2 Chapter 2 - Karma
On a small island unknown to most people, the thin figure of a young man sits in a soft, comfy chair, watching the last golden ya reaches on the horizon as the sunsets.
One could hear the sound of the ocean waves, smell the fresh sea air as the soft wind blew past, and trace the golden rays of the sun lighting the entire place, unveiling a beautiful scenery.
However, the appearance of the young man sitting on the chair made the peaceful and beautiful scenery look entirely inappropriate- from the young man's mouth, blood was constantly dripping nonstop, soaking his white shirt and blue jeans and making them stick to his emancipated figure.
His body was so thin that he appeared to be a skeleton.
The sorry figure was the person who had long ago disappeared and had been missing for half a year, the person who had caused the tragic and brutal deaths of numerous influential people that were still being shown in the news- Snow.
The relatives of the people he killed had been trying to find his whereabouts the whole time so that they could obtain revenge for their loved ones' deaths but had been failing in their mission to locate him.
However, those people didn't need to worry about enacting their revenge. The appearance of the young man was evidence enough that he was slowly dying and close to death, an especially painful one by the looks of it.
It was just too bad that the people who had been looking for him, just like everyone else aside from Snow's Uncle John and Rei, will never know what happens to him in the end.
"It's a nice day."
Despite his current condition, Snow gently smiled as he calmly watched the horizon, before suddenly bending down as he coughed nonstop, his entire body shivering as pain wracked through his body and blood continuously dripped nonstop over his pale lips. But despite it all, beautiful blue eyes remained peaceful and calm even though he was obviously experiencing unimaginable pain.
If someone were to ask him why he wasn't doing anything to treat himself, Snow would just indifferently inform that person that it was a very useless thing to do. Not only was his condition untreatable, but only the sole maker of the poison could also completely cure him.
Snow's enemy had completely ensured that if he died, Snow would follow along. He had been fully confident that Snow would never harm him. It was just too bad he didn't know that Snow wasn't afraid to die as long as he could fulfill his own goals.
Even death could not get in the way and stop Snow from fulfilling his mission.
If it was someone else, knowing that the poison was incurable might have led them to try to commit suicide after experiencing the pain and hardship that Snow was currently going through. However, Snow is different. Every day, he just waited, not doing anything even if he was experiencing a physically and mentally torturous death.
He could have taken his own life to finally feel relief, and to end it all once and for all, but for some reason, Snow didn't do anything as he died a very slow and painful death.
Oh, it wasn't because he didn't want to die.
It wasn't because he felt that taking his own life was a cowardly way out.
And it was definitely not because he was afraid to take his own life.
It was all because somewhere deep within him, there was a voice telling him to just wait. His instinct was practically screaming that he just had to endure for now and wait for death to come naturally.
Snow didn't have to do anything but wait patiently, believing a surprising thing will happen at the end of it all.
And so Snow waited every single day for the time of his death: even if the pain he felt every second was enough for an iron-willed person to break and surrender, to start begging someone to just let it all end, Snow just endured it silently as he let nature do its work.
When Snow started feeling the gradual weakening of his body, the coldness slowly penetrating into his bones, and the increasing difficulty on his breathing while his heart has finally started to slow down, he knew that death has come.
At last, his long wait is ending.
Snow's beautiful calm blue eyes slowly began to close, his mind feeling only peace and calmness despite knowing that he wouldn't be able to open them again in this lifetime.
However, excitement started rising from somewhere deep within him when his vision started blurring and as his mind processes started slowing down as death came close before his vision turned completely dark.
Something good will happen at the end of it all. That was the last thought that passed his mind as Snow experienced death at the front row seat.
Snow had always trusted his instincts, and his guts have been telling him he will very much like what is soon to come.
So with a happy smile, Snow left the world.
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Confirmation of Soul...
Start Scanning... Balance Karma of Minimum Requirements...
The Soul Accomplish...
A Rare Soul Karma... Starting the Privilege Rewards...
Start pulling the Soul in a Special Space...
Beep... Beep... Beep...
... Now Start the Discussion of the Rare Soul Karma...
"Welcome Snow, would you like to be a Granter?"
