“The New Cosmos Project?” Arthur’s expression turned into that of confusion. “What’s that?”

“It’s the name of the path you have chosen to undertake,” Theresa replied, her expression turning calm. “It’s a bit more difficult than if you were to normally reincarnate in some parts, such as the fact that you’d be turned into an inanimate object after this. But other than that, it’s more or less the same.”

Whilst listening to the woman’s words, Arthur felt like something didn’t add up. Going through the memories and knowledge he had accrued from his past life, he had heard of the concept of reincarnation before. He had even heard of how reincarnation was split into six paths, which was mentioned by Theresa earlier.

However, he had no knowledge of the New Cosmos Project at all, whether it be the project’s goals or its origin.

With that, a few questions had formed within the young man’s mind as he looked at Theresa with a somewhat unnerving level of calm. “How did the New Cosmos Project come about in the first place?”

Hearing the young man’s question, a bitter smile briefly crept up Theresa’s face as her mind faintly recalled the years upon years of stress she had gone through so far. “To be honest, it’s quite a long story. But I’ll explain it in a way that doesn't take up that much time.”

Getting an affirmative nod in response, the woman gathered her thoughts for a bit as she took in a deep breath. “I guess let’s begin this explanation by asking you about everything you know regarding space.”

“Do you know what a galactic supercluster is?” she asked, to which she received a yes from the young man in response.

“Do you know that a bunch of these superclusters form a unit that’s called a universe?” asked Theresa once more, only to receive yet another yes from Arthur.

Inwardly nodding after ascertaining that Arthur’s knowledge more or less lined up with the information she had gotten regarding the general knowledge of beings from his planet, Theresa proceeded with her queries.

“Do you know that a bunch of these universes are actually connected to one another, forming what would normally be called a multiverse?”

At this question, the young woman expected a shake of the head or flat-out rejection from the young man. But instead, Arthur looked at her with a hint of surprise.

“Really?” he asked back. “I guess it wasn’t a theory, after all.”

‘A theory, huh…’ Hearing the young man’s words, Theresa’s eyes widened in realization, now understanding why such information did not surprise the young man that much. At the same time, she faintly appreciated how Arthur’s planet was quite accepting of such ideas, even though it was located in the Cosmic Void Zone.

“With how you’ve reacted to my earlier piece of information, then I guess it must not surprise you that these multiverses are connected together in a way similar to universes, forming what is called a cosmos.”

In response, Arthur faintly nodded, though he told Theresa that the interpretation he had heard regarding the concept went by other fanciful names, briefly mentioning things such as higher dimensions and greater planes. Then again, the fact that the largest cohesive unit in space was a cosmos did surprise him a bit. However, it did not wane his interest in her explanation at all.

Seeing that the young man continued to stay all ears at her words, the woman nodded in satisfaction as she briefly thought about how Arthur was truly the perfect candidate she had chosen.

“In any case, though there are multiple multiverses throughout the vast expanse of space, there is only one cosmos currently existing,” said Theresa. “That would be the cosmos that we are currently in, which is known by many as the First Cosmos.”

“And as of late, the First Cosmos is starting to crumble.”

“What?” Unlike the calmness that enveloped Arthur the moment he heard from Theresa that he was in Purgatory, the young man expressed a great amount of shock at the woman’s statement as he found it hard to believe.

After all, from what he knew, the universe he was in had already been around for roughly 14 billion years. According to the science videos he had watched back then regarding the future of the universe, it would take over an octillion years before his universe began to resemble a desolate wasteland.

Yet, the woman before him told him that the First Cosmos, a unit of space far larger than a universe, was breaking apart? Just like that?

Of course, through her further explanations, Theresa explained to the young man that the First Cosmos had been around for an absurdly long time, far longer than the octillion years he had heard his universe would take to enter its dark period.

Though, it was also due to how long the First Cosmos had been around that it could not take it any longer, breaking the delicate equilibrium that had kept it going thus far. With that, Theresa explained that the First Cosmos was incredibly close to the point of collapse at one point, though all of the beings within the First Cosmos had pitched in to try and give themselves a bit of a breather before planning out their next steps.

