[Greetings and welcome to your afterlife, the incinerator, unclean soul. In your previous life, you carried out several atrocities. Murdering people for amusement and other reasons. I am the system task to judge you.]

"It wasn't me, you have to believ —" The memories came flooding into his mind, the agony made him scream.

When he'd calmed down he had questions. "Wait, what's the incinerator? Is this some kind of joke, am I hallucinating?" He managed to let out.

"Of course I'm hallucinating, so this is death..."

[Glad you asked, nobody ever does. Everyone has their own afterlife depending on how they lived their previous and what they believed in. Yours is the incinerator because that's the fate of your soul — to be destroyed. And no, this is not a hallucination.]

"Wait, you can't just destroy — you can't just tell me the afterlife exists and then destroy my soul."

[As I'm sure you can tell, you know it was you that killed all those people. I don't understand how a mere human like you, could be so cruel. But you must understand especially now that you've become one with your other self.]

Jonathan looked down at his body, he couldn't see anything. The bright light robbed him of his sense of sight. But he took comfort in the fact that he could use his other senses.

A sense of calmness washed over him, he was still pretty shook up by the cops and being shot at that he didn't realised the change his mind had undergone. He was amazed by how the mind worked, it was extraordinarily powerful.

"Yes, I do remember — I remember it all, the screams, the cries, them begging me to stop. The peculiar thing is, I don't feel bad, I don't feel remorse. I don't feel anything."

[Of course you don't and that's really unfortunate that means your soul is beyond saving. You were born a psychopath with bloodlust, unfortunately.]

He thought back to his orphanage days, memories that were locked up and forgotten came into the surface. He always got in trouble with the matron, he'd always hurt his peers.

"What now? What's it like having your soul destroyed? You're having this conversation with me there must be something you want?"

[You have to understand. Nothing ever truly dies, it just changes shape into something else. To be erased from existence is a pain even I cannot explain.

This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

But I am a fair system. Since there were two of you in there, I'll give you a chance to clear your conscience by reincarnating you into another world]

"Wait, back then you said I killed for the fun of it, does that mean murder is okay as long as it's just?"

[I tell you, you have another possible chance and that's what you're concerned with? Your priorities are very questionable Jonathan Swindler.]

Jonathan's lips quivered into a nervous smile. The system's lack of answer made him think that, the world he was going to be placed in would be worse than hell. A survival of the fittest kind of situation.

[Once upon a time, there was nothingness. There only existed twelve gods known as the gods of the zodiacs.

They were siblings whom existed before time itself. Out of their boredom, Ancieru was unwittingly created.

As godly beings they were strict with each other to never bear children. While this rule was followed religiously, everything changed once Ancieru had beings with sentience.

Many of them couldn't contain their curiosity so they assimilated with their own creation from time to time, thereby creating halfbreeds.

I'm telling you this so that you understand that you're being plunged in a world that is about to experience chaos and possibly an end. A fitting punishment for someone like you.

Who knows, maybe you'll be strong enough to save it. Or you'll perish alongside it. In any case, your singular goal is to cleanse your soul and prove that no soul is beyond saving.

The world you'll be transported into is a very dangerous one. Where beasts and all sorts of creatures exist. I can only wish you luck.]

"I am so confused, if I'm a murdeous villain, wouldn't I just be better off not living ever? Why give me a chance to redeem myself?"

[You're such a bummer. It's not if, you are a murderer. I'll admit, this case is the first of its kind. I've never done this, but it's about time to see whether souls can be cleansed.

I'm not doing this for you, it's for my own research. If you fail, I'll just shrug it off and conclude that souls cannot be saved.]

"Tsk. I'm tired of living. Why do I have to be a guinea pig." He'd gotten used to his merged minds and the new personality they'd given him.

[Then consider this your hell. This isn't up for debate, I'd rather use you as a guinea pig than waste another soul.

Don't you get it? If you succeed you'll have a second chance at life, yes in a dangerous world, but everything can be tamed if you have the power.]

"The last thing I want be a puppet." His nose flared thinking about his miserable office life.

[I won't be able to control you but do keep in mind that you're there to redeem yourself. Murdering when it can be prevented will incur a hefty price and of course I won't let you run amok there, I don't trust you, I'll give you a gift.]

Jonathan sighed, he didn't think he had much of a choice — he had to agree to be the test subject. He was fine with it as long as he wasn't being controlled.

The system was silent for quite some time, Jonathan didn't know what to say to it so he kept his mouth shut.

In his mind, he thought this was just a reaction from his brain, making him hallucinate being given another life when he was losing another.

He was never a religious person. In fact any unsolicited visitor who knocked on his door trying to convert him to be a part of that world, he rejected them strongly — at one point having shut the door before they could even say anything.

He felt his very being 'touched' it felt good, he didn't remember ever feeling good about being alive ever.

[That's your gift.]