1 Reincarnated

Krez lived a simple life, enjoying gaming, reading books, and cooking. He had two kids, four grandchildren, and one great-grandchild, all on the path to success. They were by his side when he passed at the ripe age of 126, leaving behind a legacy as a good father.

"Truly a simple mundane mortal life," echoed a voice as he passed. "Would you like something more exciting?" the voice asked. Krez thought, "My time here is done, so yeah, show me something exciting."

His most sentimental item, a necklace he had since birth, flashed with a dim light. An odd piece of jewelry with indescribable detail: a beast with a round turtle shell, a tiger's head, four tiger legs with dragon claws, and a whip-like tail adorned with scales. The claws seemed capable of both devastating and refined tasks, from holding a sword to knitting.

After the dim flash of light, the strange beast on the necklace started to fade from existence, mirroring the pace at which Krez's soul left his old body. Once his soul completely departed, the necklace was no longer in existence on this mortal plane.

Krez's eyes opened in a light blue room stretching for eternity. A distinct, almost mechanical voice declared, "Mortals ascending from a lower-tier world to a higher tier are granted an advantage. While you'll be born with nearly zero cultivation ability, we'll compensate by bestowing some talents upon you."

"Who are you? Where are you? Where am I?" Krez shouts out. The mechanical voice responds, "You are in Rebirth Room 486762, one of the rooms where souls go to reincarnate. Here, we will wipe your memories and determine where to place you in your new world. We are not allowed to answer your other two questions."

"Now continuing on, we are on a tight schedule," said the mechanical voice. "Looking through your previous memories, we have decided to gift you three talents: 'The Reader,' 'The Gamer,' and 'The Chef.' These align with your favorite hobbies from your previous life, causing the talents to synchronize well with your soul, avoiding any risk of soul breakdown."

"Curiously," Krez asked, "what is soul breakdown?" The mechanical voice responded, "It occurs when you add attributes to the soul that the soul rejects, causing its destruction. Similarly, if you add too many talents, it can lead to an overload, also resulting in soul breakdown."

Krez felt a surge of energy inside of him, and though he couldn't quite pinpoint where, he knew the three talents that had been gifted to him were engraved somewhere deep inside of him.

"No more questions," the mechanical voice said sternly. "We will now find a new world to send you to and wipe your memories. We have wasted too much time. One more question, and we will take away one of the talents."

Also, a disclaimer: If you never start on the path of cultivation, you will never unlock your talents, and you can live a completely normal life. You won't even know you had them. You will unlock one as soon as you take your first step into your cultivation journey, randomly of course, but the later two will be unlocked as you grow stronger.

Krez nodded his head, coming to the realization that he was about to experience a whole different life – a life akin to the games he played and books he read, full of mythical legends, powerful people, adventure, and exploration.

Excitement filled Krez as he could barely wait. Despite the drawback of losing his memories, he pondered, "How would I know that I need to cultivate, like in the old wuxia novels I used to read?" Nevertheless, he reassured himself, "No matter if I lose my memories, once I see a cultivator performing amazing feats, I'll be enthralled and want to be a cultivator myself, eventually stepping on the path of power and unlocking my first talent."

Suddenly, a spark flashed, and everything in existence seemed to be on display around Krez – galaxies, star systems, nebulas. The room darkened, and the only light emanated from the mesmerizing display that Krez was witnessing. The level of detail was astounding, and Krez felt like a titanic giant standing in the middle of the universe, observing everything in existence.

The mechanical voice returned and stated, "We have found a new world for you to reincarnate into, Krez. All that's left is the memory wipe." Krez gulped, and a thought crossed his mind, "Am I really alright with forgetting them?" A light gold glow suddenly surrounded Krez, and he could feel his memory starting to fade – his younger years, then his teens, and then his adult life began to blur. Suddenly, the birth of his first child, his daughter, started to fade. However, in the midst of the memory wipe, a bestial roar, "GGGRRRRAAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHH," rang out from the very depths of Krez's soul, shaking the Rebirth chamber and halting the memory wipe.

The mechanical voice returned, sounding scared and frightened, as if whatever was in the depths of Krez's soul could devour it whole. "What is in your soul?" the voice asked. "Who are you?" In that instant, the voice decided it wasn't going to go near Krez's memories again. It wasn't going to touch his soul. In fact, it threw all of Krez's memories back to him. It was scared. If it kept them, The beast in Krez's soul would come after it.

A portal opened next to Krez, and the mechanical voice urgently said, "Go, get in the portal, get out of here. It will take you to a new world. Whatever you do, don't die. I never want to see you again, ever, Krez." Krez was quite confused; he didn't hear the bestial roar, he didn't see the room shake. He was oblivious to it all.

Krez asked, "What's going on? Weren't you going to wipe my memory?" If a voice could pale like a human, the mechanical voice did. All it wanted was for Krez to enter the portal and leave its little domain. Suddenly, the mechanical voice remembered and said, "Remember when I said if you asked another question, I'd take one of the talents? Well, I'm feeling quite lenient. So, if you jump in the portal right this second, I won't take one." Krez stood up straight, a little scared, and immediately hopped into the portal. After all, he couldn't lose his precious talents.

The two seconds from the start of the hop Krez did to entering the portal were the most terrifying seconds of the voice's life. As soon as the voice threatened Krez, it felt a pair of savage eyes lock onto it, as if their purpose was to devour the voice. Krez entered the portal, and the mechanical voice felt the sweetest relief it had ever experienced.