A tremendous opportunity - The true worth of Verse Fusion

Kai opened his eyes with a splitting headache two days later.

The cry of birds and the surrounding chill told him it was early morning, just short enough to call it dawn. With one deep breath, Kai assessed the state of his body. His right hand had regenerated, and the hideous scar on his body had also healed. His HP had hit its limit as well, showcasing the full 210 points.

But there was a fatigue stabbing in his bones, muscles, and tendons, making Kai wince as he tried to move his fingers. It was the aftereffect of using the Forbidden Technique along with the Little War Horn. Serpent God's Wrath let Kai concentrate all the power of his body into specific parts of his body, turning them into ticking time bombs. That's why Kai could never cancel this technique once implemented, otherwise, the concentrated power would implode, shattering his bones, organs, and almost everything. Not to mention, it strained every fiber of his muscles, overexerting them beyond the limit.

To be called a Forbidden Technique had equivalent repercussions.

Then there was Little War Horn, a monstrous Skill, in itself. Cutting himself didn't mean Kai wouldn't be subjected to the cursed poison. No. It worked the same as on the others, attacking Kai's heart. The single function this Skill had was to give Kai a chance to resist the pain brought about by the cursed poison, stimulating more power out of him. And the only condition was that Kai must discard his humanity. The problem lay not in discarding, but the former part of stimulation.

In essence, Little War Horn did the same thing as the Forbidden Technique. The only difference was that in the former case, the Stats reflected the Skill's effects, while in the latter case, it was more personal.

However, it didn't alter the fact that using these two together was like squeezing out juice from a lime, despite it being already dry and crumpled.

No wonder he couldn't feel an ounce of power within him, despite his Stats being full to the brim.

'Sigh!' Kai let out a breath inwardly, closing his eyes. 'Stats aren't always reliable. One can't judge someone's condition based on the Attributes alone. Quite a loophole.'

Slowly, Kai turned his head left. A small girl was sleeping soundly there with a bamboo piece in her mouth. Kai immediately recognized her.

Nezuko. Kai's package.

To Nezuko's left, Kai found Shinobu. Her face was still pale, but the shadow of death seemed to have abandoned her.

Kai looked at her with a profound, complicated gaze. Even now he couldn't believe that she had barged into the fight between him and Flame Hashira without consuming the HP Capsule. How could she move like that with her injuries, Kai had thought then. But her sacrifice of not using the HP capsule wasn't the reason behind Kai's complicated gaze. It was him not calculating it beforehand.

As he looked at her more and more, his mind racing, Kai couldn't help but accept he had indeed underestimated people's foolishness.

'Well,' Kai thought, willing his mind to push his body up. 'Early birds eat the worms.' There were too many questions in his mind, and there was only one way to get the answers.

Little by little, moving one muscle after another, Kai got up. His haori had been burned by the dragon's flames, so there was only a kimono on him now, and under the kimono were the Book, the capsule case, and the Rock Cake. Yet, Golduck-Kai had an affinity with water and had some resistance to cold as well. So the morning chill didn't overly bother him. Kai went over to Shinobu's side and checked her for hidden injuries.

'A few bones are still broken,' Kai observed. 'But there is no internal bleeding, her organs are functioning properly, and her vitals are looking good, too. Hmm, this Breathing Art is truly a great recuperating method. Commendable!'

Kai made sure that she was truly out of mortal danger. He had already invested too much time in her. Not to mention, after seeing the Flame Hashira using Bankai, a primal desire had flamed in Kai's heart. Now he wanted her more than ever. An unconditional follower like her could let him gain even more benefits.

Covering both the girls up with their cloaks, Kai walked out of the hut, keeping himself within the 10 meters limit from Nezuko.

Now, it was time to contact Sponsors.

With his one thought, the Systems established a channel with Sponsor Ravana from the 18th floor, a countdown of an hour ticking simultaneously.

"I have some questions," Kai said, keeping his voice low.

"You finally contacted someone, lad," an aged voice entered Kai's ears. It was heavy, belonged to a male, and was ringing with wisdom. "Speak. I will decide the price after listening to your questions."

This was a most natural conversation, and Ravana's words made sense at a glance. But inside, Kai's heart pounded. He didn't know why, but he could sense an apprehensive and greedy tone behind those words.

"My first question is obvious, isn't it?" Kai sneered, bringing out an arrogant personality to counter the other party's apprehension. "What's going on? Why are this world's characters using Bankai? And tell me straight, old man. Am I fucked or what?"

"You are and you are not," the old voice replied. "I have the answer to your question, lad."

"What do you want?" Kai asked, his heart already pounding. There was something odd going on, and this price would confirm his doubts, Kai knew.

