The Level 2 Puppet Technique had branches underneath it—Puppet Crafting (Lv2) and Puppet Control (Lv2).
And then, there was that progress bar.
Next to the bar, a small new button had appeared, along with two lines of explanatory text:
[Please collect more Fate Energy. Once the Fate Gauge is full, a new world can be unlocked and an avatar can be deployed.]
[Current progress: 17.3% | Unlocked Worlds: 1]
Those two sentences carried a lot of information.
Three keywords stood out: Fate, New World, and Avatar.
Gather fate to unlock new worlds, deploy avatars into them, and collect even more fate within those worlds—this seemed to be the most important new function of the system, beyond simply displaying attributes.
Shimizu continued by clicking that small button in his mind.
All data on the interface began to distort, eventually collapsing into a black vortex large enough to devour a person.
Shimizu felt a sliver of his consciousness being stripped away and swallowed by the vortex.
"My head… feels a little dizzy."
He shook his head, closed his eyes, and experienced something entirely new.
It felt as if his consciousness had split in two.
One part remained here, while the other part existed in a distant new world—almost possessing independent thought, yet still entirely under the control of the original.
"Kinda like Shadow Clone Jutsu? But different somehow?"
Though Shimizu hadn't yet learned that B-rank ninjutsu, he knew what it did.
Clearly, this so-called Avatar was far more advanced than a Shadow Clone—it was almost like becoming two separate living beings.
...
...
A crack of ominous lightning tore across the sky. Under heavy storm clouds, the rain poured relentlessly.
This was Gotham.
And the moment Shimizu's consciousness entered this world, he felt something was seriously wrong.
He found himself inside a small room about ten square meters in size. The floors and walls were made of some white material with a metallic sheen—clearly very solid.
Cold blue lights streamed in from behind a bulletproof glass door, and from both neighboring rooms came intermittent sounds of shouting and curses.
He had just finished receiving this body's settings and partial memories when the chaos next door began.
"Oh, hey! Black Mask, you're getting close! Almost guessed it! Just think carefully: it has wings but isn't an angel, drinks blood but isn't a devil—what could it be? This one's so easy!"
The slimy voice came from the room on his left—tone theatrical, like he was performing a monologue.
"F*** you! You psycho freak, can't they move you to another room?! I swear, I'm gonna cut your tongue out and feed it to Batman!"
The guy on the other side sounded like he was on the verge of a breakdown.
This guy next door would spit out 200 riddles a day. If you didn't answer, he'd never shut up. Only when you solved one would he quiet down and start thinking of a new one.
Shimizu covered his ears, slumped into the corner, and began sorting through the information in his head.
Where was he now...?
Arkham!
The Riddler and Black Mask were his neighbors in Arkham Asylum.
The former was infamous and universally disliked, while the latter was a second or third-rate villain in Gotham.
As for himself, his name was Clear Water—which, conveniently, could also be translated as "Shimizu."
His alias on the Gotham streets was The Puppeteer, a bottom-tier villain among bottom-tier villains.
A crazy Asian doctor obsessed with resurrecting the dead. Though his medical skills were mediocre, his corpse-stitching hobby led him to develop crude techniques for turning bodies into puppets controlled by wires.
It felt a bit like human puppetry, but in truth, his craftsmanship and techniques were rough. His puppets could be taken out in bulk by any decently trained armed cop.
Totally low-tier stuff, which made him an unremarkable little villain—far less notable than his two neighbors.
Honestly, those crimes shouldn't have even landed him in Arkham.
But because the doctor was deemed mentally unstable, he was locked up here instead.
"Oh hey! That was the simplest riddle ever—even kindergarteners could get it, you dumb pig! If Batman were here, he'd have solved all my advanced riddles in seconds! That guy's a genius!"
"How about I try an even easier one? This is honestly the first time I've struggled so much to think of a simple riddle..."
"Hey, you—yeah, you in the middle—why don't you give it a try? You've been quiet for a while now!"
Shimizu let out a tired sigh and took his hand off his ear.
It was useless. This guy just wouldn't stop talking.
"First off, my name's not 'hey.'"
"Second, the answer to your last riddle is 'bat.'"
"Third, stop talking to me—or I'll turn you into a puppet!"
"Fourth—"
Shimizu slammed a fist against the wall in frustration.
"Riddler, get the hell out of Gotham!!"
In the next cell, the Riddler took off his green bowler hat in confusion.
Why did this fellow villain, The Puppeteer, seem to harbor such deep resentment toward him?
"You're the one who should get out of Gotham! Listen up—I'm giving you a new riddle! If you can't answer, once I get out, I swear I'll—"
Ding-dong!
Shimizu, clearly fed up, began banging furiously on the bulletproof glass door in front of him.
The commotion quickly drew the attention of the monitoring staff.
Soon, the heavy steel door opened, and in walked a fully armed security guard.
"Clear Water! You'd better have a good reason for this, or I'll make sure you regret interrupting my shift!"
"Officer! The Riddler just said he's been in contact with the Penguin on the outside, and they're planning a breakout. He even invited me and Black Mask to join."
Black Mask: ???
When was I invited to escape?!
The officer didn't dare ignore it and immediately pulled out his communicator.
"Cell 408—Riddler is suspected of planning a breakout. Recommend immediate transfer to the high-security underground wing."
Riddler: ???
"Oh hey! I never said I was planning an escape!!"
The Riddler rushed to the transparent glass and shouted in protest.
"You dare say you don't want to escape?"
Shimizu smirked with a devilish grin that looked suspiciously like Anya from Spy x Family.
"Well duh! Who doesn't want to escape from this place? You trying to say you don't?"
The Riddler retorted instinctively.
"I don't. Arkham is full of talent. Everyone here's so pleasant to talk to. I love it here! Don't you agree, Black Mask? You heard the Riddler trying to recruit us, didn't you?"
Black Mask finally caught on and nodded vigorously in front of the officer.
Soon, a squad of armed guards arrived, slapped cuffs and shackles on the Riddler, and hauled him off to a higher-security wing.
"Finally, peace and quiet!"
Black Mask took a deep breath and sat in the corner of his cell, relaxing.
"Don't get too comfortable. Every cell is monitored and recorded. Once they verify everything, that guy might get transferred back."
Shimizu sat cross-legged in the center of his cell, sighing helplessly.
(End of Chapter)