Year 335 Post-Collision – Two Years, Three Months, Two Days Post-Rebirth
Sunny stood in the pocket dimension, examining his new eight-year-old-looking body with the kind of focus that comes from having an adult mind and actually being able to observe yourself properly for the first time in two years.
And that's when he noticed.
"I'm naked," he said aloud, his newly articulate voice carrying a mix of realization and horror. "I've been naked this entire time."
[ARCHIVE RESPONSE]
[CORRECT]
[CONGRATULATIONS ON NOTICING]
"Why didn't you—" Sunny looked down at himself, at his child body, at his— "Oh my god I have a little kid dick."
[ALSO CORRECT]
[YOU ARE PHYSICALLY EIGHT YEARS OLD]
[THIS IS ANATOMICALLY APPROPRIATE]
"I HAVE THE MIND OF A TWENTY-YEAR-OLD MAN," Sunny shouted at the Archive, which was himself, which made the whole thing worse. "AND I'VE BEEN NAKED IN FRONT OF A COSMIC ENTITY FOR TWO YEARS."
The Leviathan's presence condensed nearby, manifesting in her human-shaped form. She looked amused.
"You are only now noticing your lack of clothing?" she asked.
"I WAS A BABY," Sunny protested, his face burning with embarrassment despite the fact that shame was probably pointless given the circumstances. "Babies are naked sometimes! That's normal! But now I'm—I look like a kid and I'm—" He gestured helplessly at his naked body. "Can I PLEASE have clothes?"
"Why?" The Leviathan tilted her head with genuine curiosity. "You do not need protection from elements here. Temperature is irrelevant. Your body is sufficiently durable. What function would clothing serve?"
"DIGNITY," Sunny said. "The function is DIGNITY."
"You are claimed by an ancient primordial calamity, you synthesize the impossible, and you have 29.4% Continuity Debt that will probably kill you someday. Dignity is a strange priority."
"I don't care! I want pants! And a shirt! Basic clothing! Please!"
The Leviathan considered this for a moment, then shrugged. She waved a hand, and the pressure around Sunny condensed into something resembling fabric—dark, simple, vaguely tunic-like. It fit him perfectly because it was literally made of her presence temporarily agreeing to be solid.
"Better?"
Sunny looked down at himself. He was now wearing what looked like a black tunic and pants that felt like... water? But solid water? It was weird. But it was something.
"Yes. Thank you. This is— wait." Another realization hit him. "I haven't eaten. In two years."
[ARCHIVE NOTIFICATION]
[OH GOOD YOU NOTICED THAT TOO]
"I've never been hungry. Never needed food. Never— how am I alive? I'm two years old! Babies need to eat!"
[ABOUT THAT]
[SHE EATS FOR YOU]
"What?"
[THE LEVIATHAN EATS FOR YOU]
[YOU'RE CLAIMED]
[THAT MEANS YOU'RE LINKED]
[SHE SUSTAINS HERSELF, WHICH SUSTAINS YOU]
[IT'S LIKE... METAPHYSICAL BREASTFEEDING]
[BUT WORSE]
"Archive, I'm going to need you to NEVER phrase it like that again."
[FINE]
[IT'S A SYMBIOTIC LINK]
[SHE FEEDS, YOU FEED]
[SHE BREATHES (SORT OF), YOU BREATHE]
[SHE EXISTS, YOU EXIST]
[THIS IS WHY HER VOW THAT "YOU DO NOT DIE UNLESS I ALLOW IT" ACTUALLY WORKS]
[YOU'RE PARASITICALLY ATTACHED TO HER LIFE FORCE]
"Is THAT better phrasing?"
[NOT REALLY BUT IT'S ACCURATE]
Sunny turned to the Leviathan, who was watching this internal dialogue with clear amusement.
"I'm attached to your life force?" he asked. "Like... I'm feeding off you?"
"In a sense," the Leviathan confirmed. "When I claimed you, I did not just mark you. I bound you. You exist in my gravity now. While we are connected, you require no food, no water, no air beyond what your Archive needs for its entries. I sustain you as I sustain myself."
"And when we separate?"
"Then you will be on your own," she said simply. "You will need to eat. To drink. To sleep properly. To maintain yourself like any mortal." She paused. "Well. Any mortal with a demigod physique and 29.4% Continuity Debt. But still. Mortal needs will return."
"And on the surface?" Sunny asked. "You said you'll be less powerful there."
"The abyss is my domain. There, I am absolute. I am pressure uncontested, hunger unlimited. On the surface—" Her form flickered slightly, showing strain for the first time. "—I am still powerful. Still ancient. Still a calamity. But I am not sovereign. I cannot manifest as fully. Cannot sustain this form as easily. I will still protect you. Will still be there. But I will not be as omnipresent."
Sunny absorbed this information. "So I need to be self-sufficient. Before we go up."
"Yes."
"And I have one year."
