Chapter 1 - Reincarnation

This, is my ‘dungeon’. It’s one rat away from a warehouse, and a few floors short of any livable dwelling. It’s located in the center of a certain God’s amusement. After all, how can such an entity as ‘God’ interpret ‘this’ as a ‘dungeon’?

Admittedly, it is entirely my fault for getting ahead of myself and jumping to my own conclusions. As they say, “hindsight is 20/20”. If you don’t know what that means, then I suggest you look it up while you still can. Unfortunately, I can’t do it for you anymore because I died. It was a tragedy for sure; well for me anyways. I’m sure not many other people thought the same. The world is full of death and misery. One more middle aged man dying isn’t news. Especially when you don’t have a family to leave behind; no girlfriend or wife, no kids or dependents, and not many friends. I won’t pretend that it was an ‘accident’, or that it happened in a memorable way.

It was suicide. I’m sure someone will argue that I can’t call my death tragic if I decided to kill myself, but I will remind them that, ultimately, all life is tragic with only moments of happiness and wonder. My life had fewer of these moments and I was foolish enough to believe that dying was the ultimate end. I was wrong, very wrong. As they say, “death is only the beginning”. How correct that saying is cannot be expressed.

I died, and sat before God in a cheesy looking office space. One of those offices you would enter when your boss needed to speak with you. There was an over-sized desk with a desktop computer and even a phone. A bookshelf lined with titles I couldn’t read. The chair behind the desk looked overly comfortable, but my chair was the same. Seriously, I want to keep this chair, bind it to my very soul and feel comfortable forever. The window behind the desk contained a scene that can only be described as “the vastness of the cosmos”. Again, I suggest you look up images for that phrase.

I was staring out the window, and so mesmerized at the scene that I didn’t notice the door behind me open. An individual walked into the office, saw me sitting there staring out the window, and then dropped the binder of papers all over the floor. I turned around startled, looking at the papers on the floor then back at them.

“Hello, my name is…what is my name?” I said trying to introduce myself.

They turned around, and exit the office while slamming the door. I heard some incoherent shouting and then some loud footsteps. They entered the room with another individual, pointed at me, and then stared at the new individual. I stared back at the first individual and then at the second. The second hurried out of the office and the first closed the door. They walked over to the desk, looked at me, sighed, and then took a seat behind the desk.

They looked me in the eye and said “Hello, I am…”.

“You are God.” I said interrupting them.

“…correct. Don’t interrupt me, child” said God.

God rubbed the bridge of their nose between their eyes and continued “It seems you died and were sent directly to my office. You were always a child that was sent to the Principal’s office. Anyways, I did not expect you to be sent back here so soon”.

“What do you mean by ‘back here so soon’?” I responded.

God blinked several times with a surprised look on their face before sighing.

“I see, you killed yourself this time, didn’t you?” God said disappointed.

I nodded in response while saying “Yes, but you should have already known that. After all, I am in ‘your’ office”.

“When you commit suicide, it erases memories from the soul itself. When you die naturally, and yes accidents are natural by fate, your soul downloads the memories of your life. You can think of your body as a flash drive, storing specific information to be carried from one place to another, while your soul is the computer containing all of the original information. When your body is full of information, you die, and then are reborn in a new body for new information to be created in. This is how the soul is tempered, made stronger, throughout the cycle of reincarnation. When you die, and come to this place, you are supposed to remember everything, including this place. It is here that we evaluate your soul and award you Reincarnation Points to be used to load your new body with information that could help you live a better life. You would understand this system as Karma. These points can be used in other ways as well. For instance, you ‘bought’ that chair you are currently sitting in. Whenever you die, you are put in that chair while your soul downloads the latest memories.” God said.

“So…this is ‘my’ chair…that’s a relief!” I said while blinking and then looking down at the chair.

“Yes, you were very excited when you successfully purchased it. Although, it cost you almost all of your points. It is a chair in ‘my’ office, after all… Back to the topic at hand, you seem to at least recognize that I am God, but since you killed yourself, the memories in your current body became corrupt, and therefore corrupted your soul. That is why you do not completely remember what this place is, or ‘your’ chair. We need to reincarnate you into a new body quickly so that your soul doesn’t get corrupted any further” God said while looking at me with concern.

