When I suddenly came to, I was standing in the middle of a white room.
...Huh?
"Wait, wait, wait, wait, hold on! Where the hell am I!?"
I was just browsing the internet in my room like normal.
So this can't be some kind of kidnapping while I was asleep or anything, right?
I mean, I'm just your average nobody. No fortune, no fame. There's no reason anyone would want to abduct me.
If I got randomly selected for something, I guess that's one thing, but still.
Also, even if it was a kidnapping, this situation makes no sense. To knock me out instantly like this, you'd need a gadget on par with that famous detective's tranquilizer dart, you know, the one with a child's body and an adult's mind.
Anyway, my heart's still pounding like crazy, but I need to calm down.
First things first: assess the situation.
The room isn't very big. Probably the size of a small apartment room, maybe eight to ten tatami mats.
There are no doors, no windows... which feels like a pretty big problem.
But right in front of me is a sign that practically screams "Read me!"
Guess that's the place to start.
"Let's see here..."
====================
[ Reincarnation Room ]
Congratulations. You are dead.
However, you have been selected in a lottery for a chance to begin a new life with your memories intact.
Once you finish reading this, a red door and a blue door will appear.
The red door allows you to reincarnate into a world from manga or games, complete with a special perk.
The world and perk will be chosen at random based on your existing knowledge.
The blue door is for standard reincarnation through the normal cycle of rebirth
Memories will be wiped.
You may stay in this room for up to one hour.
After that, you will be automatically sent through the blue door.
Please consider your choice carefully.
Wishing you a good next life.
P.S. Your cause of death was a meteor.
====================
P.S—WHAT!?!?
There was a lot of important information in that sign, but my brain can't stop short-circuiting over the P.S.
A meteor!? Seriously!? I mean, yeah, I know what a meteor is, but still!!
Was it a huge one? Or just a little space rock?
I really hope it was a small meteor and I was the only one who died. I'm not some bleeding-heart pacifist, but let's at least hope for that much mercy... right?
Okay... let's move on. No point dwelling on that now.
After I finished reading the sign, a floating timer appeared above it, and two doors, one red, one blue, appeared.
Seeing these surreal sci-fi elements appear before my eyes... yeah, I'm definitely dead. Or at least in some very weird situation.
The timer says 57 minutes and counting.
Looks like I have to decide before time runs out.
Red door or blue door...
The blue one's pretty straightforward, normal reincarnation. No memories, so it doesn't matter what I become.
…Even if I end up as some shiny black G, you know, the kind that scuttles around kitchens, if I don't remember it, who cares?
So the real question is: do I take the red door?
Keeping my memories and getting a "perk" sounds amazing.
But the random destination part worries me.
It's a world from my own knowledge, so at least I'll recognize it... but there's no guarantee it's a happy one.
What if I end up in some ultra-lunatic hellhole?
Like, a Biohazard zombie apocalypse? Or that cursed world from Drakengard where goddesses and baby angels gleefully devour you alive?
"Yeah, no thanks. I'd rather die again."
Still... what should I do...?
====================
Before I knew it, I had just 10 minutes left.
What would've happened if I hadn't noticed the timer at all?
I guess I would've just gotten reborn the normal way.
But no, I've made my choice!
Actually, deep down, I think I'd already made it from the start.
"Alright! I'm going through the red door!!"
With a shout of totally unnecessary enthusiasm, I threw open the red door and stepped through.
In the next room, I was greeted by a single massive slot machine.
Above it was a sign that read: "Reincarnation Destination."
"A slot machine!? That's how they do it randomly!?"
Well, I guess it is random, so this makes a weird kind of sense…
But everything about this situation is nonsense, so who even knows anymore.
I shook off my headache and looked closer.
There were two buttons, "Start" and "Stop."
"So I just pressed this, huh?"
I hit the Start button and the reel began spinning at insane speed, too fast to track with my eyes.
I see, no way to time your stop.
Makes sense.
Now for the Stop button.
This is the big one, my next life hinges on this moment.
