Greetings, human. It is a pleasure to meet you. My name is irrelevant. But there are those who refer to me as the Great Other. Anyway, you are dead – killed by your rival gangers. Congratulations on dying in a suitably entertaining fashion. Time is paused at the moment. Once it resumes, you'll be devoured by puny little daemons in the Warp. Oh, I love this Universe, honestly; so much potential. But, enough of that. Before you get turned into daemon chow, I would like to make a deal with you. Become my avatar in this Universe. You will be granted access to a System of Power that, if you play your cards right, might just lead you on the path to Godhood.

Don't you crave power? You've been powerless your whole life, haven't you? Born in a hive, forgotten and abandoned by your own parents, clawing and biting and fighting to feed on scraps. And what do you eat? Yeah, corpse starch and 'mystery meats'. Sheesh, your existence sucks ass.

Wha-?

What is going on?

I couldn't move my body. And everything felt so cold. The voice is right, however. Life... existence... every single day in this fucking Hive is hell. I'm not even entirely sure who killed me. I remember getting into a shootout with a rival gang. I don't even remember who I was with. I never quite caught their names. And then... nothing. I suppose that meant I got shot and am now on the verge of dying.

Pathetic.

Accept and you'll get a second chance at life – and a chance to make something of yourself. If you don't, well you already know what's going to happen to you. Make your decision, little human.

I accept, even if the weight of it doesn't register at all. This might've been a Daemon; I just don't care anymore. I joined one of the gangs of Samara Secundus, hoping I'd make enough crowns to void starving to death. I had no one, had nothing. So, it doesn't matter what happened to me. None of it does.

And so, am I really at fault for grabbing the first chance at power? I don't even care if it's just a daemonic sham or if it was nothing more than my mind playing tricks on me as I lay dying in a pool of my own blood. I didn't care. I'd wasted enough chances in the whole of my life. And I wasn't about to let this one pass, just because it might be wrong, just because it might lead to damnation. If the God-Emperor truly was merciful, then he'd forgive me for taking my chances.

Good choice. Now, I'm going to spin the wheel three times. The first spin will determine your System Type, which will – subsequently – determine your playthrough. The second spin will determine your starting goodies. And, of course, the third spin is entirely randomized so that not even I know what it gives – or takes away. Let's begin!

Something spun in front of me... a trillion possibilities unraveling before my very eyes before suddenly stopping at just one.

Oh, that's interesting. There are only two other Gamers with this. Congratulations, human, you are now the host of the [Revenant System]. A round of applause please! There are a bunch of nuances to this system that makes it very different from others, but you'll have to learn that for yourself; the most basic of it, however, is that your ability to progress and gain power is tied to the amount of souls you possess. Souls are your currency; they are your bread and butter. Naturally, you may spend these souls to enhance your physical prowess.

[Revenant System] Booting in 3... 2... 1...

Perks Received!

[Living Revenant] – Are neither alive nor dead, but something else between the two concepts. Your body is merely a vessel; that means you no longer suffer mortal ailments such as hunger, thirst, disease, or aging. Your true self is the soul. Therefore, whenever you wish, you are able to detach yourself from your vessel. While in soul form, you are imperceptible to most senses and are impervious to physical harm. Furthermore, you are able to possess the bodies of others, provided that you are able to overpower their mental fortitude. Be warned, however, that dying while in your soul form will result in permanent death.

[Craftsman of the Afterlife] – As a Living Revenant, you have carved out your own twisted afterlife, your own Kingdom of the Dead. You may enter your afterlife whenever and from wherever you desire – body and soul – and shape it to your will. The more souls you've siphoned, the more you are able to alter your afterlife. If your body is destroyed, your soul form will be sent immediately to your afterlife, though you will lose everything within your [Inventory].

[Soul Siphon] – You may steal the souls of the recently-diseased around you, condemning them into your afterlife, instead. Souls linger around their bodies for one minute, before they are forever out of your reach.