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“YES!” I shouted while standing “This is awesome! I read countless stories about this! With my points, I’ll get an overpowered skill and body and live out one of those amazing adventure stories all over the internet!”

God sighed and shook their head while saying “Not exactly. Your soul is corrupted now. You won’t have enough points for something like that. Your current evaluation is at 2750 RP”.

“Is that a high number or low number?” I asked.

God looks at the computer screen and then back at me before responding “For example, after you purchased that chair, you had 6950 RP. The number is supposed to go up, but the corruption has lowered your evaluation. Here is a list of available options for the skills and bodies you mentioned. Don’t worry about choosing the skills or body, you will be reincarnated into an environment that these choices will be usable in.”

Body Wolf Canine Species found in almost all livable worlds. Slime Multi-celled substance that resembles a single-celled organism. Golem Living object, usually made of dirt or wood. Human Common species found across all worlds. Demi-human Common species crossed between humans and other species.

Skills (Passive) Language Comprehension Easier to comprehend all written and spoken languages. Bound Familiar A familiar is bound to your soul and will follow you wherever you go. Natural Leader Others naturally want to follow your lead. Magic Comprehension Easier to learn and manipulate magic. Special Sense Your senses will be above average and easier to obtain additional senses.

I looked at the options displayed in front of me while thinking that this really is just like one of those web fictions I always read.

I looked at God and asked “Why are the skills passive? Why is ‘Bound Familiar’ a passive skill?”

“‘Bound Familiar’ is a passive skill because it is bound to your soul. It is the skill you used to purchase ‘your’ chair. No, you cannot summon ‘your’ chair to the world you reincarnate into. The chair is a ‘divine’ item from God’s office. If it was from the lobby, it could be classified as a ‘holy’ item and summoned, but ‘divine’ items are an absolute ‘NO’. The skills are all passive because they are designed to be carried over in each life to ensure longer survival and more tempering of the soul upon death. Unfortunately, you hoarded all of your points and refused to buy any skills till you could purchase the chair. Afterwards, you were so excited you just reincarnated without even choosing a body and we had to choose for you.” God responded.

“Well, it was worth it! This chair is divinely comfortable. Besides, you told me that this chair would aid in tempering my soul in between reincarnations.” I said.

“So you remember some details about ‘your’ chair but apparently not about ‘me’.” God sighed before asking. “So, which options do you choose?”

“I will choose ‘Language Comprehension’; how much is it?” I asked.

“The ‘Language Comprehension’ skill is valued at 2146 RP. Do you confirm purchase?” God responded.

“Yes, I also want the ‘Bound Familiar’ option. What are my ‘Familiar’ options?” I continued.

“The ‘Language Comprehension’ skill has been purchased and will be loaded upon reincarnation. There is only one option from the ‘Familiar’ that you can afford with the remaining 604 RP. That is the ‘House Brownie’, subspecies to ‘Fairy’. The ‘House Brownie’ will maintain an organized and clean property at all times. They will defend the property to their death, but as a subspecies of ‘Fairy’ they are often not able to be seen and most intruders get the impression that the property is haunted. The 603 RP value includes the highest intelligence for their species.” God said.

I scratched my beard and thought before responding “That will only leave me with 1 RP left. How much is the cheapest body?”

God looked at the computer screen and said “Dungeon Core for 1 RP.”

I stared at God and inwardly cheered for what a bargain this was. "I could become a dungeon core!? This really is just like the web novels! I can get the Dungeon Core and get the house brownie to clean my dungeon core room and assist with running the dungeon with their high intellect. This is amazing! I can’t pass this up."

“I’ll take the ‘House Brownie’ for 603 RP. I need a smart house keeper.” I said while holding in my excitement and thinking about all the possible dungeons I could create.

“The ‘House Brownie' will be bound to your soul and loaded upon reincarnation. Unfortunately, now the only body you can reincarnate into is the Dungeon Core. I hope you don’t regret your choices, and don’t kill yourself this time!” God said before clicking on the computer.

“Wait…what do you mean ‘unfortunately’?” I said before I suddenly started to fade.

The room around me starts to twist and I felt myself being pulled into the cosmos of the window behind God, and then I blacked out.