He had no idea where he was and why he was there. It was a void permeated by white light from which the voice of God bellowed.
“Your cause of death was a pity! Now, to decide on your next life, you’ve gotta roll this gacha! You’re guaranteed a rare drop for this one!”
His past life was apparently “normal” on the rarity scale, so this “guaranteed rare drop” must have been arranged under some kind of special circumstance.
“My cause of death?” he asked.
He couldn’t remember a thing about his past life, much less how he died. The only knowledge he was equipped with was common sense. It was apparently normal for people to lose their memories once entering this void.
“You might retain some of your memories of your past life, but once you leave here, you’ll gradually forget everything,” God said.
“Ah, I see. Convenient for you.”
The question of how he died had him staring at God intensely.
“Your cause of death was blood loss. A bug spooked you while you were cooking.” God started to explain exactly what happened.
In his past life, he was terrified of bugs. While cooking, the sight of a creepy crawly sent him falling to the ground. However, he wasn’t the only thing that fell, as the knife he threw into the air was on a collision course with his throat. Aside from the fact that it was a quick death, God didn’t have much more to say about it.
“Pathetic doesn’t even begin to explain it.” he said.
According to God, it was probably a good knife since he liked to cook.
“Ha ha ha!” God laughed with her mouth wide open. “I’ll give it to you, I’ve never seen anyone die like that!”
At least it became a funny story, he thought as he buried his head in his hands.
“In any case,” God said. “You may enjoy a new life in a different world.”
The moment those words left God’s lips, he looked at her with a dead stare. He had no idea what she was talking about.
“Ah, don’t worry about it. Now, about that gacha...” God started.
His potential in life would increase and his appearance would be improved. If he was lucky, he could become not only an aristocrat, but a member of the royal family too.
Easy enough to understand. Surprisingly, fully comprehending his own abilities from birth was something he welcomed.
“Now then, let’s get started,” God said.
With a loud thud, she whipped out a run-of-the-mill gachapon machine from underneath her clothing. I’m shocked that you had room for that considering how small you are, he thought, amazed by the entity’s feat. God presented herself in the form of a young girl, so he couldn’t hide his shock that she just made a gachapon machine appear from her person.
“Come on up, give it a spin,” God encouraged.
Egged on by the deity, he felt his heart rate rising as he reached for the lever. He pulled the lever with gusto, causing a gold capsule to pop out of the machine. His jaw hit the floor in shock. However, when he looked over to see God’s reaction, she wasn’t so gobsmacked.
“Don’t be so surprised. All the capsules inside are gold,” she said with a mocking smile.
“Way to ruin my excitement!” he said loudly with a sigh.
After psyching himself up again, he opened the capsule to find a piece of paper inside. On it read the results of his gacha pull.
“It’s super rare!” he said.
Was he going to be born into money? Or would he perhaps be part of the royal family? His imagination ran wild. He continued to read through the rest of the details listed on the paper.
“Wait... Huh? Wh-What’s this?” he asked, sounding troubled by what he just read.
The paper didn’t mention anything about his birth, it only said “TOXIN DECOMPOSITION EX” in large letters.
“That’s a skill. You’ve even got ‘EX’ on it. That’s cool,” God said.
So what? he thought, wanting to rebuff her remarks.
“So...you’re very tough against poison. You name it! Any kind of poison, bacteria, toxin, or anything in that neighborhood won’t do a single thing to you,” she said.
He understood that he’d received an amazing ability, but it didn’t really have any sort of flourish or pizzazz to it. It’s a bit dull, he thought as he let out a sigh. Wait a second, what does she mean by a “skill”?
“Speaking of, a skill? So the world I’m going to is?” he asked.
“You got it, you’ll be in an orthodox fantasy world.”
“You mean there’ll be monsters and magic and stuff?”
God proceeded to share some details about his destination. His heart started to flutter as God told him of a role-playing-gamelike world filled with monsters, status effects, and even magic. As exciting as this all was, he still wasn’t too crazy about Toxin Decomposition EX being his alleged “skill.”
“Hm? It says on the back that you’ll be reborn as the eldest son in the household of a count,” God noted, peering at the lines he had missed on the paper in his hands.
“Oh, you’re right. Hmmm, I guess this is where I have to make a compromise then,” he said.
“Goodness, your honesty hasn’t changed from your past life.”
Though he couldn’t remember that past life, he did know his behavior was uncouth before the eyes of God right in front of him. However, he had naturally started to loosen up in front of her.
“I’m sorry. I guess this is the kind of person that I am,” he said. He had regret for his actions, wondering if his response to this unforeseen series of events might have been the cause. “By the way, are there any other reincarnators there besides me?”
“No one nearby. There might be one in an area that’ll take you a few years to get to on foot, but do you really want to live so close to one of these people?”
After pondering the thought for a few moments, the idea of having a reincarnator with unfathomably overpowered abilities nearby became absolutely terrifying to him. He put a hand over his chest and breathed a sigh of relief.
“Anyways, you’ll be restarting as a baby. Hm, I suppose it’s time,” God said wistfully, knowing that her time was up.
“So I’ll be starting a bright, new life! I’ll leave it all to you, God!” he said.
“Yeah yeah. See ya kid. I pray that your life is filled with blessings.” With a smile, she summoned a bright vortex at his feet, accompanied by a low humming that echoed throughout the void. “All right, then! Off you go! So long!”
Their separation came suddenly, God’s gaze gracing him with motherly love until he disappeared.
“Whew. That part’s over,” she muttered to herself with contentment. As the sound of the vortex lingered, the lone god found herself immersed in an indescribable feeling. It went without saying that God had sent countless souls off to a new life. The process this time around was similar to before, but sending someone off was the only part of it that was exactly the same for her.
“One of my wishes has finally come to fruition. Now then, I suppose I’ll relax a little. Well, for today at least,” she muttered as though she was reminiscing about something.
She gave a revelatory chuckle, her body trembling with some kind of satisfaction.
“Finally, I’m able to call you back to my world. That alone is enough for me,” she said.
He hadn’t been aware that his encounter with God wasn’t just a stroke of coincidence.
“‘Welcome home’ is what I should’ve said, I suppose. Now then, once more...show me how you’ll live.”
The true meaning behind her words was something that only God herself knew the answer to.
✦ ✦ ✦
No one knew how much time had passed. He awoke as a bright light peeked in through the window. How cliché, but I guess I just went through your bog-standard reincarnation after all, he thought, followed by the realization that a beautiful brunette with glossy hair was holding him in her arms.
“Aw, you’re such a good baby, Ein,” she cooed.
That was his new name. This meant that the woman holding him was his mother. I see, the reincarnation must’ve been a success. Being able to understand words must be a reincarnator perk.
“Ngh... Waaah! Waaah!” His body felt ticklish and he naturally gave out a loud cry. This was a completely normal thing for babies to do, but he wasn’t thrilled that it involved crying against his will.
“Oh my darling, what’s wrong? Are you hungry?” she asked.
As she tried to calm him down, he continued to stare at the woman whom he presumed to be his mother. Yeah... She’s not like my mother at all. This opinion simply came from his feelings. Perhaps due to the fact that he had a past life, he couldn’t think of this woman as his mother. If anything, she felt more like an older sister with a large age gap.
However, her affectionate gaze and the warmth of her hand rubbing his back indicated that Ein was indeed precious to her. An inexplicable sense of comfort washed over him. All right, this is my new life now. I’ll do my best.