Chapter 349 - My SI Stash #49 - Forced Re:Start by The Pillow God (Re:Zero) (1/2)

-Another author that's done a great Re:Zero fic without rehashing canon~

Synopsis: An average college student is granted a reincarnation with some ”benefits” due to an accidental mishap from the heavenly powers above, which ended his life prem_a_t_u_r_ely. Unfortunately, he recognizes that his new life takes place in a setting he's familiar with, one filled with potential danger at every corner.

Rated: T

Words: 27K

Posted on: fanfiction.net/s/13632361/1/Forced-Re-Start (The Pillow God)

PS: If you're not able to copy/paste the link, you have everything in here to find it, by simply searching the author and the story title. It sucks that you can't copy links on mobile (´ー｀)

-I'll be putting the chapter ones of all the fanfics mentioned, to give you guys a sample if you wan't more please do go to the website and support the author! (And maybe even convince them to start uploading chapters in here as well!)

Chapter 1

When he had come to, he only saw white. No, that definition would be incorrect, rather than white, it was colorless. It possessed no color, and looking around, he could only identify it as something that felt like white to his senses, as no words or definition he possessed could accurately describe his surroundings. A ripple in the ”colorless” world around him occurred, drawing his attention to the source of the ”ripple”. A floating shape that generated light shined a few paces away from him.

The next instant, he could feel the words that the ”shape” spoke into its mind, in his own voice.

[You've awoken, good.]

He whirled around, before turning his vision back to the floating mass in front of him. ”W-was that you?” He sought an explanation from the voice.

[. . . You haven't regained all of your sensibilities.] The voice rang out in his head, having understood his state.

He was only becoming more and more confused. ”Wha-?”

The voice cut him off before he could ask about his situation. [Here, this should help.]

The floating, formless mass of light began to shine brighter and brighter, until it painted over his consciousness entirely.

”Wha-!”

And before he knew it, his vision was filled of memories of his life, or more specifically, his life that had come to an end. It came rushing back to him, the experiences he had growing up in the educational system, living in an average household, and eventually getting into an average college. The life that he possessed previously came back in full force, as he remembered everything, even those memories that were forgotten by most as they grew up.

He emerged from the visions of his past, until he was back in the colorless room with the floating shape. [That was forceful of me, I apologize] The voice rang out in his head.

He caught his breath, ”No... no... I'm okay...” He took a few deep breaths to re-acclimate to his foreign surroundings, and looked back at the shape again. As he focused on the voice, he noticed again the similarity of their voices. ”W-why do you sound like me?”

The shape seemed vaguely surprised at his question, as though he hadn't expected that to be the first question he would be asked. [. . . In communicating with you mentally, seeing I possess no voice naturally, the ”voice” you hear is in actuality my thoughts, which cannot be understood normally, and thus had to be translated in a form that you could understand, so I did so in your ”voice” for ease of understanding.]

”Right. Okay. Got it.” He didn't really, but he decided questioning the mechanics of it would lead to a bigger headache than figuring out what was going on now.

[You seem to be handling yourself remarkably well, especially after the manner in which you died.] The memory flashed back in his mind, of how he had died when he had been hit by a light from seemingly nowhere, and could feel himself disintegrating and becoming ash.

He started to gag, ”O-oh, I think I'm going to be sick.”

[Right.] the voice proceeded, unconcerned with the nausea that overcame him. After a few more moments spent recovering he took another deep breath before asking,

”So, who are you?”

[The administrator that manages the cycle of souls in this ”part” of the Multiverse.]

”S-s-so the Multiverse Theory? It's true?”

[Yes.] He lost his words with the simple affirmation of one of his early teenage fantasies.

After overcoming his shock, he laughed, ”So? What's going on here? You're not going to say something like ”You have been summoned to another world.” or something like that are you?”

The voice did not miss a beat, [Correction. You will be reincarnated and begin life anew.]

”. . . Eh?”

The voice took his response as having misheard or misunderstood it, [You will be reincarnated and-]

”No, no, no, no, reincarnated?! Why?”

The voice of the ”administrator” patiently explained to him, [All souls undergo reincarnation, to put it in a way that you can understand, think of it as recycling so that we avoid producing waste in creating more souls.]

”. . . Got it, but is there a reason for going through all this?” He gestured around at his surroundings.

”I don't know, I imagined that if reincarnation existed, it would be automatic and wouldn't require direct contact.”

The voice seemed to have been mildly surprised at his deduction, [Correct. But as this case was abnormal, I was required to come in to contact with you.]

[If you would look behind you, the reason should become clear.]

He turned around, only to find a toy vending machine, ”This doesn't explain anything.” He turned back to the light, ”What is this here for?”

[You met an unexpected end due to an oversight in your world's management.]

