《Thrashing Worlds One Step at a Time》


 Jonathan the Fighter - CH. 1

    "Ugh, another school day." Johnny rolled his eyes, finally reaching his crowded bus stop. His eyes quickly skim the crowd of puberty-bulging teens to lock onto a fatty standing in the back of the crowd. The fatty was his best friend, and an avid anime and Xianxia fan - he often calls himself an "otaku". When his best friend met Johnny''s gaze, his eyes lit up with a special sparkle; the fatty walking quickly to Johnny.


    "Jonathan! Did you see the latest One Piece chapter!? Can you believe it, the World Government actually has a King!? Who would have guessed!" Almost as soon as the two met, the excited fatty exploded with excitement from the recent hype in the anime world.


    "Yeah! I mean it was kinda predictable but the way the Gorosei bowed to him was so badass! Harry, did you see the latest My Hero Academia episode? All Might is beyond amazing!" Even Johnny couldn''t help but explode in his own excitements - the recent developments in his favorite shows and books have just been too much. He was typically the cooler and more relaxed of the two, and it was rare to see him burst forth with such excitement.


    Immediately the two continued their conversation, all the way until the big bright yellow bus arrived to pick up them and their associates. The two sat in their natural and typical spot, continuing their conversation. Until someone decided to interrupt.


    "Shut up, you weirdos are always rambling about useless garbage! We all don''t want to hear about your nonsense, Johnny!" At this time, a voice shouted from the seat in front of them, as a towering bully showed his face from the top of the seat. His condescending look landed onto Johnny and then turned to disgust as he looked at the fatty Harry.


    "Who do you think you''re talking to, Jason? Do you really think we''re afraid of you?" Immediately, Johnny''s eyes turned sharp as he glared directly at the bully. Despite Jason''s hulking size and violent tendencies, there wasn''t a hint of fear in Johnny''s eyes - he feared no one in school.


    "Since when did you start messing around with losers, Jonathan? One second you were a normal kid like the rest of us, and then all of sudden you''re some babbling idiot!" Jason retorted, his flashy temper starting to build up. But he still managed to control his anger, as he knew that the one he was talking to was no normal ''weeaboo'' or ''weirdo'' - rather he was talking to the infamous Jonathan.


    And he was right. Normally, Johnny would never be associated with the likes of Harry. Known as somewhat of a "bad boy" around the school - there was no place he would go without stirring up trouble. All the teachers felt a chill down their back whenever they saw his name on their roster of new students. The number of fights he got in during his first year of high school? Seventeen. 17. That''s no small amount. The scarier part?


    He didn''t lose a single one.


    "Jason! I''m going to give you three seconds to get the hell out of my face!" At this time, Johnny was running out of patience. He lifted three fingers and suddenly his eyes became chilly. Once Jason saw this behavior, even he had to turn around and return to his previous conversation.


    Jason and Johnny had brawled a total of three times. The first one was when Johnny first moved to the school, and Jason immediately thought he was another wimp he could bully around. He quickly learned his lesson when he was sent home with a black eye - after a single fight. The second fight occurred when Jason thought that the fight was "unfair" and attempted to attack Johnny first. The result was a slightly tougher battle, but he was still sent home as the loser.


    The third fight, however, happened when he tried to get his buddies to jump both Johnny and Harry - as the two had recently begun their fruitful friendship. This was the toughest fight of all, even Johnny couldn''t leave without being severely hurt - but he still managed to fight off three fighters by himself. Of course, Harry didn''t help - and instead ran away while urinating on himself. It couldn''t be helped, he says.


    "Thanks for standing up for me again, Johnny. I''m sorry I bring all this trouble to you." Harry couldn''t help but sigh in relief, seeing Jason turn around in defeat. He felt slightly bad for all the trouble he brought Johnny - after all - no one would dare humiliate Johnny if it wasn''t for Harry dragging Johnny into the anime and xianxia world.


    "Pfft, how many times do I have to tell you? These jerks deserve it, we''re still bros regardless." Johnny cracked a humble smile, seeing it as no trouble. He was happy he met Harry, after all, he introduced him into the immersive world of fantasy.


    Before, he would always come home to his troubling Uncle or be bored out of his mind. However, with the introduction of Cultivation books and shounen anime, he would always have something to watch or read. It was pure entertainment for him.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.


    And thus the two continued their conversation all the way throughout the bus ride. Until they were dropped at school.


