"Big shot, thank you for your hard work."
"Please, take my respect!"
"Lord, please have some iced cola!"
"Magic Emperor, do you need any more followers?"
666!
A flurry of flattery followed. Amidst the countless compliments from himself, Magic Emperor Makiya felt an unprecedented sense of satisfaction. A man lives to show off, and being able to show off in front of other versions of himself made the long dungeon grind worth it.
Magic Emperor Makiya's plan was simple. It wasn't actually hard to 're-cultivate for a hundred lives.' Having the Oblivion account meant he had already seen most of the monsters and secret realms in the Arad world. Re-leveling a new character wasn't exactly effortless, but it was certainly manageable.
However, every class had its bottlenecks. Some hit them at the first awakening, others at the second. After the second awakening, progress was slower than a snail's crawl. Trying to make a giant leap forward was basically impossible on his own, so he had to rely on himself.
He was the biggest support for the other Makiyas in the early and mid-stages. Once everyone was brought up to speed, the strength they gained in their respective worlds would feed back into him, allowing him to grow even stronger. This was necessary to face the threats of the demon gods and legendary figures in the late-game DNF world.
It was a win-win situation—the strong leading the soon-to-be strong. A cycle of growth where everyone became powerful together!
"Keep it low-key, guys. We're all on the same team. We rise and fall together," Magic Emperor Makiya said with a wide grin. Validation from himself felt the best. He took an iced cola from someone in the crowd and downed it, letting out a long, satisfied burp.
"Burp! Refreshing! Cola has to be iced. Who even drinks it at room temperature?" He tipped the ice cubes from the glass into his mouth and crunched them loudly, but then he suddenly realized something was off.
"Wait, wait, wait!" NPC Makiya suddenly cried out, pointing at the glass in Magic Emperor Makiya's hand with disbelief. "Where did that glass and cola come from? And the ice?!"
Magic Emperor Makiya smacked his forehead as it clicked. Although they hadn't fully figured out the mystery space yet, based on its performance and functions so far, it should be the same 'model' as the Proctologist's.
Only spiritual bodies could enter the mystery space; physical objects were impossible. So far, only Soul Reaper Makiya could bring his Zanpakuto inside because it was a manifestation of his soul. Everyone else entered with nothing but spiritualized clothing—certainly not iced cola. A glass and some soda couldn't possibly be part of someone's soul.
Hacker Makiya's sunglasses followed the rules; for a hacker of his world, sunglasses were indeed part of the soul. Well, that was the logic, anyway.
"Yeah, where did the cola come from?" Magic Emperor Makiya scratched his head curiously. He immediately recalled the action of taking the drink and looked toward a certain spot in the crowd. Standing there was a tabby cat walking upright, dressed in a full Western cowboy outfit. Its whiskers were meticulously trimmed, and it held a hand-rolled cigarette in its mouth. Its weathered eyes held a sharp glint it couldn't quite hide, yet it didn't look threatening at all.
Because the art style was different. It wasn't just 'refreshing'; it was unique and entirely distinct.
The body was lean and powerful, but the art style was cute. Its fur was as smooth as silk, and its markings were mysterious and elegant, but the art style was cute. Its limbs were strong and its stance was wary and alert, but the art style was cute. This human-like cat... Makiya stood at an estimated height of only ninety centimeters, looking genuinely adorable.
"Hey, why are you all looking at me like that? By the way, does anyone smoke?" The tabby cat took a deep drag of its cigarette, let out an epic lung hit, and slowly exhaled. The smoke formed a perfect image of Chang'e flying to the moon in the air.
Then, it pulled a piece of rolling paper from behind its back and held it out. It tossed a tin of tobacco into the air. As the tobacco fell, it drifted onto the paper and lined up perfectly. The tabby cat rolled the paper with two fingers, finishing the cigarette, and tossed it high into the air. It then whipped a revolver from behind its back and aimed upward.
Bang!
After the shot, the cigarette—ignited by the bullet's friction—fell right into the cat's mouth. It looked on with a disdainful, peerless gaze, looking like someone you shouldn't mess with.
"Holy crap, it's Chang'e flying to the moon!"
"Holy crap, where'd the smoke come from?"
"Holy crap, where'd the revolver come from?"
The Makiyas were rocked to their cores. The tabby cat's display left everyone stunned. Someone even walked behind it to check, only to find nothing there. So the question was, where did that stuff come from?
It couldn't be...
"This guy looks familiar. I need to see where you're from!" NPC Makiya strode over to the tabby cat, grabbed its paw, and forced a memory merge.
