In the depths of the multiverse, in that place where all souls were purified and sent back into the cycle of life, a goddess sat upon a throne of light.
An eternity ago, she had believed she could never come to know boredom.
Now she knew better.
After aeons in that place, even for a divine being, every form of routine had become a kind of torture. Souls came. Souls went. Lives began. Lives ended. And everything repeated itself with a patience only the universe itself could possess.
But recently, on a small world called Earth, she had discovered something.
Isekai.
The idea had thrilled her at once.
To take souls out of the cycle and send them into other worlds—not as mere reincarnations, but as figures with a new form, a new role, and a new fate.
That sounded entertaining.
So in recent years, she had created a system of her own.
A game.
A gacha.
She had taken forms from her favorite stories, legends, and works, endowed them with memories, abilities, and knowledge, and turned them into vessels with which souls could merge. In this way, an ordinary soul would become something new. Something more interesting.
And the best part was:
she even sold it to them as luck.
As an opportunity.
As a rare prize.
As destiny.
The system itself would continue the same trick in the new world and present its bearers with their possibilities as though they, too, were part of a gacha.
The goddess smiled.
The price was delightfully cruel.
Every soul that took part in her game lost the memory of the person they had once loved with all their heart.
Not all memories.
Not their entire past life.
Only that one person.
And yet that very absence would accompany them for the rest of their life.
A wound without a name.
A missing note in the heart.
Something that could never again be fully healed.
"Mhm..." the goddess murmured, resting her chin on her hand. "Whom shall I choose as my first true test subject?"
Her gaze wandered through the depths of the multiverse.
Then it came to rest on a small, mortal world.
A violent jolt ran through the airplane.
Jenni flinched and turned her head to the side. Beside her sat Kerstin, her face twisted with fear, her fingers gripping the armrests so tightly that her knuckles had turned white.
For one fleeting moment, an absurd thought shot through Jenni's mind.
Kerstin, why did you insist on going to Japan?
Only because of the convention, because you were booked there as a cosplayer?
Or because you really thought you'd find the One Piece Oda sank somewhere off Tokyo?
She almost laughed.
Almost.
Then the flight attendant's voice thundered through the cabin, trembling and far too loud.
"Dear passengers, prepare for an emergency landing! Head down to your knees, as shown in the illustration in front of you!"
Panic broke out everywhere.
People screamed. Luggage fell from the overhead compartments. Somewhere, someone was praying. Somewhere else, a child was crying.
Kerstin turned her head toward her.
"Jenni, I..."
She got no further.
Another jolt tore through the aircraft.
This time so violently that the whole cabin cried out.
Then the airplane broke apart.
Then there was only light.
Jenni did not know how long she drifted within it. Seconds, hours, perhaps something else entirely. Her mind tried to understand the place where she had appeared, but nothing about it could truly be grasped.
Everything was too vast.
Too bright.
Too wrong.
Where am I? was her first clear thought.
Then came the second.
Where is my body?
Panic shot through her.
No...
No, no, no.
I'm dead.
Please no.
Please no.
I still wanted to tell Kerstin—
A mighty voice cut through her thoughts.
"Welcome to the Isekai Gacha."
Jenni flinched.
The voice was neither warm nor cold. It simply was there—immense, all-encompassing, as though it had no need to travel through space in order to be heard.
"I am the Goddess of Rebirth," it continued. "I permit you to take part in this system. But it has a price."
Jenni tried to find the source of the voice. But all she could see was a vast sphere of light, so bright and enormous that the figure behind it could not be made out.
"If you are willing to pay the price, I will grant you this chance," said the goddess. "But I will not tell you what it is."
Jenni struggled to compose herself.
"And if I do not take part?"
The voice suddenly sounded almost amused.
"Oh, quite simple. Your soul will be purified, and you will be born again."
Then the goddess paused for a moment.
"But I'll give you a hint. Recently, I sent a soul with its memories into another world. A soul you know. With a little luck, you might find it."
Something inside Jenni froze.
Kerstin.
The name hit her instantly, hot and painful.
So Kerstin is out there. With her memories. Then I have to agree. I have to find her. I have to finally tell her what I...
"I'll take part," said Jenni.
"Good. Good."
With a single motion, a gigantic roulette wheel of light appeared before her. Across it flickered countless names, faces, and forms—figures from worlds, stories, and legends.
Millions of possibilities.
The wheel began to spin.
And at that very moment, the goddess snapped her fingers.
Something vanished.
Not visibly.
Not loudly.
Not tangibly.
But Jenni felt it.
An emptiness opened inside her.
She blinked in confusion.
"Why..." she murmured. "Why am I even taking part in this gacha?"
Deep in the core of her soul, something suddenly felt hollow.
Something important was missing.
Something that, just moments ago, had been the reason for everything.
This isn't normal.
Slowly, the roulette wheel began to slow.
The images of light started to settle into place.
Then it stopped.
Goddess Rhongomyniad.
Author's Note
This is my second story.
For now, I'm only posting the first chapter and want to see how it is received.
It will update more slowly than my current main story, but I still hope you enjoy it.
I'm looking forward to lots of comments, because in this story I'll be asking you questions more often at the end of chapters—such as which world we should visit next, or what our heroes should do next.