Reincarnation Trials: A LitRPG Apocalypse (Systems of Salvation Book 1)

by Han Yang

  “When Earth fell, and only those aboard the starships escaped, the soon to die humans were preserved. Their core nature, habits, ticks, issues, blessings, and general characteristics were uploaded. Take Zed for example. Who knows Zed is messy?” I asked and even the kids raised their hands. “One of those minds that Darcy compiled from the fall of Earth is Zed.”

  Mark said, “Wait. Are you saying Zed is messy because Zed is from Earth? A hero warrior like you?”

  “Ah, no. But close. There are thirty-two realms that we know about. The servers are dedicated and constantly on. All those humans Darcy preserved, well, they live in the thirty-two realms. I would assume, because there are estimated to be a billion people just in Snagglewood, that there are thirty-two Zed’s for me to save. One variation in each realm,” I said.

  “You don’t know?” Roma asked in confusion.

  “Fairly certain, but I’ve only been given a partial answer. Darcy’s goal is to be Mother Nature. She wants to take all those people on Earth that died and return them to bodies to help defeat the monsters. This lofty goal is likely unachievable, but I understand why she wants to do it. On Earth, the monsters have become altered with time, and if we prepare right, we can win,” I said and added, “Maybe.”

  Lolli asked, “Am I dead?”

  “Clearly you live, sweetie. You’re here. And this is why I wanted to exclude them,” I said.

  “We can handle it,” the eight-year-old said.

  I nodded hesitantly. “When you grow old, you may love kids, you may not. You may decide you want cats. Because the person you were before had those attributes. Zed is Zed. He is the fundamental person he always will be. When he dies, he will be reborn as Todd and when he grows old, he will be messy and seek love from places he maybe shouldn’t. He’ll always be a hoarder, always a collector, and never clean,” I said.

  “The Great Mother teaches reincarnation,” the older woman said.

  I nodded and replied, “Yes. You all are being reincarnated over and over. Since the Earth fell, it's been four hundred years. It may be another four hundred until your minds are extracted and you are thrown back into the fight to save Earth.”

  Mark scoffed and said, “So you’re saying you come from somewhere that matters, and we’re all fodder to you. Tools to be exploited until you can make us useful again to help you win some losing war.”

  “Far from the truth. I will be Lillo’s father, no matter what. I’ll raise my daughter the best I can, with all my heart. I hope when she is given the chance to leave the Reincarnation Realms, she will find me, and thank me. Everything that happens in here matters. It matters a lot.

  “Unless you compete in Snagglewood, you cannot be important out there. Right now, we need to get people off the ship. Leaving the ship to set up a colony is a privilege. If we fail in our first mission, I wouldn’t be surprised if those who fail in here are the ones evicted from their lofty simulations.

  “And that is what this is. As real as the real world gets, but yes, it’s a simulation. You never truly die even if you experience death. For me, the time in Snagglewood is altered to our Earth time.

  “When I went to sleep last night, I left my body and went to Earth to fight dune’narocks. I killed two and a webo’narock bigger than this ship killed a third. When I returned three hours later in Snagglewood only an hour had transpired on Earth.

  “This is and isn’t real. The biggest difference is that whoever controls the universe, they have never intervened or turned off their simulation. Darcy can shut Snagglewood off with a simple thought, and that power is scary. At the same time, she understands that is not how the creator, if there even is one, or the universe works.

  “Also, Darcy let it slip that I can bring people out of Snagglewood and to a new realm where you can live in luxury without the threat of dying. A private planet of sorts. I don’t know the limits, and all I have is a rumor, but well, there it is. You are just as important as those with bodies.

  “Without you, we would have likely gone insane inside Darcy’s creations. Instead, Mother Nature lays the foundation, and you all become the beings that bring life to it,” I said.

  “So that is where these narocks came from? Darcy?” Mark asked, connecting the dots.

  I raised a finger to rebuttal and make a justification. Instead, I said, “Yes.”

  “And you’re working with her?” Roma asked.

