Hollow

"H.. Hiroshi ishikawa."

The sound of his voice was quiet and nervous. Hayate leaned down, so his face was close to Hiroshi's.

"How long have you been working for the Kusonoki group?"

"About three years..." he responded in a low voice. His eyes were downcast, but he kept sneaking glances at Hayate, seemingly wary.

"A few years...that's a long time."

Hayate straightened up. He began to gently pace back and forth in front of Hiroshi.

"You've been loyal to the Kusonoki group for a while."

"Yes.. what..did you do to them?"

The man – Hiroshi ishikawa asked nervously.

"Them? Oh.. nothing much, they're fine, I haven't done anything harmful."

The man's eyes widened slightly as Hayate spoke,

"You haven't done anything? But she looks..." he trailed off, gesturing towards Sachiko...."nevermind....are..you..going to kill us all?"

"I haven't made a decision yet," Hayate responded, maintaining a neutral tone.

"w..who are you? If i may ask."

"…I am a magic caster — a sorcerer. I was in seclusion for the two hundred years, and

I have only stepped outside recently."

What would people on the street think if they saw a magic caster walking around in this weird getup?

And he could not believe the backstory he had made up for himself.

It was absolutely ridiculous.

While mentally cringing, Hayate continued to maintain a calm façade on the outside. Inside, he was mentally facepalming himself.

He couldn't believe he came up with such a ridiculous backstory.

It was the first thing that came to his mind, and it sounded so fake, but what else could be said? That he was just a random guy playing his favourite game and he was suddenly in the future?

He would be considered insane if he claimed that. His excuse sounded extremely cliche and a classic plot point in a light novel, but it was still better than being thought of as a lunatic even though the latter did indeed happen to him.

"I have to work on my imagination."

He mentally promised himself. If he ever had to make up another backstory, he would not make something so laughable. He shook his head slightly, trying to push down the nagging thoughts in his mind. He just hoped that they wouldn't question his fabricated backstory further.

However, now that the lie had been told, there was no way he could take it back. He would have to stay in character from now on, and he would have to remember which story he had told to which people.

"A magic caster who just came out of seclusion after two hundred years and has no idea of what is happening to the world around him. Yeah it sounds..fine.."

Of course, if he didn't have the magic to prove this he would not be believed but he had already used it three times in front of these people — first time was making someone explode from the inside out, second was using the mana chains and the third was using dominate on Kazu and Sachiko.

It should be convincing enough to pass off an real magic which was what it was.

"a..what?!"

Hiroshi asked, confused.

"Like magic caster as in those from mmorpg's?"

Hayate was about to say yes but then he maintained his character and instead said :

"What's a mmorpg."

"n.. nothing..."

Hiroshi shook his head, Hayate could only imagine what was going through the poor guy's head right now.

"What are you going to do if I let you live?"

Hayate suddenly asked the man.

The man's eyes widened as Hayate inquired about his hypothetical scenario of letting him go. He considered the question for a moment before replying.

"I...i...." His voice trembled slightly. "I...w..would..report this..to..my..seni."

The man spoke to himself in a very very low tone and then sudden said out loud.

"No..i.. wouldn't... reveal anything.."

"You were about to say something else just now," hayate pointed out.

The man's face paled slightly at Hayate's observation, realizing that his attempt to downplay his true intentions had been noticed. He was clearly caught off guard by Hayate's sharp eyes and ear's. "I..I..was just..um… I.." he fumbled for words, his composure faltering.

"I WON'T SPEAK ABOUT THIS TO ANYONE EVER! PLEASE LET ME LIVE! I'LL GIVE YOU ANYTHING YOU WANT — MONEY, POWER, STATUS — I'LL USE EVRYTHING IN MY POWER TO GIVE YOU WHAT YOU NEED."

Hayate listened to the man's desperate plea, his expression remaining impassive. He let a moment of silence pass before responding to the man's pleading.

"Anything I want?" He asked, a hint of interest and curiosity in his voice.

"Hmm. I want everything. This Entire World. Can you give it to me?"

