The void pulsed as the System finalized their reincarnation parameters, yet there was one last step before their journey truly began.
Marcus and Adrian stood—or rather, existed—in the formless space, watching as the remaining 500 karmic points hovered before them, shimmering like molten gold.
Then, the System's voice echoed once more.
[REMAINING CUSTOMIZATION OPTIONS AVAILABLE.]
[500 KARMIC POINTS DETECTED – UNALLOCATED.]
[DISPLAYING AVAILABLE LATENT TALENTS AND ABILITIES.]
A cascade of symbols, glyphs, and text materialized all around them, forming an overwhelming vortex of choices.
Hundreds—no, thousands—of abilities flashed before their eyes.
Some were simple, like Enhanced Strength or Eidetic Memory. Others were a little bit more complex.
Marcus gawked. 'This is way too much." He turned to Adrian. "Is there a way to filter this down? We're going to be here forever otherwise.'
Adrian frowned. 'System, can you organize this better? Give us a way to narrow our options based on efficiency and synergy?'
A faint pulse rippled through the data storm, but the number of options barely decreased.
[FILTERING…]
Marcus scanned the field again. 'That didn't seem to help much.' He let out an exaggerated sigh. 'Alright, how about this—let's divide and conquer. I'll take the right half, you take the left. We'll pick out the best ones and go from there.'
Adrian nodded. 'Makes sense. Let's move fast. We don't want to waste too much time here.'
Without another word, they split their focus.
Marcus scrolled through his side, eyes scanning the myriad talents with a critical eye.
Some were tempting but impractical—Flameheart: Gain heart that functions two times better than the average human, but susceptible to cold.
Others were just weird—Boosted Luck: Every action has a chance to result in an unexpected but potentially favorable outcome.
He frowned. 'That sounds like a normal gamble.'
The void pulsed in steady rhythm as Marcus and Adrian reconvened, their forms flickering with the weight of disappointment.
'No miracle abilities,' Marcus muttered. His voice, though weightless in this empty expanse, carried a dull frustration. 'Nothing that lets us bypass the system's rules. No cheat codes, no god-tier skills. Just…' He gestured vaguely at the swirling list of available talents still floating in the abyss.
Adrian sighed. 'Just the standard offerings. Strength boosts, intellect buffs, minor precognition that seems like a troll—useful, sure, but nothing that gives us absolute leverage.' He fell silent for a moment, the stillness between them stretching. 'So, what now?'
Marcus hesitated, then exhaled—if he still had lungs, that is. 'I have an idea. A crazy one'
Adrian turned toward him, his presence sharpening with intrigue. 'I'm listening.'
Marcus tilted his head toward the list of talents still shimmering in the void. 'Look at this system for what it is. Everything costs points, right? Every little advantage comes at a price. But what's the one resource we know is valuable in this world that we can't buy here?'
Adrian frowned. '…Karmic points?'
'Exactly.' Marcus's tone gained an edge of certainty. 'This whole thing runs on a balance of progression and merit. Karmic points are like a universal currency, but we don't know exactly how they're earned. What if we use what we have left—every last regular point—to negotiate with the System?'
Adrian's presence flickered with wariness. 'Negotiate what, exactly?'
Marcus leaned in. 'We offer everything we have—our remaining reincarnation points—in exchange for immediate access to our Karmic points in our next life.'
Adrian's thoughts went completely still. It wasn't rare for Marcus to catch him off guard, but this… this was different.
'You're suggesting,' Adrian said carefully, 'that instead of spending our points on minor advantages now, we cash them all in to get early access to a resource we don't even fully understand?'
Marcus grinned. 'That's the simple version of it, yeah.'
Adrian remained quiet, analyzing the implications. Karmic points were the system's way of measuring a soul's contribution to progress—but progress was vague, undefined. Did it mean innovation? Social change? Expansion? Without knowing the exchange rate, there was no way to predict how much influence they could actually grow and wield.
And then there was the risk.
'If we do this,' Adrian said slowly, 'we're betting everything on the assumption that we can generate more Karmic points at a faster rate than we would've benefited from the perks we could buy now.'
Marcus nodded. "Yup. I have already considered that as well."
'And if we're wrong?'
Marcus shrugged. 'Then we get screwed over in our next life and have to build from scratch. But let me ask you this—why does that matter?'
