Walking into his room, Han sat down at his computer and pulled up a random video to watch. As Han watched the video, he thought about how he fell into this situation. He remembered walking into his apartment, where he and his girlfriend, Beth, lived, and noticing the extra pair of sneakers by the entrance. Slowly his eyes raised and Han saw the trail of various articles of clothing strewn across the floor, leading to the bedroom.

Even though Han was a reasonably intelligent individual, the image didn’t seem to fit together, and he attempted to create mundane scenarios that would explain all of this. Maybe his girlfriend was heading into the shower and didn’t wait until she was in their bedroom? This would explain some of the clothing, but didn’t solve the other apparel and other sneakers at the entrance.

Han could feel his heart starting to beat slightly faster as if it already figured out what was going on before his brain did. As he entered the apartment, his heart felt as if it was going to explode out of his chest, like some alien. Getting closer to the bedroom, Han could hear the sounds of moaning and the squeaking of the bed. His hand seemed to move on its own towards the door handle and slowly opened the door.

A slight noise was made as the door was opened, and for some reason, he thought that he needed to get some kind of lubricant and apply it to the hinges. It was such an inconsequential thing to think about, as the image of his girlfriend riding on top of his best friend came into view. His best friend glanced over at him, and a look of surprise came over him.

“Oh shit!!” Sam, called out.

Han’s girlfriend, soon to be an ex-girlfriend, glanced behind her to see what Sam was shouting about and saw Han standing in the doorway. Her expression was identical to Sam’s, though it was quickly replaced with a hot wash of shame.

Han didn’t know what he was supposed to do in this scenario. He had watched it on various TV shows and adult content. “Now this is how those people felt.” Han thought as he remembered some hentai video with NTR content in it. Though he always knew, on an intellectual level, that NTR was a hurtful genre, Han thought that the material was drastically better than other types regarding quality content. The idea that he would be in this position never seemed to cross his mind, and now that he was Han felt a little empathetic towards those characters.

Looking towards his ex-girlfriend, as she desperately tried to put on clothes and erase everything that happened, Han said, “the funeral was really well done. I’m glad that my older brother was able to put everything together, cause I don’t think I would have been able to arrange the funeral of my parents.”

Beth's hands went to cover her mouth, as she listened to Han recount his parents’ funeral.

“I’m glad that you’re feeling better, and don’t have a stomach ache.” Han casually mentioned.

“Han… I – I can explain this.” Beth stammered, walking towards him.

Seeing her walking towards him, and glancing at Sam laying on his bed, Han said, “I’m going to get some food for myself. If you could, I would greatly appreciate it if both of you were gone by the time I get back. Beth, you can take as much of your stuff as you can and leave your key behind. Since your name isn’t on the lease, you don’t need to worry about this month’s rent. I hope that you can be happy with Sam, so please don’t try to contact me, either of you.” After saying his piece, Han turned towards the door and walked out of the apartment, leaving the door open. He could hear Beth crying while Sam was trying to comfort her, telling her that everything was for the better.

Han stared at his food, as he sat in a booth at his favorite local Asian restaurant. This establishment had great food at a low cost. A simple beef dish, with vegetables, and fried rice costs 7.50 USD and fountain drinks were just 1 USD. The people that worked at the establishment knew him by name, considering how often he would stop by here, either by himself or with Beth.

Thinking about how many sweet memories he made with her at this restaurant, talking about various nerdy things, made him feel numb. The usual “what could I have done?” and “was this my own fault?” went through his mind. Considering that finding out his girlfriend was cheating on him was par for the course, he congratulated himself on handling this a lot better.

A part of him thought it was amusing how this all happened on the same day he buried his parents. Seeing his parents lying in their coffins still hadn’t quite hit him yet, and he had a detached feeling about everything. Han pondered whether this dazed feeling helped contribute to his mild reaction to seeing his best friend fucking his girlfriend’s brains out. The irony of him enjoying ahegao and NTR hentai and walking in on such a scenario wasn’t lost on him. If it was a different guy, he admitted that he would find it hilarious.

As he chewed on the food, savoring the various flavors and glad that at least one thing was going right for the day, Han thought he heard a ringing noise. As it got louder, his head started to feel like it was being squeezed by a vice. The fork in his hand fell onto the floor, though Han didn’t hear the clattering of the utensil, as it hit the floor.

After the pain had receded, Han looked up to see a screen in front of him.

Congratulations!!!!

Based on the miserable life you’ve had, and being able to stack so many horrible memories in one day while keeping a cool head, you have been selected to gain the Creation ability. With this ability, you’ll be able to manipulate a wide range of things and gain access to areas that no human has had access to. You are free to do whatever you wish, so, please, do not feel chained to the common sense in your world and other burdens. This ability was selected to give you a wide range of experience, and there are no requirement or strings attached to this ability. We just ask you to try out new things and have fun with this ability.

To access the Creation ability, just imagine opening up a menu.

Feeling a little confused by all of this, Han dismissed the screen by swiping his hand across the screen. Thinking this was very silly and just his brain decided to break, he decided to give it a try and see what would happen. At the very least, Han would just feel silly and would request the waitress to bring him a new fork, to replace the one Han dropped. He closed his eyes and tried to concentrate on opening up a menu. Feeling like there was something different about his body, he felt like something had changed, so he opened his eyes and saw a display.

The content on the screen went over his personal information, such as his name. It also gave him a title, but he was unsure of why it listed it as "Creator." There were additional options, appearing as buttons Han could press. The three buttons were listed as, "Create," "Modify," and "Translate."

