《Reincarnated into What?》 1 -Time and Choice The time was ticking by, a slow cascade of never ending minutes that would disappear into hours that in turn would disappear into days. Day had gone past by the time I noticed. Grey blended into the scenery until all I saw was black and white. All colors were gone by the time I noticed. There was nothing but a bland landscape that failed to thrill the artist in me. I painted with colors of puke and digest. I lived in colors of a dark room. I breathed colors of someone trying to forget their dead. Time was ticking by, a slow waterfall of never ending days that would disappear into weeks that in turn would disappear into months. Years had gone past by the time I realized. And my life was shit. There¡¯s a point in your life that you have to look back and see what you did wrong, see where things went astray, see where you got screwed. I¡¯m doing it now. That little look back to a time when reality was not perceived to be fruitless. Back when happiness was effortless. I¡¯ve learned something recently, there¡¯s a business for everything. And I mean everything. There¡¯s nothing you can¡¯t buy in this world if you just know where to look. That¡¯s where I find myself now, in front of a strange old man whose hair is greying. That¡¯s where I find myself now, ready and willing to give up my body to get back my time. It¡¯s strange how life seems to flow together, like it doesn¡¯t want you to know that there¡¯s a way to get all that time back. That¡¯s right. You can get all the time you wasted on stupid stuff back. All at the low low cost of your body. Now I didn¡¯t say this deal was for everyone, people tend to be rather attached to their meat suits after all. But for me, whose will to live was as nonexistent as my ability to see colors, it was a simple choice. Ditch the suit, pick up a new one. Memories intact. Easy-peasy. There¡¯s always complications though. Always. Whenever you find something that sounds just too good to be true, it probably is. I had stood before the goddess of rebirth with an open mind, I really was, I swear. My mind was free and clear. But the way she looked at me. With dead eyes like she hated her job and she hated me and she hated that I was here and that I ever existed. ¡°Where do you want to go?¡± She had asked a simple question but lights exploded in front of my eyes. A thousand images and descriptions popped up. Like a freaking manual. ¡°What can I be?¡± I had asked. ¡°Anything.¡± I was in awe for a long moment. ¡°Really?¡± She rolled her eyes, ¡°Really really.¡± ¡°I want to be something cool, can I see a lists of things that aren¡¯t often chosen?¡± With a swipe of her finger, a box appeared in front of me.
Reincarnation List
SpiderAn eight legged creature.
Ogre/OrcA large and hideous humanoid monster.
CentipedeThey are elongated metameric creatures with one pair of legs per body segment.
HouseflyTheir thorax is gray or sometimes even black, with four longitudinal dark lines on the back. The whole body is covered with hair-like projections.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. The first option was a spider. Yeah. Okay. Not only are you short lived but you¡¯re also hated by anything that sets their eyes on you. Not a good idea. And yet, there are so many spiders. The second was ogre/orc. Apparently, judging by the description, there was either one or the other in worlds they exists but they never existed in one world together. Maybe there was a reason for that. I looked up at the goddess, ¡°There¡¯s no ogres or orcs on earth.¡± ¡°Do you think that only life on earth exists?¡± ¡°No,¡± I started. She cut me off. ¡°Then why do you expect to go to earth?¡± I shrugged, ¡°I just assumed.¡± ¡°Just hurry up and pick something.¡± My attention went back to the screen. I read through many lines of many different insects. Really, it was amazing that anyone would choose to be an insect. I saw a scroll bar on the side and scrolled down. That¡¯s when things got a little more outlandish. ¡°A dungeon?¡± ¡°Hmmm?¡± She picked something out from between her teeth. ¡°People can be reborn into a dungeon.¡± ¡°Oh yeah, it¡¯s not very popular though seeing as you can¡¯t move and you don¡¯t get a personality only the instinct to eat.