Shadow Monarch: Multiverse Ascendance

Sand and dust blinded his eyes as he fell from the cliff. Although he was falling to his death, his face was engulfed in calmness. If there was any presence of other emotions, it would be regret.

...

'So I died... huh?'

It was the first thing that came to my mind when I was introduced to this endless darkness, extending to no end. There was nothing I could see, feel, or sense all around me. It felt like I was inside a dream but conscious enough to make a difference.

The reason for my death was uncertain, but I knew I would die some minutes before my death. I mean, despite a human getting shot, their mind remains active for some time, and thus I found the opportunity to have my life flash before my darkening vision.

And I had enough time to see my flesh before me.

Well, I was not able to recollect my life at my last moment, so I will do so now.

In my last life, I was an adopted child who didn't get along with my parents, even though they took me from the orphanage at a very young age. They thought I was cute, but when I threw away their irritating cat in a dump truck, they became sure about my true nature, I guess.

I was not bullied nor hated, but living around two siblings who constantly tried to get under my nerves would definitely make anyone fall out of such a family.

Unfortunately, when I decided to go on a vacation with my friends after school graduation to a faraway tourist place situated on the border of two Koiren countries, I found myself falling from a skyscraper.

And as my life flashed before me, the only thing I felt was regret. Regret for not accomplishing anything in my whole life, not even on a personal level. I had done nothing that could be called good.

I have not done anything from which I can beat my chest and say that I have done it. Just the normal blunt life.

Anime, novels, and manhwa were the only things that I wasted my time on, nothing worth mentioning. I did become a third-rate novelist, but even then, I was never able to finish them...

No one is going to remember me.

Humans are mostly not afraid of death; they are afraid of being forgotten, and I am no different from them.

Such a pathetic life filled with only regrets...

I don't know why I am thinking all this when there is no point after all. With death, everything ends.

Maybe I am doing this because I don't want to lose myself in this infinite, dark nothingness. Not even a single source of light.

I don't know how much time has passed since I died. It could be days, months, years, or even centuries, as if the existence of time doesn't even matter.

Now, looking without knowing about the time, when I got the chance to reflect upon myself, the only thing I feel is regret.

Well, at least now I know what happens after death. You just become part of this nothingness. When your last will dies, you just wander around here, where nothing matters. No matter how much I regret, nothing will change. I will remain the same piece of shit I was.

I regret everything I did in my life, from not being a good son to not being a good brother.

Not taking revenge on the girl. Like every young teenager, I was also interested in love. There was one particular young girl in my class that I had a crush on.

Her name was Anna, and I was successfully able to date her. But our relationship didn't last long as I saw her with another man who was much older and richer than me. Later, I found out that the man was married and even had a daughter similar to her age.

She was a real witch. I should have definitely taken revenge, but I could not. Maybe I was the real witch, a dog who could only bark.

After knowing what she was doing, the only thing I did was break up with her and drown my sorrows in alcohol. And I regret again as I should have fucked his wife and daughter, and her mother. That would have been sweet revenge.

But, like a bitch, I did nothing but blame myself. Even now, floating in this infinite nothingness, I am doing it.

...

All I see is black, and I have a body made of pure blue light.

I have been here for who knows how long, and I've already recounted everything I can remember. So it's safe to assume I've been here for a while.

Just where did things go wrong? Why did I keep living like that?

If you look at the characters of any webnovel or fanfiction, this should be the time of my ascent or the ascent of some higher being who would grant me some wishes and send me on my way. Give me a way to fulfill my dreams and my regrets.

Then why am I still here in the darkness?

Maybe it's because I don't have any dreams, or maybe it's just a lot of bullshit.

I wish it were like that for me too, as I know the right wishes and the world I really want to go to.

After all, this is a perfect setup for a shitty fan fiction of some loser lying somewhere.

From here on is the real deal.

"SYSTEM!"

"SYSTEM!"

"SYSTEM!"

"SYSTEM!"

"QUEST WINDOW!"

"QUEST WINDOW!"

"QUEST WINDOW!"

"GOD,

JESUS,

BUDDHA,

YHWH,

THE JADE EMPEROR,

ODIN,

Ra,

OSIRIS,

ANUBIS,

SHIVA,

AMATERASU ŌMIKAMI,

INDRA,

JUPITER,

PERUN,

ZEUS,

OBELISH,

TURBANED,

MARDUK,

AMUN-RA,

ZARATHUSTRA,

MARIA,

TUPA,

RAVEN,

DAGDA,

MERCPHOBIA,

IGNIA,

ALDORON,

SELENE,

VIERNES,

LUCIFER,

LEVIATHAN,

SATAN,

BELIAL,

GABRIEL,

MICHAEL,

RAPHAEL,

URIEL,

BLUE DRAGON,

THE WHITE TIGER,

THE RED PHOENIXES,

THE BLACK TORTOISE AND SERPENT,

SEALED EXODIA'S

LEFT ARM,

RIGHT ARM,

HEAD,

SHOULDER,

FEET!

ROB!"

"PLEASE SOMEBODY COME OUT, I NEED YOU. PLEASE LEND ME YOUR STRENGTH."

Would something like that even work?

There's no way.

I am not into fanfiction.

So there is no way something like that even appears.

Huh?

Don't tell me?

I was shocked to see a black vortex forming in front of me, and with every passing second, it was growing bigger and bigger.

And soon, I started to feel its gravity pulling me towards it...

What? What? No? No? Fuck! What the fuck is happening? Am I dying? But I am already dead?...

