Reincarnation...and picking Traits...? What?

Looking over the screen in front of me, I was once again stunned and confused for the umpteenth time today.

What...what the fuck happened to cause this?

I remember waking up in the middle of the night...I remember feeling pain...I remember reaching for my phone...and then blackness. Then whiteness. Then the brightness cleared up to show I was in some sort of room. A perfect cube. Some formless white light then appeared in front of me and I found myself sitting...despite not having seen a chair when I looked around.

It then spoke, in it's mechanic voice--a cold, lifeless tone that made shivers go up and down my spine--and said that I was dead.

That pain? I was having a heart attack. A heart attack at the age of 19...God, I knew I should have taken those walks more seriously. Should've eaten healthier as well.

I took this information in with such calmness and apathy because of one thing...I wasn't the type to really get shocked by things. Even if it was my own death. I'd come to terms with the fact that I'd die one day. It didn't mean I welcomed or wanted death - I just knew it would one day come for me and there was nothing I could do to stop it.

You could say that this was quite a nihilistic mindset. You might even say depressed.

You would probably be right.

The light in front of me continued to speak. It told me I was going to be reincarnated. That I was being given a chance because of some multiverse lottery. I had the chance to pick 10 things from a list of pre-determined things. 10 power-ups, so to speak.

I won't say I was used to this because of the amount of fanfictions I'd read where the same trope was used...but I kind of was used to it, actually. Once an idea is in a human's head, they'll be much more accepting of the idea if it ever appears in front of them. I guess that's just how our minds work, huh?

That's when this screen appeared in front of me. A screen of a list a few dozen pages long.

All sorts of things were there.

Singing Talent. Basic Musical Talent, Sewing Talent, Cooking Talent...just a whole lot of talent-type power-ups. Looking up to the light, I cocked an eyebrow, "Am I allowed the knowledge of where I'm going before I pick out my ten things?" I asked, calmly. I was feeling a little numb despite my apathetic disposition. Well, a little more numb than usual. Whenever I spoke, it was like someone else was speaking, not me.

I think I was in shock, maybe?

"Game of Thrones," the cold, robotic voice replied.

Those words cleared my numbness a little as scenes of horror played in head, "...Is there anyway to change where I'm going? Maybe a nicer fantasy-type world?" I asked, trying to play my hand at getting somewhere better.

"No, you will be going to 'Game of Thrones'. It is what you won, so you will be going there. Please pick your traits and don't forget to pick a specified birthing place otherwise it will be left up to chance," the light said and I just sighed before nodding my head and looking down at the screen again.

There was no arguing or persuading this light. It acted like a machine and machines don't know compromise.

First off, I ignored my confusion and to help my shock-addled brain, I began to think of this as a thought experiment or a hypothetical. Maybe even a D&D Character Creator program. After this, I began to go through the power-ups available to me.

They must have given me a list of things that wouldn't make my journey too easy in GoT because I found no Sharingan or Mystic Eyes of Death Perception. There were talents that would be useful but were easily capable of being found in a normal, albeit talented, human. Luckily, GoT wasn't a completely normal world.

The presence of Giants, Dragons, Nature-folk and other non-human species had obviously been taken into account for this list.

There were some interesting innate traits.

Once I'd gone through all the things on the list, all 48 pages, I began to think what type of person I would want to be in this new world I was about to enter.

Combat ability was a no-brainer but, I was also thinking about securing a good political background. Personal strength is good and will stop you from being a helpless duck as soon as you lose your guards...but political strength is needed if you want to keep people from slitting your throat in your sleep. Or if you don't want armies knocking at your door.

Annoyingly so, this list worked like a skill tree. I could just unlock the first of the skill tree for being born as a nobleman but I could be born in a declining noble family if I did that.

Which is why I sunk two points into unlocking the first thing [Noble Birth] and the second one [Esteemed Noble Birth]. Their explanations were as such:

[Noble Birth: Don't want to live in squalor? Want to be taught to read, how to do basic math and the basic history for the world you will be born in? Well, look no more because this is the perk for you! With this, you are guaranteed to be born as a highborn. Though, whether your house will be one of glory or one of deterioration is purely up to chance...]

[Esteemed Noble Birth: Being part of a house that isn't up to your standards isn't on your to-do list, it would seem. Instead, you would rather be born to one of the main lineages for the the Seven Kingdoms, right? Hold your head high, with this perk, you're a true noble through-and-through.]

It was two points down the drain but at the same time, I felt it was worth it.

At least this way, I wouldn't have to live in a shithole where I couldn't bathe.

...Joking aside, by being a part of one of the main Houses, I'd have a much better chance at not dying because of something like some noble prick thinking I was being too cocky for a lowborn bastard.

