Mikota feinted, and I was just able to catch her, but then Maxine let out a scream, but cut it off when the man stepped out. The rock troll's body was still splayed open and dripping some kind of liquid that wasn't blood. The man turned around to the troll and then threw his hands up in the air.

"AH! I'm so stupid!" Then the man snapped his fingers, and everything froze.

And I mean frozen in place! Mikota became rigid, and I tried to move her, but she was frozen in place. Even when I moved away, it was like hitting the pause button. I turned back, and all the girls were the same.

"Better? You can explain to them however you want to after. You are always good at that type of thing, you scoundrel!"

"Do I know you?"

"Oh, that's right, that little shit Tyron messed your score up and got you blanked, eh?"

"Tyron?"

"For the love of, just come here and touch my hand!"

I was a bit hesitant to listen to him, but his familiarity with me was too good not to do it. I walked over, and I got a weird nostalgic feeling looking at him. When I got close enough, the man in the white lab coat extended his hand, and I reached for it.

As our hands connect, the world went black.

"THUMP, THUMP!"

"Hey, I'm Simon!"

The same man was in front of me, but we were somewhere else. It was a small office-like room filled with keyboards and monitors. Dome-like headsets sets were hanging above each monitor. Each screen showed different places with people walking around or monsters fighting in space. I looked back at Simon and shook the hand that was extended.

"I'm in charge of the mini-games of Reborn."

"What are those?"

"Ah! Well, while you play, you can unlock secrets by doing certain things. Some of these secrets come in the form of mini-games. You can think of them like a lifetime shortened to a single event. However, you still experience the memories with the other players you are joined by."

"So random people with just be joining me?"

"Most of the time, although you might run into instances where players have become trapped in the mini-game."

"How do you get trapped?"

"Dying, then the player has to replay until they win. While this happens there sparks are used to create the Boss monsters in the lives you will live."

"That's a bit cruel, don't you think? So I might be one of those repeats?"

"Do you plan on losing all the time?"

"No!"

"Then what's to worry?"

"THUMP, THUMP!"

"Hey, look at you go! The first mini-game complete!" Simon stepped out of a door, snapping his fingers, and my party froze.

"Hey, Simon, WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS PLACE!"

"Woah, Calm down, Dave! You know I didn't design reborn or make the rules for this war-zone!"

"Do you know the shit I've been through? Serina? All the rest? What is going on here? This isn't like what we were told!"

"I know Dave, and that's why I'm here in secret. This is the one time they can't monitor your feed. When I enter the game via headset, I break the connection to the main server. That's also why I can pause them and not you."

"What's your point? This place is tearing people's souls apart! What are you going to do about it?"

"I can't do much other than give you a solution and help when I can."

"What can you do to help me? Or anyone? They told us out there that there was no way to cheat or hack the system."

"Well, first of all, do you remember what we talked about in my office at the end?"

"If I planned on losing?"

"Yup! If you still feel this way, then I need you to win every game you play and not take a place as a god."

"Wah? But why?"

"Each time you win, you get a wish. With that wish, I want you to create new gods and find vassals for them."

"Now you're making less and less sense. Why do I want to do that?"

"These people, your friends, will all get spread out again like they did this time. The only way to keep them in the game as players and not random NPC's is to create gods and vassals. Once In a God's seat, the player can give their designated blessing and join the world, or just watch from above. The vassals get to compete for a chance at godship, but winning twenty games is nearly impossible, making it hard for players wanting to play."

"I understand now. So, find the people lost, use my wish to make them gods, and give them a vassal to promote to god status if there are no lost people that round. OK! One thing, when do I get to stop?"

"Stop?"

"THUMP, THUMP!"

"Look at the batch of honey's you got with you this time!"

"Haha. If you think this is easy, then I'll trade you!"

"Nah, I watch you all the time, bro, well not all the time, hehe!" Simon winked at me with the last part.

"So, what new thing you got for me this time?"

"Always right down to the business!"

"I need to get back to the other girls!"

"Why? It's not like they are waiting, bro! We put them on pause when mini-games start. You don't even know when it happens to other players because you're the paused one. So, chill out, my man!" Simon's relaxed attitude was friendly to see after these mini-game things, and he always had something good for me.

"So?"

"Ya, ya, I still don't know why you treat these things as things. They are little blessings, and that's why they don't get pinged as cheating since I'm the one that is supposed to give them away, but I give you the best ones."

