...

-I died, didn’t I?

This was the first question I thought to myself when I could still feel the sensation of my own legs not riddled with bullet holes.

Around me, a world of blue spans as far as the eye can see. Grains of sand that shine like stars poured into and out of various hourglasses. The ticking of a clock continues in the background, but the clock cannot be seen. A starry night sky, clear and unclouded, filed with so many beautiful colors loomed overhead.

???: “Do you want to live?”

A voice calls out, seemingly from nowhere and a liquid falls from the night sky like a teardrop. It lands on the ground and seems to reflect the night sky as the clock ticks on. The liquid morphs and soon the image of an elegant woman with beautiful snow-white skin, eyes that seem to be stars that shine more beautifully than those in the sky, an elegant dress that looks to be made from the stars, and holding a large crystalline staff with a crescent moon at the top and star in the crux of the crescent stands before me.

-She’s beautiful, it’s like I'm staring at the stars in the flesh.

But her question strikes me as odd.

???: “Do I want to…...I wonder?”

???: “Are you saying you wish to go to hell?”

-I wonder if this is some sort of glamorous purgatory.

???: “So it’s living or hell, is this some reincarnation sort of deal?”

???: “Correct, that is the privilege you have been given.”

I don’t remember ever being heroic or great and even if I tried to be nice in my life, I don’t think I did anything to warrant a reward.

???: “Have I earned something like that?”

???: “As I said it is a Privilege, not a reward. I as god bestow this upon you that you may…”

???: “You're ...God?”

???: “Correct.”

???: “....”

???: “Speechless? I’d expect as much. After all, it is a great honor that I grant you this priv….”

???: “You’re not.”

???: “....I’m sorry?”

???: “I know you’re not God, so you can cut the crap.”

???: “Why do you not believe me, is not the fact that I can summon your soul before me now something that falls within your conception of God?”

I look at my body, I didn’t notice it before but it’s clearly transparent with a bluish hue surrounding it. Is this some form of 'Astral Body' based around my soul?

???: “You’re asking for a genuine reason I think you’re lying to me?”

???: “Are you asking me to force your belief through coercion or a display of a miracle beyond what you see before you?”

???: “No, but if you haven’t forced me already it means that you either can’t or you need me for something. And if you need me for something, you could’ve made me do it for the sake of convenience, but you haven’t.”

???: “.....Continue.”

???: “So you probably don’t have the power to force me to do what you want, so you went with a reincarnation trope. I’m more surprised that you didn’t bring other people to try and manipulate them into a mob around some moral high-ground addict.”

???: “Do you believe I wish for a group that could just as easily try to kill me, even if they would fail, as opposed to listening to me or gathering under the figurehead you speak of? While it’s true that I could have gotten more people, I don’t believe that is in line with my goals to have too many individuals to keep track of.”

-I guess it’s true that most humans are greedy and those who try to act just are usually just faking it for power, fame, or romance. But aside from that...

???: “Alright, besides I’m a Christian, not a Buddhist. I believe that reincarnation is possible, but not that it’s the norm. And I don’t know how many beings can manipulate souls, so I can’t say exactly you’re God if I consider the possibility that they’re not the only one who can.”

???: “Fine, fine. I’m not God, but I’m a higher being than you, who’s giving you another chance at revenge, isn’t that enough?”

???: “Revenge?”

???: “Yes, though I suspect your not believing me has more to do with your death than it does with my abilities, am I correct?”

???: “...You mean what my brothers were preaching, right?”

???: “Indeed, though I suppose if I was faced with twenty armed, fanatic potential reincarnators and had no options or powers, I couldn’t have put up much of a fight.”

???: “.....I…they….....reincarnators?”

???: “Yes, what about them?”

???: “So they WILL reincarnate like they kept screaming about?”

???: “Correct, though I said potential reincarnators before, now that they’ve followed their commands to the letter, it seems certain.”

???: “...Did that b*tch die?”

???: “You mean from your little ‘last attempt?’ One of them did get part of their face burned off, but since you died at their hands and you could barely damage even one of them and have fisticuffs with another, does it matter that much?”

???: “I suppose it doesn’t, but...why…..?”

???: “Awwwwww, is somebody feeling embarrassed about not being able to kill a single person? That’s pathetic.”

???: “Why... am I feeling so calm right now?”

???: “....Oh, right. I forgot that I made it so that you wouldn’t have a meltdown before I brought you here since it’d be kind of inconvenient for you to start crying or screaming while I’m talking.”

???: “But you didn’t make it so that I wouldn’t question you, thus leaving me free to interrupt you?”

???: “Well, I figured that I would make the most of this since most of the people I usually speak to are either fanatics or my siblings.”

???: “So even ‘gods’ get tired of each other?”

???: “That’s an understatement, but we’ve been like that since the very moment we were born. Don’t let them catch you saying that kind of stuff if you see them in the future.”

???: “Let’s get on with this.”

???: “You’re done, aren’t you going to ask to go home or anything stupid like if you could bring your smartphone with you?”

???: “There are already multiple stories where there’s a problem with that kind of stuff, plus I feel like you’d just hit me if I keep going.”

‘Witch of Fate’: “Very well…*coughs*.....I am the ‘Witch of Fate’! And you have been given the privilege to reincarnate and become my….champion!”

-I felt like she would’ve said pawn or tool, or maybe even, herald?

‘Witch of Fate’: “As I promised you before, this is a journey for your revenge! Your killers will also become reincarnators under the jurisdiction of different ‘gods’ of the world of Ilthea.”

???: “Alright, so are you going to give me a blessing or something like that?”

‘Witch of Fate’: “Unfortunately, no. If I did, then my siblings would notice it and believe I am interfering. That’s why I decided to select a soul with potential for motivation in Ilthea, namely yours.”

???: “So I’m just supposed to make it through twenty people with powers and an entire world out to get me?”

‘Witch of Fate’: “Isn’t that fine, I thought most humans enjoy putting in a little effort?”

???: “We enjoy being rewarded for effort, not the effort itself. And also, a ‘champion?’ I don’t even go for light jogs anymore, so I don’t know why you’d think I could do something like this.”

‘Witch of Fate’: “Self-depreciation? I guess calming you down was a mistake on my part, but regardless of your sense of self-worth I chose you.”

???: “Well regardless of that, I just don’t think I can do anything on the level of a champion. So you’re just wasting time.”

‘Witch of Fate’: “Very well, then I’ll just call you what you’ve already become…”

『You have been given the Title【Familiar of Fate】!』

『Due to your Title, you have unlocked the 【Fortune】Stat!』

???: “!”

‘Witch of Fate’: “You’re not surprised by this, are you? And here I thought you already knew everything about this ~. But I think you should know what comes next, but sadly I don’t have the time to keep entertaining you.”

A dim blue light began to surround ‘???’.

???: “Hey hold on a second, you still haven’t told me…!”

‘Witch of Fate’: “Oh right, I haven’t given you a new name! I think I’ll have your new parents name you ‘Fate’ since your old one doesn’t matter.”

-That is not what I was thinking!

‘Witch of Fate’: “It doesn’t matter what you’re thinking, but serve me well in the future my pet!~”

-She can read minds!?

Fate: “...Woahhhhhh!”

In that instant, the soul of one world vanished and in the next, the world of Ilthea spawned a new life. This was the beginning of the journey of a tortured soul named 'Fate.'