¡± I nodded. That sounded like it sucked. What about memories staying intact? Didn¡¯t the broker say that I¡¯d get to keep my memories. Another option was a slime. The description seemed to be playing up the abilities of the slime a bit much. Saying that while at the beginning they are very weak but with diligence and fortitude the slime can quickly become the most dangerous of all monster types. Seemed like a waste to me. ¡°What about the options in high demand?¡± A list popped up and it contained what I suspected most. Elves, humans, demons, beastmen, as well as some other words that I had no idea were. ¡°Will I get to keep my memories of my past life?¡± ¡°No.¡± Her voice was so flat you could mistake her for a robot. Well, I got ripped off. ¡°Alright, I choose an elf.¡± She looked at a box that popped up next to her. ¡°Looks like Tri-alous is in need of a new god. So that¡¯s where you¡¯ll be going.¡± ¡°Wait, a god?¡± She gave me a deadpan look, ¡°It¡¯s not as great as it sounds.¡± ¡°But it¡¯s a god!¡± That sounded awesome, quite frankly. ¡°I wasn¡¯t aware that you could be reincarnated as a god.¡± ¡°You only can if you meet certain requirements.¡± ¡°What kind of god will I be?¡± Maybe a god of good harvest, I snickered to myself, maybe the god of fine wines and women. I tried to picture myself in that situation, surrounded by beautiful women, drinking my fill. What a wonderful life that would be. I turned back to the goddess, eagerness on my face. ¡°The god of death.¡± ------------------------ A/N Sorry about the table, this is my first time using it and I really don''t understand what I''m doing. If anyone is willing to help I''d gladly listen. I''ll try to perfect it in the chapters to come! 2 - The Descent There was this budding feeling in my chest, like I was sitting through a grand symphony. I felt the music, the beat in my chest, it was like coming alive. And I guess it was. I was falling. That¡¯s right. You heard it here, I was falling to my death. The ground was a million miles away and it was quickly approaching. I screamed but the wind swallowed it. {Oh, stop your screaming. You won¡¯t die from something like this.} I looked around for the voice. But I saw nothing. Not that it was easy to see like this. The wind brushed up against my face and stung at my eyes. I¡¯m pretty sure my eyes were watering. I couldn¡¯t really tell, my face was numb. {Silly, I¡¯m in your head.} ¡°Who are you?¡± {I will be your guide on all things god related.} ¡°I see, can I ask you to not speak into my mind?¡± {I mean, I guess but that¡¯s no fun. Okay, what do you want me to be?} ¡°Well, to be honest I thought I was crazy and it was just an extension of me.¡± {Should I take the form of you then?} ¡°No, no. Please don¡¯t. That¡¯d be largely unnerving.¡± {What then?} ¡°Can you be a rabbit?¡± {I mean I guess, but then I still can¡¯t speak aloud.} ¡°What animals can speak aloud?¡± {None, you imbecile.} That sucks. So animals still don¡¯t speak on this world. That¡¯s disappointing and I didn¡¯t even know I was looking forward to that. ¡°How about small creatures that can speak?¡± {What¡¯s with you and your obsession with me being small?} I shrugged, but I guess the voice didn¡¯t see it as it didn¡¯t respond. ¡°I don¡¯t know, but I¡¯d like a companion that¡¯s small but strong. You know?¡± As if shaking its head, it said, {I do not understand at all. Well, anyway, I¡¯m a familiar. I don¡¯t have a shape or name, everything depends on how you picture me.} I was falling quick but it seemed like time was elongating, like it was slowing down. It gave me time to have this conversation. Which was weird. It was like I was only falling when that¡¯s what I was focused on. I still felt the wind rushing past me but the ground was not getting any closer. ¡°I don¡¯t know how to put this,¡± I said, ¡°without offending you or anything.¡± This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. {Out with it.} I sighed, ¡°Well, before I died I read a lot of light novels and web novels, so like, when I heard I was going to another world¡­¡± {OUT WITH IT!} ¡°I was excited to meet a slime with intelligence!¡± I blurted out. {Wha?} Suddenly there was a spark in the air around me, heating up my skin, and plopping into my arms was a small blue slime. ¡°How dare you,¡± it said. ¡°I wasn¡¯t aware slimes had mouths.¡± ¡°I have to be able to talk somehow, don¡¯t I?