1 What the Hell?

"Hahaha, what a way to go out.."

An exaggeratedly hoarse, authoritative voice boomed around the.. everything. Clearly Male and with NO consideration of someone who was just waking up.

'What? What's that voice? I mean, I've always known that those reincarnation novels would start with some stupid question but really. Who is that?' I wanted to mutter but my mouth was really dry.. or.. not there at all.

Groggily moving my head, I feel like I've overslept and can't shake the feeling. A small migraine and a pulsating feeling behind my eyes lets me know that I'm.. very awake. Opening my eyes steadily, I'm hit by a blinding darkness. I know, that doesn't make sense. It's that feeling you get when you look at a room with a Strobe Light on and you can make out the colors of everything, what they look like and so on, but you still see the darkness. Except.. it's everywhere.

'What the fuck..? It's... nothing'

I roll my eyes, still feeling the headache, and then look in all directions. Well, I try to. My head will only turn directly left and right, while I cant move my body. Or I can, I just cant tell the difference being in this.. nothingness.

"Well, that's quite an observation."

'Oh.. you can read my mind too? That's... very cliche.'

"Hmm, if I couldn't read your mind, are you going to speak? I don't think so, you don't have a mouth, nose, eyes.. to put it short, you're..."

BOOM

WHOOSH

An object only a few times bigger then me, yet when I look at it I feel as if I'm looking at a giant, colossal figure. After a bit of closer observation, you can clearly see motes of light surrounding the object, frequently changing colors and forms to resemble people, animals, and even sometimes objects.

'What is that..? If we're going off of all those books that I read it's probably the 'cycle of reincarnation' or something like that. And how the hell does that answer my question?'

Ignoring the second request to answer my question, the voice continued "Oh, that's not really the response I wanted. Or else I wouldn't have added all of the dramatic effects. You book readers really are something, making this no fun. Thousands and thousands of years of sitting in this blank space and you can't even let me enjoy these little things..."

The voice, whatever it was, and I'm assuming it's god, kept rambling. With no clear end to the talking I had to ask the question lingering on my mind, and it seemed like it was the right one.

'So, why didn't you just send me through? I didn't have to meet you, or remember this.. It just had to happen, right?'

The owner of the voice, seeming slightly surprised at my interruption, clearly looked at me.. or focused on me. Whatever made more sense, honestly. I really couldn't see it's eyes.

"Well.. " Dragging out the word, it's voice, taking on a lower tone, "Let me get this thing out in one go and we can ask question afterwards.."

'Makes sense, I guess.'

It, not liking my comment, glares at me.. "Of course it does.."

"This is, of course, the representation of Reincarnation, but you can call it whatever you want. Wheel of Reincarnation, Cycle of Reincarnation, etc. It doesn't really matter because that won't change anything. What DOES matter is that you understand this next part.."

'Okay, shoot at me.'

".. This isn't the only Wheel. I'm what you call a 'Watcher'. For different planes of existence, there will be a different Wheel and there will always be an Entity that is assigned to the position of Watcher, making sure there's order inside of the wheel. Tiny disruptions don't stop it but it can really depend. Sometimes a planetary extinction could cause a Solar System to collapse in another part of the plane. Or as you know it, Universe."

'Okay, so what does that have to do with me? Or anything?'

"Well, the watcher of the plane is also held responsible to appease the gods of the plane, and each god holds control over a cluster of Solar Systems. Although, some are MUCH poorer then others. Depending on their power they have absolute control inside of that Domain. They can become more powerful by defeating other gods."

'So, how many are there? Seeing how the universe is 'infinite', how do you count the amount of gods?'

"See, that's just the thing, you don't. You see, there's never enough gods. The Watcher of the plane selects new gods, or if he has to... make some.. and assigns them to the clusters of the Universe that were just newly created every once in a few thousand years. This is because the Universe is always growing, not.." And I have this strange feeling he's doing air quotes, "Infinite".

"You were one of the selected candidates."

'Oh.. that's cool. So what makes me so special?'

There's a voice in my head telling me something is wrong with what I just asked. 'Ignoring the enthusiasm, aren't I missing some attachment?' I feel incredibly uncomfortable thinking about the.. emptiness inside of me. It's like over time you've forgotten something that's really important to you, but you can't regain that attachment just because you want to.

Isn't there supposed to be some feeling that tells me that a part of me is hollow? Except, I don't feel hollow. Just.. there. I feel like I have to find a purpose. Be it becoming a god, killing gods.. or being comfortable. I really prefer that third one. Basking under the warm sun.. no, we'll save that for later. Let's continue the conversation.

