After I said my comment, the black abyss around me didn't respond and didn't try to devour me, so I took it as a small victory.
But without knowing where I was or what was happening, I could only look around, trying to see anything useful, but unfortunately, I couldn't see anything but darkness in all directions.
"Ugh," I sighed before feeling my body—(to my disbelief)—disintegrate into glowing particles of blue light.
A while later, I stopped my panic when I realized that, even though I didn't have a body, I was still alive.
In any case, I ended up being like a floating, thinking ball, so that's the whole alive part.
And in exchange for losing my body, I gained the ability to see in this dark void, or well, not so dark anymore. A faint blue light illuminates the space around me, coming from my new form.
It didn't really seem fair, but what could I do but settle for my (admittedly limited) options?
"Why, of course, there are stars?" I ask, trying to distract myself from the fact that I'm simply disintegrating.
"But why do they seem so close?" The aforementioned stars, distant points of light of strange shapes, sizes, and colors, shone, filling my mind with strong emotions, and they didn't seem that far away.
More like they seemed a few hundred kilometers away. (I think with slight amazement.) While it's a gigantic distance, it doesn't seem unreachable.
"I think I can reach them if I try hard." But my mind is starting to feel foggy. "Is this what being high feels like? Or am I having a panic attack?" I wander, my mind slowly feeling like cotton candy the more I stare at the starlight.
I see the various points of light and wander, or think I'm wandering, while my drugged mind makes the intelligent decision to search for a star instead of figuring out how to get out of here. So I start moving, not noticing that with each movement I leave a trail of light that slowly fades in my wake.
"What color should I choose?" I wander again, not noticing the blue light emanating from me, which begins to shine brighter, making my shape become smaller.
I spin on my axis, searching for the right star for me while my mind feels more and more cloudy.
Looking up, I see a red, sword-shaped star that made me feel furious, something I didn't like, so that star is quickly rejected and then ignored.
Shortly after, I see a green, tree-shaped star that made me feel healthy, as if I had tons of energy.
Next to the green star, I saw a large cluster of colorful stars that I hadn't looked at very closely, but a glimmer at the edge of my vision made the decision for me.
The flash of light came from a super-large star, a beautiful purple color and a faint, almost beating, heart shape that filled me with a strong sense of belonging, as if calling to me.
The fact that it might be dangerous to cross the entire void to reach it was quickly ignored by my mind, dazzled by the beautiful color.
"In this void with nothing but stars, it doesn't seem like a bad idea to reach one," I thought. "That star has to be the best option for me," I decided practically on the spot, as I watched the star flicker, practically seducing me from a distance.
Having made up my mind, my confused self decided to head toward the star while selectively ignoring the small voice in my head that told me it wasn't a good idea.
So floating like a small drifting ball I try to go straight to reach the star with only my light and that of the stars to illuminate the path in the darkness of the void.
Later, an amount of time unknown to me, inevitably my light, or more likely my movements, caught its attention.
At first, I ignored the star following me, because it made me feel nauseous, and well, my mind wasn't very lucid at the time.
I just thought it was a particularly strange star that shone just like the ones on the horizon. This one in particular shone an almost yellowish white color and didn't have a fixed shape like the others, so I decided to avoid it. But the moment my attention shifted from the approaching star, my mind flickered, and then the star was much closer.
(Spoiler alert: it wasn't a star.)
"Stars are supposed to be light with a solid core," I managed to think sometime along the way as the thing got closer and closer. "So why does it look so solid?"
I stood stupidly still as the thing got closer, close enough to notice the tentacles with eyes, tongues, and spines.
"Should I run now?" I whisper in a small voice as I slowly back away. Obviously, the thing didn't like it, as it suddenly accelerated toward me.
"Shit!" I screamed in my mind as I floated as fast as I could, fearing for my life. This time, in a semi-straight line, while every instinct I had told me to escape as quickly as possible.
Something my mind, no matter how confused it was, more than agreed with, which is why my blue form continued moving as fast as possible toward my purple target, ignoring how my form was only half the size it was when I started on my way.