I felt power course through me, filling my head with instincts that'd never been there. And, suddenly, I knew how to enter and exit my personal afterlife, how to alter its landscape, and how to steal the souls of the recently-diseased. I knew it as I knew how to move my legs and my arms, to blink and breathe; it came naturally. It was... amazing... the greatest high I've ever gotten – greater than any narcotic.

Now, we're going to spin the wheel a second time to determine your starting abilities. Later on, if you wish, you may purchase more abilities at the cost of souls.

New Abilities Unlocked!

(Uncommon) [Sigils of Irrational Anger] – Place four ritual sigils on any given surface and any sapient being between those four sigils will experience bouts of irrational and uncontrollable anger and aggression. Alternatively, you can attach a single sigil – up to four – on a single individual for twice the intensity, but only the individual is affected.

(Common) [Free-running Mastery] – Run, jump, climb, and roll on just about any surface imaginable. You have mastered the art of Free-Running, which is essentially just getting from Point A to Point B at the shortest time possible.

(Unique) [Gaslight] – The longer you speak and interact with a person or group of persons, the more likely you are able to twist their memories and alter it to suit your needs and wants. The more powerful a person's willpower, the less susceptible they are and them more time it will take to alter their memories.

As before, the knowledge and the instincts necessary to perform these abilities surge into and through me. And, just like that, it is as if I've known them since the day I was born.

Huh, interesting set of abilities; not the strongest, but definitely interesting. Well, I'm sure you'll do well enough to get by. And now, we're going to spin the wheel for the last and final time; be warned, human, this final spin is truly and utterly random. It can be anything from literal shit in your inventory or it can – and this has happened before – turn you into a god. I don't know. That's why it's interesting.

Item Received!
[Tome of Angels (Basic)] – A manuscript that details the summoning and binding of True Angels. Finish reading to unlock a new Skill Tree – or, potentially, a race change.

Angels, huh? You better watch out, those things are nasty, but they're pretty powerful – all things considered. Anyway, you're all set now. I'm sure you'll do well. Have fun and good luck. I'll be watching.

And, in what seemed like the blink of an eye, I found myself back in my body, staring up at a cold, metal ceiling, covered in rust and grime and moss. My chest was wet and slick and warm, and, as I looked down, I saw blood. It was my blood. I was laying on a puddle of my own blood, rodents and insects already slurping up my vitae. And yet, I was alive once more. I pushed myself up to my knees, briefly cringed at all the blood, before I ran my hands across my body. No wounds. It seemed that the being who granted my power had seen fit to heal my wounds as well. That was good, I suppose; it would've been terrible to have to start from the verge of death.

Still, I was alone here, now. The tunnel was empty. If my memory was at all correct, then my boss – at the time – mentioned that this specific tunnel led to Sector 436 of the Sewer System, a huge portion of which had apparently been taken over by the Baxter Boys, after clearing out the mutant tribes. The boss sent a team, which included me, to try and harass them. Instead, the Baxter Boys ambushed us, surrounded us front and back. I don't think anyone survived.

I glanced around me and, true enough, everyone was here – all fifteen of us. Fourteen corpses, their bodies riddled with bleeding holes and gushing wounds. Were we sent here to die?

I don't know. But I'm alive and I don't intend to suffer a second death. So, I begin gathering their weapons, almost all of which were badly-made stubber pistols, though our captain did carry a Lasgun, which I also took and sent straight into the [Inventory] – apparently an endless space, where I could store just about anything that wasn't alive. I didn't bother with their clothes at all as all of us were equally stained in blood.

Luckily, the tunnel was empty as I made my way out, both my feet half-sunken in ancient puddles of blackened scum water. I climbed right out of the exit after only a few minutes of walking and wading, the familiar stench of the underhive hits me with the strength of a rampaging Ogryn. Nearly two decades of my life spent here and I don't think I'll ever get used to it. A rabble of vagrants, beggars, and cripples greeted me as I pulled myself out. At least half of them are dying. All of them were malnourished and were on the verge of dying. An old man coughed beside me, his body covered in sores and boils and oozing growths, even as he clung to his ragged clothes.

