"Hey! Promise me we'll watch this together!"

"Yeah~yeah, I'm probably free tomorrow anyways.. Be grateful I'm spending my precious free time for your sake."

"yaaaay~!!"

though I never knew we wouldn't be able to watch that movie together...

...

..

.

"Ah. I probably died this time."

I, Yukiko Kikuchi, died last night.

Why would I know? I was suffering from some kind of brain cancer called "glioblabla-something-something" by the doctor and told me that I'd have 3 months to live at most, though it was like 5 months since then, I thought that I was actually scammed.

Damn internet conspiracy theories.

And besides, last thing I remembered was that I went home from work and went straight to bed. This is most probably not a dream since I've been sitting with this long line of people (or spirits?) waiting to be called on that room.

And also, I'm currently naked? or at least it feels like it since I can't really see my body right now, which is really a weird feeling.

It's been like this for hours (I think? I can't really tell the time) until I've heard my name being called.

"Kikuchi Yukiko! Son of Kikuchi Sanada and Kikuchi Tomoyo."

After being called, I stood up and went to the door.

Though I did say, I "stood up", looking down at my nonexistent body would make it seem like I'm "floating" than "walking".

Anyways, I went to the door and let myself in. When I entered the room, I was left speechless by the spectacle in front of me.

"Welcome to the council of Life and Death, dear mortal."

In front of me were hundreds of figures that are seemingly made of light.

Though I can't see their form, for some reason, I can somewhat tell the elegance and authority radiating from them.

I was left speechless until one figure approached me with gentle steps.

"Greetings, mine own nameth is Celezia, one of the twelve cardinal deities in our world. I am currently the one who is to represent our world [Weide]. "

With words that seemed like it was directly pushed inside my brain, I was left speechless for a moment until I am finally able to collect my thoughts.

"You must be confused about the current circumstances, but to make it simple, you're dead."

Yeah, I knew it.

"And since you've died, your soul is now about to travel back to the circulation of worlds to be reincarnated with a new body"

Cool, so the reincarnation stuff that I've read back when I was alive was actually true? Oh the coincidence.

As much as I want to retort with a sarcasm, it seems like I can't actually speak. dammit.

"Normally, when people die, they would be sent here and met by a God of a world they seem compatible with. And in your case, you would be transported to [Weide], a world that I govern. It is a world with Swords and Magic. It is also a fairly new world since it has only been hundreds of thousands of years since its first civilization was built. Because of this, you are the second one to reincarnate into this world, the first being 50 thousand years before. Surely you would know about him since he became the heroic King of Dwarves and was known for his incredible strength due to his acquired skill [Ant's Boon] which multiplied his STR stat a thousandfold"

Wow, swords and magic huh? Just like how I've expected. I mean, it's how it usually goes in the stories I've read in the past.

Hmmm, knowing this, I'd probably get a cheat ability or something! I'm getting excited thinking what would it be!

"By the way, your reincarnation would be totally random. In other words, you might become a human with high affinity with all types of magic, or you might become a horned rabbit that has a life span of 2 months. Though as a bonus, you would retain all your memories and even acquire the skill [World's Language]. the name is self explanatory so yeah~"

Oh cool, how convenient... wait what?

"Shortly after this, you will be transported to the "Life Room" where your reincarnation would be decided. First, your Species would be decided, and then your Unique Skill or Abilities if possible~! So that's it mortal! Have a good life!"

wait a minute!!!!

as much as I want to shout my protest, I just really can't. what does she mean by random?! I hope I won't be a miserable animal or a monster just waiting to be killed.

just while I was worrying about my future, I was suddenly teleported to another white room. Though, I say white, the term blank is more fitting to describe it since it's just white... and nothing.. well not until something like a huge roulette appeared suddenly in front of me.

On top of the roulette, there is a sign that says "Wheel of Life" and with "Species" below it.

There are actually a lot of categories in the roulette, from Human, Demon, Monster, Animal, Insect...

wait, Insect?! I really hope that won't be my case.

then within hand's reach (assuming I have a hand), there's a big red button with the words "PRESS TO BEGIN". This seems somewhat like a variety show I've seen on television, but meh, who cares. It's now or nothing.

*Beeep*

As I pushed the button (I seriously had no idea how I did that), the roulette started to spin really fast. Just like how my heart is beating so fast (again, assuming that I have one). I got so nervous that I just had to close my eyes.

after a few moments that felt like forever, I noticed that the sound that was coming from the roulette was getting slower, I looked up at the result and immediately felt like my whole blood was drained empty (If I still have some).

[Congratulations~!! You are to be reincarnated as a {MONSTER}~!!!]

these were the words that appear in front of me.

Seriously?! a Monster!! Just my luck. Among all the races there, it just had to be a monster.

Well to be fair, at least I'm safe from being an Insect or a lowly Animal. At least I can fend for myself right? Right?!

And while I was sulking, the roulette changed form, and on the sign, the word "Category" is now on it.

Huh?! I thought I would be able to pick a skill!! is this what she meant when she said "If possible"? dammit. and I thought it couldn't be anything worse.

well, screw that. I'll just hope that my next reincarnation would be a better one.

Hmm, let's see.. On the roulette, there are still a lot of stuff in it; small to large mob, small to large variant, unique, and couple of other stuff that I was too lazy to look into.

