1 The end of a life and the start of another(?)
[Note: This chapter was updated recently after I noticed there was a significant difference in quality between the first few chapters and the later ones. I will update the next chapters 10 or 15 chapters as well. But for now, I hope you will bear with the poor quality in the next chapters as it will take some time.]
There was once a young man by the name of Dusk jones.
From the beginning the of his childhood he had always been interested in learning new life skills and improving them. To him, the process of perfection a skill and realizing that he was improving filled him with unparalleled satisfaction. The more complicated a skill was, the more he satisfied he became at mastering it. The joy he derived from this process could have very well been the reason for his existence.
And so, the young child started learning everything from cooking, cleaning to martial arts, and swordsmanship. Dusk's grandfather taught him the the arts of the sword, bow and spear despite it being a world of guns and nuclear weapons. Dusk's parents were extremely happy to see him thrive in so many areas.
After all, the praise wouldn't just go to him, but his parents as well for raising such a capable child...
But praise and admiration for the boy only lasted a few years.
As years went by, some started realizing his 'self-improvement' was more of am obsession than a hobby. Strangely enough, his parents were the last to notice. They only noticed when the neighbors started telling them how strange Dusk's behavior was. They scolded the boy and told him to stop. But Dusk didn't stop.
The only thing he focused on life is learning these skills. People realized the boy was not normal. His acquaintances advised him to other things and see other sights. But he paid no heed to their words. He just wasn't interested in anything else.
"Why are you like this?"
"You should try to be normal like other kids!"
"You won't many any friends, you know?"
These were common things he had heard. But he quickly grown used to just ignoring such things. The only thoughts he would have in his mind was finding new skills to try.
"Can stealing panties discreetly be considered a skill?"
He had seen someone in the internet do it. Although he had no interest in dirty underwear, he couldn't help but be amazed at the person for being to take it off his victim with such speed and precision. However, Dusk decided against trying it as he realized it would take trail and error. He didn't want to risk getting into a troublesome situation due to his failure.
During the time he enrolled in high school, he was already living by himself. He was a master at housework so he didn't have to worry about living alone as long as he had money. His grandfather had already given him enough money to live comfortably until he found a job. He had very good grades, since he honed his ability to study as a 'skill' too. Now, with no one to intervene he started practicing his skills even more.
His ability to be capable at just about everything one could think of, sparked praise from his classmates. But that died down when they realized he didn't fit their idea of 'Normal'.
Dusk didn't speak with anyone out of his own volition. He considered honing 'Social skills' to be time inefficient. He stilled honed them to a certain degree, so he didn't have to worry about awkward situations. But he moved on to learn something else when he decided it was enough. Being the way he was, he wasn't interested in romance or sex either.
Later on, Dusk settled on improving his 'Writing' skill. He had found writing to be interesting. One needed to have a wide vocabulary to use as well as a great imagination to make detailed descriptions of scenery or characters. But all that would be useless if the story was not engaging. He decided to implement elements of his psychology knowledge to make hyper-realistic character development for his characters.
He lost himself in improving this skill as it was something that took time and effort. Aside from going out to get daily necessities and attending school he didn't leave his PC. He researched and read novels. Then continued to write his own.
But in the second year of his high school life when summer vacation started he had stopped coming out of his apartment at all.
Turning himself into a 'Shut-in'. With no one to disrupt his work and no other interferences he improved his skill without rest.
He was so focused he forgot to eat or sleep. In the end, he overworked himself to death.
But despite that he didn't regret his death.
Because he died doing the thing he loved. Instead, his head was riddled with questions.
'Am I going to the afterlife? I wonder if I can learn something new there...'
As ridiculous as it sounded the boy was still thinking about learning skills. But his abnormal thought process was interrupted a heavenly voice in his head.
"Welcome to the afterlife, my dear child. You lived a very interesting life, to the point where I think it's a shame you died." the voice of what he assumed to be a woman suddenly spoke in his mind. Her accent and voice seemed to have a divine touch to it. Not that he knew what a deity sounded like.
Dusk quickly turned his head towards where he felt a presence. As he set his gaze in the direction of the presence, He spotted a female figure.
She seemed to radiate beauty and elegance. Her smile was similar to that of the polite smiles one would get from receptionists.
"So....Why don't I make you an offer? I will reincarnate you into a world where you can learn even more interesting and complicated skills. In exchange, you will simply live life as you see fit. I will observe you time to time as part of my entertainment." she made an offer that would spell a new beginning for Dusk Jones.
One that he would later cherish but find a pain to dealt with more than his previous life.
