"I'm home!"
Yohei stepped through the door of his house, reaching back to turn on the corridor lights.
"Mom?" he called out, even though he already knew the answer – between the early hour and the dark house, she clearly wasn't home. He let out a small, disappointed sigh.
'I was kind of excited to tell her I passed,' he thought, feeling a little mulish about it. A second later, he flushed in embarrassment at the childish reaction before reminding himself that – ninja or not – he was still a kid.
Still, there was something else he was excited about.
As that thought crossed his mind, an eager grin spread across his face. He kicked off his shoes and rushed upstairs, his steps echoing against the wooden floors and staircase.
Inside his room, he flipped on the lights, locked the door, and closed the blinds. He turned on the fan to fight off the lingering heat before sitting cross-legged on the floor and taking a deep, steadying breath.
He raised a finger to his mouth, then blinked and let out a surprised chuckle.
His foreign memories were full of failed attempts to copy things he'd seen in anime – including, of course, biting his finger to use the Summoning Jutsu. Only to discover that it was far harder than it looked. The human brain had some impressively stubborn safeguards against self-harm; despite the fact that a human bite was strong enough to tear through much tougher materials, actually biting into one's own flesh was damn hard.
Then he recalled his own memories – from the Academy, roughly… a year or so ago? He wasn't entirely sure. But the lesson itself stood out clearly.
Medic-nin had been brought in from the hospital, and the children had been instructed to bite their fingers until they bled. The medics would heal them, and then they'd do it again. And again. The goal was to strip away that instinctive resistance and get them accustomed to the act.
Yohei brought his thumb to his mouth and set it between his canine teeth. A small application of chakra, combined with the improvements granted by the Forever Fangs, made it even easier than he was used to.
Then, following instincts that felt oddly alien, he ran through the hand seals:
Boar → Dog → Bird → Monkey → Ram.
He pressed his hand to the floor and-
Puff.
Found himself holding the Chaos Scroll once more.
He unfurled it with an anxious kind of reverence, eagerness barely contained by the strange sensation of treating something whose power and magnitude he couldn't even comprehend as if it were made of glass.
There, on the previously empty white surface of the scroll, were not one, not two, but four new fūinjutsu seals. With his room properly illuminated this time, he could see that they weren't black – instead, they were drawn in metallic hues. The first gleamed like bronze, while the other three were rendered in a dark silver.
Swallowing, he activated them one by one, carefully taking the smaller scrolls that emerged and laying them out on the floor in order. Once all four had been retrieved, the Chaos Scroll – now empty once more – vanished in a puff of white smoke, and the familiar weight settled back into Yohei's chest.
They don't match, he thought, studying the four scrolls.
He'd assumed the color of the ink would correspond to the color of the scroll itself, and thus its grade. But while the first three – including the one that came from the bronze seal – all had grey borders, the last scroll, which had emerged from a silver seal, was bordered in brown instead. He pursed his lips, trying to puzzle out what that discrepancy might mean.
With a sigh, he made a mental note to write these observations down later - in Portuguese. One unexpected blessing of his other memories was having access to an entire language and alphabet he could use as a kind of cipher, one that would be nearly impossible for anyone else to uncover without an unreasonable amount of effort.
He picked up the first scroll – the one he suspected had appeared after he and his team defeated the chakra beast – and undid the latch. As he opened it, he let out a relieved breath when he saw that it contained a technique rather than a bloodline limit.
[千音感知 – Sen'on Kanchi – Thousand-Sound Perception]
|D-Rank Kanchijutsu|
This technique allows the user to fine-tune their hearing to superhuman levels. Although its range is not increased, the user's ability to process and interpret auditory stimulus is severely enhanced. With this technique, even a normal human would be able to discern the sound of a coin hitting the ground in the middle of a crowded market.
Kanchijutsu – a sensor-type technique.
That… that was great. Like, absurdly so.
While some individuals possessed an innate sensor affinity – their chakra being naturally more sensitive to fluctuations and emanations from others and from their surroundings – actual sensing techniques were on an entirely different level. And while Yohei could tell from the description that this wouldn't function like a standard sensing technique that extended the user's perception outward…
Having one of his senses simply be better?
That alone was already a massive boon.
How much would it help in a fight to be able to perceive the sound of an enemy's clothes shifting? Of a weapon cutting through the air? Of breath hitching as they exerted themselves?
