This wasn't a system panel, a chat group, or any visible "cheat" UI. It was an overpowered force lodged inside him.
Incarnation Space—also called Nexus Space—was a realm nested at the very core of Drav's soul. Its function: to spawn an incarnation of him and place that incarnation into another world.
The incarnation wasn't merely a shard of his spirit like the common trope in many Chinese fanfics. Instead, it was an entity created by copying the user's soul information, physical body, and existential data. It was essentially a full replication information of Drav's soul, physical body, and existence that are built to born and live in another world.
After all, splitting his soul into fragments would have risked Drav's safety; fracturing one's soul can produce dangerous side effects. Nexus Space avoided that risk by creating a separate, intact copy.
Even so, the bond between host and incarnation was deeper than the tie between parent and child. Their relationship formed a mutual symbiosis: power, knowledge, and even physical traits or talents could be shared and superimposed between them.
That meant betrayal wasn't a worry. Incarnations made this way were guaranteed to be one hundred percent loyal at the moment of creation.
"Random world, and I can't pick whatever realm I want? A little disappointing, but the benefits outweigh that drawback," Drav said with a shrug. He didn't mind a small catch.
"With this, I should be able to survive and thrive in the One Punch Man world!" he added, bright with hope. He closed his eyes and summoned Nexus Space. The surrounding mist shifted and thinned, as if the air itself were being cleared.
Nexus Space replied, offering confirmation.
[Do you wish to use Incarnation Space right now?]
"Yes," he nodded.
[Searching for a 'World' to place the new incarnation…]
He waited. Ten minutes crawled by. Nexus Space responded.
[World found. Do you wish to read the information about that World, or customize your Incarnation?]
"Well, that's new! I thought my incarnation would be an exact copy. I didn't expect customization!" Drav said, surprised and pleased. "That's a useful feature."
"Show me the world info first. I want to see where my incarnation would be placed. Hopefully it's a supernatural world—so I can gain supernatural powers too!" he hoped, and accepted the data.
A surge of information flooded into his mind: the planet, civilizations, races, and the world's history. Drav's eyes widened in disbelief. He had discovered something shocking from that.
Uma Musume. Who'd have thought my first gacha world would be Uma Musume?
He was speechless, but there was no reroll; he had to accept it. Beside, it wasn't bad since Uma Musume was a fantasy-style world centered on three goddesses and populated by a magical race of horse-girls living in a modern Earth. Not the worst pull, really. Relieved, Drav turned to the customization options.
A character-creation screen unfolded before him—exactly like a video game. Every slider and switch: appearance, gender, even race. He could tweak everything.
"Damn—this is just like a game avatar creator! Didn't expect Nexus Space to copy that feature," he muttered, amused.
What should I make…?
He thought hard, then grinned at an idea.
"What if I make the incarnation female? Put aside the problem with Uma Musume are essentially female exclusive race, the incarnation isn't literally my alternative self—so it wouldn't matter if she's my future wife!" Drav declared, convinced it was brilliant.
"Heh—then I'll have a perfect, beautiful wife for my future self! I'm so clever!" He laughed lecherously, rubbing his hands together.
"All right—select Uma Musume / Horse Girl as the race!" he chose with excitement.
[Sorry! You don't have enough resources for that. Please provide resources to use this option!]
"What?!" he exclaimed. He hadn't expected the choice to fail.
"How can I access it? There's no way my incarnation will just become a normal human in a world centered at Uma Musume!" he protested, regretting the thought of settling for less.
[You need sufficient resources to access a special lifeform that appears exclusively in that World.]
Nexus Space answered instantly, but Drav was still puzzled.
"What do you mean by 'resource'? How do I get it?" he asked.
[Resource, by definition, is energy]
"Energy, you say? So I need to find a big power source—like a power plant or nuclear reactor?" he guessed.
[Incorrect. The energy must originate from and belong to the Host. Otherwise it will not work.]
"Energy that only I possess… what is that?" Drav was baffled. He knew human-generated energy was tiny compared to industrial sources. He was an ordinary guy—no mana, no Qi.
[One example is a lifespan or life force.]
"Lifespan, you say…" The idea made him hesitate. Using lifespan would shorten his life and could cause premature death. His face showed the weight of the choice, but there was no time to dither.
After all, he didn't even know his status in the real world, so without further ado he made his choice.
"Take as much of my lifespan as necessary to access the 'Uma Musume' race!" Drav declared. Ethereal light streamed from him and was absorbed by Nexus Space.
Immediately he felt something vital siphoned away—a hollow, uncomfortable absence.
[Option 'Uma Musume' unlocked. Race 'Uma Musume' may now be used at any time.]
Relief washed over him. He could use the race for his incarnation. But a question nagged: how much life had he just given up?
"By the way, Nexus Space—how much lifespan do I have left now?"