A few seconds later, NPC Makiya let go and stumbled back two steps, gasping. His face lost all control, showing a look of extreme shock. "It really is that world! That's terrifying!"
"Hey, hey! Which world is it? Speak clearly!" the other Makiyas grumbled. When did they start becoming Riddlers? How could they be scared by a newcomer after everything they'd seen?
One by one, the Makiyas stepped forward to merge memories. Then came the standardized three-step process: retreat, gasp, and look shocked.
"It's the world of Tom and Jerry!"
"No wonder he looks like that. I thought he'd messed up a transformation in some Primordial World."
"Wait, wait! Does this mean we're invincible now? Children's cartoons are the highest tier of combat power!"
"What do you mean children's cartoon? This is perfect for college students."
"It doesn't work like that. The world laws are different. It might not add any combat power at all."
Despite merging so many memories in a short time, the tabby cat Makiya recovered after just two puffs of his cigarette. He checked his own condition and found that nothing had changed.
Waking up as a cat had been a mental breakdown for Makiya. Back when he was just a kitten, his hunger reminded him it was time to eat. A critical problem faced him: was he really going to nurse from a mother cat?
If he did, his dignity was gone and it felt gross! If he didn't, he was dead!
Just as he was hesitating, reality told Makiya not to overthink things. The mother cat tied a napkin around his neck, pulled out an empty bowl, and poured a giant bottle of milk for him.
They lived on a farm. Resources were plenty and life was leisure. The elderly farm owners treated the tabby cat family very well. One day, a TV program about a national mousetrap competition caught their eye, and they signed Makiya up.
Makiya tore through the competition. In the finals, he met a blue-grey cat. Both cats caught the mouse at the same time. They fought from the ground to the sky, and from the sky to the deep sea. The battle was intense, with planes and cannons involved. In the end, Makiya was more skilled; he pulled out a nuclear bomb and knocked the cat named Tom unconscious, winning first place.
Standing on the podium, Makiya suddenly snapped out of it. 'What the hell am I doing?!' He turned down invitations from major talent agencies, hid his fame, and returned to the small town to live a quiet cowboy life.
With the painful lesson of the Proctologist in mind, the Makiyas wouldn't believe in overnight power-ups anymore. Hand-rolling nukes likely only worked in that specific world. To become strong, they still had to stay grounded.
Of course, the appearance of Tabby Cat Makiya had one major benefit: they didn't have to sit on the floor anymore. He pulled a massive long table from behind him, followed by fourteen chairs and a pile of food and drinks.
"Cola, Sprite, Soularda, Primordial Sea Water, Monkey Wine, Estus Flasks... just say the word if you want something." Tabby Cat Makiya spoke. He didn't know how he was pulling these things out; he just could.
The fourteen of them sat down, looking like they were in a serious summit, but in reality, they were just chatting about random, trivial things.
Two new figures appeared in the space. Watching the scene before them, they stood stunned for a long time, looking at each other in silence.
The veteran Makiyas were used to this, but for newcomers, the impact of the mystery space was unparalleled.
The black mystery space was silent as always, with the grey ground providing a faint light. From the inside, it looked like a giant honeycomb, with dense holes lining the walls.
Looking closely, one could see that the holes were tunnels leading to unknown destinations.
Gravity seemed non-existent, and time felt meaningless, but it wasn't the weightless void of space; they could still breathe. The two newcomers had lost all sense of direction.
In the center of the mystery space sat a long table with fourteen seats arranged symmetrically. In each seat sat a... being. Some looked human, others were non-human. Each existence had a unique aura and great power, their presence intertwining to create a heavy, tense atmosphere.
"Is this... a meeting of Dimensional Demons?" one youth in ragged clothes whispered, scanning the figures to see which one was Dormammu or Mephisto.
'Ancient One? Ancient One, are you there? I've been kidnapped by Dimensional Demons! Come save me!'
Though his voice was weak, it was caught by the boy in the skin-tight uniform beside him. The boy smiled confidently. "Dimensional Demons? Looks more like a high-level meeting of the Demon World Army. Doesn't matter, though. No creature can resist my ability."
The boy in the uniform waved at the ragged youth. "Just pick a tunnel and hide later. Don't make a sound. These Demon World guys are cruel to human males. You're a civilian, right? Listen to me and hide!"
"Too late!" The ragged youth bit his lip, his voice trembling. "They've seen us!"
[Support the story with Reviews, Power Stones, and Comments—they mean a lot and keep me going! 30+ chapters waiting on patreon.com/elite_reads]