Chapter 2: Birth of a Dragon
When he finally regained consciousness, all he saw were orbs of various colors around him. Some were arranged in neat queues, while many others floated freely, all levitating just above the Ocean of Life.
He did not know if the others had noticed, but he could see his own reflection in the ocean.
He, too, was an orb.
The light he emitted was pure white. Perhaps that was why, for being too pure, it had attracted the attention of certain important noble individuals of the Soul World.
"You can call me Administrator Hedas."
The voice came from an unknown direction, causing ripples to spread across the ocean. As he looked forward, a figure appeared. It looked strange, he thought.
This being was different. It was not an orb. It was a white rabbit wearing a black suit, black spectacles resting on its face, and a carrot held casually in its mouth and between two of his fingers, the index and middle.
He noticed the red eyes as the rabbit removed its spectacles. After flicking a finger, the surroundings changed.
The ocean remained the same, but the orbs had vanished. Now, it was only the two of them in the vast void.
"Let's see."
The rabbit pulled a large black bag from the pocket of his suit and took out a strange item. He called it a remote.
"Your life is interesting, isn't it, Mr. Pebbles? You are a unique case, I see."
The rabbit pointed toward the ocean. A small window, or perhaps a screen, appeared on its surface, displaying his achievements.
[Summary Report]
[Merit Points: 101]
[Karma Points: 25]
[Sins: Sloth]
[Opinion: The soul is an S-grade pure soul. Approved for reincarnation.]
He faintly recalled that someone had once named him Pebbles. And so, Pebbles became his name.
Recalling this fact granted him a small ability. The orb could now speak.
"Reincarnation?"
Hedas jerked his head upward. A few drops resembling sweat appeared near his temples. He was genuinely surprised. What he had just witnessed was extremely uncommon.
'A soul spoke before standing in front of the Judges?' he questioned briefly, then dismissed the thought. 'S grade privilege, I see.'
The rabbit rubbed his palms together.
'S grade or not, a soul is still a soul.'
"Ahem. I'm an honest and just guide who will help you reincarnate into a world. So, if you will, please choose what you wish to become."
As he finished speaking, the screen levitated above the ocean, just like the orbs had earlier. New words appeared on its surface.
[Choose a race:]
[->Ant (230 Merit Points)
->Fly (260 Merit Points)
->Mosquito (270 Merit Points)
->Cockroach (280 Merit Points)…
…Silkworm (340 Merit Points)]
[->Mud-Rat (275 Merit Points)
->Fruit-Bat (290 Merit Points)
->Rock-Lizard (335 Merit Points)…
…Two Headed-Snake (295 Merit Points)]
[Goblin (300 Merit Points)
Kobold (375 Merit Points)
Gremlin (380 Merit Points)…
…Brown Orc (420 Merit Points)]
The rabbit had already scrolled a few times and tried to explain each race, but Pebbles did not feel even the slightest desire toward any of them.
The problem was his low merit points.
'S-grade soul and yet, almost no merit points? What was he, a stone in his past life?'
He scrolled and described a few other races, but again, Pebbles was simply nonchalant.
This made him impatient and, as a result, he took a drastic step.
"Fine. Now I will show you something good. Something you will not regret. Because I'm honest and just."
And then, three very juicy options appeared.
[Dragon (100 Merit Points)]
[Human (2500 Merit Points)]
[Elf (5000 Merit Points)]
Pebbles moved a little closer, very close to the screen, noticing the mere 100 points in front of Dragon. To him, points were secondary. The word dragon itself fascinated him.
"Dragon. You know? Dragons are strong. How strong? They are the most wonderful race of all."
"I wish to be a dragon, Pebbles. What do I need to do to become one?"
"Pebbles, are you ready to hear another great story of the Great Elder Dragon Yetvar?"
"Pebbles…"
He could not remember the entirety of it, but the brief conversation surfaced in his mind.
"I choose the dragon. I wish to be a dragon."
[Merit Points: 01]
A smile appeared on Hedas' face when he heard that. A frown followed soon after when Pebbles questioned, "Mr. Hedas, are dragons not powerful?"
Another smile replaced the frown as the rabbit answered, "My my, they indeed are, Mr. Pebbles. But may I ask why the sudden question?"
"The merit points. Why are they so low? Even a fruit bat has higher points than they do. It does not make sense."
The rabbit put the spectacles he had been holding in his left hand back onto his face as he turned around. He then hopped once to the right, and twice to the left.