  “Yes and no. Not on Snagglewood. If anything, I work against her creations as I strive to become a colonist. On Earth, yes. Like I said, I’m different and should have died. My real mother hates Darcy and -”

  “I can see why,” Mark said. “She has killed untold lives with these monsters she released, all to spook some spoiled…” he failed to find whatever word vexed him. “She sucks. I hate her and she is evil.”

  “I understand. Many detest Darcy for her methods,” I told him.

  “And you don’t?” Roma asked.

  “I do at times. She pitched me out of a ship recently. Right into the middle of a dune’narock fight. Crabs with a scorpion tail who eat webo’narocks. Anyway, yeah, I get mad at Darcy. But without her, none of this would exist.

  “I’d be dead too, and I wouldn’t have just added a daughter to my family. I can take Mark’s route and seethe and hate. I can take a middle route, get angry while accepting the good. Or I can take the devout route, and wholly love her for everything she does. And Mark…”

  “Yeah Theo.”

  “I agree, it was petty of her to make this realm rotation about humanity losing to monsters. We just arrived back over Earth. You all are in the worst cycle you’ve ever been in. It wouldn’t surprise me if you die, forget you died, and wake up a day before she unleashes the narocks on the planet. A reset so to speak,” I said.

  “She’s that powerful?” Yilissa asked.

  “A Goddess among the fallen. And for some, her haters will do whatever it takes to ensure she knows she is nothing more than a machine,” I said with a heavy sigh. “And that concludes my story.”

  “So… How do we defeat the narocks? Surely you have an answer,” Roma said.

  I shook my head. “We survive. Eventually, if we kill enough of the food the monsters need, and kill enough of the monsters, they’ll stop bothering us. New ones will roam in, but we kill those too. That is our best strategy for now.”

  “So, they’re cyclical? How come that didn’t work on Earth?” Mark asked. “Couldn’t you have just waited for them to die from starvation?”

  “Well, we made the situation worse. For years, humans used machines to fight. There were a few gunslingers, but I mean, look at Gregory. Exhausted, worn down, and a hardworking man who dedicated himself to his family’s happiness. He can hold a rifle half decently. That didn’t exist on Earth at the time. Most guns were banned by that point because of other reasons that get political,” I said with a sigh.

  “Why not let the machines fight for you?” Yilissa asked.

  “And this is part of the other issue and why the final theme was held in this realm. Or so I believe. Creating drones takes years to establish manufacturing. When I say drone - think of pretend humans made of metal that are great at killing engineered monsters.

  “We used to fight wars with such machines. When the narocks were created, we used advanced technology to beat back the tide of monsters. The problem was, we stopped using drones because they were deemed bad. Also, the monsters were easier to create than the drones.

  “Humans failed to adapt in time. In my opinion humanity would have had to lock down key mining and manufacturing spots to develop robot armies. That or steel bunkers with a hundred feet of metal for the narocks to try to get through.

  “Basically, too many of us were unwilling to fight and die to save the rest of us. We continued to feed the beasts as they evolved. And you can’t compare Snagglewood to Earth. On Earth there are thousands of types of monsters and tens of billions of people vastly spread out. Only two types are here so far,” I finished expla
ining.

  Yilissa handed me a canteen and I downed it.

  “You want to take us to this promised realm of peace?” Roma asked.

  “I’d love to. I don’t know the rules and I won’t get an offer, or an inkling of one, until my time in here is done. If I had to guess, the time dilation will end soon. These themes are normally five years and normally you need to go looking for a fight. But who knows, maybe I can take you to a theme where there’s magic and dragons.

  “Earth is too dangerous, and Darcy may need years before she can start offloading humans in a long-term home. At least the numbers we need off our ships. We figured the monsters would be dead and gone, instead they feed on each other, the wildlife, and yes the remnants of humanity,” I said.

  “And your plan to save us all until we reach this reset point?” Yilissa asked, hugging her knees as she sat. “Seems like if that is going to happen, what’s the point?”

