Aqua

  My surroundings are dark. Very dark. And I can’t breathe as I feel water rushing into my nose and mouth from all around me.

  Everything’s quiet except for the dinging sound of another System Notification echoing in my head and appearing in my blurry, water-covered vision.

  A wave of pain floods through my body. Through my head, my eyes, my torso, and probably more places, but I can’t focus enough to tell where. Both due to the pain and my drowning.

  Fuuuuuck, am I really going to end up drowning the moment I arrive?!

  What’s worse is that I can see the red circle on the corner of my vision indicating that I’m being livestreamed right now. So hundreds of thousands of people must be watching this pitiful display.

  Why the hell did the System think underwater was the best place to teleport me?! Does it think I’m some kind of fish?!

  My vision begins to tremble as dark spots appear one after another. Meanwhile I find it harder and harder to think as I try to hold my breath, keeping my mouth shut to stop more water from flowing into me.

  But I can’t see a thing around me due to the dark. So even if I manage to delay my drowning, that won’t matter much right now.

  The pain from the awakening process the System mentioned flares up again before beginning to fade away.

  And for some reason, my vision begins to clear up. Both of the dark spots and of the area around me.

  That’s not all though, because I begin to feel a lot more comfortable in the water despite never having swam before in my life. Like it’s natural for me to be underwater or something.

  I blink once. Then twice.

  And finally a third time.

  That’s when another notification appears in my vision.

  A wave of confusion hits me as I read the notification. Both from the words within said notification and the fact that when I accidentally try to breathe due to holding my breath for too long, I find that I’m actually able to do so with ease down here.

  Is it because of the Bloodline?

  Why do I even have a Bloodline anyways? Much less two?

  Bloodlines are special in that they’re incredibly rare. And even if you’re the child of someone with a Bloodline, the chances that you’ll inherit it are slim to none. At most you’ll be a carrier for the Bloodline.

  The two Bloodlines I apparently awakened are both known throughout the entire Alliance.

  Abyssal Orca is the same Bloodline as the General of the Alliance’s military, meanwhile the Kraken Bloodline has been assumed to be long since lost.

  I frown as I try to figure out what the abyss is going on. But that doesn’t last long before I finally begin to take note of my surroundings.

  Surroundings that suddenly seem a lot brighter to me now than they were just a few moments ago.

  It looks like the System sent me into some sort of underwater cave.

  Now, whether I’m in the ocean or some random sea or lake, I have no idea.

  My thoughts are interrupted again by another notification.

  After the notification, a couple System Messages appear without any sort of screen attached to them. Both right underneath the previous screen.

  {-Physique of the Abyssal Kraken – The Abyssal Kraken obtains enhanced strength and can move and breathe freely while underwater.}

  {-Apex Predator of the Depths – The Abyssal Kraken awakens the REGEN Hidden Stat and gains one permanent stat point of REGEN for every creature they kill within the water.}

  My mouth opens for a moment before closing again.

  Okay, Bloodlines really are powerful.

  A Hidden Stat. They’re rarely ever seen in society because of the difficulty in awakening one.

  Normally the only way to awaken a Hidden Stat is to find a stat core on a newly initialized planet. But even those only generally appear once per newly initialized planet.

  I didn’t realize you could awaken a Hidden Stat just through a Bloodline.

  And REGEN… that should be the stat for regeneration. Increasing the natural regeneration speed of the user.

  So I get one stat point in it every time I kill something underwater?

  I look around me at the underwater cavern.

  Maybe this really was the best place to send me on the new planet. Although a little warning would’ve been nice. Not to mention awakening my Bloodlines before sending me here.

  I let out a sigh. Which feels weird to do considering that I’m underwater.

  Then another notification appears in my vision.

  A wave of displeasure runs through me at the sight of the notification. But then I just let out a sigh.

  Whatever.

  There’s nothing I can do about it. I’m already here after all.

  I tilt my head back a little as my hair flows gently in the water.

  Guess I’m not getting those mints. Or seeing that cranky grandma at the convenience store again for a while.

  On the Planet known as Equeter

  Viridia feels something is wrong. No, she knows something is wrong. But she can’t quite place what that something is.

  Now, it might just be old age, but she begs to differ.

