Chapter 1: Regular at the Wheel of Reincarnation
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There are three ways to kill a reincarnator.
Supposedly.
Given that I have been reborn once again, I am unsure how much of that claim is true.
[The Order of the Crimson Abyss], the faction that bested me this time around, took pride in their knowledge of these three methods. Considering they did possess the ability to put me down once and for all, I feared it was the end when I was about to lose my life.
Yet, of course, this great venerable one has outwitted death once more. Throughout all of heaven and earth, who dares to try and kill me?
"..."
Perhaps I should learn to change my internal monologues’ pattern a bit, since it may be unfit for the modern world I was reborn into. Which in itself was pretty exciting. Which in itself was pretty damn exciting.
Anyhow, back to the point. There are three ways to kill a reincarnator such as myself.
First, the most obvious one. To Soul-Kill them. As in, to destroy the soul completely.
The Order had tried that as I was just about to pass away, but it clearly hadn't worked. Whatever technique they used to try and destroy my soul, it was far too weak to erase me.
Second, to destroy all their memories. Not the ones stored in their brain, but their soul. So if the soul kill process fails, the target won't have any memories or sense of self left to know that they're a reincarnator.
There was a clear drawback to this path, as the reincarnator wasn't technically dead, and would continue reincarnating. Though some philosophers argued that without the memory, the reincarnator would just be a different person altogether? In that sense, this method made sense.
Third, third… I don't remember?
I paled. What? Dammit.
Despite my arrogance, it seems the Order's second tactic worked to a certain degree, enough that I don't remember the third method they used. Yes, the Order had tried all three of their methods on me, they truly wanted me dead, and two of them may just have worked.
The process of the three ways was actually done in reverse, I recall that much. First they defeated me with an overwhelming number of Cultivators and Sorcerors alike, and then they tried the third method on me. Then they used their second, to erase my memories. Then, lastly, they tried to erase my soul, which caused me to spring into another reincarnation.
Though perhaps… I received more damage than I believed I did. No, it wasn’t just two of those tactics that worked, all three did – though seemingly not entirely as they intended, given I was still breathing.
It seems I have lived quite a number of incarnations after dying in the Order’s hands without the presence of my memories. Only in this life did I regain my true senses. It was a pity, but I told myself everything turned out fine. I did survive, which makes everything else a minor inconvenience.
It’s not good, though. I admit I am a little crazy in my head, living life so many times, making families, only to lose them again, building empires only for them to collapse whilst I won’t ever know about them again. Life is… tedious when you live like this, your sanity begins to warp to keep you interested in living. To… not just commit suicide.
All right, let's wrap this up. Let’s see how much I remember.
In the beginning, I was a normal human in a normal world where no such thing as mana, chi, chakra, or any other supernatural energy existed. Needless to say, no kind of superpowers existed either. I died at a pretty early age in that world, barely out of my teens, at the tip of the broken bottle of my drunkard of a father, when I tried to stop him from barging into my sister's room. Quite the noble death in my opinion, and perhaps decided by God or whoever else was touched by that, or maybe just by pure luck, I reincarnated in some kind of medieval fantasy world.
I lived the typical Isekai life there. Killed the demon king, bedded pretty girls, you know the usual. Then, I was stabbed in my sleep by one of my girls. She was the daughter of the late demon king, and she'd been waiting to take revenge for her father for decades. I spent decades with her, and yet she killed me. Demon bitches are scary.
I’d still stick though.
After that, I was reincarnated… again. Sadly, it seems the Memory Erasure technique from the Order had mostly erased memories of my 3rd life, I only remember the outline of it. Dammit. Anyhow, I remember bits and pieces that it was a rare world with no mana, and it was the 12th century.
The funniest part is that I was reborn as Genghis fucking Khan. Despite the lack of natural magic energy in the world, I possessed a few magical arts that allowed me to use my life energy, or others' if I sacrificed them through the use of blood rituals, to command magic. Funnily enough, it was a technique I learned from the same demon wife of mine who had murdered me.
