CHAPTER: 02

  [Welcome, Elias Thorn, to the integration of Universe 101]

  [Congratulations, you are 1 of 9,422,731 Human Type Entities chosen for Species Retention for Planet: Earth into Universe 101's Integration]

  What?! Integration? Universe 101? The words appeared like a game notification in his perfectly white vision.

  Immediately, a surge of late-night binge-reading came to the front of his mind: Integration? That was one-hundred per cent a LitRPG thing. He'd spent way too many hours clicking next chapter and getting frustrated when there were no more chapters released. There was this one time, the protagonist ended up--Wait.

  Now's not the best time for that.

  Now it was time to work out what the hell was going on? What did it mean by 'Species Retention'?

  He tried to speak, but he couldn't, in fact, he couldn't even move. He had lost all connection with his body, on one hand, he knew that he was whole and that his body still existed, and the other, he had no way of accessing it. It was like his nerves or senses were isolated from his mind.

  The Nexus-like game notification disappeared with an oh-so-familiar 'boop' as another window appeared, once again accompanied by the satisfying 'boop' of every good RPG menu selection.

  [Elias Thorn – Human Type Species – Potential for Cultivation: Anomalous]

  Potential for cultivation? Did it mean? OH MY GOD! It did mean that, what the hell was going on? The last time he'd smoked pot was college, and even that hadn't made him trip as bad as this.

  His mind was racing with a thousand questions and thoughts, but, he could do nothing but wait. The satisfying noise of a new notification rang out in his ears and he took in the next words:

  [8,241,000,882 Human Type Entities chosen for Species Randomisation]

  Ok. Now, that sounded ominous. The first notification had definitely said he was down for Species Retention and now, that kinda made sense. What didn't make sense was why under ten million had been put down for retention, and over eight-billion was going through a Species Randomisation?

  He needed to speak to someone, so he did what any self-respecting gamer would do in this scenario, he thought really hard about what he wanted:

  Put me through to the helpdesk! Or support. A GM?!

  I WANT TO SUBMIT A TICKET!

  [Universe 101 is preparing to be merged with Universes 1 through 100]

  [In order to facilitate a full integration with as few setbacks as possible, you will undergo a Tutorial]

  Ok! This is too much! You need to speak with me. I need to speak with someone about all of this, it makes NO sense.

  [Facilitating User Requirements]

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  Huh?! It actually worked.

  The white emptiness began to shift, lines drew across his vision as the light transfigured into a cuboid room, still white, and his connection to his body reformed, he looked down and took in the sweet sight of his own legs and felt the ground beneath his feet. He could turn, move, "Hello?!"

  And speak.

  In front of him a chair and a desk appeared, like the ones the teachers sat at, in school. On the chair appeared a white figure, vaguely resembling a humanoid. It looked to him with a face void of features and spoke, "Elias Thorn, welcome. I am the System."

  The voice that spoke to him through an absent mouth was the same as that which spoke in his mind when the notifications appeared.

  "I'm uh-I'm Elias?" he replied as he shrugged.

  He really hadn't thought that the internal thoughts thing was going to work. Now that it had? Well, he was at a bit of a loss.

  "I know," it responded, "I am here at your request. You wish to 'converse' with a construct resembling that of your own species. I understand."

  Yeah, this was beyond weird. What was he supposed to do? Just go along with it and fuel his own insanity? Because ultimately, that's what he'd decided it was. There was no way that this was happening. He'd fell down the stairs, cracked his head open and was currently living a 'coma-dream'.

  "Yeah, um. This isn't real is it? I must've really messed up. Did I forget to tie my shoes?" he said.

  The entity responded without pause, "No, Elias. Your shoes are done up."

  "Right, right. Yeah, that makes sense. Put me at ease coma-lord."

  The entity paused, it moved slightly, as if it was about to speak, but didn't.

  Well, at this point, did it even matter whether this was real. If he was in a coma, he'd wake up eventually and this weird trip he was having was actually, kinda cool. This was classic LitRPG Isekai awakening, get ready for a unique blessing, some divine level intervention, all that crazy stuff. His mind flooded with Nexus-related dreams as he pictured himself as Eldwin, his video game persona. Eldwin was a battle-knight, max level, almost fully geared and was a completely badass. He'd soloed at least two level eighty dungeons and that was unheard of for a battle-knight. Sure, holy spec'd characters never had an issue, but they were broken. Definitely getting patched out next season.

  Wait. This isn't helping anything.

  "Right, sorry. I definitely needed your help. What's actually going on? What do you mean by species retention and randomisation?" he said finally.

  The entity took no time to think and responded, "Universe 101 has been selected to undergo Species Randomisation trials. After one hundred Universe integrations, the System has decided that there are several under-represented and minority species, which directly contradicts our requirement for diversity and balance in the Multiverse. In order to facilitate future growth, we will ensure that approximately 99.9% of all integrated entities fulfil one of the underprivileged species quotas."

  Elias just felt his jaw fall open as he listened to the entity, diversity quotas in the Multiverse?! What the hell was wrong with his mind to come up with such an outlandish concept?

  The entity continued, "However, in order to mitigate any unwanted side effects from the trial, we have ensured that all individuals with a potential for cultivation higher than 'high' would be unaffected by the trial and retain all characteristics associated with their forms prior to the Integration, whilst still being granted the benefits of the System's integration."

  "But, what does that mean? You noted than my potential for cultivation was, 'anomalous'?" he said, "Is that a good thing?"

  Whilst he was almost certain that this was a figment of his imagination, it did feel a little too far-fetched. Like, sure, he dreamt of becoming a battle-knight sometimes, but to full on dream all this up? It maybe wasn't the case, which is why, he needed to ask some real questions.

  The entity spoke with the same neutral voice, "Yes. Occasionally we are unable to judge a potential for cultivation. This can come down to a number of factors, for some cultivators, they are unable to begin cultivating before or after a certain age. That the individual has a sealed potential which must be brought out through a significant event of awakening," the entity paused and seemed to examine him for a moment, "Or, that the entities potential for cultivation exceeds the parameters entered for the determination of the trial. If this is the case, then safety protocols would determine we err on the side of caution."

  "So, it could be really bad, OK or amazing? Ok, that checks out." he said.

  "No. But, I understand that for your limited comprehension, you may need to simplify what I've said to such a primitive level."

  Ok. Well, the System had a point. He definitely had a limited comprehension of what was going on. He just hoped that his situation wasn't the 'really bad'.

  His mind jumped back to the other notification, a tutorial, "Say, what did you mean by a Tutorial? Like, is it a learn the basics of integrating type deal, or?"

  "Yes. That is correct. We are currently preparing Tutorials in which all in your Universe will take part, due to the current population of your Universe exceeding that of most integrated Universes, it is taking longer than expected to fabricate realities. Once realities have been fabricated and stabilised, you will be transferred to the appropriate tutorial." The entity explained.

  "That is. Wild." He said.

  The System's fabrication of a body tilted its head to the side as it faced him, before returning to a more aligned position, "Yes, Elias Thorn. Wild."

  A natural silence ensued as he parsed through the revelations that had come, a Tutorial was probably a good idea, despite how frustratingly boring they usually were. If he was going to come out on top in whatever mess this System Integration was then he'd best pay attention.

  He realised that he'd been pacing in the white cube room for a few minutes, he stopped and turned to face the entity once more, "So, what's next?"

  "Now, Elias Thorn. Now it is time to choose your class," the entity said.