Mirrond: So… I’ve finished my exams, and passed all of them easily, SO I CAN FINALLY GET BACK TO WRITING. This was written in two days :D It’s actually more like a prologue of a second act, and the next chapters will be longer… and we won’t be writing them as fast as this… but still, more chapters will come! :D

  Resus: Yeah… I said all of that already… under the last chapter… The only important thing is that WE’RE BACK! NEW CHAPTERS AS FAST AS WE CAN WRITE THEM!

  Mirrond: All Hail The Great Me :D

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  Chapter 09: More or less at the same time somewhere else

  My name is Natalia. I am a… 19 years old soon-to-be-student. And I think I’m high… Ok, what I mean is - I don’t do drugs, I never have, so I don’t really know what it feels like. But I assume that when you’re standing on top of a pile of corpses, including your own, and a woman made out of bright light is standing right beside you… yeah, I don’t think that’s anywhere near being ‘not high’.

  Details! I went on a trip to Africa. And there was… a car, no, a bus… From one city to another… And we were going through a… desert? I think I remember it as just a road in the middle of nowhere… And then there were those people… with guns… a lot of guns… They… took the whole bus somewhere, with us still inside… They tied us up… outside? There was a camera… i think… They were talking for a while… and then…

  They killed us all? What?

  I am not mad. Nor disappointed. I’m not even surprised. Why am I so neutral about it. I just died and it’s like it doesn’t even matter to me. That ‘light woman’ is smiling?

  “What are you?” I ask her. I don’t really expect any answer, but it’s not like I have anything better to try instead.

  “A God. Although not the one you might have heard about.” A God. I just died and met a God. Yeah, sure. That’s plausible enough. I mean, I’m certain that I really died. So… whatever happens now must be plausible… Besides, in this weird state of mine, I can’t even be surprised by it.

  “So, which God are you? And, more importantly, what are you doing here?”

  “A foreign one, currently searching through a part of this world’s deceased population for someone to work for me.“

  “Work for you? As in some kind of afterlife labor camp? I can’t say I like that idea.”

  “No. It’s more like getting reincarnated in a completely different world, a ‘fantasy’ one with magic, with your memories intact, and then leading righteous crusade against majority of the world.”

  “And why exactly does that sound like one of those ‘wishful thinking stories’ for losers of the internet?” Is this really happening to me…? No, I already made up my mind about this being the reality. “Why me specifically?”

  “Who knows, I have never read any of those stories. About your second question, this knowledge really isn’t necessary to you for anything, so I feel no urge to tell you. The important part is, whether you agree or not. And just before you answer, I regret to inform you, that the fact that I visit you doesn’t mean you were judged as a nice person by any local deity. So if you say no there is a chance you will end up in local version of afterlife designed for sinners. For eternity.” She seems… bored. Or sad. More like bored to me. And she speaks so monotonously… As if she was reading a boring speech from telegrams.

  “Ok. Let me get this straight. You want to… reincarnate me in a different world. The one you called a fantasy one. To lead a righteous crusade? And you say that why you chose a teenage girl for that job is not necessary for me to know? Have anyone ever told you that you’re insane?!” I shouldn't have said that. I should not have said that.

  “Yes. There is a person that keeps saying this to me. But as it’s a real madman, I prefer to ignore such statements. You have other questions.” I can’t be surprised. But this is entirely new level of ‘what the fuck’...

  “Yes, well… Following your speed of this conversation, can I get more details regarding that whole reincarnation business? You won’t tell me why me specifically, so… what exactly do you need me for? And what do you mean by ‘magic’?” I know it’s surreal, but I simply can’t make myself think of it as ‘not real’. Especially since I’m still on top of my own dead body… and I’m slightly clipping through it.

  “Didn’t I already tell you what I need you for? I need someone to become my champion, my chosen one, someone to start and lead a holy war. Against pretty much everyone there. Current state of this world is one full of corruption, moral filth and evil, and I need it cleansed. Both its current overlords and my… rivals, have to be eliminated. And by magic I meant magic, another unnecessary question.“ I can’t really see her eyeballs in all this brightness but from the face she made I swear that she just rolled her eyes... “Fireballs and all this stuff. Different races. Demons. Evil deities of madness I would love to see dead. Evil deities… “ she repeats, while stressing every word “... that already have their own reincarnated ‘hero’, what I find as a most problematic matter. So not only you will have to make a righteous crusade, but also find a way of eliminating those obstacles.” For some reason irritating her is amusing. I a very bizarre way, but amusing nevertheless.

  “And anything more specific about the reincarnation itself? Are you just going to create me a new body? Or take that one… beneath us? You seem awfully reluctant in giving me any detailed information. Sorry, to disappoint you but I need details to work with… I can’t just like that take an offer I don’t know much about. And you’re doing a poor job trying to persuade me.” I know it’s risky to talk like that. But I really need something more… I can’t just like that… Can I?

