The Darkness.
Crushing. Absolute. There was no up, no down. No sound, no light. Just an infinite void that consumed everything.
"Where... am I?"
My thought was confused, scattered, like a whisper lost in an empty ocean. Impossible to know how long I had been here. A second? An eternity? I had no idea.
Most of the time, I felt nothing. But sometimes, a fleeting contact or a phantom pain brushed against me. I had gotten used to it.
Until a particularly sharp pain struck me. Before I could even understand what was happening, a mechanical voice echoed in the abyss.
["Reincarnation detection in progress... System initialization."]
Reincarnation. The word resonated in my mind. I understood the concept, even without clearly remembering why. Books, movies, stories I had read... A new chance, a new life.
But I didn't clearly remember my death. Yet, in this empty space, fragments of memories had reached me. And they weren't mine.
Then, I felt something pulling me, tearing me away from this state of weightlessness. My mind began to slowly reform. A distant light flickered at the heart of the void.
["System charged 10%... 20%... 30%..."]
I was going to relive. I was going to—
["Fatal error."]
...What?
["Reincarnation detection interrupted."]
["Entity is deceased."]
A cold silence fell over me. I didn't even have time to react.
["Countdown to complete soul dissolution..."]
No. No, no, no.
"This is not possible... I've just returned! No, I didn't even have the chance to do it!"
I wanted to speak, to scream, to protest. But… what was the point? I couldn't do anything.
The light that had seemed like a deliverance faded, replaced by an endless chasm.
["Critical error. Reincarnation failed."]
["Return to death state confirmed."]
The darkness intensified, consuming my being. An infinite emptiness, endless, purposeless.
Then, a new mechanical voice echoed in the heavy silence.
["Reincarnation failure, but alternative state selected: Undeath."]
Undeath. I knew the term. The undead, creatures wandering between life and death, refusing to abandon their existence. I had read about such stories before...
I briefly thought about the life I had lost, the choices I made... or the ones I hadn't been able to make. But here, in this void, there were no questions to ask.
Stay here, vanish, or accept undeath. Only a fool would hesitate... or someone who didn't want to live anymore.
I wasn't that someone.
["Do you accept undeath? Yes/No"]
"Yes."
["Template related to undeath selected."]
A set of cards appeared in front of me. Ethereal, mysterious. No difference between them. I chose one. The others vanished instantly.
["Template selected: Kunivella, Corpus of Abyss."]
["Synchronization with template: 40%"]
A figure appeared before me. A formidable woman, a necromancer dressed in dark robes, wearing a strange mask.
Kunivella...
The name didn't ring a bell. But I knew about Corpus of Abyss. It was the largest gathering of undead in Overlord, a world I was well familiar with.
Then, a flood of memories overwhelmed me.
At 40% synchronization, I could already wield fourth-level magic and understood the theory behind fifth-level.
Then, I realized something: Kunivella was at the top of the hierarchy in the New World. Yet… I had never seen her in the anime. She must have been from a novel volume.
This wasn't Ainz or Shalltear... but it was huge. Maybe even better.
Ainz had phenomenal abilities, but he didn't always understand the principles behind them. That was his only real weakness. If he truly mastered them, he would be an Anos-level powerhouse in magic.
And even so, this meant something.
[Quest: Who am I?]
Requirements:
Exit your tomb without being seen. Discover your new body.
Reward:
Memories of your second life before your death.
P.O.V: ???
"These memories... They are mine, but they're not really mine."
No response.
I tried to move. Impossible. Then, I realized something.
I was trapped.
A box. No... a coffin.
"I'm not buried, am I?"
...
Yes. Definitely.
Otherwise, it wouldn't be this dark, even with my eyes open.
I closed my eyelids to concentrate better. Then, using the knowledge from my template, I cast my first spell.
"Compass."
Normally, this spell was used to locate a specific person. I used it to orient myself.
Next would be more delicate...
A fourth-level spell.
"Tremor Sense."
A vibration spread around me. At first, nothing. Then... an obstacle.
I dispersed the vibrations. Images started to form in my mind.
I was about three meters underground.
My perception range extended further.
Other graves.
I hadn't expected that. Mine was more isolated than the others.
Then, to the north...
Buildings. People. I could feel their movements.
To the south...
A forest.
That was the direction I needed to go.
I had two choices left:
Use Earth Flow to free myself, risking attracting attention. Try Teleportation, a fifth-level spell... though I lacked the knowledge to properly control it.
The second option was safer.
I took my time. Five minutes to focus.
Then, when I was ready, I opened my eyes.
"Teleportation."