"I'm Dokja"
No not that suicidal Maniac, but in a way I am like him, for I stayed true to my name in every sense. I was an only child, loner, but my defining trait would be, I was a reader. For me it was an escape, seeing a world so contrasting from mine. But I took a very different path from him, top of my class, went abroad for university, it's been so long I forgot the it's name.
"OI Dojka you fatass, wake up! You need to wake up!"
" Is that john? Right, I was drinking with him last night? But late for what?"
[ User Consciousness detected , Started Rebirth Protocol 002 ]
[ Please Register ]
A voice that I'd never heard before, a voice that didn't even sound Human. "What the hell? User? ". I finally opened my eyes. "The light of the new world is too bright at first but slowly subsides as I hear the same sentence over and over again.
[ Please Register ]
[ Please Register ]
"The sudden flashing light, and now the world most annoying voice, what a great start."
My eyes finally adjusting the light, slowly showing me my surroundings.
"A Utopia or something close adjacent, i wasn't sure yet. But i knew one thing, i am not on earth anymore, cause this place, wherever it is looks like it has never seen war. Maybe it doesn't even know what war means. People normal people, walking, talking, laughing, enjoying life. I can't remember the last time i saw such a scene
[ Please Register ]
[ Please Register ]
" All right all right, what am i registering for, finally the voice goes quiet for a second ,
[ Would the user, like a tutorial? ]
"Yes.... i think." If anyone were to look at me right now i would look schizophrenic, talking to a voice, i can't find the source of, but it's close really close.
[Entering mind void]
As i tried to get the sentence out i felt like i was flying, mainly because i stopped feeling the ground beneath me.
"Mind void what-AAAAAhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh"
....The fall should have ended by now.
The wind howled past my ears, the place he had fallen from had vanished into darkness.
I twisted, searching for the ground.
Nothing waited below me.
Just more empty space—and the good fucking certainty that it wouldn't end soon.
I just closed my eyes and hoped it would end when i opened them.
W-Where am i
[ Welcome to the Rebirth Classification Programm ]
"Hm? The Rebirth what now?"
[ Rebirth Classification Programm]
[ Created during the first Introductions, to ease transition into godhood ]
"Did you just say Godhood?"
[ Affirmative ]
" Oh god John, What were in those Drinks? I still must be drunk out of my mind "
[ User's BAC is 0%, User's body is in optimal state ]
Now i know for a fact, this is a dream, the doctors on earth told me my blood was 0.92% BAC.
[ User's body went through full purification before entering Nifelheim ]
"What's Nifelheim?"
[ Nifelheim is the constellation where the gods live. ]
"so i really am i god?"
"Wait, you said God's plural. There's more than one?"
[ Estimated count excluding the anonymous gods : 13,890 ]
"Ha ha hahahahahhaha"
[Are you ok user?]
"I SPENT MY ENTIRE LIFE, TRYING TO REACH THE TOP AND CAN'T EVEN REACH IT. I THOUGHT I wOuld atleast be at peace in the afterlife."
[Excessive neuronal excitability detected depositing Gamma-Aminobutyric Acid into Intravenous, 'this might pinch' ]
"SHUT IT! Wait what? AHHHHHHH YOU CALL THAT A PINCH
[ Injection Succeful, effects should occur shortly ]
I relaxed, almost naturally, i had no clue what it gave me. All i knew was that my mental breakdown took a vacation.
[ Few questions to ascertain mentality, do you comply? ]
"Yes"
[ Beginning Questioning , Q1 What is your name? ]
"Dokja Choi"
[Age?]
"96"believe it or not
[Description ?]
" 5'8, white hair, got a bit of a beer belly.
[sybau BUZZER ]
[ Please Try Again ]
" ok fine 5'7 , grey hair, and alot of beer belly. Don't gotta make me so consious"
[ buzzer gets louder ]
What the hell? "I think you might be broken."
[User found to be mentally well, but unaware of the Rebirth ]
"Actually now could you please tell me what the hell happened to me?"
[User met the neccesary parameters to be given permission for entry]
"Entry to what"
[Entry to Phecda, the limbo of the big dipper, user came here from Megrez, the human plane]
"Phecda?"
[Phecda is called the limbo of the big dipper due to it being the most peaceful yet farthest from Alioth ]
"Let me be the one to judge how peaceful it is"
"Ok now the important questions
"1. Who are these gods of nifelheim?
"2. How do i get stronger"
[ Gods of nifelheim are the source of existence of their -------- External Interruption detected, force ending tutorial ]
"HEY , im not done yet, FINISH the sentence "
Before i know it, i feel like im flying again, but this time i close my eyes, and just singg.
