Hollow

Hayate had finished his interrogation of the man, the spell [Dominate] expiring. He now had a general understanding of the current world.

Three megacorp's ruled japan — They were known as the Kusonoki conglomerate, Ishimaru industries and the nagata technologies. It was thanks to these companies that the Japanese people had been able to survive and rebuild in the aftermath of the devastating war. As a result, these company had come to gain significant influence and power within the country, to the point where they were practically the ones running it.

The Japanese authorities had apparently become more a facade than anything, with the true power being concentrated in the hands of these three corporate giants. The companies provided the infrastructure, resources, and means of production, thus effectively ruling over the populace in all but name.

That was all he could learn before the spell ended and he had to hide himself using [true Invisibility].

He sighed, there was so much in his mind.

He just wanted to go back.

Hayate let out a shaky sigh as his mind went towards his friends. He began listing them in his head. "Ryu...Sato...Mitsui..Ayano...Kizuki...Toshio...Taro...Naoko...Tomoka..Masami...Haru...Yuki.."

Each name filled his head with memories.

"Father...mother...."

The thought of them, their faces, their voices, almost brought tears to his eyes. "Tetsuya sato...Ayako sato..." those were their names. Hayate let out a shaky sigh as he thought about what lay ahead. He knew that later, he would most likely search for them just to satisfy his curiosity. Even if they were gone, he had to know what had become of them.

What was he going to do now ?

Go back home.

It was a good idea, as it was the one place where he might find some familiar grounding. Of course, there was no guarantee that his home was still there and in good condition, but the thought of trying was better than just roaming the streets.

He stretched his arms and legs a bit and as he looked down at his robe's. It was dirty and dusty, covered in the grime from the filthy ground he'd been for the past ten minutes or so.

He absentmindedly brushed off some dirt, but to his surprise, the mud instantly vanished, leaving behind a spotlessly clean robe. This puzzled him for a moment, until he remembered the passive ability his robe had – it could not be cut, torn or even stained by any substance.

He chuckled lightly as he remembered it.

"Right, I forgot about this..." he murmured to himself.

He recalled that his robe possessed the ability to never lose its purity and cleanliness. No matter what, the robe would always be clean and in prime condition.

"Teleportation is a good idea."

He said to himself as he thought about how he would get to his house.

The [True Teleportation] spell – a 6th tier spell that could be used for instantaneous transportation through any distance, regardless of how far it was. The spell consumed 20 mana per each use, but it was reliable and fast, being able to transport the caster to any chosen location in just four seconds.

The spell was a god-send for late-game players in the game, given its convenience and efficiency. First of all, it was nearly instantaneous, which was a huge advantage in itself. Additionally, unlike other games, the game had no built-in "fast travel" feature, so players had limited options for transport.

The other options like [Fly], walking or running, and horseback riding paled in comparison to the convenience and speed offered by the [True Teleportation] spell.

It's why it was highly sought after among high-level players. The devs had been asked why they hadn't implemented fast travel in the game, and they responded that they wanted players to fully immerse themselves in and explore the game world.

They believed that fast travel would take away from the experience of discovering new places and facing various challenges along the way. By forcing players to physically travel from one place to another, they hoped to encourage exploration and interaction with the game world, rather than making it just a series of menus.

Anyways, in hollow, the [True teleportation] spell had a specific requirement – the player could only transport to locations they had previously seen or visited beforehand. However, now that Hayate pondered on the real implications of the spell, a similar limitation likely applied in this new world as well. So, if he wanted to use the spell to go home, Hayate pondered whether he had to concentrate and think of his home in order to properly cast it.

The thought troubled him a little, since he wasn't entirely sure of how to visualize his home. But then, perhaps his subconscious memory would act as a guide, helping him mentally pinpoint the location of his home and thereby, successfully teleport there.

With a sigh, Hayate closed his eyes and began to concentrate on his home. He focused his thoughts on the specific location of his house, picturing it in as much detail as he could. He then spoke the spell quietly.

"[True Teleportation]"

As the word left his lips, Hayate felt a sudden shift in the air around him. He opened his eyes and found himself standing in his old room. It looked exactly as he remembered, with all the familiar furniture and personal mementos still in place. He was back home.

The room looked desolate and unkempt. Dust and cobwebs covered every corner, clearly indicating that no one had lived in this space for quite some time. It seemed like years, or perhaps decades, had passed since anyone had set foot in this room.

Hayate looked around — he was just here in his room barely ten minutes ago.

Everything was exactly how he had left it. His bed was unmade, his desk was cluttered with papers and notes, and pc was still sitting on his desk. The only difference was that everything was coated in a thick layer of dust, making it look like a scene from a horror movie.

This was a strange feeling.

"It's like nothing has changed here.." he muttered to himself, running his hand across the dusty surfaces of his old desk.

But everything had changed.

He had changed.

85 years – an eternity from the past.

He looked around his room again —

It was like an average teenager's room, it had a double bed, a bookshelf filled to the brim with light novel's and manga — some of them were extremely rare. He was a collector after all. There was a cupboard, a table in the corner and finally his desk with his pc on it and a chair.

