If I had to describe the reincarnation process, the closest resemblance would be a flood. At first, it came in a trickle. Pictures of people I had never seen in my life flashed by, yet I knew them intimately. The trickle became a river and the river flowed faster every second. There were so many voices in my head and the pain of the memory and knowledge became unbearable. With an agonized scream, the world went white and back to black. For a while, I don't feel anything I hear something.

The shrill cry of an alarm clock ringing is the first thing I hear when I wake up. Opening my eyes, I quickly notice something is amiss. Everything around me looks fuzzy and blurry. I wipe my eyes, rubbing away the tiredness and possible shock of being reborn. Despite my action, the room and its surroundings still look out of focus. Tossing the heavy blanket behind me, I stumble toward an oak desk with drawers, where my glasses and wallet are. Donning my glasses, everything in the room becomes crystal clear for me.

The bedroom is sparse and decorated with a few paintings. A black bookcase filled with various books is bolted to the floor and sits next to my bed. The bathroom and shower are located a few feet away, separated by a door. Attached to the bathroom is my closet. As I get dressed, I notice my ID and pick it up to examine it. It is a white laminated identification card with my name, age, picture, and class number printed on it.

"Junichiro Marchosias" I mumble aloud. Placing the ID in my wallet, I check the room one last time before leaving. The route to the kitchen is imprinted in my memories as I quickly descend the stairs leading to the main hall. There is a sense of wonder as I explore my new home. Memories of my new childhood inform me about my new home, Marchosias Hold.

Originally built in the late 1850s, Marchosias Hold is located within a low basin in a mountain range near Kuoh City. It went through a series of renovations, its image transformed throughout the decades. Currently, it is a Dutch Colonial mansion that surrounds a quadrangle that serves as a training field. Surrounded by a ring of mountains, it's the perfect place for isolation.

The plastered brown walls are adorned with paintings, but it is the statues that catch my attention. The faceless eight-foot tall humanoid statues stand on their marble plinths, waiting for someone to form their shapes and define its features. A black Roman numeral, carved from volcanic obsidian and polished until to a smooth shining luster, is inset into each plinth. The largest statute stands in the center of the foyer.

Passing the rifleman, I make my way into the kitchen where I make my breakfast. Popping a slice of bread into the toaster oven, I pour myself a cup of milk while waiting for my toast. A loud 'ding' from the toaster announces that the bread is finished toasting. Gingerly, I pull it out of the oven and placed it on my plate.

The tranquil mood is ruined when I hear someone laughing behind me. Spinning around, I turn to face a white featureless person leaning against the wall. He has no identifiable features save for a hideously wide grin.

"Good morning, Jun. How are you?" the faceless man speaks cheerfully. Grabbing the jar of peanut butter, I walk over to the dining table, unscrew the jar's cap and yank out a dollop with the butter knife.

"Nervous but fine," I say as I spread the dollop across my toast, "Are you going to tell me my perks?"

God walks toward the dining table and pulls a chair to sit across from me. "I'm here to help you get oriented, Jun."

I frown at him before drinking from my cup. "What orientation tour? Did you add new rooms to the mansion?"

The grin on God's featureless face gets wider as It chuckles at me. "Let me show you." Gobbling the last piece of toast into my mouth, I drain the cup of milk and beckon him to begin the tour.

The moment I stand up, my vision goes white as my head is wracked with pain. Blots of various colors dance around my vision as I try to recover from the sudden attack. Falling to the ground, I howl in pain and try to blink my eyes. "What the hell was that?"

"Forgive me, I had to implant the last few additions into you."

Our first stop on the tour is the statue of I passed by earlier. God taps the statue curiously, "Tell me, what do you know about this place?" Confused, I give a short explanation of the Hold's history. It seems uninterested until I finish my long story. "What about this statue or the ones you saw earlier?" I shrug my shoulders, "I don't know. They could be my ancestors or family members who did heroic deeds". The grin on God's face grows wider, "You're right about them being your ancestors. But these statues are more than pieces of art."

I back away from the statue as cracks begin to form over its surface. Slowly but steadily, the faceless man moves his arms and legs. Jumping down from its short plinth, two blue orbs stare at me. Kneeling on one knee, the statue places a fist over his chest.

To be honest, I am freaking out a little bit. I knew I was reincarnated in a supernatural world, but I didn't expect to be in this kind of situation. "They're golems." I whisper aloud

God claps his hands and the statue returns to its plinth.

Following behind, my mind abounds with questions and I blurt them out, "How durable are they? How were they made? What are their weaknesses?" The featureless man chuckles softly and answers my questions with patience. Marching over to the basement door, we walk down the iron staircase. The smell of mothballs and dust causes me to sneeze, the sound echoing off the stone walls. Stacks of cardboard boxes line the wall on either side and I watch God stand in front of a gray stone wall.

"Behind this wall lays your base of operations, Jun. Place your hand on the wall and will it to move."

"What do you mean by 'will'?" I questioned him. God sighs and pulls me to the wall. Pushing my left hand against the wall, he looks at me with an expectant expression. "It's simple. Picture the wall moving aside like a door in your mind. Concentrate on that image and command it to open"

"it would be a lot easier if you had a keypad here," I grumbled and shut my eyes. The image of the gray brick walls appeared in my mind and an imaginary crack running through the center forced the wall open. The moment the wall was open, I mentally ordered the wall to break apart. The imaginary image fading, I opened my eyes to find a large gap in the wall. Behind it was a cavernous space illuminated by a hovering ring of white flames. A slanted stone ramp leads toward the bottom of the floor.