[Host has remaining lifespan of 25 years. You were drained of 40 years to access the 'Uma Musume' race option.]
"Twenty-five years…" Drav muttered, his brow twitching. At age twenty, that meant he now had only five years left to live. The number landed like a stone in his chest.
Although the number had rattled him, Drav forced himself to calm down.
Worrying wouldn't help. He might not even survive today—let alone next year, or the next five years. Who knew what could happen to this planet in half a decade? Humanity itself might be gone by then.
Holding that bleak possibility in his mind, his anxiety eased. If fate wanted to take him sooner, there was no point fretting over it now.
"By the way—my hair…" he murmured, noticing a pale streak in his vision. Curious, he touched it and discovered, to his astonishment, that his hair had turned white.
"My hair turned white… I didn't expect to feel like Kaneki," he said, voice tight with emotion. The lifespan drain seemed to have aged him abruptly, bleaching his strands in an instant.
"Thank goodness nothing else changed—my skin, my face. I'd cry if I looked like an old man," he breathed, genuinely relieved that Nexus Space hadn't turned him into some grandfatherly figure.
Then he refocused on the customization screen. A faceless humanoid silhouette hovered before him—no clothes, no facial details yet—but clearly feminine, with horse ears set where human ears would be.
"No human ears at all? If that ear area isn't hidden by hair, Uma Musume look really strange," Drav exclaimed, unsettled by the uncanny sight.
He began to tinker. Loli proportions, extremely short builds, teenage looks, mature women—he tried every combination. He adjusted face shape, skin tone, eye color, hair color—slider after slider—until he had a baseline he could live with.
But people have limits. Even with a clear sense of what beauty looks like, none of the combinations moved him enough. Nothing he created made his heart skip; perfection eluded him.
So he asked for help.
"Nexus Space, can you construct an appearance based on my subconscious image of the perfect woman—white hair, red eyes?" he requested.
[Understood. Constructing appearance according to Host's subconscious data.]
When the new image formed, Drav's eyes widened until they ached.
A masterpiece. A divine creation. The woman who appeared could make the moon hide shyly behind clouds—so he felt. She was breathtaking and otherworldly: long, snow-white hair falling like silk; eyes the red of polished rubies; slender yet soft hips; a chest full but not excessive; plush, well-shaped thighs. Every curve read like intentional perfection. Anyone who saw her—man or woman—would be stunned, perhaps fall in love at first sight.
Gulp. He hadn't expected Nexus Space to craft such absolute perfection.
His mouth went dry. Even in this soul-space, his body's old reflexes stirred—hormones reacting to an image of impossible beauty.
It was both terrifying and surreal.
Drav hesitated. He nearly refused the appearance—not because he disliked it, but because he understood the consequences if such an existence appeared in the world.
If my incarnation were to appear in the world, it would plunge everything into chaos. Her beauty was no longer on the level of "country-destroying beauty"—it had already reached the realm of "world-destroying beauty," and even surpassed it.
This was Drav's honest feeling. It even seemed to him that his incarnation possessed something like a superior, passive charm—an ability reminiscent of Tomie's allure—that could captivate anyone who came into contact with her.
Even he himself wasn't immune to it; he found his thoughts drawn to her again and again, a faint obsession taking root as he grew unwilling to let anyone else lay eyes on her.
To give a sense of scale—if she stepped into the world of HSR (Honkai Star Rail), the Path of Beauty itself might glance and consider replacing Idrilia as the Aeon of Beauty.
It also showed just how outrageous and exaggerated both things were—the appearance of his incarnation, and Nexus Space itself. The former because her beauty was unreal to the point of absurdity, and the latter because it had actually made something like that a reality.
I don't want her out there, but I do want her as my incarnation's appearance… what a dilemma.
He fretted and searched for a workaround. Failing to find one, he surrendered the problem to Nexus Space.
Fortunately, Nexus Space was reliable as ever.
[Host may add the 'Shrouding Appearance' talent, allowing the true form to be hidden and an alternate appearance shown at will.]
"That must cost something, right?" he asked.
[Correct. Cost: one year of lifespan to unlock the effect.]
"One year… and my remaining life becomes four years," he said, a little absentmindedly.
After a steadying breath he made up his mind.
"All right—activate it!" he said through gritted teeth. Ethereal light flowed again, and that hollow, uncomfortable sensation returned as something vital was drained.
[Talent 'Shrouding Appearance' unlocked. Talent can be used at any time.]
At the same moment the talent was added, an unknown change took place within his incarnation. When Drav looked at her again, he sensed something subtly different—her presence felt more normal, she was still very beautiful, but no longer radiated that superior, Tomie-like passive charm.
Even so, her appearance alone was more than enough to make both men and women fall in love at first sight.
"Good. Good. Now—create and confirm the Incarnation!" he called, enthusiasm returning. Nexus Space obeyed.