Greeting the middle aged man in the hall of his residential building, then climbing the stairs at a fast pace, Ezekiel made his way to the front door of his apartment.
Carrying the bag of croissants in one hand, he retrieved his keys and unlocked the door.
Yet, the moment the door opened, he froze. His eyes stared unblinking beneath the door that led to his living room where dark blue light could be seen leaking from.
He placed the bag he carried on his bike on his left. Taking hold of the door handle, he pressed and pulled it toward him, only to be met with a dark blue watery surface.
The next moment, he felt someone pushing him inside.
When he regained consciousness, he saw a unfamiliar ceiling and heard his stomach rumble. However, it was the voices surrounding him that made him stand up.
Observing around him, he found himself in what looked like a hotel room. The light coming from outside revealed that it was still early in the day.
Shifting his attention to the people nearby, he realised that thirteen people were sitting at the dining table, where floating screens hovered.
While two men remained still on the floor, as if asleep.
The men and women seemed to come from various ethnicities around the planet. He identified at least one person from America, Africa, Asia, Middle-East and Europe.
He met eyes with a young man with straight brown hair. However, all the words that left his mouth were in Japanese. Soon, the young man shifted to motioning the chair beside him and mimicked sitting.
Seeing that nobody else was paying attention to him, he walked toward the empty chair.
The moment he sat at the table, a virtual window appeared in front of him. His eyebrows jumped up at the sight and its content.
[Welcome to Auriel Space]
[Introduction: Auriel Space is a supernatural network that search and isolate Abnormalities that invaded this world.
Unable to directly act upon Abnormalities, the Auriel Space recruits humans who have died to take up the task of identifying, eliminating and cleaning traces of the Abnormalities existence.]
[Invitation: You have been chosen to take up the position of Investigator, do you accept the contract with the Auriel Space?]
[Note: Refusal will have for consequence your immediate death.]
[Name: Ezekiel
Age: 22
Innate Ability:
Status: Investigation Contractor
Stage Completed: 0
Contractor Credits: 0]
When he read the purpose of the Auriel Space, his eyes widened. He glanced at the nearest screen on his right. Different from him, the young man who had invited him at the table was given the position of Hunter.
However, when he read his name and age, he froze.
"Kei…17 years old…Japanese…" He whispered while staring at the man's face.
[Stage 1
Zone mission:Felicita University
- Description: The Felicita University provide education to two thousand students. On September third, the brightest first year student of the computer department went missing and rumours spread that he was killed within the school. Yet, no corpse was ever found. Uncover the culprit behind his disappearance.
Contractors slots: 0/1
Reward: ???
- End of stage: 2d23h59m]
[Zone mission
By the end of the stage, the investigator must discover three valid clues about the abnormality that reveal its: host identity - affinity - obsession – zone of activity - true form.]
He just had enough time to finish reading when his vision went black. The next moment, he found himself lying in an unfamiliar bed.
He stared at the ceiling for long minutes with a blank gaze.
"Auriel Space…" he muttered with fear shifting his facial features.
Being a passionate reader, Ezekiel was a fan of the Auriel Space manga and anime.
He knew everything about Kurono Kei, from when he began his journey as a Contractor to when he fought against Katastrophe and how he disappeared afterwards.
This is his familiarity with the story that made Ezekiel realise that he had entered the world within the story, yet made him doubtful with his current situation since one had to die to become a contractor.
"No, there is Kei, this isn't Auriel Space!" He pushed his upper body off the bed to sit with his back against the wall.
His face brightened as he came to realise where he was. This couldn't be Auriel Space since the contractors summoned required being dead and originating from the same country. Since he didn't remember dying, the contractors were from around the world, and most importantly, he saw the protagonist, he could make a guess of where and when he was.
He made a wry smile, his expression shifting between joy and fear now that he confirmed he had really transmigrated into the world of Auriel Space.
Many fans had speculated about the mysterious stage that Kei went through before he died and became a real contractor. Some guessed that he had died twice, others that he was selected by the aliens to end Katastrophe and thus granted more power.
What was agreed by most was that this special stage wasn't part of the official Auriel Space. And that it was because Kurono Kei completed this stage that he obtained a broken innate ability that allowed him to surpass all the other contractors of the planet.
"Four days, reward unknown, disappearances…" he whispered while staring at the virtual window that appeared in response to his will.
Unlike Auriel Space which revealed the content of the reward, the special stage reward appeared mysterious but he had a good guess of what it was. In the case of Kurono Kei, it had been his broken ability which allowed him to plunder fragments of the constitution or fighting skill of his slain foes.
It was a widely accepted theory that unlike in Auriel Space, where contractors couldn't awaken a growth innate ability that became stronger on its own, nor obtain a powerful ability from the beginning. Here, in the Special Stage, it was all possible.
His eyes glowed with fervour as he thought of the various fanfictions he had read where every protagonist had a broken ability that allowed him to dominate the stages.
His fists clenched; a wide smile appeared on his face as he thought of the event following the end of the Katastrophe. The aliens would leave, allowing Humanity to reclaim its rightful place at the top of the food chain. Contractors would establish clans, with their descendants inheriting one of the innate abilities of their parents.
Abnormalities would still thrive, forcing humans to gather and build enormous cities where Contractors resided for protection.