1 Chapter 1

(A/N: This is a rewrite of a story I wrote on a different account, but you don't need to read that to understand this)

I groaned as soon as I opened my eyes to find a dark abyss all around me, "Not this cliche start to a novel again," I said while shaking my head in disappointment.

"Hey, don't be a prick, I'm just trying to build some suspense," A voice boomed from the darkness, echoing all around me.

Even though I was expecting something like this, I still froze when I heard the voice. I had mostly been speaking out of my ass before due to the fear of the unknown gripping me. I had just been trying to cope by pretending it would be the start of my own epic adventure story. I looked around but could only see the impenetrable darkness that surrounded me on all sides. I couldn't even tell if I was standing on solid ground or floating in the depths of some unknown abyss. Of course, the moment my mind went to that possibility, I imagined the presence of some eldritch abomination lurking just beyond the curtain of darkness.

A shiver went down my spine, but I distracted myself by responding to the unknown entity that had spoken to me, "Sorry, it was a suspenseful few seconds, though?" I said, trying to sound reassuring, but due to my unease, it came out as more of a question.

Surely able to tell that I was scared out of my mind, the being sighed, "No, no, you're right. This abyss was too cliche, but I can't take all the blame. The big man upstairs didn't give my creation too much forethought, so I am incapable of such considerations beforehand. I simply exist to grant wishes to the lucky few and reincarnate them into other worlds,"

"So, I get to be reincarnated?" I asked, genuinely excited by the prospect, all thoughts of horrors lurking in the dark banished from my mind.

"Yep, since you already get the whole gist of reincarnation and wishes from novels in your previous world, I'll speedrun explaining the rules to you. Firstly, choosing your world doesn't consume a wish, but you are taking a gamble for where in the timeline you are gonna end up as well as where you arrive in the world. However, You can decide all these details by consuming a wish. Also, since I am not powerful enough to interfere with Prime Universes, you can only go to alternate universes where some things are different. It may be a minor chance, or it may be a major change, but once again, you can ensure what the changes will be with a wish. Are you following me so far?" The beings said, still lurking in the dark, out of my line of sight.

"Yeah, basically everything regarding the world is a big gamble unless I use some of my wishes to decide everything. I assume that will leave me with fewer wishes to decide my powers with?" I said, nodding my understanding.

"Exactly, it is good to finally have someone who was a fan of stories like this in their past life, it makes everything easier. You are correct, you get three wishes in total but can spend them all on powers or none of them on powers to ensure details about the world. You also get to choose an appearance and name for free, but again, need to consume a wish to decide a background, such as if you are rich, poor, an orphan, or whatever else you want. That's pretty much it, I'll give you some time to think everything over." The beings said before going quiet.

I was left in the silent void with only the thoughts racing through my head. It was clear what with going on with the three-wish rule while having three different major factors of your reincarnation that are random without using a wish on them. I already started forming a strategy to min-max what to use my wishes on, but I decided to try to get more information before making a decision. I opened my mouth and addressed the being as best I could without knowing its location.

"Am I allowed to ask for your help or advice?" I asked, hoping to get this being's opinion since its literal existence was dedicated to this. It must have a good idea of what the best combo of wishes is.

"Hmm, there is no rule against it. Go ahead and hit me with it," The being said, sounding excited, "It's not often that people actually ask me for advice. Those that do are usually the ones that go the furthest in their next life."

I grinned as I got complimented, "What is the best combo of wishes, in your opinion?" I asked, ready to get the forbidden rat knowledge right from the source.

"Well, I wouldn't waste a wish on choosing your background. Most people just get dropped off, and it ends up just fine as long as they choose a wish that gives them enough power to survive. Honestly, it may be even more cliche than this abyss, but use one wish for a system of your choice, then spend the other two wishes on choosing the timeline and world details. The world and timeline details are important, while systems give you a massive bang for your buck, especially good ones," The beings said seriously while I stroked my chin and nodded.

Everything made sense to me, plus I had no reason to doubt the being, "Thanks for the advice," I said, truly thankful for the guidance.

"No problem, whenever you are ready, just give me your wishes. Remember, you can basically customize the world and timeline as much as you want when using a wish on them. Hell, you can change the ages of other people if you want or even delete a few from the story," The beings said with a laugh.

I nodded while I thought for a few more seconds about what details to add and change, as well as the specific system I wanted to have in my new world. I thought about the system first and what abilities I wanted it to have, but more importantly, what power system. I could go with a generic power system where I would be able to gain a wide variety of abilities, or I could go with a specialized system based on a specific power system. I was leaning more toward the latter since I felt that it's better to know exactly what you are getting into instead of not even knowing if something is possible with your system.

I then thought for a while about different power systems, such as Nen from HunterxHunter, Bending from Avatar, and the classes/powers in Solo Leveling, but above all of them stood the power system in Tensura. For a fairly generic-sounding premise for a show, the power system is surprisingly well thought out and good. One can gain absolutely monstrous levels of strength if given enough time and hax abilities. That led to two more questions I wanted to ask the being, so I did.

"Do I get a beginner gift, and is the system sentient?" I asked seriously.

After a moment, I got my response, "Yes to the beginner gift, which gives you beginner items based on the type and power system the system runs off of. No to the sentience. It's always risky to give something as powerful and influential as a system sentience. There have been too many security breaches and rouge systems in the past."

I nodded, surprised to get a large lore dump, but everything made sense, "Okay, for my first wish, I want a Tensura system,"

"Hmm, good choice, but I will warn you that I may have to ban Ultimate Skills depending on the world you choose," The being said, somewhat taking the wind out of my sails, but not by too much.

"I understand, and I bet you will have to since the world I choose is Danmachi. I'll use my two other wishes to control the world details as well as the timeline," I said, hearing the being confirm that Ultimate Skills would be banned while in the world of Danmachi, "I want to arrive two years before the start of the story, but with everyone at their cannon ages. For the change, I want a new Goddess in the story, Fortuna, the goddess of fortune and luck. I also want to be fated to meet her and join her familia. I want to be dropped of right inside the gate to Orario,"

"Okay, to confirm, you want to add a new Goddess, push the timeline back two years so that everyone is their canon age two years before the start of the story, and get dropped off right inside the gate of Orario?" The being asked casually.

"Yep," I said with excitement, "Now that I have used my wishes can you tell me my new background before I decide on my appearance?"

"Sure, you'll be an orphan with no background or famous parents. Your village was destroyed, so you lived in the woods for a few years training before deciding to become an adventurer in Orario," The being said simply

"Okay, that works. Finally, for appearance, I want to look like Khun Eduan from Tower of God with the name Galahad," I said with building nervousness and excitement.

"Last question, what age do you want to start at?" the being asked.

I thought for a moment before deciding, "I'll start off at 16. I want to have swordsmanship muscle memory, too, if possible,"

"Sure, that is a result of "your" training in the woods, but as a little bonus, I'll make your sword skills a bit better," the being said

"Thanks, bye," was all I had time to say before my body was sucked into a black portal.