The concrete and glass jungle of La Défense was bustling, as usual, with relentless noise. Businessmen sprinting, tourists taking photos, and office workers drowning in the worries of French bureaucracy. Amidst this human sea, François walked with calm steps. A twenty-one-year-old young man, wearing an elegant coat, who had just secured a stable desk job.
For a young man who enjoyed following quiet politics and hated chaos, this job was good, but... exhausting.
François stopped in front of a classic Parisian café, its rattan chairs lined up on the sidewalk. He smiled faintly and walked in.
"Hello, monsieur~" he said in a calm voice. "I would like a black coffee and a chocolate éclair, please."
The waiter nodded with a friendly smile, "Of course, monsieur. Please take a seat right there, and I will bring your order shortly~"
François nodded in agreement and chose a relatively isolated table outside. He pulled out his phone and opened his favorite anime streaming site. He scrolled through the lists until a strange title caught his eye: "That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime!"
Heh~ François thought. A slime building a nation? That sounds fun and peaceful.
He decided to play the first episode, but the moment he pressed play, the waiter arrived, placing the hot cup of coffee and the perfect éclair before him. François's eyes gleamed. He thanked the waiter, then... turned off his phone screen and set it aside.
For François, eating wasn't just a biological necessity; it was a sacred ritual! One must never be distracted by phone screens while tasting a French masterpiece.
He picked up the pastry slowly. A single bite was enough to transport him to another world. The crisp choux pastry, the rich and cold chocolate cream filling, and the glossy fondant icing. He ate with intense focus, sipping the black coffee whose pleasant bitterness perfectly balanced the chocolate's sweetness.
About twenty minutes of culinary meditation later, he wiped his mouth with a napkin, stood up, paid his €6.50, and headed back to his apartment.
Upon entering his home, he took off his shoes and went straight to his computer. He turned on the anime that had piqued his curiosity. The story completely swallowed him whole. The world-building, the politics, the diplomacy, and the relative peace in Tempest... He binge-watched the episodes until he reached episode twenty-three.
He looked at the clock. It was very late, and his muscles were stiff from sitting.
"I need to take a shower," he muttered, yawning. But he couldn't stop now. He wanted to finish the season!
In a move that could be considered the worst in modern human history, he dragged a power strip into the bathroom to charge his phone and slipped into the warm bathtub.
The water relaxed his muscles, and he held his charging phone, watching the final episode with sheer concentration. And at the fifteen-minute mark... his wet hand slipped.
The phone dropped.
The power strip fell.
And water met electricity.
Bzzzzzzzzzt!
There was no time to scream. The electricity did its job with absolute brutality. Every muscle in François's body convulsed with a force that nearly shattered his bones. His heartbeat accelerated to the point of exploding, and the pain... was an excruciating agony beyond description.
Hah...? his mind screamed as his body stopped responding. Am I... am I going to die in such a stupid way? In a bathtub? Oh God... I haven't even finished watching all the anime with cool, overpowered dragons...
Suddenly, amidst the fading darkness of his consciousness, a robotic, cold, and emotionless voice echoed:
> [Notification: Desire confirmed. Constructing a physical vessel compatible with the mythical race: 'Dragon'.]
>
Ah... I never even got a girlfriend... I haven't lived a single romantic moment in this pathetic life of mine... François thought regretfully as he drew his last breaths, trying to ignore the strange voice.
> [Notification: Concept incomprehensible. Restructuring to prevent distracting emotional influences... The skill 'Temptation Resistance' has been successfully acquired.]
>
Ah... my life was so short... and completely useless...
> [Notification: Desire for longevity received. Modifying the body to be capable of 'Eternal Life'.]
>
Wait... who is talking in my head? François thought through the pain. Am I finally losing my mind before I die? Is this a pain-induced hallucination?
> [Notification: Intellectual synchronization failed. Retrying... The skill 'Mental Attack Resistance' has been successfully acquired.]
>
The heat of the electricity was cooking his nerves from the inside. Agh... It's so hot... Too hot... and it hurts... Please, make it stop!
> [Notification: 'Heat Resistance' successfully acquired.]
> [Notification: 'Pain Resistance' successfully acquired.]
> [Combining 'Pain Resistance' and 'Heat Resistance'... The Extra Skill 'Damage Negation' has been successfully acquired.]
>
Damn it! François screamed in his fading consciousness. What is this annoying voice?! Can't you just let me die in peace? I'm already exhausted from all the noise in Paris... the crowds, the sounds, the intrusions... I just want some peace and quiet! I want to be alone!
> [Notification: Translating the concept of an absolute desire for spatial isolation...]
> [The skill 'Spatial Domination' has been successfully acquired.]
> [The skill 'Multilayer Barrier' has been successfully acquired.]
>
Ah... this stupid voice really won't go away... François thought weakly. He felt his body slowly being drawn into nothingness, as if sinking into an ocean of black void. And yet... Oh God... I can still taste that chocolate éclair in my mouth... It was my last dessert. Its structure was perfect... If there is another life... I would really love to try making one with my own hands, to understand how those ingredients bind together...
> [Notification: A strong passion for structural understanding and atomic reconstruction has been detected.]
> [The skill 'Structural Analysis' has been successfully acquired.]
> [The skill 'All of Creation' has been successfully acquired.]
>
AAAH! Damn you, voice! Leave me alone!
François felt his soul completely detach from his burned body. He was floating in an endless, quiet, and comforting space. Finally... he thought he had found absolute peace.
But... suddenly...!!
François felt his soul being pulled by a colossal, irresistible force. It was as if a massive hook had embedded itself into his spiritual core and began dragging him across dimensions. The spiritual agony was magnitudes worse than the pain of the electricity! He felt his soul being torn to endless shreds, forced into a vessel that hadn't even finished forming yet.
His final thought, burning with sheer cosmic rage and pain, was: Damn it!! Even in my last moments, I won't be left to die in peace?! Who dares drag me like this?! If I find whoever did this... I swear I will erase them from existence!! I will destroy them!!
At that moment, the entire cosmic space trembled. The System itself nearly collapsed from the sheer intensity of the wrath generated by this tampered human soul. And in his mind, a final alarm blared with a voice different from all previous notifications; a voice carrying the dread of gods:
> [Warning! Warning! Warning!]
> [External interference detected (Forced Summoning Ritual). The host's soul is undergoing dimensional fission!]
> [Activating Absolute Survival Protocol to balance the host's wrath...]
> [The Ultimate Skill... 'Raw Destruction Energy' has been acquired!]
>
Then... pitch-black darkness swallowed him whole.