Carved on the stone floor was an intricate circular pattern with Sanskrit writing. As I get closer, I recognize it as the summoning circle from Fate / Grand Order. Beyond the circle was an elevator door that led to the deeper subterranean levels. The symbols and scripts that made up the pattern gave off a blue glow as we approached it. I gasped in pain and watched in horror as a circular pattern burned itself into the back of my hands. God doesn't notice me as It examined the circle.

"Ah, good. It seems that my mark has imprinted itself on you." God notices me and snaps his fingers, summoning a roll of white gauze and a bottle of alcohol out of thin air. Pouring alcohol on my burned hands, he continues his explanation.

"That mark is a symbol of my power and your authority as the Gamer. The Mark of Divinity serves as your main menu, allowing you access to your inventory and other stuff. By the way, it's also your Sacred Gear if anyone asks."

God carefully wraps my hands with the white gauze and I tap the spot where the circle branded me. A transparent menu screen pops up in front of me. There are four options to choose from.

Profile

Codex

Inventory

Tapping the 'Profile' button brings up a screen of my current status for me to see.

Junichiro Marchosias / Lv. 0

Power: 5

Resistance: 1

Traits: Godsight, Loremaster, Sly Tongue, Double XP

"Hey God, where's the rest of my other stats? I don't see my Dexterity and Wisdom stats. Also, what's Godsight and Loremaster?" God looks over at the screen and grunts. "Power is a combination of the Strength, Vitality, Dexterity, Intelligence, and Wisdom attributes. I simplified it to make it easier for you to understand."

"Godsight allows you to access another person's Profile. Loremaster is a trait that allows you to understand their background, such as their abilities and etc."

Lastly, the 'Codex' is basically a series of basic lore entries about the world of High School DxD. Most of the entries are a page long or shorter as I scroll through the Codex. Portions of the lore are blacked out, meaning I will have to learn about them through interaction.

God tugs on my right hand and pulls me toward the summoning circle, which glows as I approach it. The archaic runes shine with dazzling brilliance and blinds me. As I fumble around, a round object is placed into my hands and I raise it above my head so I can see it without being blinded. It's a black dice with the numbers one to fifteen written on each face.

"That dice will decide how many servants you can summon right now. The others can either be summoned with tokens or recruited from this world."

I lightly toss the dice into the air as I contemplate the possible outcomes. If I summon too many servants, it will be impossible to control them and establish a working hierarchy. The worse case scenario is if they expose themselves in public and everyone will target me. Humans, devils, angels - they will all be curious about me and how I can used as their pawn. On the other hand, it will be easier to command, but my peerage will be overwhelmed by sheer numbers alone.

I toss the dice into the air one last time before I commit myself to the roll. "Not too high, not too low, Just in the middle, please," I whisper to the dice and I drop the dice . The dice clatters on the stone floor and I kneel to see the number. "Eight, not bad," God pats my back as I sigh in relief. The summoning circle rumbles as eight pillars of light shoot into the sky.

"So, what now?" I ask God. The faceless being answers my question by presenting me a slot machine with eight notched reels and a tablet. A list of franchises appears on the tablet's screen and I scroll through the list. Most of the franchises it lists are something I am either familiar with or a name I heard while eavesdropping in conversations.

"Whatever franchise the slot machine picks is the servant you will summon. Neither you nor I can control the slot machine's choice. Whether they are a hero or villain, they are yours to command and fight alongside with," God says.

"You may have noticed that there is no crafting or inventory slots. That is because you will gain the abilities and weapons associated with that character. For example, let's say you summoned Goku. Besides summoning him, you will have access to his moves and Super Saiyan modes."

My moment of excitement dissipates when God wags his finger in front of me. "Did you think I would willingly give you all of this power without a cost? You are a fool to think so. Power corrupts everyone and thus requires a cost. In return for such power, you will inherit the enmity and hatred from the character's foes. People will suspect you and they might even attack you at first sight."

At this point, there is nothing I can do but hope for something good. I clutch the slot machine's handle and pull it down with all my might. The reels spin wildly as I wait for it to stop. I didn't know how long the machine took to choose, but the moment I turned around, the machine dinged and the reels stopped spinning. Before I could see what the machine choose, God grabs a handful of my shirt collar and tosses me outside of the circle.

A loud hum fills the room and the pillars began to crack ominously. Seams of multicolored light escape through the seams as the pillars fail to contain the surge of energy within. The hum slowly turns into a wailing shriek.

"If I were you, I would start putting on the Nanosuit," God says.

Pulling out the Nanosuit from my Inventory, I take a moment to stare at the crimson visor. The idea of merging with an alien exosuit is terrifying, but I need its power to defend myself. Stripping my clothes off, I put the suit on. Immediately, it tightens around my body frame and a tingling sensation builds from my feet and crawls up my body. The gestalt process of fusing flesh and metal is finished in a few minutes. I mentally activate the Nanosuit's armor mode. A brief shimmer of yellow light covers my body and my skin hardens immediately. I quickly deactivate the ability and hurried to put my cloths back on.

With a howl, the pillars shatter and light floods the room. Standing in place of the pillars are five figures of various height.

I take a moment to use Godsight on them and their profiles appear. the results are both surprising and disappointing. With a deep breath, I clear my throat and step forward to introduce myself.