A black abyss.

No sound, no light, no movement.

Suddenly bright white words appear out of nowhere, and with it my consciousness.

I feel… muddled, reminds me of being under nitrous oxide during surgery. Didn’t think the afterlife would be like a laughing gas high.

[Human : Arren Sapin; Age of death : 48.3 “Earth” GAMMA 01189 59D solar years]

[No recollection of previous cycles]

[Cause of death : Exposure to outer space]

[Previously accumulated Karma : 925 351 points]

[Calculating Karma for life cycle n°43, please wait…]

[Survival points : 4 830]

[Offspring points : 0]

[Power level points : 13]

[Deeds points : 8 952]

[Achievements points : 95 244] {Expand for details}

  [Minor feats : 5 244]

  [First human to venture out of their native solar system : 10 000]

  [First human to discover extraterrestrial life form : 10 000]

  [First human to establish contact with another advanced life form : 10 000]

  [First human to kill a member of another advanced life form : 50 000]

  [First human to witness the existence of ‘magic’ : 10 000]

[Cycle n°43 total : 109 039]

[Accumulated total : 1 034 390]

[Karma sum is greater than 1 000 000, congratulations to the user for unlocking V.I.P. rights]

[Your Regular Karma Shop (10 000 maximum spend) has been upgraded to V.I.P Karma Shop]

[V.I.P. Karma Shop (Unlimited spend) is now permanently available]

[Awaiting user input, reincarnation pending…]

“Woah there! That’s a lot to unpack…”

“Those fuckers did me dirty uh, so much for an alien, they were just balls of electrons I’m pretty sure”

Let’s have a look at this… never expected the afterlife to be so gamey, feels like one of those VR games from my childhood. I honestly expected to just cease to exist so I’ll take that over it any day. “Hey, I want to see the shop.”

[Welcome to the V.I.P. shop, here the user may buy perks for their next cycle, there are few limitations to what the user may buy providing he has the Karma to pay for it. As is customary, we highly suggest buying the one time new V.I.P Pack.]

“That’s it ? I just ask for things ? Can I buy Immortality ?”

[True Immortality - 1 000 000 000 000 Karma]

“Oh that’s a bit on the expensive side, at my current pace I can buy it in about... 43 million lives… there’s a fake immortality then ? Maybe show me some similar but cheaper options.”

[Partial Immortality (May be killed by rank ##### or higher beings) - 1 000 000 000 Karma]

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

[Perfected Spiritual Lifeform - 50 000 000 Karma]

[Perfected Mechanical Lifeform - 5 000 000 Karma]

[Perfected Biological Lifeform - 500 000 Karma]

[‘Eternal youth’ - 100 000 Karma]

[Extended Lifespan - 20 000 Karma]

[50 years of healthy life - 5 000 Karma]

"Can I get an explanation about what the perfected biological lifeform does?"

[Request denied - User rank too low for descriptions of buyable perks and items]

I wonder if there’s loopholes I could exploit in here.

“Stop showing me things I can’t afford for now. I’ll have a look at the newbie pack.”

[V.I.P. Premium ONE TIME Exclusive Pack - 100 000 Karma (Contains the following)]

[Guaranteed sentient lifeform - Value 100 Karma]

[Good fortune +1 Luck Gold Ring - Value 1000 Karma]

[World Theme Selection - Value 1000 Karma]

[Character Creation Menu - Value 10 000 Karma]

[Keep current memories and continuity (Locks you into your previous state : biological humanoid) - Value 500 000 Karma]

[One premium magical affinity raffle ticket - Cannot be bought separately]

[One minor god’s blessing raffle ticket - Cannot be bought separately]

[One minor physical affliction raffle ticket - Cannot be bought separately, cannot be cured by any means]

“Yeah I’m buying this I don’t even need to think, it's too good to pass up.”

[Thank you for your patronage, Balance - 100 000 Karma]

[You may use your affliction raffle ticket now if you wish]

“So I can prepare I guess, alright I use it”

[!!! Congratulations on your raffle, you won : “ Weak Iris “ !!!]

[Weak Iris : Your eyes are slow to adjust to rapidly changing light levels]

“That’s probably not so bad, maybe I should get sunglasses, and night vision while I’m at it.”

[Request denied - Most physical objects aren’t for sale]

[Dark vision : replaces regular vison - 100 Karma]

[Dark vision - 1000 Karma]

“The replacement deal sounds quite bad, I’ll leave this for later. I need to think of whatever could be giving me an edge in this next life, the goal being to never die again since I probably won’t be able to buy that 500 000 karma pass to keep my memories next time.

The perfected biological lifeform sounds like something I need to buy if I want to stay alive long so that’s more than half of what I have left going down the drain. Yeah it's official, I'm buying the perfected biological lifeform, I've had enough of getting old once, hopefully it comes with a lot more features than not aging since it costs five times more than eternal youth.”

[Thank you for your patronage, Balance - 500 000 Karma]

“Actually, please recommend me something you would deem I need for 400 000 Karma”

[Request accepted - Fee : 10 000 Karma]

“That’s what I got for leaving the solar system and I’m about to spend it for a recommendation ?” I yelled for the first time, I didn’t even realize I could until now.

“I get it, show me something good ok”

[Thank you for your patronage, Balance - 10 000 Karma]

[We recommend : Universal tongue (User may understand and speak all oral languages, he cannot however read or write them.) 500 000 Karma]

[As a show of goodwill to a big spender, we offer a one time 20% discount]

[Will the user buy “Universal tongue” for 400 000 Karma ?]

“I should have seen it coming, you get that often in stories about reincarnation, well at least I didn’t die to a truck. I’m buying it, obviously. Would likely be hard to find something that gives me such an advantage in the long and short term for that price, the discount really seals the deal.

Also I already learned European, New Mandarin and West Republican this last decade. I'm sick and tired of new languages.”

[Thank you for your patronage, Balance - 400 000 Karma]

[Your new balance is 24 390 Karma, spend it wisely]

“At this point I’m all in, might as well spend it all, and if I die early I’m fucked for another 40 lives I guess, not that I’ll remember to be sad about it. So, I’m probably taking that night vision perk, I can likely pick out about 20 other things of a similar level or spend 10 - 20k at once.”

“Can I choose to start in a peaceful place ?”

[Peaceful start - 1000 Karma]

“I’ll keep an eye on that… Can I get knowledge about magic ?”

[Request denied - you cannot afford anything that you couldn’t learn in a few days with the premium magical affinity raffle ticket, we expect you not to waste hard earned Karma]

“Makes perfect sense. Oh I have an idea, what about advanced proprioception? I could have used that when there was no gravity, knowing where your body is and how it moves is generally a great thing.”

[Closest match : Advanced mana sense - 50 000 Karma]

[As you already bought Perfected Biological Lifeform you already have a basic mana sense ability.]

[We are willing to make a deal, the user may get Advanced mana sense and Dark Vision at a discount for all of their remaining balance if they accept all of the following penalties]

[Naked Start - Cannot be bought]

[Moderately Dangerous Start - Cannot be bought]

[Lonely Start - Cannot be bought]

“May I get the details on what exactly the penalties entail at least?”

[Naked Start : The user will start without clothes and in a situation where it is difficult to acquire any.]

[Moderately Dangerous Start : The user will appear in a situation presenting mild threats to his life expectancy.]

[Lonely Start : The user will start at least 20Km away from any intelligent lifeform.]

“The moderately dangerous start does sound a bit worrisome but I’ve survived through worse odds…I’m not one to decline a challenge. Bring it on.”

[Thank you for your patronage, your balance is now 0 Karma]

[I wish you a good life.]