Jun’s respawn screen flashed as it acknowledged her choice before collapsing in on itself like the graphics she’d seen in her high school and college physics classes of a star imploding. The screen suddenly exploded, filling a huge portion of the void around her in a nebula of swirling iridescent gases. Clumps of the gas began to concentrate, crushing in at different points before suddenly igniting into brightly burning stars.

  Jun stared, transfixed as what seemed to be an infinite void only moments before rapidly filled with countless stars and clouds of swirling gas. It spoke to her of possibilities large and small, of lives once lived, and lives yet to be lived. An endless galaxy of choices and experiences that she could spend an eternity and more exploring.

  The galaxy swirled and rapidly engulfed her in its shining center. Here, she finally caught a glimpse of herself in this space, a reflection of all she was. She was no longer held the body she once had on Earth with its tall, slender, but muscular masculine build and Asian features. Instead, her body was a pale reflection of that life, giving off a feeling of malleability and potential. It said that she could be anyone she wanted to be, if only she were willing to pay the price.

  A yearning deep in her soul, one she’d only grasped the surface of shortly before her death, gripped her. She was proud of the life she’d lived before despite how it ended, but it was not one she would have chosen for herself. She had had options she just didn’t think were possible at the time. Things she could have done differently, but also things that were out of her control. Life was where you started and what you made of it.

  As that thought crossed her mind, it resonated with something deep inside of her. She could choose her next life, but it would only be where she started. The choices of others, the infinite complexities of the universe, would shape her life as much as her own choices shaped her. A pulse ran through the swirling galaxy, the stars twinkling as they acknowledged her choice.

  A fresh start then. Her reflection smiled at her, tears in its eyes as it, she, nodded back at her. A small crack appeared in the middle of her old face and slowly spread across her reflection. Small bits fell away and shattered into a golden dust that swirled out from the galactic center. Her past self's reflection crumbled as the golden dust it became swirled around a single point, collapsing into a new young star, joining the countless stars of her galaxy and leaving behind a nebula in the shape of a person that begged to be shaped and molded into a new life. Staring at the person-shaped nebula standing where her reflection just was, Jun jerked in surprise as a new screen popped up.

  Her past life, summarized in a screen. She grimaced at the gender section. So much grief and discomfort caused by a random choice. Her traits were even worse.

  Jun quickly removed the first two traits with a thought, watching her Karmic Balance reduce as the traits vanished from her sheet. The third made her pause. [Magicless] implied that she would be able to use actual, real magic without the trait! But everyone on Earth knew magic didn't exist... right? Her focus drifted to the World section. Earth had filled that section in and listed it as the default option. Was there... more worlds with life than Earth? Excitedly, Jun selected the World section on her respawn page and was shocked to see a massive table of numerous worlds to choose from. The table seemed to sense what she wanted to see, and quickly scrolled to show Earth's listing.

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  Tier 0? How was Earth so low? Jun thought of all the technology available on Earth, from weapons that could destroy cities to rockets that could take people to space. That doesn't make any sense!

  Jun focused on the entry for Earth and as she expected, another screen popped up with more information on her home planet.

  Jun shook her head. Definitely not Earth again. She wanted something different, something exciting and new! Her thoughts turned toward the [Magicless] trait she'd gotten rid of. Maybe she could start again somewhere that she could do magic? She hastily began scrolling through the massive table of worlds, trying to find one that would let her do magic. Dozens, then hundreds, then thousands of worlds she looked at and discarded. The high tier ones sounded increasingly scary and intimidating, while many of the lower tier worlds didn't seem to talk about the magic Jun craved to experience. It felt like she'd be here for all eternity, simply trying to find a place for her fresh start!

  In desperation, Jun tried pushing everything she desired in a new world at the screen, hoping it would understand and give her an answer. She needed magic, craved it with a desire she'd never known she had. It needed to be low tier, somewhere she could learn and be safe in. She wanted to remain human, or close to it, and worried that some of the planets might force her to be something totally alien to her. The screen froze as Jun clumsily shoved her hopes and dreams at it. Jun tried scrolling with her mind again, but it remained frozen on an entry detailing an ice planet with sentient mole-like people. Did she break the afterlife? Would she be stuck here staring at this screen for all of eternity? The anxiousness she thought had ended with her death surged through her, conjuring fears of being trapped here, taunted with a fresh start that would never come because she screwed everything up.

  As her anxiousness threatened to break into total panic, the screen suddenly blurred through thousands and thousands of entries before coming to a stop on a single entry. "Merinthia..." Jun whispered the name as the anxiousness that nearly overwhelmed her slowly faded.

  Jun was hooked. This planet seemed perfect! It was only Tier 1, so she hoped it wouldn't be too different from Earth, but it had magic! The screen even mentioned other races! Elves! Trolls! Demons! Filled with excitement, Jun threw her intent at the screen and unlocked the world.

  Oh also release schedule! Still trying to figure that out, I'm currently publishing as I write atm, so if you see a new chapter pop up right now, assume I'd probably spent the last day or two writing it. Not sure how other authors can get massive backlogs built up so quickly, but it's on my list of things to figure out!