The man's eyes widened even more, his panic and anxiety reaching a new level. He had expected a simple request for money, power, or status, something he could reasonably provide. However, the magnitude of Hayate's demanding and the audacity of such a request seemed to catch him completely off guard.

After all, what on earth did this crazy magic caster think he was? The king of the world?

"I-I... w..what?" he stuttered out, unable to hide his utter shock.

"You heard me," Hayate replied calmly and casually, as if the man just asking him if he wanted soup or water.

"The entire world. I want it all. Can you accomplish that? If you can..." He leaned forward, fixing his gaze directly onto the man, his eyes intense. "...I will consider sparing you and your companions. If not...and by the entire world – I mean your entire world, just to make it reasonable of course, I am not a unreasonable barbarian."

"w..what do you mean by "your entire world?" huh?"

"Your world, as in, the Earth, the world you humans live in. I want everything in it. I want every country, every state, every district. I want it all to become mine. To be ruled by me. Is that understandable or do I need to dumb it down a bit?"

The man stared at Hayate, speechless for a long moment. The audacity of what he was asking for, the audacity that he could just demand the entire world – it was beyond the man's wildest imagination.

He tried to form words, but they lodged in his throat. He tried to speak, but all that escaped were stutters and incoherent sounds.

After a long moment of struggling to respond, the man finally swallowed, gathering himself, and managed to speak in little more than a whisper.

"Y..you... can't...be...serious. No one can do that for you. No, please just look, i swear

...I'll...be your slave for life! Just let me go!"

The word 'slave' made Hayate's eye twitch slightly. Hayate also inwardly grimaced as the man offered himself as a slave in exchange for his own freedom. It was a ridiculous notion, and Hayate had no interest in any kind of slavery. He shook his head, the disgust evident on his face.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

"I'm not interested in enslaving you," he said firmly, dismissing the ridiculous proposition outright.

Hiroshi's shoulders slumped, and he seemed even more defeated than before. "......just let me go..I'll get rid of these people, I'll make it seem as if bandits attacked us and all of them died and i was the only survivor, and I'll stay quiet about all of this."

The man's words were like a spark that ignited a fire among the member's of the golden circle. They had been silent spectators thus far, but now their frustration boiled over.

"You think we're just disposable tools, just things to be eliminated to save your own damn skin?"

"you're willing to blame this on bandits and leave us hanging? You Bastard!"

"You just want to throw all of us under the bus?" one of them seethed.

"You guys are just mercenaries," Hiroshi began, his tone matter-of-fact, "what difference does it make if you've worked for the Kusonoki Conglomerate multiple times? You should be grateful that you get to be sacrificed for my safety."

The members of the Golden Circle were incensed as Hiroshi shamelessly admitted he was willing to sacrifice them in a failed attempt to save his own skin. They were mercenaries, sure, but they had their own sense of loyalty towards each other. After all, in the world they lived in, trust was everything. His attitude did not sit well with them, and they looked ready to attack him, if not for the fact that Hayate was still present and they were bound.

"I THOUGHT I DEMANDED SILENCE."

Hayate shouted, feeling disrespected.

His voice echoed through the room, making everyone fall silent in an instant.

Hayate moved towards Hiroshi, his gaze steely and his expression resolute. He stood in front of Hiroshi, who was bound by the chains hovering above the ground.

"I've changed my mind," he declared, addressing the bound man. "I'm not going to release you just yet But I won't kill you as well," Hayate said, his words sending a shiver down the spines of the captives. "I intend to use you all of you as test subjects first,"

The members of the Golden Circle all bristled at the implication. 'Test subjects'? What did this magic caster plan to do with them? It sounded like an awful fate. They all struggled vainly against the chains of magic, but they were bound tightly and couldn't manoeuvre at all.

Hayate raised his hand and placed it firmly on the head of a member, The man's eyes widened in shock as he felt the subtle brush of Hayate's huge hand against his head.

"[Erase]" Hayate said, the magic word causing a faint ripple through the air around him.

