Yuji's room... He thought to himself as he examined the new area. The ceiling was made up of the same black substance that was everywhere in his room, but the rest was covered in grayish-white porcelain.

  A couple of tables of varying sizes, nine chairs, two tall display cabinets, one large projection TV, and a bean bag chair??

  No matter how he looked at it, the article on soul worlds was either wrong or lying. There was no way this was his 'Perfect inner world'. He'd never even sat in a bean bag chair before, so the idea that he created one through some intense longing for one was ridiculous on its face. Plus, the weird mix of mana-layered black architecture surrounded by high-quality furniture, and a random bean bag chair, didn't look like something anyone could have created on the spot, even by accident.

  He walked over to the display cabinets and scanned the insides, but again, it looked like a huge mix of random things that made no sense together. At one point he found a marathon trophy for 'Benji Khazan' surrounded by translucent blue figurines, and then next to them was a half-naked probably hand-painted Kitsune woman with blue hair, which was a color he'd never seen on them before.

  After finding nothing of note, he went back to the other side of the room and checked the door next to his room.

  What?!

  'Lisa's room' was written on the nameplate. Wasting no time, he walked up to the door and waited for it to scan him. Once it was done, the black door opened up in the same exact way as the last one.

  Immediately, he could see that her room looked nothing like his.

  It looks like a little girl's room would, and I think her room in the trailer looked exactly like this when we were kids?

  Yuji walked into her room and noticed that only the door and its frame were made of the black substance. The rest looked like wood painted teal and yellow.

  Now these look familiar too...

  The wall was covered in drawings. Lisa had always loved drawing and even sold a few illustrations over the years for a good amount of coins.

  Hmm?

  There was one difference sticking out to him though. The drawings, while familiar looking, had people other than he and her in them. There was a Yuji, Lisa, Mom, and Dad.

  Yuji and Lisa had never called Gavin 'Dad' since he didn't like it, and while they did call his wife Mona 'Mom', she had only been a part of their life for a few years before killing herself. Lisa was a much better artist by the time that happened. The illustrations on the wall in front of him were basically stick drawings.

  Mom was a Kitsune, and so is this woman here, but the lady in the drawing has her fur colored in blue? Mom's was brown.

  It also looked like the blue Kitsune woman had wings, but he wasn't entirely positive of that since it was hard to tell.

  Considering where he was, he really wasn't sure what to make of any of it. But it did remind him of something he'd given up on long ago. Their Uncle Gavin had always refused to tell them who their parents were, and while Mona had promised to tell them when they were older, she obviously wasn't around anymore, so the only one left was Gavin, whom they had long since given up on trying to get information out of.

  I really should just tell them that I awakened. But even though their marriage was loveless, I'm still having a hard time with the idea of telling her that I killed her future husband, and then burned---Oh god, right, I'll have to tell them about how I disposed of his body... How in the hell am I gonna do this? Most of our time together for the past fifteen years has been playing video games, watching TV, and walking around the mall for no real reason as I pushed her. Advancing from there to 'By the way, this is how I made sure nobody found your soon-to-be husband's corpse' is a little beyond my skill level.

  He knew he had to tell her at some point; there was no avoiding that, but he just didn't feel ready yet.

  Akira and Irena, just them for the time being, while I try and get close to Dai so that I can apparently kill him or the blackmailer... Seriously, what even is this life anymore?

  Yuji left the room and walked up to the door at the end of the left side, but after it scanned him, it didn't open up as the others had. He tried a few more times after that, and then attempted with the door on the other side of the room as well, but that also wouldn't open.

  I guess that's it for now?

  He returned to his room and climbed into bed, entering the same exact pose he was in previously, but just as he was about to try 'Willing' himself back into the real world, he finally remembered why he had even entered his bizarre soul world.

  Instead of trying to imagine returning to his world, he visualized his supposed mission in front of him, and a few seconds later, a partly transparent screen appeared in front of him.

  Whoa, it really does work...

  Yuji didn't have the faintest clue of what his mission might be, but he didn't expect it to be related to what was currently happening in his life. So he was surprised to see the mission counter telling him to kill Dai or most likely the blackmailer.

  Absorb one or both of the individuals listed below.

  - Dai Murakami

  - ***********

  Reward: Trial completion. Paths are chosen. Bonus reward available (see abilities).

  There were four paths he could follow, and as he read them, he noticed that his trial mission was actually an updated version. Originally he was supposed to absorb ten normal people, or one Awakened. It had apparently changed after the blackmailer appeared.

  When it says 'Absorb', I'm guessing it means their blood? Two of these paths need a lot of blood as a resource after all, or that's what it looks like anyway.

  Those two were heavily combat-focused, but the idea of constantly needing to suck blood out of people was something he really wasn't all that interested in. He was doing his best to come to terms with the fact that he'd need to start doing that at some point, but choosing a route that would force him to do it a lot was a pretty big leap.