When Snow opened his calm blue eyes once more, the first thing he saw was a place blending in white and black. It looked rather mysterious, making Snow curious and interested rather than afraid at his current situation.
This was especially true when he saw that he no longer had the horrifying bone-like appearance he had the moments of his death; instead, he saw a transparent and healthy-looking body- the same appearance he had before he took the poison.
Soon, calm blue eyes started observing the place once more.
Suddenly, a white mist appeared, shooting towards him with a speed so great he was unable to avoid it, and quickly entered between his eyebrows.
And then loads of information has started transmitting through his mind, accompanied by an emotionless voice right after.
Snow Ciel, welcome to the world of Soul Karmas, the Highest Dimensional Plane amongst the infinite Dimensions existing in the Universe and the Worlds in Space.
Congratulations on balancing your Karmas; you have been granted the privilege to become one of our Granters, do you accept it?
"Granter?" he asked in a very interesting voice towards the emotionless voice in his mind.
There was no fear of the extraordinary experience occurring, only curiosity and a bit of excitement as Snow appraised of how his instinct had been right all along.
This was especially true after learning about where he was at since it had been imprinted on his mind when the white mist entered him.
He was in a very special dimension, the core of where every single soul has gone through the moment their life ended, which is the place that had access over the values of their Karmas throughout a lifetime of repeated reincarnations.
Every living being that arrived in this place had their soul examined in this dimension, which soon started calculating their karma that they have attained every lifetime.
It was able to see both the good and bad things that they have done while they are alive.
And only the rarest among the rarest in the entire world of Soul Karmas could be granted certain privileges to choose from a list of rewards; specifically, the chance to choose to become the special existence they called "Granter".
More importantly, unlike the novels Snow had read before, the Karma Core would not force any souls to act against their will: they were free to choose whatever they wanted to do as long as it was something that the Karma Core could grant and as long as they had the privilege to ask for it.
Therefore, if a soul was able to balance both the good and bad Karma to a threshold set by the Karma Core throughout its various reincarnations, then that special soul would be granted a list of rewards it could choose from.
It just depended on whether that soul's points were high enough to choose more rewards from the Karma Core.
And in his 6,499th reincarnation, which is the present Snow.
He was finally able to balance his good and bad Karmas, achieving the special privileges and was thus being granted the special existence called Granter or either choose from the other rewards that the Karma Core has offered.
As a certain string of information passed through his mind, Snow felt slightly relieved after learning that if he has taken his own life, then there is no way that Snow would have been able to balance his karmas in this lifetime as Snow.
Causing Snow to feel gratified that he had decided to heed his instinct of patiently waiting for his death despite the torturous pain that had wracked his dying body back then.
"Becoming a Granter is among the top rewards from the special list of our privileges. However, you can also choose other privileges listed to attain what you prefer; we will not force you to act against your will. You are free to choose what you wish; it will be your responsibility to bear. We are only a guide for this transaction, nothing else. Here is the list of choices from the balance of your Karma rewards."
Bright blue eyes brimming with intense interest stared at the list of choices that had suddenly appeared in a blue panel, along with additional information, rules, regulations, limits, and consequences for every choice.
You could choose only one of the following listed below.
1: A chance to decide your next 10 Reincarnations, along with an additional aspect.
- Could decide appearance, skills, special abilities, personalities, and certain fates.
Effect: Won't be able to retain memories from every lifetime. Start with a blank slate.
2: Live in a new world, with a new identity of choice, granting additional 2 special abilities.
- Able to take another soul with you
Effect: Deletes memories of that additional soul
3: Bind a certain system and live in a world of choice
- 3 chances to live in 3 different worlds
Effect: Punishment may be given based on certain actions made that could affect certain key souls.
4: Chance to change the last life's fate.
Effect: Unable to be the one to live that life after changing its destiny; cannot return to relive that life
5: Choose a World to destroy.
- The soul karma in every soul belonging to that world will be deleted and have to start again.
Effect: Obliteration of the Original Soul (Unable to exist)
6: Chance to change a certain soul's Destiny and Fate.
- able to grant one specific wish to that person.
Effect: That person's memories and emotions toward you will disappear completely, never get the chance to meet again for a lifetime.
