1 [Sinner]

Death wasn't beautiful, strange, or even beyond human comprehension.

It was boring.

Now, I'm not the most creative person, nor am I the guru of excitement but even I can tell this place is bland and uninspired.

I mean, really, a void of infinite darkness? So cliche.

<Finally, you've arrived>

Oh great, and now there's a mysterious godlike jackass cliche.

<I know you're only acting like this out of fear and desperation, so I'll let your blatant disrespect slide>

<Allow me to introduce myself. I am Sin>

Edgy.

<Quite>

<I was previously known as 'The Game' but after I split my powers 7 ways, I think this name matches me more>

<Before that, I'm curious. Are you really not concerned about your memories or how you died?>

Can't miss what you don't have.

Also, you just said your name used to be 'the game', so you must want to reincarnate me or something, right?

And since I know I should feel more excited about this, I'm fairly certain you're the one who's messing with my emotions and memories.

At least I hope so, it's hard to sleep when I don't have a body and I really don't want to spend more time here. If you can't help me, I'm fucked.

<Fair enough>

<You assumed correct, you will be reincarnated. Six others will also be reincarnated in different universes than your own>

Others? If you're gonna make me share a universe with others like me I'd rather you just erase me.

Some of those isekai protagonists are absolute monsters who just robotically force their way to the top of the multiverse. I'd rather not get in their way.

<Yes and no>

<Stop speaking and let me explain or I'll just give it to the next person who wanders into my darkness room>

Sorry.

It's just hard to keep my mouth shut when I don't have one. Let me remind you that I'm just a soul at the moment.

<Moving on>

<You and six others will be reincarnated into separate universes. Alone. You won't ever meet>

<Each of you will be given an aspect of my power and must get as powerful as possible with it>

<These powers are known as a [Sin]. Each one is derived from a certain part of [The Gamer] ability>

So it's a high-score type of game where I get my own universe for as long as I live?

<Precisely>

Sweet! Even if I lose I win. So do I get to choose which [Sin] or I get?

<Sadly, the first player has already gone through their lifetime and gotten their score. Therefore, you have only six choices instead of seven>

<You both having the same power would defeat the purpose of this experiment>

The purpose? Are you not doing all of this for fun?

<No>

<The previous real gamers died when they awakened a being they couldn't comprehend>

<So I'm only doing this to see which part of [The Gamer] I should focus on improving when I revamp it for use>

Oh, okay. That makes a bit of sense. It sounds like they woke up the blind idiot god.

I do hope you warn me if I'm about to awaken a being that could kill even a high level gamer. If anything like that is in the same plane of existence as me I'll just give up.

Any rules though? If this is just an experiment for you there must be some stipulations, right?

<No, there are none>

<However, the world you will be put into will be a world you are unfamiliar with. Abusing future knowledge wouldn't exactly help me with my experiment, after all>

Booooo! Let me take advantage of my future knowledge and become the god of destruction with ease.

<Speaking of DBZ, if you die- that's it. You're dead>

<No Otherworld or 'actually I didn't die and just-' No. I decide what is classified as death so don't try any loopholes>

That's fair. I wouldn't kill myself anyway, even if I knew it'd be beneficial to me.

You never know what could happen, after all. King Yemma could just slap me into hell because I happen to redirect a ki blast onto a different planet.

Too risky. And dying isn't good for you anyway, it's been proven by many studies.

<Now if you're finished needlessly worrying about semantics>

<Choose a [Sin]>

I wouldn't say it was needless, this is my life we're talking about here…

...

Just gonna ignore me? Rude.

<[Pride] - You are simply superior in every way: The ability to master any skill at a faster rate and to perfection>

<[Sloth] - How about instead of putting in any effort, you just learn it: The ability to learn any skill from simply touching a book about it>

<[Envy] - No one is allowed to be stronger than you, you'll kill everyone and take their strength for your own: The ability to slay others and 'level up'> (UNAVAILABLE)

<[Lust] - You have no problem seducing your problems away, it's a valid strategy for life: The ability to gauge your relationships with others and gain 'perks' through succession.

<[Greed] - Everything will eventually return to its rightful place, your impenetrable pockets: The ability to store anything you subconsciously consider an 'item' into a subspace.

<[Wrath] - Those who cross you will feel your cold ruthless wrath: The ability to always be in a state of rational thought. Immune to mental disorder>

<[Gluttony] - Food is love. Food is life: Your body works differently, making you unable to die unless your 'HP' drops to zero. You can eat food to regain 'HP'>

Aw man, whoever the first player is was lucky as hell, they took the best one! Leveling up is probably the most powerful part of the gamer ability.

Sloth is just being able to have skill books. I've got no idea what Lust is, but it sounds pretty weak. Greed seems equally as weak, but only because I don't know the limitations.

Can I open it hundreds of times and pull a Gate of Babylon? If I react fast enough, can I store projectiles coming at me in the inventory for protection?

Too many unanswered questions, so it's too risky.

Wrath will just make me psychotic. Being unable to be irrational or have any bad thoughts will just make me a robot in the long run. I think.

And Gluttony is straight up just Gamer's Body. It's honestly not that bad of an ability. It just makes someone have zero weak spots in favor of dying if they take too much damage.

Not bad at all.

But the obvious choice here is Pride. In a post-apocalyptic world, Sloth is trash.

<So be it>

<While you were making that choice, three worlds were chosen completely randomly>

<Choose>

[Highschool DxD(AU)] [Kirby] [The Demonata]

...Can I get a reroll? This selection is beyond garbage.

<No. This was a completely random choice. A random anime, game, and book>

<It could be much worse, don't whine>

I mean, yeah. But just because something can be worse doesn't mean I can't complain about it.

Anyway, I've read The Demonata and it's a world with demons who are consuming everything bit by bit. And at the end of the book, they restart the universe with only one demon left because all life is going extinct.

Absolute bullshit.

I don't know enough about Kirby to say it's that bad but from my experience, that place is fucked to epic proportions. Almost every other little thing is an evil overlord and the rest are either super cute weaklings or eldritch horrors.

Plus I'd stick out like a sore thumb.

I'll choose Highschool DxD. It sounds like a slice of life anime and I can just become the next Tony Stark or something with my [Pride] ability.

Oh, question. AU means alternate universe, right? If so, what changed from the normal canon?

<I don't see why you care, you haven't watched the anime>

<Whatever. The only thing that's changed is the beginning. The Protagonist is killed in the beginning of the show. In this AU, they're killed by a different person>

That's it?

<That's it.>

Changing a single person can't fuck up a timeline that badly, can it? Wait, don't answer that. Dumb question.

Let's just move on.

<For you to be pestered by the plot and have extra incentive to grow stronger, you will be granted a boon>

<Choose>

[Sacred Gear] [Hero Lineage]

Hero Lineage? Does that mean I'd be obligated to be a good guy?

I'm not an evil guy per se but I'd rather not have to run around saving schmucks and getting nothing in return. It would probably be fun for about five minutes and then I'd hate my life.

I'm more of a neutral guy. You don't hurt me or my friends and I won't hurt yours.

So I'll take the gear thing.

<And so we've reached the end>

<Remember, your goal is to be the strongest>

Wait! What happens if I get the highest score?

<Then you can own [The Gamer 2.0] as my first test subject>

<The game ends when you die, so if you fail to get the highest score I'll give you an afterlife of your own design>

<Now, Goodbye Katsuo>