  “You, people from Earth, really are similar. Can’t you just say ‘Of course I will gladly do that, Mistress Shimmer!’. No, you always have questions.“ she really seems disturbed by that “I am going to put your soul in a body of a randomly chosen, newborn girl. You may experience some residual feelings, at least until you get five years old, but it’s a minor side effect of reincarnation you don’t need to bother yourself with. Somewhere around the time when you will reach your fifth birthday, RPG mechanics - that will help you get stronger really fast - will start working. I am also going to resurrect you if you die for a few times, maybe more depending on your progress. Is that everything you wanted to know? Can we get on with it?”

  “Your name is… Shimmer? Really? That’s… Nevermind. You know what? Ok, I agree. Just do what you want, it’s not like any of those loser stories ever ended in anything else than an immortal hero saving a world.

  Suddenly… Shimmer… twitches, and looks somewhere far away in wonder.

  “They can’t… urgh. Why does it have to get so complicated. Next thing I know Destiny and her bunch of morons is going to get one to…” She looks back to me. And from her expression I can tell that she didn’t mean to say any of that out loud. “Nevermind, see you later. Much, much later.” She reaches with her hand and pushes me. And everything turns into pure white light.

  * * * * *

  It took them a whole year to make a decision. Theoretically it really wasn’t a problem - even after the decision was made they still had to wait four more years for an occasion. But still, to spend a year arguing about some bullshit like that…

  They eventually decided to do it. WHICH IRRITATES ME EVEN MORE, BECAUSE I WAS AGAINST IT! And these bastards even made me do it, simply because I was ‘arguing too much’. Wrrrr, one joke too many about that self-righteous Dareh bastards, and now I am getting pounded.

  They made me do it… and they are going to regret it!

  Detecting a summoning was much easier this time, since we made sure to receive a warning if it ever happened again. We still have no idea who knows magic so strong like this, but after years of research of the first spell they used we managed to duplicate it. We still couldn’t reach another world on our own… unless there was already a hole, made by someone else. So when we detected that they are summoning someone again, we found their hole and I went through.

  I rummaged through this world’s common consciousness. For some, unknown to me, reason most of the population was outside my reach, but out of the few I could get to, I soon found a suitable person.

  A young man, full of… well, plenty of feelings. Most of them stupid. His name is Bartosz, or something. Frustrated with life, angry because of some events in this world’s politics… perfect, perfect!

  I watched him as he was constructing a bomb in his basement. I barely understood what a bomb was, this world is really, really different than mine. It’s utter lack of magic is something I can barely stand. I feel as weak like as a baby.

  Then I watched him carrying it in a bag into nearest government office. He wanted to ‘accidently’ leave it there. Or at the very least he tried to do it, but then… KABOOM! He died. I didn’t even had to do anything. How nice of him!

  As far as I know this wasn’t a part of his plan, so he must have done something wrong with the bomb… although I must say, that the explosion still was formidable. He managed to blew up half of the building together with himself. Fragments of bodies scattered around. Screams, fire, and smoke everywhere. Wounded people trying to crawl outside… And then the ceiling came down.

  So now, I catch the soul leaving what’s left of his body. I can’t stop laughing. They told me to go fetch a status quo defender, so I’ll give them a terrorist! Hahahaha!

  “Huh?” He is seemingly shocked. He barely understands what happened. “What the…”

  “Beautiful bomb!” I compliment him. “Really, it was absolutely awesome! But you kinda blew yourself up in the process, you know? This wasn’t really a part of a plan, was it?”

  “No, it wasn… wait, I’m dead?”

  “Yes. Well, rest in pieces, friend.” I start laughing, what a nice joke I just made! “You couldn’t have really survived after getting reduced into so many little fragments. Only your soul is intact. But I came with a once-in-a-lifetime offer! You can either continue with this world’s usual afterlife process… although I have no idea if there is such a thing… or I can take you!”

  Ok, he looks shocked. Really. Well, I can’t blame him, can I now?

  “I know you have a plenty of things to… digest… but hey, you can have a lot of time - years and years - to carefully think about… well… things, after you take my offer! I can reincarnate you in a whole new, different world, with your memories completely intact. And then you can go on doing… um… things! We will give you a little bit of a quest. You will become a champion of gods… Old Gods to be precise, and defend our world from some… unwanted entities, that are messing with it, and already summoned two humans from this… your world.“

  “Ok.”

  “We will also give you magic, and all the necessary teach… wait, did you just say something?”

  “Yes, ok. I agree.”

  …

  “Shouldn’t you be… like… shocked?” He shrugged.

  “I am. But getting reincarnated in a different world seems… legit? It’s interesting. So I agree.” Great, now I am left speechless. It takes me a few seconds to adjust to his strange behaviour.

  “So, um, let’s proceed to next part. There are plenty of gods, from plenty of countries that are going to be on your side… But, since it would be hard to have all of them working together with each other, as there isn’t a single one of them who likes obeying orders… We are summoning you, who will serve as a... well, someone neutral. So, each and every one of them will try to help you… and use you at the same time. You will be born in a wealthy household, most likely one connected to my Temple, so I can keep my eye on you. Then you will receive all the necessary help in getting stronger and things like that. It also looks like you will get in-life mechanics similar to what exists in things you call RPG games. Our enemies use a system like that and it looks like you are going to be linked to it during summoning to our world. You have anything to add?”

