Reincarnation

The hazy clouds formed by falling water leisurely drifted by. They changed their shapes capriciously as they brushed past pine trees that grew obliquely from jagged rocks. On the apex of a mountain, a small, circular plateau lay hidden, its presence obscured by the quartzite rocks and sparse vegetation around it. Above this patch of land, an orb of white light floated in suspension, emitting a soft glow. The only sounds that could be heard was the crashing of water against rock from the nearby waterfall and an off-key humming that emanated from the glowing orb.

Ryuunosuke Mochizuki looked at the spellbindingly beautiful scenery before him with great appreciation. It was as though one of those old watercolour paintings had come alive and was now displaying its full beauty for his personal enjoyment. His fatigue from overwork had completely vanished as though it had been washed away by the turbulent torrents of the cascading waterfall. His entire being felt at ease as he delighted in the gorgeous view. His eyes that have been abused with hours upon hours of staring at a computer screen felt as though they have been healed. Throwing all of his stress and worries out of the window, he could stop a jaunty little tune from escaping his lips and ended up humming. He thought that it would be good if this were not just a dream and he did not have to get up early tomorrow for another grueling day of work.

<It's not a dream.>

A voice sounded in the midst of his thoughts. He did not expect there to be another person beside him so suddenly hearing a voice made him jump in fright. He looked around his surroundings and then he looked again. No matter at which angle he looked, he could not find a trace of the owner of the voice. What was more astounding was the fact that although he knew that the voice must be close by, it had no directionality, making it impossible to ascertain its source. Such a thing was plainly unscientific. He hesitantly called out to the one who defied physics while scanning the area around him.

"Who is there?"

The other person laughed; a pleasant laugh like the gurgling of water.

<There is no use looking. You cannot find me as I do not have a physical body. I do not have a name so that is something I cannot tell you. What I can tell you is that I am an entity that watches over worlds; not just your world, but many others as well.>

"Are you Kami-sama?"

A soft chuckle could be heard. <I guess you could call me that if you wish.>

Surprise flashed through the stunned Ryuunosuke, but he quickly recovered and asked the question that was most pressing on him mind: "Where am I?"

<This is a place that receives wandering souls that have not yet reincarnated. Its likeness reflects your inner soul.>

"From your words, it seems as though I have died?" This question came out as more of a statement. Although he had been deluding himself into thinking that this was only a dream, deep down he had a premonition that it was not the case. He waited for the other's words of confirmation.

<Indeed. You are dead. Your life was inconsequential and your sudden death was unfortunate but your soul remained untainted and pure. I would like to give you a second chance at life since you have worked hard and I feel that your death was undeserving. You can choose to either return back to your original world and live out the rest of your life or be reincarnated into another world. What will it be?>

Ryuunosuke contemplated the two options he was given. If he were to return to his original world, he would have to once again face the days of endless work and toil away the remaining of his life. He had worked himself to the bone in order to become an upstanding member of society; studying hard at school and university and then quickly becoming financially independent after graduating. He hoped he would not be a burden but someone that could be of use to others so he tried his best to solve his problems on his own and help others without asking anything in return. Everyone around him, including those at his workplace, saw him as capable and proficient put their full trust in him, often giving him more work than others. What they did not know was that he was not capable, much less proficient; even his intelligence was lacking. Everything that he had successfully achieved was the result of his hard work and perseverance alone.

He did not want to let down those that had place their trust in him so he continued to work diligently. The things that would take others a long time to complete took him twice as long, often at the expense of his sleep. Like Sisyphus, who was condemned for an eternity to roll his boulder up a hill only to have it roll down just before it reaches the top, he too had to toil endlessly as a new project would spring up no sooner than the last project been completed. He was tired. He was tired of it all. Although he had forced himself to bear with it, somewhere deep within himself, a part of him had already given up. He could no longer fool himself into thinking that he was happy living as he was.

He took a deep breath and slowly released it, unravelling the knots that had formed within him.

"I want to reincarnate into another world."