"Camp town ladies sing this song doda doda , camp town ladies sing this song all the doda dayyyyyyyyyyaYYYYYYY.
"Mister, Sir wake up, SIR hello , Wake up!!! "
"IM UP"
"AAH ZOMBIEEEE"
"Im not a zombie kid, just an old guy with a terrible back"
I found myself in an alley, loud bustling market noises, unbearably loud. My head felt like it was going to break.
"Sir are you okay?
A young boy, couldn't've been more than 12 stood before me, grey hair, pixie cut. God i would look terrible in a pixie cut, but the boy someone pulled it off, from one look i could tell he was a kid from the slums, clothes covered in dirt, hands bruised and hard and from the way he held himself, was too alert and untrusting for a kid his age. "This kids seen some stuff", i thought to myself.
"Who are you, mister? I've never seen you in this part of the city, and i know everyone here, even grumpy sisyphus.
"Sisyphus? As is the guy from greek mythology, that guy sisyphus? " As it turns out, nifelheim has a different language.
[ Making translation fixes ]
"Sisyphus? As in the guy from Greek mythology? The guy cursed to roll a boulder up a hill for eternity? That Sisyphus?" The words tumbled out of my mouth before I could stop them.
The kid, just blinked.
"The what-ology? Look, old timer, are you hit in the head? He's just Sisyphus. The weirdo who pushes the junk in the Scrapyard. C'mon, you need a guide or something? Cause if ya do it'll cost ya"
Mythology. History. The foundations of my old world, just… background characters here. A man whose name was a byword for futile struggle was just some eccentric pushing trash. Was my struggle the same? Was I just another weirdo in an alley to them?
The question died in my throat as three figures filled the alley's entrance. Their shadows stretched long and hungry in the dim light.
"Hey! Look what we got here, Riko. Found yourself a new grandpa eh ?" The voice was basked with cruelty.
Riko stiffened, his small body trying to form a wall in front of mine. "H-He's just a traveler. Leave him alone, Gared."
Gared laughed, a nasty sound. "Traveler, huh. No one comes to this part of town to travel. All it means is he got nowhere else to go. But hey I'm a nice guy, I'll stop bothering ya if you pay the toll or Unless their 'grandson' has our payment."
My back. My goddamn back. I braced myself for the familiar, sharp stab of pain as I tried to straighten up. A lifetime of aches should have screamed in protest.
But nothing happened.
I stood up. Easily. Smoothly. The vertebrae that had been fused into a permanent hunch of age and discontent felt like they were made of oiled steel. No ache. No strain. Just… perfect function.
Holy hell, The drink must have been better than I thought.
I pushed the confusion down. Gared shoved Riko aside. The kid hit the wall with a dull thud. I saw that look in his eyes. The same look from the war. The look of a body about to be broken. The look I've had so many times I've lost count. I promised myself if i ever saw someone with that look unless they were the enemy i was to be their saviour.
I expected a voice. A helpful notification from that damnable System. Anything.
[ ]
Silence. The tutorial interruption had cut me off completely. I was alone.
"Get. Out."
My voice was quiet, but it carried a weight it shouldn't have. The air grew thick. It pressed in on them, on the alley itself, distorting the light.
Gared froze. The sneer on his face dissolved into pure, undiluted fear. He wasn't looking at an old man anymore.
"W-what are you?" he stammered, stumbling back.
I didn't have an answer. I just stared, pouring every bit of my wasted life, my hollow victory, my useless godhood into my eyes.
They ran. Scrambled over each other, fled like rats from a sudden light.
Silence descended again. Riko stared at me, his mouth agape.
"H-how did you do that??" The kid was as confused as i was, but maybe less
I looked down at my hands. They were steady. No tremble. I flexed my fingers. They felt… alien. It didn't feel like the body i had on earth, i felt like i walked into someone else's body.
Then, the silence in my head was broken. Not a question. A statement of fact.
[ Skill Acquired ]
[ Name: Dominion's Gaze ]
[ Description: A mortal will not meet the eyes of a god and come away unchanged. ]
[ Warning: Uncontrolled use of divine essence detected. Physical body stabilized. ]
I barely read the words. My eyes were fixed on my reflection in a puddle of grimy water at my feet. "Who the hell is..." i was talking out loud as i felt i was looking at someone else.
White hair. A sharp jawline. A body that looked like it hadn't aged a day past twenty-five. No beer belly. No grey hair. Just a stranger.
The System had fixed me, And I hadn't even noticed.