In a seemingly endless darkness, a white, translucent humanoid silhouette was floating, staring ahead. If one paid close attention, they would realise it looked somewhat dazed. If one looked even more carefully. They would find a similarly translucent rectangular screen floating in front of him. And the soul was looking at the said screen
The soul was stunned.
[You are dead.]
This is what the soul read on the translucent screen.
'...'
'I'm dead?', the soul thought. The soul tried to recall how it died. Yet it couldn't remember anything. Then the soul tried to recall it's identity… and came up with a blank again. The soul was now scared. It tried to recall anything at all related to itself, parents, siblings, friends. All that came to him were vague silhouettes and even vaguer ideas of them existing. It started to panic. It dived even deeper into its memories. This time, there was a hit. It recalled several things called manga, anime, fanfiction and whatnot. As the soul recalled all these memories, it slowly calmed down and let it's fear drain.
At this moment, the translucent screen changed.
[Due to special circumstances of your death, you have been offered a chance at reincarnation!]
It changed again.
[Of course, you have no right to refuse. This concerns the balance of the Universe and as a member of the Universe, it is expected that as a model citizen to lend yourself to this righteous cause!]
The soul's brow twitched. The fear was replaced with anger. 'Isn't this forced conscription?!'. Just as he was about to protest, the screen changed again.
[Do not worry! We sense your discontent with this arrangement. So we have taken steps to ensure that you are not without compensation]
[If you still refuse, your memory of this incident will be wiped and you will be sent on your way without compensation to do your task either way. Thus, it is beneficial for you to accept this proposition]
The former message calmed the soul down, only for the it's anger to spike up again at the latter message. 'Ugh… Calm down, I have no choice.'
"Okay. I accept."
[Excellent! You will not regret your decision!]
[Now, moving onto more important matters. You will be reborn in a world that will be decided randomly.]
Right after that, a massive lottery wheel suddenly appeared. It was so large that it was impossible to see the diametrical opposite. Without warning, it started to spin. At first he could see the worlds' names, but as it gained speed, it started to blur.
'Shinobi World, Magus World, Marvel, DC,...'.
After a while it started to slow down.
'... Dark Souls, NO! NO! NO!! F*** NO! MOVE! MOVE!!!', as the soul was having a second panic attack, the wheel finally moved a few more places and stopped.
'Phew! My new life almost ended before it even started!' the soul slowly calmed down.
'Now, let's see.. Where am I going?
'Ah!'
[HARRY POTTER WORLD]
'Oooh~! Not bad, not bad!'.
The soul was quite happy. He was once a fan of the Harry Potter series. You could even call him a Potterhead. Although it had been a while, he still remembered most of the storyline. He'd also read a few good fanfiction.
[Now that the World you will be reincarnated in has been decided, the compensation will be distributed, also randomly]
As soon as that message appeared the massive wheel was replaced with an even more massive wheel. It put the previous one to shame.
The same process once again followed. The wheel finally stopped at…
[High-Tier Mind Arts Talent. Grade: Epic. Influence domains: Soul, Mind, Body]
A beam of light shot from the wheel and slammed into the soul. It was so fast that the soul didn't even have the time to react.
The moment the light entered the soul, it felt its consciousness split in two. It's speed of thought slowed down and became sluggish. It did not feel good. Before it could complain however, a strange cooling 'breeze' like sensation flowed into its mind as its thought's picked up speed again as its mind felt much faster and sharper. Both of the split minds felt the same as before. In fact, the soul vaguely felt the individual split mind was much faster than the single one before it was hit by the light. It was a rather strange feeling. No, the soul felt this feeling was marvelous! Each individual split-mind had its own train of thought at the same time. Each split mind also knew exactly what the other mind was thinking or doing!
As soon as it willed, the split-minds became one again. And the speed of its thoughts sped up once again!
The soul also felt that in the future as he trained this ability more, it'd be able to have more split-minds than just two!
[Second Part of the compensation: Perk]
'There's more?!', the soul was euphoric!
Another giant wheel appeared, bigger than the last one.