Even if I get a lousy perk, if I end up in a peaceful slice-of-life world, I could live a normal second life.
But if I don't...?
That fear is what kept me from making a decision earlier.
"Screw it! I've come this far, just go for it!!"
I slammed the Stop button, locking in my fate.
[High School DxD]
Oh... uh... is this a win? Or a loss?
High School DxD... well, it's a world where you get to meet lots of cute girls, so in that sense, it's a jackpot.
But the protagonist always escapes danger by thinking about boobs, so it's hard to take things seriously.
Still, when it comes to actual fights, the world is surprisingly brutal.
Also, dragons in that world have it rough.
As a background character, I might be fine...
But if I get dragged into the supernatural side of things, I'll need top-tier devil powers just to survive.
Still, I should probably see what perk I get before I start worrying too much.
But where do I get it?
There's only one slot machine, and no other doors...
Just then, I heard a mechanical whirr above.
The label that said "Reincarnation Destination" rotated, and new text dropped down:
[Reincarnation Perks – You Get Three Chances]
Whoa! Three perks!?
That's actually kind of awesome!
If even one of them's good, I'm golden.
Is it okay to hope for something amazing?
Like the Gate of Bab—err, never mind.
But come on, I can dream of sipping holy wine in a Grail war, right!?
I hit the button again and spun the reel.
Eyes glued to the display, I punched Stop with growing anticipation.
Ittou Shura (Chivalry of a Failed Knight)
Nice! Ittou Shura! That's the ability that multiplies your combat ability by dozens of times for one minute.
It sounds great on paper, but it's a super high-risk, all-out move.
Once it ends, you're completely drained, and can't move a muscle.
There's an even riskier version called Ittou Rasetsu where you compress all your power into a single second for a hundreds-fold boost.
But that one shreds your body and leaves you basically dead.
"Still, it's a protagonist's move and full of style. I'll take it. Now for the second roll!"
I spun the second slot and hit Stop.
Verg Avesta (Fate / Angra Mainyu's Noble Phantasm – Sacred Gear Version)
Uhh...
Where do I even start with this?
Do I laugh at the fact that it's a "crappy third-rate Noble Phantasm," as Angra himself says in Fate?
Or do I question the whole "Sacred Gear" labeling?
Anyway, Verg Avesta is a curse that reflects the exact damage you receive back onto your attacker, once, per opponent.
But to use it effectively, you basically have to take a fatal blow.
And it only works once per person.
If you heal your wound, theirs heals too, so you can't cheese it with a Phoenix Tears or anything.
Yeah, this thing's a total pain to use.
Maybe it's better if it works like the FGO version, where you reflect double the damage, multiple times, and even hit groups.
If so, that's actually usable.
But still, you have to take big damage for it to work.
Honestly, it's even harder to use effectively than Ittou Shura.
"Screw it... let's just hope the third one is normal. Please. Something usable."
I spun the final reel.
"C'mon! Let's go! Give me the Ba—!"
And then the result popped up.
Self-Destruct (Pokémon)
"............Wait. WHAT!?"
HOLD UP.
Is this seriously allowed as a perk!?
Self-Destruct, User faints after use.
NO KIDDING!!
Who the hell put this in the perk pool!? Probably some god-tier being, sure, but clearly one with a twisted sense of humor.
If that is a god, then we're talking about an evil god. Chaos god. Definitely not the nice kind.
And don't be fooled by the cute hiragana in "faints", we're talking full-on critical condition. You're basically seconds from death!
Also... seriously? Self-Destruct?
If I had to get a suicidal move, couldn't it at least be Explosion?
...Not that's any better.
Wait, what if all three perks could've been Self-Destruct and Explosion Valits!? No, no, I'm not going down that mental rabbit hole.
Well, like it or not, those are my three perks.
So... what now?
The door I came in through is gone. When did that happen?
Just as I was pondering, the floor dropped out beneath me.
"WHOA!!"
And as I plummeted into the void, I couldn't help but think:
Whoever designed this place... is a real piece of work.
==========
250 Power Stones = Bonus Chapter
Add to Library!