The "Erase" was a 3rd tier spell, a prank spell to be exact which costed 5 mp. In "hollow" it worked differently, depending on the type of target. When cast on players, the spell would make parts of the map and journal entries disappear. There was also a 50% chance that the spell would erase any current quests and objectives from the player's log, forcing them to start it over again.

When used on NPCs, the spell made them forget they were aggroed on something and for monsters it would make it so that they forgot any one skill or spell that they had.

In real-life however, things didn't really work the same.

Hayate was taken aback for a moment by the sudden shift in his vision. He closed his eyes for a moment to regain his bearings and stabilize himself.

"Huh, this wasn't supposed to happen.."

[Erase] wasn't a memory wipe spell but it worked like this now.

He wasn't expecting them to pass out from the memory wipe. It was just memories after all.

"This seems to be more complex than I thought." Hayate mumbled to himself, frowning. He walked away from the now unconscious man, and then cast the same spell on the rest of the captives, each receiving the same treatment as the first captive.

After he had removed the memories of everyone except Hiroshi, he felt tired as memory manipulation magic took too much mana to use. However, despite the mana consumption, he had accomplished his intended goal.

After that, he turned his attention to Hiroshi.

"You're the only one left now," Hayate said and moved closer to the assistant manager, looking at him.

"don't worry, I am not killing you or harming you. I have simply removed the memory of one of their member's dying from my hands so they don't see me as evil. One of my friends used to say : A good first impression is worth more than the next one hundred. And, i can't exactly have them thinking I am some evil demon who kills without remorse can I?"

Hiroshi looked at Hayate with fear in his eyes, his body trembling. He had just watched his men get their memories erased, and now he was next, and he didn't know what this mage's intentions were. "Wh-What do you want from me?" he managed to ask, his voice quivering.

"Nothing.."

Hayate replied but then quickly swallowed his words back in his throat.

"I'm curious," Hayate inquired, his voice steady. "Just how high up in the company are you exactly?"

Hiroshi responded to his question, his voice filled with haste. "I'm an assistant manager to one of the four main manager's of the Kusonoki conglomerate." He said quickly, the words coming out in a rush. "And my father is quite well-connected, so I have many connections myself."

Hayate didn't know much about corporate positions and had always been fairly oblivious to such things. He had only worked part-time when he was young, and even then, his mother had scolded him constantly for it. He hadn't pursued a career because he hadn't known what he wanted to do.

When compared to his friend group, they all had full-time jobs, except for Taro, who at 15, was the only one under 18, with Hayate being the second or third youngest in the group.

Hayate thought to himself for a moment. Hiroshi's quick answer had a hint of desperation to it. He was clearly trying to impress him, probably hoping for some kind of mercy or leniency. The mention of his connections was also a desperate attempt to seem important. But, Hayate didn't know how to react.

"What did an assistant manager do again?"

He mused to himself internally.

He had no clue.

So, not wanting to embarrass himself, he redirected the question.

"And what about your connection's?"

Hiroshi seemed to perk up at the question, clearly eager to talk about his connections.

"My..connections?" he repeated, his tone more confident than before. "I have connections with politicians, businessmen, investors, you name it," he said, a hint of pride in his voice. "I have contacts all over japan, and my name holds significant weight in certain circles."

He puffed out his chest, clearly pleased with himself.

To achieve all this at the mere age of 25 year's old was a big deal.

Hayate listened quietly to Hiroshi list out all his connections. It was clear that he came from a privileged background and had used his family name and connections to climb up the corporate ladder.

It would benefit Hayate to get on his good side.

Hayate pondered something for a moment, he exhaled and said, "I'll spare you on three conditions."

Hiroshi's eyes widened, surprise and hope flickering across his face. He hadn't expected the mage to spare him. He quickly composed himself and spoke, his voice eager. "Yes. What are your conditions? I'll do anything you ask."

"Firstly," Hayate began, "I want you to do something for me..whenever I ask for something, money, info or anything else I need you to give it to me and if you fail to do so within the given time – there will be consequences."

"Second," Hayate continued, "You are not to say anything to anyone about me killing someone and third is…" Hayate paused for dramatic effect.