"Multiverse Id of your current Random World," Ravana demanded. "It's quite cheap, considering your circumstances, believe me."

'Oh, seven hells!' Kai's mind roared. 'I knew I was not having this odd feeling without cause. Tch!'

If Kai hadn't contacted Sponsor Aphrodite before, then he could have never guessed it. These Sponsors had only one interest at the beginning of the 2nd stage — Kai Stormborn. Aphrodite's asking him about his Mission Difficulty was related to Kai's Stats. So it hadn't surprised him. But this… this demand changed everything.

The presence of Bankai in this world meant there was something wrong with the world itself, which in turn meant Kai had some secret about him. So, it would have made sense if Ravana had asked what was so special about Kai for the world's oddity. However, demanding Multiverse Id meant the Random World itself had transcended Kai in importance.

This wasn't something that boded well for him, he knew.

"Humph!" Kai snorted. "Multiverse ID? I don't even have it. How am I to give it to you? Have you gone insane?"

Contestant Ravana chuckled, not minding Kai's tone at all. "No worries," he drawled. "You will most likely get the Multiverse Id as a reward after the mission's completion. You can swear an oath upon Chaos' name, stating that you will give it to me after the completion of the stage and not to anyone else. Think about it. You need an answer more than me."

Kai's face looked thoughtful, but inwardly he sneered. 'Motherfucker!' He cursed, repeating the suggestion. 'Does he think I am a twat? Multiverse IDs for brand new Random Worlds are almost priceless. The sheer amount of rewards and resources one could obtain from such worlds, because of the absence of other Contestants and it being an untouched world, is unimaginable. Not to mention, breaking an oath sworn upon Chaos' name deducts random points from Attributes depending upon the quality and quantity of the oath's contents. Item-M told me that there are cases of even Abilities vanishing from the Stats. It's a trap!'

Kai shook his head. "I don't know, man," he said haughtily. "I will contact others first, then I will decide what to do."

"Haha!" Ravana laughed. "OK. Don't be too late about it, though. Your situation is worse than your imagination."

With that, the channel got cut off.

Kai gritted his teeth, but there was nothing he could do about it. He was just thankful for the fact that the other Sponsor couldn't hear or know that he had already contacted one of them.

He hastily made the Systems establish another channel, this time with Contestant Black Mountain. A powerful voice demanded the Multiverse ID even before Kai had asked anything.

After a few minutes of negotiations, this channel too got cut off getting no substantial results.

A trace of extreme wariness was making Kai's heart palpate now. With a hard face, Kai made the Systems establish a channel with Contestant Jade Beauty. A woman's voice replied to his inquiry this time, demanding Multiverse ID again.

This was a dead end too, Kai realized, cutting off the channel. How could he swear an oath without knowing what this world's oddness represented? Kai knew the Sponsors were demanding this absurd thing from him because Kai had no other choice. If he wanted to survive, then knowledge was a must, because God knew he didn't have enough power to survive what was to come.

Only two Sponsors remained, and Kai's throat was becoming dry now. Would he have to swear an oath? No. Kai shook his head. No matter what, he must not subject himself to their outrageous demands, he knew. Once he was to lose the initiative, it would all go down the road from thereon. It was the basic principle for any business.

"Ara-Ara!" Once again the sweetest voice reached Kai's ears, along with a screeching sound of whetting a sword. Kai couldn't help but praise the D-Mail. Even the words were the same as though she was speaking to him for the first time. Well, it was the first time for her, at least.

"Hello, handsome," Aphrodite said. "You want to ask about the Random World you are in, don't you?"

"Yes," Kai nodded. "May I ask what you want in return, my lady?"

"I want little," she intoned. "Just one thing."

With the sword of premonition hanging over his neck, Kai asked, "What is it?"

"Tell me your Stats, swearing an oath upon Chaos' name."

'This…' Kai thought, his eyes widening. This fucking bitch!

Even after being rejected, Aphrodite didn't let Kai cut off the channel, and kept prodding him about his Stats, his experiences, and the Random Worlds he had been to before. Only after half an hour had gone by did Aphrodite snort, cutting off the channel by herself.

Kai was already sweating by then, the sun sitting above the horizon on its red-orange throne.

Only one remained. If there was hope in Kai's heart, it was less than being called minuscule.

The Systems established the channel, and a refined voice reached Kai's ears. "Hello, kid," Shadow Origin said, his voice neither grim nor cheery. "Don't swear to give your Multiverse ID to anyone."

'Huh?!' The very first sentence shocked Kai. 'What the?!'

Somehow, this suggestion made Kai even more warier towards this person.