Don't tell me it's going to erase my consciousness?

Fuck...

I don't know whether it's a dream or reality... But I feel heavy, as if my consciousness is slipping away. I feel heavy, as if I am lifting the weight of the sky on my shoulders.

I didn't want to die, not like this, Without getting rid of these regrets.

No, I didn't want to die, but what can a mortal do in front of the power of a Black Hole?

Please, gods, demons, or whoever is watching this, please give me a chance. I will do better, no, I will do perfectly. I will dream and turn those dreams into reality, so please give me a chance. Even if you like entertainment, you don't have to give me anything. In fact, you can even throw me into some post-apocalyptic world, and I would still be happy.

So please give me a chance...

Please...

Pl...

And these were my last words before I felt like I was becoming a part of nothingness...

In South Korea, within one of the human realms, there lies a boy within the hospital of Korea. The boy appears to be asleep in the emergency wards, and the room is the exact definition of the word "extravagant".

The room looks normal with magical crystals edging the room, with ample space for at least 7 people to live. The boy appears to be about 23-24 years old, with black hair, grey eyes, and a cute face. But looking at his body, which doesn't show even a single muscle power, he looks rather weak and pathetic.

The hospital ward is filled with technology that is hardly understandable, with a red liquid drip in his hand, which has "healing potion" written on it.

It would have been a harmonious scene if it weren't for the boy continuously frowning and turning in the bed as if he were in pain. The boy keeps groaning until suddenly he jolts up, clutching his head.

"GASP"

"GASP"

"What the hell, why does my head hurt so bad? What's going on?"

"Arhhhhh….damn it, it hurts….."

The "boy" suddenly jolts and starts turning and tussling as if in great pain, as he pulls the syringe from his hand.

"Why does it feel like my mind is exploding... What's happening?"

He keeps screaming in pain for at least 10 minutes until the "boy" starts feeling better.

"Wow... uff, I must have drunk a lot last night," the boy says, currently lying flat on the floor, when he starts to realize that the ceiling he is looking at doesn't belong to him.

"What the hell? Did I drink so much that I came to the wrong house, or am I hallucinating now?"

Trying to stand up, the boy fails and falls back. "Damn it, my muscles hurt like hell! Did I get into a bar fight? No, no, that's not important. The question is, where the hell am I?"

While laying down questioning himself, the boy looks around and notices a certain characteristic that he had failed to notice before—that everything looks big.

No, that can't be right. The truth is he has become smaller. Feeling a sense of dread coming upon him, the "boy" raises his hands and takes a look. They are small, white, and most of all, smooth yet very fragile, as if they don't have any muscles whatsoever.

Suddenly, a certain thought enters his mind, a concept which was extremely popular among light novels and web novels.

As an avid reader himself, he had read his fair share of fantasy transmigration novels.

"No, it can't be real. It's not possible," while the boy is having a meltdown and trying his best to push such thoughts away, a voice is heard, nailing his fantasies to reality.

[Ding…]

[Scanning the current world…..]

[Scanning completed…]

[Welcome, Player!!!.....to your new life]

As he reads the window that was in front of him, the recent memories start to resurface in his mind, reminding him of the nothingness he was once floating in.

Seeing the window he never hoped to see his whole life, the "boy" suddenly starts to cry.

'… so I died.'

'How is that possible? So all this is now reality, once a fictional world now more real than reality itself.

So did somebody fulfill my wish?

Or did they just want entertainment and see me as the most desperate person?

Does it matter which one it is?

It could even be a coincidence, for all I know.

It doesn't matter, at least not when I don't know which world this is.

So who am I? What is this world?

At least it's not an apocalyptic world; I can confirm that by looking at the technology. It seems to have Mana or magical aspects, just like me. The healing potion that was pumped into my body confirms it.

But who knows, maybe this world is on the verge of collapse.

'So I died without accomplishing anything in life? Without giving back the love and support my parents gave me? Without fulfilling my dreams?'

Let's hope it's not. Okay, calm down. I need to find a mirror; that will be the best way to get some clues.

As these thoughts fill my mind, and before I can even think of anything, I feel someone entering the room. So I instantly jump onto the bed, not knowing who it is. If it's a relative of this body, I'll pretend to be asleep.

Since I don't even know who I am or have any memory of this body, how am I going to pretend to be someone else? I can't afford to have a memory lapse, as I am not even aware of the injuries this body has to be admitted to a hospital with healing potion in its veins.

As the door opens and I take a glance at who it is, I sigh in my mind when I see two people wearing business suits. Relatives don't come to the hospital in formal wear unless it's an emergency, which is highly likely to happen.

"Are you finally awake now?" says one of the men, with his hands in his pockets. And I have to say, he looks good.

"Who are you?" I ask, knowing it's a gamble. They could very well be my relatives, but I have to say something.

"I'm sorry if we surprised you," he says, heading over to me and handing me a black card.

I take it; after all, it's some information.

"THE KOREAN HUNTER GUILD'S INSPECTORS…" I read it and start to grasp the situation. Now I'm sure this is some kind of manhwa, and looking at those faces, even though they are in 3D, I'm certain I've seen them. This looks similar to a very popular manhwa, but I still need more information.

"Why do the inspectors want to see me?" I ask, unsure if these are the right words, but I have to say something.

"Don't you remember what happened?" he asks, his voice tinged with suspicion.

But I know how to respond.

"I'm sorry, but my recent memories are kind of foggy."