Unfair. This was too unfair! What did he ever do to deserve such a death? All civilian #3207 wanted was to live a meaningful life. He always tried to do the right thing even if the world continued to wrong him. He always believed that if one person persists with the act of kindness, eventually someone else will be touched by the act and pass it on. All it took was a spark to light the forest ablaze, or so he thought.
Drifting through time and space for an unknown amount of time, civilian #3207 wondered what he would do now that he was dead. There were no more customers to serve, no more bills to pay. No more starving nights, no more living in fear. No more worrying about paying his bills or if his landlord was going to evict him.
For the first time in his busy life, civilian #3207 was bored. There was absolutely nothing to do in the afterlife.
“Civilians are humans too! Why does God favour the mafia over civilians? What have I done wrong? This death is too unfair!”
As if God had been waiting for this moment, a bright light stabbed his non-existent eyes. Civilian #3207 wasn’t expecting to see his feline friend and wanted to go over when Celine scowled at him.
“Insolent one! What do you know?”
For a moment, civilian #3207 was too stunned to do anything. Celine was talking? Moreover, Celine sounded like a man! Did he mistake his feline friend’s gender this whole time? Was this why Celine gave him a hot and cold treatment? No, wait! That shouldn’t be the first thing on his mind… his friend was talking! His feline friend… was God?!
The cat that looked like Celine also behaved in a similar manner, licking its paws and cleaning its ear.
“Civilian #3207, I’ve been watching you.”
God looked disinterested, and the cook wondered if there was a purpose to this meeting.
“Are you going to pass judgement on me? Where am I going? What am I going to do? I’m dead now, this has to be the afterlife right? Where are the pearly gates to heaven or the barbed wire fences leading to hell? Surely I have to go to either one of these places, right? Did my karma points fail the requirements to enter heaven?”
God rolled his eyes and jumped up, kicking civilian #3207 in the face. The startled civilian fell backwards and landed on his bottom. Fortunately, he was already dead and couldn’t feel any pain.
“You fool! Do you think your measly karma points will allow you to enter the pearly gates so easily? People have reincarnated thousands of times to gather the necessary karma required to enter those gates. You’re a thousand years too early for that! Besides, your soul is incomplete. You have unfinished business.”
Confused, the civilian asked why his soul was incomplete.
God yawned. “You have a twin soul in the mafia. This is him.”
With a flick of his tail, God created an image in a milky way. The boy looked no older than fifteen and was Asian. He looked very innocent for someone part of the mafia and civilian #3207 wondered how this had anything to do with him.
“His name is Zen. He is one of the few that I chose as the alterer of fate. I’m sure you know about the Godfather of this world. The Godfather stands on the opposite side of the mafia as an individual power.”
Civilian #3207 nodded even if he didn’t understand what everything meant. However, he was excited. He had a twin soul brother! After being alone for so long, it was nice to know that there was still someone he could call family out there. Even if he wasn’t part of the underworld, this was common knowledge. The Godfather was the only person the mafia feared and revered. They didn’t know why, but the reason wasn’t as important. Choosing the next Godfather was a significant decision for the civilians. Typically, civilians were usually not allowed to participate or know anything about the underworld. However, every few decades, the Godfather will host a huge event for the civilians to choose the next Godfather. The last Godfather election event was over fifty years.
Celine smirked. “There you have it. This child is my top candidate for the next Godfather. As his twin soul, you’ve gathered enough experience and karma to assist him. That’s your true purpose and why your soul was split. I’m sorry kid, but it’s still too early for you to go to heaven. Maybe if you did a good job as a Godfather, I would put in a good word for you to be accepted after you die.”
Before God could blast civilian #3207 back onto Earth, the panicked cook yelled out to wait.
“I can’t just go back there!” he cried.
The Godfather elections were always cruel and brutal, even for top mafioso. As a civilian, he had no skills or abilities. They’re just going to kill him before he could do anything, much less become the next Godfather.
God thought it over. Unlike the other Godfather candidates, Zen’s case was slightly special. God split his soul at the start because he thought Zen could awaken the blood in him to listen to the inner voices of others, including his twin soul to gather information telepathically. However, the Taro family that Zen was born into neglected him so much that the gift was incomplete. Thankfully, his twin soul met an early end. By fusing the two souls and their experiences together, perhaps Zen would be able to quickly master that ability.
“I guess I can’t just send you there without anything. The challenges ahead of you will be difficult. If you were to become the next Godfather, you’d need some help. How about this? I’ll give you a blessing to make up for what you lack. This should give you an equal footing as the other candidates.”
Civilian #3207 didn’t reject God’s blessing and accepted it without knowing what it was. After all, a gift from God couldn't possibly be a bad thing, right?
God didn’t give him any time to find out about his abilities. Instead, he took a look at the time and kicked him down onto Earth to be reincarnated and fused with his twin soul.