¡± It jiggled in my arms and suddenly the ground was on coming. Again. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± It was more of a scream than anything else. ¡°We¡¯re falling dumb butt. Soon we¡¯ll hit the ground and that will symbolize your birth into this world.¡± ¡°Is there a way that we can land softly?¡± I asked. I really hoped not to smash into the ground for many reasons. ¡°I mean, I guess. Okay, try picturing yourself flying, or better yet, like there¡¯s a platform beneath your feet and it''s slowly lowering you to the ground.¡± I tried to doing as the slime said, finding the wind stopped whipping around me. ¡°Woah!¡± I exclaimed. ¡°That¡¯s great.¡± The slime made a noise, ¡°I prefer the grand nature of plummeting to the ground, but whatever. I guess we¡¯ll have to do things your way from now on.¡± My feet touched the ground and I felt relief slicing through me. I breathed out air I didn¡¯t know I was holding. I looked at the slime in my arms and said, ¡°And what is it that a familiar does?¡± ¡°I help you do your job of course.¡± ¡°Ah. I¡¯m a death god now, right?¡± ¡°No, no, no, no. You¡¯re not some measly death god, you are The God of Death. There¡¯s a difference.¡± I guess so. ¡°Well then, shall we get started?¡± 3 - Am I a Man or a Woman? There¡¯s this little feeling you get when everything is going to go to shit. And right now, I am experiencing that. Though the cause was unknown. I decided it would be best to figure out what I was doing first. I twirled around to take in my surroundings. Tree tops with so many varying shades of green it was a rainbow in and of itself. The sky dotted with the puffiest clouds I¡¯d ever seen and the color of¡­ well¡­ a perfect sky. I breathed in the air, feeling something bristle in my chest. That feeling I got earlier. That feeling of coming to life. ¡°Are you done yet?¡± The slime jiggled in my grasp, seemingly irritated. ¡°Are you a boy or a girl?¡± I asked it. Honestly, I needed to know how to refer to it. ¡°What a rude thing to ask. What are you? You look pretty androgynous yourself.¡± ¡°I¡¯m surprised you know such a big word,¡± I said honestly. Though, I wondered if things were intact with my rebirth. You know, my little ¡®son¡¯. The slime huffed, ¡°Don¡¯t be, I¡¯m far older than you and beyond wiser. That¡¯s why I was chosen for this position. I was supposed to be assigned a gender when you pictured what you thought me to be. But since you chose a slime, and seeing as slimes have no sex, I am genderless.¡± ¡°Ah.¡± ¡°What about you?¡± It asked. I guess I will have to continue referring to it in the gender neutral way. What a bother. ¡°Well, I was a man in my past life, but I don¡¯t know if that¡¯s changed. In fact, I have no idea what I look like.¡± I touched my face with one hand, trying to maybe feel out what I looked like. That didn¡¯t work. I was not as skilled as a blind person. Good to know. But the fact that I didn¡¯t know who I was was kind of starting to freak me out, ¡°I don¡¯t know what I am anymore!¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t we find a nice calm lake and you can sort yourself out and maybe bathe, because I think you pissed your pants out of fear.¡± ¡°Rude.¡± ¡°Honesty.¡± We ventured about until we came across a small stream. I started to undress until the slime stopped me. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. ¡°Woah, woah, woah. What do you think you¡¯re doing?¡± I shrugged, and offered only sarcasm, ¡°Hunting elephants?¡± ¡°First of all, I can see you, aren¡¯t you embarrassed? Second of all, what in the high hill is an elephant.¡± And that¡¯s when I realized all my old memories were in fact, intact. Splendid. Apparently even goddesses mess up. ¡°You¡¯re sexless right? That means it should be no problem, and you¡¯re a slime, which probably means you have no sexual desires anyway. I thought this all through, don¡¯t worry.¡± The slime muttered something but I went on, ¡°Also, it¡¯s a saying from my old world, because actually hunting elephants is illegal.¡± ¡°I see. Wait.¡± ¡°Hmmm?¡± ¡°Did you just say your old world? I mean, it happens sometimes where people retain their old memories, but never with a god, especially one of death. Death gods have to be compassionless, almost soulless to do their jobs.¡± As if in disbelief, it muttered, ¡°I want to say so many bad words right now.