Songs in the Void

ICDS World, Earth, Japan, Tokyo.

In a flash of light, Tatsuo appeared in a room nearly identical to his bedroom in his apartment in Sasazuka. Naturally, this confused him greatly. Before he could question what he was seeing, however, he was hit with a mind splitting headache. As a result, he fell to one knee while clutching his head in pain.

A few moments later, The pain began to wane. As a result, Tatsuo was able slowly stand up on shaky legs. However, the confusion that was splattered all over his face was nowhere to be seen.

"So, that's what it's like to gain the memories from the background that was created for me." Tatsuo said to himself with a frown while looking around the room. "Honestly, I'm not sure if I'll ever use that feature again if it's gonna be like that every time."

With that said, Tatsuo walked over to the piano that was nearly identical to the one he had in his own room. Then, once he arrived he ran his fingertips across the Piano's key lid as he spoke to himself once again.

"Still, I'm basically living in the same place I'm used to in my world…" Tatsuo said to himself as he sat down on the piano bench. "The difference here is… I'm alone. There's no Mom, Mai-Nee, or Kasumi-Neesan here with me. But there is an explanation for why I'm so good at martial arts and have a stronger than average body."

After sitting on the piano bench, Tatsuo slowly raised the key lid. Meanwhile, he continued skimming through the memories provided to him by the [System].

In Tatsuo's memories, he was the heir of a renowned martial arts family. Unfortunately, while returning from a competition overseas, his parents were killed in a plane crash. And the reason for the plane crash was nothing mundane like turbulence or engine malfunction. Instead, it was because it was brought down by a monster… A wyvern.

"*Sigh* That was the day of the Two Moon Incident." Tatsuo muttered as he slid his fingers across the keys. "The day monsters started appearing in… No, invading this world. And after that, I spent all my time training. Training to kill all the monsters. Since they were the reason for my parents'' deaths."

Before the so-called "Two Moon Incident," this version of earth was a normal version of Earth. To the masses, there was no magic, no aliens, nothing supernatural. However, the Dungeon did exist to a select few. But other than that, people lived their lives like they would on any other normal Earth.

That is, until the second moon appeared in the sky. And with the appearance of this second moon, monsters began popping up all over the planet. Monsters that were seemingly impervious to all modern weapons. As a result, many people lost their lives at the beginning of the Earth's change.

However, as if these monsters were a virus, the Earth seemingly started creating antibodies in the form of people with special powers. These superpowered beings were then referred to as "the Awaken." And with the power These Awakened gained, whether it be coating a weapon with mana, moving objects with their minds, or producing magical flames, humanity found a way to fight back these monsters.

As his memories of his current situation continued running through his head, Tatsuo let his fingers dance across the piano keys while he continued to think.

{BGM: "Lovely (Piano Arrangement}" – The Theorist

'Well, I really don't like this feeling, either.' Tatsuo thought to himself while he continued to play the piano. 'Although I know these aren't my memories, I feel a connection to this life. And I really do wanna get revenge for my parents in this world. But it's not like I'll be here long enough to see all the monsters dead, though.'

What Tatsuo was unaware of, the memories he received were what his life would have been like in his third incarnation had The Void Empress gotten the seals on his power correct. Unfortunately, since his body had more power than a human body could ever hope to handle, it failed before he could live the life he just experienced.

'No, now's not the time to think about that.' Tatsuo thought to himself. 'Before anything, I need to get myself familiar with the surroundings. Although the apartment is the same, I know there are differences from this version of Sasazuka and mine. I should probably think about finding the shrine where Minami Violet Sumire is a shrine maiden, too. If I can't gain access to the Dungeon on my own, she's my best bet to gain access. And gaining her trust shouldn't be that hard. I mean, she seemed really naïve and trusting in the novel. Then again, when she was first introduced, she does say that she doesn't do well with men.'

Like that, Tatsuo continued to play while thinking up a plan for his stay in this world. Then, after about an hour, he decided he would go out and explore the area surrounding his apartment. He need to know where he could buy food, after all.

