Luckily, Sonny had already learned most of the SnapWarp's features from his digital assistance,Warp, so there wasn't much room for confusion.
To activate his Innate Ability through the app, he first had to enter the command into the input field at the bottom of the screen, where he could practice typing it using the keyboard.
Once the command was input, he would tap the send button on the right, initiating the process. Warp would then process the command, and in the final stage, his 'reality points' would be deducted as a sacrifice, triggering an effect that caused a distortion to emerge.
Goes without saying, this method would be completely impractical in an actual fight. It wasn't like his enemy would politely wait for him to type on his smartphone.
Fortunately, he didn't need to.
Warp had explained that both it and the SnapWarp app were born from his Innate Ability, making the young man their Creator and Master. As such, they were connected to Sonny through a special link, allowing his little chibi assistant to read his intent and activate his power without the need for manual input.
But it would be troublesome if his ability suddenly activated on its own, considering the limited amount of reality points he had on his disposal.
Consequently, there was a need for a confirmation process where Warp would ask for his mental approval before executing any command it sensed from his intent and all Sonny had to do was will a simple "Yes" then Warp would proceed to unleash the distortion.
If he hesitated or thought "No," the command would cancel in an instant, sparing his precious reality points for later use.
Everything was so organized that Sonny's first thought it was suspicious. Of course, he didn't forget about the camera feature either — by far the most mind-blowing thing he'd seen.
…Well, online, at least.
[So, are you ready, Master?]
Sonny nodded affirmatively.
"Yes."
Following that, Warp processed the command. A few seconds later, command sequence ignited and Sonny witnessed his reality points drop from "10" to "3" in real time. He grimaced, feeling his spirits drop deeper. However, his mind became occupied by something as he began to feel strange.
'Why I feel so... lightheaded.'
In a split second, Sonny felt something in his body diminish. It wasn't enough to be life-threatening as it only made him feel a little bit dizzy, nothing more. At best, it was just a minor inconvenience.
But unbeknownst to Sonny, his soul power had been drained to trigger the Spell. After all, abilities demanded soul power to activate. In his case, the titanic reserves he possessed dulled the toll; even though the Spell was powerful enough to ripple across the World (宇宙) and cause an all-compressing distortion, all he felt was a faint lightheadedness.
"...."
Silence descended upon the room like a heavy blanket.
Sonny glanced around.
The hospital room remained untouched. The air felt the same, carrying no strange scent or pressure. Even his own body experienced no apparent or fundamental change.
Everything looked… normal.
For a moment, doubt crept in. 'Did it even work?'
Frowning, Sonny's mind raced, searching for any sign that everything wasn't a delusion.
Then, almost without thinking, an absurd idea flowed through his head.
'Wait… what if…?'
Hurriedly, he thumbed through his smartphone screen until he opened his banking app; Fingerprint scan. Access granted.
The account details loaded slowly, every second stretching unbearably long.
When the numbers finally appeared, his breath caught in his throat. His eyes went wide, then began to tremble.
'This… This is...'
His vision blurred for a moment as goosebumps rippled throughout his entire body.
Zeroes.
He saw lots of zeroes, so much so that he thought he was dreaming.
£125,000,000,000.00. That was the amount that stared back at Sonny when he checked his account balance.
One hundred and twenty-five... billion... fucking pounds!
That was roughly around 166 million in US currency.
It was more money than he or any of his descendants, if he ever had any, could dream of seeing in a hundred lifetimes. Yet, somehow and impossibly so, that obscene number was sitting right there in his bank account!
It felt wrong. Completely out of place for someone like Sonny, who bounced from part-time job to part-time job just to scrape by.
Sonny blinked.
"…What the hell…?" he muttered, weak, inaudibly and helplessly.
The shock hit him like a freight train. His ability had worked! It had worked! This wasn't a dream or some cruel hallucination either! With just a simple command inputted into the app, his status had changed from a struggling part-timer to a man sitting on more wealth than he could even comprehend.
His hands trembled as he gripped the phone tighter, as if afraid it would vanish if he looked away.
A breath hitched in his throat. His heart pounded like it was trying to escape his chest.
"I… I did it…"
Muttering those words in disbelief, Sonny didn't smile deviously or leap with joy. Instead, his face twisted with anxiety, which only continued to increase by the passing second.
Why was this so? Because deep down, he was still skeptical of the situation as a whole. He had never truly believed, or even expected, that his ability would actually work. A part of him almost wished it had been a hallucination. That would have been easier to accept.
But reality refused to offer him that little comfort.
Already understanding the implications of possessing such a power, what Sonny felt was the fear of the future. He couldn't help but wonder if he would eventually become like those arrogant, prideful figures who believed they stood above everything and everyone. And in his case… wasn't that understandable?
If he had the power to bend the world at a whim, why would he worry or even care about anyone or anything?
Everything would be beneath him including daily struggles, pleasures and seven human desires. They would all become meaningless without exception.
Come to think about it, was that really what he wanted? Sure, he wanted to become a powerful Hunter and become recognized by the world. However, if it meant losing his humanity in the process, did that really matter?
Obviously, he didn't want something like that or anything of the sorts.
He wanted to remain... human.
'Wait, why did I suddenly think I wasn't human? More importantly...'
Narrowing his eyes, Sonny focused on his profile. More specifically, the name displayed on the account.
Name: [Sonny Redgrave]
"...Eh? What? My last name… changed?"
He blinked, dumbfounded.
Only after rubbing his eyes and looking again did he realize he hadn't misread it the first time.
