Gladyx straightened up and started speaking in a way that made me feel like she was reciting a practiced script.

“As an incoming human soul from Earth, and as part of your resurrection package with the Parxathlem Corporation, you have been granted 12,000 System Credits as reparations for operational mismanagement from DruxWug.

“System Credits are the main currency with which souls can purchase various benefits and advancements to be used towards better earning experience points to pay off your souldebt. They can be exchanged for–”

“Sorry,” I interrupted, earning myself a glare from the dragon lady. “How are System Credits earned otherwise?”

“System Credits can be gained by trading in experience points at time of death.”

“Don’t I need those experience points to pay off my debt?”

“Correct,” Gladyx said, transitioning into her regular voice. “Basically, it’s a trade off between paying your debt down more slowly in return for getting a head start on your ability to gain experience points in your next life. When it works out, you could be in a position to earn significantly more experience points after resurrection and pay off your debt faster. On the other hand, if you over-invest in Credits for bonuses and still die early on your next go-around, you could be set back on your repayments.”

This whole experience, from dying to waking up in a waiting room to being told souls exist to choosing the details of my next life, had been wildly overwhelming. I was confused and taking in too much information more quickly than I was able to process. It left me feeling pretty slow-witted.

Numbers, however, I could manage. More than numbers, this was, in effect, finances. I didn’t play when it came to money. Now that we were talking about something less foreign, it felt like my thoughts were finally lining up and accelerating back from the crashed stop I had experienced starting with my being stabbed in the fucking neck. I leaned forward.

“What’s the exchange rate of experience points to Credits?” I asked.

“It varies, depending on the XP markets,” Gladyx said.

“XP?”

“Experience points.”

I nodded. “And the rate right now?”

She tapped her screen. “1034 XP to 1 Credit.”

Of course, I had no idea how much XP was a lot and how much was a little, nor did I truly understand the value of Credits yet either, so there were some blank spots to fill in. “How much XP is my souldebt?”

To her credit, Gladyx grimaced a bit when answering. “One billion experience points is the debt of a new soul. Of course, the average soul has already earned a few million experience points by their first resurrection, with high earners bringing in tens, if not hundreds, of millions of XP each life. You’re in an unfortunate position,” she conceded. “Which this bonus only just compensates for.”

Just, indeed. I cursed under my breath, as this benefit represented only a little over one percent of what I would need to earn in the long run. “How much XP does the average person trade-in during resurrection?” I asked.

“Not much,” Gladyx frowned. “It’s a risky bet. Some people go entire lives without earning as much XP as you would need to convert 12,000 Credits. If it were possible to convert Credits back to XP, I would have recommended you do that and pay these all towards your debt, and just work hard in your next life. Chances are you won’t survive that long in a System-run world coming from the relative comfort of Earth, even with all the possible bonuses you can buy with this many Credits.”

It was my turn to frown at that. Clearly, this exchange system was designed to extract additional XP from the souls in debt. I wondered how useful the bonuses would even be if they were so infrequently used. The major benefit of my situation was, given no choice in the matter, I was able to invest a lot of Credits into bonuses. If I got lucky, I could stack bonuses in just the right way to get a major leg up on my resurrected life, and earn a huge amount of XP to pay towards my debt.

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“Is there any other way to buy these kinds of bonuses during life?”

“Good question, and the answer is more-or-less ‘no.’ You cannot buy specific bonuses while living, but you will earn select skills from class and stat advancement, and some of the more impressive bonuses can be earned in life from special quests, heroic deeds, boons from gods–”

“I’m sorry, gods? I thought you said religion was made-up.”

Gladyx paused again, composing herself after being interrupted yet again, and nodded curtly.

“Yes, all the religions on Earth were made up, especially with regards to universal creators and afterlives. Gods, on the other hand, are very real. They are beings of incredible powers which rule over either certain parts of worlds or certain domains. I wouldn’t go so far as to say they’re commonly encountered, but gaining their patronage is a major way for a soul to get an intra-life bonus of some kind.”

I shouldn’t have interrupted her, because it seemed like she was now over this questions-and-answers period. She returned to her prepared spiel.

“There are four different types of possible bonuses available for purchase: Talents, Skills, Gifts, and Items.”

She paused, as if she expected me to interrupt, and when I didn’t she continued. “Talents are passive abilities. These include racial traits, class enhancements, divine boons, and other similar permanent modifiers. Skills are active abilities. These include spells, class techniques, and other similar discrete attacks which usually cost something to use, such as mana or stamina. Gifts are one-time benefits or enhancements, and items are multi-use objects like special weapons and accessories.”

Items sounded like a bad trade. What if the item was stolen, broken, or lost? On the other hand, if I could sell a high-value item once I resurrected, I could potentially start my life with a nice nest egg to reinvest in whatever I needed to live in the new world. “Can these bonus items be traded to other people?”

“Some can, others are soul-bound. Bound items can only be used by you… although there are ways around that,” she admitted.

I didn’t like the idea of investing too much into something so external to my person, so I figured I would probably spend my Credits on the passive and active abilities, and maybe some gifts. Gladyx brought up a screen in front of me which was basically a digital storefront. I started scrolling through the passives, then recalled what she had said about racial traits.

I paused, and looked back up. “Can I see my… character sheet, I guess, for my new life?”

She gave me a half nod, and a second screen came up to my left. I started reading it over, and cursed.

Now that I was starting to take this seriously, I realized I hadn’t been paying enough attention when choosing my race. I picked the skin I was going to live in based entirely on aesthetics and for shallow reasons, without properly considering the pros and cons.

With a better understanding of how this all worked, I returned to browsing, looking for ways to offset my weaknesses and leverage my strengths. To a certain degree, it would also depend on my class, which I asked Gladyx about while I continued to browse.

“Your class selections will be presented to you by the System upon resurrection. The options will be based on your capabilities and natural inclinations, with some slight variances. At certain level milestones, you will be given a chance to select a different, and in some cases, advanced class, based on your growth so far.”

I noticed another field on my sheet, called my job, and asked about that as well.

“If your race is what you are, and your class is who you are, your job is what you do. Jobs are different in that they require some level of training and real-world acquisition, but once obtained can offer some additional abilities and capabilities. For example, only someone who unlocked the Blacksmith job can create a sword of a useful quality, and only a Master Blacksmith can create a sword of the best quality. There won’t be much in the way of crossover with jobs and the bonuses you’re concerned with at the moment.”

Credit where it was due, Gladyx did not harass or pressure me at all while I carefully looked through the options before me. I was even given a third screen which acted as a notepad so I could make notes and properly plan out what I should do.

I have no idea how much time passed. Maybe time had only passed for me, in some sped up manner, which would explain how Gladyx sat there so patiently the whole time. In any case, after much painstaking deliberation, I confirmed my purchases and spent my last Credits.

With zero System Credits remaining, the screens disappeared and Gladyx gave me another wide, toothy smile.

“What now?” I asked.

“Have a nice life,” Gladyx said, and pushed a button.

Just like that, the room I had just spent so much time in was torn away from me and I was falling through the void. The soul form that made up my current self was suddenly in flux, and I felt like I was being torn apart and rebuilt. As I sped through the void, I felt a sensation of proximity. While I couldn’t see Neria, the planet I was being reincarnated on, I could almost feel it approaching, fast. Too fast, it felt like. I started to panic as I felt a sensation in my soul akin to what a skydiver without a parachute might feel as they approached the ground.

With an impact that felt like both everything and nothing, I slammed into my new body and my new life, and blacked out.

When I awoke, I was being eaten by a giant lizard.