My head hurt.
I essentially limped to my room and collapsed on my bed.
I never realized how boring my room was.
Well, I hadn’t been particularly aware until last night.
What a headache.
I felt the outline of the Fate-Stealing Card in my pocket.
The more I thought about the thing, the more I disliked the concept.
Fate.
A pre-written ending.
A story.
I grunted as I sat up and rubbed my face.
Then I reached into my pocket and looked at the strange card.
Why would stealing someone’s fate benefit me at all?
I had a shallow fate, yes, but I also had free will.
I was awake now, and my actions held weight.
Why would I lock myself into the fate of another?
Trade a fateless existence for the chance to live someone else’s life?
No.
I ripped the card in half.
No way.
I envied his power.
Particularly the dragon.
But my fate was my own.
I didn’t want to replace him in the story of this world.
DING.
[Hidden Quest Complete: I Make My Own Fate!] Condition: Reject the theft of another existence’s narrative path.
Reward: Unwritten Boosted Gear.
DORMANT.
Warning: Power without fate must be defined by action.
No fuckin’ way.
Oh, okay.
No Juggernaut Drive.
That was good.
I was too stressed for that.
I might enter that state instantly.
At least I could feel it.
Kind of.
It felt like my existence was being hugged.
Kindly.
When the hug was complete, a warm current of power coiled around my existence.
Was this Ddraig’s soul?
How did this work?
[Clarification: The Unwritten Boosted Gear is a version of Boosted Gear from an abandoned timeline.] Whoa.
That’s not scary at all.
[Issei Hyoudou did not exist in that reality.] I did not need this right now.
“You’re too literal.” [I am essentially a large language model, Host.] “Yeah, yeah.
You keep my mind organized or whatever.” [Answering Query…] [It is a remnant of a Welsh Dragon’s soul.] [It is not Ddraig, but a parallel draconic existence.] [As Host becomes more real, so too does it.] [Unwritten Boosted Gear -> Nascent Dragon Soul] Oh, cool.
Could I still trade my organs for dragon organs?
Trading my heart and bone marrow seemed cool.
[Advising Host not to restructure his body on a whim.] [Answering Query: Something similar is possible.] Hell yeah.
Dragon blood, baby.
Status!
I pointed to the ceiling grandly!
— [Status] Name: Raoul Kurokaze Race: Physical Human Classification: Former NPC / Stabilizing Fictional Existence Current World: Draconic Deus Existence Density: 0.03% Soul Integrity: 6.40% Narrative Weight: Trace Primary Objective: Avoid Erasure Secondary Objective: Define Your Own Fate — Attributes: Str: 10 Int: 8 Wis: 8 Dex: 6 Luk: 99 Magical Energy: Depleted Spiritual Stability: Recovering Draconic Resonance: Dormant — Titles: [Karma Magnet] – Host is more likely to encounter beings, events, and opportunities carrying significant narrative consequence.
– Warning: Luck does not distinguish between fortune and catastrophe.
[I Make My Own Fate] – Acquired by rejecting the theft of another existence’s narrative path.
– Host’s fate is no longer entirely shallow, but remains undefined.
– Warning: Undefined fate must be shaped through action.
— Sacred Gear: [Unwritten Boosted Gear] — DORMANT Origin: Abandoned alternative reality.
Core: Nascent Dragon Soul.
Status: Inactive / Undefined / Awaiting Definition.
Current Functions: None.
Potential Functions: Boosting, draconic conversion, power amplification, spiritual reinforcement.
Warning: Power without fate must be defined by action.
System Note: As Host becomes more real, so too does the Nascent Dragon Soul.
— Skills: [Algorithmic Thinking] – Think in systems.
Recognize patterns, structures, and processes more easily.
– Current Application: Spell structure analysis.
[Fleet Footwork] – Avoid getting hit.
– Current Application: Basic movement correction.
[Basic Onmyōdō] – Repel evil.
Purify corruption.
Establish order.
– Current Application: Beginner-level ritual understanding.
[Basic Martial Arts] – You can kind of fight.
– Current Application: Unrefined self-defense.
[Talisman Crafting] – Your talismans look like a toddler drew them, but they work.
– Current Best Result: Weak Yang Ward.
– Quality: Terrible.
– Durability: Six minutes.
[Occult Caution] – Recognize that magic systems have consequences.
– Current Application: Do not willingly give blood to suspicious supernatural entities.
— Bonds: [Koneko Toujou] — Minor Bond Status: Stabilized.
Effect: Host is more strongly recognized by Koneko Toujou.
Warning: Bonds create recognition.
Recognition creates consequence.
[????] — Karmic Thread Status: Unresolved.
Effect: Unknown.
— Active Quests: [First Steps into Onmyōdō] Objective: Craft five working talismans.
Progress: Reason out the basic structure of a magic system.
[Complete] Obtain materials and reagents.
[Partially Complete] Craft five working talismans.
[3/5] Reward: Pending.
— Completed Hidden Quests: [I Make My Own Fate] Condition: Reject the theft of another existence’s narrative path.
Reward: Unwritten Boosted Gear.
DORMANT.
— System Evaluation: Host has begun transitioning from passive background existence to active self-defined existence.
Current weaknesses: Low physical ability.
Low magical capacity.
Unstable identity depth.
No combat experience.
Excessive curiosity.
Current strengths: High luck.
Pattern recognition.
Moral self-awareness.
Developing bonds.
Unwritten draconic potential.
Recommendation: Rest.
Host has drained his magical energy.
— Wowza.
That’s a whole lotta words.
Yeah going to sleep sounds good right now.