[Soul number: Seventeen Thousand Five Hundred Twenty-One Quintillion; please leave the Ectoplasmic space excrete alone, and enter the Gate of Judgment in front of you.]

That’s me.

I’m being called.

It was a long cue- an unending tail I could see behind me with just the twist of my neck. But, now it’s time for me to forge a new future and thus I float into the circular glowing portal the voice in my head calls ‘The Gate of Judgment’.

I float quietly, my senses still, yet quivering like a pinched nerve, and the first thing I notice as I enter the portal is the brightness.

I’m sure, if I had eyes, they would have been wide open with my eyelids touching my eyebrows. The pure white room was that bright. Actually, it was glistening- shimmering I would say, with the floor away from sight; all was covered in a fluffy fog, which bubbled with vigor and excitement. Even I felt its emotions as the fog passed through my ethereal form. Yet, the brightness soothed my mind rather than stinging my senses.

[Please don’t get distracted and concentrate on the process.]

Yes, sorry.

I didn’t speak. I couldn’t speak. I didn’t have a mouth to make a sound, after all. Everyone up here was just a blob of blue gas, which floats in the air- always following someone and always being followed by someone from behind. And yet, everyone could see everything and speak with everyone else, if they ever wish too, that is. Such was this prison of unending time.

This room inside the gate though was very ambiguous. It was white, speckles and empty. Yet, the atmosphere was tense and strange; it was the first time in countless years that I was alone. Hence, I felt like being strangled.

[Now, you will be provided with a list of all available races.]

The voice said and I knew my trial was finally beginning.

[You can only select one race. You can only select a race based on the amount of karma you have.]

I had questions; many questions. But as the voice spoke- its tone still calm and composed, still dead and calculated; I figured there was nothing I could gain from asking it. I had no hope from the beginning and the un-interested persona of the voice blew away the kindle which had sparked into existence inside me during my stay in the forever long cue. So I stayed: quiet and waiting, and let my fate flow toward the winds it had waited for so long.

[Calculating Karma of this individual]

I have a name hey-

But then again- I didn’t remember my name, so it was alright.

The whole width of the room was then taken over by activity- a series of pictures, instances, moments and memories flashed by in the emptiness; filling the plain white with color, but just for a second and then everything folded back to how it was just a second ago- white and shimmering; foggy and haunting.

Although, I would have liked to see and understand the kind of person I was in my dead life- to capture even just a second of me from the analysis, but that I understood was not a point worth frowning about; as everyone upon standing in the unending queue was told to forget the past and gain the right to be judged.

One can even say this flash of memories was also a test in itself; trial of a kind by the authorities to try and wind out last of the smoldering sparks, hiding inside some intelligent blob and neutralize it before it could grow into a fire; a fire so scorching hot and wild, it could whittle and burn away the world it would ultimately gain conscious in.

Anyways, once the processing was done, I was shown the result of its calculations.

*Beep*

[Memories incorporated.]

[Nature identified.]

[Personality verified.]

[Calculation complete]

[Karma for Good deeds= 25567]

I silently watched the number float in front of me in all its colors, with the empty white as its background and the room, the fog- its excitement, all of them silently approving me for my past deeds. I felt proud of looking at the number. It was the result of my past self’s dedication and humility. And even though I didn’t know what deeds I had done to attain such a high result, just the number being positive alone spoke a mile of my nature and lifted my confidence.

[Initiating Karma deduction for unapproved deeds]

Yes, this was yet another trial by the authorities to see whether the fluctuating blob of inert gases was really a saint or a psychopath wearing its victim’s skin. As I heard during my stay in the cue, there had been trillions of cases where blobs with thousands of positive karma were detained for whole lifetimes and more because of the unapproved deeds or sins they had committed in their past lives.

[Wrath- (-977)]

On the karmic weigh scale, anyone whose scale tips toward the negative side has to face retribution and there is no faking through it? Every sinner, no matter a priest or a child, has to face the consequence of actions they had performed.

[Envy= (323)]

[Gluttony= (700)]

[Pride= (3030)]

[Sloth= (1536)]

[Lust= (1300)]

[Remaining Karma= +17701]

I mentally sighed after seeing the result. The burden of being judged felt really similar to standing on the edge of a cliff. Both are dangerous, as just a simple push, a sudden strong breeze, or even a screech from behind could lead to certain death.

But mine was a release of relief.

Although, I didn’t know how costly my choices would be, now I at least knew I would get to reincarnate. And the karma was actually more than enough, but Heaven had its own plan for me.

[As the process of Karma deduction is over, please choose a race to reincarnate from the list. Please make a wise decision and try to save some karma to choose from a set of skills and Destiny.]

When the notification ended a tremor came. A quake so strong, it made the air ripple like a stone had been thrown into a still pond; like an explosion had sent blast waves exploding across the atmosphere- the tremor contained such menace.

And as it stopped, the emptiness in front of me, the perfect white room grew a new color- a grey. At first, it was just a single horizontal line connecting the roof with the floor. But then the line expanded. Like someone was trying to pull it apart diagonally and create a black rectangle in the middle of the sparkling white room.

The phenomenon didn’t happen silently. The air reacted in howls, the floor trembled in fear, and every inch of the once excited fog scattered away from the doors surroundings, leaving me to face whatever oddity it was, all alone.

And as I was thinking, why are the authorities not doing anything? I heard the all too familiar voice in my head again; telling me to get ready to choose my destiny.

[Preparing choices for the subject to choose from]

And just as it said so, the grey door completely opened and the darkness covering it scattered, leaving me with active thoughts trying to identify the doors origin. But my thoughts and I were simply left hanging at the door or whatever it was, while it scattered with the darkness surrounding it—disappearing like the illusion it was.

[Preparations met with Soul Penalty.]

[Right to choose denied.]

[Automatically choosing a beginning tier species as the carrier…]

[Because of old soul number, Species tier is evolved to an insect.]

[Randomly selecting a soul carrier…]

[Selection complete.]

*Beep*

[Congratulations! Due to restriction from Soul penalty on ‘Death by suicide’, your right to choose a soul carrier was denied and a random species were automatically chosen for you.]

[For this lifetime you will start as a Tier 0, Black Ant,]

[Because of Soul Penalty on Death by suicide, your Karma points will all be used to randomly select a Blessing, world, and fate for you.]

[Choosing a World for Soul number: seventeen thousand five hundred twenty-one Quintillion]

[Selection complete]

{World ‘Monstralia’ has been randomly selected for your resurrection.}

[Please be ready. You will be directly reincarnated into the world once your blessing is randomly selected.]

[Choosing a blessing for Soul number: seventeen thousand five hundred twenty-one Quintillion]

[Because of an absurd amount of karma accumulated, two blessings will be given.]

[Selection complete]

{Blessings: Skill up with levels + Infinite skill affinity selected.}

{A quick review: Monstralia, a world where monsters reign supreme. There are no intellectual species in this world. Rather every life form holds some amount of intellect. The world is a sword and magic system. So please try not to die on your first day.}

[Resurrection procedure ongoing]

[Procedure complete]

[Your karma counter has been reset.]

[Because the tier of your chosen species is too low to contain your soul and the chosen world is too dangerous, your soul will not be cleansed. That is your fate.]

[Have a safe trip.]

And that’s how my journey as an ant started.