DxD: DO System Chapter 37

Chapter 37: Origin

Issei blinked, then blinked again, and then blinked repeatedly. Yet the scenery before him remained the same.

As far as his vision could reach—and it reached far thanks to his devil blood—he saw greenery: grass and streams of water flowing through the ground.

It wasn’t just a tiny piece of land. It wasn’t just a bland, grassy plain.

It was beautiful.





“How is there a sun?” Issei muttered, his eyes fixed on the sun despite its strong rays.

<Stage one, ‘The Garden,’ enables life to dwell.>

“Can someone plant trees and other things to grow in here?”

<Yes.>

Issei wasn’t sure what surprised him more—the literal landscape in front of his eyes or the fact that the system was replying to his questions without missing a beat.

And this gave him an idea.

“Who brought me here, and who created you?”

<Unable to answer the question. The system does not contain the answers.>

Not you are not worthy enough or you will get the answers later, but a straight-up no answer available.

“Interesting.”

“It sure is, kid.”

With that voice came a shadow that covered the grassy land below.

“And what do you think?” Issei asked. “Do you like this or still prefer the white void?”

Ddraig landed close to him, staring in the direction of the sun.

“Oh, I will never miss that darn white space,” Ddraig grumbled. “A few more days, and I might have gone insane because of the white surroundings.”

Issei’s lips curled into a smile as he stared into the vastness. “The system says that life can dwell here.”

“Oh?” Ddraig asked curiously. “And how do you bring said life to this place?”

“Currently, I can’t,” he answered, keeping his arms crossed. “It said I am required to be at least at the beginning stages of High Class to do that.”

“It should not take very long,” Ddraig said. “You are already at the peak of Middle Class.”

Issei knew that as well, but breaking into High Class was a difficult task, even for him.

He needed quests that could grant him abilities, and he needed triggers for that. Only then could he reach High Class.

As he stood pondering, he felt a soft, ball-like object slam into his leg. Looking down, he was pleasantly surprised to see Cuddles staring at him with glittering eyes.

“Aw, you seem to grow cuter with every passing day, Cuddles.” Without wasting a second, he picked up the little slimeball. Cuddles nuzzled against his chest as he too stared at the vast greenery. 

“It’s beautiful.” Issei expressed.

“Agreed.”

However, as he enjoyed the scenery, a thought crossed his mind.

“How does time in this place work?” Issei asked. “And is my body here, or just my mind?”

<Time moves at a 1:1 rate with the outside world. And currently, the host is present mentally.>

“Who are you talking to?” Ddraig asked, curious about the mumbling boy.

This caught Issei by surprise. “So you can’t hear the system?”

As the dragon shook his head, he looked amused. “I thought you would be able to hear the system since we’re literally inside it.”

“I couldn’t hear it the last time either, remember? When it was just a white void.”

Ddraig’s counter made sense, but Issei had hoped the dragon could hear the system. Unfortunately, it appeared he would need to relay everything himself.

“Well, it said that time here moves at the same rate as the outside world and that I’m only here mentally at the moment.”

Ddraig nodded in understanding. “That makes sense.” But even he was curious. “So, what happens to your body during this time?”

<The host is vulnerable during this time.>

Issei’s face immediately soured. “Turns out my body is left vulnerable.”

“That… isn’t good.”

“It isn’t,” Issei agreed, shaking his head. “When can I bring my body in here?”

<When the host reaches Foundation-High Class.>

He breathed out in relief.

“What did it say?” Ddraig asked, curiously eyeing the boy.

“When I reach High Class.”

Almost everything seemed to hinge on reaching High Class, which meant he needed to push himself a little more.

“Better reach it fast, then,” the dragon said in a cheery tone, clearly pleased by the vast open greenery.

“Do you think if I train here, my body will grow?”

<It will not. You will remember what you learn, but it will not be passed onto your body. Only when you bring your body to this world will it adapt to your learnings.>

“Let me guess,” the dragon grinned, noting Issei’s disappointed face. “It called you an idiot.”

“Pretty much,” the boy mumbled under his breath.

After a while, as he walked around, exploring the place and checking out the clear, perfectly drinkable water, Issei asked, “There are no ores in this world, are there? Nor any minerals?”