His last name had changed from 'Kyre' to 'Redgrave.'
How…? How was this possible?
Looking closer, it didn't seem like some kind of error. Besides, the bank would never change a client's name, even in the case of a mistake. Once a client was registered, their information was supposed to be immutable. And if there had been an error, the client would've noticed and reported it immediately.
Of course, nothing of the sort had happened in Sonny's case.
Which meant that this was definitely something else.
'Was it because of that?'
The bedridden young man suddenly arrived at an unsettling conclusion. With a sense of dread, Sonny opened the SnapWarp app and checked his attribute status.
And just as he feared…
[Name: Sonny Redgrave]
[Age: 21]
[Rank: Level Zero]
"What the hell?! My name changed here too!"
Sonny panicked, feeling a deep sense of unease. Something was definitely, seriously amiss.
Normally, when a Dreamless received the blessing of the Tower and awakened their dormant powers, they would gain access to the Tower's system, allowing them to check their stats and abilities.
But in Sonny's case, the only place he could check them was on his smartphone. Most likely, his Innate ability [Spellbound] had consumed the original system and created its own.
And that explained why Sonny was freaking out: even his last name had been altered in the «System».
The concept of identity was fundamentally different within the System.
For example, let's say someone named Henry Franklin decided to legally change his name to Henry Richardson.
Even then, the System would still display his name as Henry Franklin.
Because, in truth, the Tower's System only recognized an individual's first and original identity. Specifically, the name they were given at the very moment they were born into the world.
As a result, the Hunters had deemed the System as the "Universal Recorder of Truths."
Despite that, and miraculously, that same universal recorder displayed a different last name in Sonny's case.
What exactly did this mean?
Utterly overwhelmed by the strange phenomenon, Sonny turned to the only one, or rather, the only digital being, he knew might have the answer.
"Warp, what's the meaning of this? My last name changed from 'Kyre' to 'Redgrave' in the system."
But the chibi character that popped up on his screen only tilted its head, as if he had just asked a silly question.
[Whatever do you mean, Master? Don't you remember? Here's a basic summary. Three weeks ago, you received a text from a man named Sebastian Victor Redgrave, claiming you're his long-lost son. And to make up for all the years he was absent, he instantly transferred over 100 million pounds to your account, without you even giving him your bank details. He's definitely a generous fellow.]
"...Huh?"
Sonny frowned.
"The hell are you talking about? I don't remember anything like that."
Warp smiled at him.
[Of course, you wouldn't remember. But to the World, this is already an event that happened and quite recently, too. So, it's the truth.]
For some reason, Sonny felt a chill crawl down his spine at those casual words.
"Wh-what... do you mean by that?"
Seeing his pale face, the chibi's smile stretched wider, turning disturbingly sinister.
[I don't know why you're confused, Master. It's really quite simple. What you did was cause a massive distortion that changed your identity from 'Sonny Kyre,' the broke part-timer, to 'Sonny Redgrave,' the lost son of the billionaire, Sebastian Victor Redgrave.]
"...."
[The possibility of you being his son already existed, even if it was only a tiny chance. It's like a man with no legs becoming a legendary warrior; impossible, but within the range of possibilities. Theoretically, as long as that possibility exists among the countless threads of probability, it can be exchanged.]
"...."
[That's exactly what your power did, Master. You swapped the two possibilities, replacing your own reality with the version where you're the long-lost heir of an absurdly rich billionaire. But you needn't trouble yourself with the details. That man passed away two weeks ago from advanced penile cancer. Once the burial rites are completed in a few months, you'll inherit everything he left behind and officially become the richest man in all of Europe.]
"...."
Hearing her explanation, a sudden thought struck Sonny, filling him with a deep, unsettling premonition.
"Wait, so you're saying my ability swapped out a highly unlikely but still possible reality with mine? But… what happened to that other reality?"
[Ah, that…] Warp muttered, as if recalling something truly trivial. [You could say that reality became purely theoretical. But to really get it, you need to know how your Nightweave works. You flatten phases to create the result you want. And phases (位相) are basically different versions of the universe; some real, some theoretical, some fictional and some metaphysical. Do you get it now, Master? It's like a spider weaving its web in the dark. Each thread connects to a possible world. When you Nightweave, you pull on one thread… and slice apart all the others. That's why it's called Nightweaving, after all. In the Tower's terms, it's the art of threading one reality while casting the rest into night; The Void.]
[Do you get it now, Master? Once the effect of your command was produced, that phase got flattened by your power and reduced to fiction. In other words, it stopped existing. From my perspective, it's beautiful destruction as there was no pain or suffering.]
"....!!"
Sonny's eyes received a heavy shock. He immediately understood the meaning behind the chibi's words.
If that world was flattened and reduced to fiction… didn't that mean everyone in it was effectively erased?
Just how many did he kill?
Noticing his expression, Warp added with a sly, almost mocking lilt, as if teasing him for his sudden burst of guilt.
[So, what do you think, Master? Does this ride the wind of your expectations?]
That offhand question knocked the breath right out of Sonny.
What did it even mean by "okay?"
He had just crossed the uncrossable line by tampering with the very fabric of his own existence, and perhaps everyone else's too, erasing countless people for his own selfishness.
No. This was not okay.
No matter how he turned it over in his mind, this was definitely not okay.
'...What... have I... done?'
A wave of nausea erupted from the deepest part of his stomach. Clutching his chest in horror and revulsion, Sonny crumpled to the floor from the bed. His phone skittered aside, and his stomach emptied violently, splattering the contents of his last meal across the floor.