”What does that mean?”

[Put bluntly, you were not supposed to die there, but because of accidental intervention you ended up dying by mistake.]

He gripped his head in agitation already coming to a conclusion that he did not like, ”What do you mean by accidental?”

The voice paused for a moment, and then another, [It would be faster if I were to show you.] And just as it did before, the light from the shape began to shine brighter and brighter, until it completely took over his consciousness.

The vision eventually faded away to reveal the toy vending machine and the source of the voice. Out of breath, ”So, that was supposed to be my future, right?”

[Yes.]

”Then w-why did I die so young?” His fears were becoming confirmed as each second passed.

[As I said earlier, accidental intervention resulted in your death, luckily, you were the only casualty there. Otherwise, more clean-up would have been necessary to correct the course of your world's future.]

””Luckily” my ass! I died! Your f_u_c_k-up killed me!” He exploded in anger, clenching his fists.

As if to placate him, the voice quickly responded, [I know, and in order to compensate you for your loss, we have brought you here.]

”Compensate? I don't want your compensation! Take me back! My parents! Friends! Give me my life back!” His anger was a mix of his indignation and mourning of what he had lost.

The voice responded, and sounded genuinely apologetic, [I am truly sorry, your death was due to oversight on my part and was never supposed to have happened.]

When faced with such sincerity, even his justified anger cooled a little. But overall, it didn't change the fact that he had been wrongfully robbed of his life. Clenching his teeth hard enough for it to have broken if they were real, he said, ”Enough. Just send me back to my world.”

He exploded again, ”Well then call someone who can! It doesn't matter who! I have people who care about me in my world!”

The voice apologized again. This cycle of anger and apologies continued until the he burnt himself out. He would have thrown things across the room but there was nothing, and his hands were incorporeal anyway. He let out a deprecating sigh before speaking again, ”Look, you can't send me back or even interfere in my world. How am I supposed to accept this?”

[I truly apologize.]

He let out another sigh, ”So there's no way you can send me back in a world I've already died in, and you can't undo what's already happened right?”

[Yes, I apologize but I do not possess jurisdiction over time, and thus cannot return things to the way they were.]

”Then there's no choice isn't there? I have to be reincarnated.” Faced with repeated confirmations that nothing could be undone to return him to his life, even he had to eventually concede that nothing could be done. His former explosive rage cooled in to reluctant acceptance.

[Yes, I am truly sorry about my carelessness.]

The anger faded in his voice and turned into something akin to exhaustion, ”There's no choice anyway. Is there any way you can put my friends and family at peace or something? I wouldn't want to worry them.”

[. . . It would be bending the rules somewhat but if it is only to that degree then I shall see it done.]

He let out a big sigh, ”Alright then, let's go ahead with this reincarnation thing.”

The light from the administrator started to shine brighter, as if it were glad to have moved on to another topic. [If you would turn back to the toy vending machine please.]

”Right, you never got to explain this thing”, he muttered. On closer look, the toy vending machine did not possess any labels or stickers and was completely white, and the capsules inside were not like the typical plastic capsules, but were simply balls with something written on them. Unfortunately, the distortion of the see-through material of the vending machine made it impossible to figure out what was written on the capsule replacements. There was no coin slot either, and instead it was replaced with the number seven where the slot should be. The lever was on the left side, and was colored gray.

”Is this the number of times I'm allowed to pull the lever or something?” He asked, pointing at the slot machine.

[Correct. This number correlates to the maximum potential of your soul.]

”Meaning?”

[This is the limit of how many Divine Protections you can acquire without destroying your soul.]

”Uh, Divine Protections?” The familiarity of the term tugged at the back of his mind, but he ignored it to focus on what was directly in front of him.

[Yes, if it confuses you, consider them as a collection of abilities, both active and passive.]

”Ah, gotcha. So, the maximum potential means that I'm basically going in at level 100, right?”

[In a certain sense.]

”What do you mean?”

[The usage of your abilities will matter in regards to strength.]

He let out a contemplating noise, ”Right. Anyway, let's roll for my abilities, I guess.”

[Yes, if you would, please start pulling the lever whenever you are ready.]

Putting his hand on the lever, a certain hesitation came over him. The Divine Protections that he was about to receive would most likely define the way his new life turned out, and having it being left to chance made him reasonably nervous. He took a deep breath, before yanking down the lever with all of his strength. Clattering sounds came from the vending machine, until the sound stopped. He saw the ball inside shake a little bit, before he heard the click of something sliding in to place and saw something drop down. The vending machine whirred and hissed as the ball slid down and out in to view. As the ball came out from the machine, the number seven went down by one.

He picked up the ball and saw three stars inscribed on to the black ball. ”Is this a Dragon Ball gone wrong?” He asked half-jokingly.

