Prologue. Part 2.
Then. Unknown place and unknown time.
- Greetings, mortal. Let's start without any stupid questions, you was begging as hell, while you was dying to reincarnate. And here you are...
I saw nothing. Only darkness around me. And gray silhouette with green-ish eyes.
- In that case how may I call you?
- Oh, you can choose any name you want. True names of immortals are only affair of the immortals.
- Then may I call you Charon?
- A good one. It fits. But I use another currency, than money. So the last choice...Erasing or reincarnation?
- Thanks Mara, that not Hell or Heaven...
I was muttering, but...of course I was heard.
- In Hell or Heaven...souls are coming of those who were baptized as you. But those aren't burnt their Bibles in a "teenage rebellion" and didn't refuse their faith, ya idiot! YOUR! CHOICE! - he forced me to answer faster
- Reincarnation... - I whispered
- In that case...here's your price-list...
- Em, huh?
-Exactly. Have you ever wondered: why most reincarnators...lack any memories? Or partially... They don't remember their relatives, friends, the house where they lived...who they were... Me and my "co-workers"... We take your memories and send you, mortals, either to the worlds of your choice, or you choose a random world. Memories are the same currency as energy. Exactly like all feelings and thoughts. So choose what you are willing to give away for the sake of rebirth. - said the Guide with a cruel smile...
And being impudent is pointless, just like deceiving. I'm not a genius or a warrior...just mediocrity. So. Get your balls back! Are you a man or where?! We must first see how much I can "pinch off" from myself in general in order to pay enough for any world...
Memories about family...
Memories about friends...
Memories of sciences...
Memories of entertainment (games, TV series, etc.)
More: {expand list}
Lots of points. But it's a luck that I am given a choice.
I give up all memories until the age of 5. There's nothing interesting there. Just a bit more…
Let's leave books and entertainment. I won't throw my family away. They sacrificed too much for me to give them up. Same stands for my homeland either. Foreign languages? What if the place where it hits is a completely different language?! So, we also cross out all languages except Russian.
So...
Now let's check out the places to visit.
Hey, hold on a sec...why most of the 'popular' places so cheap?
- Em, excuse me, sir?
- Yes?
I asked him the question.
- Let's say, when your kind came here and started to demand the 'pass' to that world or another...we charged them as hell. Because we had to come to our 'bosses' and start looking for the world on the demand. Rituals, searching...that type of shit. Especially we must know - which world is 'canon' and what is 'not'. And the price was high. Higher, than them can pay even if they would be 'soaked out'. Then were comes 'Debt'. In case of the debt - a person gets a system and sends to another world. And after thousands and thousands of that kind of people - now for the most of the worlds are cheap as you can notice.
- But Lord Charon, I thought, what the 'system' is good thing...why...
But he interrupted me with loud roaring voice.
- Oh, save me Yog-Sothoth! Fine! I answer you! Have you ever wondered why all "system users" have an experience line[the XP]? Why does everything in their pity lives have levels? Why do they become gods in their stories, and then "HappyEnd"?! And that is all! Finita la comedia! Yes, because as soon as the "system user" gains a critical mass for his soul in a step away to become like us, the immortals, we collect the debt! All the experience, accumulated energy, knowledge, thoughts, feelings, souls that he absorbed, his 'as called' "space pocket without limits." We take everything! And this is strictly mentioned in almost the first clause of the loan agreement. But those idiots don't read anything! And after we simply throw this person into the "canonical" world, a reflection of the world, where we initially threw him. But without a system, barriers, harems and other shit. An absolute mediocrity. Just like he's no longer has the memory that he had a system at all. That is, all he remembers is that he chose the world, the character. That's all. Then he is on his own. But there is no talk of any "goodies". And now I'm waiting for you to finally choose the world for yourself! And if you don't stop wasting my time, which is very valuable, I will send you to the world of your beloved "Bible Black". And not as a boy at all!
I could only nod as a dummy.
Okay, let's think faster and don't get distracted.
Naruto? This world of Japanese cultivators? No thanks.
I haven't watched Bleach or One Piece, Fullmetal Alchemist is interesting, but not with my knowledge and luck...oh...hello. This is exactly what I need: a low-level magical world with gang wars as maximum. Harry Potter. Let's look at the price tag.
Cheap. I can pay for the canon - with the "diapers arc" only.
Oh, now I got the 'catch'. If you wanna become a spell-caster: empty your pockets...
Jeez...Black are expensive as f**k! And Potter costs as well!
OK, screw this shit. 'New character'
Choose your -
Race:
He-he, nice Easter Egg.
A muggle
A squib
A mugglborn
A half-blood
A pureblood
Family:
- Existing
- New
Birth day:
Name:
Gender:
Talents:
Knowledge:
Attention warning: If you choose too much, you can be loaned.
___________________
Interesting...OK, let's create a character!
___________________
- Are you finished? It took you not that much time as D&D players are taking, but...
- Yes, sir. I am.
I passed him...let me think it's a dude...a tablet with my 'build'
- An interesting choice. You decided to become a tech-mage. And you choose Lovegoods...I'm not certain about this...is this a 'bug' or a 'feature', but 'a price was announced - no way back'. An intriguing choice of memory...you are patriot, aren't you?
- My ancestors shed their blood and sacrificed themselves not for me to renounce my language, mother and Motherland! - I could not hold myself at this and answered aggressively, although I did not raise my voice, but at the same time my eyes gained the courage to look directly into the 'eyes' of Charon.
- Don't be rude to me. This is only a question. Just unusual. Anyway. But...satisfy my curiosity, if you are such a patriot, why didn't you choose a Russian aristocrat, then? You anyway won't get to the "canon" world of Harry Potter.
- A better world would be as close as possible to the canon I know. But I will sincerely hope for the postulate "magic can do anything." After all, this is exactly what I made my "build" on. And getting into a Russian...there are too many variables.
- Everything seems to fit, but you're such a smart guy...Oh, I got an idea! You'll get a bonus to the beginning of the main branch of the plot. Oh yes, one last thing before you go. This is your first time with us...hehe. Then I can offer a deal.
- I'm listening carefully - I said, anticipating troubles.
- In general, you know, we send people to other worlds. We have a lot of knowledge, but it is never enough. Well, for truly new skills, knowledge, items, and so on, we are ready to give you more bonuses in the future and you won't have to pay for memory. In addition, there is, in addition to, let's say, a "dead-market", with plans for the future life... There is also a "live market", namely, you can buy and sell something if you wish. But I warn you in advance: acromantula's poison, basilisk fangs, werewolf hearts, dementor ashes, goblets of Fire, Granger's underpants, Umbridge's heads, Rita Skeeter's tongues, elder wands, invisibility cloaks, resurrection stones... in short, "canonical" items – we have to create HP worlds on our own. So this is what the DEAL is about - if by the end of your new big adventure you can create and deliver something that even us, the "servants of transmigrations", will be interested in - you will truly get a royal gift. I offer this to you because you pleased me with your saying, although overheard from other stories. Go. And remember. The magic truly CAN DO ANYTHING!