  “No, it’s nice.” … well, and least he isn’t making problems, right? Just… how can he be so hard to work with when he actually don't even try to resist?!

  “Well… the RPG mechanics should fully launch around the time you will get five years old. One of the summoned ones is five years ahead of you, and we still can’t locate him or her… the other one is being summoned as we speak. We will try to do anything we can to find them, but as we have to try to avoid initiating world-wide panic, our hands are rather tied. Anything else to add?”

  “Nah, just send me. I am tired of waiting.”

  Well… ok?

  “Ok… So, see you later.” With that I Inflict a gesture associated with this spell. I push him a little… WHO CAME UP WITH THAT?! No… I’m done. Mission accomplished, I am going back. I have that one believer girl of mine… I wonder what she is doing now…

  * * * * *

  It was a long… and painful… and tiring day, but I am finally alone in my room. Freed from the wheelchair and lying in my bed. I still can’t really move my body. I can barely speak, I can move my eyes, and move my hand… a bit. It’s tiring, but I can do it if I give my hand some rest after using it, so… damn, now that I think about it, it sounds… NEVERMIND. I have some of time for myself, so I decide to look through the options menu. I wonder what else can I find there. I mean, choosing the way I can open interface is a pretty important thing. Maybe there are hidden some other equally important things?

  So I open the interface.

  Current number of users… 3

  SHAAAAADOOOOW!!!! No more than a second later darkness envelops me, and I’m once again in front of Shadow’s throne. He’s still in his thorny armor, but this time he looks genuinely embarrassed.

  “Can you explain it to me!?” I begin with shouting. Thankfully my body here is completely healthy, so I have no problems with moving or speaking.

  “Well… things happened.” He starts. I interrupt.

  “YOU DON’T SAY! Why the hell are three people linked to the RLGS right now?”

  “Two additional summonings happened today, as you might have noticed.” He sighed. “One was a part of our plan, but another one… was rather unexpected. The first was my adorable, lovely, twin sister’s work. Another reason why I regret I didn’t succeed when I tried to strangle her with umbilical cord when we were being born.” He noticed the look I was giving him, so he shrugged. “Parents saved her, unfortunately.”

  Ok, so… I suddenly stopped thinking that my current childhood sucks. Or I should say, it sucks… but it definitely could have been worse. Much worse.

  “So, she summoned a hero. A girl. Someone you knew. That’s all I can say. That person is now supposed to lead some bullshit, righteous crusade against this world’s evil… which means both, us, as in you, me and my colleagues, and our enemies. You are still five years ahead of her, but sooner or later it will be kill or be killed between you two.”

  “Sweet…” I reply. “And the second one?”

  “Looks like Old Gods catched the wind of your summoning. They analyzed the magic behind it, and managed to find their own little Chosen One.” He sighed. “Someone from the same area as you, so you might have known the person in question.” Really?... I wonder who it might be. “Well, these are bad news for you. It means that they understand that there are summoned people around. And they know, more or less, when it happened. It took me few weeks to successfully put you in the retarded boy’s body, so they don’t know the exact date, but still, every strange acting person that was born around that date will be suspected. So, you know, try to lay low and avoid doing any weird things.“

  “Weird things? Ain’t you the one who does all the weird things?” Laughter, again. “So, in other words, I’m going to be pursued by ‘Old Gods’... which I presume to be Res goddess and her colleagues… “ He gives me the ‘I can’t tell you, sorry’ type of look. Urgh. CAN’T YOU BE MORE HELPFUL FOR ONCE?!

  “Right now, you should focus on getting better, and learning.” He says with a serious expression. It reminds me of the Lawyer, I wonder why I haven’t seen him and Nazi lately. “They decided that you are too boring, so they left me the job of managing you. “Argh, I forgot he can hear my thoughts. One mystery solved. “As I said, learn as much as you can, try to find a way to become a head of your family, and look for a future harem candidates!” Seeing a look I gave him, he starts laughing again. “So, should I send you back now?”

  “Two more questions. You mentioned some rules. As in… game rules? So does it mean there is some sort of game going on above my head?” I really hope he will answer me. That would… clarify things a bit.

  “Probably. Though you know, some games are barely any different from a war, especially when the players are dead serious and ready to do anything to win.” So… is it the ‘we can’t fight directly, so let’s play in mortal world with people we have chosen as a pawns’ type of game? Interesting, however it’s still only a hypothesis. Taking it for granted would require me trusting Shadow… and that won’t happen anytime soon. “And the second question?”

  “So… how many players are out there? And… can all of them summon someone from earth or gain a local ‘chosen ones’?”

  He smile faintly. Before darkness envelopes me again I can hear his answer.

  “I have no idea.”

  The most scary part is that I believe him.

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  Resus: So… we tried to come up with some interaction with you, readers… But we can’t think of anything good. Any ideas what to ask you about… NO! I’m just about to be brilliant! Think of a question we could ask you… write that question in a comment… and answer that question in the same comment. :D

  Mirrond: Eh… or just make some “descriptive” reviews, so we get more time on a main page, so more people hear about it, so we can gain more attention… or just clone Truth a few hundred times.

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  Still no Options :P