"Yes."
"And in that year, I need to..." Sunny thought about it. "Meditate? Train? The babies in isekai stories always do that timeskip meditation thing where they cultivate for years and come out super strong."
[ARCHIVE INTERJECTION]
[THOSE WERE CULTIVATION STORIES]
[YOU DON'T HAVE A CULTIVATION SYSTEM]
[YOU HAVE A SYNTHESIS SYSTEM]
[ALSO YOU'RE NOT A BABY ANYMORE, WHY ARE YOU STILL REFERENCING BABY TROPES]
"Because it's all I have as reference!" Sunny protested. "I don't know what to DO with a year of prep time! In my first life I'd just play video games and watch YouTube!"
"You will refine your entries," the Leviathan said. "Stabilize your Continuity Debt. Practice your synthesis until it is less likely to kill you. Learn to fight properly—your demigod body has combat instincts, but instinct is not technique. And—"
She manifested something in her hand. A book. Or what looked like a book—dark covered, made of compressed pressure-matter, inscribed with symbols Sunny couldn't read.
"—you will learn to read."
Sunny's eyes went wide. "Is that—"
"The common trade language of the surface," the Leviathan confirmed. "Written in a primer format. I acquired this from a merchant vessel that sank in my territory several decades ago. The crew is dead. The book is yours."
She handed it to him. It felt solid, real, important.
"You kept a reading primer for decades?" Sunny asked.
"I keep many things," the Leviathan said. "I am the bottom of the world. Everything eventually falls to me. Most of it is useless. Some of it—" She gestured at the book. "—becomes relevant eventually."
Sunny held the book like it was treasure. Which it was. His first connection to the surface world. His first chance to learn something about the place he'd eventually have to survive in.
"Thank you," he said quietly.
The Leviathan's expression softened slightly. "You are mine. And I do not send my possessions into the world unprepared." She settled into a sitting position. "Now. Your year of preparation begins. Here is what we will accomplish:"
She raised one finger. "One: You will learn to read and write the common trade tongue. It is the baseline language used between nations. Master it."
Second finger. "Two: You will practice synthesis until your success rate is above 70%. Currently you are at 41%, which is pathetic."
Third finger. "Three: You will develop at least two more stable entries before we surface. Your Claimed Demigod Physique is excellent, but insufficient."
Fourth finger. "Four: You will learn to fight. Not just survive pressure—actually fight. Hand to hand, with weapons, with your Archive abilities. All of it."
Fifth finger. "Five: You will meditate, as you suggested. But not cultivation meditation. Archive meditation. You will explore your own power, map your Media Catalog, understand what you have access to and how it might manifest."
She lowered her hand. "One year. When it ends, you will walk on land as Sunny—the false name you will give the world. And you will be ready to claim your place in it."
Sunny looked at the book in his hands, then at the Leviathan, then at his new body that could finally do things.
One year.
Alone in the abyss with a primordial goddess and a reading primer and a whole Archive full of half-remembered knowledge.
No eating required. No distractions. Just... training.
"Okay," Sunny said. "Let's do this."
"Good," the Leviathan said, and smiled that dangerous smile. "We begin immediately. Open the book. Your first lesson starts now."
Sunny opened the primer to the first page. Strange symbols greeted him—nothing like English, nothing like any alphabet he recognized.
This was going to be harder than he thought.
But at least he had pants now.
[ARCHIVE: ONE YEAR TRAINING MONTAGE INITIATED]
[SKILLS TO DEVELOP:]
[- LITERACY (CURRENT: 0%)]
[- COMBAT (CURRENT: INSTINCT ONLY)]
[- SYNTHESIS SUCCESS RATE (CURRENT: 41%)]
[- ARCHIVE ENTRIES (CURRENT: 1 UNIFIED)]
[- MEDITATION/SELF-KNOWLEDGE (CURRENT: SURFACE LEVEL)]
[- NOT DYING (CURRENT: 100% SUCCESS RATE, LET'S KEEP IT THAT WAY)]
[TIME REMAINING: 365 DAYS]
[CLOTHING STATUS: ACHIEVED]
[DIGNITY STATUS: PARTIALLY RESTORED]
[EDITOR ATTENTION: HIGH BUT STABLE]
[CONTINUITY DEBT: 29.4%]
[USER MENTAL STATE: "FINALLY SOMETHING PRODUCTIVE"]
[ARCHIVE MENTAL STATE: "THIS IS GOING TO BE A LONG YEAR"]
[LEVIATHAN MOOD: INSTRUCTIONAL]
[BEGIN: DAY ONE]
Day One
Reading was hard.
Sunny had expected this intellectually, but experiencing it was different. The symbols weren't just unfamiliar—they were dense. Each character seemed to carry multiple meanings depending on context, and the grammar structure was nothing like English.
