2 I Reject You

Alastor stayed silent, staring at the same weird message that seemed to be begging for any sign of his attention. Aside from his gaze. 

[Hello, Player Alastor!]

Alastor, however, did not have time to answer that. If he remembered correctly, he was supposed to reincarnate after his death. The memories would be erased as the soul gets cleansed through the circle of reincarnation. 

Why was he here, then? 

A bit of speculation could tell him that something went wrong with him, maybe it was the way he ended his life. 

'Aren't gods the ones who are responsible for this? I would assume they did not like my way.'

Alastor scoffed, if that was the case, he truly was not born for anything but suffering. Everyone would never approve of him and his style, it made life feel so dull to him. 

So, why not play along with some weird glowing screen that floated in front of him? 

"Hello to you as well."

The screen trembled, as if finally happy to have a response from him. Then, it trembled again and showed a different text, 

[Would you like to join the big game?]

"What game, if I may ask?"

[Yes/No]

No answer beside that, 'I think I may not ask.'

A devious grin made its way to his smiling face. Alastor's natural face always made him smile, the curve of his lips made him charming as hell. 

His eyes were always mysterious and alluring, their green irises pulled people in, wanting to know what was in the depth of them. 

Alastor thought for a moment before reaching to touch the 'Yes', whatever would happen would not be something too dangerous. Alastor was aware he could handle even an active apocalypse. 

One day, he would regret this confidence. 

As soon as his finger touched it, a spark danced around his body. He shut his eyes, only to open them again in a completely different place. 

The void he was dangling in had changed to a big lecture hall. It was fancy, decorated with gold and jade. Only a few students were there, making it feel even more spacious. 

"There are four stages, you need to master each one before trying the others. Otherwise, the consequences are not going to be pretty."

The lecturer was explaining something about magic circles, although they were a bit vague, Alastor was an expert in magic, and thus he immediately picked it up. 

His talent was unmatched, and so he invested all his time to learn more about magic, 'Heck, looking at this complicated explanation is just disheartening.'

While doing his research, Alastor created a more efficient and simpler way to study and perform those magical circles. 

Seeing the board with those primitive techniques made him itchy to just scrap it all down. A wisp of flame was already dancing on his finger. 

But perhaps to stop him from doing anything rash, the holographic screen from before showed up again. And finally, it was explaining something. 

[Hello again, Player Alastor! Unfortunately, something wrong happened and your reincarnation had failed. However, now you have a chance to play in our glorious world, Esme!]

Pausing, Alastor covered his mouth lest he laugh out loud. 

Failed reincarnation, and a world game. Ridiculous, utterly ridiculous for him. But at the same time, it somehow made sense. 

'Fascinating.'

Alastor pretended to pay attention to the lecturer, while in reality, he was slowly registering what he could understand from his situation and the little text on the screen. 

'Assuming this is a completely different world that is using the same principle of magic system, I would be saying that I've transmigrated instead of reincarnating.'

That was not too bad. 

A new life was granted to him, for whatever reason that was. And he was quite happy with it although, at the same time, annoyed. 

He liked all of his life arranged and planned. Unexpected events were unwelcomed, even if they were good. 

For first, he knew he would need more information to start dealing with everything. The most important thing was the goal of the game. After thinking it over for a moment, Alastor decided to try something out. 

'What is this game? And what is the goal, what about the additional information I should have?'

He asked inside his head, and funnily enough to him, he got the answer. 

[Esme is a game that you'd need a few partners to participate in, oh, and before you ask, you are unable to not participate!]

The text on the screen felt alive, Alastor could hear a tone in it. In addition, he noted that not everyone could see it. Only him. 

[The nature of Esme is bound to remain a mystery! Until a certain date, that is! But for a starter, you have two missions!]

[The first mission is to rise in the ranks and get as close to the top as possible, again, that would be a great help once the game starts!]

[And for the second mission, you need to gather specific students that have been chosen to carry the most significant role in Esme once it starts!]

Various different screens appeared in front of Alastor, they gleamed and shone brightly with various names and different stats. 

Popularity points, relationship points, motives, backstories, and even skills and their bodies status. 

However, after a quick glance at them, Alastor's lips curled up coldly as he gave a quiet sneer. 

His finger suddenly touched those screens and lit them on fire, causing a loud ringing in his head along with a loud static noise. 

[War-Ning, E-Ero–r!]

The lecturer turned her gaze to Alastor for a moment, looking at his face, she turned around quickly and pretended that nothing happened. 

She felt as if she witnessed something that she should not have seen. 

And he, on the other hand, was too busy to pay her any mind. 

'My, my. Do not worry, little guide. It is just that I have absolutely no need for your little tricks, I can simply rule with my own hands and brain.'

Being guided by this would have been a blessing for anyone else but Alastor. As Alastor had his own principles and understanding of things, he had a simple decision. 

'There is no error. I appreciate you telling me that much, but I'd assume you wouldn't hate me playing the game with my style. Would you?'

If the lecturer was still looking at Alastor, she may have fainted upon seeing his face. Even the game's system, which was supposed to have no ability to feel fear, fell silent. 

That day, Alastor's new stage of life had started.