Chapter 1: Prologue: White Room

Lann’s Personal Dimension

Year 801 of the Standard Calendar 

Lann didn’t belong to any formal organization. He had his affiliations, but he was not bound by any responsibilities or relationships.

If one were to use at the full extent of the word ‘home,’ then he didn’t have one of those either. Instead, he paved his own path across the myriad worlds that existed under the heavens.

He did as he pleased. He would crawl through dark labyrinthine dungeons, climb the floors of Shirou’s Tower, and claim the riches of dragon hoards.

He would compete in tournaments, games, and challenges against the numerous prodigies spread amongst the stars. The chosen of powerful sects, the promising disciple of some eccentric, the top student of an illustrious institution were just fellow participants. 

He would take on various contracts and assignments. He assassinated and infiltrated targets. He escorted personal and cargo, acquired and sold rare materials, and gathered important intel.

He would fight wars on both sides—whether it be demons or men, dark lords or heroes, demonic or righteous sects, he did it all.

He could also be considered a man of learning as he attended martial institutions, enrolled in magical academies, and even sought tutelage from spiritual and monastic groups.

A mage, a warrior, a cleric, were among many of the paths that he had once pursued. 

And the rationale for this wide variety of activity: boredom. 

His ceaseless desires demanded satiation. It didn’t matter that death greeted him countless times, as long as the itch could be briefly satisfied—as long as color would occasionally dye the unsaturated world—then it was worth it. 

And so a familiar message appeared before his eyes. 

You Died.

The notification lingered even after his body rematerialized, but momentarily disorientated, he dismissed it with an instinctual swipe of his wrist. 

At the same time, he rotated his neck and surveyed what could be considered the closest thing he had to a home: a white dimension without much substance. It was a type of pocket dimension that existed in every living soul, independent from the rest of the universe. It was often referred to as a soul dimension or personal dimension because of this. 

‘So I’m back.’ He drew his hand to his throat and rubbed his skin. There were no wounds and everything was fine, but somehow it felt like there was a phantom itch. There was even a disgusting moistness despite his touch revealing only dry skin. 

Trying not to dwell on the sensation, the thought dawned on him that his last venture hadn’t even lasted that long, a couple hours at most. The thought made the itch worse, and so he scratched his neck while an almost twitching smile appeared on his lips.  

Things were beginning to become clear. A group had ambushed him and killed him. His head had even been decapitated. The realization caused the muscles in his neck to tighten. 

He pictured the image of the blade. In his eyes it was an amateurish swing made out of desperation. Yet, it still forced him to stare at his own headless body. A strange sight. 

However, rather than feeling angry or remorseful, Lann had a giddy expression. A wide, satisfied smile that looked unpleasant to look at continued to grow on his face. His already fast heartbeat grew even faster. This was the excitement that he was looking for. Overcome by such emotions, his body trembled as he fantasized about revenge.

Lann didn’t know how long he remained in that state, but eventually a sigh escaped his lips. His taut muscles relaxed. He couldn’t do anything to the bastards anymore. He was already kicked out from the world, and as such, they were out of his grasp. Continuing to fantasize was boring when one was hopeless to act on the impulse. 

Another sigh escaped his lips. 

He would have to be content with the present he left them. The explosion of said present might have even killed all of the survivors.

He shook his head and took a deep breath. He felt the condition of his body, and the connection between him and the previous world was indeed severed.. With it, the contract that bound him to his previous assignment was nullified. It was termination through death. 

Lann rubbed his throat again, but then a black cube in the center of the room began to hum slightly as if it wanted to make its presence known. The thought made him smile and he turned to look at it. It was a large object that was as tall as his upper chest. g

Welcome back owner… Hmph… don’t be mistaken… I’m ugh programmed to welcome the owner back… it’s not like I m-missed you or anything!!!

The tsundere-like sound had appeared from within Lann’s head, but knowing the identity of the voice, his gaze continued to rest on the black cube. It continued to vibrate softly, although pink lines began to form on its surface.  

Lann continued to stare at it with a deep gaze. He appreciated its consideration. 

Of course, that didn’t stop him from teasing it. “You sure have been patient and obedient. Are you sure it is just your programming?”

P-p-pervert!!

Lecher!!!

Idiot owner!

No-good owner!!

…

Dozens of insulting messages filled Lann’s vision. He tilted his head thinking it seemed extra annoyed today; this brought a smile to his lips.

The black cube was a form of artificial intelligence. Originally, it had a monotone voice without a personality; it simply handled the various administrative tasks that it was designed to carry out. 

That changed when Lann installed a personality frame into the device: tsundere type 27.

From that point, he treated it like a pet. He played with it, teased it, gave it treats, and even gave it pets. Although it was in the form of a black cube, it was quite the immersive experience.