What if he created a technique of his own that actually made his hearing stronger?
If he could hear individual muscles twitching and contracting. The beat of another person's heart. Blood rushing through their veins. If he could mix something like that with the Thousand-Sound Perception, and train himself to refine this improved snse into instinct, wouldn't that amount to the same thing as the Uchiha's famed foresight?
Only… less obvious.
There wouldn't be anything as dramatic as glowing, spinning, blood-red eyes openly advertising to his opponent exactly what he was using to completely screw them over.
The image alone was enough to make Yohei giggle, giddy with possibility.
He forced himself out of that revelry a moment later, dragging his attention back to the scroll in his hands rather than the fantasies spiraling off from it.
He'd obtained it after killing the mutant boar.
Killing.
Was that the key to activating the Chaos Scroll?
If so, it clearly wasn't the only one - he hadn't killed anyone else, yet he still had three more scrolls. Still, killing now seemed like a confirmed way of gaining new rewards.
…Or was it?
What were the specifics?
Would he gain something for every life he took? Was it a matter of power? Of quantity? Was the threshold static, or relative to himself? He was fairly certain he'd stepped on at least one ant since obtaining the Chaos Scroll, yet that hadn't earned him anything. Would killing a rat count? A dog? A deer?
Or did it work on benchmarks?
Five people. Ten. Fifty.
…
He'd have to test it.
Not on people, for fuck's sake. Though he was certain that sooner or later he'd get an answer to that question regardless – mission or not, the world was full of assholes who were better off dead. Given the chance, he doubted he'd be able to let a rapist walk away.
'Focus,' he reminded himself sharply.
Animals, then.
Not pets. Not domestic animals – hypocritical as that line might be. He could go to a farmer, say he was a newly minted genin struggling with the reality of killing, ask to be allowed to slaughter cattle already destined for meat…
But that rang hollow. He'd already proven he didn't hesitate when facing the mutated pig earlier that day.
And ninjas, despite all their secrecy, were huge fucking gossips.
So were civilians.
The story would get back to his sensei sooner or later, and Yohei had zero interest in explaining why he was going out of his way to kill innocent animals. He'd rather avoid Shirakumo-sensei coming to the conclusion that he was a budding psychopath.
So what was a more acceptable option?
…
Hunting?
He'd have to look up what he needed in order to get permission to use one of the training grounds to hunt chakra beasts.
Having found a sufficiently acceptable solution, Yohei closed the scroll and set it aside, then reached for the next one.
[鉄身化 – Tesshinka – Iron Body Transformation]
|D-Rank Taijutsu|
This technique allows you to reinforce your skin and body until it resembles metal more than flesh, increasing your mass and granting superhuman durability. Even for a baseline human, a hanbō would break on impact, while kunai and shuriken become all but ineffective. Even a fall from a three-story building, while painful, can be walked away from. However, maintaining the Iron Body Transformation makes the user slower and less agile.
"Yes! Yes, yes, yes, yes!"
Yohei couldn't contain his excitement as he read through the description.
With this, he had a full trifecta: an offensive and mobility technique, a sensory technique, and now a defensive one. All of them revolved around the same general theme, too – something he could plausibly excuse as a Yang Release specialization, maybe even pass himself off as some kind of prodigy.
That did mean he'd have to seriously dedicate himself to studying biology and human anatomy if he wanted to bullshit convincingly enough.
And he'd have to do it fast, if he wanted to use this technique without attracting uncomfortable levels of scrutiny.
"However…"
He cast a suffering glance at the mountain of books stacked on his desk and let out a long sigh.
This wasn't going to be easy. Or painless.
He'd never been the best student – in either of his lives - and biology was a dense, demanding subject. He couldn't half-ass it if he wanted the lie to hold up, much less if he wanted to actually use the knowledge to improve his techniques… or learn Iryōninjutsu.
And he did want to learn Iryōninjutsu.
He needed to.
It was healing. It was- it was life.
The power to stave off death - his own, and that of the people he cared about.
With the perspective brought on by his new memories, he couldn't help but wonder why this wasn't the most heavily researched branch of ninjutsu in existence. It was the path to longevity. To immortality, even. For Kami's sake, wasn't the perpetuation of life – and of one's own lineage – the most basic directive of any living being?
Was it humanity's obsession with conflict that kept them from pursuing it?
Or was it the influence of that piece of shit, black sludge with mommy issues?
