Prologue

The first thing that I notice is…

“It’s bright. Kinda hurts my eyes.”

“That’s impossible, since you don’t have a body at the moment.”

My line of sight is drawn to a beautiful… thing? It’s a thing with four legs and eight arms. Sharp teeth peek out of its mouth and its three eyes are looking at me.

Wait a second, beautiful? Haha don’t joke with me, that thing is hideous-

“Hey, could it be you’re thinking something rude?”

“Perish the thought.”

I can tell it looks upset. Who would’ve known what would happen if I uttered those thoughts aloud. Let’s play it nice and safe.

“So, uh… can I ask where this is?”

“This is the afterlife.”

O-Oh, so I died huh? That’s a bummer. However, I can’t seem to remember how I died? No, more than that, how did I live my life? I… can’t remember it.

“Sorry, but I seem to be missing my memories. Could you fill me in?”

“Missing memories? Oh, yeah that might be the case. After all your head went ‘BTOOOM!’ at the end.”

…

……

………

Scary! And what the heck does ‘BTOOOM!’ even mean?! Do I want to know? Do I really want to know?!

“And then after that the wall was-.”

“No! That is enough; I don’t need to hear anymore!”

“Aw, but the real show started after that…”

“I said its fine! What I really wanted to know was how I lived. What kind of person was I?”

“Like I’d know.”

The stupid creature lay on its side with a perfect ‘I don’t care’ look on its face. At least I think that’s what that look means.

“More importantly, the reason you’re here is because you get to be reincarnated. Hooray.”

That voice was totally in monotone. And how is that more important than knowing who I was?

“This new world you’re going to is like a game. I’m sure you’ll have fun in it.”

“A game… you mean like chess? Or bingo?”

…

The creature is looking at me like I’m some dumbass. It’s actually really pissing me off.

“No, like a video game.”

“Oh, so like Tetris then, or Pong.”

…

If it looks at me like that again, I swear I’m going to punch it in the face!

It shrugged like it had given up. “Sure that’s close enough.”

Its arrogant attitude is really annoying.

“In this world there are stats and stuff. Get them high if you wanna live. Oh and leveling up is important too, so do that.”

“That doesn’t really tell me anything though.”

“It’s okay, I believe in you.”

What a barefaced lie. This is so half-assed.

“Oh yeah, because of your achievements in your previous life, you get a few starting titles. These will help boost your stats and provide additional effects.”

“That sounds good. What are they?”

“I’ll give them to you now.”

The creature waved its hand at me. Suddenly I could hear some sort of fanfare and before my eyes I could see floating letters.

Title acquired! [One Who Seduces Women]

So I was a man. This surprisingly answered one of my questions.

Title acquired! [One Who Seduces Men]

… Eh?

Title acquired! [One Who Is Unfortunate]

… Okay, now I’m really wondering what-

Title acquired! [One Who Went Out With a Bang]

Seriously! What the hell happened to me?!

“Four titles is pretty good, although they all seem disappointing somehow.”

“I want to cry right now…”

“Relax, I now can grant you one gift, however there will be a price to pay for it. That said price will be equal to the gift.”

“What do you mean?”

“For example, say you want a sword that can cut anything for your gift. The price might be something along the lines of, ‘you will never have friends as a child’ or something like that.”

“Okay, then what are my choices?”

“Anything you want.”

Hmm, anything? That’s vague but maybe it’s because you pay an equal price that it can be anything?

Then what should I pick? A weapon to protect me? Immunity to disease?

… Could I become a God?!

No, no I need to calm down. There is the price to consider too. If I go to big it won’t be worth the price.

Something reasonable, but will still help me through all my life…

“Hmm…”

“Hurry up; I don’t have all of eternity to wait.”

“Just one question…”

“If it’s about the world you’re going to I can’t answer it.”

“No, well that’s good to know now, but it’s about my previous life.”

“I said I don’t know much about it.”

“Well I was just wondering if there was something I lacked. That maybe that was the reason for, um, my death.”

The creature looked at me for a while then let out a sigh. “Something you lacked huh? I don’t know, but maybe someone to give you advice when you needed it? You were a pretty impulsive person at times and then indecisive the next.”

Advice… I’m a little surprised this creature knows the word. Considering it completely lacks it.

“Then that is what I want.”

“What, advice?”

“Yes.”

“Alright, then that will be your gift.” Again the creature raised its hand and words appeared before me.

Unique skill acquired! [Help from Beyond]

“And the price?”

“Dunno. You’ll find out after you reincarnate.”

“Hey…”

“Well that wraps everything up. I’ll be sending you on your way now, so enjoy your new life.”

Before I could complain, darkness robbed me of my vision and my consciousness drifted off. The next time my eyes would open, I would be reborn.