After my death by aspiration, I awaken once more in that same kaleidoscopic void, where impossible colors dance without direction. The pain I felt still pulses within me, like a memory carved into the soul. My vision struggles to adapt to that unnatural realm, forcing me to close my eyes for a moment.
When I finally open them, I find myself face to face with Fate.
His eyes... they were red before, weren't they? Now they're white, like dense fog. And his appearance… has it changed?"F-Fate?" I ask, stunned, confused by both his closeness and the shift in his form, which goes far beyond just his gaze.
"That's your question?" he frowns, visibly disappointed. "Hmm… You're not dumb enough to ask that, are you?" He steps back, hand on his chin, deep in thought. The face that once resembled an ordinary young man now carries the gravitas of a legendary warrior at his peak. His hair—now golden and curly—falls elegantly over his shoulders with near-divine grace. The rest of his body, however, remains concealed, as if space itself refuses to show what I'm not yet ready to witness.
"Yes, I am Fate. Apparently, my form changed in your eyes?" he asks. All I can do is nod, discomfort tightening in my chest.
"I see…" he says, as though piecing together a long-forgotten puzzle. "You must've gone through some pretty cruel experiences in the world you were born into. Strangely enough, even after searching through the threads of fate, I found no record of your birth in any of the currently existing worlds."
Before I can process his words, he continues:"Let me see your past... Hm... I see... No way! You never stop surprising me. You died... in the womb? Aborted by force? Seriously?! HAHAHAHAHA!"
He laughs like he's just heard the best joke in the universe—and it hits me like a punch to the gut.
"Hey! That's not funny!" I yell, the pain surging back. "You have no idea what I went through! My body wasn't even fully formed, and still, poof... game over. All because your precious system can't even shield me from the world's will!"
He stares at me with amusement, completely unmoved by my agony. He just keeps laughing. And then I remember… that first time I died, he said my destiny had been altered. That he gave me new chances—again and again—just to enjoy the chaos of the unknown. As cruel as that sounds, I can't really complain. He gave me the chance to live—to be me.
Slowly, I calm down. I still have the right to ask one question before facing my next life, whether I choose a new path or revisit one I already know. While he drifts through his thoughts, I take the chance to get up and examine my body—if there is one.
What I see stuns me.
My form is translucent, like the classic descriptions of ghosts. But something far more disturbing stands out: my legs are asymmetrical—my left leg looks like Kenji's chubby one, while my right reminds me of my life as a scientist. My torso… a malformed clump of cells, as if trying to replicate an adult human's mass but failing miserably in structure. The same incomplete shape I had as a fetus.
"What... what is this?! Why is my body like this?!" I exclaim, terrified.
Fate looks at me with surprise, as if I've noticed something obvious. But then his expression sharpens. Something shifts behind his gaze—and the space around us vibrates in response.
"This... is just you. Denying your lives," he says. "You treat them as if they were just temporary stops, side characters in your grand story. But they're all you."
He makes a gesture, and a car appears in the void beside us.
"Imagine you have a car. Over time, you replace the engine, the wheels, the spoiler—everything, all for your ego. Now imagine that one day the car gains consciousness. It remembers how it once looked, but can no longer recognize itself. That's what you are right now."
The explanation… makes sense—partially. But something doesn't sit right. The part about Kenji, sure—he is me. But the fetus? I possessed that body. The system itself said so. I wasn't born into it.
"Alright, Fate. But how would that even be possible? Your metaphor implies there's a second entity shaping my body. And if it was me, why didn't the system alert me? How did you not notice, when you see every thread of fate?"
Fate stares at me for a few seconds. Then I realize—his eyes are changing. Once white, they begin to take on a strange hue from the inside out. The transformation is mesmerizing, but he pays it no mind.
"That's because your soul is trying to recreate a body in this place beyond time. But since it holds the memories of multiple lives, it's trying to fuse them all into one."
Despite the explanation, I feel more confused.'He wants me to waste my question on something irrelevant,' I think. Maybe. So I swallow my doubts and focus on what truly matters.
