Records of Rebirth

«She looked transparent like she was fading in and out of existence.» Sensei continued. 

«And she had these antlers extruding from her forehead and something like wings on her back, only it was made out of tree branches and gold leaves. She called herself the Goddess of life.»

Flying crystal citadels? Tree ladies? What was next, dragons and elves? His story was beginning to sound more and more crazy.

"Are you sure you didn't hallucinate all this?" I sniggered.

«I'm sure! The meeting was too scary to be something I'd dream about! Even though the Goddess of life looked kind, her aura was too imposing, it just made her smiling face look creepy.

I felt like I was an ant she could crush at any time. Like I was only alive because she was allowing me to breathe. The pressure alone made me kneel before I even knew what I was doing. And she wasn't the only god.

I noticed five other powerful existences in the room, but I couldn't see them, they were deliberately cloaking themselves. I detected four standing beside the Goddess, but the last one was the worst one. It wasn't in the citadel like the others.

All I felt was the presence of two eyes watching me through the citadel walls, from far away, somewhere across the ocean like there was nowhere the eyes could not reach. It was so disturbing.

Anytime it looked at me I felt things crawling over my skin like I was put under a curse or something. The Goddess of Life was the only one that spoke though.»

"What did she say?"

I was stunned at what he was saying, his experience sounded like something straight out of a nightmare.

It sounded like meeting these gods was not such a pleasant experience after all. 

Somehow my experience in the void didn't seem so harsh after all.

«A lot of things. She explained a bit about this world. Did you know that it's really similar to earth? Only it has nine continents and many intelligent lifeforms. There's humans too but there are other races aside from them.

She mentioned there were twelve. Seems like we're entering into something a lot like a fantasy world. Imagine what it would be like to meet some of the creatures, their biological makeup must be vastly different from anything on earth - »

"Did she say anything about why we are here?" Sensing he was about to go on a tangent and start rambling, I cut him short.

The excitement in Sensei's voice dropped and his tone became dark. I didn't have to think hard to guess why. He was probably remembering how he died.

«The Goddess said our lives ended prematurely. We were not meant to die the way we did. So she brought our souls over from earth to give us a chance at a second life.

We will keep our memories and traverse the lands using our experiences from earth to bring change to its native people. For that she has allowed us to let us be reborn as inhabitants of this world.»

Oh? Wasn't this god quite generous. But, was that all there was to it?

Somehow I doubted there was a lot more. I wasn't a believer in destiny, fate or a higher power. I always questioned any act of goodwill done seemingly without a reason.

If the god was truly generous why didn't she just undo our death, turn back the clock and kill the mad prince before he arrived at school, or heal our wounds to stop us all from dying.

Or maybe some other thing to prevent our deaths. Surely a god could do something as little as that.

I felt a bit resentful, I wished I could go back to my old life and undo my death but since that was impossible. I would rather not remember my past life and the people I left behind.

"So we are all getting reborn. Everyone that died in our classroom?"

«To some extent, yes.»

"And let me guess, we are expected to fight off a hidden threat that is destroying this world like heroes and unite all the races under one banner with elves, dwarves and dragons living together as one."

Sensei chuckled.

«Wouldn't that make for an interesting story. Well, the good thing is, it's a new life, you can make it exactly what you want it to be. You could battle demons and dragons if that's what you wish.»

"Ugh. No thanks. Why would I do that?"

Sensei laughed.

«You don't sound excited. Why aren't you excited?»

"I would be if someone actually explained to me what was going on, rather than being told 'nothing' by some robotic voice and left in this dark place for however long its been. Its feels like years since I've been here."

I heard the clicking of somebody's tongue.

«Has anyone ever told you, you complain too much. Don't you know nagging girls aren't attractive and don't get asked for dates. Why don't you embrace this new reality instead of sulking?»

Sulking? Nagging? Don't get asked for dates? 

Who was he to give commentary on my love life, or lack of one. So what, if I'd been single for my fifteen years of life. It wasn't like I was sad about it.

"I don't want to hear that from someone like you!" I retorted angrily.

«Truly a nag. How am I supposed to guide a troublesome child like this? This is making me feel old already»

"What do you mean guide?" I asked, surprised.

«Ah… didn't I mention it. I'm your Rebirth System.» He announced smugly, much to my shock and dismay.

"What?"

«Didn't I mention it. I'm your Rebirth System» Sensei declared proudly, as if it was the most natural thing in the world. 

I seemed to recall the robotic voice mentioning something like that though.

When I heard it, I thought the voice itself was the system, like the voice in the tutorial at the start of a game introducing the story line.

It had mentioned skills, which I assumed you could purchase in its store. If Sensei was the system, then what was that voice?

Wasn't a system an all-knowing, powerful existence?

I hated to admit it, but it really suited Sensei, who was already the gatekeeper of all manner of useless and interesting facts, on a wide range of topics back on earth.

Now that he had become a system, wasn't this the perfect way to showcase his hobby?

How had he arrived at such a fortunate scenario? I could just imagine the proud look on his face, the bright eyes shining excitedly behind his glasses, dishevelled hair sticking up all over the place. Wasn't this something like a cheat?

"How?"

«Ah, let me explain. When I met the Goddess, she asked me what my one regret was. And I told her I'd failed to fulfil my duty as a teacher.

If I'd been a better teacher, I would have noticed the problem with my students earlier and fixed it so none of that would have ever happened» Sensei answered in a sombre tone. 

«I didn't think the Goddess would actually listen to my wish or grant it.»

Like everything had fallen into place it suddenly made sense.

Sensei had died first, then he met a god-like being who asked what kind of new life he wanted? How lucky. 

But rather than saying something normal like make me a hero, or give me special powers, he instead had a long chat with the gods about his students, and lamenting about their sad fates? 

I didn't know if he expected me to feel touched or something. But I only had one thought.

Was he stupid? Wasn't that a once in a lifetime opportunity?

Sensei was the true protagonist of this story. He could have asked any wish, requested for anything, yet he'd chosen to remain like a teacher! 

Ah, he really was an idiot. 

Though I suppose I had him to thank, because of his wish the god brought me back and I got the chance to live again. Although it felt like I was just being dragged along as an unwitting extra in Sensei's tale.

"You should've mentioned something like that earlier!" I chided him.

Sensei laughed embarrassingly.

«I only realised it after I appeared here. Be patient with me, I'm still processing through all my memories and the new information I received»

How could he treat something important so casually. I wanted to facepalm.

With him as the system wasn't I screwed?

Wouldn't he make me do all kinds of meaningless tasks just to watch me dance around in his palm like a monkey?

I shivered. With his twisted sense of humour I could only see bad days ahead.

"So how does this work? Are you still human, or part machine? I really wish I could see in here."

I was curious to know what sort of form he would take.

«I'm not exactly sure. From what I can tell, I seem to have become capable of parallel processing. Aside from that, I can sense parts of myself spread out across the continents. You'd have to wake up first to make proper sense of it. Try moving around to see what happens.»

"I've already tried that before, nothing works…"

I was about to say, when I suddenly hit something. What was that?

I definitely felt something just now. Had my sense of touch returned? I moved my body once more and actually got a response.

I could feel it! I could finally move!