He walked over to the corner and dusted off the bookshelf where all the light novel's were stored. He smiled to himself as he saw the titles of the novels. He had invested a lot of time and money on these volumes, it was quite unfortunate that none of this was going to be of any use now – all of them were yellowed, dirty and not in a good condition at all.

"So much money down the drain."

He picked up one of the books, wiping the dust with his hand and looking at the cover. It was a limited first edition, signed by the author. This one book alone would have cost him a 10,000 yen, if he remembers correctly.

He looked through the shelf, it was full of such expensive, rare volumes, he sighed and put the book back where he picked it from.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

He walked over to the chair.

His computer chair was a comfy one that he had bought when he was a student, it had been a gift to himself for doing well in school. He pulled the chair out from under the desk and sat down in it.

A cloud of dust rose up, but he couldn't be bothered.

To his surprise it actually still held him, instead of breaking off.

It was a very sturdy chair.

He leaned his head back against the headrest and shut his eyes, reminiscing about the night before. He recalled that he was sitting in this very chair just a few minutes ago before he lost everything.

Hayate's gaze slowly opened again, and for a moment, he held on to a faint hope. Perhaps if he closed his eyes tight and reopened them, he would wake up in his own time in the year 2024. But as his vision refocused, reality hit him like a truck, reminding him that he was stuck in this new world, several decades into the future. He let out a sigh, his shoulders slumped in resignation.

"I'm really stuck here..."

There was no going back to the past.

It was a fact he had to accept, even if it pained him.

He sat up straight in the chair and looked at the computer, contemplating whether or not he should even bother turning it on. The thing was definitely outdated, but he wanted to see if it still worked.

He reached forward and turned the computer on. Nothing.

There wasn't any electricity here.

Of course it wouldn't work.

The computer had been idle, disconnected from any source of electricity for years and it was a miracle that the thing itself was still in one piece.

Hayate let out another sigh as he leaned back in the chair. It was a comfortable position, but it did little to ease his troubled mind.

It wasn't just the computer that held significance for Hayate. He had spent a whopping 154,567 yen on it, a result of a bet he made with his dad. If he managed to score a 99% in his 12th grade final examinations, his father had promised to buy him a gaming PC. That day, when he achieved that nearly perfect score, and his father kept his word, it turned out to be one of the best days of Hayate's life.

Hayate had worked incredibly hard to achieve the 99% mark in his 12th grade finals. He had spent countless hours poring over his books and notes, pushing himself harder than he ever had before. The bet with his father had given him extra motivation to perform well. Hayate had approached his father with the proposal of the bet. With some persuasion and his track record of good grades, he had managed to convince his father to agree to the terms. It had paid off in the end.

Although Hayate had always loved gaming, he was the last one in his friend group to own a gaming computer.

He stood up from his chair and walked over to his bed. He threw himself on it.

The bed was dirty — extremely dirty.

The bed sheets were a mess of white and black, covered in a thick layer of dust and grime. Hayate had to resist the urge to cough as he brushed aside some of the dust.

As he ran his hand over the sheets; they were as rough to the touch as sandpaper.

Thankfully there were no bugs here as it was winter.

He couldn't even imagine the number of bugs that would start to breed in these sheets if it were summer.

He sat down on the edge of the bed, trying to block out the feeling of how unclean the sheets were underneath him. He could feel it through his clothes.

Yuck.

He didn't even want to sleep on this bed, it was just so filthy. He wondered how long it had been since this room had cleaned. The layer of dust on everything seemed to be several months or maybe even a couple years' worth.

No one most likely lived here anymore

And he was right on the money. Judging by how dusty everything looked, he could assume that no one had been in this room for a long time. Probably not for an entire decade, maybe even more.

How had it come down to this?

The whole place used to be kept very meticulously clean. Every surface would sparkle with cleanliness, every bit of dust and dirt would be thoroughly cleaned.

His parents, especially his mother, was extremely strict and hygienic, keeping everything sparkling clean and in order. Every morning he'd find spotless carpet, a spotless bed, polished wood and shiny tables. Everything was in its proper place. Not a single speck of dust could be found anywhere.

But not anymore. Things were different now.

"No point in staying here."

He muttered to himself. But then again, where could he go?

He couldn't go to a random cafe or hotel. They wouldn't have a room available for him, and even if they did have one it would cost him, something he didn't have much of.

Hayate decided to stay in his old bedroom for a bit longer. He wasn't quite ready to venture out and explore the rest of the house yet. For now, he just wanted to be alone with his thoughts.

He looked at his hands, his right hand specifically.

There were five rings adorning each of his five finger's.

The rings looked beautiful to him.

They were all made of silver or gold and had different gemstones set into them, each possessing a distinct meaning. They were all legendary rank item's.

The one on his middle finger was made out of pure gold.

Hayate wore it on his middle finger because it was the most important finger for him, representing all of his power. — a custom ring created for the leader's of Angels of hell.