"Third is that you're gonna ask no question's." Hayate finished. "And if you do a good enough job, I will give you rewards."

If the man agreed, Hayate could potentially have a spy within one of the mega-corporations, which was more than useful. Hayate didn't have any possessions to his name in the present, so having someone who could provide him with things was definitely beneficial.

If circumstances allowed, he would prefer to act nicely but he couldn't afford to be too trusting lest he be betrayed.

Hiroshi agreed to Hayate's conditions without delay, clearly not wanting to die. He then asked, "Could I request you for a favour when I'm in need? Please?" he implored, his tone as if addressing a deity.

"Umu. I will grant you any two favour's you ask of me. I swear it upon AoH."

Then, Hayate raised his hand towards Hiroshi and cancelled the spell — [Mana Chain's] which had been casted on him, causing the blue chains that bound him to turn to blue particles before dissipating into dust. The spell cancellation process in "hollow" was simple: just press any key assigned to undo to cancel it. However, Hayate didn't have that luxury here, so he simply cut off his mana supply to cancel the spell.

Hiroshi dropped onto the ground on his butt, causing a loud creaking noise and making it seem like the floor might break and he could fall through to the lower flood. He had been lifted off the ground about three inches by the spell, and once the magic had been cancelled, he had fallen. Hiroshi dusted off his suit as the floor was quite filthy, and then raised himself, now standing upright.

Meanwhile, Hayate was thinking of a few different methods of confirming Hiroshi's loyalty. In Hollow, there were various spells and items to ensure that. He also wondered if his inventory was still working; if so, there were various options available depending on the spells and items he possessed. And perhaps the private one was still active. Items placed in a normal inventory usually dropped on death, but those in private ones remained, The private inventory, unlocked at level 40. And only had 50 maximum slots. Each time a player levelled up, they would gain a normal inventory slot, and at level 100, 100 slots would be available to them for use. Though this number could be increased through purchasing one additional more for 10,000 gold coins.

So, Hayate had wasted 5,000,000. He was honestly lucky to have invested heavily in his inventory, with a total of 600 slots available. Any item placed in a slot could be stacked till 500 with the exception of weapons and armour.

Thousands of items currently resided within Hayate's inventory, and if only he could manage to access it..but how in the world did one even view his inventory in the real world?

Hayate considered a simple approach. If spells activated by simply saying the name, perhaps the inventory would operate similarly. He said, "[Inventory]", and a black circle materialized in mid-air

The black circle looked like a portal to a different dimension, with a swirling, ominous glow emanating from its centre. The radius was a little more than 12inches in size. It hovered just above the ground. Looking at the black circle that appeared before him, Hayate felt a sense of satisfaction within him. It seemed that the inventory followed the same mechanism, and he felt relief and satisfaction so Hayate inwardly smiled as it was the last hope he had of accessing all the resources he had stored up.

Hayate extended his arm into the black portal, expecting a loss of sensation in his hand. To his surprise, he still felt his fingers gripping the air. He was pleasantly baffled.

Hayate was searching for something specific within his inventory: an item called the "Blood Contract." An item of lesser legendary rank, of which he had only eight.

A player must sign it using blood (which would inflict a minor damage, reducing one's health point). The contract was permanent, effective until the player's death. There were five types of contracts :

1 — contract of blood : you get +10 stat points to distribute as you wish.

2 — contract of riches : you gained 50,000 gold coins or any lesser legendary ranked item.

3 — contract of knowledge : you gained "discover" a ritual type skill.

4 — contract of power : you gained 10 spell slots for free regardless of your level alternative you may choose any 3 spells 4th tier or lower to use twice per day for free.

5 — contract of soul : you discuss the terms of the contract with the other party and once sighed, you are bound to do whatever those terms say. Hayate felt his fingers make contact with a paper-like texture, and he extracted the item from the inventory.

It was an ancient yellowing parchment scroll with arcane symbols inscribed in an indiscernible language rendered in crimson. In the scroll's left-hand corner, there was a triangle interlocked with a circle, intended for a signature.