Surprisingly, the breather they gave themselves was a whole ten million years.

With how Arthur had only lived to 22 before his untimely death, ten million years was an insanely long amount of time that stood on the same level of incomprehensibility that an octillion years held to him.

In other words, such large numbers were mostly meaningless to him.

Yet, compared to the obscenely large number Theresa mentioned that corresponded to the First Cosmos’ age, ten million years was indeed a small blip of time, enough to make him feel a hint of fear for what’s to come even.

“And so, that’s where the New Cosmos Project comes in,” said Theresa. “From the name itself, a new cosmos would be created from scratch, with all of the gods and higher beings of the First Cosmos doing most of the heavy lifting.”

“However, there is still a need for a great number of people to help complete the new cosmos from the inside.” At these words, she stared at Arthur in the eyes. “In other words, we would need to reincarnate people from the First Cosmos into this new cosmos.”

Hearing that, Arthur was about to ask why they hadn’t thought of directly transferring people from the First Cosmos to the new cosmos instead. Though, before he could even ask the question, it was as if the woman had already thought of it beforehand, informing him that they had thought of directly transferring people into it.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Unfortunately, what ended up happening was an intense rejection from the new cosmos itself, turning those who had volunteered to be transferred into dust, never to be seen again even in the First Cosmos’ path of reincarnation.

With that, the entire First Cosmos looked for other ways to put people into the new cosmos, to which they found out that reincarnating them into the new cosmos saw no rejection from it at all.

At this point, Arthur more or less understood what the New Cosmos Project was and what it aimed to do. However, even though he appreciated the fact that he was now part of a project that would save the lives of many, there was something else that he didn’t quite get.

“What would I do once I’m in the new cosmos exactly?” asked the young man. “Just live out my life with the help of the system?”

Surprisingly, Theresa nodded in agreement. “More or less. However, if you want me to be more specific, you’d need to reach the peak of strength within the new cosmos with the help of the system… well, whatever form the peak of strength may take on in that place, anyway.”

“Sounds simple enough.” Arthur nodded in understanding, imagining his new life to be similar to the role-playing games he would play in his free time. “So, when do I get transferred there?”

“Hold on for just one moment.” Hearing the young man’s words, Theresa stood up from her chair as she left the space for a bit. After a while, she returned to the room, pushing along a metal cart that held three mundane-looking items. “You know, you’re awfully calm for someone who just died now that I think about it.”

“There’s no point panicking over something I have no control over.” Arthur merely smiled, soon focusing his attention on the items as Theresa faintly chuckled in response to his words. “Plus, if I were to have panicked, I'm pretty sure I would've done something stupid. Wouldn’t have even gotten the opportunity to hear the new path you just gave me if I were to do that.”

To the very left was a normal-looking stick that reminded Arthur of the many sticks he had picked up in his youth. However, as his gaze continued to linger at the stick, his vision of the stick started to distort, instead showing him a tree at the center of the void that seemed to hold up the cosmos through its leaves and its roots.

Profusely shaking his head to rid himself of the vision, Arthur inwardly sighed out in relief as he moved onto the item in the center, which appeared to be an unassuming blood drop. Though, just like the stick he was staring at earlier, the blood drop had also given him a vision of untold properties.

Rather than a world tree that served as the foundations of the cosmos, the blood drop appeared to be an unceasing ocean of crimson that wreaked havoc on anything it came across, serving as a constant source of destruction for the entire cosmos.

Shaking his head one last time, Arthur then looked at the rightmost item on the cart. However, unlike the stick and the blood drop, he was greatly unfamiliar with the third item.

“What’s that?” he asked, pointing at the marble-looking object as he looked at Theresa for answers.

“That is a spirit nucleus,” replied Theresa. “An inert one, to be more specific.”

Nodding back in understanding, he then refocused his attention towards the spirit nucleus Theresa mentioned, only to be swept into a vision yet again.

If the stick showed him the pinnacle of stability and tenacity through its vision, and the blood drop showed him the pinnacle of destruction and chaos, the spirit nucleus instead showed him a vision that went a whole level above the concepts that existed within the visions of the stick and the blood drop.