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°This is going to be a nightmare.¡± I shrugged and began getting undressed. It seemed my current clothing was a simple pair of jeans and a t-shirt. I noticed once I pulled off the t-shirt and set it down, it disappeared. ¡°That¡¯s curious,¡± I whispered to myself. I quickly took off the pants and found the same thing happened to them. Finally, it was the moment of truth. My underwear was the only thing left on and so far, I was leaning towards male, given the flatness of my chest. Everything good so far. Unless, of course, I was a prepubescent girl. That could explain it. I shook my head and closed my eyes. With a quick movement I had taken off my own underwear. ¡°SHIT!¡± I screamed loud enough for birds to startle. ¡°What?¡± The slime looked at me with concern. ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Are you hurt?¡± I wailed, in a very unmanly manner, ¡°I¡¯m an ¡®it¡¯ too!¡± 4 - Starting Steps The slime rolled it¡¯s nonexistent eyes at my outburst. I could tell by the way its body rolled. Now that that horrible revelation is out of the way, I looked into the stream to gauge my appearance. I was a beautiful looking child. Dear lord. If I wasn¡¯t me I would be trying to woo me. Wait, that made no sense. And I¡¯m a child. Shame on me. Shame. I had silver hair and dark blue eyes. Surely a combo that would win the hearts of many. I tried to make myself look manlier, but it didn¡¯t work. ¡°Hey, if I¡¯m a god, do I still need to eat and shit?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t even need to breathe.¡± ¡°Okay, wow. That¡¯s cool. Wait, that goes against what you said earlier. You said it smelled like I wet myself.¡± ¡°I only said that because you stunk of fear, which is very unbecoming of such a high ranking god such as yourself.¡± I rolled my eyes, ¡°I apologize. I was plummeting towards earth without a parachute.¡± ¡°You need to stop using words I don¡¯t know. It¡¯s very frustratting.¡± ¡°What do you call the ground?¡± ¡°Uh,¡± it started, ¡°the ground.¡± ¡°Well we called it earth back where I¡¯m from, one of the four elements.¡± ¡°Uh¡­ there¡¯s fire elements and we call dirt.¡± ¡°Well, I mean, we called it dirt too. You know what, we¡¯re still gonna call it earth. I decided.¡± Suddenly there was a shift in the wind, if you could call it that. Like something in the air changed. ¡°Dear lord,¡± the slime muttered. ¡°What?¡± ¡°You changed the word!¡± ¡°I changed a word? How does that work.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve only heard about gods doing that, I can¡¯t believe you did that. What am I gonna tell my superiors?¡± ¡°You could not, I guess. Just don¡¯t tell them I did that and then they¡¯d have no reason to believe that the word has changed right?¡± ¡°Never do that again.¡± I raised my hands in defeat. ¡°I got it. I won¡¯t do it again.¡± Though honestly I didn¡¯t how I did it. Maybe saying that I decided stuff meant that that became what I said it would. Actually, that made little to no sense. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. ¡°Good. Now, what¡¯s is my name?¡± ¡°Do I have to choose?¡± ¡°Yes, originally it was god that granted names to all beings, then with the expanding population, he made more gods to fulfill individual duties, and as your familiar, it is your job to name me.¡± ¡°I see, how about¡­¡± I thought for a long moment, ¡°Halibut?¡± It seemed like it narrowed its eyes at me, it jiggled around. ¡°Having gone through your memories I am thoroughly disappointed in your naming skills.¡± I held my head, ¡°When did you go through my memories? Isn¡¯t that like an invasion of privacy?¡± ¡°I¡¯m your familiar, everything you know is automatically sent to me. I don¡¯t want to be named after a fish, come up with something better.¡± I sighed, ¡°Fine. How about Rin?¡± ¡°Sounds like a fine name to me. From now on, I am Rin.¡± It bowed to me, if slimes could do that. ¡°It is an honor to serve you.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t I need a name?¡± ¡°You¡¯re the God of Death? You don¡¯t need a name.¡± ¡°I feel like I need a name. There¡¯s power in a name you know.¡± ¡°How about Vanilla?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Vallina.¡± ¡°What¡¯s with your obsession with vanilla?