For example, when he fed it, the cube would make some munching sounds. If he stared too intently as it was eating  it would yell at him while embarrassed. However, if he casually fed it something nice, it might unceremoniously burp. 

Curious if these interactions would change. Lann had attempted to change the personality frame multiple times, which resulted in failure. The last time he tried the black cube even pouted for an entire week and gave him a silent treatment. 

He was stuck with it unless he hard reset it. Having his suspicions, he left it as it was. He was pretty sure that something had possessed the black cube, but whether it was a living being or an actual artificial intelligence,  he didn’t care and so he didn’t look into it. 

It might have been different if it did its job poorly, but it did everything to a satisfying degree. It basically acted as the middleman between Lann and the rest of the universe. 

There was a time he called it a glorified answering machine and it threw a tantrum. ‘I, I’m… like y-your personal secretary… you know…y-you should re-respect me! I mean… you don’t even pay me…’

Lann swiped away all the messages. “Have you been well?”

…

 

Err, ah-hah, I-idiotic, ugh, s-s-skirtchaser!  Hmmmmmm. Ugh Abomination of womankind! Yes, that is a good one. Hehehe.

 

You are reading story Participant: Death Games in a Gag World at novel35.com

*Cough* I’ve been well. I hope I made it clear though… I didn’t miss you…ugh… *cough* Would you like a report?

 

Apparently, it was still throwing insults while Lann was reminiscing. It eventually answered his question though. He thought it was cute how it kept coming up with insults to the point of struggling. 

 

9,543 unique insults! It wasn’t even hard. Hmph~~~~

 

“Yes.” Lann didn’t really care about receiving a report. Rather, he tilted his head. Like always, the artificial intelligence seemed to know what he was thinking. He shook his head and turned his attention to the report. 

The black cube used the accessible data to project a large message in the middle of the room. The information was customized towards his preferences. 

Report of Last Documented Instance

Associated System: The Great Games

Cause of Death: Injury to neck??

Contract Status: Terminated (after expending all lives, 1:1)

Host World: Zombie Simulator 666-004

Kills: 403 zombies (lowest tier), 7 otherworlders (human), 4 local residents (human)

Rewards: N/A. The agent did not acquire any loot that could be transferred. The agent did not acquire any transferable techniques. No merit points were achieved. No rewards could be gained through the contract with the host world.

Time of Venture: 0 Decades 0 Years 0 Months 0 Day 3 Hours 32 Minutes 7 Seconds

XP gained: 513 (Usage limited)

 

Lann clicked his tongue. The current activity that Lann was indulging in was zombie slaying. There was just something about walking in a ruined world amongst the dead. Well, like all other things, he was slowly growing bored of such activities. 

“Messages.” Perhaps something would grab his attention. 

8 New Messages

 

RighteousRoses: Cringe old man. Imagine tryharding against zombies.

HonestNoiceGuy:  Better hope I don’t run across you again, motherfucker.

AlwaysJunngleDif: Noob. 1 v 1 me. You won’t.

Pink Monster Milk: Hey, want to team up sometime?

S_cam Girl69: Send some gold and I’ll send some n*dess. Uwu.

Definitely a Real Prince 419: Your assistance is needed. I have recently been betrayed by my guild, but I managed to hide away some assets behind the guild hall. Send money so I can hire some mercenaries to retrieve it. You will be amply rewarded on completion.

Unfiltered MadMan: Click this link, <<NotASuspiciousLink>>, you won’t regret it. Hehehe.

Redacted message…

 

Lann read all the messages. He frowned, smiled, and mockingly clicked his tongue a couple times. Every time he read a message, the artificial intelligence would chime in.

‘There’s… nothing wrong with your strange n-necrophilia f-f-fetish…owner.’

‘Should I find him?’

‘My owner would never lose!’

‘Hmph. My owner is too good for you, Mr. Pink Monster Milk.’

‘This bitch… although… *cough* … wait, my nose isn’t bleeding… you’re the pervert, owner! I-I had to v-verify the data. Yes, verify…the *cough*…’

‘Owner, we must help this poor man! He seems even more destitute than you!’

‘...’

‘WHAT… I’m NOT hiding…a-anything. Oh, fine…’

The redacted message revealed itself: 

 

Agent Merciless Benevolence: Hey Lann. It has been awhile. If you're available, I think you should check out this job posting: <<World of Xing>>

 

Lann felt the black cube hum loudly as he read the last message. He kept looking back and forth between the cube and the message. It was cute and dog-like. When he looked up it was as if it was wagging its tail, and when he looked down, it was as if it was whimpering. 

He could even imagine all the remarks it would make: what I don’t c-care what you do, hmph I knew you would ignore that bitch, what I thought… why are you…nevermind, like I said I don’t care…

Ultimately, Lann decided to look at the link even if it caused the artificial intelligence to pout. .

 

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