The morning light filtered through the floor-to-ceiling windows of the Axer Games headquarters. Ajax Evarson stood alone in his private command center, a sleek room wrapped in dark titanium and lit softly by iridescent blue lights. The large holo-projector embedded in the center console hummed to life, bathing his face in a sequence of brilliant trailers.
Each of the four trailers detailed the state of the legendary worlds a millennium after their canonical heroes had disappeared, ascended, or passed into legend.
"Dragon Ball: Legacy Ascendant"
[The trailer began with a scorched Earth, ancient Saiyan armor fused into the cliffs of time. The camera panned over what used to be West City, now called Central Cosmos Hub, rebuilt around the remains of Capsule Corp's final space gate.]
Narrator: "A thousand years have passed since Goku ascended beyond even the gods. Earth has become a galactic sanctuary for warriors and scholars alike, guided by his philosophy of limitless growth."
Martial academies trained students in memory of the Z Fighters, but Ki techniques were now fragmented across the galaxy—each school interpreting them uniquely. Players had begun forming clans, replicating martial codes that Goku, Vegeta, and even Piccolo had once followed.
Ajax smiled. "Toriyama, you mad genius… you gave me the stars to shape into dreams."
"One Piece: A Sea of Echoes"
[The camera swept across an ocean that shimmered with silver light. The Grand Line had been broken open, now called the Infinite Line, a sea that connected hundreds of new islands. At the center floated the broken mast of the Thousand Sunny, enshrined atop a sacred coral reef.]
Narrator: "The Pirate King, Monkey D. Luffy, became legend—his hat passed into myth. Now, a new era sails unbound. Devil Fruits still grow, still corrupt, still elevate. But the world has changed. The seas are wider. The danger deeper."
Marines and pirates had become less about justice and evil—more about ideologies. The World Government had fractured, birthing successor states.
"Oda," Ajax whispered. "You turned the open sea into a philosophy."
"Naruto: Shattered Leaf Reborn"
[Mount Hokage was now a ruin, overgrown with vines. Statues of Naruto and Sasuke cracked from age, their faces weathered but immortalized. The Hidden Villages had vanished into secrecy once again, scattered like shinobi embers.]
Narrator: "With the death of the Seventh Hokage, the world returned to chaos. But the Will of Fire burned in the hearts of new generations. Chakra was never lost—just hidden. In the shadows, legends whisper of Uzumaki's teachings."
Kekkei Genkai had become rarer, even mythical. Players began as nomads or rogue students. Entire temples dedicated to forgotten jutsu had become explorable dungeons.
"Kishimoto-sensei," Ajax murmured with a hand over his heart. "Even a thousand years later, Konoha breathes."
"Bleach: Spiritfall Millennium"
[The Seireitei floated in fragmented dimensions. Karakura Town was no more, now replaced by 'Karakura Nexus', a spiritual city that allowed humans, hollows, and shinigami to coexist. The Gotei 13 had become the Gotei Eternum, its captains scattered across realities.]
Narrator: "Ichigo Kurosaki's legacy cannot be held in flesh or sword alone. Shikai and Bankai are echoes now—reawakened by those who walk the boundary of the seen and unseen."
Quincies were no longer hunted; they were myths feared and respected. Hollows had become sentient, forming tribes that formed spiritual philosophies.
Ajax whispered in awe. "Kubo, your world aged like fine ink."
Each trailer faded into the background as Alfred, his AI butler, spoke into his earpiece.
[Sir, initial data from all four worlds has been aggregated. Shall I display it?]
"Yes, Alfred. Let's see what these worlds have become."
With a flick of Ajax's hand, the holo-map zoomed into Gaiaraheim, the central hub-world he had designed—a luminous celestial ringworld where all players first appeared. Floating islands surrounded a massive colosseum called Eden's Arena, where avatars from every genre and style mingled like travelers of fate.
Thousands of players walked, ran, and flew across Gaiaraheim in real time. There were no bugs, no lag, no disconnection issues—each moment was seamless thanks to Ajax's dimensional stabilization code.
Alfred continued, [Three months in, user retention is at 96.2%. VR Helmet sales have crossed 78 million units. Pod preorders are closing on 22 million, with two million already delivered.]
Ajax raised an eyebrow. "And player activity by world?"
[As follows, sir:
Dragon Ball World: 26 million active players. Martial sects forming, energy manipulation reaching stage-2 Ki Resonance.
One Piece World: 21.5 million players. Sea fortresses emerging. Three Devil Fruits have been discovered, none consumed.
Naruto World: 18 million players. Chakra training is ongoing. No Kekkei Genkai unlocked. First relic of the Uzumaki Vault found.
Bleach World: 12 million players. Soul Society exploration at 14%. Hollow masks have begun dropping as cosmetic illusions.]
"And powers?"
[None of the higher-tier abilities—Haki, Bankai, Shikai, Kekkei Genkai, or even True Ki—have been unlocked. Our lock protocols are functioning.]
Ajax nodded. He had intentionally restricted the deeper legacy powers to ensure they were earned, not bought.
But Alfred wasn't finished.
[Sir, we have... discovered something unexpected.]
Ajax turned slowly.
[Metahumans. Real ones. They've entered the game.]
A long silence filled the command room.
"How?"
[They interface with the VR system like everyone else, but within Axer Games... their powers are tamed. Refined. Even unstable mutations are stabilized by the dimensional engine you installed.[
Ajax took a breath. "So you're saying even someone like… Phoenix, Wanda, or Nitro—could play without triggering catastrophes?"
[Precisely. Axer Gamesobeys the rules of will, not chaos. Here, they are just players—with the potential to be legends.]
On the screen, a female avatar with glimmering pink hair meditated in the center of Eden's Arena. Around her, a ring of fire floated above crystal water. On inspection, her registered DNA signature showed subtle X-gene indicators. A mutant. Playing peacefully.
Ajax closed his eyes for a moment. This… this was an unexpected outcome.
"Alfred, mark this as a new doctrine: 'Even gods can find balance in Axer Games.'"
[Undeoutcome]
For the next hour, Ajax reviewed hundreds of micro-interactions:
A crew of ten players in the One Piece world discovered an old Journal of Nico Robin, buried in a tree temple on an uncharted island.
In Naruto World, an orphan boy—real-world location Lagos, Nigeria—had begun decoding the secret of chakra nodes through actual meditation routines, recording his breath cycles like a monk.
In Bleach World, a Quincy-themed guild had formed, calling themselves the Thousand Arrows. Their leader gave daily sermons in Karakura Nexus about balance between light and void.
And in Dragon Ball World, a young girl from rural India had already created her own Ki Kata, uploading it to the dojo cloud network where 90,000 players had downloaded it.
Ajax couldn't help but smile.
"No world gave them this power, Alfred. They built it. They're building themselves."
[Indeed, sir.]
The day was drawing to a close when the steel doors to the executive wing hissed open.
Frank Castle walked in, dressed in his usual all-black tactical suit, face unreadable, eyes sharp.
"We've got something," Frank said simply.
Ajax didn't even turn away from the holograms. "What is it?"
Frank stepped closer. "Tony Stark sent an invitation. Stark Expo. Two months from now. Wants to meet the guy behind Axer Games. Publicly."
Ajax paused. He leaned back in his chair. "Did he say why?"
Frank pulled out the envelope—physical, not digital. "He said, 'I like to know which new gods walk among us.'"
Ajax looked up at the ceiling. Then out over the four worlds.
"Tell him I'll attend. But I won't walk."
Frank tilted his head. "Then how?"
Ajax's red eyes gleamed with subtle light.
"I'll arrive like a dream."