Fantasy Dissolution

Ron frowned and immediately tried to pry open the shackles around his feet.

The bronze shackles seemed to have rusted through long ago and came apart easily.

He tossed them aside and looked around. The kerosene lamp gave off only a dim glow, leaving the surroundings shadowy and indistinct.

He could only make out the mottled rust on the iron bars of his cell. Looking farther out, he could barely see several figures slumped in other cells, their chests rising and falling faintly, bronze shackles fastened around their feet just like his.

He had never expected that the previous era before the Great Cataclysm had been an age similar to the Victorian period three or four centuries ago...

But before Ron could think any further, he suddenly felt something strange.

It was as though a block of ice had pierced his heart. Coldness was pumped from his heart throughout his body, and some special power seemed to be flowing into him.

[Detected entry into major version 3.0. Extracting version setting.]

[Setting extraction: Ashes of the Age of Gods.]

[After everything from the Age of Gods was exiled beyond the stars, the blessings of the gods could no longer descend upon the earth.]

[As the final remnants left behind after the Age of Gods burned out, you are merely capable of bearing the ashes of mysticism.]

["The sacred pilgrimage that chased fire has reached its final chapter. All that remains in our hands is a handful of embers."]

[—One of the Twelve Supreme Pathways, [Existence]'s ▆▆]

[This is the foundational setting of major version 3.0. After loading this setting, you will unlock Magic Vision and gain Mysticism Affinity, allowing you to contain extraordinary characteristics.]

Setting extraction? What was that supposed to mean?

Ron blinked and looked at the manual panel. Only then did he realize that his player panel was not simply a measure of his personal abilities; it had other functions as well.

[Player Panel]

[Name: Ron]

[Settings: [Fantasy Dissolution], [Ashes of the Age of Gods] (Not Loaded)]

So coming to this era had granted him a new setting?

After seeing the newly extracted setting in the manual, Ron chose to load it without hesitation.

But the manual displayed a prompt:

[Detected conflict between "Setting: Fantasy Dissolution" and "Setting: Ashes of the Age of Gods." Continue loading Ashes of the Age of Gods? (Continuing will unload Fantasy Dissolution.)]

[Fantasy Dissolution]? What kind of setting was that?

Ron opened the detailed description:

[Setting: Fantasy Dissolution]

[After Atina the "Omniscient" hacked an anti-mysticism equation into the world, all transcendent fantasies fell into the dust of the mundane.]

[As a human who has completely erased the influence of the Age of Gods, you are unable to pursue mysticism, nor can mysticism pursue you.]

["On the seventh day, it rested from all its work of creation. And I broke its wings, sending it to its rest."]

[—Moen Ideal City, Heavenly Hearing Media CEO ▆▆▆.]

[This is the foundational setting of major version 4.0. After loading this setting, you will gain resistance to mysticism, increase your mysticism rejection, and dissolve mysticism's influence upon you.]

Then he would unload it for now.

Ron chose to continue loading Ashes of the Age of Gods without hesitation—his purpose in traveling to this era had been to seek an opportunity to drink a potion and become an extraordinary individual.

This setting could clearly help him travel farther down the path of "mysticism." There was naturally no reason to refuse it...

[Setting loaded: Ashes of the Age of Gods.]

The next moment, Ron felt the chill that had merely been flowing through his body instantly melt into every inch of him, penetrating deep into his bones—

A trace of the stars' dazzling radiance appeared in his pupils as Magic Vision activated, sweeping away the darkness before him.

The kerosene lamp was no longer dim. Instead, it rose with a grim green glow.

Everything in his sight was suddenly stained with different colors, and all that lay before Ron took on a new appearance.

The cold steel bars turned warm, and the spots Ron had taken for rust became vivid.

He finally saw his cell clearly... Those were not steel bars at all, but scarlet limbs stretched into long, slender shapes and arranged one after another into a fence.

They were covered in long-dried bloodstains. Looking outside, he could clearly see prisoners in other cells rolling on the ground and wailing as they desperately tried to tear off the scarlet-glowing shackles around their feet, only to rip open their flesh from using too much force, spraying blood everywhere.

Although piercing wails and screams filled his ears, Ron no longer had the mind to care about them.

Because right in front of him, the corpse he had noticed from the very beginning, slumped in the corner and already rotten with maggots crawling through it...

It was giving off a scarlet glow that signified danger. It opened an eye half-eaten away by worms and looked toward him!

What was that thing?

Why did it look so much like the zombie that magician had summoned?!

Only more grotesque, more horrifying, and clearly far more dangerous!

Could the creature summoned by that magician have been an extraordinary creature from this era?

All sorts of thoughts sprang into Ron's mind. As he watched the rotten corpse notice him and stagger toward him with claws outstretched, even his pupils trembled. An indescribable sense of chaos rose in his mind.

At that moment, everything became blurred. Ron distinctly felt a bone-deep chill crawl up his spine, as though he had fallen into the deep sea and could barely breathe.