    The normal school day proceeded for Johnny. Annoying teachers, annoying classmates, boring material, bad grades, and everything in-between. He was about as far from a star student as it could get.


    Soon it was time for the bus ride back home, and it proceeded as it always did. Harry introducing and recommending some new anime and Johnny soaking up more and more. They exchanged fantasy ideas and had fun as always, all the way until they were back at the bus stop.


    The two walked all the way to Harry''s house, AKA his secret otaku lab, in which he performs all of his devious deeds.


    "Great talk Johnny! So...are you gonna linger around town?" Harry asked this, as he knew the situation at Johnny''s home was not...desirable.


    "Yeah. I''m gonna wait until the last minute before appearing at the dirtbag my Uncle calls our house." Johnny sighed. He never wanted to go home, and sometimes he straight up wouldn''t - either sleeping at Harry''s or out at the park bench. But today, he was hoping he would get a warm bed to sleep in.


    The park bench was rather uncomfortable.


    "Alright! If it doesn''t work, you can always stop by at my place." Harry gently smiled, as the two performed their signature 15-step secretive handshake. And with that, Harry walked into his house, as Johnny turned to begin roaming the streets.


    Time silently passed, and before he realized it, it was too late to continue wandering. So he walked down to the lower income neighborhoods, all the way until he reached an old and dirty house that belonged to his dreadful Uncle.


    Johnny inhaled deeply, he could never be able to anticipate what was going on in this house. So, he knocked on the door and then stepped in.


    "AGHHHHH!!!!!!" His Uncle screams immediately shattered his ears, as he stepped in and watched his Uncle violently slam a glass bottle, already empty, on the kitchen table top. His eyes were red, clearly, the sign of some heavy drugs, and his shirt was wet and full of alcohol stains. He was clearly in a deranged state, his hair flung out of control.


    "Uncle, what''s wrong!?" Johnny immediately entered crisis mode, running straight to his Uncle to prevent any self-harm. This kind of situation wasn''t new, and he had to deal with this on more than one occasion.


    "She broke up on me! Why!? What did I do!?" His furious voice screamed out at Johnny, with traces of pain and hurt throughout his voice. His eyes locked onto his new visitor, and they only flared up with more anger.


    "IT WAS YOU WASN''T IT!? YOU DID THIS!" At this moment, his Uncle pointed the broken end of the glass bottle at Johnny. His look was extremely pathetic and ghastly, he looked worse and worse by the second.


    "What do you mean!? I didn''t do anything!" Johnny''s mind was racing, as he quickly entered a defensive position. At this moment, anything could happen. The best situation was to de-escalate the situation as quickly as possible, but anything could happen.


    "YOU MUST HAVE TOLD HER SOMETHING! YOU DIDN''T WANT TO SEE US TOGETHER! YOU THINK I DIDN''T KNOW!? YOUR TRASH!" At this moment, there was no reconciling with the deranged Uncle Will, who grabbed another bottle and threw it at the undeserving Johnny.


    "Stop! Relax, Will, it isn''t like that! She made a mistake, she didn''t want to leave you!" Johnny quickly dived to the side, narrowly dodging the bottle - which crashed against the wall behind him, shooting up shards of glass. He realized that he was in a severely dangerous position. While he could run, he knew that if he did, Uncle Will would only take out the anger on himself.


    He had to save Uncle Will from himself. Although he had no sympathy for this insane Uncle of his, he was his father''s brother. He had to uphold his safety.


    "AHHHH! YOU BRAT! WHAT YOU NEED IS DISCIPLINE! I''ll do my job as your guardian." All of sudden, Uncle Will went from screaming to almost a hush. This rapid change actually birthed fear in Johnny''s heart - he was more fearful of quiet Will then loud and disturbed Will.


    "No, listen, what do you mean discipline? I didn''t do anything, I promise!" At this time, Uncle Will set down the broken bottle, reaching into the kitchen drawers. At this moment, Johnny''s eyes widened as he realized what was going to happen before it did. He immediately broke out into a run, attempting to reach the drawer before Will.


    Within that drawer was one of three guns hidden throughout the house...


    "STOP! WILL!" But Uncle Will had the head start, and by the time Johnny got close enough to reach Will, he had already taken out the jet-black gun that belonged only to him. Almost with no hesitation, he swung the gun straight to Johnny''s head - causing Johnny to freeze in his tracks.