While the distant, vividly colored, impossible stars on the horizon seemed to judge me.
"Shit, shit, shit!" I continued screaming in my mind as I felt a spiked tentacle lightly strike my retreating form.
"Aaaargh" - My scream is trapped in my mind as I feel the tentacle's spines tear at my form and the thing's tongues lick the light leaving behind my retreating form.
I narrowly avoid a very hot orange star - (Something tells me eating more than one star is a very bad idea) - And I already knew which one I wanted to eat.
However, I realize something obvious, something I should have thought of before - (If I'm in space, what's stopping me from going up or down?) - So, taking that literally, I drop it just before receiving another blow from the thing, and with another scream, I end up lightly touching an iridescent star.
"[Omniverse Possession]" - A beautiful sigh comes to mind; unfortunately, I can't pay attention to it.
Why, the star I touched began to enter my body, and one would think it would be painful—(You know, having a mass of unknown light enter you)—But the truth is, it was painless, even though it was a strange feeling—(it was like being a balloon being inflated)—.
But the star's light entered me very quickly, and I ended up feeling like an inflated balloon.
Before the process was over, I felt the star's colors mix with mine—(And boy, wasn't it fucking weird to feel with colors)—and then all the star's light entered me, and I could feel again.
I was no longer a ball of light, but a humanoid body made of energy with unknown proportions.
Once again, I didn't notice how my size more than doubled after eating the star, before obtaining my new humanoid form.
But what I felt most was the star beneath my new skin, as if it were living inside my body.
The best part of the experience was that whatever was making my mind feel so confused was out of my system.
After the admittedly strange experience of having a mass of colorful energy inside what I now believe to be my soul, I realized I hadn't been seeing with my eyes this whole time, since I didn't have eyes to use in my previous form.
So the first thing I did in my new body was open my eyes, only to regret it almost instantly when I saw my pursuer coming slowly toward me.
It wasn't white as I'd thought before, because as soon as I blink, it changes to a black color that's easily confused with the darkness around us.
I blink in confusion, and it quickly changes to an angry red color, but it still has the same eyes, spines, and teeth everywhere, giving me a headache just by looking at it. I had to look away and could only watch out of the corner of my eye as the thing was already trying to wrap me in its tentacles.
Thinking quickly, it dropped me again, only to float up at the last moment, dodging a blow as I emerged from its tentacles and running as far away from its reach as possible, looking for a way to escape until a flash catches my attention.
"Bingo," I murmur happily, because in the distance I see a truly massive gathering of points of light, so I head towards it, hoping to hide inside the cloud.
When I reached the cluster of points of light, I realized they were actually very small stars, ranging in size from marbles to trucks. Hesitating for a moment, I dove into the cluster, narrowly avoiding the scaly tentacles of my pursuer.
As I entered the star cluster, I moved quickly and carefully, not to touch any points of light, but my tentacle-like pursuer kept following me as I moved carefully. It simply passed through the stars as if they weren't there.
I traveled almost a quarter of the way through the massive star cluster, only a quarter of my original size, before an extremely bright, distant light to the right caught my attention.
A memory came back to me with a shudder, and I began to run, redoubling my pace, far away in the opposite direction.
The thing, however, quickly floated off into the light in the distance.
"Don't worry, I'll shine a light on your path." I shake off the memory, ignoring the new psychological terror, and stop a while later, among a bank of black and white stars.
Without losing sight of where the thing went, I stay as still as possible, waiting in case it's a trap, but time passes and the thing doesn't seem to return.
"I think I'm safe for now," I murmur and move from the place where I'd been hiding among the dwarf stars. I carefully move in the direction of the purple star before, with a loud CLICK from within me, the sensation beneath my skin faded completely.
My blue light suddenly changes, turning an almost brilliant white hue from which flashes of various colors emerged.
But that moment of distraction cost me enough to crash into another small star—(I could only compare it to a beach ball)—a silvery color, the only silver of the hundreds of small stars surrounding me in this part of the black and white cluster.