“Just in time for the games, all the best my golden child! Let’s watch you change this shitty world.”
As skeletons did not drop loot, the only way to gain anything from this floor was to find loot chests or fight variant monsters like the Skeleton Knight. The loot Charlie found from their first loot chest was devastatingly ordinary. If Zen wanted holy water, he would make it himself.“It’s not entirely bad,” Charlie defended himself. “Think about the parties without a cleric!”Zen deadpanned. “I can create an entire well worth of holy water higher grade than that,” he explained. “Even if that loot was the deity’s grace, the only thing that I will accept is their goodwill. Have you seen how easily we have been defeating these regular skeletons? Basil doesn’t even have to cast Petrification. Benjamin and Jessica have been crushing skulls and spines the whole time.”It was true. Charlie had no chance to use any of the items he had. The holy water loot that should work to weaken undead mobs was not needed h
While waiting for Party Freedom to log in, Zen spent time chatting with his party members in the vanguard. Oritha and Sasha had gotten impatient and decided to go rogue.“I don’t think that technique is wrong,” Liu Feng commented. “If we kill and destroy enough, we could accidentally kill the boss monster and clear this stage.”Law of the jungle… Zen wondered if there was something else they were missing.“If that does not work, would you revisit the twentieth floor again?” Zen asked. “I feel like a huge hint would be in it. When we were clearing the tenth floor, we stumbled into a side quest that came with a very useful item.”After listening to Zen’s summary, Akiko agreed to split from the group to seek the unknown clue Zen was referring to. Although she had no idea what to look for, her unique bloodline ability allowed her to fly and pass through solid structures to enter hidden rooms. It was a
From weapon to combat basics, Liu Feng and Akiko pounded them into Zen’s brain for the whole afternoon. The team bonding activity Zen craved was more torturous than he thought. Why couldn’t they be more like Party Freedom? Although not physically demanding because he was still a patient, Akiko’s demonstration and mock combat were still mentally stressful because her killing intent, even in training, was real.“Good work,” Liu Feng commended after three whole hours.Zen had no idea if that was directed to him or Akiko. Unlike the two monsters, the poor chef could no longer feel his arms. Thankfully, dinner had already been prepared.“That’s a wrap,” Liu Feng concluded and Akiko quietly commended Zen’s effort to keep up, echoing what Liu Feng said earlier before excusing herself to shower.Among the three of them, Zen was the sweatiest and needed the shower the most. However, he was so tired that he could
Sniffle.Liu Feng frowned at the unexpected sound coming from his right. It was unlikely for Chatura to suddenly catch a cold. However, the sniffling became worse, and his confusion increased.Alarmed by the stream of unending tears, Zen quickly reached for the box of tissues. He added more chopped chilli to the seasoning because Chatura was a native Indian. Was she not accustomed to the native spice tolerance?“I’m sorry!” he quickly apologised, offering tissues. “I added a few more chopped chillies because I thought that was how you’d like it. Would you like a milkshake to help with the spice?”The crying worsened, and none of the assassins knew what to do. Just how many chillies did Zen add to that butter chicken sandwich?Declining the tissue box, Chatura put the sandwich down and wiped her tears with her saree.“It’s been a while since I’d eaten something this spicy,” she sniffled. “
Zen, as Chatura gathered from other students, was as they described. He was like a lamb surrounded by wolves. She knew how Zen recruited the Gorski heir. The cyborg had eyes almost everywhere, and Chatura prepared a double when she knew how the cyborg would do his background checks on her.Yet, after much contemplation, Chatura decided to reveal herself. Zen was a difficult person to get to. Yet, the most difficult task was understanding the gamer’s game plan. On the surface, Zen appeared to be an optimistic fool with no grand plan except to fawn and survive. Many people claimed he was adopted by those in power who merely wanted to keep him like a cute pet. She could see that. However, their internal dynamic was a little more complex. It was unclear who the true master was, given the way the rest of the people interacted with Zen.As lunch hours approached, Party Freedom’s main members showed up. Charlie had casually struck up a conversation with the new invigi
The kitchen was as lively as ever. Zen decided to prepare beef for lunch, inspired by the Minotaur. Party Freedom went to catch up on their dirty pile of laundry together, and Zen promised to cook their share as well. Not everyone from Party Godly Food was around. Zen missed the girls. Sasha was training with Oritha and Akiko. Unlike the boys of their party, who were mostly eccentric loners, the girls had better teamwork. Meal time was the only time Zen saw Liu Feng, and dungeon diving was the only time he saw Damian.“And steamed beef chuck was inspired by the deadly sauna spell?”Sheepishly, Zen nodded. The Seer saw through him easily. It was difficult to create a creative menu when he spent most of his time in the dungeon. Back when he was a civilian chef, Zen remembered how hectic kitchen life was. Even after lunch rush, they were always busy. There was always something to do. When the apprentice chefs were busy cleaning up and prepping ingredients, the sen