Prologue

I collapsed on the ground, staring at the vast, dark expanse of the cosmos with a swirling ball of event horizon in the corner of my vision. It sounds fantastical but I was too preoccupied by my predicament.

The last thing I saw was a lit sky on the night as I strolled around aimlessly. My shadow would be forever cursed to repeat the same motion as I did in my moment of death.

I had come to realize that my daily streak of gacha login, which I had maintained faithfully for almost four years, had been broken.

I was filled with bottomless seething rage at that fact. In the end, it was futile, as I waited for the bell and the lord who would come to judge me, I plopped down on my back, defeated.

Nah, who was I kidding? Hell is where I was going.

Suddenly, a robotic voice rang through the empty space, dashing my expectations of meeting the creator. [You'll be reincarnated within thirty seconds. Please prepare yourself] Huh? Rousing myself to a sit, I was looking for the source of the voice.

There was nothing here, of course I was an idiot. That must be an angel that had come to fetch me. But it wasn't heaven where I was going, right? It said reincarnation… so you mean I'd lost the pascal wager? The lord hadn't taught us about reincarnation. Only purgatory and the pearly gate awaited.

[Twenty Seconds…]

[Nineteen Seconds…]

I didn't realize the timer was counting down while I was lost in my musing.

Wait a minute, I shouted. Please can you give me more options, I pleaded.

There was a brief pause.

[You'll be granted a random trait. Shout yes or no]

Wait, that's it? No cheat?

[Eighteen seconds…]

[Seventeen seconds…]

You've got to be kidding me. What was even a random trait? That I would be blind or crippled the moment I was born? That kind of situation?

[Fifteen seconds…]

Alright that's harsh.

[Fourteen seconds…]

Well, fuck you too. FUCK YOU.

[Nine second…]

Holy shit, I'm so sorry!

I'm so sorry! Yes, yes, I shouted.

[Congratulations, you'll receive the trait 'Perfectly Idiot Savant'. Knowledge comes naturally to you and no one understands the world better than you, but sometimes you find it difficult to rationalize and explain certain actions or thoughts you've done or had. As a result, your social skills are something to be desired. This is your fate, you can't revoke it, there's no turning back]

Oh motherf-

[Happy living]

.

"Where am I?!" I thought as I felt the intense heat of a great fire surrounding me. Someone ran past and knocked me to the ground, and as I struggled to get up, I realized I had a small frame - I was a child again. I had thought that the reincarnation stuff meant forgetting about my past life, but I was wrong. I couldn't remember my name and everything about my personal details was blurred. I cursed the disembodied voice.

Amid the chaos of shouting, screaming, and gibberish languages, I coughed violently and inhaled a significant amount of smoke. I needed to get out of there. The ornate and fancy hall and floor suggested I was in a building, but the smoke made it hard to see. Many people were trapped inside, but I pushed them out of my mind.

A burning log had fallen at the entrance, so I crawled beneath it, holding my breath. This was too much for a child my age. Finally, I made it outside, but my brain was numb.

I sensed it. Death above me, and it had nine tails.

Fear held me, but the sheer malice erased it. I was certain that if I didn't have my adult conscious mind, I would have not hesitated to jump back into the fire rather than meeting it, especially when its enthralled eyes matched mine. An ember had fallen on my hair, and I wheezed.

Panicking, I didn't want to go bald at such a young age. But no words could come out. All of that was bottled up and my body could not take it anymore. Then, I passed out..