Dying is scary as shit. I know that's an apparent thought, right? But you never really think about it until you fall off the top of a building... Are chased by a bear... or realize you're drowning... or any way you can recognize it before it happens. Like how I died, getting run over by an out-of-control 2024 cyber truck that not only thinks I'm a viable parking spot due to faulty programming but is also on fire. Just slow enough to realize what's happening but too fast to escape.

But after seeing my life flash before my eyes, I couldn't help but laugh like a hyena, my face contorting into an involuntary smile. I mean FUCK, I knew they were trash, but how the fuck is this happening? WHAT GLITCH CAUSES THIS!? And it's been happening for about a minute now. I was booking it at the store I was walking to, the closest building, but sadly, I was too far away, and it was gaining on me. I tried, and like that, I was gone. Lost to the idiocy of a billionaire.

But hey, there's an afterlife, and not Christianity's, so I'm not going to hell. But I'm now at a desk. Facing what I assume is an angle. Their physic was androgynous, so I couldn't tell if they were male or female-presenting, so I'll say they/them from now on.

"Hi, my name is *X*. I'm your afterlife attorney," they said, voice not wavering as they looked excited. "Now you are my first client, so please be patient. I might need to go through the guidelines throughout our meetings."

"Oh, no problem. I do the same thing, so feel free. Also, what was your name? I couldn't quit—" I was cut off as a large file and a pile of stapled papers landed on the desk. As I looked to where they possibly could have come from, I saw naught but void.

"Okay..." they flipped through the stack of papers. "I'm supposed to ask some questions to get a feel for how much you remember. So what's your name?"

"Oh! Um, it's-" I was interrupted by a pen, falling and clattered onto the desk.

"Oh, I was wondering where that was, okay, so how did you die?"

Flustered, I went with the new question. "Uh, a flaming cybertuck ran me over and crushed me."

The angel looked confused, stopped her notetaking, and flipped through the large file. "Well, that's..." they glanced up at me before looking down at the paper. "I... what?"

"I know, right? Fucking crazy!" I said, a slight chuckle finding its way past my lips. "Like, I know they were absolute garbage, but this is ridiculous." we laughed for a while before I calmed down. "so this is the afterlife; does that folder tell you what happened after I die?"

"Oh yeah, your mom sued Tesla and won, getting it off the market and getting her a large amount of money as a settlement. She spent the rest of her life using that money to live comfortably." their brow furrows, a sad smile gracing her lips. "She missed you the rest of her life."

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I could feel the sting of tears in my eyes, but I breathed deeply, calming myself down. "So what now?"

Showing incredible professionalism, they closed the binder and looked me in the eye. "Well, from skimming your folder, I did see a lot of good and a not-so-small amount of bad. Nothing serious enough to be concerning or get your soul destroyed, but it still a noticeable mark."

"That makes sense," I nodded. "I wasn't the best example of a very moral person. But what does that mean now? Do I stay a ghost and roam the earth? " I exaggerated my "fear" with a gasp and leaned back off the chair.

We both laughed again. "This was one of your good parts: your self-awareness and willingness to be the subject of a joke." We calmed down a bit. "That is an option, though. It used to be very popular."

"Let me guess, fell off to being reincarnated in a fantasy world?"

"Right on the money. Is that what you want? You do have a lot more say than usual due to your frankly absurd death, plus your karma did end up positive."

"I am thinking that, but I feel like you already know what I want." I look them in the eyes, a smirk showing on their faces.

"You caught me. So, a dungeon core? I read the stories your file referenced for more info, and I must say I'm intrigued." She handed me four files. I opened the first one, labeled "645FG6-A," and began to read aloud.

"Biqagar is a world filled with magic, monsters, and a video game system acting as its Core. Elves, Dwarfs, and many other nonhumans inhabit this planet and its many countries, islands, deserts, forests, and every continent." The short paragraph was filled with a lot of backstory, but that's not what I was looking for. "Are there any TWs in this?"

"Trigger warnings?" they asked.

"Yes, I know that each of these is going to sell me on the positives, but the negatives are what matter," I say, passing the file back to them.

"Give me a second." They take all four files and walk into the void, seemingly disappearing. After something between instantly and never, they return with an older-looking angle, with slight wrinkles and grey hair reaching their upper back.

"Okay, I'm back, and here you go!" she handed me the duplicate files, this time with extensive red sharpy writing.

The first file was "Grimdark, Canablism, Slavery."

The second had "Slavery, heavy racism."

the third had "Grimdark, Hevy Racism, Slavery."

and the last only had "Slavery."

"So..." I look at the older angel. "This..." I wave my hand over the last file. "Is it non-negotiable?"

"Not if you want monsters, magic, and a general fantasy setting," he said.

"Shit..." I hold my head in my hands. "And if I chose none of these?"

"then it's haunting for you."

"Fuck..." I groan and tap the fourth folder. "This one, I guess. If they all have slavery, it's not really worse than the others..."

"Okay, please follow me!" the younger one stood back up and motioned me to follow; I did, and after walking so far in the void, the desk disappeared.

"Okay, so stand still, and if you need help, just think, "Aprase." Got it?"

"Alright, let's do this."

Then... everything faded into black.

『Building Core...』

『Core completed.』

『Loading skills...』

『Error, skill [Monster Creation] has mutated』

"Wait, something's wrong! BOSS!" I heard my Afterlife attorney yell

『The system registered the creature domain "Digimon" from the target's memories.』

A groan followed the sound of someone running towards me. "This shit again?" the elderly angel groaned.

『Collecting data from user memories...』

"What's happening?"

『Error: Incomplete data.』

『Finding alternate sources from the target's past.』

"Like another human, this one is obsessed with some monster franchise thing."

『Collecting data from alternate sources.』

"Can we stop this?"

『Data colection complete.』

"No, and worse, the other human's Attorney hasn't reported to me in weeks."

『Skill [Monster Creation] has mutated into [Monster Creation - "Digimon"]』

What?

『Transference complete』

Fuck.