  “An age-old question and one my father loved to talk about. I can’t preach the morality of life or why the universe exists. And be careful, the reset thing was merely a thought and may never happen.

  “I want to live, even if things are dire. Getting to know you all seems like a quality use of my time. To survive we need a shelter. A mine provides a single entry and exit point. We can convert the local land into farms and always be close to safety. If we run out of supplies, we go to… the harbor town to raid it for supplies,” I said.

  “Opo?” Mark asked.

  “Yeah, we have enough food to last a few weeks with everyone here. We can eat the narocks, find other places to trade with, and raid local spots. Hell, we may end back in Laro to loot supplies down the road. Maybe even rescue those good people who never made it out,” I said.

  “I vote to go to Opo,” Roma said. “See if we can save some people.”

  Before I could rebut, Mark said, “It’s crawling with narocks. The paper said that the last reports spoke of thousands of little babies getting into spots the big ones were unable to get to. A bloodbath was the term the paper used.”

  “But it may have survivors,” Roma said. “They’ll run out of food sooner than later.”

  “So does Laro,” Yilissa said. “I don’t mean to be all doom and gloom, but humans are just as dangerous as the monsters are. We need to be careful with our interactions and who we let in.”

  “I… I don’t have a perfect answer. I don’t even know if camping in a mine will be any better than living in Zed’s bunker with twenty of us. For all I know, the mine is small or can collapse. I just want a place to defend. The survivors on Earth are living in tunnels and if they can do it with infinite monsters, then so can we,” I said with a sigh.

  “Can you tell us a good story about Earth?” Lillo said, deciding to change our chat to something positive.

  “Can I ever. Let me tell you the story of Hercules,” I said and began to regale the tale that I loved as a child.

  20

  Snagglewood Day 18

  Bewu River

  A hand stirred my shoulder. “We slowed down,” Gregory said in a tone and volume meant to wake me.

  I hurried off the ball of bodies that stayed on the deck to get their rest. The sleeping area was a free for all and I had drifted off with Lillo braiding my short hair. Now she was snuggled up with an awakening child. Roma and Yilissa noticed the commotion and propped themselves up.

  With a quick move, I rose to my feet and snatched my dragons that dangled from a hook. I told Gregory to wake me for anything. We were so exposed on the ship, so I didn’t want to take a chance.

  I parted the sheets to walk onto the deck. From up high, the moon blasted down with minimal clouds in the sky, giving plenty of illumination. We lucked out in that regard. Even better, based on where the moon rested in the skyline, I slept for at least five or six hours.

  It felt rewarding to predict I’d need sleep by lying down before dusk.

  After I finished tightening my pistol belt, I licked a finger and felt the soft breeze blowing down the river. The first thing I did was rush to the sail and drop it. If we were scraping the bottom, every bit of momentum helped to keep us from getting stuck.

  I’d rather fight four webo’narocks now than forty later. At least that was my thought process.

  I watched the shoreline increase at a slightly faster pace and we already had been towards the middle of the river.

  Before I pestered Gregory to figure out what happened, I scanned the hull, walking from port to starboard. The bow splashed water as it cut across the surface. The starboard side gleamed from the moonlight reflecting off the water and casting its glow onto the hull.

  When I reached the stern, I had to jump onto the back walling to cross where our group slumbered. I didn’t get far. Even slowing a bit had allowed two sets of beady eyes to latch onto the rudder.

  Both narocks watched me intently, clinging to their holds instead of making moves.

  They’d need to climb about four feet of hull to reach where I stood. They might be able to make the lunge, but so far, they just watched me as if waiting for an opportune moment.

  If I shot and missed, I could damage the rudder. That was as good as sinking our primary means of transportation.

  “Gregory, come here,” I said.

  A young woman came over. She had red hair, a ton of freckles, and shiny white teeth. “I’m Hariet, he’s driving. Can I help you?”

  “Hariet, how do you defeat a superior opponent or a foe you wish to avoid?” I asked.