This old man was just one of many. Medicine was expensive. Medicine and a proper medicae to administer it was even more expensive. Down here, in the underhive, we survived disease by praying to the God-Emperor and hoping the fever dies down, or the child sleeps soundly still and wakes up in the morning.

Quest Received!
Skill Quest: Living Revenant
- Kill 5 people (0/5)
- Steal 5 souls (0/5)
- Visit Your Afterlife (0/1)
Rewards:
- Revenant Skill (Basic)
- Bonus Souls (5)

I blinked and glanced around me. I only needed to kill five, yeah? There were at least ten people here who were sickly and dying. Ten souls to be harvested. It wouldn't even be cruelty on my part. Because, obviously, these people would choose death if they were given the chance, if they had the strength to kill themselves, instead of rotting away as they lived. In fact, it would be the merciful thing to do. No one would miss them if they died. No one would care.

Not that anyone was going to ever find their corpses anyway. We chose this tunnel specifically because it was so horridly disgusting and pestilent that very few people in the underhive were desperate enough to go near it.

I reached into my [Inventory] and pulled out a stubber pistol.

"I hereby grant you the God-Emperor's Peace." And then, one by one, I leveled the pistol upon their foreheads and pulled the trigger – one bullet for each of them. They made no sound, no protest. Those who were lucid enough did not care. The last one muttered a 'thank you' when I placed the barrel of the pistol against her head. Such was life here.

Blue-green sprites emerged from their bodies, like embers. With a single gesture, I called those sprites to myself. And, just like that, they were mine. I was now the proud owner of a grand total of ten souls.

I glanced around for a bit, making sure no one was here to see me, before I stepped sideways and entered the afterlife – my afterlife. There was nothing in it, I immediately found. The ground was gray and white and lifeless, covered in what seemed to be ashes. A light, hazy mist blanketed the air. Ten, blue-green sprites lazily floated and hovered around me. So... this was it, huh? I felt a connection between myself and the afterlife and I felt that, if I really wanted to, I could expend one of the ten souls to alter the landscape, but there was no need for that just yet. There's no stench, at least. And the ashen soil at my feet is not filthy at all.

Yep, I'm going to sleep here from now on.

I also realize that things that aren't a part of the true me cannot enter my afterlife, which meant I was naked at the moment. But that also meant that I was cleansed of all the filth and grime and crusted blood that'd clung onto my skin. My implanted instincts told me that I could access my [Inventory] here, but I couldn't take anything out.

My eyes fluttered up as a notification appeared in my mind's eye.

Quest Completed!
- New Basic Skill Unlocked!
- Bonus Souls Received! (+5)

New Basic Skill Unlocked!
[Undead Lord] – You are able to possess corpses and other dead matter, limited only by decomposition and decay. However, any corpse you possess will begin decaying at a speed that is 2000% faster than if it was otherwise allowed to decay naturally.

Oh, that sounded useful. The underhive, after all, had no shortage of corpses that I could make use of; so, the rapid decomposition thing was not that much of a problem, even if it was something of a hard limit. But, I grin all the same; power was power, no matter what form or flavor it took.

Quest Received!
Upgrade Your Afterlife!
- Build a Soul Forge (0/1)
- Build a Soul Keep (0/1)
Rewards:
- Bonus Souls (5)
- Free Afterlife Upgrade (Basic)

I frown as I close my eyes and review every single upgrade I was able to add to my afterlife. A [Soul Forge], which would cost me about three souls, was used to, quite literally, forge souls into items; how that worked or what sort of items I could make from it, I likely wouldn't know until I actually built one. A [Soul Keep], which also costed three souls, interestingly, allowed me to turn pure souls into [Battle Souls], capable of engaging in combat somehow; there were a lot of variants of [Battle Souls], some more costly than others; none of which would be of any use until I unlocked the ability to summon them into the living world, however. But, I suppose that ability would come with time.

