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"Sigh…"
I let out a hard sigh.
"How did this ended up happening to me?"
I was lying on the ground looking at the blue sky and doing nothing. The only thing I could do was to admit that the sky was beautiful.
There was nothing around me and the ground was white. It might sound normal, but everything around me was white with no traces of dirt or dust. There was also no sun in this place, but it was completely illuminated.
If that were my only problem, it would be fine... I think…
Unfortunately, I was going through a bigger problem.
When I arrived here, I was greeted by someone rather special. To make things easier, we can refer to his "boss" as a big shot. Just like the CEO of an amazing company or the president of some important country.
But again… If that were my only problem, I could deal with it somehow. However, the things that he, the one who greeted me, said with a serious and angry face gave me shivers and made my mind go blank for a while.
'How much time has passed since I arrived here? Wait… Does the "concept" of time even exist in this place? Am I here with my physical body or just my soul? I don't feel any different, but there is nothing here for me to ascertain my appearance. Does that mean I can safely assume that my soul has the same look as my physical self? Is the soul a concept that can be distinguishable?'
"Aaaa…."
I covered my face with my hands and let out a groan after thinking something useless. I didn't even know why I thought about such things since I wasn't that intelligent.
"Well… I am certain that I'm not dreaming, nor this is some kind of prank. So, the best thing to do right now is retracing what has happened so far…"
'Yes, that is the best thing I can do right now. By retracing my steps and the situations that occurred to me, I can accept things better.'
I removed my hands from my face and started to remember.
"Let's see… How did everything start again?"
**
My name is Siegfried Sarasti and I am 25 years old. I lost my parents due to an accident and became an orphan in Munich. When I was 8 years old, the government applied a special exam in the orphanage that I was staying. I wasn't that intelligent so I knew I didn't do so good. However, there was a genius kid in the orphanage. I became extremely jealous of his intelligence, and in a moment of madness, I stole his test and placed my name on it. He tried to explain that his test was stolen, but no one believed in him.
After that, the government started to "sponsor" me in my studies and I managed to graduate from the prestigious Ludwig-Maximilian University of Munich (LMU). I was also offered other universities, but I chose the LMU in the end because of a stupid reason.
There was a game that I played that had a cool weapon with the name of Ludwig's Holy Blade, and just because of that I chose the LMU as my university.
After my graduation, I got lucky and managed to acquire a job in one of the most prestigious banks in Munich. Because of that, my life finances were stable, and since I always had a handsome face, I had no problems finding a girlfriend.
Yes. I struck gold and managed to change my life for the better with "my efforts". Everything was "perfect" and only happiness awaited me. However, I couldn't appreciate it properly. I was apathetic at, almost, everything. I even went to a doctor for a check-up, but he couldn't find anything wrong with me. Even though the doctor said that I had nothing, I, instinctively, knew what the problem was…
That is how I remember the "summary" of my life until the start of all of this.
March 11th, 2025
Waking up in the morning after the "terrible nightmare" I always have, I started preparing to go to work as I thought about how this would be another day full of nothing…
I was walking down the streets contemplating, again, what could I do with my life.
The air of Munich in the morning was cold and sharp. The trees were shaking because of the wind, and the leaves were flying around endlessly like they were in search of something to grab on.
'Maybe I am a leaf and I just don't know about it yet…'
I thought that as I was watching the leaves fly away.
I didn't need any kind of ride since my workplace was close to where I was living. Thanks to that, I could walk slowly and appreciate the scenery.
"Maybe I should rent a movie or read something when I get home after I finish work…"
The wind was getting gentler and starting to caress my face.
I was a person that preferred indoor activities. I would do enough exercises to just maintain my health and the shape of my body, and lazy around the rest of the day.
"Huaamm…"
I let out a big yawn.
"I don't want to work today… So sleepy…".
―Tiiiiriing
My smartphone ringed because of a message that just arrived. The ringing tone was rather simple as I didn't like complex things that much.
I took the smartphone from the pocket of my jacket and saw the message.
