The World Was Doomed, but Su Yun Wasn't Worried

[Yesterday, a town in Ursus suffered a Mystery outbreak. All three thousand residents died overnight. The Ursus president has now issued an extermination order: the town will be completely burned with gelled gasoline bombs to prevent the Mystery from spreading.]

[The Flame Kingdom issued a statement, declaring that it would continue to protect the lives and safety of its people and stand firmly against the Mystery phenomenon.]

[Recently, Holy Britannia made a breakthrough in its research on the Mystery. It will continue to lead the way into the future and open a new chapter in humanity's struggle against the Mystery!]

[After twenty-eight days, a Level 6 Mystery disaster finally destroyed the African nation of Wakanda. To prevent this apocalyptic disaster from spreading further, the United Nations has authorized the five permanent members of the Security Council to cleanse every inch of the country with hydrogen bombs! Personnel from neighboring countries are currently evacuating in a state of emergency.]

Su Yun read the reports and knew that the world had gone off the rails like a racehorse, hurtling toward Honkai with no way back.

A disaster known as Mystery Resurgence had struck the world. All kinds of things that had once existed only in stories and legends—urban myths, strange phenomena, evil spirits, and other things science couldn't explain—had begun to appear.

Humanity had no supernatural powers like those found in legends. It could only rely on technology to fight back.

In truth, technology was utterly useless against these mysterious entities. The firearms and chemical weapons that humanity had once taken pride in couldn't effectively suppress the Mystery phenomenon.

Faced with the incomprehensible Mystery, the pride of modern civilization was trampled like wastepaper.

The only reason humanity could still fight back was that all mysterious entities feared the sun and were purified beneath its light.

Unfortunately, their weakness to sunlight was a matter of belief, not science. Artificial sunlight created by humans—including ultraviolet and concentrated light—had no effect on the Mystery phenomenon.

The situation was completely beyond scientific understanding, just like something out of a myth, leaving humanity utterly helpless.

The most effective way humanity had to fight mysterious entities was to drop hydrogen bombs. The bombs' nuclear fusion could imitate the sun's power to some extent, dealing a devastating blow to the Mystery phenomenon.

But could you just drop hydrogen bombs wherever you wanted?

Mystery phenomena in uninhabited areas were one thing. If one appeared in a city, dropping a hydrogen bomb was the last resort—a way to take the enemy down with you.

Such a devastating attack was only used when a city, region, or country had been completely destroyed by the Mystery phenomenon.

Humanity was at an absolute disadvantage against the Mystery phenomenon. It wouldn't be surprising if everything fell apart at any moment.

The Mystery phenomenon was growing more severe with every passing day. Humanity was gaining experience in responding to it, and research was underway, but its position kept worsening. Many small and mid-sized countries could no longer hold out. Their societies were in chaos, and an atmosphere of impending doom was spreading.

The collapse of these smaller countries also marked the beginning of the collapse of the world as a whole.

All the nations were now filled with anxiety and frustration, and none of them knew what to do.

There was no question that in a world like this, Su Yun could face an apocalyptic Mystery disaster at any moment, where lives were worth less than dogs and danger lurked around every corner. He could be killed without even knowing what had hit him.

But Su Yun wasn't worried at all, because he was a man with a system!

And the system had given him an ultimate mission right off the bat.

At the same time, a flood of information poured into Su Yun's mind. He learned the details of this world and understood why he had come here.

The system had been created by the world itself. Su Yun's transmigration had also been caused by the world. Put simply, the World Consciousness had realized that it was doomed, and in its desperation, it had searched another world for a hero who could save it.

Su Yun was the hero this world had chosen.

The only catch was that he hadn't crossed over into a fantasy world, but a crossover anime world.

That was right, this was a crossover anime world, one filled with the two-dimensional waifus Su Yun knew so well. Some came from slice-of-life series, while others came from shows that were anything but ordinary.

However, since this was a world without magic, no matter what supernatural powers those people had in their anime, here they were just ordinary people.

There would have been nothing wrong with that. There was nothing bad about an ordinary world, at least one where crises that could destroy the world didn't happen at the drop of a hat.

Then Mystery Resurgence arrived.

More precisely, the Mystery invaded!

The sudden appearance of the Mystery phenomenon was due to this world accidentally coming into contact with an indescribable space of Mystery, which had led to the Mystery Resurgence.

However, that contact across dimensions had also caused this crossover anime world to develop a vague sense of consciousness. It realized that it was in dire straits, and instinctively sought help from the outside.

Then, while Su Yun was asleep, he unconsciously received the crossover anime world's plea for help. In his dream, he boasted that saving the world was his specialty. He'd read countless web novels and played countless games, and as a Master, a Commander, The Doctor, a Captain, a Traveler, and a bunch of other awesome roles, he was an expert at saving the world.

Of course, that was just because he was dreaming and had no idea what he was doing. Some vague little thing had asked him for help and begged him to save the world, so his bad habit of playing too many games kicked in. He simply declared that when it came to saving the world, he was a professional.

Overjoyed, the nascent World Consciousness made a contract with the sleeping Su Yun and handed over all the power it possessed, pulling him into its world.

The World Consciousness had spent too much power and fell into a deep sleep.

And so Su Yun stood in an unfamiliar world, bewildered, with the power the World Consciousness had given him in his hands.

It took Su Yun three days to fully accept the situation and consider how he could save this crossover anime world, which was doomed to go down the drain.

All Su Yun had was the power bestowed on him by the World Consciousness: Fantasy Power, a highly malleable force with infinite possibilities.

After fully understanding how it worked, Su Yun suddenly realized that Fantasy Power suited him perfectly. It was like a game editor, allowing him to edit things freely.

After all, before transmigrating, Su Yun had been a game designer. This was right up his alley.

So, after spending a month, Su Yun shaped Fantasy Power into a system and named it the Fantasy System.

The system wasn't as intelligent as the ones in web novels—or rather, it wasn't intelligent at all. It was like a rather dim duck.

But it was a system all the same, and its functions were based on the plan Su Yun had devised to save the world. It existed entirely to serve that plan.

"Mystery Resurgence made humanity yearn and plead for supernatural powers. That yearning and pleading turned into countless traces of Fantasy Power, eventually awakening this world's World Consciousness."

"But without any clear way to absorb or use Fantasy Power, most of it dissipated for no reason. Some was even absorbed by the Mystery, creating many terrifying phenomena that were impossible for ordinary people to solve."

"So, if I can gather Fantasy Power and put it to use, then I'll have a chance to save this world on the brink of collapse!"

"That's right. The laws of victory have long been in my hands! Everything is ready!"

"Come on, let the people of this world witness the true power of the supernatural! Let those chosen gain supernatural powers and become a force capable of saving the world!"

"Wouldn't you agree, transfer student Miss Artoria?"

In Class 1-B at Heavenly King International High School, Su Yun looked at the beautiful girl in the front row to his right, with golden hair, blue eyes, and a cowlick on her head, and smiled.