Through the lens of the spirit nucleus, he watched an intangible form of energy wash over the entire cosmos, becoming one with everything while remaining separate from everything at the same time. Feeling the sense of omniscience and omnipresence the vision brought, Arthur felt a hint of affinity towards the spirit nucleus, gazing at it even after the vision had disappeared.

Noticing how the young man’s focus was transfixed on the spirit nucleus, a faint smile briefly appeared on Theresa’s face as she explained, “The three items I’ve shown you are the choices you’ll be given on what inanimate object you’d be reborn into once in the new cosmos.”

“The stick will allow you to traverse the path of nature and life, with mana being the first form of energy you’ll be interacting with on your path to the peak. At the end of this path, you’ll become what would be called a Tree of Cosmos, your canopy and roots making the foundations of the new cosmos firm.”

“As for the blood drop, it pushes you into the path of blood and vitality, with life force being the first form of energy for that path. At the end of this path, you’ll become what would be called a Sanguine Cataclysm, causing destruction and chaos in every corner of the new cosmos while sowing the seeds of potential at the same time.”

“And last but not the least would be the spirit nucleus, which would push you onto the path of energies and concepts, with qi being the first form of energy for such a path. At the end of this path, you’ll become what would be called a True Cosmos Vein, infusing energies containing myriad concepts throughout the cosmos, giving the new cosmos a type of energy that the First Cosmos lacked.”

“Now… what would you choose?” asked Theresa, even though the young man’s expression from earlier had already allowed her to know his answer beforehand.

“I’ll choose… the spirit nucleus,” said Arthur in response.

Though she knew that there was a low chance for the young man to change his mind, the woman still warned him. “I must warn you that the path the spirit nucleus would make you traverse is comparatively harder than the path the stick or the blood drop has. After all, the spirit nucleus deals with more esoteric concepts such as the all-encompassing energy that is qi and the all-encompassing concept that is the Dao.”

“All the more reason to choose it, then,” replied the young man as he let out a bit of laughter. “After all, I’ll have a system assist me in that regard.”

“At most, it’ll reduce the difficulty of comprehending these concepts by a few notches, making them only slightly harder than the first two paths.” Theresa nodded in agreement, slightly shrugging her shoulders soon after. “Then again, you’re not wrong.”

“Just so we’re clear, you’ve chosen to be reborn as a spirit nucleus, right?”

Arthur firmly nodded. “That’s right.”

“Alright, then.” Theresa nodded back, stowing the cart with the items away from the space before returning to stand in front of the young man. After that, she proceeded to create a few hand gestures after taking a deep breath, pulling in a unique type of energy as she began to mutter to herself.

In the meantime, the space surrounding the two of them began to quake, prompting Arthur to stare at Theresa as he felt that the energy she was amassing was the root cause. Then again, if he wanted the woman to stop what she was doing, he couldn’t. Right now, it was as if Theresa was in her own world at the moment, continuing to amass the energy like it was her life’s sole purpose.

“With the power vested in me, I, Theresa of the First Blank Citadel, shall place Arthur James Marshall into the path of reincarnation.” At some point, the woman had stopped gathering energy, staring directly at Arthur as her voice was tinged with divine power.

“With the Grand Edict of the New Cosmos, his reincarnation shall now veer from the mandated six paths, transcending the entire concept as he shall now be sent on a path of reincarnation far beyond the confines of the First Cosmos.”

Gathering the energy she had amassed into a ball, she then pushed this ball of energy closer towards Arthur. Eventually, the two made contact, causing both of them to disappear as Arthur turned into a ray of light that pierced through the space’s ceiling.

Briefly staring at where Arthur previously sat, Theresa solemnly closed as she clasped her hands together. “As I have offered him my Fatebreaker Apparatus, Arthur James Marshall is now a subject under my supervision. With that, I, as his new supervisor, grant him the ability to retain his memories of the past, as well as all of the abilities that come along with the apparatus.”

“May the power of fate steer him onto the right path after his reincarnation, and may the gods and higher beings of the First Cosmos bless this man as preparation for his grand undertaking.”

“Sicut fatum vult.”