Yohei had no idea.
And honestly, he wasn't sure he wanted to.
He sighed again and looked down at the scroll in his hands.
"Well… at least it explains the ins and outs of the technique," he muttered. "That should give me a direction to start studying."
Setting it aside, he reached for the next one.
Another silver scroll – and unfortunately, not one containing a technique.
Yohei was already wincing when he saw it, but his expression shifted quickly: from reticent, to baffled, to confused… and finally to reluctant intrigue.
[永精華 – Eiseika – Ever-Blooming Essence]
|D-Rank Bloodline Limit|
This Bloodline Limit generates a unique chakra state that activates in response to attraction toward individuals who are at least twice your age, passively amplifying their positive impressions of and disposition toward you. Furthermore, this chakra induces a state of visual agelessness once the user reaches physical prime. This effect can be shared with others through the occasional absorption of genetic material, reverting those who have passed their prime to a younger appearance. This does not halt aging, only its visual effects.
"…I don't even know how to react to this."
It was… impressive, in a way. A completely unique chakra state? And it almost sounded like some kind of genjutsu.
"No," Yohei muttered, frowning. "Genjutsu messes with someone's perception of reality through interference in their chakra system. This is more like Yin Release – closer to the Yamanaka clan's secret techniques."
He paused, scowling harder.
"Why does it have to be so perverted, though? 'Occasional absorption of genetic material'? Really?"
He scoffed, cheeks heating up as memories of Tsunade rose unbidden to the surface - along with the uncomfortable realization that she would absolutely qualify as a prime example of this Bloodline Limit in action.
He slapped his cheeks, the sting snapping him out of the spiral.
"Focus. What is this actually useful for?" he asked himself seriously.
He reread the description, thinking.
"Charisma, even if limited to a specific demographic – and one that shrinks as I get older – is still incredibly useful. Things are always easier when people like you." He nodded slowly. "Having something that makes the future Hokage more predisposed to treat me favorably would be… helpful."
He crossed his arms, tilting his head.
"And beyond that… money."
His eyes widened slightly.
"I mean, hypothetically, I could make an obscene amount of ryō offering noblewomen in the Capital the chance to regain their youthful appearance – or never visibly age at all." His mouth twisted. "I really don't like the idea of giving anyone my DNA, though. Not with freaks like Orochimaru and Danzō running around."
He sighed.
"But realistically, I can't erase every trace of myself anyway. I'm a ninja. I sweat. I bleed. My hair falls out. I have to cut my nails. I can't sterilize every cup or utensil I touch."
He paused.
"…So it would just be a matter of controlling the source." He snapped his fingers. "Administering the 'medicine' directly. Maybe grind hair into a powder? Or-"
He snorted.
"-literal blood pudding. That'd be hilarious."
His gaze drifted back to the scroll.
"How much money could I even- no. That's a stupid question." He shook his head. "This is youth in a bottle, sold to the one percent who control most of the wealth of an entire country."
He swallowed.
"I could probably afford full chakra-steel body armor. Weapons. Shuriken and kunai made from the stuff."
A beat.
"…For my whole team."
Having convinced himself of its utility despite how weird it was, Yohei activated the seal.
From it appeared another small candy.
He blinked at its appearance, eyes going flat and unimpressed.
He recognized it immediately – which made him suspect that the Chaos Scroll was, at least in part, drawing inspiration from his own memories and subconscious when creating these rewards.
It was a small, porous, marble-like feminine statue.
More specifically, a replica of the Venus of Lespugue, a figure his foreign memories knew intimately from the phase in his youth when he had briefly fashioned himself a Wiccan.
Snorting, he gave it a crooked grin. Reluctantly grateful that it didn't resemble an actual organ this time, he tossed it into his mouth.
It tasted… creamy and smooth, with a warm undertone like caramel or vanilla, but with a sharp kick at the end – something like ginger, or dark chocolate, or pomegranate… maybe all of them at once.
"Huh."
Far too late, he wondered how this one would manifest, considering the previous candies had made his teeth and eyes fall out.
"…Shit."
He barely had time to yank off his dirty clothes and rush toward the bathroom as a static-like itching sensation spread across his entire body. By the time he turned on the shower, he was already scratching himself raw, letting the water wash away flakes of dried skin from his body.
It wasn't enough.
