes as a contracted expert? Given the sheer vastness of the multiverse, all options are amazing!
Seventh.
Free rolls! Superpower freebies!
1 for skills, 2 for abilities, 3 for the Multiversal Service System.
Plus the enormous elephant in the room.
Eighth.
"Small extradimensional space."
Why craft such a sophisticated deception only to outright hand over possibility to uncover it?
Why make uncovering method in the form of the most complicated sci-fi technology - portable matter-energy-matter conversion?
Why...
How much longer are you going to stall instead of actually verifying it, Max?
But...
No, stop fucking around, Max!
Fuck...
FUCK IT, moment of truth, just do it!
...
...
?
...
Extradimensional space?
...
Small extradimensional space! Small extradimensional space, activate!
Inventory? Open inventory?
Help? Information? Observe? Settings? Quests? Abilities?
Fascinating.
I can feel a 3D representation of dirt-filled cell, its volume in cubic centimeters, the percentage filled. And how much empty space is left, also in two values.
Let's test it on a small leaf... No lag. 0,02cm³
What about moving along the palm stone? "Wrong target." And 0,53cm³
So the number of cells is limited only by the total available volume? Useful. Alright, not important right now.
It's real... it's fucking real, isn't it?
Occam's razor isn't about probability; it's about choosing the simplest explanation among competing hypotheses. Kind of like the Duck Test, but comparison oriented.
It's still more probable that all of this is the result of some kind of mental tampering. But with every new piece of bullshit like this, the simpler explanation "nah, it's just normal isekai" slowly takes hold over also unbelievable, but more unknown, alternatives.
And what exactly are the alternatives, Max? Mental tampering technologies? Then where are the decades of gradual development that should have preceded them? Were those memories deleted too? If so, neural pathways needed to figure all this out were probably erased as well.
What else? That it's not a multiversal-scale clusterfuck, just "smaller" galactic-aliens one?
Does that really change anything? 21st century engineers have no interest in forging horseshoes. Why would entities with matter-energy-matter technologies bother with something orders of magnitude simpler, instead of using such tools for tasks of similar complexity? Like, say, spread across countless star systems an experimental imitation of a multiverse.
Or maybe it's not aliens at all, "just" virtual reality made by ASI, or post-scarcity humanity? And how is that any different from a "real multiverse" for the people inside it? Different universe, galaxy, simulation? For me, all of this is a fucking technicality.
Alright. Let's look for more proof that I'm not on Earth anymore.
Free rolls are tempting, really tempting. But no. They might offer multiple options, so I should only use them when I know exactly what I need. Or when I have no alternatives left.
The color of ants can be faked, however size? They're not Kansas-sized, Toto!
"Face it, Max. You're dodging the obvious and you know it."
"And what exactly do you want me to do, Toto?"
"You know. Do it. You already halfway there with Small extradimensional space."
"But, is it sensible, Toto?" Is he right?
"It is, Max. What if these ants aren't an anomaly but the local norm? What if there are time limits involved? What if..."
"Ok, ok, you won. I will roll. But what exactly?"
Observation:
There are three types of free rolls: Skills with 1 free roll, Abilities with 2 free rolls, and Multiversal Service System with 3 free rolls.
Hypothesis: similar rolls are activated one by one, not all at once.
Hypothesis: the more there are free rolls of one type - the less their value or importance.
Hypothesis: if activation offers several options, then the most versatile options should come from the Multiversal Service System. Where I might be able to obtain more data or a map.
Inference: It would be best to start with one Multiversal Service System roll. Even if I mess up one such roll, I'll still have 5 predominantly more valuable rolls to unfuck it.
Multiversal Service System, free roll?
Author's Note:
English isn't my first language, and this is my first such experience, therefore I want to apologize in advance for possible mistakes and revisions.
An amusing fact, frequent use of "fucks" in this chapter isn't a coincidence, but rather narratively important moment.
For future chapters, {{{ text }}} - MC thoughts.