Weird Tale

Biodata

Power Progression

The route from Nothingness to Weird Tale concerns securing an independent existence, not simply increasing combat strength. Rumor and Strange Tale are intermediate classifications devised by Nothingness, rather than separate forms of life 99 100 204.

Nature and Classification

Relationship to Phantom Objects

• Phantom Objects are crystallized fantasy whose Elements determine their properties; they can function in worlds governed by [Knowledge] 14 550.
• Weird Tales materialize cognition and draw their power from worlds that recognize them 550.
• A living Weird Tale can collapse when its living aspect is killed, even without destroying its Elements. Corpse-based Omens are harder to destroy because they are already dead 14.
• Companion Phantoms appear alongside a forming tale when an object is closely associated with its legend, such as a mummy’s wrappings or Kuchisake-onna’s scissors and mask 14.

Formation

Creating an Original Legend

• A condensed Tag can collect [Knowledge] even from people who have only heard the associated story. Each contributes less than a direct witness, but widespread circulation supplies many such contributions 94.
• Lasting recognition matters more than a brief sensation. Most rumors and internet memes fade before becoming culturally established tales 100 136.
• Local culture affects what can spread. A world without a concept of immortals lacks the cultural foundation that makes cultivation legends readily understandable elsewhere 624.
• Public retellings can change the resulting Entry. Feng Xue’s first Entry contains details that differ from his original plan because widely accepted secondary interpretations became part of the legend 165.

Role-Playing an Existing Tale

• Possessing an appropriate Tag and imitating a familiar legend can produce an Entry more easily than inventing a new one 100 139.
• Multiple role-players divide the available power. They may compete with one another while also awakening the legend’s Progenitor 139.
• A revived Progenitor has more comprehensive abilities than an imitator’s corresponding Entry, but its strength is limited by the cognition supporting that Entry 286.
• Role-playing a foreign legend in a world where it is unknown is equivalent to creating a new tale there 284.

Humans and Game Accounts

• A living human’s enormous biological information prevents externally acquired Tags from ordinarily forming a separate Weird Tale 431 432.
• Human consciousness can become a Weird Tale after death, but success depends on recognition during the short period afterward. Losing public attention can prevent the transformation 441.
• Game accounts provide an exception worth investigating: uploaded consciousness data can acquire Entries while the player’s physical body remains alive. The eventual relationship between the account and its human owner remains a subject of Feng Xue’s experiments 431 437 441.

Abilities and Skills

Authorities

Authorities, also described as Powers, are supernatural abilities produced by an Entry’s legend rather than ordinary knowledge supplied by Tags 165.

• Their effects and restrictions follow the tale’s accepted setting 165.
• An acquired Weird Tale can refuse a behavioral requirement, sacrificing its associated benefit rather than necessarily being forced to comply. Feng Xue loses the relevant Blessings when he violates the Ten Covenants and regains them when he complies 165 170.
• Accepted cognition can grant competence directly: Feng Xue explains that if others believe he knows a craft, he can possess that knowledge 426.
• Authorities do not make their holders omniscient or omnipotent 711.

Real World Rules

Real World Rules allow a Weird Tale to appear in reality without passing through a Gate, provided the relevant conditions are met 100.

• Gazi Steals Dog: Can appear in a dog-owning household when its television shows a qualifying character or performer called Gazi 100.
• Xuanjun’s Preaching and Resolving Doubts: Allows descent beside someone seeking Xuanjun’s guidance 281.
• Such travel is not inviolable. Abilities can disrupt a tale’s Fire, prevent teleportation, or follow its descent 250.
• An Entry need not possess Real World Rules; the documented player Entry associated with a Guzheng Gundam has none 437.

Resurrection and Digestion

• Dead Weird Tales can revive through the memories of those who recognize them, while imitation can reactivate an absent Progenitor 720 721.
• The returning legend is not automatically identical to the individual who played it. Old Li compares the distinction to an actor and a character: the actor has a complete personality beyond the role 202.
• Many Hundred Tales role-players cannot resurrect without first devouring their Progenitor 721.
• Devouring depends on compatibility, the consumer’s own strength as a Weird Tale, and mental strength—not merely victory in combat. Famous tales with many versions and complicated lore are harder to digest 286 287.
• Undigested unwanted Entries can be discarded through resurrection, but remain a vulnerability until then 344.

Multiple Entries

• One individual can hold several Entries, including identities associated with different legends 100.
• Combining tales can compensate for weaknesses: vampires adopt demon-hunter or paladin identities, while cowboys incorporate illusion-related tales 220.
• More Entries are not automatically better. Unnecessary additions can slow improvement and introduce new weaknesses 344.

Limitations and Vulnerabilities

Society and Institutions

• Infinite City — Itself a special Weird Tale that receives “garbage” discarded by other worlds. Its residents use Tags and occupations to establish identities 8 9.
• Tower of Babylon — Provides Residence Rights and access to other worlds. Roughly three thousand Weird Tales participate in one challenge period; ordinary violence is prohibited inside the Tower 187 201.
• Hundred Tales — Builds power through role-playing established legends and monopolizing resources. Its media rewards include starring roles in anime or games, helping members spread their personas 289 402 404.
• Eternal World arrangement — Places Eastern Country tales in ordinary people’s perceptual blind spots rather than making them literally invisible. Its contract restricts attacks to qualifying circumstances or people who can perceive the tales 289 296.
• Post-Hundred Tales Eastern Country — The organization’s defeat does not erase the culturally rooted “everything has a spirit” tale. Innate tales become active without observing the former protections for bystanders 657.

Notable Examples