Luckily, he did not have to worry about money while he was in this world. His parents left him quite the sizable sum of money. Though it would not last him a life time, he could probably live worry free for the rest of his time in school if he managed it well.

"Damn, I almost forgot." Tatsuo muttered to himself as he left the apartment building. "I need to check the date. That way I'll know where I am in the timeline. The only thing I know right now is that I'm in the first year of the Two Moons."

With that, Tatsuo pulled his smartphone out of his pocket. Luckily, it connected to the cell phone network without any problems. Or, that's what he thought. Instead, it looked like it was working on its own thanks to the [Dimensional Chat] app that was installed on it. Apparently, the app gave him connectivity no matter where he was in the multiverse. Whether he would be able to use it to communicate with the people of the world he was in was a different story, though.

Putting that information to the back of his mind, Tatsuo checked the date.

"It's July 3." Tatsuo muttered after checking the date. "I know the Event Dungeons start popping up after Kang Shin is done with his Fall Semester midterms. And even though I don't know when that is exactly, I know that it should probably be at the end of October or Early November. Since the Fall Semester runs from September through the middle of December in South Korea."

Considering that schedule, Tatsuo had about four months to get to a level where he was strong enough to deal with a B+-Rank Event Dungeon on his own.

"I should make sure I'm strong enough to handle an Event Raid if one happens after the Event Dungeon at Osaka Castle, too." Tatsuo thought to himself. "I don't actually know if there is an Event Raid after that one, though. It wasn't cleared until it became a Field Dungeon in the novel."

Eventually, Tatsuo finished mapping out his surroundings. So, he was headed back to his apartment. However, while he was on his way there, he saw a crowd of people running his way. And after seeing the panicked expressions on their faces, he had a bad feeling about what was happening.

Because of his feeling, Tatsuo did not run with the crowd. Instead, because it was already getting dark, he hid himself in the shadow of a building, activating his [Stealth] skill. Doing so allowed him to see what had the people in a panic after only about thirty seconds, or so.

"It's a monster." Tatsuo said through gritted teeth while clenching his fists.

At the end of Tatsuo's line of sight, he could see a large rat, about the size of a wolf, with dark grey fur running from person to person taking bites out of them. As a result, the street was covered in blood and pieces of flesh.

Meanwhile, as the people continued to flee in his direction, Tatsuo felt a level of hatred that could only be compared to the hatred he felt for the people from DOATECH who tortured him for eight years in the name of training.

In the next instant, Tatsuo's appearance changed. Equipping his defensive gear, a black and midnight purple nano-Kevlar body suit and a matching cowl, that somewhat resembled the Daredevil suit, appeared over his normal clothes, with is shoes being placed in his inventory. He also equipped his bladed knuckle dusters, as well.

A moment later, just as the giant rat lunged towards a little girl, it's fangs aimed at her neck, Tatsuo dashed out the shadows. Then, as he crossed paths with the rat, before it could bite into the little girl's neck, the blade of his right knuckle duster swept across its throat. And thanks to his strength that was at the peak of what a normal human could reach, he managed to slit its throat.

"*Screech!*

In response, the rat screeched in pain, falling to the street while rolling around in agony. However, it was not dead. So, Tatsuo turned around and delivered the finishing blow, driving both his blades into the monster's eyes and piercing its brain, killing it instantly.

Meanwhile, the little girl, after hearing the rat's painful wale, turned around just in time to see Tatsuo end its life. However, thanks to fear, she was unable to speak. And since Tatsuo was wearing an armored body suit and a mask, the little girl found herself even more frightened.

Seeing the look n the little girl's eyes, Tatsuo shook his head. He did not blame her for how she was looking at him. From what he could tell, she was only ten or eleven years old. So, it was normal that she was scared.

Instead, after nodding at the little girl, Tatsuo grabbed the rat's corpse by its tail. Then, he dragged it away towards an alley. And once he was sure there were no cameras or anyone to see him, he stored the corpse in his [Inventory].

