Chapter 15: Second life

Chapter 15: Second life

Fumiko stared at the being in front of her with awe for a second.

Before screaming louder than she had ever screamed in her life.

"Ahhhhhhhh!!"

"Wh—what is that?" She stumbled back in a panic, unsure of how to process what she was seeing. Her being a ghost was still not all that surprising to her, considering she had just killed herself.

This being, on the other hand, was something she had never expected to see in her life. She was never that religious, despite her god complex.

"A—are you a god?" She asked while trembling slightly. She wasn't sure why, but for some reason she felt like there was no point in running. There was nowhere to run to either since the only thing around them was a white infinite expanse of nothingness.

The being didn't respond to her question for a while. It only stared at her with its spiraling eye, as if studying her.

Fumiko was starting to wonder if the being could actually speak.

{𝑵𝒐}

{𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒏𝒐𝒕}

Fumiko's eyes widened in shock. The voice did not feel like it was coming from in front of her. It felt like it was directly transmitted into her mind.

She looked up at the being again, even more terrified than before. She wondered if it was in her head. She wondered if it could read her thoughts.

{𝒀𝒆𝒔, 𝑰 𝒄𝒂𝒏}

Came the being's voice again in her head. That made her even more nervous, it meant that she couldn't hide anything from it.

"T... then what are you?" She asked nervously.

The being didn't answer her question immediately, just like before.

{𝑰, 𝒂𝒎 𝒂 𝑷𝒓𝒊𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈. 𝑰 𝒆𝒙𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑴𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅.}

{𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒕. 𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒚 𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒕.}

The being transmitted into her mind again.

Fumiko was struggling to process what it meant, but didn't feel like it would be wise to ask for further explanation on it.

She looked around again, less nervously than before. "Where are we? Is this heaven... or is this hell? Or is it an afterlife of some other religion?"

{𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒚 𝒅𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒊𝒏. 𝑰𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒆𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒏𝒐𝒓 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒍. 𝑰𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆.}

{𝒀𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒔𝒐𝒖𝒍 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒏 𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒓𝒄𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝑰 𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒐 𝒂𝒔 𝑳𝒊𝒎𝒃𝒐. 𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆.}

{𝑰 𝒑𝒖𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒔𝒐𝒖𝒍 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝑳𝒊𝒎𝒃𝒐 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆} The being transmitted.

Fumiko was lost for words. All these things sounded so strange to her. A few hours ago she had been preparing for work, expecting another amazing day of watching her victims struggle with their lives. Now she was in this place, in front of this being, being told all sorts of out of the world things. It felt unreal.

"Why?..."

"Why did you pick me specifically? Why did you bring me here?"

{...𝑰𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒂 𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒂𝒕 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆, 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒅𝒐 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒊𝒕?} The being transmitted instead of answering her question.

Fumiko blinked, caught off guard. A second chance? Was that what the being wanted to give her? Even after she had just killed herself? She wondered if this would be like one of those reincarnation novels she occasionally read.

Her mind flashed to Tokyo and her previous life. She thought about all the things she had done up until this point. The people she had manipulated, the lives she had ruined, the silent suffering she had inflicted. She recalled how she felt during all that. The rush, the ecstasy, the intoxicating knowledge that their lives were in her hands.

Finally, she thought about Naomi and her bastard boyfriend Kenji. The possibility of starting anew, in a different body, where her crimes couldn't follow her, seemed appealing.

Another thought crossed her mind.

What if this was her chance to change? What if this entity was testing her? What if the right thing was to start afresh and abandon her desires for vengeance?

Could she be different?

Live a better life?

Maybe help people genuinely instead of as a method to control them?

She snorted at the thought.

That wasn't possible for her. She was who she was, and there was no chance of her ever changing.

"Vengeance. I'd get vengeance on all those who wronged me. After that I'll start afresh and create a new life for myself."

"One where I can be myself. One where I can be like you. A god-like entity to others, manipulating their lives without their knowledge. That's what I would do."

She said, losing herself for a moment as she smiled widely at the thought.

The primordial didn't transmit anything to her for a while. It just kept staring at her with its spiraling eye, which started to make her feel uncomfortable.

{𝑰𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒘𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒔𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒊𝒕.}

Fumiko felt incredibly relieved. She had thought this was a test by the Primordial to determine if she was worth giving a second life. Since the being could read minds, she saw no point in lying and had decided to speak her honest truth.

{𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒕𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅.}

Fumiko's joy vanished in an instant, her smile gone.

{𝑰'𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒐 𝒂 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒏𝒆.}

"What?! That's not fair, you can't do that! You're the one who gave me hope for my revenge!" Fumiko shouted as she glared at the Primordial.

"Naomi, Kenji, those traitorous colleagues of mine — they all need to pay!" She added, her fists clenching with rage.

{𝑾𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝑳𝒊𝒎𝒃𝒐?}

{𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝑰 𝒅𝒐 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒓𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒄𝒆𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏. 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒂 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖, 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒅.}

Fumiko froze, her anger choking in her throat. The possibility of becoming a drone again with no consciousness for countless years was not one she wanted to consider. She slowly realized she was in an impossible position.

She took deep breaths for a few minutes, trying her best to release her frustration.

"No, I would not," she finally said. "Thank you for bringing me here. I am eternally grateful to you... um, Primordial."

{...𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒊𝒔 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑹𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒔 𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆. 𝑰𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒍, 𝒅𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒑𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒗𝒊𝒍𝒆 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒆𝒔. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒓𝒏 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒍 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒍𝒆𝒈𝒂𝒄𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒆𝒙𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆.}

{𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆, 𝒚𝒐𝒖'𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒖𝒑 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒓𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒔. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒑 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆.}

Fumiko stared at the primordial, puzzled. "As much as I'd like to help, I don't think there's much I can do against a universe full of evil aliens."

"Also, why exactly are me and these other Reincarnators being sent there? What's the end goal?"

{𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆, 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒔𝒐𝒖𝒍 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝒎𝒚 𝒑𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓. 𝑰𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒒𝒖𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒔𝒐𝒖𝒍.}

{𝒀𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆, 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆}

{𝑫𝒖𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒆𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒔, 𝑰 𝒄𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒂𝒄𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑯𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒎𝒚𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇.}

{𝑾𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒚 𝑰 𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒂 𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒅𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒔.}

Fumiko's eyes widened at the mention of a special ability. That was something she had always thought impossible. And now she was being offered the impossible. Still, she couldn't help feeling bitter about being denied her vengeance permanently.

{𝑰𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆, 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒎𝒂𝒚 𝒇𝒖𝒍𝒇𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒊𝒔𝒉 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒖𝒍𝒇𝒊𝒍𝒍.}

Fumiko became excited again when she heard that. She was happy that she wouldn't have to be a loyal dog to anyone, even if that person was a Primordial. She preferred to see this as more of a business partnership.

{𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒇𝒂𝒓 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒐𝒏𝒆.}

The primordial being transmitted as a portal opened directly in front of Fumiko.

Fumiko hesitated for a moment, then looked at the primordial one last time before stepping through.

{𝑰 𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒅 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆, 𝑭𝒖𝒎𝒊𝒌𝒐.}