Chapter 39: Routine and Rumblings

Life, even for a goddess, settles into a routine. My days became a comfortable rhythm of saving worlds, creating chaotic new lives, and quietly observing my old friends. The immediate threat of the Defragmentation Protocol had been abated, replaced by the long, slow work of preservation. The ache of loneliness was still there, but it had become a familiar companion, a quiet hum in the background of my existence.

I became incredibly good at my job. My creative solutions were legendary throughout the celestial realms. Other deities started consulting me on their own reincarnation cases. The God of Agriculture wanted to know how to deal with a soul who wished to be a sentient scarecrow with a passion for philosophy. The Goddess of Love asked for advice on a pair of star-crossed lovers from warring galaxies. I was no longer just Akane; I was a respected expert, a master of my craft.

My interactions with Isao became less frequent, but more meaningful. He would appear in my office unannounced, not to tease, but to bring me a file on a world that was in the Protocol's path, a silent offering of collaboration. We had an unspoken truce, a shared purpose. We were the unlikely guardians of reality's beautiful, messy stories.

One day, I was working on a particularly challenging case: a soul who wanted to be reincarnated as a mimic, but only wanted to transform into stylish, comfortable shoes. It was exactly the kind of absurd challenge I now relished. As I was designing the "Sentient Loafer" skill tree, a priority alert flashed on my console.

It was a new soul file, flagged for immediate processing. This was rare; most souls went into a queue. A priority flag meant the soul was either incredibly important, or incredibly problematic.

I opened the file. The soul's name was Kenji Tanaka. Cause of death: electrocution after trying to mod his gaming console with a fork. My eyes scanned down to his reincarnation request, and I felt a familiar sense of dread wash over me. It was a list. A long, detailed, multi-page list.

Request:

Reincarnation into the world of 'Aethelgard' (a popular fantasy game from his world).

The unique character class 'Chaos Blade Master,' as detailed in the attached 30-page fan-fiction document.

The divine sword 'Oblivion's Edge' (must have at least +15 to all stats and a cool black and red aura).

A starting party consisting of: one (1) tsundere elf princess, one (1) shy cat-girl mage, and one (1) stoic dragon-girl knight.

An ability called 'System Appraisal' that allows me to see the hidden stats and weaknesses of everyone and everything. I know how this works. Don't try to trick me.

And the list went on.

I leaned back in my chair and sighed. It had been a while. But I knew the type. This wasn't just an entitled reincarnator. This was an expert. A connoisseur of clichés. He didn't just want a power fantasy; he wanted to dictate the terms of his own story, down to the last detail.

The old Akane would have been exhausted by this. The new Akane, the one who had fought dragons and outsmarted cosmic janitor programs, just smiled. A challenging case, indeed.