Grabbing a brush, he started scrubbing himself head to toe, feeling like a lizard shedding its skin - or a bird molting its feathers. His hair came out in clumps too, sending a spike of panic through him at the thought of going bald this early in life… only for it to start growing back moments later.
That somehow made the itching worse.
When it finally stopped, he stepped out of the shower feeling like he'd gone through the most aggressive exfoliation of his life. The biological sludge left behind on the floor was… revolting, and he gagged a little at the thought of having to deal with it later.
Wrapping a towel around himself, he stared anxiously at his reflection.
Relief - and a strange hint of disappointment - washed over him when he couldn't pinpoint any obvious changes. He just looked… clean.
And wet.
He blew a raspberry at himself and started drying off as he headed downstairs to grab a trash bag.
As he walked, his thoughts drifted.
From a certain point of view, he was now ageless.
He would still grow old. He would still die. But until his last day in the world of the living, he would look young.
That was…
Well.
Nothing new, honestly.
Tsunade herself did it through a masterful application of her seal, diverting a small trickle of chakra to constantly keep a Transformation Jutsu active, making her look younger.
But that was an active effect, sustained through chakra bullshit warping reality. What he had was a passive effect, sustained through chakra bullshit warping biology.
…
It didn't sound all that impressive when he put it like that, but regardless! That came from a grey scroll – what about a golden one? Would it have outright biological immortality? Was there anything above it?
He wagered yes – this "Eiseika" was described as a D-Rank Bloodline Limit. That meant there were C, B, A, and possibly S-Rank Bloodlines as well. What would that even look like? How could he get those?
This scroll had come in a bundle with three others - was that from three different reward-worthy actions, or a single one that was sufficiently impressive but hadn't crossed some sort of requirement to achieve a higher-level scroll?
As he finished cleaning up and getting dressed in clean clothes, Yohei went back to his room and unlatching the final scroll, hoping for some clue that could help him discover more of the secrets of the Chaos Scroll.
[Moonless]
|C̵͙̙̠͓̟̮̳̥̓̈̐̋̎͊͠ŏ̴̩͕͈̯̭̻̝͓͋m̶̼̂ͅm̵̧̜̼̼͖̱͗̑͌̅̃̐̏͠͝ͅô̶̡̡͚̝̥̦͈̺̓̽͝n̶̡͎̹̗̥̜͈͋ ̸̨̛͎̼̲̱͋̊̇͒̐͝F̷̢͕͕͔̺̞͇̪̦͂͑̑̀̋͒͒͐͘a̴̡̮̤͙̭͖̯͉̐̓̍̀͠͠ͅm̸̥͖͉͔͔͈̒̄̉̽̀̌͠ͅḯ̶͍͓̀l̴̨̗̯̱̭͇̽͒ị̸̒a̷͚͈͌̓͒͊̽͌̐̕͝ŕ̵̨̯̯̤̯͈̝̳̰̾́̄́͗͗͝|
F̴͕̠̹͕̣̅̽̀͒͂e̵̫̯̺̭͎̭͉̽̒͑͊͂a̴͙̳̦̺̼̞̱̋ͅr̴̢̲̠̤̯͇̤̦̘̓̃̑͗͐̋́̓ ̸̮͚̹̣͓̱̙̀̏͒̈́à̴̛̰̫͍͇̄ń̸̙̦̻̣͙̳̖͠d̸̗̦̈́̚ ̶̦̭̦̿̃̄͊̆͒̆͝H̵͔͉̼̫̜͍͓͍̻̎̏͋̀̈ṳ̵͉͚̬̓̎͑̽̊̕n̴͔͗̿̿g̵̤͇͇̓̈́ȇ̵̗͇̣̗̯r̶͓͎̝̳̲̍̈́̋͒̊ – Moonless was once a common cave wolf who was expelled from her pack because of her unnatural strength, and was then transformed by the influence of t̵̡̨̳̪̺̫̰̑ḩ̶̯̜̤̲̥̯̋̌̔̄̇̈̍̈ę̶͓̈́͘ ̴̠̔͛̚g̸̬͕̲̬̗̯̣͒́̾͑̀́͑̀ò̷̻̫̯͉̖͚͉̞d̷̹̤͈͙͚͐̓̍̈̽͋̐̿ ̴̗̹͍͛̍̊o̵̞̅͑̔͋̉͝f̴͎̞̀͗͛̒̑͠ ̸̛̖̪̺̇͐͐͋͆̄ţ̶̖̟̘͎͗̊̃̓ͅh̶̬͔̍͗̀̀̂̀͝ͅe̷̦̠̍̄̀ ̷̧̜͕̳̯̞́́͋̂̒͜͜ͅd̶͕̪̼͍̝͌e̶̫̙̠̲̺͗͗͝p̵̡̜̰͍̜͎̐͒͂̈̄̆̕͜t̶͙̱̟͖̄͘ḫ̸̨̗̀̈́̏͛́̑͘s̶̙̬̃͋̆̒̀̓͝. After decades of brutal survival, this wolf now towers over t̸̨̺̯͈̞͚͓̔̆̎͜a̶̡̙̠̭̭̣̙̜͋ͅn̴̫͎̂̑̈̋k̸̢̻̼͙̟̼͕̫̖̔s̴̡̰͍̘̔͆̌͗͊͌̌ͅͅ, and can swallow a fully grown man in one gulp.