"These merit points are based on demand. When the reincarnation system first came into existence, the dragon race was extremely popular. At that time, even 20,000 merit points would not guarantee becoming a dragon."
Pebbles was intrigued. "Then what about now?"
"The demand has simply died. There are other races to explore. For the past 800 years, there has not been a single soul who chose the dragon race."
The orb bobbed up and down, as if nodding. Pebbles was genuinely intrigued and also felt lucky.
"I do not think anyone would converse with a soul, Mr. Administrator. Thank you for talking with me. And I think it is thanks to you showing me the dragon race that I was able to choose to become one."
Hedas smiled. He removed his spectacles once again, revealing the same pitch red eyes.
"If you consider me good, then, Mr. Pebbles, I have something even better to show you."
Pebbles looked toward another screen to his left. It contained different words.
"Usually this is not something I do, but since you are a good child, I'd like to give this to you," he patted the orb who let out a childish giggle.
However, then he immediately noticed the price: 20,000 Merit Points.
"Mr. Administrator, you jest. I do not have that many points." He glanced at his single remaining merit point.
Hedas rubbed both his palms together and put on a smile that made it sound more convincing as he said, "Do not worry about that, Mr. Pebbles. You can simply take a loan."
"A loan?"
"Yes. It is because it is you, and because you said I am good, that I trust you enough to give this to you right now. You can simply give me the merit points on a daily basis after you reincarnate."
Pebbles hesitated. He seemed to recall something from his past life.
"Pebblesssssssss, I shouldn't have taken ten fishes, just cause I was hungry, instead of five. Now they want me to go hunt for a week for free and give my share to them. Bobobobobo."
Pebbles's nonexistent eyes seemed to twitch. But once again, he looked at Hedas smiling.
He was an honest and just rabbit. So it would be fine.
"Fine."
The moment Pebbles agreed, Hedas opened another screen beside him.
"All right then. Could you please sign these?"
[TERMS AND CONDITIONS:]
[-> The amount given as a loan is 20,000 Merit Points.]
[-> The interest...]
[-> It is...]
[Signature:]
A pen appeared from the screen. And got stuck to him. It then pulled him and signed the contract automatically.
Weird, he thought, but went with the flow anyway.
He then looked at Hedas, who put his spectacles back on and smiled. It was a bigger smile. The kind of smile a scammer has after successfully scamming someone.
"All right. All done. I hope you have a good reincarnation. The package will be delivered immediately."
It seemed as if Hedas was puffing his cheeks, as though he was struggling to hold something in.
"Uh, Mr. Administrator, are you all right?"
Before Pebbles could say anything else, the rabbit, who had been suppressing his laughter, burst out laughing.
"Hahahaha. Am I all right? I am wonderful. Hahahahaha. All the best, Mr. Pebbles. I hope we meet again soon. You just got yourself a bad deal."
"…Huh? Mr. Administrator? What do you mean?"
All of a sudden, an intense light flashed, and the orb Pebbles vanished. It was time for his reincarnation.
"Pffft. Hahahahahahaha."
Somewhere, someone could not control their laughter.
.
.
.
Meanwhile, in the Forest of Erdrasia, there was a dungeon named 'The Womb of Endings'. In the lowest floor of this certain dungeon, Floor no.1, there was a small cave. The cave was covered with lower monsters, like Mud-Fishes, Flesh-eating centepedes and Giant stone spiders.
They were all monsters that laid eggs. This was nothing out of the ordinary. Truly, nothing, except all of these beasts were fascinated by the sudden changes in a certain egg that had always been there.
All these beasts could feel a tremendous amount of cursed energy seeping from the egg, after all, someone was cursing inside.
"Fuck. Motherfucker. Bloody fucker. Administrator, you bastard, the FUCK is this!?"
Mr. Pebbles, had now realised, that he truly, was scammed.
[TERMS AND CONDITIONS:]
[-> The amount given as a loan is 20,000 Merit Points.]
[-> The interest rate is 100% per month.]
[-> It is compound interest. The contractor must pay a minimum of 100 merit points per day as a gift for providing such amazing service, until the full amount has been repaid. If neglected, the interest rate will increase by 1% per day. Note that this does not reduce the amount to be paid. This is simply a gift that must be paid.]
And then another notification popped up.
[Notice: The package has been delayed.]
"…"
"FUCKER!!!"