I Hate Systems

Consider the Cultivation Genre, for example. The primary concept was of mortals becoming cultivators to go against the heavens to cultivate and become immortals, or even Gods. The worlds forming the genre had their respective energy to sustain this growth.

If a cultivator wished to cultivate, he could absorb the ambient energy directly, or through Spirit Stones--or their equivalent in the world--that they could mine, precious minerals that would give them an evolutionary advantage, herbs and the likes that shorten their growth time, etc.

The world was capable of accustoming anything they wished to do in the form of Dao. If they wished to reach the peak through pill refining, it was possible. Through artifact refining, also possible. Through talismans, definitely possible. Through standard energy accumulation in their bodies, guaranteed to succeed.

An infinite number of ways existed. They only needed to be explored.

And Cultivation was just the core of the genre. Depending on the world, sub-genres existed.

In one world, there could be a frightening race constantly invading the natives to destroy them, leading to a collapse of society. The cultivators resisted the change. That was an apocalyptic setting.

It could be a modern world regaining spiritual essence, allowing cultivation to become possible. It could also be a world where cultivators were unable to fight and could only travel fast, thereby making it a world centred around races as the primary form of entertainment.

It could be a world where talismans were the only source of power. So, cultivators accumulated spiritual energy in their bodies and refined talismans to use later, unleashing varying effects. The world centred around the economics of talismans.

The genre was Cultivation, but its implication varied vastly over the worlds.

In simpler terms, a genre could be assumed to be an ununiformly shaped boulder and sub-genres being pillars that prop the boulder up. Depending on the shape, the boulder would need a certain number of pillars to balance it.

When successfully balanced, it meant that the genre could be represented through multiple lenses--sub-genres.

In the case of Technocraft, his sub-genres include genetic worlds such as those involving the evolution of the bodies through the manipulation of genes, technological worlds that range from weapon-based worlds to those with Mechs, space-exploration kind of worlds, invasion type of worlds, apocalyptic worlds, post-apocalyptic worlds, information technology worlds, and even pathogenic worlds.

In the case of Mascot, her sub-genres include hero-summoning worlds, the classic power fantasy worlds, deity-influenced worlds, adventure-type worlds, resource mining worlds, and even simple romance-centred worlds.

These sub-genres are basically other genres existing partly within the respective genres.

"In that sense, a genre can exist individually. But, its room for growth is basically infinite if it can incorporate the essence of other genres within itself as sub-genres." Compass Carburettor let out a sigh, smiling in the end, "Whether it's a Grade 3 System or a Genre Representative, both tread on a similar route to reach the peak of their respective paths."

"That's why Truck-Kun doesn't have a Genre Representation."

"Technically, he doesn't have any sub-genres in him." He continued, "Truck-Kun's task ends the moment he transmigrates someone to another world."

"Hahaha!" Compass Carburettor felt an urge to laugh, concluding his inner monologues, "Basically, Genre Representatives are like companies. And only the companies with subsidiaries of other companies under them can represent themselves. They are pretty much conglomerates with a parent company."

"Currently, I'm just like Truck-Kun." He muttered, "I'm only a company, but a rapidly growing company. And..."

He grinned, "I think I get the Genre that my Mortality truly represents."

With that, Compass Carburettor took to the skies and arrived at a stop before Martial. This wasn't the actual Martial, but a clone of himself within the Dreamscape.

But unlike the original, this Martial was just a husk. Compass Carburettor didn't have enough energy to create a full version of Martial. His energy reserves wouldn't have been enough to sustain the Dreamscape for even a second.

Martial might be weak as compared to other Genre Representatives like Magister and Mascot, but he was still someone capable of representing his genre. And like every other Genre Representative, the total volume of energy in him was impossible for even the System World to replicate.

The reason Martial was the weakest Genre Representative among those that could unleash a Genre Representation was due to the sad fact that the boulder his genre encompassed was like a container with holes.

And the sub-genres forming its pillars were worms that sucked out the water within the container, growing in size to eventually overshadow the container itself.

Therefore, whenever a worm almost overshadowed the container, Martial severed the excess away. Until he severed the excess, there was an imbalance in him, preventing him from unleashing a Genre Representation if he so wished.

Only after he severed the excess was a balance of sorts attained, allowing him to unleash a Genre Representation.

But as the other worms continued to grow, it was a constant process where Martial gained and lost the qualifications to unleash a Genre Representation, making him the perfect subject for Compass Carburettor to study and gain further comprehension regarding the subject.

With all the data now collated, Compass Carburettor retracted the Dreamscape, watching the time of the universe resume its flow as he returned to his place on the terrace of the restaurant. In one of its rooms, Rass was sleeping, content with his achievements of having wiped out all major Martial Arts Sects.

It was as if the thirty years had never happened in the first place. It was true though, for it was just a dream.

It was just a dream!

Compass Carburettor closed his eyes and through his concept, formed a connection to his main body and transmitted all the data that he had mined. Following that, he smiled and stared at the sky, "I'll perform some experiments from what I gained here, Martial."

Compass Carburettor bit his tongue and committed suicide. His body rolled from the terrace and fell to the street below, causing a couple of passers-by to scream in shock at the corpse that splattered from impact.

"Wasn't this one of the servants from the restaurant?" The crowd clamoured around the corpse, one that lost all trace of Compass Carburettor, dying as just a mortal of this world.

All the power within the clone flowed to the original body through the concept as the eyes of Compass Carburettor opened within the star he was hovering, his lips curling up to form a smile, "I'm ready."