Terms and Conditions Apply, Samuel!
Sam looked at his Status, not feeling too surprised at how low his stats are. If anything, he's pleasantly surprised that he has four skills and even a talent. He turned around, walking briskly back into the small grotto. Sam searched the place, and found a second chest in the room. The one that he got the Knockback II Sign from was in the corner near the entrance, while the second chest was nearly fully buried next to the wall with only its lid showing.
Sam brushed the dirt and pebbles off the lid then sat on the chest. He thought about how the events in his life, whichever cosmic entity he had offended and how he had done so that led up to this moment.
[A Little While Ago:]
Samuel wakes with a start, looking around to find himself in a large personal office. He is sitting in a red leather armchair. He is 2 meters tall, with brown short hair and a short boxed beard. He has a strong jawline and brown eyes. He wears a plaid black and red long sleeved shirt, blue jeans and a pair of work boots. He is around 200 pounds, with a bear-like build. Despite his striking size and powerful build he does not feel intimidating, but has a rather welcoming disposition.
Opposite to him, he sees a 3 meter tall humanoid in a white robe writing with a pen. Try as he might, he could not see any details of his face nor any defining characteristics. He however, feels for some reason that this is a man. The being looks up, seeing that he is awake.
"Samuel Howard, is it? I am Jalesk, God of Reincarnation. You have died." He articulates slowly.
Samuel's heart is thrown into turmoil, as he considers what this means. In particular, he worries about what his old folks are going to react. If there is one thing that can put the fear of, well, god into a man yet elicit deep feelings of love it is a man's mother. Samuel is no different.
"What about my folks? I haven't paid off my debts from learning a trade. You have got to be making a mistake here. I am young and in good health." Samuel asserted.
Jalesk seemed to smile, or rather Sam felt he smiled. "They're doing fine, although sad. The laws in Kentucky regarding to debt are clear in that they cannot collect a debt from the relative of the deceased debtor." He explained. "What is most important now, is your future. It seems there was a slight mix up and you have died before you should have due to clerical error. My apologies, but we can't resurrect you from the dead despite this unless you want to attach your soul to your decaying corpse. It's very rare, but some people have requested to do so."
Samuel felt a bit lost, unsure of what to do next. His heart lifted for a moment hearing that this was a mistake, before it sank once again upon hearing that they couldn't fix it. Sam felt vexation and anger well up in his heart as he sarcastically replied to embarrass Jalesk, "Well, what do you suppose then? You took me to bed before it'd be considered right and now want to talk about my future. I hope you'll take responsibility."
Jalesk froze for a moment, then laughed. It was a bit grating on the ears. He picked up a piece of paper, turned it around and put it in front of Samuel. Sam took the paper reading it. At the top of the page it said 'Reincarnation Request Form'.
"It's simple. Just write down where you want to be reincarnated to, and who you want to be reincarnated as. You can choose whether or not to keep your memories, if you get a gold finger-like system. Even if you wish to become a God, it's not impossible. Of course, terms and conditions apply for all reincarnations. An example would be that you can't reincarnate yourself back onto Earth at the same time as you died. It'd be really damaging to the cosmos to do so, as no one would truly stay dead and just endlessly reincarnate themselves as a literal murderous demon coming to enact vengeance for their past life's grudges."
Samuel considered it, reading the contract. He knew that this was his best option. A being like Jalesk that can revive him from the dead to appear in front of him, with both his soul and body, definitely can't be convinced by tears or pleading. He still felt very reluctant in his heart, though. He just doesn't want to let go of his life(now past), not to mention whether or not Jalesk is really a God of Reincarnation is up for grabs. For all he knew, Jalesk is just a figment of his imagination from his latent subconsciousness to give in to death or a terrifying being from another dimension that feeds off recently departed souls and only needs Sam to agree to his 'contract' to eat him.
Sam thought for a long while, and picked up the pen in front of him. Whether or not this 'man' is malicious, Sam doesn't think he has a choice in the matter. Would a being that carelessly cuts his life short and then pushes him to do business right after really let him refuse? It's better just to hope that a free lunch exists than to scold or refuse the being in front of him and become the free lunch.
Sam thought about where he wanted to reincarnate. He decided to reincarnate into Minecraft. Infinite resources, infinite lives, and an endless world to explore! He can choose to have his own gold-finger too like the novels he likes to read and do whatever he wants there. Of course, Sam will not be making himself invincible at the start. Instead, he decided that he wanted the ability to respawn thus allowing him to try endlessly to surpass his limits without much risk.
Sam also decided to 'mod' his game. Sam wrote the request for multiple races of sentient beings like Humans, Elves, Dwarves, Orcs, etc. He thought about it some more. He added in monsters like Dragons, Mimics, Goblins, and so on. He wrote in his System as a more advanced version of Minecraft's gameplay system(Inventory, Crafting, Mining, Placing Blocks, etc.) where it can also gain skills like Swordsmanship or magic, a faction system, and the ability to level up to increase his attributes.
As he signed his name on the dotted line, he felt something terrifying watching him. He sunk into the chair sweating profusely, not daring to move or speak for a few moments before this feeling disappeared. He breathed a sigh of relief, having thought for a moment his crow's mouth landed him in the maw of a soul eating eldritch being.
Jalesk read the contract, nodding. "That was the All-Seeing Eye. It enforces all contracts according to an agreement we made with it. Remember, Samuel; Terms and conditions apply. I'll be sending you to a dangerous world similar to a Minecraft challenge map. I hope you have a happy reincarnation!"
Jalesk waved his hand, as Samuel disappeared before he could protest.