congratulations, you have died.

Your plea for a second chance has been heard.

Enjoy your second chance!

Did I just...? Did I just receive a status update?

Where did that come from? And what's this about a second chance?

All of the sudden, I can see again.

Looking around, all I can see is an empty white space around me.

There even seems to be nothing underneath me, just more white nothingness.

I realise I can move again, without trouble, and that I don't feel any pain anymore.

I raise my hands and look at them. They seem oddly ethereal, almost see through.

Since I died previously, does this mean I'm looking at my soul? does this prove the existence of the soul then?

Major culture shock there, since I'm a resolute atheist. Does this mean that capital G o.d. exists as well?

"come now mortal, thinking earth's imaginary gods are real might just offend me and my kin."

One moment I'm alone here, the other there's a woman in here with me as well.

And what a woman! One with a perfect figure, with boobs and an ass which are perfectly proportioned. With long legs that just seem to go on forever. With a face that's both extremely beautiful and cute. Her head is crowned with bright blonde curls which accentuate her sparkling blue eyes. And her voice, so soft and silky yet ethereal.

" Who, who are you?" I stutter?

"Me? I'm the goddess of second chances and rebirth. I go by the name of Elaria"

"are you really a goddess? a full-blown, all-powerful divine being?" I ask, not really believing her.

"yes mortal, I wield divine power which could reduce mere mortals to ash in the blink of an eye. I witnessed the birth of new solar systems. I have been around longer than your mere mortal mind could comprehend."

"...wow..."

"you should be impressed, not many are granted an audience with a god or goddess. Even fewer people are granted an audience with me, seeing as rarely people are granted a second chance at life. Sometimes people get reincarnated but there people all have their past wiped, clean slates to be re-introduced into the world"

"How come I have never heard of you? You said something about your kin as well? Are there any of your fellow gods who reign over Earth?"

"There is a good reason you never heard of me. Earth is what we call a dead zone. A place without magic where even gods loathe to tread. Even now, my presence on Earth taxes me greatly. After I send you off to your second life, I won't be able to return to Earth for quite a while. The only god that ever stayed there, was the one that you mortals called God. And he was just a weak whippersnapper, barely even ascended to divinity before he was so foolish to visit Earth and got stuck here. The moment he came here, his powers started draining at an astronomical rate. The so-called miracles he worked to start a religion were mere illusions and party tricks. In fact, soon after his so-called miracles, he was utterly drained and just faded away into nothingness."

"Good, I'm glad that the basis for one of the biggest religions is gone and has been gone for quite some time then. I have no place for religion in my life."

"This is likely to chance mortal, for I am going to send you to a world with is rich in mana, where the gods are capable to walk amongst mere mortals in disguise. Miracles are not so uncommon there."

"ughhhhhhhh, really? are there going to be silly people with silly hats who think that whatever they do is for the greater good for their god?"

"I can understand your frustration mortal, if it is any solace, most gods don't condone the more wicked deeds of their followers. So if you ever feel the need to bring some of the more devout religious down a peg, you can do so without fear for divine retribution. Besides, even us gods need to follow the rules of the divine covenant."

"What do you mean with the divine covenant?"

"A long time ago, all of the gods convened after a horrible war, where the gods used the mortals as pawns to fulfil their personal and mostly selfish goals. When the gods, both evil and good, as far as those terms fit, got in a stalemate, we all decided to bury the hatchet and create a covenant. A covenant that laid down some ground rules to prevent a second god war. To enforce this covenant, a magical and divine court was created, with utterly impartial judges that would pass judgement upon any god that dares to break the covenant. These judges have the power to unmake any transgressor. Since then, there was only one god as foolish as to break the covenant. The judgement cast upon him was enough to cement the judge's power and any thoughts of misbehaving or breaking the covenant fled from the other gods in the face of this harsh yet deserving punishment."

"What is in this covenant then? How does the covenant protect me from the machinations of the gods?"

"By the covenant, they are not allowed to directly strike at a mortal. Only in the direst of situations and with approval from the judges can they strike at a mortal. And as far as machinations of other gods, gods are allowed to influence mortals, guide them, even grant them some power. But as with everything, is have to fall within certain boundaries."

"That's good to hear. Now then, what's this about a second chance then? You said I would get a second chance but on a different world? how many different worlds are there? and mana? Does that mean that magic is real there?"

"My my, aren't you full of questions all of a sudden"

"Of course, wouldn't you want as much information as possible if you had to start anew with your life?"