  There’s definitely something wrong. And that feeling only grows more severe as she sits at the convenience store counter with a frown on her face. Slightly intimidating any of the customers who enter the building and approach the counter.

  And the feeling only grows worse as she realizes the brat hasn’t come back from her Selection yet.

  So she does something she normally never does.

  She turns on the TV located in the corner of the convenience store, with it immediately opening up to the news.

  “We’ve now seen the first three Pioneers from the wonderful world of Equeter, so let’s move on to the fourth! This one has been highly coveted ever since their debut at the Selection!” a commentator declares while rubbing his hands together in front of a large screen. One showing a man Viridia feels like she’s seen before as the man messes around with his backpack in the middle of a jungle. “Jack Verol! A member of the idol group, Fallen Stars, this man is already a sensation on Equeter! Just how far will he manage to go? He’s making a good impression so far as he sorts through the starter backpack, so let’s watch a little longer to see what happens!”

  Viridia frowns at the screen, watching the idol sort through his things before pulling out a knife from the backpack – one made from the weapon core in the starter backpack – and putting the backpack on his back. Then he begins exploring the surrounding areas with extreme caution.

  “It looks like he knows what he’s doing! Jack is currently checking his surroundings for any signs of life that may have passed through, clearly showcasing his experience from variety shows here!” the commentator continues gushing about the idol on the screen.

  But Viridia doesn’t really care about him. So she takes her attention away from the TV for a moment to ring up a customer.

  After several seconds though, she hears something that brings her attention back to the TV.

  “They’re probably dead by now, but let’s go back to check on the first Pioneer!” the commentator exclaims with too much excitement in their voice for someone talking about a person likely dying. “The last time we saw her, she was drowning underwater in a cavern the instant she was teleported to her planet. One known as Oceana. A planet known for having 87% of its surface covered in water!”

  Viridia gets a bad feeling as she watches the screen behind the commentator go black for a moment.

  “I believe her name was Aqua Fallen, and she is an orphan from the outer district,” the commentator continues, making Viridia’s bad feeling come to life. “Back during the Selection, she was pretty popular because of how beautiful she is. So I chose her as the first Pioneer to broadcast live. But I wasn’t expecting the System to teleport her deep underwater.”

  Viridia feels her heart plummeting with every word the commentator makes.

  The brat… please…

  She stops paying attention to anyone in the store. To the point that a couple people actually shoplift while her attention is glued to the TV.

  But she doesn’t care. She just keeps watching as the black screen behind the male commentator changes to show a woman who looks like the brat but also doesn’t.

  And that appearance alone makes both Viridia and the commentator go silent, frozen in shock.

  Because her appearance now is completely different from what it was the last time they saw her.

  Unlike before, when she had long brown hair and brown eyes, Aqua now has deep blue, almost black hair, and with a single streak of white hair running down her bangs. Meanwhile her eyes are glowing a deep ocean blue within the dark cave.

  The silence only stretches on for a few seconds as both Viridia and the commentator watch as Aqua begins to move freely through the water, breathing with ease despite being completely submerged.

  Then a System Message appears above her head on the screen.

  [Aqua Fallen – Bloodline: Unknown – Level 1]

  A… a Bloodline. The brat… has a Bloodline.

  “This is incredible!!!” the commentator finally speaks up, practically shouting as they stand up from their seat and move closer to the screen. “The Pioneer that was almost written off for her poor starting location has awakened a Bloodline!!! And an aquatic one by the looks of it!”

  Viridia stares blankly at the screen. And she’s not the only one as several of the shoppers in her store stop whatever they were doing to stare as well. Whether because they recognize the part-timer who works at the store or just because of the shock at a Pioneer with a Bloodline, Viridia isn’t sure. Nor does she care.

  “The Bloodline is listed as unknown by the automatic detection device, which must mean it’s a brand new Bloodline never seen before! But it also looks very similar to the Abyssal Orca Bloodline in appearance, so there may be some connection there.”

  The commentator continues speaking, her words never seeming to end. But Viridia finds herself too shocked to listen any further.

  A Bloodline…

  “I can say one thing for certain about our beautiful new Pioneer! With this Bloodline she will be the center of attention for a long time!”