The menu looked very basic, compared to what he imagined it would look like especially in games and anime/manga. Looking at the first two (Create and Modify), they seemed to be self-explanatory. Han didn’t know what the last one, Translate, meant considering the multiple meanings of the word. Deciding to see what this option was all about, Han pushed on “Translate” and saw a new menu appear. It displayed two options, "Destination" and "Object."

Just by guessing, Han determined that the word “Translate” was similar to the mathematical concept, not the linguist form of the word. After pressing “Destination,” a new menu appeared. Just like when he pressed "Translate," new buttons appeared, the main title was "Select Destination" with more options below it, "Within Current Area," "Alternate Area," and "Advanced Selection."

Pressing “Advanced Selection,” Han was presented with a wide range of choices that could be shortened by certain criteria (e.g., fantasy, science fiction, advanced, magic, technology, basic, and etc.), and a list of names with additional details next to them and a brief description of the world. Han looked through the various descriptions and saw that there were some that were on Earth, but with slight changes to them (i.e., America losing the revolution, China sailing past the tip of Africa, Alexander the Great developing his empire with an heir, and etc.). Thinking what it would be like to visit those alternate realities was slightly tempting, but deciding to go someplace he’s never been was his goal. Selecting “Fantasy,” “Magic,” and “Early Development,” the list of names changed drastically. Of the names listed, Han glanced at the world called, Eletran.

A description of the world emerged.

[Eletran is a world that is similar to what many would consider a “Fantasy” world, with ogres, elves, humans, beastman, and other creatures. Also, Eletran has a steady flow of mana, so magic is widely used and practiced throughout the world. All the main creatures can use magic, while many of the animals don’t have this ability. There are many similarities to Earth, such as with some of the animals and civilization styles, but there are enough differences to make this world an excellent choice for those looking for something new and different. Many of the civilizations are still in their infancy, so there are no issues with over-population. There are several continents on this planet, and similar to Earth, there is an abundance of both fresh and salt water. If you’re the type of person who enjoys watching and reading fantasy related entertainment, Eletran is the world you should visit.]

The description was pretty entertaining, like going to a store to purchase something and having the salesperson convince you about the benefits of the product. Feeling like this would be a great first world to visit, Han pressed on Eletran and confirmed his decision. He felt a slight woozy feeling, and the room seemed to morph and change around him. Everything around him went black, and he felt like he was floating in space, though he had never experienced what the endless void above them felt like before.

After what seemed like a couple of moments, everything around him seemed to be changing again, as it had in the restaurant. Various colors were coming into focus, and slowly Han was standing in the grassy field under a clear blue sky. Looking around, he couldn’t see anything aside from the immediate area. Wishing he had a map, Han brought up the menu to see if he could figure out where he was at. After bringing up the interface, he noticed a new option, “Map.” Thinking this was very convenient, considering how he had just wished that he had a map to view, he selected it.

The map that came up looked like something out of a video game. It showed all the continents and various countries, though some of them were called kingdoms or empires. Seeing a blinking red dot, he assumed that this was him. Han seemed to be inside of the Helios Kingdom. Focusing on the Helios Kingdom made the map zoom in so it fit the screen. There were various villages, towns, and cities scattered throughout the area, with what looked like the capital city was a ways away near the center. The dot indicated that he was near the edge of the kingdom, somewhat close to a village.

Part of him wanted to head over there, but considering the amount of walking he would need to do he decided to look at the menu some more. Now that he’s confirmed that this isn’t all just a hallucination, Han decided to check what other abilities there were. The system seemed to be adaptive to his wants and needs, so he thought what else he could do. Bringing up the menu, again, he selected, “Create,” and saw several options appear. There were a lot of different options he could choose, one of them being “Shelter.” 

This brought up various structures he could create. Seeing “Stronghold” as being one of them he tapped on it. Various strongholds seemed to appear on the screen. Considering how he wanted someplace where he could feel safe, he looked at the selection and thought about one that was impenetrable. He wanted something that would never let armies be able to invade it, regardless of ability. Slowly a bunch of images disappeared to be replaced by a handful of selections. Comparing each of the examples, he decided to choose one that looked like a giant vertical rectangular block. If you took a skyscraper and removed the windows and covered it in concrete, this is what it would look like. Based on his requirement, this didn’t look like something that could be invaded since it didn’t have any openings. Judging that there must be some way for him to enter, he walked towards the building.

As he reached the structure, Han imagined an entrance for him to enter. On the face nearest to him, an impressive looking staircase and doorway appeared. “This is pretty impressive,” he thought to himself. Walking up the stairway and entering the structure, Han saw a long corridor appear with marble columns on either side spanning the entire way. There were fancy looking globes that lit up the whole passage. Looking down, Han saw that the floor was completely smooth, like polished marble with gray veins throughout the level. There didn’t appear to be any spacing like the entire floor was created from one giant slab. The walls and ceiling looked to be obsidian and contrasted perfectly with the level and columns.

Thinking about it, Han wondered if he needed to bring up the menu if he wanted to change anything. When he was approaching the building and thinking about an entrance the building modified itself to his thoughts, so he thought it wouldn’t be far-fetched to try changing parts of this structure. Looking at the globes, Han thought about hanging golden bowls filled with fire. The orbs then shifted to his thoughts, making the corridor look imposing. Walking down the hall, he wondered what else he could change in this structure. At the end of the hallway was another staircase that rose up and split to either side, probably leading to the next floor.