Nostalgic Gamer in a Cultivation World

“Nice bracelet!”

“This is not an ordinary bracelet. This device has a great power that would shock your world. Instilled in this bracelet is the power of creation. It is similar to the power that the God here used to create the many worlds and dimensions.”

Dyne’s amused expression slowly turned strange. It was then he realized that the man before him was seriously talking.

“Is he insane?” Dyne wondered.

“Alright. So you were forced to enter this world because you were chased, but right before you reached this world, you got poisoned?”

“Yes. Right before I crossed the boundaries and barriers that divided both worlds, I was hit.”

“Are your enemies refusing to chase you because of the God here?”

“No. They can’t chase me. I used the energy in the Imaginarium Bond to get here. I imploded one of the worlds of the Imaginarium and killed trillions and trillions to create that energy. I intended to recuperate here and return once I have sorted out all the weapons that my Master has left me with. But I was poisoned.”

“Oh. So you can’t get your revenge now? Kinda like me, I guess.”

“Yes. My regret was that I wish I just used the Imaginarium Bond and fought them. By imploding all the worlds, I would have killed a lot of them.” The man gave a sad chuckle as tears filled his eyes.

Dyne paused in silence. He could tell the deep regrets of the man beside him.

Dyne took the alcohol and forced the strange lid off the bottle.

“Cheers! At least, they would never acquire those weapons of your Master!” Dyne poured wine into their glasses.

Dyne went ahead and drank.

The moment his lips touch the glass, an incredible taste that he couldn’t understand surfaced.

“This is amazing!” Dyne reacted with a bewildered expression.

“Of course. This is known as the best wine in my world.” The man raised his cup and then pointed to the heavens and drank.

Dyne was covering the glass so that the raindrops wouldn’t contaminate the unusual mixture before him.

“Don’t worry. A little rain won’t change the deep taste of my drink. It is magical, after all.” The man laughed.

“What of you, warrior? What are your regrets? You have yet to complete your revenge after all.”

“Truth be told, that’s not what I regret the most. I’ve always been a lazy kid. Back when I was little, my Dad made the greatest mistake of his life.”

“Did he enraged someone he shouldn’t have?”

"No." Dyne shook his head as a very melancholic expression surfaced.

"Did he betray the covenant to his wife?"

"What? No?"

"Did he kill someone in power?"

“No. He bought me a PlayStation console.”

The man had a peculiar expression on his face.

“The memories my Master bestowed upon me is very limited. I’m unaware of what that is.”

“It’s an old gaming console—an ancient relic of the gaming era. I used to play a lot of games. It changed me when I was young. I got so addicted to it that I became anti-social and became a mediocre student.”

“You... are regretting being unable to play games?”

“Yup. Truth be told, if I were to choose between becoming as strong as I am now or being mediocre, I'd pick becoming a mediocre student."

“You know... I just simply became average or below average. I’d only study just enough to pass.”

“In the world that I am, you can’t afford to become mediocre.” The man chuckled.

“In this world, you can. But besides, I may be mediocre here, but in that world, I was amazing.” Dyne reminisced.

“That world?” The strange man was stunned.

“In the world of those games, of course. Of course, my Dad tried all that he could to get me to stop gaming. He said that he made me an addict. That was why he made me take a path full of hardship and pushed me to serve in the military.”

“So, that’s how you became so mighty in this world?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m sure you have made your father proud. You destroyed his foes and brought them justice. This is a good way to die.”

“I don’t know about making my Dad proud. I originally wanted to get my revenge and disappear. I dreamt of buying a lot of games and play the hell out of all of them.”

“...” The man was stunned.

“You do realize that that plan could possibly be the worst way of honoring your father's memory.”

“Hey! As I said, my Dad realized his mistake and forced me to get into the military! If I killed those guys, I have to live a life for myself! And that means games, man.”

The strange man laughed. His laugh was strong and loud.

“What irony. Here I am, regretting all my mistakes and how I should have used those times cultivating. And yet, next to me, is someone at least my equal in terms of the power relative to our own worlds. And your regret is you wanted to waste your time playing games? Oh fate, the regrets of two mighty man, one is that he wishes he was mightier. The other that he was mediocre!” The strange man laughed again.

“Huh? So I’m you’re equal?”

“Yes. If you were born in my world, you would have been like me given your talent and strength! I count seventy-seven kills tonight. Two hundred and eighty-six within the past two days! That’s how many kills you’ve accomplished. Am I correct?”

Dyne was surprised.

“Woah. How did you know? I count my kills because it’s the only game I can play now. You got the number, right!”

“Such talent in this powerless world. I just can’t understand how you would be so regretful of not being mediocre while I regret being mediocre!” The man laughed.

“I get what you’re saying. I don’t regret not being able to accomplish my mission because I had already done my part! My Dad’s killer is dead. That organization is ruined. Of course, those that control this organization lives on... But to me, it's enough. I still dealt a huge blow to them. I just went above and beyond here and started to take action against the big boys. My cousin betrayed me, but I also killed him. Although I’m going to die, there’s no one else in this world where I can honestly pin my anger. So why not wish for games?”

“Is playing games really that fun?”

“I pity that you didn’t have the time. I only played a few games on PlayStation One. Just PS One. Do you know what model has been released already? I would have had more than a decade worth of games and consoles to play! I wanted to catch up! But I can’t! Because I’m going to die!” 

The strange man gave a loud laugh. 

“What was that?” One of the cops slowly entered the alley.

The sound of the gunshots was growing wilder, and even some grenade explosions were happening. The police were on the retreat. But the laughter of the strange man drew his attention.

Dyne frowned. He readied his gun and placed a silencer.

“No need to fight. Here.” The strange man took out a strange charm, and it gave a bright purple glow. Suddenly, Dyne could feel a peculiar wind enveloping him.

He was stunned and glanced at the area around him. Various armed men passed by him, and some were even looking at their direction. Still, the group simply ignored it all and continued to move towards the area in front.

“It’s the cops!” A cry from the other end was heard as several gang members detected the approaching police and opened fire.

Bullets were flying, but for some strange reason, even with the barrage of bullets, none would hit Dyne and the funny man.

A transparent green-like frame surrounded the two. It was then that Dyne realized it was the figure and form of one of the large trashcans. But this one was bulletproof.

“Woah… That’s…”

“These are but the simplest artifacts that we have. Truthfully, I can do this myself if I wasn’t poisoned. Our world has more powerful charms than this, by the way.” The man smirked.

“Amazing! So you weren’t lying! You’re like Harry Potter combined with the Jedi and some eastern cultivator story all mixed into one! If I had one of those small weapons, I could have finished my revenge!” Dyne was stunned.

“I would have happily aided you if we met a few minutes earlier.” The man laughed.

“Oh? What if you gave me one of those charms? Maybe I can go and finish my enemies.”

“I thought that isn’t one of your regrets?”

“It isn’t. But it does make me uncomfortable. My Dad always told me to finish what I started.”

“It’s not that I don’t want to, but I can’t. I told you, the God of this world is so strong. He could easily kill me and even kill all those enemies who chased me with a flick of His finger. His word is Law. And he gave us a stern warning to avoid this place and even disallowed us to mingle with this in any way. That’s why I was surprised that He left me alive when I gave you the blood replenishing pill.” The strange man then began to drink.

“Oh... I get that part... But right now... isn’t there a charm you just used? And isn’t it protecting us? What exactly does our God want?”

The man immediately trembled and almost spat out the amazing wine he was drinking.

The man was silent, and that had a strange look in his eyes. He then glanced at Dyne with a peculiar expression. Although he had been very casual when talking to Dyne, his expression now has dramatically changed.