Then I went on to pick some more combat-orientated perks. I wanted to see if I could manipulate what house I was born in and who would be my father/mother if I picked certain talents/perks. Even if it didn't work, I was pretty sure this was the type of warrior I wanted to be anyway. The first thing I picked was a perk called [Large Build].

[Large Build - You have a build that is a size above the average man! Just your sheer size alone will make the average soldier make a stain in their pants, so take some pride in it and puff out your chest and hold your head even higher than it already is!]

This was the first thing on a skill tree I was very interested in. GoT had many people who were massive. They had many people who had raw strength. I wanted to see if I could put myself onto that list.

My next perk was this:

[Powerful Build - You're naturally blessed with powerful muscles, hard bones and fast reflexes, making such things as fighting and sports child's play to you! Feats of strength unavailable to the 99% of people are things you do for workouts!]

[Powerful Build] was the advancement of [Large Build] and I assumed having these two things would put me on the same level as someone like The Hound, maybe. Getting this perk opened up a lot of available perks to me as well. Giant-blooded, Magic-blood, etc, etc. I went with one that I believed would give me the necessary strength without making me a lumbering oaf like Hodor.

[Auroch-Blooded - You have the strength of an Auroch, a fierce bull-like beast, running through your veins! Hot, powerful, hard and unstoppable, your body is utterly inhuman and only races that are truly giant could hope to beat you in terms of raw strength!*]

(*A/N - What I mean by this is people like the Mountain will be somewhat his match in strength, while actual Giants will be able to overpower him. Not like he couldn't kill a giant though. It'd just take more than raw strength to do it.)

Why did I pick this? Strength, I guess. Giant-blooded would make me big and strong but also slow. There's no guarantee that this wouldn't do the same thing but Aurochs are just bigger Bulls and Bulls aren't exactly slow creatures, are they? They can reach some pretty quick speeds when they feel the need to.

Picking [Auroch-Blooded] opened up a perk I also wanted.

[Robust Vitality - Taking days to recover from fatigue, muscle pain and minor injuries? Well, it's obviously not for you! What takes people weeks or months to recover from, you take days or hours to do!]

This. This would be very useful for both training and for back-to-back fights that I'd no doubt be doing in this next life.

Once I'd picked that perk, I was down with that progression tree. Everything else I could pick was practically a race change to a bigger race and if I did that, I'd probably be born into some kind of Giant nobility and honestly...I don't quite want that. Not only would it not provide me political power, I'd have to put up with being beyond the wall a part of a nearly-extinct species. That just wasn't for me, honestly.

Next, for me, were perks that would ensure my survival. Two perks in particular, actually. One for the political world and the other for the fighting world.

[Charismatic - Loved and respected by all, those who don't are your enemies and even they are put into awe-filled fear at your very presence! Whether just using your body language or your actual language, you can intimidate, convince and negotiate with most people, making them see your side one way or another.*]

(A/N - Another heads-ups, this perk isn't literal. He won't be loved and respeced instantly as soon as he's born. But he'll have the Charisma necessary to be loved and respected by all. He just needs to put in the work to do so.]

This was vital for the world I was about to enter. Being able to convince people of my ideas and my plans would be useful without end. Plus, being Charismatic would probably help with the ladies, right?

...What? I am a red-blooded male, you know? And GoT does have some very beautiful women.

The next perk, was:

[Talented Combatant - 1000 Strikes a day? Repetitious training? You have no need for such things! Fighting and combat come naturally to you and even without training you're formidable with your reflexes and instincts alone! Though, training obviously wouldn't hurt...]

I wasn't talented in fighting and I couldn't be guaranteed a new body that was, so I'd rather not take the chance. If this perk could make me a talented fighter, it was worth it.

[Blunt Weapon Talent - You have a talent for the basics for most blunt weapons and can use them with a passable amount of skill after a certain amount of practice. This skill gives a passive boost to the dexterous control of brute strength which is needed to wield such weapons. This level of talent is by no means the best, however.]

And,

[Warhammer Talent - An advanced and more specialized version of Blunt Weapon Talent, Warhammer Talent abandons giving talent or potential to any blunt weapon other than Warhammers. The ability to quickly learn how to perform crushing blows and crippling hits being the least of what is given by this skill, Warhammer Talent gives you the power necessary to push through any obstacle necessary with a Warhammer in hand!]

Once I clicked on this and accepted it as my last perk, the screen disappeared and the robotic voice came from the light again.

"You have picked ten traits, two of which narrow your birthing down to the Elite of the 'Game of Thrones' world. Well done," it's apathetic voice remarked but I didn't feel any sense of achievement because of how emotionless it was, "You will now be reincarnated. We, of Reincarnation Corp, wish you the best of luck."

And with that, everything went black again.