¡± ¡°I think I got it from you. From your memories it smells and tastes wonderfully. So I was hoping you could take on those qualities and stop smelling like fear.¡± ¡°Hey!¡± ¡°Vallina though. I name you that. It would be an honor for you to accept it.¡± I mean, when it put it like that, it really seemed like I couldn¡¯t reject. I rolled my eyes. ¡°Okay, Rin, what¡¯s next?¡± ¡°Well, the first step was getting my name sorted out, so I guess the next step is to find us a home. I suggest heading to the nearest city and taking over the old temples.¡± ¡°That is what we¡¯ll do then!¡± Yay! Adventure! Also, people! People are nice to be around. 5 - The Human City The trek to the city wasn¡¯t that bad. Actually, it was rather pleasant. The twirling birds that tweeted in the air as they flew and danced over head. The tree tops that provided just enough cover so the sun wasn¡¯t beating down on me. This list could go on forever, but that wasn¡¯t what was important. What was important was that I was enjoying myself. ¡°It¡¯s been so long since I¡¯ve felt alive,¡± I told Rin. ¡°Ironic, considering.¡± I rolled my eyes but conceded. It wasn¡¯t wrong. ¡°I¡¯d like to paint sometime. You know, I used to do that in my past life. But¡­¡± I stopped, not wanting to get into past life problems. After all, this was a new start. ¡°Well, first things first and all. Let¡¯s get a roof over our heads.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t we just build a home?¡± ¡°Nobody would visit just a random home in the middle of nowhere.¡± ¡°Do I need people to visit my home?¡± ¡°You really don¡¯t get it do you?¡± ¡°Get what? You¡¯ve explained nothing to me!¡± Rin sighed but said nothing more. We were approaching a city so I¡¯d hate to look like a maniac talking to a slime. There seemed to be a line piling up outside the gates. It seemed that a small handful of guards were checking out people¡¯s ID¡¯s and letting them pass or turning them away. ¡°Oh no. I don¡¯t have an ID.¡± ¡°Why are you waiting in line?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t just go up and call myself a god. They won¡¯t believe me.¡± ¡°They can¡¯t even see you. Only your followers can. And you can go through the door.¡± ¡°I can go through the door?¡± ¡°Yeah, just walk through it.¡± Rin said it like it was the most obvious and easier to understand thing in the world. I wasn¡¯t going along in the same thinking direction, if that makes any sense. ¡°So, can people hear me?¡± I asked in a whisper just in case. I was walking through the city at a slow pace, casually taking in all the sites. This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. ¡°Only if they are your followers.¡± ¡°How do I get followers? Do I need them?¡± I wasn¡¯t really interested in being pampered though the thought of big breasted women fanning me and feeding me grapes had a certain appeal. I didn¡¯t want to be super relied on for miracles and the like either. I didn¡¯t perform well under pressure. Rin made a shocked face, ¡°Of course you need followers! That¡¯s how you stay alive!¡± I shushed him out of habit. ¡°Well¡­ I mean.¡± I didn¡¯t know how to put my thoughts. ¡°I don¡¯t think I can perform miracles and the like. But if I¡¯m a god, how do I die?¡± A tall building stood to my right, I pointed to it and Rin said it was a guild¡¯s branch office. I couldn¡¯t yet read the language it seemed. ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about miracles. You¡¯re the God of Death, nobody is going to be looking at you for miracles. And if you don¡¯t have any followers you just cease to exist. Poof! You¡¯re gone.¡± I traded my body for a life I would want to live. I couldn¡¯t die here without doing anything to its fullest. ¡°Why aren¡¯t I dead yet despite having no followers?¡± ¡°All new gods get a year to gather as much support as they can. You see, because the last god either failed to maintain their followers or became evil and was slain, the older gods give you time to make a name for yourself and gather your reserves.¡± ¡°I see. So I can become evil and slain by a mighty hero?¡± Well, wasn¡¯t that a major video game like story line. Luckily it wasn¡¯t my responsibility to subjugate any gods. That would¡¯ve been disastrous. ¡°Yes. You¡¯re catching on quick.¡± The slime smiled. ¡°Now, how do I get followers?¡±