1 Death and Rebirth

In a rundown alley, He stood with his back against the wall, surrounded by five thugs.

"Come on, guys… you don't have to do this." He said.

"You messed up big time, Roland. You ratted the boss out and now you are begging us?"

The thugs were having none of his pleas as they moved in closer.

"I did what I had to, for my family."

The biggest thug shook his head. "Goodbye, Roland."

Pulling out a knife, he stabbed Roland in the stomach, not giving the latter a chance to struggle. "I hope you make better decisions in your next life."

Letting go, the thugs exchanged looks with one another before turning to leave. A few breaths later and Roland was left alone in the alley.

At first, he was stunned by the sudden waves of pain he felt. Standing with his eyes open, he slowly slid on the wall till he sat on the ground.

With a solemn expression, he sighed helplessly. "Is this how it's going to end for me?... Dying all alone in an alley, without having anyone to call family… This is pathetic."

Abandoned at a young age, forced to live and work with drug dealers just to survive after losing the only piece of happiness he had…

For most of his life, Roland struggled to make a place for himself in society, but almost like his fate was against him, all his efforts were wasted.

He cursed his bad luck, wondering why he suffered so much. In any case, it was all over now. At least, there won't be a need to struggle any further.

As he felt his life slowly ebbing away, Roland took one last look at the starry sky that seemed to be the dwelling place of a higher existence.

"I don't know if you are up there, God… But if you are… fuck you. All I ever did wrong was exist and you had to treat me like this…"

With his last words cursing at the big guy above, Roland dropped his head down as he breathed his last.

***

"Huh, where am I?" He opened his eyes and was greeted by intense sunlight, forcing him to shut them once again.

"Ugh." Groaning softly, he put his palm over his face and struggled to get up.

"You are awake." A strange voice suddenly said.

He turned to the origin to find a middle-aged man with unassuming features sitting on a large rock beside him.

Immediately putting up his guard, Roland asked. "Who are you?"

"Who am I?... Ah, good question… Uhmm, how do I put this?" The middle-aged man rubbed his upper lip with his finger momentarily before snapping his finger. "Remember the guy you yelled at before you died?"

Roland furrowed his brows. "The guy I…" Trailing off, he realized something. "You are God?"

"Bingo."

"…Are you kidding me?... Do you think I'm stupid or something?... Everyone knows God is…"

"Not real?" The middle-aged man cut him off, a casual expression on his amicable face.

"…Yeah."

"It doesn't matter if you believe me, I'm here for a different reason."

Roland contemplated before responding. "Okay, let's say you are God, prove it."

The middle-aged man chuckled. "I don't think so. Proving my existence is a drag, if you don't believe, then that's on you."

Roland gave up seeing the man's lax attitude. "So is this heaven?"

"Ehmm, Nope. Gardenia, one of the many Worlds I created. Anyway, that's beside the point…

"Do you know why I decided to meet you, Roland?"

"Because I cursed you?"

God tried to speak, paused, then continued. "That is one of the reasons. But apart from that, I felt sorry after looking through everything you have experienced."

Roland deeply sighed. "So my life experience was so bad it made you feel sorry… laughable."

"I want to give you a second chance at life, Roland. Will you take it?"

Roland was rendered speechless momentarily. "Wait what?"

God smiled. "I will send you to a world of magic to make up for the bad things you experienced. Over there you can be a hero and save the damsel in distress."

"If… and I mean, if… I agreed to this, would you really help me reincarnate?"

"Of course, I'd give you all the cheats and stuff you need to be a badass hero. So what do you say?"

Roland peered at God, looking for something that would say he was lying but there was nothing.

Sighing heavily, He shook his head. "I think I'm tired of living at this point. I'd rather just spend my days in the afterlife. It's a peaceful existence."

God nodded briefly. "Well, I tried."

Roland chuckled slightly. "Thanks for the gesture, I appreciate it."

"Ehmm, you are still going to get reincarnated though."

"Huh, what?... Why?... I just said no."

"Sorry… I thought you'd jump at the opportunity so I already passed the judgment before your soul got here."

Roland had a blank expression. "Are you kidding me?!!!"

"…Sorry."

"Sorry does not cut it, old man."

"Oy, watch the tone, omniscient and omnipotent being standing here, ya know."

Roland felt the urge to punch someone as he got to his feet. "And here I thought you were a good guy… You two-timing son of a…"

Suddenly, Roland was gone.

"Whew, that guy was intense."

An angel walked out from the void of space at that point. "Did you really have to entrust the fate of one of your most precious creations into the hands of a mere mortal?"

God chuckled before regaining his otherworldly composure. "It's fine. He'll do well. Humans have always performed miracles when given the opportunity."

The angel pursed her lips before sighing. "Alright then, I did as you instructed and gave him a golden finger."

God nodded satisfactorily. "You gave him infinite mana, right. That's the best one." He immediately noticed something was wrong as no response came.

He turned to look at the angel. She had a complicated expression. "What did you do?"

"…You told me to give him any cheat I saw fit and so… I gave him the fox."

God's mouth hung agape. "Are you kidding me!!!"