"Choice," the beautiful voice whispers louder to me.
"Aaaargh." This time, instead of being painless, the star's presence is painful, almost like a lighter burn all over my body, as I feel my light flicker a couple of times.
And something told me that if my light went out, something very bad would happen to me, so, gritting my teeth, I managed to endure the sudden pain without making any more noise, for fear that more beings like the one following me would approach because of the noise.
"Luckily, the pain was very brief." And if before I felt like an inflated balloon, this star made me feel like a balloon almost about to burst, but in the end, the new star managed to settle into my body with relative ease.
When the pain became a dull throb, I managed to float out of the cluster for fear of touching another star and exploding like a balloon.
As I left the cluster, I realized that the purple star was at the very tip of the cluster, so I decided to continue on my way, following the cluster in case I needed to hide again.
A while later, making sure the thing wasn't following me, I took a moment to think, remembering the voice that spoke when the stars entered my soul.
When I collided with the stars, a voice whispered—I can remember when the pain that came with feeling like I was about to explode completely faded—"I think when the first star entered me, it said [Omniversal possession]."
The name is spoken without trying, as if I could never forget it, and at the same time, a new sensation appears in my head, like some kind of on/off switch. (With some very interesting information.)
The next thing I notice is that my light not only turned white with flashes, but my consistency went from being a genderless figure made of energy to a solid, genderless figure made of hard light.
The second thing I notice is the accumulation of new knowledge in my brain.
My mind clears, and my fear completely vanishes because now I know what's happening.
"An essence, that's what I drank, and each star here is some kind of power that my essence allows me to choose and obtain." (And which my new knowledge told me not to touch under any circumstances.) "But the reason the second star hurt is because you're literally only supposed to eat one, and I've already had two."
"The number of stars has to do with the soul's tolerance for pain," I remember hearing the strange man at the bar, his eyes almost glowing.
I pause for a moment to wonder if he was the one who put the bottle of essence in my refrigerator back at the apartment. "But in the end, no matter what I gain here, it will be totally worth the pain," I decide, unable to help but laugh.
"Because I can get out of here now." I realize I could have left the moment I touched the first star, but another way out comes to mind. "Why does the star that now resides within my soul [Omniversal possession] allow me to enter any universe?"
"It's undoubtedly an incredible power, and it's not limited to the real universe, but includes the imaginary universe with everything that entails." My mind fills with possibilities. I could go to any series, movie, or anime, and it's not limited to canon. I could go to any timeline. That in itself is incredible, but [Omniversal possession] is limited to entering a universe. If I want to stay there, I have to earn it. To do so, I have to choose a [Possession] target and kill said target myself without help. By doing so, I gain everything from them.
"That includes their place in the world." Which allows me to pass as a person born in that universe, and therefore, I won't be considered an invader. "The good thing is that if I want someone to accompany me, my companions won't be forced to kill someone to remain in the universe." (Apparently, since a "native of the universe" is inviting them, they can join me without problems.)
"Honestly, I should be worried about planning to commit murder, or rather, multiple murders." "I wasn't planning on stopping at just one world, after all; there are so many worlds I'd like to go to." "But I really don't care enough to make the opportunity to go anywhere and anytime worth it."
"Something I should consider when leaving here," I decided resolutely as I contemplated the best universe for my first trip and thought about the second option for arriving in a new world. "The second option is Reincarnation, but the downside is that I could lose powers or abilities incompatible with the world, but I would also gain the world's power system if I have it naturally."
But right now, it doesn't matter. The most important thing now is to make a plan, and for that, I need to know what else I have." [Choice] "I call upon the void, and this time the pain is mild compared to the last, but the reward is just as good. [Choice] allows me a power from a random list from any universe I know.
"I could leave now. I already have incredible power, but if I leave, I won't be able to come back here even with my ability." I stare at the large purple star in the distance.