7: Saving a world
- could add additional "event" that didn't happen or "erase" based on world rules.
Effect: Your own existence will disappear in that world, no one will remember you.
Special Reward: All about Equivalent of Exchanges of Values.
8: Be a Granter, a chance to live countless lives in different worlds
- able to get a special existence for yourself if finished successfully
Rules and Consequences: Please Read Carefully
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Warning: Unable to stop being a Granter until the soul fulfills certain requirement points (Even if you break or lose yourself, the soul cannot stop being a Granter)
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Snow's eyes burned fiercely as he stared at the last of the special rewards, completely ignoring the rest of the list.
What a wonderful and interesting reward…. how could Snow not choose this one?
As for the warnings, he wouldn't feel anything after his soul disappears anyway, he would just completely disappear, like sleeping and never opening his eyes again.
Even if he was rewarded a chance of reincarnation with no limits and regulations, unless he could retain his memories, it would be completely meaningless since that person would not be 'Snow'. It would be a completely different being with different experiences and a different personality.
To Snow, it would be the same as his soul completely disappearing.
Snow Ciel would no longer exist after a true reincarnation because that would be a new life.
He didn't need and didn't want a chance of that one at all.
Although from the list of choices that has been given, Snow knew that different people would choose different "rewards" based on their specific circumstances, personalities, and emotions.
If others may have been in Snow's circumstances, in which he lost his family at a young age and watched as the proud family was destroyed before his eyes, they may choose to go back and change the path of their life; however, Snow would not do that.
He would not choose his rewards based on what happened in his original life.
Why? Don't you love your family? Don't you want to be together with your family again? Don't you want to see Rei one last time again and have a chance to be with him?
Yes, he truly loved his family, but he had already over-fulfilled what they wanted by bearing his responsibility as a part of Ciel's family member.
He paid with his life and did his very best as the hidden ace of the Ciel family.
His responsibility was to fight against their enemies, and not to save them.
As for being their son... his parents died when he was only 5 years old; although his feelings remained, his family had long faded from his memories- he grew up without them in his life.
Snow was no longer a child that needed his family.
As for Rei... well... he was kind of fond of the young man, but he wasn't in love with him- he didn't have a chance to fully experience that.
When Snow found out he couldn't live any longer, any deep feeling he felt towards Rei was completely eradicated; he had long removed the chance of loving Rei in this life. Rei was just someone that would live in his memories, someone that he would remember fondly of.
There will always be special people in his life, but it would never affect the decisions he made.
Because Snow can always live completely by himself.
Attachments and feelings were things that he could always detach from, no matter how overwhelming the emotions were, even if it were to the point of suffocation, his thought process could always remain logical and he was able to think calmly for what the best way to do something was- able to carefully calculate the pros and cons before every decision.
So if someone tried to talk to him about certain feelings, especially when it went against his current interests, Snow could only apologize because he could give up his attachments easily when he wanted to.
That was the one thing that was most terrifying about himself- not his terrible high IQ and EQ, but the ability to control his emotions.
People's actions and reactions are always affected by their emotions and feelings.
A person might become irrational and do rash things because of love, despite how smart they really are.
A person can choose to give up everything just to get revenge against someone else.
A person might even sacrifice their life because of loyalty or love.
No matter if it is a positive or negative emotion, anyone can be greatly affected.
However, Snow will always be different. He was not afraid to love, to trust, or of being betrayed, because he knew that in the end, he would not truly be affected by emotions.
Snow just needed to detach himself and eliminate certain feelings and he would be free- so long as he chose to do so.
It just that in his last life, he decided to choose to keep "Familial Love" and "Responsibility", thus causing him to die young.
And his decision back then seemed to be an excellent choice since he was able to balance his Karma in this lifetime.
Snow was very well aware that his abilities were terrific and simultaneously very useful, unique, and interesting.
And this time too, it would definitely be helpful to help him choose from the list of rewards.
So with a smile on his lips, Snow chose the Special Reward without hesitation.
... Thank you for choosing no. 8...
... Welcome, Granter Snow... now let us begin...
A bright light shone, making him close his eyes, his body completely disappearing from the Dimension that he woke up in.