    "Uncle...stop. Look at what you''re doing. Take a few deep breaths, this isn''t the right way." Johnny''s eyes were as wide as saucers, his heart trembling as silence invaded the kitchen. All he could do was bounce his eyes from the cold pistol to Will''s bright-red eyes.


    "You.." Just when Will was about to speak, Johnny darted to the side, just barely avoiding the gun''s line of sight. Just as fast, he reached to grab the gun from Will''s hands. He managed to grab hold - but despite this, his strength couldn''t match the power of the adult Will.


    "BOOM! BOOM!" Will threw Johnny''s hands off the gun, and with cold blood-colored eyes - pulled the trigger twice. The sound of gunshots shook the small house, spreading from the house to the neighbors.


    Johnny''s vision quickly faded, as his brain''s thoughts seemed to disperse. All he could feel was his body falling backward and then the thump of his body hitting the kitchen floor. His eyes fluttered as he got one last look at the eyes of his killer.


    And what he saw? Immediate endless regret.


    And just like that, the infamous Jonathan the Fighter died.


    But Johnny''s story doesn''t end there...

 Death and Demon Palace - CH. 2

    "What the..." Jonathan felt a sudden throbbing pain spread all over his body before the hazing feeling shook off. His eyes fluttered open, quickly scanning his surroundings, curious where he was. What he saw shocked him even further.


    "I-I''m dead?" Jonathan looked around and looked at himself - he seemed to have taken the form of a perfectly white ghost. His ghost form still kept the shape and physique of his original body, but it seemed illusionary and slightly see-through.


    But he wasn''t the only one as so, as he looked ahead and found himself in a line of ghosts just like him. They were all muttering and had different expressions - some relaxed, some confused, some frightened. He saw all types of ghosts, from young boys and girls to hunchbacked old men and women.


    However, the most peculiar thing about every ghost was some sort of flame residing within their skull - where the brain would be. Each and every person''s flame seemed to be a different color, with red, green, and orange being the most common color for these flames. Johnny had no way of telling the color his own flame, as it was located in his head.


    He had some suspicions that each flame represented the "soul" of an individual. Just as he was thinking, another illusionary ghost seemed to magically appear behind him.


    "This man must have recently died, while everyone in front of me died slightly before me. Seems that ol'' dirtbag Will actually had the balls to shoot me." Jonathan was without a doubt, shocked that this was how death actually worked. There were countless beliefs on Earth in the afterlife, who would have known this would be the actual process.


    Diverting his attention from the line of ghosts, he looked at his surroundings and saw that they seemed to be in some massive, incredulous, demon palace. The palace''s ceiling seemed to climb higher than the sky, there was no way to see the top. The entire palace was made from black, grey, and dark purple materials - only adding to the gloomy and grieving atmosphere pushing down on all the ghosts. But its most interesting thing trait was the faintly glowing runes located all over the castle. These runes seemed to have a mysterious power, though Johnny was unable to determine their purpose. Interested, he decided to find the three largest and most brightly shining runes - and attempted to imprint their picture and lines in his memory. He only managed to form a blurry outline in his memory but he felt that it was strangely beneficial to.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.


    As Johnny diverted his attention from the Palace to his left and right - he quickly saw that his line wasn''t the only line. Rather, there was an almost identical line on his left and right! And it seemed that even those lines had lines next to them! Straining his eyes and taking advantage of the slight transparency of the ghosts - he counted a total of ten lines!


    That reminded him of a story on Earth - where there were Ten Yama Kings to judge souls before they went on to reincarnate! This meant that the ghost lines were all leading to the possible judgment for each one of them!


    And possible reincarnation!? As all of these thoughts began to be pieced together, Jonathan''s mind trembled. Perhaps...just perhaps..he would be born again in a different world?


    Johnny stood there as he thought of all of this. He, as well as the other ghosts, kept completely quiet. However, the more Johnny observed, he realized that many of the others were extremely uncomfortable - as if they wanted to speak but they couldn''t.


    "Perhaps its due to those runes? Could they be applying a suppressive effect on the other ghosts thoughts and souls?" He vaguely wondered, and decided to try and investigate these runes even further.


    The line continued forward slowly at a steady pace. In what felt like a short amount of time, Johnny was at the front of the line.


    "NEXT!" A voice thundered out of a swirling black portal in front of Johnny. The voice was incredibly powerful and seemed to have the mysterious power to directly drag him into the portal.


    It was time to be judged...