Xavier's head pounded like someone had taken a sledgehammer to his skull. Not the dull ache of a hangover—he knew those intimately—but the sharp, insistent throb of existence itself recalibrating around him. He tried to sit up, muscles protesting as though they'd forgotten how to function.
"Easy there, hot stuff. The whole 'having a body again' thing takes a minute to adjust to." The silver-haired goddess—Calypso, she'd called herself—leaned over him.
"Where am I?" Xavier's voice came out raspy.
"I told you already! The Liminal Space." Calypso gestured grandly at their surroundings, which seemed to shift between a luxury penthouse and a cosmic void with each blink. "My personal domain. The waiting room between death and whatever comes next." She twirled, her robe fluttering to reveal more skin than it concealed. "Which, for you, is going to be so much fun!"
Xavier pushed himself upright, the room spinning momentarily before settling. He looked down at his body—the same one he remembered, complete with the scar across his abdomen from a knife fight in Prague. He touched his forehead, half-expecting to find a bullet hole, but the skin was smooth, unbroken.
"I got shot."
"Yep! Right in the noggin." Calypso tapped her own forehead. "Clean shot, too. Very professional. You died instantly, so... silver linings!"
"And now I'm... here." Xavier scanned the space again, taking in details he'd missed before. The walls seemed both solid and permeable, occasionally revealing glimpses of other realities beyond. A massive crystal chandelier hung overhead, each pendant containing what looked like miniature galaxies. The floor beneath him wasn't quite floor—more like solidified mist that rippled with each movement.
"With me!" Calypso clapped her hands, golden sparkles erupting from her fingertips. "Aren't you the luckiest dead guy ever?"
Xavier narrowed his eyes. "Why do I feel like I've walked into a trap?"
Calypso gasped, pressing a hand to her ample chest. "A trap? Me? I'm offering you the opportunity of several lifetimes!" She floated—literally floated—closer, her scent filling his nose: vanilla, cherries, and something else, something ancient and powerful. "Most souls get shuffled right along to their next incarnation. Boring! But you..." She poked his chest. "You're in for a repackaging."
Xavier swung his legs over the edge of what he now realized was a floating platform rather than a proper bed. His feet touched the misty floor, sending ripples outward. "Repackaging."
"Reincarnation! Transmigration! A fresh start with a twist!" Calypso spun in place, her hair flowing around her like liquid moonlight. "And not just any reincarnation. You, Xavier Valentine, have been selected for a special rate-up event!"
"A what?"
Calypso froze mid-twirl, rose petals halting in mid-air. "Rate-up. You know, like in gacha games?"
Xavier stared blankly.
"Gacha? Gotcha? The games where you pull for characters and weapons with different rarities?" Her pink eyes widened. "Please tell me you know what I'm talking about."
"I'm an assassin, not a gamer."
Calypso's jaw dropped. The room darkened slightly, the ambient light dimming as though responding to her shock. "You've never played a gacha game? Not even one? F*te? Gens*in? Hon*ai?"
"No."
"Oh. My. Gods." Calypso clutched her face in horror. "A soul who doesn't know the beauty of gacha?! This is a travesty! An emergency! A CRISIS!"
In a flash of light that forced Xavier to shield his eyes, Calypso's outfit transformed. When he looked again, she wore a tight white blouse, red-rimmed glasses, and a pencil skirt. Her silver hair was now pulled back in a bun, with one strand artfully loose.
Behind her, a whiteboard materialized from nowhere.
"Class is in session!" She slapped the board with a ruler that hadn't existed a second before. "Gacha 101 for the Culturally Deprived!"
Are we deadass right now?
"Gacha," Calypso began, her voice taking on a lecturing tone, "comes from 'gachapon'—Japanese capsule toy machines. You put in money, turn the crank, and get a random prize!" She mimed the action, complete with sound effects. "Games adapted this concept. You spend currency to 'pull' or 'roll' for characters or items of varying rarity."
She drew a series of letters on the board: N, R, SR, SSR, UR, L.
"These," she tapped each letter with her ruler, "are rarity tiers. N is Normal, boring, common as dirt. R is Rare, slightly better. SR is Super Rare, starting to get good. SSR is Super Super Rare, now we're talking! UR is Ultra Rare, the stuff of legends. And L..." She paused dramatically. "L is Limited. The rarest of the rare. The cream of the crop. The thing everyone wants but almost no one gets."
Xavier ran a hand through his white hair, trying to process the bizarre situation. "And this relates to my death... how?"
"I'm getting there!" Calypso pouted. "The old reincarnation system was so boring. Three wishes, standard package, next soul please. Yawn!" She made a face. "I revolutionized everything! Now souls get to roll for their next life's attributes. Abilities, world setting, etcetera. The catch? You also get flaws! Can't have everything perfect, right?"
She snapped her fingers, and the whiteboard transformed into an elaborate wheel divided into sections, each containing symbols Xavier couldn't decipher.
"Normally, souls get one roll. Maybe two if they were especially interesting in life. But you..." Calypso leaned close, her pink eyes boring into his. "You get five. A special rate-up event just for you! Each spin gives you three abilities, one world, and one flaw. And you get to choose!"
Xavier stood, testing his legs. They felt solid now, more real. "Let me get this straight. You're saying I can be reincarnated with special powers if I play your cosmic slot machine?"
"Exactly! Except it's not a slot machine, it's gacha, which is way better." Calypso beamed. "The thrill of the pull! The anticipation! Will you get that SSR ability you've been eyeing, or will it be another dupe N-tier garbage skill? The suspense!"
Xavier paced the misty floor, trying to make sense of this afterlife game show he'd stumbled into. "And what happens if I refuse?"
Calypso's smile didn't waver, but the room temperature dropped several degrees. "Then you get the standard package. No choices, no special abilities, just another unremarkable life. Boring for you, boring for me." She examined her perfect nails. "But why would you refuse? This is a premium opportunity! Most souls would kill for this chance. Well, they already died, but you know what I mean."
"And what's in it for you?"
"Entertainment!" Calypso clapped her hands. "Do you have any idea how dull eternity gets? Watching interesting souls with unique combinations of abilities navigate new worlds is the best reality show in the cosmos!"
"So! Ready to roll? Your new life awaits!"
Before Xavier could respond, a massive wheel materialized between them, glowing with power and covered in symbols he couldn't comprehend.
"Just give it a spin!" Calypso bounced on her toes, excitement radiating from her like heat.
Ah, what the hell.
Xavier reached out and pulled the lever at the side of the wheel. It spun, faster and faster, symbols blurring together in a dizzying kaleidoscope of light and color.
As it began to slow, Xavier's eyes widened. The symbols resolving into clear view were unlike anything he'd expected.
"This... this is..."