"OK, then. What minor blessing have you brought for me today?"

"This one's kinda funny, but check it out!" Simon reached forward and touched my hand.

Immediately a purple screen popped into my HUD. I was used to this by now.

REBIRTH LOCKED MINOR BLESSING

AURA OF UNDERSTANDING: people become more understanding of your plans and Ideals.

"Where did you find this?"

"You know, I had some extra time, so I dug around."

"Well, this will help with the fights among the girls now."

"See you next time, Bro!"

"THUMP, THUMP!"

I could feel the cold stone under my back as I gasped for air. My eyes shot open to see Simon standing above me with his hand out to help me up. After catching my breath, I grabbed it and stood back up.

"So?"

I hugged him instead, giving Simon a good squeeze, and he hugged me back.

"Thank you, Tyron really got me. I never thought he would go so far as to wipe me like that. I'm still missing big chunks of what happened, but now I know what I, I mean, we are trying to do."

"It's good to see you, Bro! Man, it's been a bit, and the last game you had to play lasted way too long. I couldn't watch most of it, man, but I've come with the butter!"

"Butter?"

"YA! You know, for your bread? The best part of eating a fresh slice of bread is that creamy gold! Anyways, this time I brought you something different, well, it's less giving something more just to help you in the main game."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, I already did it when we touched before, and you won't see it till you go back to the other game. I removed the sanity stat, and I locked the mini-games for the round for you to change something about the way DEMON HUNTER and DEMON BRINGER work."

"Thank you, that was really bad, and I hurt Serina."

"She's tougher than that, and you know that, Dave! Don't go getting down about anything! YOUR A LADY BEAST! And you're saving all these damsels in distress! Anyways! I gotta get going before they catch me fraternizing with you, hehe!"

"Thanks again, Simon. It's not just me saving them!"

"Hehe! One more thing, these girls will be part of your next group, so don't try and waste your wishes on them! You got enough to worry about Tilly and Iona!"

Then before I could ask about Iona, he was gone. I had a sneaking suspicion about Tilly, but I never thought of Iona. Still, my thoughts were derailed as I heard Mikota cry out and then curse my name.

"Owe! Dammit, Dave!"

Dang, I forgot about her leaning position.

After a bit of explaining, saying he was just the professor of the dungeon, we all headed into the room behind the metal door. Once inside, there were five pedestals with handprints for each hand on them. I front of all of them stood a single pad.

"Is this the place you guys told me about?" Sasha asked.

"Yeah, It looks different, but it must be the place, right, Dave?" Jill questioned me, turning to look at me.

I was silent for a minute. It wasn't until this very moment that I had realized what was about to happen.

"What's wrong, Dave? Why are your eyes watering?" Maxine asked with concern.

I still couldn't talk. I just wanted to take each one in. The sight and smell, the feeling of each, and the feeling they each gave me.

"Dave?"

All the girls had crowded around me, and I wiped away the tears. For them, It would be a single blink, and we would all be back together while I went on with the others to finish my previous life. This was all so much. How did I keep doing this?

"Dave, It's OK!"

"I know, girls, I'm just silly. I'm just so happy that we made it so far and spent so much time together!"

"Dave, you're scaring me now. What's going on?" That was Jill this time.

"It's nothing. I just want to give each of you a hug and kiss before we go to our next life. We may not remember this one, so let's take a moment before we go."

We all hugged, and I kissed each of the girls. Kyrina changed back as well since Kyrin didn't want one. The time I would wait before seeing them again would belong, but I engraved this moment in my memory. I still had many more memories to make in life with the other girls, so I just had to be patient.

We all took our places, and I stood a the top on the platform. As the girls place their hands down, they lit with their elemental power and then disappeared one by one. It was over in less than five seconds, and all the magic poured into me. The world started to fall away, and then a system message appeared in my HUD.

CONGRATULATIONS ON COMPLETING THE MINI-GAME!

ELEMENTAL CONVERSION AWARDED TO YOU AND YOUR PARTY!

REACTIVATING PREVIOUS SYSTEM AND WORLD

I closed my eyes as the world fell away.

We have reached the end of another volume! I hope you, the readers, have enjoyed the short volume and the new character I introduced. These characters will play major roles in the future, so stay tuned to my daily chapter posts and let me know what you think in the comments!