"Fate, I'm allowed one question before deciding whether I'll take a new path or return to one I've already walked, right?"
He simply nods.
"Then here it is. In my last life, the Samsara System told me my soul was stronger than the host's. But... how is that possible? You said Kenji's soul was my own. So does that mean I could end up possessing a body that isn't mine?"
I fire the question without giving him the chance to interrupt. And when his gaze—now fully transformed—returns to me, I feel a chill. His eyes are no longer human. They're feline, sharp, predatory.
"The answer is quite simple, actually..." he says calmly. As if everything unfolding is just the most natural thing in the world. Antes de começar a explicar ele acena com as mão e cadeiras surgem do propio chão para nos sentarmos, parece que a resposta desta vez é maior.
"The answer to your question is simple... for someone like me. But for you to understand, I must bring it down to the level of the cosmic gears."
"Every living being possesses a soul—some more evolved, others still raw and instinctive. When a being dies, its soul enters the cycle of reincarnation. There, its life is judged according to the laws of the world it inhabited. This judgment determines whether its next existence will be eased by fortune… or earned through hardship."
"After the judgment, all souls undergo a purification process. Memories, powers, identity—everything is stripped away. The soul returns to a raw state, like an unshaped crystal. Only then can it be bound to a new body, usually one still in formation and devoid of a soul."
"In rare cases, when no soul is destined to incarnate in a specific vessel, a new soul might spontaneously emerge, depending entirely on the world's rules. These are anomalies... spontaneous sparks born from necessity."
"But you… you are something else."
"You chose to remain awake."
"To honor that choice, the Samsara System preserved a fragment of your soul—a piece strong enough to retain your essence, your memories, your sense of self. That's why you still remember. That's why you are still... you."
"In the last world you were sent to, there were no supernatural forces—no mana, no ki, no divine providence. As a result, the soul that would've normally inhabited that fetus was weak and unformed. Your essence, already conscious and complete, naturally took over. It wasn't luck. It wasn't chaos. It was the logical result of your spiritual momentum."
"But that doesn't always happen."
"In other worlds, your soul might only awaken after years of passive observation, waiting for the original inhabitant to collapse, or evolve enough for your presence to surface."
"There's an even rarer phenomenon—about one in every hundred reincarnations—where your soul lands in simpler lifeforms: insects, animals, sentient plants. In such cases, domination may be easier due to instinctual souls… or much harder, depending on the natural resilience of the host."
"On the opposite end, there are highly advanced beings whose bodies create souls naturally, often stronger than your own. Taking control of such a vessel is difficult, sometimes impossible. But when it succeeds, the rewards are vast—you absorb experiences, instincts, and ways of thinking far beyond human perspective."
"This is how the Samsara System works. It is the Cycle. And it protects what must be preserved—not everything, but enough of you to remain you."
I was stunned by the explanation. The simple fact that my soul had been undergoing purification in my last two lives—and that the system only uses a fragment of my soul to preserve my memories—could mean that Soul Level and Soul Rank might be directly tied to how much can be stored.
"Hey, Fate, if my rank increases, does that mean it can store more than just my memories?"
I don't waste time overthinking it. I blurt out the first thing that comes to mind, hoping he'll give me just one more answer.
"No more questions, Silver. You've used your chance."
"But you answered way more than one before this—and after Kenji, too. Why are you refusing now?" I press him, confused about why he sometimes answers freely and other times shuts me down.
"Silver, if you want, I can answer all your questions right now... but you won't be allowed to ask anything else after your next life."
That answer makes me hesitate. Is it worth learning more now, or should I wait and discover things on my own? My next life will definitely raise new questions and maybe bring answers too...
"Alright, Fate. Just send me to the next life already," I say.
He just stares at me, waiting for something... and then I realize: I hadn't made a choice this time.
"I'll go with the first option."
"Very well," he said, raising his hands. "May you live a good life... and bring me entertainment as a result."
Darkness swallowed me.
But unlike the last time, I didn't remain awake—this time, I lost consciousness.