================================
Helen
Hi~ baby! How's your morning?
Want to go somewhere after work? ♥
(picture)
================================
On it, I saw the message of one of my coworkers and a picture she sent. The picture contained her wearing a daring smile with a sensual pose.
I stared at the picture for a few seconds, apathetically, and turned off the smartphone.
Helen was one of the most beautiful women in the bank, being desired by many men.
Her body was voluptuous, she possessed a chiseled face and shiny blonde hair. Her eyes were green and full of life, making others, sometimes, uncomfortable since they didn't know where to look. She was, almost, unapproachable by men.
But surprisingly, this woman was sending me a picture of her and talking to me in a very friendly way.
'Should I accept her charges and see where this is going to end? She has been pestering me for quite some time now.'
I thought that, looking annoyed, while closing the distance between me and the bank.
I didn't want to deal with other people, nor I wanted them to like me. I wouldn't know how to answer if someone made a statement saying that the only things that I liked were eating and sleeping.
As I was approaching the bank, the ground started to shake strongly, making me stop walking.
―CRACK! CRAAACK!
'?!'
After a few seconds, I could see cracks in some buildings.
'…Is this an earthquake? In Munich?! That's impossible!'
I was truly surprised.
Huge cracks started to appear in the ground, while some buildings were falling apart. I couldn't move from where I was because the shaking was horrible. Thankfully, no buildings were around me.
I kneeled to gain more stability and it was then.
A blinding flash occurred in front of me, making me cover my eyes for a few seconds.
When I could open them again, a screen appeared in front of my eyes saying the following.
============================WARNING=============================
You have been selected by the SYSTEM to be awakened! Your body is being synchronized right now and you will soon be able to utilize the SYSTEM functions!
Synchronization rate: 5%
============================WARNING=============================
I frowned my eyes hard at the understandable yet incomprehensible words in front of me. I started to rub my eyes to remove these words in front of me and looked again. Unfortunately, the notice did not disappear, and the synchronization part reached 8%.
Surprisingly, I started to accept reality faster than normal while feeling a little annoyed.
As my mind was gradually calming down, I started to think about what that could be.
'Is this what we see in those novels where the world is destroyed, and the people start to awaken abilities?'
Maybe I read too many novels that talked about the genre because the situation was identical to those in the books.
"Ha."
A small laugh emerged from my mouth.
'What should I wait for next? A big-breasted elf?'
With an annoyed face, I stared at the message changing the synchronization rate to 10%.
People around me were screaming and running away, probably looking for help or out of despair. To be fair, who wouldn't run if a situation like this happened out of the blue?
Ignoring everything that was happening next to me, I stood up quiet in the middle of the sidewalk contemplating on this "system".
'Since this appeared, how will it work? Will it have skill trees like in games? Does it have a leveling system as well?'
As I was thinking all that, something huge blocked the sun.
It was then.
― POW! POW!
With strong steps, an enormous beast was in front of me, blocking the path of the sun completely. It possessed a huge head and had a massive mouth with a lot of teeth. Its four legs were gigantic and its claws were much bigger than my 195cm body. Its red eyes, with the same color as its scales, were looking at me like I was an annoying pebble in front of its path.
My annoyed face melted as I stared at the beast, mesmerized by its glorious appearance and unwavering confidence.
It was very similar to a creature well known and loved in games. No, maybe it was that creature.
After a few seconds, I woke up from my thoughts and stared at the message in front of my eyes again. The message was the same, except for the synchronization part, which had reached 11%.
"I have to defeat this?"
I said while, probably, making a stupid face.
After exchanging glances between the message and the beast a few times I blurted out angrily.
"The heck is this? That's a damn DRAGON! How am I supposed to fight it?!"
― BOOM!
A big red flame appeared in front of me in an instant. Although it was an attack that would kill me, it was a beautiful sight, possessing a shade of red that deserved the attention of anyone. It was violent but at the same time calm, just like the wind. It was so fast that the moment I blinked I had already been engulfed by it.