[No. The stars on the ball determine the rarity of the Divine Protection.]

”Right. . . So, is it three stars out of five or something?”

[No, each star the rarity upwards in rank. The ranks are common, uncommon, rare, super-rare, super-super rare, and ultra-rare.]

”That's not a creative system at all, it's like a gacha game.”

He held up the ball higher and examined the stars that displayed its rarity, ”So this would be a rare right?”

The voice sounded slightly miffed in its response, [Correct, if you turn it over you should see what kind of Divine Protection it is.]

He flipped over the ball and discovered something written on the back. Inscribed in gold text, displayed Divine Protection of the Moon.

Scrutinizing his new Divine Protection of the Moon he asked, ”This is cool and all, but, uh, what does it do?”

[The Divine Protection of the Moon should provide you boons whilst under the moon.]

”Okay, cool, I kind of guessed that already. So uh, what do I do with this?” He was confused as to what to do with the ball.

[In order to obtain your new Divine Protection, you need to swallow it.]

He stared at the ball in his hand, then stared at the shape that represented the administrator, then back at the ball again. The ball in his hand was slightly bigger than size of a tennis ball, and definitely not something that could be swallowed or fit in to the throat of a human body in a reasonable way.

Sensing his hesitation, the voice spoke, [It should shrink when it touches your tongue.]

With a sense of trepidation, he put the ball against his mouth and only calmed down when it shrank to an appropriate size. He popped the now small ball in to his mouth and swallowed with a loud gulp.

”Okay, I did it, but I'm not really feeling a power-up or anything like that.” If he had to describe the sensation it would be like he had just eaten some spicy food but that he had already overcome most of the painful spiciness. Before long, that feeling itself disappeared and nothing was left.

The administrator was surprised by the speed at which he adjusted to his new Divine Protection, but didn't show it openly. [It seems you have already adjusted to your new Divine Protection, should we proceed with the next one?]

Having gained confidence after having done it once he agreed, ”Yeah, I think I've got the hang of this.”

Each and every Divine Protection he swallowed after the first extended the feeling of eating spicy into higher and higher heights. When he swallowed his last one, he understood that he had reached the limit of his intake, and the he couldn't obtain any more lest he risk actual combustion, given the intensity of the spicy feeling had actually become painful by the point he swallowed his last Divine Protection, enough to bring him to his knees.

He closed his eyes and felt each of his Divine Protections within him:

[Divine Protection of the Moon]

[Divine Protection of the War God]

[Divine Protection of the Wisdom God]

[Divine Protection of Sky Walking]

[Divine Protection of Wind Spirits]

[Divine Protection of Severance]

[Divine Protection of Counter]

After observing that he had become accustomed to his new Divine Protections, the administrator continued with the reincarnation process.

[Is there any discomfort left from acquiring your Divine Protections?]

”No, I think I'm fine.”

[In that case, your soul will be sent to the alternate world that has been chosen for your reincarnation.]

”Got it, don't forget about what I asked of you.”

[Understood, it shall be done to the best of my abilities.]

With that, the spiritual body that made up his appearance crumbled, as his soul was now taking the form of his new life. The room that held the toy vending machine and the reincarnation administrator crumbled away, and light began to fill up his vision, before he disappeared from this place between worlds, and fully reincarnated into another world.

Being born a member of the middle class, Lugh was born with the green-blue eyes of his mother. However, unlike either of his parents, he was born with tufts of white growing from his head. This had caused a severe strain on the relationship between the mother and father. The father, Alex, was a tall, auburn-haired man with brown eyes, while the mother, was a comely blond-haired woman with green-blue eyes named Lillian.

As Lugh possessed the hair of neither the father or the mother, his father accused the mother of infidelity.

”Whose son, is he?! Is it that bastard, Murel!?”

”No! I would never cheat on you! I swear he's our son!”

Their argument deteriorated to the point that they had a water magician brought in from the capital in order to check the baby's origins. To the father's surprise, the baby belonged to both of the parents, and as such resolved their argument.

On hands and knees, he begged for his wife's forgiveness, ”I'm sorry that I ever doubted you, please forgive me.”

With a cold look in her eyes, she brushed aside his apologies and kicked him out of their bedroom, cursing him to sleeping on the hay in their stables.

The father repeated his apologies at every given chance, even when in front of their daughter of five years.

Lugh was not an only child when he had been received in this world. His elder sister, Ciel, similarly possessed the green-blue eyes of their mother and her brother, as well as the auburn hair of their father. A shy child who tended to run away whenever her parents started to argue, she was nothing but joyful of having a little brother, and did not possess the delicate sensibilities of an a_d_u_l_t, and was frightened whenever her parents argued over their little brother. It was her interactions with her newly born baby brother that prevented the family from completely ripping apart.