According to my leftover memories I took over at least half of Asia and was sure to go down the pages of history as a legend, just like the original Genghis Khan. Though sometimes I do wonder if the Genghis Khan in my first life was actually just me. Anyhow, I am side-tracking.
Right after that, another few blank spots in my head. However, for whatever it counted, I did remember my 9th reincarnation clearly. It was the one where I was killed by the Order. It was also my longest life. I was reborn in a wuxia cultivation world, with flying swords and arrogant young masters, with power scales touching the heavens, etcetera you get the deal. Though the cultivars were also called martial artists as per usual.
The Order that I speak of is an organization spanning the multiverse. Though there is most likely a larger verse, an Omniverse maybe, beyond us.
As one would expect from a multiversal organization who hunted me down, I myself was a multiversal deity. I was not a God in the usual sense, no faith and divinity bullshit, but I was indeed an ultra-powerful entity who’s so great that he could go against any celestial being from other worlds.
That was it, that's where my memories end. It wasn't as "whole" as I would have liked it to be but I can live with that. Whatever memory erasure technique they used, it was quite effective and managed to erase most of my memories of those past lives. Which was all I needed to confirm to let out a massive groan.
"Uaaua-"
Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
"..."
When I realized all that came out of my mouth was a gibberish baby cry, I quickly stopped. Dammit, I always hate this part of my life. So defenseless, so weak. So… pathetic. Being an infant wasn’t a fun job.
All right, enough crying. Not that I have cried at all, mind you. I'm a reincarnator, and as long as I live, all memories can be retrieved over time. Besides, I do have a lot of important memories anyway, spell books, martial arts and stuff. It would take some years, perhaps decades, but that's such a small time for my eternal self, and I am confident in healing all of my memories.
Instead, this was a good place for spending a few decades. I've been reincarnated in a modern world, I can see the large TV in this room, just beside the other baby casket beside mine. This was my 10th world, and it was my first modern world since my first life. Oh, and I have decided to call it my “10th” since the uncountable reincarnations after I met the order don’t have any memories-
I suddenly stopped.
"Huah?"
A confused baby sound came out of my lips. No, there is a new set of latest memories that I have access to. It wasn't very exceptional, so I didn't notice at first, also since I hadn’t regained my true consciousness in that life. Still, I did well. In the life right before this, I was a doctor.
As expected of this great venerable that is I-… hm, I need to learn to stop. This is a modern world; this type of speech will be seen as a clown’s philosophy.
Gorou Amamiya, that's who I was in my last life. My 10th life; looks like I have to consider my current one my 11th. In my 10th life, I was a doctor in my early 30s who… oh, damn, that's an interesting death for a modern world. I was murdered, that too on the day when I was supposed to deliver the children of a famous idol. The recent memories before this death are filled with quite the emotions, compared to the rest of that entire life.
I was Japanese then, by the way. This room too had signs of belonging to a Japanese person. What are the odds that I'd reincarnate in a modern world twice in a row, being my first modern world since my first death, while also being in Japan both times?
Fun.
I yawned, my baby body not siding with me as tiredness took over and I decided to take a nap. I would enjoy this life. Maybe.
* * *
Aquamarine. That was my name now. If that hadn't rung any bell in my ex-anime addict self, the next scenarios fell into an unsolved puzzle perfectly.
This was interesting. Nothing like this had ever happened before.
It's been a few months since I woke up in this world, and I had realized some key things. This world that I was currently in, was the same world where Gorou Amamiya died. What's wrong with that? It meant I have been reincarnated in the same exact world twice. That was a new and odd development.
The weirdest part was that this was a world I knew of. This was a world based on an anime. I knew that because my memories have grown sharp over the years, and while I couldn’t recall everything, I could recall most. There were characters of a particular anime all over this place, and over time I had no choice but to accept that I’d been reborn in a world that I previously thought was fictional.
Well, the multiverse existed, so the chance that the multiverse theory is real isn't weird.
