Randomness

People think of the end as something very painful. Gruesome even to the point that fear starts to dwell inside us humans. But what is most painful is the emotion of you leaving everything behind with the knowledge of the end arriving.

Yet what awaited this soul that was called Michael Ortis in his previous life was just a plain space with a chalkboard.

On the space of the board stood nothing but a few words in his language that he understood since he was little.

"Choose what you want from the catalog and write it down." He repeated the words in a low hush and then looked at the mentioned book that was lying on a table in front of the chalkboard.

Michael first circled the table and examined everything in the room before coming to the conclusion that he was not dreaming.

Why would he even do so when he clearly knew that he had died.

It was just that, being inside a small old-fashioned and rustic classroom with nothing but 4 walls, was kinda confusing.

Even the windows on one side didn't show much. Only some woods a little bit into the distance were illuminated by what seemed to be the moon.

So one had to wonder what really happened and if this all was not some sick joke. Would someone really think about things like Isekai or Reincarnation? He wasn't really into that for he had bigger problems.

Well, not anymore. That is if he really had died.

So before he proceeded he sat down on the chair that was also present and lay his head on the table. With his emotions still being in a big turmoil, he started crying softly while remembering the old life that he possibly left behind.

It took a while but at some point, his tears had dried up and he could only look solemnly at the book that was labeled as -Perk Catalog-.

'What a weird way to name something.', he thought and opened the book and started flipping through the first few pages.

And the more he did so, the more it felt like the pages were endless. Each page showed different text and information that Michael would describe as talents.

"A heavenly defying cooking ability. Makes you wonder what makes it so defying...The cost though is kinda weird as well." There were some costs for the higher-tiered talents listed as well. In the case of the cooking skill, he would be penalized for being born a civilian.

So at least he knew now that there were casts in his next life.

To be precise, with the handy way the book could also read his thoughts and present him close or similar talents by asking it, it was easy to guess where his destination would be by looking at the more magical talents.

Well, you would have to be dense if you saw the talent -Orphan- and got a penalty that pinpointed towards a very certain other aspects from that world.

That being that he was unable to unlock the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan if he ended up having no blood-related family to replace his light.

That being said, he was sure about the world being the one of Shinobi. It made him sigh because he would be thrown back into a world he disliked.

He ended up dying because of war and now he would be thrown into a world that was in a near-perpetual war between humankind itself and even later on against beings that had more than a decent amount of god complex.

Shaking his head he looked further through the book. Now after he realized the world, some things seemed to have changed inside it and he could even take talents like high Uchiha Bloodline that strengthens the Sharingan power. The penalty for that of course was being a descendant of the Uchiha.

But Michael ignored that and thought about something else. He even touched the book and traced the words Devils Eye on it.

And just like he thought the pages flipped and landed on the Magan, the literal translation being Devils Eye.

It brought a small smile to his face since it was the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception. The picture was the same, the description was the same. Its function was the same.

But the penalty was horrendous. 20% Lifespan reduction was kinda harsh and he would also get magic circuits engraved inside him to support those eyes?

That is beside the point of them not being the real deal and only having a limited use since they are artificial eyes. Henceforth they have a very low chance of being inherited by his offspring.

And another factor would be that it would eliminate the chance of him or anyone else ever gaining any other eye power.

Meaning even if he would for example mate with an Uchiha or Hyuuga, his children would never inherit said bloodline's eye powers, only having that little chance for the Magan and nothing else.

When considering everything and taking in those disadvantages, most people probably would never take those eyes, But something compelled him to do it anyway.

Another thing that kept him wondering, is how those circuits would affect his chakra?

That being said, he already started writing on the chalkboard.

-Magan- (The Devils Eyes of Death Perception: See the concept of true death itself. Penalty: 20% Lower lifespan, No other eye powers, forced magic circuits, very low hereditary chance)

---Magic Circuits--- (Able to gather magical energies more easily inside the body and harness them. Penalty: Makes physical improvements harder.)

-Living Battery- (All types of energy flow through you like an unhinged tsunami. Increases any type of energy inside your body by a thousandfold. Penalty: A much harder time to get a firm grasp of all this power.

-Nine Arts Dragon- (Gain all martial knowledge and talent of Han Chun-Woo. Penalty: Genetics will be set to match Han Chun-Woo's. You can't have something if you aren't at least similar.)

Tapping the chalkboard he was nearly finished but to make things a little bit interesting he still went on and looked through the book again.

The last "talent" he chose was a no-brainer. Something that would keep track of his progress. Hopefully, he didn't mess up too much with his choices, especially the last one, and would not end up in a very peculiar dangerous situation and regret something.

-Advanced AI-System- (Nothing special, just a little helper that analyses various things like your body and calculates possible ways to improve if needed. Penalty: Can only improve something after collecting data. See your imperfections nonstop.)

That being said, with the last choice all 5 lines that he could fill out on the board were now filled. Even if one of them was forced on him because of the Magan.

Somehow he felt a little bit happy and nodded. With a quick signature on the corner of the board where he was asked if he was finished and everything went to darkness as quickly as he was in that space.