"That ring.."

He muttered to himself, gently tracing the intricate design on the surface of the gold ring, feeling a pang of nostalgia. It was such a beautiful ring — where usually a gemstone should have been was a carving. A carving of an angels falling to earth while being striked by lighting.

A fallen angel.

That ring symbolized his leadership in Angels of hell.

Hayate never really paid much attention to the details the ring sported, but now that he was looking at it closely, he could see how beautiful the detailing was. The lighting bolt, the angel's wings, the expression of pain the angel was displaying. It all looked amazing in reality.

In Hollow — it took 5 billion gold to create. For example, to create a level 100 NPC you needed 1-2 billion gold. To create this ring they needed 5.

It's materials used were all from the dungeon floors. And the crafters who created the ring were the top of the top, the best of the best.

To think of all the resources spent on this ring... it was a bit ridiculous.

This was when the game was celebrated its 1 year anniversary. Back then gold wasn't as inflated but before he had been transported gold was extremely inflated.

For example — a year ago the price of a lesser health potion was 10 G.C

One year later the price of a lesser health potion was 1000 G.C

It was truly insane how fast the inflation skyrocketed. The only reason why it still was at such a high number was that the top guilds had started to become more and more stricter about prices.

So that 5 billion gold an year later would have been 500 billion gold.

Of course, for such a price it was extremely powerful as well.

This ring gave him a variety of effects, such as a boost to his magical power. A boost to his defense stats. Increased magical attack power. A few passive skills.

It made him stronger than he usually was — for example in terms of strength a normal mage would be around 60-80 but he was 140. It helped him overcome whatever losses his Build had. A one of a kind item for only him.

Of course, he wasn't only wearing that ring. He had four more on his other fingers.

The ring on his index finger was a little bit of an odd one. It was a little bigger than usual and instead of a gemstone it had a huge black diamond — the supreme sorcerer's ring.

This ring was also quite strong.

Usually in hollow, one could only wear three rings, one on each hand.

However, Hayate had used cash items to let him wear a five rings, one on each finger, and use all their powers at once — but only one one hand since he usually wore the all seeing eye item in his left hand. This was not unique to Hayate; most Players who valued power would spend that money too.

Cash shop items or p2w items.

P2W items — Pay to win items. That's what the top players called them. Any item that could only be bought using real life money was lumped in the p2w category. And they weren't all that wrong. In fact, some cash shop items were extremely powerful, allowing certain players to become insanely strong. But they all had one thing in common — they cost a lot of money.

He had a ton of them.

The amount of times he had won over players because of cash shop items was insane.

There were many different cash shop items — items which allowed you to change your race temporarily, items which allowed you to skip casting time for strong spells etc.

It was fair to say cash shop items were extremely P2W. Which is why they were looked down upon by F2p players.

F2p — Free to play. Free to play players didn't spend any money on the game and earned their things through hard labour, he had been one of them for months until recently.

He was a bit of a hypocrite in that aspect.

He always used to complain about how p2w the game was and how f2p players like him had no chance against whailes, but the moment he got access to cash — he didn't hesitate to turn his back to all of his ideals.

Though that was what most people ended up doing.

When given the opportunity to gain a distinct advantage over others you can hardly blame them for giving in to their greed and taking that opportunity — it was basic. Human. Nature.

He was no different, when presented the opportunity to gain strength with money of course he took the opportunity.

Now on earth he wasn't sure of all his abilities. He needed to get stronger.

That's right, he had to get stronger.

But he couldn't — he was already at the maximum level cap of 100.

"Can I level up to 101."

He thought to himself.

Since he was no longer in Hollow maybe he could surpass the level cap but that would take too long to find out since he would needed to grind strong monster's in bunches to level up once more if that even was possible and he was pretty sure that there weren't any strong monster's on earth.

The thought soon left his mind.

He knew that would be a massive waste of time and effort.

He would need to find other ways to make himself stronger, just in case he gets in trouble.

Even in Hollow strong monster's only spawned in the dangerous dungeons. There was no reason for any monster to suddenly show up in the beginner cities. Hayate looked to his right, there was a closed window there. The glass broken, and through it he could see the land outside his house covered in ashy snow.

He pointed his finger towards and in a sudden movement faster than the eye could even see — he was teleported outside.

He almost fell flat on his face but was able to catch himself at the last second. He dusted himself off of any excess snow and looked around.

"Wow. It worked."

Hayate muttered to himself.

This was the effect of one of his rings — it allowed him to teleport anywhere within 20 Meters of him without using any mp and it could be used 30 times per day. There were some places in which it didn't work like dungeons, cities where teleportation was blocked, guilds where teleportation was blocked and a few more.

He took a look at his surroundings.

A white landscape stretched out into the distance for what seemed like a kilometer, riddled with crumbling buildings. It was the middle of the night so there was no sun but neither was there a moon. The skies were shrouded in a layer of smoke, ash and smog which looked like static from a old tv.

It was like a apocalyptic scene.