Dying without notice sucked. But trust me, it sucked even more to be floating in soul form, forced to listen as two godlike beings talked trash about your short, uneventful life like you weren't right in front of them, hearing every word.
My name is Sylas Stone.Yeah. This is my story.
I was once a high school student.Until I wasn't.
Too many punches to my beautiful face.Too many videos of me dancing half-naked on the internet.
It was fun.Not for me.
But I had to survive the bullies.
So I kept dancing. I improved my moves. Followers increased. Which was bad, because a teacher saw one of the videos, identified that it was me, and even recognized the exact spot in the school where it had been filmed.
So that led me to land in the principal's office with my only parent, my mother.
Despite being the one forced to breakdance in nothing but my underwear, I was the only one who got expelled. During the investigation, the others claimed the videos were my idea, that I wanted to create content inside the school, and that they only joined in because it looked "fun."
The account from which the videos were uploaded was registered with my details. Any money the videos made was paid directly into my account, and from there, withdrawn as cash, which they collected.
On paper, it made me look like the organizer, not the victim.
I had no recordings of the threats, no messages admitting coercion. Just my word against theirs.
So, the decision was easy. I was expelled while the culprits received suspensions and walked away.
So, for the next three years, I stayed locked in my room, refusing to attend another school, as the same thing would just happen.
My mother was a woman who prioritized her work over me, so she didn't care what I did with my life. She pretty much left the house for me, barely visited, and even when she did, there was barely any exchange of words.
So left to my devices, I binge-watched movies, grinded through video games, and occasionally zoned out while staring at my standing fan. Because, hey, maybe it held the answers to what life was, cuz I certainly didn't know the answer to that.
And then I died.
How?
Real simple.
After hours of gaming, I finally stood up to take a piss. Everything went blurry, and just like that, I left the world of the living.
The next thing I knew, I was here.
As a floating blob.
Or, as I like to call it, soul form.
Weightless. Completely at the mercy of the two cosmic forces in front of me.
Their bodies shifted like swirling shadows, radiating an energy that felt impossibly powerful. Overwhelming. Not in a holy, divine way, but in a we-could-snap-you-out-of-existence-and-not-care kind of way.
One of them lazily stroked his chin, staring at me like I was a math problem he didn't feel like solving. I'll call him Lord Shadow, because I had no idea what he actually was.
"I don't understand…" His voice was deep, almost vibrating through the space around us. "How did this one get here?"
His assistant, smaller but just as eerie, shot him a confused glance.
"What do you mean, sir?"
Lord Shadow narrowed his glowing eyes.
"This has never happened before."
Then, without warning, he leaned in. His massive, shadowy form swallowed my vision, uncomfortably close. Every instinct screamed at me to back away, but my soul form was frozen.
The assistant's shadow flickered slightly. "I still don't understand what you mean, sir."
Lord Shadow sighed heavily, shaking his head like he was already tired of this.
"Yep. I'm right. It's a dud."
A spark of rage shot through me."Pardon… who the hell are you calling a dud?"
The assistant tilted his head. "What's a dud?"
Lord Shadow exhaled sharply, clearly annoyed that he had to explain. "I only reincarnate souls that have accomplished noteworthy feats on Earth. So…"
He gave me a long, questioning look.
"Why is such an incompetent soul with no notable achievements standing in front of me?"
How should I know? I tried to say. No words came out.
The assistant shifted awkwardly. "What do we do now?"
Lord Shadow tapped his chin, lost in thought. Then, with a casual wave of his hand, he made his decision.
"Send it to Eryndor."
"Eryndor."
A deep, unexplainable dread settled in my core.
What even is that?
It sounded like something ripped straight out of a fantasy game or anime. Magic. Knights. Monsters. All that nonsense.
Probably a whole lot of trouble.
The assistant froze for a moment, then slowly nodded. "Alright."
He began the transportation process, but Lord Shadow added, almost as an afterthought:
"As a troll."
"Pardon?" the assistant said.
"Send him to Eryndor as a troll," Lord Shadow repeated, slower this time.
…Wait.What?
A troll?
That came out of nowhere. Even the assistant seemed taken aback, his shadowy form flickering slightly as he processed the absurdity of the command.
"Why do that? Why not just return him to the path, since his appearance here was clearly a mistake?"
Lord Shadow's voice was calm, absolute.
"We don't reject fate. We accept it and make decisions. This soul came here for a reason, so we assign it a world. Besides…" His gaze shifted to me, unreadable. "He'd be heading to the Inferno anyway. This is a favor."
Inferno?That literally sounds like hell. No thanks.
Eryndor sounds nice.
But don't bullshit me.
This was no favor. I could tell from his tone that there were better options. He chose this one for a reason.
Do you hate me or something?
What did I even do? Besides not achieving anything noteworthy.
The assistant hesitated, then finally voiced the exact thought running through my head.
"But why a troll? Why not let him remain the same race?"
Mental thumbs-up to the assistant. I really wanted to hear the answer.
"Trolls are the most hated species in Eryndor," the assistant said slowly. "Humans and other races will give him a hard time."
I swallowed.
Okay… this is definitely bad.
Lord Shadow remained unfazed.
"That's exactly why. Assigning him to a better world without earning it goes against order. He needs to earn his stripes."
"And the best way is as a troll?" the assistant asked.
"Goblin was my second choice," Lord Shadow replied.
And that's where I broke.
"Yeah… I'll take troll over goblin. Thank you very much."
The assistant sighed, shoulders dropping slightly. "Fine."
Not fine. Not fine at all. But whatever. They weren't listening to me anyway.
The assistant moved on quickly, as if sentencing me to trollhood was no big deal.
"What kind of troll should he become? And what class will he get?"
Lord Shadow shrugged. "I'll leave that to you. Just don't give him many advantages. He needs to be tempered. Forged by suffering."
I let out a long breath.
"Seriously, nigga… just say you hate me."
The assistant lifted his hands and began typing in midair, fingers tapping against an invisible screen with eerie precision. His face remained blank.
Meanwhile, I was not okay. Curious. Worried. Confused. Half-convinced this was just some insane dream.
Seconds passed.
Then, without looking up, the assistant muttered, "It's done."
So soon?Shouldn't you think this through? Maybe tweak a few things? Throw in a cheat or two?
Lord Shadow turned to me, voice flat.
"Alright, Sylas Stone. You will be reborn as a forest troll. Goodbye."
And then I vanished.
The next thing I knew, I was standing in a forest clearing, surrounded by towering trees and thick vegetation. Sunlight filtered through the dense canopy, casting shifting patterns across the ground.
I looked down.
My hands were massive, covered in rough, greenish skin. Thick, claw-like nails tipped my fingers.
My body felt heavier. Bulkier.
And as I inhaled, a strange, musky scent filled my nose.
"That's right, Sylas Stone," I muttered. "You're a troll now. In a strange new world. This isn't a dream. This is your life now. Lock in."
I took a step forward.
The first step of my new life as a troll.
But the moment my foot touched the ground, a strange, squeaky voice echoed beside my ear.
"Why are you talking to yourself, Troll?"