It was all dark. Silas didn't know what would happen to him after he died. Who could truly know something like that?
The afterlife was a mystery to everyone. He just wished he had been able to enjoy his retirement, but apparently, he wasn't that lucky…
Silas stood in a completely dark room. There were no sounds there, and no matter how long he walked, he didn't reach anywhere.
The so-called light at the end of the tunnel wasn't visible. What he saw instead was a terrifying creature!
A dark creature with six arms and twelve white eyes, staring deep into his soul. Silas froze in place.
The creature spoke to him.
"You died, Silas. Do you know why you are here?"
Silas thought about the things he did during his life. Nothing bad came to mind.
"I didn't do anything bad to be here, at least I don't recall," Silas said.
The creature laughed. "Really? And why do you think this is a bad place to be? Just because of my looks?"
Silas felt a dangerous aura in the air. He quickly tried to apologize. "No, I don't mean that."
"Don't be rude with me, Silas. Out of all the Gods, I was the only one willing to give you a second chance. If not for me, you would have had to wait for a long, long time."
The information was new to Silas. It was not what he expected. He didn't know what to say to that creature.
"Thanks, I guess? It's better to be here than dying for good, I think."
"Enough of the talking. Let me cut straight to the point. I have others to speak with."
A God like that one had other people who had died and would be under his care. Silas was not the only one, obviously. Many people died, not just on Earth but on other planets as well.
The creature explained what would happen to him.
"I know you are someone who likes fantasy stories and all, so I'll send you to a magical world. You'll reincarnate in the body of someone named Silas Reed as well, but the rest is up to your luck. So, good luck."
After explaining the basics, the creature waved its hand, using its godly powers to send Silas to another world.
*
Silas woke up inside a tiny cabin. The place smelled of wine, wood, and nature.
Memories returned to Silas's mind. He knew the story of the boy whose body he had just received.
The kid was named Silas Reed—just like him—and he lived in a small village. He was a curious boy who wished to find out the reason his parents had left him when he was young.
To achieve that, Silas needed to learn magic and become powerful, someone capable of exploring the world. But he couldn't do that.
Silas had a broken mana core, which meant he couldn't practice magic. The only thing he could be was a 'normal' person forever.
Because of that, Silas decided to use his curiosity and above-average intelligence to study to get a better job in the big city. But he failed the process, thus returning to the small village where he lived.
Sadness took over him, as well as thoughts of not being enough. Silas drank too much one night.
He wasn't alert because of the alcohol in his system. During the night, someone broke into his house, killed him, and stole a few pieces of jewelry he had—jewelry that had once belonged to his parents.
The old Silas never expected that to happen. It was a small village where everyone knew each other, and murders didn't happen frequently. In fact, it had been 20 years since the last person had died there.
Silas closed his fist and punched the wooden floor of his cabin.
"My luck… damn it!"
Once again, his luck had been utterly terrible. First, he died before enjoying his retirement, and now, although he had reincarnated in a magical world, he couldn't practice magic.
It was too much for him. For a moment, Silas thought about dying again and hoping to get a better life, but he refused to do that. He wasn't brave enough for that.
But then, he felt something inside his pocket. When he picked it up, well, he could not believe what he saw. It was his phone!
Silas had his phone with him, the same one he had back on Earth. There was no internet, obviously, and most of the APPs had changed.
He saw the one with his investments. Silas opened it and saw his bank account: 10 million dollars.
But 90% of his money was there for his retirement that would happen in eight years, so he couldn't use the money! He only had 1 million dollars to use at any given moment.
"What can I even do with this money?"
Silas didn't see how he could use dollars in a fantasy magical world. But that wasn't the only app on his phone.
There was an APP where he could do some shopping. All of the items there could be bought with dollars!
Spells, magical items, magical pets, normal food from Earth, anything he could think of!
Silas got excited.
The other app he saw was even better. It was a type of Kingdom Building app and store management, all in one.
With it, Silas could complete quests to get rewards! The first quest available for him was pretty straightforward: open a shop.
The reward for opening a shop? 100k dollars. Silas had some dollars with him, and he could exchange them for the currency of that world.
So, opening a shop wouldn't be impossible in his current situation. He had the money for it!
Anyway, Silas explored more of his phone. There was an APP to invest in the stocks of that world, which were basically groups of mages researching specific things about magic.
He didn't know about those groups and their research. He didn't even know about magic, so investing in those things wasn't ideal at that moment.
What Silas wanted to do was open his first shop, and to do that, well, it was time for him to leave that small village and move to the big city.
Silas wanted to become one of the wealthiest people on that planet. The reason for it was very simple: he wanted to buy an item he saw in his shop.
[Elixir of the Gods: Can cure anything]
[Price: 100 million dollars]
That item would cure his broken mana core and allow him to start practicing magic! It was his first goal.
To make that happen, well, Silas would open the best shop and sell all the items he could buy with his phone.