Where am I? It’s so dark, I can’t even see my own hands. It’s so quiet. It’s so peaceful. It reminds me of dying in my old life. This doesn’t make any sense though, the last thing I remember is leveling up, how would leveling kill me again?

What’s that in front of me? Like a little purple bright light in the distance. It’s gradually becoming larger and larger until my dark sanctuary becomes nonexistent and disappears. I can’t help but squeeze my eyes shut at the sudden influx of light. As I gradually open them, I see a handsome man with purple eyes that seems to glow, in a business suit, and holding a scythe casually on his shoulder.

Now this is the part where any normal person would normal freak out, but I can’t help but to feel comfortable around the guy. He, I don’t know how to explain it properly, but he just radiates a calming aura. He feels like the darkness from before and the darkness of Death from my first life. I don’t completely understand it myself. This is indeed my first time feeling aura, if this even is aura.

During this whole thought process, mysterious guy with a scythe, who I’m thinking more and more is Death over every passing second was just standing there, staring at me. He hadn’t said a thing yet. Am I crazy for officially thinking that this is Death?  I mean, I’ve been revived from the dead so it would make sense for the God of Death to give permission for me to get revived. The question is, what religion is he from.

There are many religions with many Gods of Death. Depending on which religion he is from can also tell me which religion to start believing in. I decide not to think about it for now, if this God agrees and has the time, then all my questions will be answered in due time. I stare back into the eyes of the God and wait. I should allow the God to have first words, I don’t want to seem to disrespectful.

“I see you are done thinking.”  the God says. I have to force myself to keep my eyes open. His voice was so calming. It was soft but strong. I almost fell asleep but if my theory is correct then I wouldn’t just be going to sleep if I succumb. Don’t get wrong, at this point I’m not really afraid of dying but I have a chance to do some amazing things this time around. I don’t want to give up, not yet anyway.

The God smiles. “I have to commend you on your determination. I shouldn’t waste time. I am Death, as you have already guessed, well one version of it anyway. Specifically I am Izanami of the Japanese religion.” The God of death paused. He knew I had questions. For one, how did he know I guessed he was Death? This could easily be explained now that I think about it. He is the God of Death, and I did die. I technically belong in his domain so it makes sense that he can read my mind.

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Second thing is, I’ve read up on Izanami for otaku reasons and it says that he is in fact a she. Izanami was a woman in Japanese Mythology. She had a husband and everything. Izanami is is a goddess of both Creation and Death, as well as the former wife of the god Izanagi.This man in front of me looks nothing like a woman at all. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t swing that way but she is too handsome to be a man. This however can be self-answered also. In many religions, the Gods can change gender at will. This can explain why Izanami is now a man.

Third thing is Izanami is supposed to be dead. Now stop your fucking laughing. A Goddess of Death being dead just makes sense right? Nothing special about it, except it doesn’t fucking work like that. Right now, Izanami is supposed to be in Yomi for eating the Food of the Underworld. How is she here right now? Or should I ask how is he here right now. Should I call her he? Would that be disrespectful? So many questions are popping into my head. I calm down and stop thinking for a second. Izanami is obviously reading my mind and waiting for me to finish. After a couple of more seconds she continued.

“Now as I was saying, I am here to tell you why you have been revived and your part to play in The Game. The system is still new and didn’t explain why this happening correctly. Yes you are revived for missing the constant opportunities to entertain us Gods but there is more to it than that. There are 6 other revived humans in the world currently. One for each continent. Each one of you has to end up taking control of your continent and becoming the leader. It doesn’t matter how you do it, as long as it  gets done. Next you all will fight until there's only one on top.”

“So...Game of Thrones?”

“Exactly! Each player starts off with one God by their side, but that doesn’t mean they can’t get more. If you appease to other Gods then they might take you on as their proxy also and bless you. Currently, most Gods from the human’s mythology exist. Right now, you only have one God at your side and that’s me. From what I heard, you're already smart and adaptable considering you already know I can read your mind. If I trust you enough later on, I might answer some of your questions.”

“Well why did you happen to choose me instead of the other 6?”

“Many Gods of Death wanted you. The way you embraced Death n your first life made you highly wanted. In the end, it was up to me and Hades from the Greek Pantheon. It was decided by your love and interest in which God more. You being an Otaku tipped the balance in my favor.

“So what do I get from your blessing then? I’m not going to lie, I was going to conquer the world anyway. At least now I know that it won’t be boring.” I say with a smirk as the God chuckled. I can’t tell if it was because he was amused about what I said or the picture of a baby smirking.

“You’ll get the skills Soul Devour and Creation. You’ll get the details of the skill once you wake up in the real world. All of the 7 have been born today and when you get back we’ll fast forward to when you’re all 15 and start out with the average 15 year old stats. Remember, the other Kings aren’t Gamers. They have been given random power just as you have. I cannot tell you of their powers but be careful. I’m counting on you to win this.” With that said, he hands me a chain with a scythe at the end. Once the chain touches my little baby hand I get a massive headache and I shut my eyes in pain.

“Xavior can you please finish reading the passage please?” I hear someone say. Holding my hand to my head to steady myself I open my eyes slowly to find myself in a classroom full of children.

...Fuck.