Adrian's presence sharpened. 'What do you mean?'
Marcus's voice turned serious, a rare shift in his usually brash demeanor. 'Even if we fail, even if we die in that life and accomplished nothing at all… what happens next? We reincarnate again, right? Another roll of the dice.'
Adrian frowned. 'That's assuming we retain our consciousness again.'
Marcus pointed a metaphorical finger at him. 'That's right. If we don't figure out a way to keep our memories beyond just this next life, then ""Adrian"" and ""Marcus"" will eventually stop existing, no matter what we do.'
Adrian had no immediate response to that.
Marcus pushed forward. 'We're already breaking the cycle once. That's probably only happened in a one-in-a-billion chance, right? But if we want to keep control beyond this next life, we have to find a way to secure memory retention long-term. That means we need to find as much leverage as we can, as soon as we can.'
Adrian considered it. He didn't like uncertainties, but Marcus had a point. If they lost their memories after this next cycle, it wouldn't matter how well they played their cards. Everything they were—everything they accomplished—would disappear from their memories and sense of being.
But if they played this gamble correctly…
Could they really find a way to break the System and the cycle of life itself?
Adrian exhaled, weighing the idea carefully. It was an absurd gamble, one that relied entirely on their ability to manipulate a system they barely understood. But the alternative—spending their points on minor, immediate benefits—felt shortsighted.
He finally nodded. 'Alright. I see your logic. But let's make one thing clear—if this backfires, if we end up losing more Karmic points than we gain, we might end up in a situation worse than death.'
Marcus smirked. 'Then we just don't fail. Simple.'
Adrian gave him a dry look but didn't argue. Instead, he turned his focus back to the System. 'System,' he called out. 'We want to bargain.'
A pause. Then—
[SPECIFY REQUEST.]
Adrian took a breath. 'We're willing to forfeit our remaining reincarnation customization points in exchange for unrestricted access to the System's ""exchange"" mechanism when we live our new life.'
A pulse. The void trembled.
[PROPOSAL RECOGNIZED. PROCESSING TERMS…]
The space around them flickered, countless streams of unreadable data rushing past them like an unseen storm.
Marcus crossed his arms. 'Come on, come on…'
Finally, the System responded.
[TERMS ACCEPTED. HOWEVER, MODIFICATIONS WILL BE IMPLEMENTED.]
Adrian tensed. 'Modifications?'
[THE POINTS USED IN THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE KARMIC POINTS BUT AN ALTERNATIVE RESOURCE THAT CORRESPONDS TO THEM. THIS NEW POINT SYSTEM WILL EXIST INDEPENDENTLY, WITHOUT DYNAMIC SUBTRACTION MECHANISMS.]
Marcus and Adrian exchanged glances.
'That means we won't have to worry about losing these points randomly,' Marcus murmured. 'That's… actually good?'
Adrian, however, remained wary. 'It also means we won't know how many Karmic points are being converted or deducted in the background though.'
Marcus frowned. 'Oh. That's… less good.'
[THIS FUNCTION SERVES AS AN ABSTRACTION. THE EXACT MECHANISM BEHIND KARMIC POINT REWARDS AND DEDUCTIONS WILL NOT BE DISCLOSED.]
Marcus scowled. 'So we're kinda flying blind.'
Adrian sighed. 'Of course, the System would add an extra layer of control.'
Marcus turned back to the void. 'Alright, then. What happens if we screw up? If our Karmic points drop to zero or even negative points by the time we die in this new life?'
The System paused.
Marcus's nonexistent stomach dropped. 'System?' he pressed.
A long, oppressive pause.
Then—
[NO FURTHER INFORMATION WILL BE PROVIDED.]
A chill ran through both of them.
Adrian doing the gesture of clenching his fists. 'That probably means, it's bad. Very bad.'
Marcus let out a low whistle. 'Well, that's ominous.'
Adrian exhaled sharply. 'Alright. There's no going back now. We've made our choice.'
The System pulsed again, its final confirmation descending upon them.
[AGREEMENT FINALIZED.]
[TRANSFER TO NEW EXISTENCE: COMMENCING.]
[PREPARE FOR REBIRTH.]
The void around them trembled violently. A blinding light erupted from the abyss, engulfing them completely.
Their new life had begun.