  “Not quite sure what you mean, Mr. Karo,” Hariet said.

  “We have guests. Get me pickled fish, Hariet. And no need to wake anyone unless absolutely necessary,” I told her.

  “Oh, the turtles are staying in our wake, I used to love feeding them during trips to Opo,” Hariet said. “I was worried there for a bit.”

  I didn’t dare glance back at her to smile, but I certainly did smile. I even added a bit of a chipper-ness to my tone.

  “Even animals get lonely at night,” I said.

  Yeah, I left out that it wasn’t turtles in the water. I think deep down she knew and was trying to stay calm. The webo’narocks stayed attached to the rudder watching me while the ship continued to pick up speed.

  The increasing swirls did little to detach the monsters. I saw a few sets of eyes dive into the water as we zipped by. Likely, and just a guess, but we left the zone of well-fed narocks and found the more desperate beasts.

  Yilissa arrived with a yawning stretch, “What’s going on back here?”

  “Where’s your unicorn?” I asked.

  She reached into her britches and pulled out a .44 revolver with unicorns on the handle. “I keep him close to home at all times.”

  “I’m judging you right now,” I said with a light chuckle.

  “Yeah, well. I’ve got nipples but no boobs, so it ain’t going in my nonexistent bust. What do I need this for?” Yilissa asked.

  “Webo’narocks are on the rudder. I told that ‘Hariet’ woman they were turtles. I want to test something,” I said, seeing the creatures just casually watching me.

  “You’re joking right,” Yilissa said and then glanced down at the clinging narocks. “You’re not joking. Interesting that they’re just holding on for dear life.”

  “I think if we slowed any more, they’d have climbed up the back,” I said.

  “What’s the test?”

  “These things don’t die of old age. They only grow or starve. Eventually, they eat each other. These are clearly hungry and could be waiting to be fed,” I said with a shrug. “Or so I think. We found one that a tribe of humans were feeding a leviathan to keep the peace. It did what the hell it wanted, but yea, it left them alone.”

  “And you want to… What? Make these two as pets?” Yilissa said.

  Roma approached and we filled her in before she could shriek from the sight of the creatures.

  Roma reached into her bosom and pulled out a revolver. “Keep this girl close. Should I sho
ot them?”

  “Judging you too. You girls know that there’s holsters in the supplies, right?” I asked. “Even shoulder holsters. If those go off accidentally, you’re as good as dead.”

  They both grumbled, not liking what I was saying. Instead of reply, they fixated on the threats below.

  “Here comes another one,” Yilissa said.

  A third set of eyes tried to join us. The swirling wake of the boat trapped it in a vortex at least twenty feet away. The eyes submerged and popped up further back.

  “Damn, two pets are two too many as is,” Roma said.

  “I don’t want pets. I just want them off the boat. Dead or alive. Which leads to, why the hell did we slow down?” I asked.

  Hariet approached, and I shifted to grab the jar of pickled fish. Both Roma and Yilissa cocked back hammers, fixated on the rudder.

  “I was supposed to be directing Gregory from up top,” Hariet said. “I either dozed off or was watching the eyes on the shore too intently while he did the same thing. We hit a stretch of river a few miles back where they started chasing us.”

  “Ah, you lost focus on the river,” I surmised.

  “We hit a shallow area, but the current kept us from beaching,” Hariet said unhappily.

  “Two in the wheelhouse, two above at night from now on. Simply double the people on the night shift. We give a slight opening, and this happens,” I said.

  “What happens, or happened?” Hariet asked.

  Yilissa snorted and said, “I don’t think these guys are friendly, Theo.”

  “This isn’t for turtles, is it?” Hariet guessed.

  I grabbed the jar and popped the lid. The smell of salted pickle juice tried to cover the scent of dead baitfish, failing. I leaned over the edge, watching the two webo’narocks eyeing me with curiosity.

  With a wince, I plucked a fish out of the container. I held the fish over the back of the boat and dropped it near the first webo’narock.

  Splash!