Often times she would coo at her brother in his crib, ”Aww, he's so cute.” She would say, and gently pinch his cheeks, laden with baby fat.

Both the mother and the father could agree that the two children were simply adorable together, before the sense of unity was broken and the father was kicked to the curb again.

”Mommy, why is Daddy in the stables?”

”Because he did a bad thing sweetie.” Her mother would reply.

Many nights did the family live separated but together in the same home. The father would come back in to the house in order to beg to be let back in whilst on his hands and knees, and would receive an appropriately justified cold rejection.

”Please let me back in to the house, I'm so very sorry about everything I said and insinuated,” he begged on his hands and knees.

Multiple seasons would pass before the mother's heart even started to defrost, and the husband was allowed back in to the house, but not in to the bedroom, he was still stuck sleeping in the stables with their two earth dragons, Lulu and Wyndelug.

Almost a little over a year would pass, before the atmosphere in the family would return to anything resembling normal. This was in no small part due to their daughter's wishes.

”Mommy and Daddy, please stop fighting,” she would say tearfully.

For the sake of their children, the family was reunited once more. But despite averting the family crisis, other problems came up. Mainly, taking care of the baby. Even as a baby, Lugh would be able to escape his crib and virtually vanish. It was often times that Ciel would be the one who would find Lugh on high places.

”Mommy! Lugh is on the roof again!” Ciel screamed as she made sure to keep an eye on him.

The parents would scramble around to find rope or a ladder in order to reach the roof and evacuate their child from such dangerous locations. It was by keeping an eye on Lugh at all times did Ciel come to realize that she possessed the [Divine Protection of Seeking], even if she didn't know exactly what that meant.

”Mommy, I can tell where Lugh is at all times!” She said.

”Oh yeah? Tell me where he is right now,” her mother would challenge, not believing her.

Ciel nodded before clenching her eyes shut in concentration, ”He's in the storage room! On the highest shelf! Near the bucket!”

Humoring her child, the mother put down her sewing needles and walked in to their storage room, only to find Lugh on the highest shelf, close to the bucket. It was then that the mother knew her daughter was special. When the father came home from doing village patrols with the rest of the men, she told him about Ciel's ability to find Lugh.

”Look, dear! Ciel was able to find Lugh without having to search for him!” She told him, excited.

Like the mother, the father was unable to truly believe what was being said, until Ciel proved it to him as well. He even went as far as placing Lugh, who was sleeping in his crib, in the stables.

Ciel shut her eyes and furrowed her little brows, ”Hnnn! He's in the stables!”

The father's jaw dropped to the floor in utter amazement. It stayed open until the mother closed it with her hands.

”See? Isn't our daughter amazing?” She said, smug.

In his excitement, the father lifted up his daughter and gently threw her up in the air and caught her, repeating the action and spreading a merry mood in the house. Both parents were incredibly happy as they were very sure that she possessed a Divine Protection, given her unbelievable ability to find her sneaky baby brother whenever he disappeared. Ciel was unofficially appointed as the eyes watching over her brother, given her suitability to the task, and both father and mother were very happy for her future, as useful Divine Protections were pretty rare.

”Who's the best daughter in the world? Yes, you are! Yes, you are!” He cooed.

Ciel giggled at the antics of her father, being lifted up and down again and again.

Their daily life continued without many hiccups due to Ciel's Divine Protection, and the care that the parents took when raising their daughter and son. It wasn't until their son achieved some awareness of his own did the wheels of fate start turning.

It took Lugh about 4 years to obtain self-awareness, or more specifically a sense of self. It was also the same time his memories returned to him, of his former life, and his meeting with the administrator in the area between worlds.

Didn't expect him to let me keep my memories.

He tried to thinking about his former life, but could not remember the names of his parents and friends or the way they looked. He couldn't even recall the name he had in his past life.

. . . Or, not, would've been too much to expect to let me remember everything.

He took in the sights around him, recalling the familiarity of having grown up in this ”new” house. He even knew the faces of his new family members, a four-person family consisting of himself, his elder sister, and his parents. He heard birds chirping outside and sunlight peeking in the window of his room.

”-Lugh! It's time for breakfast!” His mother called from the kitchen.

”I'm coming!” He yelled in response. He threw off the blanket and yanked open the cabinet, noting his not-so-abundant amount of clothes, and put on a simple white hand-me-down shirt and some shorts, before heading to the kitchen.

”What's for breakfast?” He asked as he came down the stairs.

”Bread and soup, hurry, take a seat.” His mother set his plate down on the dining room table.

He climbed up to his seat next to the head of the table and noticed the absence of his father and sister, ”Where's Dad and big sis?”

”Your father's already eaten and he's out cleaning the earth dragons. Ciel should be helping him.”