His sanity was being steadily worn away. In an instant, even he, who had always been calm, froze in place—

Then the rotten corpse took one step after another until it pressed right up against him!

Red light shone from its decayed eye sockets. It opened its mouthful of rotten teeth and spewed a rancid stench of decay.

Only inches apart, Ron saw it open its jaws at him. Yellow-green saliva dripped onto his shoulder, bringing waves of burning pain...

Move! Move! Move!

Move, now!

Ron roared inwardly, but his hands and feet seemed bound, completely unable to move.

Only when a cold notification sounded beside his ear did it shatter the haze and chaos in his mind, severing the magical power binding him and bringing him back to his senses:

[Detected that the player's sanity is declining due to unacceptable magical contamination. Unload Setting: Ashes of the Age of Gods?]

His life was on the line. Of course he would unload it!

Ron came back to himself and, in his panic, kicked the rotten corpse.

But the seemingly weightless corpse was not kicked flying as he had expected. Instead, the impact made the sole of Ron's foot ache, as though he had kicked a concrete wall.

If he could not kick it away, then so be it. He used the force to leap backward, took several quick steps back to the fence, and opened the manual without hesitation to unload [Ashes of the Age of Gods].

But nothing changed.

Everything before him merely lost its flickering glow, yet it still retained its horrifying appearance.

In fact, because he had drawn close, the limb fence that had only been faintly writhing began to stir like sharks smelling blood—

Ron had no doubt that if he moved any closer, those limbs would immediately come alive and eagerly tear him to pieces!

But he had no way to leave either.

The rotten corpse screeched as it rushed before him. Its bloated claw, with protruding finger bones, brushed past him and left behind a clear stench of rot.

That was the smell of death.

There was nowhere to go and nowhere to retreat.

Almost everything he could touch... could bring certain death!

Why was it still like this?

Cold sweat beaded on Ron's forehead. The rotten corpse was still rushing at him, lunging to bite him.

He could almost see it: in the next moment, his throat would be torn open, his heart ripped apart, and then he would be picked clean to the bone and chewed into a field of mangled remains...

But at that life-or-death moment, he suddenly remembered the shackles he had casually torn apart earlier.

He instantly understood the key.

Mysticism! Mysticism! It was because of resistance to mysticism!

These monsters were themselves the most obvious form of mysticism!

The instant the rotten corpse lunged at Ron, he clenched his fist and punched toward its head while tapping the manual to load [Fantasy Dissolution].

"Bang!"

The sound of a heavy punch striking a sandbag rang out, and then the piercing screech vanished.

The rancid stench of decay was wiped away in that instant, turning into the grassy scent of moss.

The rotten corpse, which had been as hard as steel, rapidly shriveled and decayed.

The next moment, it collapsed into ash.

Snow-white ash drifted down in a flutter. A jet-black finger bone fell to the ground, bounced several times, and made a series of crisp clinks.

At the same time, Ron felt as though his brain had been boiled in that instant. A scorching heat washed through it, and he fell into a brief daze before recovering a moment later.

Only then did he realize that the flesh-and-blood fence, the prisoners' wails, the scarlet-glowing shackles... all of it had suddenly changed.

It was as though God Almighty's great hand had pulled them away, as though an eraser had wiped them from the world—

The scarlet, bizarre colors were stripped of all vitality, returning to their original cold hues.

Moss-covered stone-brick walls, cold rusted steel bars, and a jet-black finger bone half-buried in white ash, gleaming with a metallic luster.

The whistle of a steam train sounded outside the window. Its clattering echoed through the prison, mixed with Ron's ragged breathing.

He looked at the pile of ash with lingering fear. His state of mind was nowhere near as calm as it had been when he had first traveled here.

He saw a prompt appear on the manual:

["Setting: Fantasy Dissolution" is being worn down by excessive "occult influence."]

[Characteristic damage: 29%.]

[When characteristic damage reaches 100%, this setting will temporarily become unequippable. Once you return to the major version that generated this setting, the setting will automatically repair itself.]

So [Fantasy Dissolution] had directly erased the mysticism within that rotten corpse at the cost of 29% damage.

That was why it had turned to ash in an instant, as though burned away.

"Ding."

A notification sounded from the manual. Ron looked at it and saw new words appear on the light screen—

[Enemy defeated: Corpse Shell!]

[Because you defeated an enemy from the world of "Potion Era," a new record has been unlocked.]

A new record?

Ron saw a new interface appear on the light screen. It displayed a full-color illustration of a giant Corpse Shell similar to the one before him, surrounded by several obviously thinner and more damaged members of its kind kneeling around it.

[Low-Level Extraordinary Creature: Corpse Shell]

"Perhaps you will see such a terrifying monster in an ancient underground prison or a cold, gloomy graveyard—

A figure dragging a ruined leg, raising a swollen arm and a damaged hand, staggering into your sight.