  I still have time to think about it though, and some of these abilities that initially unlock look really good.

  Out of the four though, he was already being drawn in by the first option. The descriptions under them gave brief previews of what to expect, and they were really calling out to him. Even the names of each ascendancy just sounded right to him.

  Blood:

  Tier 6+: *******

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  Tier 5: Red Primarch - Race / Corruption.

  Soul Sight efficiency is much higher during 'Sky Walker'.

  Tier 4: *******

  Tier 3: Blood sense merged into new ability, 'Soul Sight'. Can now see and sense blood/curses through objects.

  Tier 2: Blood sense range upgrade.

  Tier 1: Vampir - Blood sense.

  Transform into absorbed individuals. Visuals/audio only, with soul masking. Blood used per minute based on several factors: Ascendancy tier, size, light, mana usage, and damage taken.

  Shadow:

  Tier 6+: *******

  Tier 5: Angel of Death - Maxed all.

  Reflect curses.

  Weakness to elemental halved.

  Float morphed into 'Sky Walker'.

  Tier 4: Reaper - Float maxed (no longer requires mana). Warp to highly cursed individuals.

  Tier 3: Wraith - Float upgraded. Ethereal blade. Stronger curses. Less physical damage taken, but more susceptible to elemental. Immune to curses.

  Tier 2: Veiled Stalker - Travel between shadows, including those created by people. Minor curses.

  Tier 1: Shade - Hide in shadows. Drains mana (light dependent)

  Current Abilities:

  Night Terror - You may enter shadows underneath, or very close, to the victim as they sleep. Your souls will be forcibly linked. The longer you remain in this state, the stronger you will be against the victim if combat were to occur. If you succeed in fully subduing the victim's soul, you may control or absorb them unimpeded.

  Caution - This strength is temporary. The deep-rooted curse on their soul will naturally heal over time. And the stronger the opponent, the more likely they are to become aware of your presence over time.

  Trial Bonus Mission/Ability:

  The victim must state their full name to you willingly.

  The victim must invite you to their home willingly.

  The victim must divulge one of their deepest secrets to you willingly.

  Reward - Instant Ascension to Tier 2.

  Hmm, it's heavily skewed toward the shadow side, with Vampir only ascending once, I think? Hard to tell with tier four being blotted out, but by itself, its first tier is far better than some of the third-tier options. Although I'm not entirely sure of what it means next to Primarch. Do I become a completely different race?

  And it was all a mere preview too, so he wouldn't get a complete breakdown until he finished his trial.

  By then I might be considering the other three instead, but who knows. This is already all so fantastical and ridiculous.

  The trial mission and its reward were something he needed to think about as well, but he was at his limit. That would have to wait until tomorrow.

  Yuji closed his eyes and imagined himself back in the trailer. He began to hear audio from the TV in the living room not too long after.

  He thought about getting up to watch TV with them for a little while to unwind, but he was even more exhausted than he had been the previous night.

  Yuji made a note in his mind about how taxing it had been to enter the soul realm, and then promptly fell asleep.

  "Put a gun in my mouth and pull the trigger," Akira said.

  Yuji just shook his head as he bent down to grab his half of the box.

  "This was supposed to be our day off, damnit. And it was already bad enough before! Why are we suddenly getting double the shipments?"

  Despite his complaints, Akira bent down and helped place the box on the belt that led to level nine of the mines.

  "Hey, how's Lisa doing by the way?" Akira continued, "You know, since Ryu disappeared like that."

  "She was really upset the night he didn't show up, but after that she was immediately back to normal. I mean, it sucks that she's not marrying into the elite, but at the end of the day, none of us really cared. I'd bet anything that the only reason she was upset the first night is that she thought he ditched her for being a cripple, since it'd cost a lot to fix her, as you and I both know all too well. But after it turned out he had disappeared for reasons unrelated to her, she had no reason to care anymore."

  And we're used to being disappointed anyway.

  "Hah, I had a feeling it was something like that. He was only after her looks anyway, and we've heard nothing good about that family, so it's probably for the best."

  "You doing alright there, you two?" A voice said from behind them, cutting through the conversation. They both turned around and saw Jack, a co-worker of theirs who drove the mini-lifts around. He was the one delivering most of the packages that ended up in the belt intersection they were in charge of.

  Akira raised a middle finger at him, "Oh yeah, I'm doing fucking great over here. So feel free to drive off in your padded chair, while also making thirty percent more than me for some reason."

  Jack grinned at him, "You always do a great job of reminding me why nobody likes you house-cats."

  "FOXES!! NOT CATS!" Akira yelled at Jack's back as he drove away. Yuji cringed when he saw that his lift was carrying two more massive boxes.