"I know you want to know about the current state of your Unique Random World," Shadow Origin continued. "Don't worry. I will demand nothing absurd."

Kai stared at the gurgling river in the distance and nodded. "What do you want?"

"After learning your answer," Shadow Origin demanded, "you can't contact any Sponsor other than me."

The moment Kai heard it, his heart surged with joy, but outwardly he showed a dense, pained, and ugly expression. When he accepted the request, it looked like someone had asked him to eat shit.

Even if Shadow Origin wouldn't be able to see Kai contacting other Sponsors, he could easily find out from the System how much time Kai had left with each Sponsor. So, there was no option to cheat, either.

"Good," Shadow Origin praised. "First, let me ask, do you know why the Mission Difficulty is called so, and not Mission Grade?"

Kai had asked this question to Item-M but had gotten no satisfactory answer. So he shook his head. It was time to listen as much as he could; not speak.

"A Mission's Difficulty tells how difficult it is to gain resources from that mission under the same circumstances as that of others, regardless of the grade," Shadow Origin told him. "So, Mission Difficulty of E- grade represents the same danger to a Contestant's life as that of D- grade, but in the former case, it is easier to gain rewards. And Contestants are nothing without rewards and resources, you must have realized by now."

Kai had to nod.

"But as one goes up," the 18th-floor Contestant continued, his tone becoming serious, "this difference between difficulties enlarges between subsequent grades. For example, the difference between Mission Difficulties of D and D+ grades is twice that of D and D-. By the look of your eyes, it seems you have realized where I am going with it. The Systems do find Unique Random Worlds for Candidates during the Tournament of Worth sometimes, but it doesn't mean it would keep increasing a Mission Difficulty, even if the said Candidate had absurd Stats…"

Kai didn't fall for the obvious trap and kept his face plain as though he didn't know what the word "absurd" meant.

"Anyway," Shadow Origin said, his voice gaining an edge, "when a Candidate's Stats become so absurd that the Systems have to go beyond C+ Mission Grade, despite the Candidate having no chance to survive such a Random World, it doesn't just go for the next grade, i.e. B-, because one can't even compare all the missions from E- to C+ to a single B- mission. In such cases, the Systems use a Random World setting, known to the Contestants as… Verse Fusion!"

Verse Fusion? The words echoed in Kai's mind like a death knell.

"Let me elaborate." Shadow Origin's tone softened. "You can consider all the Random Worlds and their infinite Timelines in the Multiverse as distinct Symphonies. Even a single change of a musical note results in a drastic divergence. Now, all these Symphonies may or may not share musical notes among them, but they seldom cross each other's path. Yet, under exceptional conditions, if two Symphonies share musical notes, then they can superimpose, resulting in a brand new Random World."

Kai's pupils trembled. "Are these musical notes you spoke of," he prodded, "Laws?"

Silence. Only after a few seconds did the voice return.

"Brilliant!" Shadow Origin sounded amazed. "If you have already guessed the identity of the musical notes, then you must have found out what these superimposed Symphonies represent, too. Yes, you are guessing true, Blood Demon. Verse Fusions are nothing but a source of natural Multiverse Interdependencies, where instead of Contestants, it is main-storyline Characters who show a fusion of concepts from different Random Worlds."

'No wonder,' Kai thought, amazed. 'No wonder they want the Multiverse ID of this world. They don't want just random rewards, Titles, or milestones. They all want to learn about these natural Multiverse Interdependencies.'

If it wasn't for Item-M, Kai would have never known the weight of these two words. Multiverse Interdependencies were the ladder to the top. Without it, one could forget becoming a top-floor Contestant. Kai had Multiverse Interdependencies of his own. The Characters of the book, and Kai's plans of using their Scientific knowledge as the ladder's steps. Then there was Facelessness, combined with his Reincarnation privilege. And thus, he knew very well how horrendous a task it was to get one's hands over a fresh concept.

Just when Kai had thought it was already a god-given opportunity, Shadow Origin said something that broadened his view beyond the world's horizons.

"But the true worth of Verse Fusion lies not only in its uniqueness," he told Kai, almost chuckling. "The core of Verse Fusion can be summed up with three facts. First, it is a once-in-a-lifetime event. In the history of the Primordial Tower, only the Tournament of Worth is known to birth these Random Worlds. Second, having the Multiverse ID of these worlds lets a Contestant treat these worlds as their playground. You must know the concept of the Open World Games. Something like that, but the only player is you. And third… third makes kings, kid."

Kai had heard this before. Item-M had told him something like this when he confronted her to become his slave.

'Skills make soldiers, Abilities make kings!'

"Verse Fusion," Shadow Origin said solemnly, "lets a Contestant fuse Abilities."