This is a Corpse Shell, an extraordinary creature formed from the corpse of one who died unjustly."

Innate Settings—

[Nature of the Dead]: The sinful magical power of [Death] instills vitality into the remains of those who died unjustly, reviving them as Corpse Shells. Their resentment causes them to instinctively hate the living and attack any living creature they encounter.]

[Ignorant Servant]: As mindless extraordinary creatures, lower Corpse Shells can be controlled by more powerful, higher-level Corpse Shells that may have awakened intelligence, guided and influenced by magical power, making them display absolute obedience toward their masters.]

[First defeat of enemy "Corpse Shell" detected. Extracting setting.]

Defeating these monsters could also extract new settings?

This prison was clearly no ordinary place. More monsters were obviously waiting for him in its depths...

If he could kill those monsters, would he not be able to obtain even more settings?

Ron pondered this as he continued reading the manual:

[Setting extraction: Ignorant Servant.]

[The walking dead are merely toys in your hand. You stir the magical power of [Death], guiding their mindless nature.]

[After loading this setting, you will gain the special ability of a Corpse Shell and be able to control low-level Corpse Shells that have not developed intelligence.]

Control low-level Corpse Shells that had not developed intelligence?

Seeing that, Ron could not help thinking of the Corpse Shell that magician had summoned with all his strength.

That Corpse Shell had been even weaker than the one Ron had just killed. It clearly had no possibility of awakening intelligence.

So as long as Ron loaded this setting, he could easily control that magician's summon and turn it against him...

Then even if he returned to Ideal City now, would he not have a chance of defeating that magician?

Lost in thought, Ron suddenly noticed a faint glimmer flickering within the ash pile left behind by the Corpse Shell.

What was that?

Curious, Ron immediately began searching through the small pile of white ash. After a simple round of grinding the bones to dust, he quickly found a finger bone.

The finger bone gave off an icy chill, and its crevices were stained with deep blackness.

Presumably, under Magic Vision, this finger bone would be radiating pure black magical power.

What was this thing... something left behind by the Corpse Shell?

Could it be an extraordinary material?

As Ron examined the finger bone, his chest suddenly grew hot. Only then did he remember the spellbook he had been holding against his chest all along...

He picked up the spellbook and found that it could finally be opened—

Unfortunately, it could only be opened to one page.

When he opened the first page, a passage of text appeared:

[Potion Formula]

[Death] Sequence Nine "Gravekeeper"

["Potion ingredients: one finger bone from one who died unjustly + one consecrated item + 100 milliliters of pure water + 13 grams of algae + 20 grams of coagulated avian blood."]

["Method: Burn the finger bone and the consecrated item together. Heat the mixture of pure water, algae, and blood."]

Above that passage, "finger bone from one who died unjustly" was glowing brightly!

A Sequence Nine... potion formula?!

Ron stared at the spellbook in his hand, then at the finger bone, unable to suppress a strange sense of absurdity.

Clearly, this finger bone was the "finger bone from one who died unjustly" mentioned in the formula.

He had never expected that the problem of "how to become extraordinary," which had troubled him for more than a decade, would already be half solved within mere minutes of traveling to this world.

Other than the "consecrated item," which was clearly difficult to find, gathering the remaining materials in Ideal City would be effortless...

In other words, as long as Ron found a consecrated item in the Potion Era, he could return directly to Ideal City, brew the [Gravekeeper] potion, and become a Sequence Nine extraordinary individual!

The thought made him excited, but after considering it carefully, he calmed down again.

Unfortunately, gathering all the materials would clearly be much harder than stumbling upon a finger bone by chance.

The consecrated item could only be found after escaping the prison, but [Fantasy Dissolution] had a limited duration. Before it was completely worn away, Ron might not even be able to escape the prison.

Especially now that [Fantasy Dissolution] had already been worn down by 29% by a Corpse Shell. If he had bad luck and encountered a monster stronger than that Corpse Shell...

Wouldn't Ron have his established rules shattered on the spot and be torn to pieces?

At that thought, he glanced warily at the rusty bars of the cage.

Although the iron bars currently looked harmless enough, Ron had not forgotten the savage, ostentatious appearance of that Limb Cage within Magic Vision.

Perhaps... even this cage was stronger than that Corpse Shell.

So he should return to Ideal City first.

In any case, he already had the means to defeat that old magician. He could wait until [Fantasy Dissolution] was fully restored before continuing his exploration of the prison.

With that in mind, Ron put the finger bone into his pocket. Just as he was about to use the handbook to leave this era, an extremely hoarse voice suddenly sounded beside his ear:

"How... did you do that?"

Someone was speaking?

Ron looked toward the source of the voice and, to his astonishment, discovered that the gaunt figure in the neighboring cell—previously sprawled on the floor and locked down by bronze shackles—had actually risen to its feet, trembling!

This person... no, this Zombie that looked as though it had just crawled out of hell—

Now stared fixedly at him with crimson-glowing eyes!