  He idly scanned smaller packages while placing them on different belts until the two massive ones arrived. However, once he scanned them, he really wasn't sure of what to do next. Because there was no way he and Akira could do what it was asking.

  "What's wrong? Akira asked.

  "It says to drop them off at their destination? Since when is that our job? And it doesn't even say where the destination is."

  "The hell? What are we even supposed to do with them then?"

  Just then, Yuji realized it was the perfect opportunity for him. He'd been trying to psyche himself up to go talk to Dai, and now he had an actual work-related issue he could bring to him.

  "I'll be right back," Yuji said before turning around and heading for the stairs toward Dai's office.

  He was about halfway up the stairs when Dai's secretary spotted him. The lanky man raised an eyebrow and opened the door in preparation for Yuji's arrival.

  "Is there a problem?"

  Try as he might, Yuji couldn't remember the man's name. He was always just 'Dai's assistant' to him and Akira.

  "Yes, the large boxes below have a strange destination applied to their tags." He held the scanner out so the assistant could see it.

  "... Indeed. There was bound to be a mistake or two now that we had to speed up."

  ......

  Yuji looked off to the side at Dai. He had to be nearly three hundred pounds, and had fiery red fur, which looked much better in the photos on the wall showcasing him when he was younger.

  "Look who's here!" Said Dai from his chair, still on the phone with someone, "Apologies, Mister Vorheez, I had something come up. I'll have to call you back later."

  Dai put the phone down and stood up from his chair. He then swung around the large desk with his arms outstretched.

  That action alone was so confusing that it was almost comparable to Yuji waking up with Ryu's corpse in front of him. He'd only talked to the man once in his entire life, but here he was meeting him as if he were a long-lost relative.

  He didn't want to offend him though, so he awkwardly held his arms out and let the man hug him.

  "How are you doing, Yuji? Has work here been treating you well?"

  What in the hell is happening right now?

  "Yeah, it's been fine. Although uh, since you're asking, I'd like to know why you had me and Akira handle those massive boxes? It's a bit much for the two of us."

  Dai pulled back with a convincing look of concern on his face, "Is that true? I gave that to you two because of the pay increase and the fewer hours. I didn't know the boxes were that heavy though..."

  "Oh, so that's why you ignored my concerns." The assistant said, causing Dai to scoff, "Your 'Concerns' were that the other workers would be jealous and do something to them. You never said that the boxes were too damned heavy, you fool. And they shouldn't even be that heavy to begin with, considering what's in them."

  Dai returned to his seat and motioned for Yuji to sit across from him, so he did.

  "Before you bring up whatever work-related issue brought you here, I already know what the answer is, but I need to ask anyway... Have you heard from Ryu?"

  "No sir, I haven't. Have you heard anything from the Protectorate?"

  Dai kicked his desk and yelled, "Those fools aren't even looking!! Useless scum, and after everything I've done for them. Instead of looking for my son, they're investigating some issue at the old Crystal Factory," His eyes widened a little, "That's right! You worked there, didn't you? Did anything strange ever happen while you were working there?"

  "Not that I know of? It was a pretty normal place, and given the nature of our jobs, we rarely talked to anyone outside of our immediate work areas. Much like how things are done here. Why? What is it that caught their attention over there?"

  The assistant cut in, "They're saying they found evidence of blood on the grinders, and they claim the DNA is from dozens of different missing people cases." He continued, "Ryu was not among them."

  Whoa, what the hell? I definitely didn't expect to hear something like that tied to my old workplace.

  "......"

  Yuji really wasn't sure how to broach it, but this seemed like as good a time as any.

  "Um, sir, I really don't know if I should be telling you this... But I saw something last night that you'd probably want to know about."

  Dai's mouth went agape, "What? What did you see?"

  "I saw your wife with a butler from the Hargraven's mansion..."

  "Pfft!" Dai leaned back in his chair and laughed while holding his stomach, "You little pecker, you had me thinking you saw something related to Ryu! I don't care about that damned woman. Of course she's off fucking around. I married a whore, so I'd be a fool to not expect her to act like one."

  Contrasting Dai, Yuji could see an annoyed look come across the assistant's face.

  "R-Right, sorry about that."

  "All good, all good. And just uh, out of curiosity, does your uncle know that you have an easier, higher paying job---" He sighed, "Or you were supposed to have an easier, higher paying job..."

  "? Do you know Uncle Gavin personally?"

  "......"

  Dai leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling, "I shouldn't be surprised that he didn't tell you that we used to be best friends."

  One surprise after another.

  "Yeah, he uh, rarely talks period. I never hear him say more than six or seven words at a time."

  "He hasn't changed at all then." Dai shook his head, then leaned forward, placing his arms on the desk, "Now then, what really brought you here?"