After coming to terms with that, the first thing I did was search for my name on the net, the original name that I had in my very first life. I did some research, and sadly I didn't even exist in this world — which only further confirmed that this wasn't the same earth as my first life and truly an anime world.
Perhaps that explained why there was quite a load of mana in the air because this was a fictional world, where maybe Gods existed too if my memories weren’t betraying me.
Back to the situation at hand, I slowly looked ahead.
"Say ahh."
"Ahh."
I ate my porridge with a spoon while observing the pretty purple-haired little girl feeding another blonde-haired little girl. Though I say little girl, there is a large contrast between the two’s ages. The first is 16, and the second is a toddler.
Ai Hoshino and Ruby Hoshino. My mother and my twin sister. Don't ask, why in hell's name is your mother 16?
Honestly, I wasn't really surprised, having lived in a cultivation world for so long. People there did so much worse, this was nothing compared to that.
The most interesting part is; this 16-year-old is the exact girl that Doctor Gorou Amamiya – my previous incarnation – was supposed to deliver the children of. I have been reborn as my own patient's son, whom my previous incarnation had also been a big fan of.
What a mess.
Japan was crazy for things like this; I used to like the culture back when I was still a youngling, but over time I realized the harsh truth. In my current situation, that truth just hit home.
"Aqua,"
Suddenly, Ai Hoshino turned to look at me, who hadn't been eating for a while.
"What's wrong? Do you want me to feed you too?"
I was once again reminded that my new name is Aquamarine Hoshino. Dammit.
I, the great immortal venerable, feared by stars and nebulas, was now called Aqua. It hurt, but I had made a promise to myself in one of my earlier incarnations that I won't change my parent’s given name ever. Unless it was too silly, like Dick Gayson.
Unwilling to cause her trouble, I just shook my little head, lifted a spoon, and ate.
"Aww,"
Ai smiled at me.
"I'm still surprised how you can do that at this age. My little genius. Must be genetics, huh?"
I just ignored her adoration and the jealous glare of the other toddler.
That toddler girl was my twin. That kid was a weird one too, she was a reincarnator herself, except not a celestial being such as I. From what my memories say and what I have observed in the past few months, she's an in-world reincarnator, someone who was a normal human in her past life.
Some God had gifted her a second chance, unlike my limitless reincarnation powers, and this was likely her last chance. Still, it was very fun to have a fellow reincarnator, even though I have yet to introduce myself to her. She was honestly bothersome.
Even if I knew who she was; she was a girl who died at my hospital in my last life, due to cancer. We were close, and I recall my last incarnation had fallen into depression due to her death. That was odd for a doctor who had seen so many people die, so it went far to say how much my previous incarnation liked her.
That part of me, and the true part of me that had watched this anime in the past, felt happy seeing her alive again. Thanks to the God who caused her reincarnation, she was getting to live her dream.
"Though really, Gods…"
"Hm? Did you say something, Aqua?"
Oh shit. Indeed, even a mortal such as her can notice my transcendent intelligence sometimes, so I ought to be more careful about what I say.
I quickly made baby sounds and titled my head; I had accidentally spoken out loud. After Ai just smiled at me, ruffled my hair, and went back to feed my sister, I frowned.
Gods. Gods were a thing in this world. I hadn't managed to roam the internet that much, but I was fairly sure from the bits I saw, along with Gorou's set of memories, that the existence of Gods or other supernaturals was as vague as in a normal world.
However, Gods did exist. I knew that from the somewhat blurry memory of the manga I had read. That meant I had to grow stronger, living in a modern world was going to be fun after so long, but that didn't mean I planned to die a mortal.
I am [Monarch of the Brightest Night], the supreme overlord of stars who never bowed to Gods and even heaven itself, after all.
The air was rich with ambient energy, and that meant I could grow. There were large gaps in my memories, but countless of my techniques and martial arts were unharmed. So, there shouldn't be any issue to become the God King of this modern world.
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| Master4thWall - Author Note |
Adding one more to the ever-growing stories (none in Royalroad), but I just couldn't hold back the urge this time. Chapters are 2.5~3k words long. Enjoy!