Chapter 3: Crossroads of Rebirth

Jonathan was sad. He really wanted to continue his research. But then he moved on. He didn't linger on the issue. After all, it is what it is. He was satisfied that he was able to customize his next life as much as he already could.

He chose two Karmic Talents from the list and designed three more himself. The two from the list were talents that he would awaken. Two of the three that he had designed would be his grimoire's abilities.

The final one was a passive Karmic Talent that would accompany him from the moment he was born. Apparently, that was also possible. It's similar to how some people are born naturally ambidextrous.

His 'mother' looked at the choices he had made and said, "Interesting choices."

She looked at the number above his head and said, "Now, let me ask you. Are you sure that this is the life that you want? After this, you won't be able to make any changes."

Jonathan nodded but realized that it was useless in his current form. He said, "Yes."

She said, "Very well."

She waved her hand and a holographic screen appeared in front of her.

She typed in some things and said, "Now that that's over, let's deal with that."

She pointed at the number above his head. "If you want to reincarnate, we need to take care of that."

Jonathan asked, "My Karma?"

She replied, "Yes. If you want to reincarnate, you need to wash all of your Karma from your past life so that you can begin anew."

He asked, "But how?"

She replied, "It's simple. We'll boost the choices that you have made up until now."

He was once again confused and asked, "Boost?"

She thought about it a little and said, "It's similar to strengthening items in a game. Except that there's no chance of failure here.

For example, your Karmic Talents would become stronger, genetic defects would be removed from your Race, etc.

Boosting Race and Sex is highly recommended for people who have chosen Nobility or Royalty as their Status due to the inbreeding that occurs to 'keep the bloodline pure'. So what would you like to boost? Transcendent Path cannot be boosted for obvious reasons."

He kinda understood what she meant. If he could, he really wanted to thank that colleague of his for boring him with his web novel and video game chatter. He asked, "Is there a limit to boosting?"

She replied, "Of course there is. If you still have Karma left after maxing a choice, you can move onto another. Or you can divide your Karma equally amongst all of the choices you have made. It's completely up to you."

He thought about it for a few minutes and said, "Boost all my Karmic Talents to the limit, then my Race and Sex, and finally, my Status. What if I still have Karma left?"

She didn't answer him and typed something on the holographic screen. The Karma above his head started visibly decreasing. Finally, she stopped typing and smiled.

She said, "You won't. You made some pretty expensive choices and boosting them all to the limit will consume all of your Karma. I don't think that you will be able to boost both the choices that you made for your Status to the limit. So please choose if you want to boost them equally or boost one to the limit and use the rest on the other."

He said, "Boost 'Lost Descendant with a Strong Ancestor (Alive)' to the limit. Use the leftover to boost 'Son of an Upper-Middle Class Family'."

The Karma count above his head reached zero, and he suddenly felt very disconnected from everything. '

His 'mother' smiled and said, "Now, you're ready. All that's left is to completely erase your memories, process your soul, and send you on your way. You will be unconscious during the procedure so I'll say this now.

You dedicated your entire life to the well-being of others. And you were rewarded for it. I sincerely hope that you will have a happy new life. If you ever reach a level where you can safely contact me, I'll welcome you with open arms. Good luck, Jonathan Reed."

Jonathan was overcome with a sense of nostalgia. He hoped that his new life would be just as exciting as his last one. He looked at his 'mother' as she lifted her hand and he was enveloped in a glimmering rainbow. He lost consciousness after that.

His 'mother' watched as the Grade 9 Rainbow Reincarnation Package embedded itself in his soul and started the procedure. All of his memories were separated from his soul and condensed into a drop.

She waved her hand again and the drop was teleported to another location where it would be thoroughly destroyed. They used to keep a record of the memories, but after that incident, they had decided to completely destroy them.

She watched as Jonathan Reed's soul became a blank slate once again. She grabbed the space in front of her, as if she was holding a door handle. A silver gate manifested in front of her and she opened it. Through the gate, she could see a river of souls. She sent the blank soul through the door and into the river.

She said, "I hope that you will continue to surprise me, Little One."

Then she closed the door and it disappeared. She teleported into a library and said, "Let's see what your past lives were like."

This library contained records of every being that had ever existed and reincarnated. Although they destroyed the memories, it was imperative for them to keep such records. She quickly found his records and pulled them out. Then, she teleported to a study and started reading.

Meanwhile, the blank soul that had received much care from its past owner, continued drifting in the river of souls until it felt a call and drifted into one of the many tributaries of the river. Through the tributary, the blank soul finally entered its designated world where it would begin a new life.