I mean, whatever I'd become, I'm just going to be a monster that is one day going to be killed by some hero like the first reincarnate right?

So I went ahead and pressed the button again (seriously how do I even do this?) while letting out a sigh. Shortly after, the result was there and it immediately gained my curiosity.

[Congratulations~!! you got an EX Category, {Custom Monster}~!!!]

Custom monster? so it means I could customize my own monster species?! Nice!! Finally some good news for me!!! Ahhh, I'd be sure to make my own species to become a cheat-like existence!! Bwahahahahah!!!!

While I am being excited about the possibilities, I am again suddenly teleported to another room, this time, I'm now inside a dimly lit blank room. Still blank, but now instead of all white, it's something like dark gray-ish? doesn't matter, now where's my Custom Monster??

Suddenly something like a holographic panel? appeared. Looks like some generic character customization screen I've seen from the games I used to play.

There is also a side panel which has a "Encyclopedia" sign on it. It seems like I can search a lot of things regarding the world of [Weide].

Now my gamer self started to heat up and tried to think what would be the best thing I could create! should I become a Dragon? that would be annoying one way or another though.. How about some humanoid monster? meehh, that would be way too boring.. If I'd start living as a monster, I'd much prefer to live as something that never existed there before!

So, according to the [Encyclopedia], it seems like the monster population are mostly like those I've seen in fantasy stories, movies and games. Now, If I want to come out unique, what should I choose then?

as I entered a deep thought, something resurfaced in my mind...

-

"Hey! Promise me we'll watch this together!"

-

For some reason, I remembered her last words before I died.. I can still remember her face smiling at me while holding that "Aliens" blu-ray movie disc.

Aliens huh? I still remember her talking a lot about Aliens since she really liked those kind of things.

Ever since childhood, she was always following me around smiling. We finally started going out when we worked together in the same company, but I never knew that it would be short-lived. I wonder how she'd react knowing I already died... Ah, I wanted to see her one last time.. I guess I just took everything about us for granted...

Before I'd be overcome by grief, I tried to push back those thoughts and focus on what's in front of me right now.

Aliens.. might be a good idea? And so, I started navigating and customizing my desired creature I would become.

For starters, I'd want to use those X*nom*rphs in that movie as a reference. I'd want to have a hard exoskeleton that would protect me, but also tough muscles inside that can make me stronger.

Though I have no idea how anatomy and physiology works since I never studied medicine, and apparently there's a "Help" button here that says I won't have to worry about internal stuff since it is automatically optimized, I just need to specify some things if ever I wanted to.

After a few hours or so, I finished creating my creature.

It really has a very high resemblance from the creatures of that movie, but I've put some of my own unique characteristics of it too.

First, my exoskeleton consists of two layer, one acting as protective plates, and second acting as something like an external frame. The texture is also kinda more of a bony exoskeleton than an arthropods'. The color of the plates are also from the shades of gray to black.

I also added some aesthetic features like these glowing outlines on my whole body that glows with a blue light. I supposedly specified it to match its glowing patterns with my breathing, something like how my gaming mouse does it in the past.

I also have a bit of protruding spine at my back all the way to my tail. My tail also had this sharp blade shaped like a trident, I could probably use it for battle later on.

My creature has a size of approximately 195 cm. And I also made it bipedal, but a bit hunched so that I can traverse with all of my 4 limbs if needed.

And one of the important specs that I've added is my blood. Just like how it was in the movie, I made my blood to have really corrosive properties.

And that's probably most of it! Contented with my creation, I pressed the "Next" button.

what appeared was another text that said,

[Final Step: Lore]

[suggestion: auto-generate?]

[yes] [no]

Lore? like, the story? well, even though I've knew about the ones in the movie, that was just second-hand knowledge I got from her. I don't really have much in-depth knowledge about it. so I guess I'll just click yes.

[auto-generate confirmed...]

[acquiring most suitable information from memories..]

[combining and optimizing results...]

[auto-generation complete..]

-[LORE]-

- An unknown creature from a distant planet arrived via celestial debris.

- Species is called [Opscuria]

- [Opscuria] is a highly intelligent creature.

- Origin planet is unknown, but [Opscuria] is a species that is highly adaptive regardless of the environment, causing it to possibly evolve into [x no.] variants.

- [Opscuria] has its own language called [Opscurian]

- [Opscuria] only needs to consume food once a month in order to survive.

- [Opscuria] is capable of parthenogenesis, though it could also create offspring by infesting a host, resulting in mixed traits.

[Further information are classified]

[Satisfy specific requirements to unlock]

Oooh~ seems fine to me. Though, I wonder how would I be able to unlock that. meh, I won't bother for now, what's important is I'm now gonna start living in a new world!

After I'm filled with new determination, I again pressed the "Next" button and a new window popped up saying,

[Begin Reincarnation process?]

[yes] [no]

Yes!!!

A few seconds after I pressed the button, I felt my consciousness fade to nothingness...

Name: Yukiko Kikuchi

Species: [Opscuria]

Lvl: 1

Title: [Extraterrestrial]

- Cannot be appraised.

----------

HP: 200

MP: 0

----------

Str: 300

Def: 500

Agi: 100

Int: 500

Luk: 30

----------

Skills/Abilities:

[Poison Nullification] [Acid Nullification] [Camouflage] [Regeneration lvl. 1]