"What the-"
[無月 – Getsuga – Moonless]
|E-Rank Summon Contract|
Getsuga was once a common cave wolf who was expelled from her pack because of her unnatural strength and was then mutated by the overabundance of chakra in her surroundings. After decades of brutal survival, this wolf now towers over carriages, and can swallow a fully grown man in one gulp. Those who seek to form a contract with her are advised to bring offerings of rotten meat, as those are her favorite meal.
"-Fuck?" Yohei exclaimed in slight panic, which calmed down once the contents of the scroll stopped… glitching. "Okay… I'll just pretend that didn't happen," he decided.
Exhaling heavily, he set himself to read the contents of the scroll, his hesitation slowly being replaced by elation as he recognized what he had in his hands.
"A Summon Contract," he said giddily.
Everyone wanted one of those! Everyone!
There wasn't a single kid in the Academy who didn't dream of obtaining one of those. All the boys shared dreams of summoning dragons and mythical beasts in battle; all the girls dreamed of being contracted to clans of cute giant bunnies and regal tigers.
Looking down at the illustration painted on the page, Yohei could barely restrain a manly squeal of joy.
"So cool!" he said giddily, looking at the dark figure of an eldritch-looking, giant, four-eyed wolf with a fanged mouth like a chainsaw. "Oh man, I wanna summon her so bad!"
But he couldn't.
Precisely because everyone wanted one of those, everyone was interested in getting one of those. You couldn't just reveal a summon contract out of nowhere without giving any explanations.
Well - no, that's not the truth. You weren't required to reveal something like that, but people would bother you about it. And there would be a hell of a lot of scrutiny if Yohei, a genin who had never gone beyond the bounds of the village, suddenly appeared with something like that without a very fucking good explanation.
Tsking, he frowned and bit down on his knuckle as he started to consider how he could excuse something like that.
Looking down at the illustration of Mugetsu once again, he tilted his head as an idea came to mind.
"She's… technically a chakra beast, right?"
Usually, those weren't tameable. The nature of their transformation often made them insane to a certain degree, which made every encounter with them a violent one. But it wasn't impossible to find a more rational one – merely rare as all fuck.
Yohei could just say that he found Mugetsu in the wild, tamed her, and made a contract himself. But for that, he'd need to first learn how to make such a contract, if only to serve as a smokescreen for the real one. He'd also need an alibi - a reason for looking into contract-making and then appearing with a summon immediately afterward.
"Hm… what about this: 'I found her in the wild and managed to slowly tame the surprisingly peaceful chakra beast. And only after that did I get interested in making a contract for her.' That makes it doubly necessary for me to get access to the training grounds outside the village," he said, biting his nail before sighing. "And it also adds another subject I need to learn. Fuck."
This also brought another issue to Yohei's mind.
This time it was fine, since Mugetsu could just pass for a chakra beast – but would all future summons be as easy as that? And even if they were, how long could he keep using the excuse that he'd found a peaceful chakra beast before people started asking questions?
Yohei let out a groan. "Whatever. Not like I can do anything about it. I don't even know how to get more summons, so worrying about it now is pointless."
Closing the scroll and placing it alongside the others, he started to consider what that meant for the Chaos Scroll.
Jutsu, Bloodlines, Summons.
Those were the three things he'd gained until now. Were they the only things that could be provided to him, or were there more categories?
Furthermore, were they random, or did he gain specific kinds of rewards for different types of actions?