It's smaller than the one [Omniverse Possession] gave me, and it's larger than [Choice], but what catches my attention is that it's undoubtedly much brighter than my two stars combined. If what my granted knowledge tells me is correct, the brightness indicates compatibility. (And why is it so bright?)
"But it's also true that I'm here on borrowed time. I'm only supposed to take one star, not two, and while I have lucidity, that's only because the star's energy cleared my mind. I don't know what a third star would do, but I doubt it's a good thing." I frown at the seal while thinking, "Besides, being here isn't free."
"I'm literally burning my soul to be here. The light around me is my soul being burned to be able to move in this place." But I don't know what powers it will give me to choose. [Choice] And if it's a useless one, then I'm pretty screwed.
"The truth is, there's only one choice, right? I've already made the damn journey here, so that's my damn star." I yelled into the void, running towards the great dwelling, my light, although much larger. (But now that I know what to look for, I immediately notice how my form is slowly getting smaller, little by little.)
"I'm so close now." I grunt as I float the remaining distance to my star, which seems like hundreds of kilometers, and the star grows larger in my eyes the closer I get. (Maybe a little too big,) I think, alarmed.
As I run, I think about my first ability and the world I should go to in order to make a more solid plan—and the colorful flashes in my light slowly fade due to the lack of light—only for my thoughts to come to a screeching halt as I can't remember my house, my street, or even the name of my city or the current year.
"Shit," I curse, shaking my head rapidly as I continue on my way. "I'll think about that when I get out of here. With my ability, I'll find a way to return sooner or later."
"I need a low-ranking world to start, one I can use to grow in strength and power." Now, with that thought in mind, I look for the best places to go. "Most anime are a no, almost instant. I don't think Zeno-sama would like me to get into Dragon Ball. Another option would be Naruto, but I don't know if the Sage of the Six Paths could do anything to me for entering his world. The same goes for DC and Marvel."
I need a world that gives me the time to learn how to fight. I think Demon Slayer would be a good option, along with maybe Jujutsu Kaisen.
I continued floating toward the purple star without a solid plan. "Trying to be as alert as possible, but I didn't notice any tentacles, teeth, or tongues, so it seems my pursuer gave up," I thought, looking sideways, in front of me, and behind me in case someone was coming after me. But I didn't notice anything the entire way to the large dwelling.
By the time I reached my star, my soul had become significantly smaller, almost the size of a soccer ball, but I was already in front of the large dwelling.
The first thing I noticed about it was that it wasn't purple, but rather a magenta color.
The second thing I noticed was that this star was large, or rather immense, easily almost the size of the moon back home. That's why it took me so long to reach it. The star was much farther away than it seemed due to its large size.
The third thing is that unlike the other two stars I came into contact with, this one was by far the most solid.
"Although looking at it up close it's obvious it's not an ordinary star, it appears to be made of a multitude of semi-transparent magenta energy chains surrounding a solid core." - Said chains were terribly intricate and very sharp, by the way, and they were in every direction I could see.
"Well, here goes." I pause for a moment to think about what I plan to do. "I'm going to jump into a star that will undoubtedly try to invade my soul, which feels like a balloon about to burst, and it's the size of the damn moon." I consider this for a moment.
"Well, I've always had a sweet tooth, and the bottle said stars weren't friends, and if they're not friends, then they're food." I joke before jumping without thinking about the consequences. I quickly reach the star's orbit, and unlike the other two, it does have gravity. Almost instantly, my soul feels crushed and pulled towards the star just by its proximity.
"Aaaargh!" I scream as my body is rapidly bound and severed by the chains, at a speed I simply couldn't comprehend, and then the mass of energy is pulled directly towards its core.
All I could feel was pain as the chains went from trapping my form to trying to enter my body, severing it in the process. My consciousness began to waver, and my light began to burn powerfully, with my will trying to protect me.
"I'm not going to die here," I roared at the star as I managed to free my right arm from the chains and extend it toward the solid core. The chains tore pieces of me away, and my light turned into flames to feed faster on the chains and replenish my soul with more light. But my consciousness began to fail slowly but s