Ch. 2 - The Great Pretender's 2nd chance

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"Are you....Death?" I asked. Seriously, isn't this too fast? I met Death as soon as I died. Can't I have some time alone to rethink my life's decisions?

[If you want it then I'll gladly back away and give you the time you nee-.]

"Actually, no need. Recalling everything is too boring, I'd rather talk to you than reminisce myself in the past." I quickly interrupted Death before she went away. What if her sense of time is crooked? What if a few minutes of time alone equals millions of years for her?

Nope, I'm not risking spending millions of years of time alone. I could have it once I get my place in Hell.

With everything I did in my life, I definitely deserve a seat in Hell.

[Good, and you were right, I would definitely leave for a million years before coming back.]

Shit, did I just dodged a bullet? No, not a bullet.

Did I just dodge an Atomic bomb called, Little Boy?

Yeah, that sounds more like it.

[You're fascinating, you know that?]

"Yes. Yes I am." I quickly admitted without hesitation. What's wrong with it? I'm indeed fascinating.

Heh, mortal vision truly can't comprehend my awesomeness. Only Death could see it.

[Leo Skinwalker.]

"Oh god, please just my first name, don't make me remember the sufferings my surname caused." My face twitched and contorted into disgust. Having the surname of Skinwalker made me the center of bullying during my early high school days, that was before I dropped out.

My parents didn't even bother solving the issue of bullying in my high school for some unknown reason.

They only told me to endure it as they can't afford to handle the consequences.

Heh, maybe that's why they died in an accident a few weeks later, rendering me as an orphan.

Though becoming an orphan might be nice for someone like me who doesn't have caring parents but the orphanage is the worst.

But I'm thankful for that orphanage as it became my stepping stone in becoming the Greatest Pretender!

It all started with bribing the woman behind the cafeteria for more food on my plate.

It's quite easy to trick her by showing how pitiful and hungry you look compared to others.

How?

I purposely stood in a line where a fat kid stands behind me so once It is my turn to get my food, I smoothly compared my 'skinny' constitution to the fat kid behind me and explained how I needed more food in order to grow my 'underdeveloped' body.

I was fifteen at that time.

Since then, I started having more food everyday compared to the rest of the children.

Thanks to you, fat kid.

[I must interrupt you but I am not interested in your past life. I am simply here to give you a second chance in life.]

"Wait what? Seriously? I'm not going down to Hell? Damn, and here I was thinking of losing my virginity to a succubus." I shook my head in disappointment as Death spoke soon after.

[If that's your wish then I can arrange tha-]

"So, what's the catch in having a second chance in life? Should I run for President and make America great again or should I build a religion that worships you? Though can you give me time to get back to that Kingpin's son? I swear, it'll be fast and swift."

[.....You'll be doing neither of those, Leo. Because your second chance will occur in a different world.]

"....You mean, I won't be staying on Earth anymore?" I'm gonna be honest, I'm tearing up slightly.

[Yes.] Death answered with no hesitation.

"Tsk, I guess my revenge arc would be postponed for now." Clicking my tongue, I whispered to myself in disappointment. You can't blame me as I was already thinking of ways to get my revenge a few moments earlier and one of those ways is going full John Wick on him.

I may not have the skills to pull it off.

Yet.

After all, I'm the Great Pretender.

[We're going off topic here. As I was saying earlier. You will have your second chance in another world. I'll give you the ability to finally fulfill your lifelong dream of becoming the True Great Pretender!]

*Sniff*

[Don't cry.]

"Okay." Wiping off the non-existent tears from my cheek, Death continued her speech.

[And so, you will bear a gift from me. A gift that would be your tool in achieving this lifelong dream.]

"What gift?" Not gonna lie, if I have my body right now, I would be scrubbing my palms against each other like a suspicious pedophile.

[You'll find out once you're there.]

"Alright....There's gotta be a catch, right? Nothing is free." I said and I was right, Death's next words caught me off-guard.

[Simple. You must bear a heavy responsibility to maintain the balance of the multiverse once I deem you strong enough.]