"Damn, this thing is taking up three slots." Tatsuo muttered to himself after checking his [Inventory]. "I guess I'll be going home in my suit, then."

Shaking his head at the thought of going home in his defensive gear, Tatsuo faded into the shadows, once again activating [Stealth]. Then, while sticking to the shadows, he made his way home. However, before he reached his apartment building, he found a place to hide his defensive gear before going inside in his casual clothes.

Meanwhile, back at the scene of the incident, members of Guardian, Freedom Wing, and the police arrived at the scene. However, they were surprised when there was no monster to deal with . So, they began questioning the witnesses. Eventually, they reached the little girl Tatsuo saved, who had been reunited with her parents, and heard about the person who killed the monster and dragged its corpse away.

And sure enough, they found the blood trail left behind by the monster. However, they completely lost the trail after following it between two buildings.

To clarify, Guardian and Freedom wing are two organizations made of Awakened individuals. The first group, Guardian, is a group of Awakened working under each country's government as they defend the citizens from the monsters.

The second group, Freedom Wing, is likewise a group of Awakened. However, instead of working for the government, they broke away because they did not wish to be under anyone's jurisdiction. However, since most of Freedom Wing's founding members were once part of the government, they have an organizational structure similar to Guardian.

Then, though it was not created to fight the monsters, there is a third organization that was created after the second moon appeared in the sky. And it was called the New Moon Agency. It's primary function is to assess the powers of the Awaken, assign them ranks, and trade any monsters and Mana Stones, magical stones that can be found in the bodies of monsters, for cash rewards with the Awaened who hunt them.

Naturally, the people from Guardian and Freedom Wing were disappointed when they were not able to locate the monster's corpse. It could have been used to strengthen their organizations, after all. Whether it be by using its body parts to create weapons and armor, or to sell them for monetary resources. And had there been a Mana Stone in its body, they could have had a special energy source to use, as well.

Unfortunately for them, because Tatsuo was curious to know if there was a Mana Stone in the monster, and had no intension of sharing, he took the monster's corpse with him. And right now, he was attempting to dissect the monster's corpse to see if there was in fact a Mana Stone inside.

"*Sigh* I'll have to remember to go get my suit sometime soon." Tatsuo said after placing the rat's corpse on a tarp he laid down in the bottom of the master bathroom's bathtub. "I just hope no one stumbles across it by accident."

Like that, Tatsuo spent the next four hours dismantling the large rat's corpse. Unfortunately, there was no Mana Stone to be found. The silver lining was that once the rat was dismantled, all its meat, bones, and hide could be stored into one slot of his [Inventory], each.

Though, because he did not have any [Energy], he could not use the monster parts for anything useful. So, he decided that he would find a place to throw them away after the sun had fully set.

After putting away all the parts of the giant rat, Tatsuo took a shower to wash away all the blood that splattered on him during the dismantling. Then, he put on a set of clothes he found in the closet. After that, he waited for the night to settle in before going out to dump the parts of the rat and retrieve his defensive gear.

After he was done with all his errands, Tatsuo once again returned to his apartment and went to bed. To his surprise, in the morning, he woke up a text he was hoping to see.

Unknown Sender: You have been selected to become an Explorer of the First Dungeon. Would you like to accept? Text Yes or NO to reply.

A moment after reading that text, Tatsuo received a notification from the [Dimensional chat]

{[Mission]

Objective 1 – Complete.}

"That happened faster than I thought it would." Tatsuo muttered to himself while looking at the [notification from the Dimensional Chat. "But I'm sure as hell not complaining."

Meanwhile, in the higher dimension, The Void Empress smiled at the image of Tatsuo checking his notification.

"This is all the help I will give you on your journey, my child." The Void Empress said softly. "But I know you will be strong enough to overcome any adversities in the future."

With that, the Void Empress fell silent as she continued watching her son take the first steps on his journey to surpass the strongest beings in the multiverse.