The only comparison he could properly make was between the jutsu he gained by killing the boar and the jutsu he gained alongside the other rewards when Shirakumo-sensei said they had passed his test-and he certainly hadn't killed the jōnin, not even his clone.
"Maybe it's not killing, per se, but defeating?" he considered. "Do I get another jutsu every time I 'defeat' someone, even if it's not in direct battle?"
That was another thing for him to test, it seemed.
Pursing his lips, he went to his desk and took a small notebook and a pen, then sat back down on the floor and started making notes about everything he had thought about the Chaos Scroll today, finishing with a list of things to do.
=> Test if defeating others gives rewards (bets, challenges, duels, games, tournaments?)
=> If the above proves true, challenge as many individuals as possible.
=> If the above proves possible, attempt to delimit the rules (power or number of individuals?)
=> Get permission to go into the forest.
=> If successful on the above, hunt animals of progressively larger size and power (bunny? bear?)
=> If successful on the above, go on a hunting spree.
Frowning at what he had written, he crossed part of it out and added more notes.
=> Test if defeating others gives rewards (bets, challenges, duels, games, tournaments?)
=> If the above proves true, challenge as many individuals as possible.
=> If the above proves possible, attempt to delimit the rules (power or number of individuals?)
=> Get permission to go into the forest.
=> If successful on the above, hunt animals of progressively larger size and power (bunny? bear?)
=> If successful on the above, go on a hunting spree.
=> If successful on the above, ask more experienced hunters how much he can safely hunt.
=> If successful on obtaining permission, start the plan to 'acquire' Mugetsu.
=> If Mugetsu plan is a go, look for fuinjutsu scrolls.
"Which reminds me…" he muttered.
He added one last line.
=> Study biology and anatomy, create an alibi for the new jutsu, and seek ways to improve them.
"Anything else?" he asked himself, tapping the pen against his lips. "Hm… I still don't know what I did to trigger the other two kinds of rewards. If the jutsu was from defeating sensei, does passing his test count as another? Then again, passing the test might be what gave me the jutsu - saying we defeated him is kind of an overstatement, after all. Hm… maybe one of those was from becoming an actual genin instead of going back to the Academy? It was, after all, something with only a thirty-three percent chance of happening."
"Does that mean that impressive things in general – feats – are what give me those rewards?" he wondered, and something about the idea resonated with him, making him break into a grin. "Oh? That sounds right. In that case…"
He looked back down at his notes and added one last line.
=> Test if defeating others gives rewards (bets, challenges, duels, games, tournaments?)
=> If the above proves true, challenge as many individuals as possible.
=> If the above proves possible, attempt to delimit the rules (power or number of individuals?)
=> Get permission to go into the forest.
=> If successful on the above, hunt animals of progressively larger size and power (bunny? bear?)
=> If successful on the above, go on a hunting spree.
=> If successful on the above, ask more experienced hunters how much he can safely hunt.
=> If successful on obtaining permission, start the plan to 'acquire' Mugetsu.
=> If Mugetsu plan is a go, look for fuinjutsu scrolls.
=> Study biology and anatomy, create an alibi for the new jutsu, and seek ways to improve them.
=> Do awesome shit.
Chuckling, Yohei closed the notebook, tapping it against his forehead as he smiled.
"Today was a good day," he decided. Then, taking a deep breath, he stretched.
"I kind of want to sleep, but…" Shaking his head, he slapped his cheeks again, a determined grin on his face. "Who the fuck needs rest? I have shit to do. Let's put those scrolls away and get the boar meat in the fridge. Fuck, I hope there's enough space for it…"
Picking up the scrolls and jumping to his feet, he luxuriated once more in the feeling of effortlessly moving like a superhuman - he really hadn't given it as much value as he should have originally.
"Then I'll study hard as fuck, then I'll train hard as fuck, then I'll cook some delicious fucking food for Mom because she deserves it and because I stole her things, and then I'll study again!" He pointed a finger up into the air. "And then I'll become the King of Ninjas!" he shouted.
His face turned redder by the second as the silence after his proclamation stretched on, but he kept smiling anyway, before breaking out into laughter.
Once the chuckles faded, his smile softened. He clapped his hands, bowed to no one at all, and let out a quiet prayer.
"God, Deus, Kami, ROB - whoever or whatever gave me this opportunity… my gratitude, from the bottom of my heart. I really, truly love this life of mine."