"... Now, that's the funny part. You AREN'T special. We take out people with no to minimal Karmic Ties to anyone in their God's Domain at the request of the God as a representative. You don't have to do anything for the God, you're more like.. a gamble. Sometimes this will create another god and HOPEFULLY an Ally to that god, or you can just be another failure in the game that is to come."

Game? What the hell does he mean game? I feel that's a bit insulting. I feel like a Race Horse. Next thing you know I'll break a leg and they'll put me down. Wait.. why the hell do I remember that?

Never mind, horses are cool..

'What do you mean game? And.. would I be a player or a piece of the game?'

Looking at me with clear Pity, he states "Well, putting it simply, you're in a type of game you aren't familiar with. You aren't a player of a piece, you are, again, a gamble. Think of it this way, you'll be a piece, but no matter what happens to you the player only has to worry about the pieces around you, never yourself. I don't really know if that makes sense, but we're not putting you on a playing board. We're putting you in a whole new world where you do whatever you want however you want and only once you're at the absolute top of the hierarchy, can you truly be a 'winner'. Although.. sometimes the world is a .. bit .. too cruel for newcomers who don't come from gruesomely competitive God's Domains."

"Haha, we'll let the System tell you the rest. Or what you're qualified to know. Which is very little, should you need to know anything useful." He continued harshly, clearly losing patience. quickly changing from that authoritative tone to straight overlord level cruelness.

'That sounds.. a bit creepy..' Looking around me I feel nostalgia, and although I can't tell from what I see the space around me get fuzzy, from the blinding darkness to a clear, smooth, dark grey color. And then I hear a very soft and gentle females voice, not seductive but the kind you could fall asleep to after a long day.

[System is binding to host.. ]

[1%]

[6%]

[24%]

[82%]

[99%]

[System has been bound to the Host]

[The System has control over Host's soul and selective reincarnation into pre-selected world..

"God's Playground". System would like Host to choose his preference from one of the following species.]

[Loading options...]

Practically enough, instead of the beautiful voice, a visual popped up with a nice, relaxing font and transparency just high enough to ignore if you don't pay attention, yet when you do you can see it clearly.

[Option 1: Grey Wolf (Neutral) - This is an animal sitting at the bottom of the Hierarchy. Having no elemental affinity, it has the potential to be assimilated with any element upon ascending Tiers. This option does not have any special skills for the Host upon choosing because of the Species. System will allow 1 Combative, Defensive or Occupation skill to be assigned to Host.]

[Option 2: Tiger (Fire) - This is an animal sitting at the bottom of the Hierarchy. Having the elemental affinity of Fire, it has the Innate Skill [Fire Armor], which wraps the Host's body in Flames, with the Strength adjusting according to Energy Control and how much Energy is used to perform the Skill.

This can only be performed after Host reaches Tier 1.]

[Option 3: Black Panther (Dark) = This is an animal sitting at the bottom of the Hierarchy. Having the elemental affinity of Darkness, it has the Innate Skill [Shadow Walker], which allows the Host to move through Shadows and suppress the noise coming from you, along with the ability of upon exiting [Shadow Walker], you have a temporary boost in Agility. The boost in Agility will increase or decrease according to the amount of Energy used to perform said skill. This can be performed at any tier as it is natural to the creature in assistance with the natural environment.]

'Well, being a Wolf I can assimilate to any Element, but the Panther and Tiger both sound pretty badass. The Tiger's innate skill is both offensive and defensive, not to mention it is probably the most useful during a fight. And clearly, the Panther is what would be an assassin to a human. But.. being such strong Predator on.. wherever I was.. they're still at the bottom of the Hierarchy. That must mean that the Wolf's area of 'spawning', if you will, would be marginally safer, not to mention with the System assigning me 1 Skill. Although I don't know if that will be good or bad. From what I'm reading though.. I can only become a magical badass after reaching Tier 1. But I can choose what TYPE of Magical Badass I want to be if I become a Wolf. I feel as though this has the most potential. I mean, the weakest choice at the start always gets some type of bonus, right? That's how books work. Granted this is actually happening to me.'

[Host must choose within 5 minutes]

'Okay, okay.. I suppose I'll choose the wolf. This will be my new life now. I don't remember having a family, a pet, or lover. I feel like I'm really choosing on a whim here, but what could go wrong.. other then everything. God's Playground huh.. Let's see what Fantasy bullshit you throw at me.'

[Host has Chosen.

Option 1: Grey Wolf (Neutral) has been selected

Host's soul will be kept by the System in the process of Reincarnation to protect you from Traumatization during the transfer over. Host will feel slight pain upon transversing into the new body.

System advises that you prepare yourself, or else you could be ejected from the System and lost as a soul into the Playground.]