Chapter 1

A warm sensation was the first thing he felt, followed by the clacking of keys.

Soon light returned to him, and he was able to take in his surroundings as his vision came back to him. Blinking, he realized he was in the office again; he figured he must have fallen asleep during the counseling. He turned, noticing a large standing mirror next to the desk, not remembering it from before, he couldn’t help looking into it.

Which is when he noticed a floating ball was staring back at him.

It seemed to resemble something like a will o wisp, with a little flame dancing on top of it’s head, he also noticed that it moved when he moved, and also that he couldn’t feel his body or talk.

“...that’s me...wait, that’s me?!”

Without a mouth, there was no voice; the fire on his head just flared brightly at the sudden shock.

“Calm down, no yelling in the office.”

A feminine voice pulled him from his thoughts, which, while resonant, sounded like the tired security guard at the campus before his morning coffee, professional with no emotion behind it, and an exhaustion not towards lack of sleep but life itself.

Rhi noticed a woman behind the desk, in a tailored black suit. Her long, white hair, tied in a low ponytail, shifted with her as she leaned back and forth slightly, typing on the computer in front of her. The only hint he had of her expression was her furrowed brows due to the large black sunglasses resting on her face.

“Um…excuse me? Can you…hear me?”

A gloved hand raised when he spoke as the other hand continued to type.

“Yes, I can hear your thoughts to answer your question. I’m finishing up your report number 109.”

“109…no, my name is-”

“You’re name isn’t important, 109. What is important is that you are dead, and I’m the one dealing with your paperwork.”

“I’m…dead…no I…”

Images appeared in his head for a moment, the past flooding through whatever his ‘mind’ was in this state, replaying his end like a movie with a poor budget. The pause as he took in his final moments once again seemed to be enough for the woman to finish what she was working on, as her hands stopped typing, instead picking up the documents on the desk.

“I…I really died.”

“Yes, you did, now I’m sure you want a moment to take that in, make peace with it, but I dislike overtime, so we’re going to keep this short. You died, that stinks, let’s move on to what happens from here.”

“Even if you ask me to do that…”

“Good news is this should be simple.”

“She’s already moving on…may I at least ask who you are?”

“I’m no one of consequences 109.”

“Are you…a god?”

“Oh, right, the concept of gods existed in your world. Sure, you may use that terminology for me, I suppose I would be a ‘Goddess’ then, correct?”

The well-dressed Goddess wasted little time moving the conversation along, he felt himself getting pulled along even though he had questions; he wasn’t able to properly form his thoughts enough to press the matter, so he decided to listen while trying to adjust to everything.

“First things first, congratulations 109. Welcome to the afterlife, where our service will want you coming back again and again.”

The goddess spoke the lines with a practiced ease; even the monotone it was spoken in was professional. The fact that she hadn’t looked at him since he showed up also made it hard to believe in her service, but he chose to stay silent.

“You lived long enough for our Basic Reincarnation Package. Applaud here.”

The Goddess didn’t applaud and just moved on to the next paper.

“Did you say reincarnation?”

“...well, there goes the script, it’s harder if you ask questions,” The Goddess said, setting the papers down. “Ye,s you lived long enough for the basic package…in your world, what were the prerequisites again?”

Turning to her computer, she typed on it for a moment.

“Right, you got it for paying a certain amount in taxes. You barely hit the threshold. Good thing you were responsible.”

“I can reincarnate…for paying my taxes?”

“The ‘god’ of that world kept it simple. It’s actually easier work for us, so I have no complaints. However, at the amount you earned through life…you needed to reach 50 for the Deluxe Package, Premium…probably wasn’t going to happen in your life.”

“This is…a lot to take in.”

“I’m going to pretend I understand you and move on. So the Basic Package…I haven’t given that out in some time let’s see what you get…can’t choose whether to have a Childhood friend, that’s unfortunate…no Fated One…well being single isn’t the worst thing, can’t choose your Power, can’t-”

“Please wait. What do you mean by power?

“Magic, anyway-”

“Magic!”

The flames on Rhi’s head flared a bit at the possibility of being able to use magic, he wasn’t sure if the Goddess had looked in his direction but there was a pause in her speal due to his excitement.

Magic! Just like in those stories, or games he barely got to play, he'd be able to wield something like that! For a moment, he forgot his circumstances, but they came rushing back just as quickly as they had gone.

“Ah…I’m sorry, I didn’t mean-”

“The world you’re going to has magic within it, so a little excitement is fine. Thanks to Kasia, you’re going to this world, which is why I have to deal with you; no apology needed.”

“Kasia…who is that?”

“The woman who killed you.”

The flames around his body flared for a moment at this; a mess of mixed feelings ran through him at learning the name of his killer. He wasted no time pressing for more information, the Goddess sensing this even paused for him.

“Can you tell me more about her?”

“I can’t share too much information, company policy. However, since she’s given me more paperwork lately…I can tell public information.”

A few more keystrokes and she continued speaking.

“Kasia is also what you would refer to as a Goddess; she is a Deity within the World of Avezia, the one you’re going to. When she killed you, she forced a connection with you. Due to that, you got pulled towards the world itself, thus you ended up here with me. I don’t run the world itself, I’m more of a… hands-off Director. I only step in if things get really terrible. I leave everything to those within it.”

“Well, at least my death is seen as a ‘terrible’ thing.”

“Not really,” the goddess said, adjusting her sunglasses, still not looking at him. “Your death was…let’s see…”

Grabbing another stack of papers, she flipped through them before continuing.

“It happened outside my jurisdiction. Your death is at best a footnote in my report, and probably is under the god of that world, too. That being said, while your death is an inconvenience, I will be ensuring your transfer to that world is handled with the utmost efficiency. What you do in it…will be up to you. Now we’ve wasted enough time.”

The Goddess trailed off and tapped something on her keyboard.

“What name do you want to go by, 109?”

There were so many questions, far too many, but whatever this process was, she was adamant on finishing it, so he acquiesced.

“My…name, I have a name though…”

“Yes, you do…but you’re being reincarnated, you don’t have to go by your old name. You can pick a new one. I mean, I can add your old one to the records if you wan,t but-”
“No…that…no, I’ll go by a new name. This situation is confusing, but…this is…a fresh start, right? Then I should approach it that way...I don't know what else to do anyway.”

Pausing for a moment, he considered another name, ignoring the Goddess, checking the watch on her wrist as he contemplated.

“Please call me…Naro.”

“Naro, it is….okay, Naro, I put it in the records.”

“So in that world, that’ll be my name.”

“Oh no, that’s just for my records. In that world, no one will know who you are; you can go by whatever name you want. That was part of your Basic Package, the right to pick a name…for our records.”

There were a lot of things Naro wanted to say, but the Goddess was already moving on.

“Okay, so no family, so best you be older in that world, I'll keep you young though. The Basic Package comes only with the name, body, and the minimal amount of information; we, of course, choose the body. Customization is deluxe and above. Oh I left ‘Hero’s Destiny’ on, let’s turn that off…Okay, that’s it.”

A glow surrounded Naro and looking down he noticed a strange circle under him, a pentagram of some sort that emitted a warm light, the azure glow growing brighter with each passing second.

“Oh one last thing. In that world, you’ll need to live to old age to reincarnate again. You die sooner than that, you won’t get another chance, so try to beat your record this time. May your next life be filled with boundless joy. I’ll fill out your rating sheet; don’t worry, it’ll be five stars.”

Naro tried to speak but the light grew bright enough to blind him and in the next moment it felt as if the chair under him was pulled from him, he fell into a white abyss as darkness once again took his vision.