There were... hundreds of other upgrades available, but most of them were grayed out and unavailable. Aside from the [Soul Forge] and the [Soul Keep], however, was something called the [Necromantic Gate], which was a structure that I could attach to a fixed point in the living world that would automatically steal any nearby souls directly into my afterlife. I could only attach a single point for each gate, however, but I figured the tradeoff was worth it. But, for now, I don't believe I needed it.

The only other structure I could build, for now, was the [Soul Bridge], which would allow me to transport a single living being into my afterlife at the cost of a single soul; they'd be comatose while they're here, but I figured it would be a good emergency rescue method.

Or a good way to kidnap someone.

Yep, I was definitely going to build this one.

Shrugging, I then spend a total of six souls, bringing my total to nine, to build the [Soul Forge] and the [Soul Keep], both of which I keep close to each other. The mist cleared and parted, revealing the latest additions. The [Soul Keep] was a structure seemed as though it was built entire of ashes and pale stone, with carvings and images that depicted human skeletons all over it; the shape of it was... foreign to me, but familiar in the sense that I understood what it was meant to do. It wasn't a large structure, barely large enough to be considered a house, despite its name; there was a portion at the front where a pure soul is to enter and another portion where it may exit, now forged into a [Battle Soul].

A console, of sorts, located at the side, allowed me to determine the variant of [Battle Soul] I wanted.

I took a quick look and, for now, two variants were available: the [Ghoul] and the [Banshee], both costed two souls each. I wouldn't find out what either of them were capable of until I actually created them, which I didn't plan on doing, until I have enough souls stockpiled.

The [Soul Forge], meanwhile, was essentially just a large table-like structure that jutted off the ground; like the [Soul Keep], it was made entirely of ashes and pale stone and heavily decorated with skeletal images. The whole of it was cylindrical in shape and the center was a concave portion, wherein a soul would be placed before it could be forged into something else. Another panel of sorts connected to my [Inventory], showing me the items that I could place on the forge and enhance or enchant with the power of souls.

The stubber pistols were available for enhancing and so was the Lasgun. The enhancements, of course, varied wildly, depending on the cost. Nothing was grayed out; everything was technically available, with the only limit being the cost. Some of the items, which would turn the humble stubber into a god-killing weapon, would cost me billions of souls. For the price of a single soul, however, I could enhance the accuracy or durability of a stubber pistol; for two, I could make it so that it'd never jam.

Or I could burn out a single soul and absorb its essence, making myself stronger in the process.

The possibilities were endless. But, again, I wasn't going to do anything just yet. I wanted to stockpile as many souls as possible, before I began making use of my afterlife buildings.

Quest Completed!
- Free Afterlife Upgrade Available!
- Bonus Souls Received! (+5)

The bonus souls were nice, bringing my total up to fourteen. But I turned my attention to the free upgrade and, with a single mental command, ushered forth the [Soul Bridge], the perfect rescue and/ kidnapping tool. Its form was simple; a massive mirror with a pearl-like surface and a frame of pale stone and ashes – certainly large enough for me to pull an unconscious person right through from the other side.

With nothing more to do, I stepped sideways and re-emerged back into the living world, in the same spot I'd been in. I wasn't sure if any time had passed at all and I don't think I'd figure that one out here, when I'm alone. The corpses around me certainly looked untouched and unmarred, despite the hordes of rodents that lingered about them. Then again, I hadn't exactly been gone for that long.

Oddly, I noted that, while my body was clean, my clothes remained tarnished.

