2 Realization, Resignation, and Acceptance(Edited)

The System's voice was the same even-toned one, but what it said was devastating, to say the least.

I had died.

The news had me frozen. I didn't know what to think of it.

'… H-How?'

That was the only reply that I could muster to think.

*Ding!*

Also, the 'ding's were distracting and kinda annoying.

[The reason for your death was excessive bleeding. You were stabbed in your heart and lungs. You died soon after.]

The 'System' dropped another bombshell on me.

I didn't even register the fact that it had read my mind and shouted.

"What?!"

*Ding!*

'God, stop the 'ding's! They're not helping me right now!'

[Command Accepted. Silencing notification and pop-up sounds.]

[There was an attempt at drunk robbery in your home. The robber, who was in a mentally unstable state and obviously drunk, entered your room on the ground floor through the open window and stabbed you repeatedly with a kitchen knife. You couldn't even defend yourself or comprehend anything before you bled to death. It was, for most parts, a painless and quiet death.]

I was silenced hearing the news, finally muttering a single word.

"… Fuck."

But then I suddenly realized something more important.

"What about my family?! My mom and dad? My younger brother and sister?! Did they also…"

I couldn't finish the sentence as I felt my throat had caught a lump. My eyes became teary and I started shaking. The images of my family came to mind and then their dead bodies started appearing one by one.

My breathing hitched and I clenched my fist in an incomprehensible flurry of emotions.

As if to release me of my distress, the 'System' answered promptly.

[There were no causalities nor was anyone else hurt, other than you. The robber was very drunk and he couldn't climb the stairs to your house's second floor where the others were sleeping and fell on his back and head, falling unconscious, breaking a house pot and alerting your family in the process. He was soon caught by your father and brother and then taken by the police that your father called for and will be sentenced to life imprisonment for your and a few others' murder, robbery, arson, and a few other charges.]

I felt a sense of relief hearing that my family was safe, but the sadness came once again realizing I still died—and got transmigrated.

Curiously, the anger I should have felt towards the robber for ending my life never really came for some reason. Probably since I didn't even remember his face or the fact that he stabbed me to death. The last known memory I had was that of going to sleep after a good 'session,' if you know what I mean, and then waking up with a terrible headache this morning. Assuming this was morning and not evening. I wasn't sure of that yet.

I stayed silent, introspecting 22 years of my rather short-lived life, and remembering my friends and family, whom I'll never be able to meet again.

"… Damn. It just happened so suddenly."

'My family must be very sad about my unfortunate "death".'

I could imagine my mother crying out loud, holding my dead body, and my father trying to console her but still sad. My brother, who was just 3 years younger must also be sad. Even though we fought a lot, we were still brothers. As for my younger sister, she was probably too young to understand what happened. She had just turned 3 last month.

Tears fell from my eyes as I remembered the faces of my loved ones.

'Lily, bro… dad and mum… I'm really sorry…. I couldn't join the National University I got selected into, after so much hard work. I couldn't get a decent job and provide for you guys. Shit, I couldn't even finish the latest play-through of Criotopia. Or wipe out the entire hard drive containing my private collection of "cultured contents." Haha, fuck, I'm starting to think of unnecessary things now. Oh, wait…'

My initially gloomy and guilt-ridden thoughts took a strange turn, so I decided to move further from it all. Crying wasn't going to help me here right now. I needed to know my situation better.

"Speaking of Criotopia, why am I Criotopia, System? I can accept that I have died and transmigrated. Whatever."

'Maybe I've read too many Isekais that I am accepting of it.'

"I mean, why am I in a bloody unknown kid's body? And why Criotopia? It was just a game. That too an Eroge, for fuck's sake! You're not fucking with me about it, are you?"

I felt a bit embarrassed that I was casually talking about an Eroge game with a female, even if just a voice. But this question was more important than some meager embarrassment from playing an eroge. Bite me, I am a horny 22-year-old. What are you going to do about it?

The 'System' replied in the same even-toned voice.

[I am not "fucking with you". As for why you are here: While transmigrating, the user's most recent memories were "scanned" and in it, Criotopia had the most weight to it. So, a new world was created based on the video game's available data and the user was "installed" into the newly created world in a suitable host.]

I raised an eyebrow at the explanation.

'That… raises way more questions than it answers, though.'

I sighed.

"Okay. Hold on. So, you're saying I was reincarnated—

[Correction: Transmigrated. There's a difference between the two terms, even if they often are used as synonyms or interchangeably. 'Reincarnation' is rebirth in new bodies or forms of life. Especially: a rebirth of a soul in a new human body.

Transmigration, on the other hand, is the passing of the soul into another body after death; metempsychosis. In the current context, 'Transmigration' is the more appropriate term.]

I stared dumbly at the unexpected but strangely relevant trivia and sighed again.

"Okay, fine. So you're saying that I was "transmigrated" into a freshly created world "since I was thinking about the said world, an Eroge world," and now I am to live in this world? Just like that? No further explanation? No questions or answers? No OP cheats? No quests to defeat the demon king or evil god or something? Coz there's a literal demon king and a literal Evil God here in this world."

'Oh, right! Fuck, they're all real now!'