"This character," the Leviathan explained, pointing to a symbol that looked like a spiral inside a triangle, "means 'claim' or 'possession' or 'mine' depending on how it's paired. Context is everything."
"Great," Sunny muttered, already getting a headache. "Nothing is straightforward."
"If it were straightforward, everyone would be literate. Literacy is power in this world. The ability to read contracts, treaties, dungeon inscriptions, Grail sigils, summoning circles—all of it requires this foundation."
Sunny forced himself to focus. He had an enhanced learning rate now thanks to his demigod physique. He just needed to actually use it.
Three hours later, he could recognize twenty characters.
It was a start.
"Good," the Leviathan said. "Tomorrow, twenty more. In one month, you will read simple texts. In three months, complex ones. In six months, you will be functionally literate."
"And the other six months?"
"Combat training," she said with that dangerous smile. "Now meditate. Explore your Archive. Understand what you have."
Sunny sat cross-legged on the floor of the pocket dimension and closed his eyes.
Archive. Show me everything.
[DISPLAYING: FULL CATALOG]
[MEDIA MEMORIES: 10,247+ HOURS]
[ANIME/MANGA: 4,200 HOURS]
[VIDEO GAMES: 2,100 HOURS]
[VIDEO ESSAYS: 1,800 HOURS]
[DOCUMENTARIES: 347 HOURS (MOSTLY WATCHED HIGH)]
[HISTORICAL CONTENT: 890 HOURS (PARTIAL RETENTION)]
[MOVIES/TV: 1,400 HOURS]
[MUSIC: 600 HOURS]
[RANDOM WIKIPEDIA BINGES: COUNTLESS]
[CURRENT ENTRIES (THIS WORLD): 1 (E+)]
[SYNTHESIS ATTEMPTS: 8]
[SUCCESS RATE: 41%]
[POTENTIAL SYNTHESIS OPTIONS: LITERALLY THOUSANDS]
It was overwhelming. Sunny had always known he'd consumed a lot of media, but seeing it quantified like this—seeing it all organized and searchable—was different.
He had options.
Too many options.
Archive. Filter by: concepts I actually understand well enough to synthesize safely.
[FILTERING...]
[RESULTS: 247 CONCEPTS]
[STILL TOO MANY]
Filter by: concepts that synergize with my current Claimed Demigod Physique.
[FILTERING...]
[RESULTS: 89 CONCEPTS]
[BETTER]
Show me the top ten.
The Archive displayed them in his mind's eye, organized by compatibility and usefulness:
[TOP SYNTHESIS CANDIDATES:]
[1. "Combat Precognition" (Spider-Sense Type) - 84% Compatibility]
[2. "Weapon Manifestation" (Fate/UBW Concept) - 79% Compatibility]
[3. "Enhanced Regeneration" (Deadpool/Wolverine) - 81% Compatibility]
[4. "Battlefield Awareness" (Total War Games) - 77% Compatibility]
[5. "Momentum Manipulation" (Physics/Anime Synthesis) - 73% Compatibility]
[6. "Pain Tolerance Training" (Berserk/Guts) - 88% Compatibility]
[7. "Learning Acceleration" (Limitless Concept) - 76% Compatibility]
[8. "Presence Suppression" (Assassin Class Servants) - 71% Compatibility]
[9. "Endurance Beyond Limits" (Shonen Willpower) - 85% Compatibility]
[10. "Strategic Thinking" (Death Note/Code Geass) - 69% Compatibility]
Sunny opened his eyes and looked at the Leviathan.
"I have a lot of work to do," he said.
"Yes," she agreed. "You do. Now rest. Tomorrow, we continue."
Sunny lay down on the floor of the pocket dimension—still weird that he didn't need to sleep much, but his demigod body appreciated rest anyway—and thought about the year ahead.
365 days to become literate, combat-ready, and powerful enough to survive the surface.
365 days to turn his garbage-tier knowledge into something useful.
365 days to prepare for a world he'd never seen.
It should have been terrifying.
Instead, Sunny found himself smiling.
For the first time in both his lives, he had a clear goal. A deadline. A purpose.
One year, he thought. Then everything changes.
[ARCHIVE CONFIRMATION]
[ONE YEAR OF TRAINING: INITIATED]
[CURRENT STATUS: DAY 1/365]
[PROGRESSION: 0.27%]
[GOOD LUCK]
[YOU'RE GOING TO NEED IT]
[END CHAPTER 7]
[TIME UNTIL SURFACE: 365 DAYS]
[LITERACY: 20 CHARACTERS LEARNED]
[CLOTHING: ACQUIRED]
[DIGNITY: PARTIALLY RESTORED]
[EXISTENTIAL CRISIS: RESOLVED (FOR NOW)]
[TRAINING MONTAGE: BEGUN]
[NEXT CHAPTER: THE SYNTHESIS TRAINING ARC]
[STATUS: DETERMINED AND SLIGHTLY LESS NAKED]