Quest Received!
Skill Quest: Living Revenant 2
- Kill 15 people (0/15)
- Steal 15 souls (0/15)
Rewards:
- Revenant Skill (Basic)
- Access to Gamer Shop Function

Ah, I suppose that's just how I'm supposed to gain new skills, each time. Unfortunately, I do not see a surplus of fifteen sickly bums anywhere; so, finishing this new quest might take me a little longer than the first one. But, honestly? I'm not in the mood to be killing more people. It's not that I was opposed to the idea; I mean, I was only six years old the first time I took a life. To persist in the undercity was to accept that life was inherently meaningless. No, I simply wasn't in the mood for it.

Besides, I was still a member of the Corleone Family, even if I was little more than a nameless goon – fit only to be sent on suicide missions. Still, it felt good to belong and to fight for something other than myself; plus, the boss paid good and treated us fairly, most of the time, and I've even heard rumors that he was the son of a noble from the upperhives. Sure, he sent me out on a suicide mission, but sending out nameless goons on suicide missions was common practice among gangs; the Corleone Family was no different in that regard.

Breathing in, I walked forward. The journey back to Corleone Territory wouldn't take long, but I'd have to pass through the Valley of Beastmen just to get there, something that was easily done when in a group as the mutants only ever picked off whoever was foolish enough to pass through by their lonesome.

I could go around it, but that would also put me in Ratmen territory and they were arguably even worse than the Beastmen, because they'd pretend to help me at first, before stabbing me in the back, while the Beastmen would just walk up to me and shank me from the front.

The Valley of the Beastmen it is. If nothing else, it should give me the opportunity to test out my abilities, even if none of them would be good in a fight, except maybe for the [Sigils of Irrational Anger]; at least, it would be if the Beastmen weren't always irrationally angry anyway. However, I did have a Lasgun with me, but I've heard stories of people using them only for the rifle to explode, killing the user and everyone around them; so, I don't believe I'll be using the Lasgun until I've spent a few souls enhancing its durability. But I did have about ten stubber pistols; so, I should be fine.

I took two of them out, one for each hand, as I stepped forward. The path ahead narrowed significantly, before turning sharply, walls blackened by dirt and soot rising on either side, the ground tinged and covered in ancient filth and excrement. Another band of sick and dying vagrants with their backs against the wall greeted me as I turned; some of them moaned and groaned in pain as rodents chewed on their legs. This alley was just one of many, I reminded myself. And I wasn't responsible for them. When my group passed them earlier, we didn't do anything to help; why should I be any different?

I stepped over their prone forms and almost immediately stopped as I felt a hand wrap around my ankles – weak grip, delirious. I turned to the vagrant who grabbed me and leveled the stubber pistol right over their head.

"Please..." The sickly man begged, boils and rashes and sores and all sorts of painful growths across his skin. His one eye was blood-red and infected, and his other eye was just... gone, alongside most of his teeth. This plague, I believe, began a few months ago and spread rapidly across the worst of the underhive. Fortunately, it hadn't yet reached the living quarters of most people, confined as it was to the slums, the deep warrens, and sewers. The Creeping Death, they called it, as the rate of infection and its symptoms happened over the course of months, but those who weren't immediately cured within a week of contracting the disease was essentially a dead man walking, hence the name. "End me... please... I don't want to live anymore... everything hurts so much."

And here I thought I wouldn't have to take another life for, maybe, the next half hour, before I reached the Valley of the Beastmen.

"Fine," I gritted my teeth and pulled the trigger, splattering his brains all over the alley. One more soul, I guess, bringing the total number up to fifteen. I then turned to the other vagrants. There were around eight of them in total, seven now that I'd killed one. "Anyone else?"

I pulled the trigger seven more times, before I moved on.

AN: Babe, new gamer fic just dropped. Anyway, the plot bunnies hopped a little too much with this one. For this fic, I was hoping I'd focus more on characterization and interaction, as opposed to the big chunggus battles and explosions in A Guardsman's Game; so, the cast might be bigger and more dynamic, while the MC is... no necessarily weaker, but definitely slower than Perry the Guardsman in overall progression. I also wanna play around with the Revenant System as it came to me in a dream. Dunno, might continue, might not. Just a random idea. But, please, tell me what you think?