"Don't tell me 'I' will have to fight them now. FUCK NO. Not fucking happening! I'm not a hero or protagonist or whatever.

Also, assuming this is the real world and not a video game, there must be real people. And the same goes for the said body and his family, correct? Is Alexander something-something a person who existed in this world originally or am I a random extra addition to the world? Coz I can't remember this character in the game at all. Oh, and who the hell created this world? I mean, there were gods—goddesses to be accurate—in this world, but they were supposed to be part of the world itself. Did they create this world or are they also creations? In the case of the latter, who's the creator? Who sent me here?"

To all my queries, I received her replies. The 'System' was quite patient with my barrage of questions. It replied in the same even tone.

[This world was indeed "created" not long ago, but for all intents and purposes of the user and all the denizens of this world, this world exists since the beginning of its time, that is, 11.45 billion years ago. This is the user's new home world where the user will live his new life. No strings attached. No questions or answers and no quests from, what you call a "Random Omnipotent Being" or ROB, for short. There are "real" people and other beings that exist in this very "real" world. They are alive and conscious, most of them. Certain artificial creations in this world may be conscious, but they are not alive.

Next, Alexander K. Maximus is one of the many such original creations of the world. Since the videogame's data was severely lacking and at best vague or contradictory, the required pieces were added appropriately to create a full world, rather than a vague, incomplete, and paradoxical one.

The original creations, including named objects and peoples, were left as it is. Only the extras are original, which in this case happens to be a whopping 78% of the total things that currently exist in this world. The percentage grows even larger when we take into consideration all of the things that ever existed in this world. But such data is irrelevant to the user and thus skipped.

The said "goddesses" and other divine entities were created as part of the known entities of the world, and are part of this created world as well. All of this was done by #$^@&%#, God of Creation's automated reincarnation system to— Error! The user doesn't have the privilege to access more information on #$^@&%#.

Note: Please gain more privileges.

Note: Please find out how to gain more privileges.]

There was a lot to take in. But above all, I was curious about this God of Creation and his(?) "automated reincarnation system." That's where the plot thickens in most Isekais.

I tried inquiring more about them but was expectedly met with error warnings saying I didn't have the privilege to access that information. This was also true for more information on reincarnation in general and other aspects like: Are there other Gods, including one in religious texts? Is there a heaven or hell since I didn't go to either… which is a relief since I had a feeling I would definitely go to hell, solely based on my browsing history which, by the way, doesn't exist since I had wiped clean not long ago. But a 'God' probably had access to it. Uh oh… Not to mention my hard drive filled with all those "cultured contents" was there for others to see. Fuck, my reputation.

Still, thank fuck the 'God of Creation' or whatever wasn't judging that way. He(?) seemed kind of nice even, for sending me to a literal Eroge world coz I was thinking of that in my afterlife or something… Was I seriously thinking of a freaking EROGE in the AFTERLIFE? … I couldn't remember but that sounded kinda pathetic even to me.

After that, I also tried asking about other philosophical queries the philosophers and scientists had asked for ages. What's the meaning of life? Are we alone in the universe? Is there a multiverse—wait, I guess that was already answered in a way? I was quite literally in a new world with its own laws and magic.

It said this when I kept pestering the 'System' for more information about my old world and other 'irrelevant things'(her words).

[The information that the user desires are of no consequence to him now. Not to mention, the user doesn't have enough authority or privilege to know any of it. It is advised that the user thinks about his present and future rather than the inconsequential past world and its secrets.]

And from that, I sighed in resignation.

'Whatever, I don't really care about all that knowledge either. Guess I should be happy I'm still alive. But you can't blame me for being curious right now, you know. This is a very big deal for me.'

[Understandable, but my apologies. The questions can not be answered by me. I don't have the relevant authority as a System either to peer into such inner workings of the world.]

"No, I guess it's fine. That actually makes sense. Why would anyone on such a level just casually answer my answers? I'm less than an ant in their eyes."

The only reason I had asked was that I was curious if I can get any answers.

So, after asking the final question about how my family is doing now and what will happen to them (the latter wasn't answered, sadly), I decided it was better for my sanity that I move on. As much as I could "move on" right now, anyway.

All this time, I never once questioned the truthfulness of the 'System'. For some reason, I just had this deep-rooted feeling that whatever it said was true. Its words were sensible and neutral, it didn't seem to want anything from me and was only passively replying to my questions. Though, I had to say it was as advanced and sensible as I had expected a sentient system will be.

I moved out of bed and walked close to the window to look out of it. Walking in this smaller body felt weird since not only was my perspective lower than I was used to, my steps were smaller too. It seemed it would take me a while to get used to this new body.

'This is one very strange day for me.'

It felt weird to even think about it. Today had been the most bizarre day in my entire two lives! Well, it has only been half an hour or so in this new life and the last one has approximately 22 years.

'I can't believe I died a virgin. I know I joked about it with my friends but I didn't actually mean it. I mean, come on! Not even a kiss? Some intimacy? Fuck, I died too pure for my liking.'

I smiled wryly.

'Welp, it doesn't matter now… Haa…'

I reached the window and climbed on the windowsill which actually had enough space for me to sit on.

I looked through it and what greeted me was something out of the world. It was a scene you only can see in fantasy.

***