'Why do these wheels keep getting bigger? Are they competing or something?'. The soul idly thought as it watched the wheel slow down before stopping at:
[Perk: Boost I: All supernatural abilities are given a 10% boost. Grade: Rare]
'Not bad, I guess.'
[Final Part of the compensation: Knowledge]
'Ooohh! That's definitely helpful!'
Another wheel appeared. 'Yep! They're definitely competing.' thought the soul, as he looked at the spinning wheel that couldn't be described by 'massive' anymore. It was ginormous!
[Knowledge: Compendium of Mind Arts, Grade: Epic]
'Nice! That perfectly matches with my talent!'
Another beam of light entered the soul. The soul instantly felt a lot of knowledge suddenly appear in his mind. There was no pain or discomfort of any kind. It was as if in one moment it went from knowing nothing to knowing all of the knowledge. Though it was only knowing and not understanding.
[Complimentary Gift: Status Screen. Grade: Basic.]
'That is definitely useful', the soul thought as it nodded. This was not any special screen. He couldn't add stat points or increase his skill mastery through skill points or anything like that. He could, however, check on his progress.
[You have received your compensation and have been very cooperative throughout, unlike most of the previous participants, we are willing to answer some questions that are within reasonable bounds]
The soul did indeed have a lot of questions, but all of them were pushed one place backward as he asked, "There are more like me? Will I meet them?" That was a deal breaker for him. Having more reincarnators would mess up a lot of things. For one, he could basically bid canon a farewell. Two, they may or may not be hostile. Three, they'd definitely notice him.
[Yes, there are more like you. No, you will not meet them in your World.]
The soul felt relieved. Canon would still maintain her chastity just for him.
"Okay. Question number 2: What is this place? The Void or something?"
[It is indeed 'a void'. The Universe has many, many layers. This is just one of them. More specifically, the Waste Disposal Area. This is where all things that went wrong are sent. AKA Trash Can, Recycle Bin etc.]
The Soul felt its blood pressure spike again, even though it didn't have a body. 'So this is the Trash Can, is it?! So, I'm being recycled, is it?!'
'Calm down! This is not worth pissing off this entity. Ugh…', his emotions instantly calmed down. 'Hmm? That was weirdly fast? How…?
'Ah… It's the passive effect of the Mind Arts Talent. Not bad!'
'Okay… So, question three: Who are you? What are you?
[We are the collective subconscious of the Universe. In overly simple terms, we are an amalgam of thoughts of every single living being that is even slightly sentient, in the entire universe.]
"Wow, don't you get schizophrenia or something like that? Split-personality?"
[No. We don't.]
"Elaborate."
[It is recommended that you do not seek such answers. Your mind is incapable of comprehending such topics. It will only cause you undue frustration]
'Damn it! The nerve of this thing! This is just straight up calling me stupid!!'
The soul gritted its imaginary teeth and calmed down for what seemed like the 100th time in a short while. 'I'm starting to get why most people were 'uncooperative'.' It was raging inwardly while he kept his calm on the outside as he continued.
"Alright. So which timeline will I be in?"
[You will be the same age as the Child of the World]
'So, the same age as Harry, huh?
"Oh wait! I'll be a magical, right?"
[Yes.]
"Why don't I remember anything about myself?"
[Your sense of self was removed to not cause conflict with your new identity. It would not matter if you were going to a World that does not have supernatural elements. However, in a supernatural World a name can have a lot of meaning. Keeping your sense of self intact may result in disastrous consequences for yourself as well as the World. Thus, we have removed memories of beings you were emotionally attached to.]
The soul didn't know what to think.
"So why was I chosen?"
[Your Soul is slightly special.]
"How so?"
[It is recommended that you do not… ]
"Okay, Okay! That's it, next question!
"What do I have to do in the World?"
[Just live as you want to.]
"Wait. I don't have to do anything?"
[No, you do not.]
"Oh, alright. I have no more questions."
[Excellent! We will now send you to be reborn! Please enjoy your new life!]
With that a blinding light flashed out and the soul was knocked out.