I found myself floating in darkness.

Minutes passed. Then hours. Then days.

I lost track of time as I floated in that pitch black abyss.

‘Is this death?’ I wondered. Simply existing in eternal darkness seemed quite grandiose as a punishment. Was this Hell or did everyone experience this when they died?

[The answer, my child, is that most people are simply stripped of memories and then reincarnated. You are being forced to wait in the ether as punishment.]

A mysterious voice boomed all around me, as if from everywhere and nowhere at the same time. It was probably the voice of God. It seems I really was being punished for my life. How adorable~

[Why do you not repent for your actions?]

Why should I?

[You killed thousands.]

I killed no one. I simply enabled those thousands to kill themselves.

[That is, in my eyes, the same thing.]

I mean, if you really are God, I understand why you’re upset.

[... Interesting. Go on.]

I mean, I created a better world than you.

[Ho! What is this arrogance?]

Arrogance? No. This is simple fact. You created a world where a daughter could be sold as a sex slave at three years old. You created a world where suffering knows no end, food runs short, and greed reigns supreme over everything. You created a world where the strong thrive and the weak suffer and there is almost no way to become the former if you were born as the latter.

Me, though. I created a world where everyone was equal. Everyone could benefit. No one was physically disabled. No one was weaker at the start than anyone else. In my world people could chase their dreams without care!

The world you created was flawed beyond reason. I might have created a simple fantasy themed VRMMO, but it encapsulated everything from your world and simply made it balanced. Players weren’t handed a lot in life and sent off. They were given the option to craft themselves. They were allowed to pick their destiny with their own hands.

I didn’t kill a single soul. I simply presented them a better world and they chose to live in it.

[You really think this world you created is better than the one I did?]

Yes. Both worlds suffer from the greed of man and the pursuit of power, but my world doesn’t start anyone off with unnatural advantages. Everything that happens to a person there is due to their own efforts. Humans are flawed naturally, of course, so any world with them in it will never truly be perfect… But my world was far closer to that ideal than yours will ever be.

[You are quite the savage one, child. I had been planning on reincarnating you into an easier life this time, but after talking with you I can see how deformed your soul truly is.]

I’ll take that as a compliment.

[I won’t kill your soul simply because these deformations weren’t your own fault. You were mistreated at every turn. You were failed by those who were supposed to protect you. Oh fragile child, I cannot return you to the main world, but I can send you to one of the many outer realms governed by lesser Gods. Your penance for your crimes will be to save a new world.]

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I immediately understood that I was being reincarnated. I don’t know what these main world and outer realms are, but I’d rather avoid being reborn and growing up from a baby again, if possible. I’ve already had one childhood destroyed, I don’t feel like experiencing deja vu.

[This request can be granted. I will gift you a new body, one accustomed to this world. I have listened to your passion and I agree that being unable to change the circumstance of one’s birth is a rather terrible method for raising souls. Unfortunately, I cannot change the systems in place for they were set by the Elder Ones. I can, however, use my power to change the destiny of a single soul… My friend, the Goddess Albyrra, is the ruler of the world I’m sending you to. She asked me to send her a powerful soul to be her champion and kill the infection plaguing her lands, known as Demons.]

You want me to become some hero and kill the demon king, like some kind of protagonist from a story?

[Yes. I will present you with your ‘character creation screen’ now. Pick your skills wisely. You may have three days to adjust the parameters to your liking.]

Oh, well this is interesting. Can you perhaps give me some baseline knowledge of this world so I can adjust myself appropriately? I mean, even in my game world there were guides for people to read while creating their characters.

[This much is fine, but it will cost you some of the points I wished to distribute.]

Heh, you’re like a game admin. Sure. Charge me those points. Going in blind would be far worse than losing a little bit of my gain.  

[Very well then. Then with this I bid you farewell, my child. Oh, by the way, I know you’re thinking you can just shirk this whole ‘demon king’ responsibility… But you can’t. You are being grafted as Albyrra’s slave. Meaning you can never disobey a direct command from her.]

Ah seriously? Sending me off to a fantasy world and I can’t even fucking enjoy myself?

[You can enjoy yourself, but you must also work towards cleansing the vile miasma that has given rise to the demonic beings. This can only be done by slaying the Demon King and destroying the crystal in his chest.]

Why can’t your God friend just kill him on her own?

[We are not allowed to interfere directly with our worlds. This is a decree set by the Elder Ones. We can only interact with the souls as they pass in and out. Therefore we are making you our champion. Now silence. I am sending you to the ‘character creation’ screen.]

This is really like a game…

Then the darkness around me began to spin like a vortex. Stars appeared and vanished like miniature suns rising and setting over countless days.