That was the last thing I saw before my mind blanked out.
…
…
…
I was slowly regaining my conscience, feeling a little lost.
Suddenly, something bright overwhelmed me in an instant, but a fraction of a second later, everything came back to normality.
"… What happened?"
I blustered as I was feeling confused.
"Did I die? I don't feel dead though…"
The ground was completely white and there was nothing around me, except a bright sky without a sun. I was lost in thought about the sudden change of environment, but someone behind me called out my name.
"Hello, Siegfried."
I shuddered.
It was a stern voice, giving the feeling of someone ready to attack. It was also a firm and strong voice, forcing me to show respect unconditionally.
I turned around slowly and saw a person. A middle-aged man wearing a nice tuxedo, with long black hair tied by a ponytail, and a handsome face. He had a well maintained short boxed beard and black eyes that looked like to be able to see through everything.
"…"
I stared at the man silently for a while, not being able to understand what was happening.
"Tsk."
The man noticed my intense gaze and clicked his tongue. Right after he started to speak.
"… I will be brief with you. You died before you could have awakened. Because of that, I will give you the chance to reincarnate in another world."
His harsh tone made me a little uncomfortable, but his words made me more confused.
"Died? Does that mean this is heaven or something like that?"
"Heaven?" He asked curiously. "Hahaha! That's a funny joke, hahahaha…"
His laughing was full of sarcasm, but I could say nothing since I didn't know my situation properly.
'Why is so aggressive towards me?'
The moment I finished my thought, he talked to me in a very cold tone.
"I'm certain that there is no 'heaven' for you boy…"
I was starting to get angry and feel annoyed, but I decided to bury my emotions and asked him a question, politely.
"Excuse me sir, but I need to ask you a question."
The man looked at me with disdain and responded.
"Ask away. I will answer as long as I can."
"Who are you and what is your name, sir? Also, what is with your appearance, If I may ask?"
He received my question and immediately returned an answer.
"My name is James Deus and I am one of the employees of the 'Creators' of the system. My appearance varies depending on one's faith and, surprisingly, it looks like you are more inclined to the Catholic side."
The strange answer that was given to me made my head hurt a little. I knew that my situation wasn't normal, but I wasn't prepared for something like that.
'Greater Beings? Employee? Catholic? What does all that mean?'
"…"
"…"
A grave silence appeared in the vast place, where only he and I existed.
The silence continued for a few more seconds until he decided to break it after seeing my face, which probably looked stupid.
"So? Will you reincarnate or return to nothingness?"
While I was feeling confused and annoyed by his behavior, I decided to ask.
"…You can do something like that? As easily as you make it sound like?"
"Tsk, don't look down on me boy. I am one of the many administrators of the system. 'Greater beings' are the creators of the system and they passed me the honors of being the administrator of Earth. You can refer to me as God if it is easier for you to wrap around your human head."
I was flabbergasted by his answer, as well as how he is speaking to me.
'God? The God of Earth? Seriously?'
"I intend to reincarnate you in another world, but for that, I, unfortunately, need your permission."
Feeling tired of talking to him, I decided to ask.
"Is there anyone else in the same situation as me?"
He replied instantly.
"No, only you were caught up in this. Sad, isn't it?"
When I was about to retort, he raised his hand and said.
"I have other important things to do right now, so you can stay here for the time being while I'm away. You should use this time to think about your reincarnation."
I was infuriated by the way he was treating me as I did nothing wrong.
'What? Me dying gave you that much trouble? You don't even know me, you damn bastard!'
Before he could leave, I stopped him and said.
"Alright, go do your 'work'. But I am already giving you my consent about my reincarnation. When you come back, I hope things go fast so I don't need to stay with you any longer. I will be waiting here, for the time being, organizing the mess inside my head, so don't bother me."
I answered harshly, without caring about him. However, as hard as it is to believe, I felt that he was happy with the answer I gave.
― Swosh!
Just like the wind, he disappeared, leaving me behind in this empty place.
**