"That is a valid point, mortal. I'm in a good mood so I will indulge your desire for knowledge for now.

The world I will send you to is rich with mana and elemental energies. Due to the age of said world and because of the abundance of magic, the inhabitants never really progressed with science as on Earth. Therefore, the world is in an age not unlike the medieval era. As for that second chance, you will have to work for this one. The world is governed by a system akin to one of those games you liked to play, with status screens and levels. There are dungeons and monsters. And you, dear mortal, are gonna become one of these dungeons. this might seem like a punishment at first.

It will feel like a prison at first. But know this, this is the only way I can give you a second chance, as decreed by the covenant. And who knows, one day you might be able to fashion yourself a body to roam the world. That is, if you ever are able to split your consciousness in two so you can still govern your dungeon."

"Awww man..., a dungeon? seriously?"

"now-now mortal, you would be fairly unique as a dungeon, for there are not many sentient dungeons like you will be.

Normal dungeons get formed my combining massive amounts of mana and elemental energies and condensing them into a stone, the core of the dungeons. This newborn dungeon will then start to expand and act according to its basic directives. It is only after many years and after absorbing a lot of dead adventurers that the dungeon will gain any semblance of sentience. You, on the other hand, will be entirely different. You will be fully sentient right from the start, with all of your memories from your previous life intact."

"Okay, if you pitch it like that, that will be a massive advantage I guess."

"wonderful, now, before I send you off towards your new life, you need to make a choice. You get to choose where your dungeon will be. you can pick one location from this list"

As soon as she said this, a transparent list popped up right before me.

Location choices:

Additional info:

Alzar castle

The ruins of the castle that stands in what once was the capital of a kingdom. Alas, most of the population died of a disease which caused the surviving inhabitants along with the then king and his court to relocate to another city. It is rumoured that the castle and the city is haunted by the ghosts of those who died from said disease.

Dragon Mountains

These massive mountains form the natural border between an empire and a kingdom. The origin of the name of these mountains is still a topic for discussion between many scholars. The two main theories state that they either were once the roosting place of dragons or that the jagged and serrated tips of these mountains look like the teeth of the beforementioned beasts of legend.

Mons Igneus

An active volcano that can be seen from many kilometres away. This volcano lies near the coast of the shark tooth sea. The constantly flowing lava slowly but surely expands the coast, creating new stretches of land made from basalt and obsidian, which gives it a black colour.

Tokotari swamp

No one really knows where the origin of the name of this swamp lies. Rumours amongst the common folk say that this was once a mighty forest that housed a portion of the elven population and that some foul magic made the forest wither away until it was reduced to the current rotting swamp that everyone has heard of.

These are some interesting choices. Although some of them are an immediate big no-no.

I have no interest in being a swamp all the time. Swamps smell, they are putrid and often contain big ass nopes that one should burn with a flamethrower.

The castle, although the prospect is intriguing, becoming the dominant force in what was once a capital, the risk of being associated with undead is far too high. who knows who might come knocking. I can just about imagine it, a vast army of knights with whatever holy symbol they use saying they are on a crusade and that my evil and wicked presence must be cleansed. No thank you.

That leaves the Dragon Mountains and the Mons Igneus.

Both are mountainous, which is good I guess. Easily defensible like that. But what's up with the name of the volcano though? Isn't Mons Igneus latin for volcano? Did they call this volcano volcano? This sounds like the MoonMoon stuff all over again....

Would I like to be associated with something going by the name of volcano volcano?

Besides, isn't a volcano like tectonically active? Lots of earthquakes and such?

Despite how cool it would be to be a dungeon in a volcano, the disadvantages are starting to stack up.

With my choice clear now, I turn towards the goddess.

"I made my choice, I would like to pick the dragon mountains as my starting location."

"very well. I will send you on your way now. You will receive some help from the system if you do well enough.

So work diligently and hard. And mortal? good luck, you will need it. Oh, I nearly forgot, sorry about the pain"

That last part she says with a slight smile.

"WAIT, what pain?" I yell, but she is already gone.

The white space around me dims until it is pitch black again.

Shortly after, a great pressure presses down upon me and a massive amount of pain can be felt all over my body.

I feel as if my body is being stuffed in a regular size Nutella jar. All of it and all at once.

What feels like an eternity later, the pain fades. Suddenly, I am launched at great speed towards some unknown destination. Minutes later, I become aware of a crashing feeling.

And after that, nothing.

There is nothing to be felt at all.