<Rocks, minerals, and ores will be available alongside a few more additions when the world reaches Tier 2.>

“Makes sense.” With that, he decided to ask the last question on his mind. “What about a time limit? Is there a limit to how long I can stay here?”

<There is no time limit. However, it is advised not to leave the actual body unsupervised for extended periods of time.>

Issei wondered if he would be informed by the system or if he would feel anything if he were under attack.

Surprisingly, even inside the Origin World, the system answered, reading his thoughts.

<The answer to both questions is yes.>

It almost terrified him how sentient the system had become. He could only imagine what it would be like after its next update.

“So, you’re enjoying this place, aren’t you, Ddraig?” Issei asked, putting down his cute slime companion.

“The place extends to a distance I cannot even cover,” the dragon said with amusement. “So, I do enjoy it. And it wouldn’t bother me even if you brought more creatures here, since I can always fly away.”

That made Issei curious. “How big is this place, system?”

<Beyond computable limits.>

“What did it say?” Ddraig asked, just as curious.

“That it cannot measure…” Issei’s voice trailed off in astonishment. “Can you calculate the landmass of Earth?”

<Yes.>

The fact that it could measure Earth but not this place meant it was much bigger than Earth—a topic worth contemplating on its own.

What kind of being was capable of creating such a system?

Creating a landmass that couldn’t even be measured?

Creating life out of nothing?

Issei knew that, even if answers to these questions existed, he wasn’t going to get them anytime soon.

“That means it’s vast,” Ddraig commented, but seeing Issei looking at him with a weird expression, he was forced to ask, “What?”

“It says it can measure Earth.”

“What does that even have—” Then it clicked for the dragon. “Oh.”

“It’s probably infinite,” Issei said with an awkward chuckle.

“That’s… huh?” Even the Heavenly Dragon was left speechless.

But they both realized something.

This was bigger than anything they had bargained for. And maybe, it might become a headache for them soon.

…

…

[Late Night — Outskirts of Kuoh]

Kuoh was a clean town, like most places in Japan. However, even by Japanese standards, Kuoh was exceptionally clean.

The rivers were pristine, the air fresh, and the skies clear.

Even now, as the man stared at the stars, he could make out the constellations. This was his favorite pastime—staring at the skies, finding shapes, and tracing constellations.

Observation.

That was his hobby.

For countless years, he had been observing the stars. He had witnessed many of them collapse in his long life and had seen what came afterward.

He loved observing—whether it was the stars or the humans who shone just as brightly. He adored them.

Unlike his kin—unlike his brothers and sisters—he never despised humans for their dazzling glow, their brightness. Instead, he loved watching them and learning from them.

He could understand why his father preferred them over his kind. Even those who considered themselves superior to his kind—beings who dwelled in the high skies with their golden auras—could not match the brightness of a single mortal.

“So flawed, yet so perfect.”

He couldn’t help but marvel at how such flawed beings could possess such determination, rage, joy, envy, greed, and emotions that he and his kind could never feel.

Humans sinned, and humans atoned. But they couldn’t.

When humans were influenced by sin, they committed heinous acts—ones that made even his skin crawl. But those same humans were capable of atonement. They could shed their sins, move beyond them, and live new, better lives.

He couldn’t do that, and neither could any of the other celestial beings.

That’s what made humans so special to him—so fascinating.

And he knew that for humans to live without fear, for the flawed perfect to thrive, he had to eliminate those who were either entirely flawed or completely perfect.

He had to remove the devils and the angels.

For ages, he had been preparing for this task. And now, the time for that removal, that purge—that cleansing—was nearing.

Only a few could stop him.

Not because they were weak, but because they were too strong. And strength often blinded one to the little bits of chaos that acted as the catalyst for doom.

“So, will you be able to stop this chaos, or will you fail, Issei Hyoudou?” The man smiled. “After all, you are no longer human. You have reformed, and you are now a devil.”

As he spoke, his face morphed into a vampiric look—fangs protruding, ears elongating, and hair cascading down nearly to his hips.

“Will you be able to stop a war that could wipe out most of the supernatural?”

He asked, his gaze returning to the stars.

The stars he had been observing since his birth.

For he was Kokabiel, the Fallen of Stars.

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[[A/N: Used grammarly for this rather than the editing software.]]