"Maintaining balance? Shit, you guys still do that?"

[....Off you go and before you leave. My name is not Death. You can call me Sam.]

"Sam? What an average name for a being like yo-."

Before I could finish my sentence, I felt my entire being getting pulled to god knows where.

Hopefully, I don't end up in some fucked up world where women are stronger than men. Or worse, humans becoming the bottom in the food chain.

***

I don't know how long has passed since the pulling of my being, but I finally saw light.

The said light then starts to grow larger until it engulfed my entire vision.

"....Ello?.....Yo.....Kay?"

Soon, I started to hear voices as I tried to open my eyes.

In front of me, stood a weird looking duck wearing a hat. Is that a hat shaped like a noodle with chopsticks on the side?

"Hello? Hellooo~ Are you okay?" Finally, my ears started to get better and I finally managed to understand what the duck was saying.

Hold on for a second.

A talking duck?

"...Who....are you?" I asked, though I was surprised my voice sounded very hoarse as if I hadn't drunk any liquid for a whole week.

"Me? You can call me Ping, don't worry, I'm just a harmless goose. You might want to get up though, the ground is quite dirty. I was just about to open my noodle shop." The goose, now known as Ping, grabbed my hand and tried to pull me up from the ground.

Keyword, 'tried'.

"You're quite heavy for a furless creature." Mr. Ping gritted his teeth, or his beak as he is a goose.

Heeding no mind to his comment, I helped myself up and patted my ass off dirt.

"Good. Now, you can go back to wherever you came from, I still have a shop to manage." Mr. Ping patted his hands against each other before shooing me off.

Noticing that I wasn't moving, Mr. Ping curiously asked.

"Or are you perhaps here to order a noodle? You should probably wait outside along with the others. I'll open the shop soon."

While Mr. Ping was speaking, I was assessing the place where I currently am and noticed something familiar in the place.

'And that goose. He looks familiar. Where have I seen him?' I squinted my eyes at the goose who was irked by my stare.

Noticing what I did, I immediately apologized.

"I'm sorry if my stare bothered you. You see, I...don't know where I am, the same goes to my memory, I don't remember anything other than waking up in your...noodle shop." Scratching the back of my head and putting my acting skills to use, I knew they would come in handy but I didn't expect it to become so handy to be able to use it in this kind of situation.

"That's.....unfortunate." Mr. Ping rubbed his feathered fingers against each other, showing his concern towards me.

As much as I might feel guilty for tricking the poor goose, but it was fortunate for me that he fell for my acting skills.

"I don't think I have any home to go to considering my current situation. I also don't want to bother you with my problem, so I should probably go and try to find my way home." Looking as pitiful as I can, I turned around and was about to leave when Mr. Ping spoke to me.

"Wait!" Turning back around, I watched as Mr. Ping used his tiny legs to run over me and surprisingly gave me a hug.

"You're welcome to my humble abode....You can at least remember your name right?" Just as Mr. Ping was about to welcome me, he suddenly seemed to realize that he didn't know my name yet, so he asked.

"I....think my name is Leo. That's all I can remember about myself." I smiled and introduced myself.

"Leo! What a nice name! It even rhymes with noodles! Hahaha...." Mr. Ping softly chuckled at his own joke.

'....How can it rhyme with noodles?!' Still, out of respect, I laughed along with Mr. Ping as he grabbed my hand to lead me inside.

He's surprisingly accommodating. I feel sorry for him. If I was a bad guy, who knows what would've happened to him.

"Get inside. Just stay in my kitchen while I prepare my shop for the opening." Mr. Ping then grabbed an apron from a hook on the wall before wearing it.

Meanwhile, I just sat on a stool that I found and quietly watched as Mr. Ping started chopping vegetables.

Suddenly, an idea formed inside my mind.

"Mr. Ping. I feel like a burden if you were to keep me in without anything in return. Perhaps, you would require some sort of helper when it comes to your noodle shop?"

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[Next Chapter: Ch. 3 - The Great Pretender's 1st day of work]

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