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Re:life; prologue (2)
🕑 Added 2025-03-09 16:32:28 +0000 UTC[Monica’s bathroom] [Danial’s POV]
‘Ah, nothing beats a warm shower after a nap,’ I thought as I allowed myself to truly consider what to do moving forward.
I have always wanted to interact with this peculiar group of friends since my past life.
‘It has been more than 10 years since I last thought about my past life, and for a good reason,’ I thought.
I mean, how would anyone feel if they found out that after death they wouldn’t meet God or anything like that? Because get this: “God is busy.”
At least that’s what Uncle Martin said when he met me in the afterlife. It turned out he had arranged the car accident that happened to his son so that he could grant him his wish to be isekai’d, but I involuntarily interfered and died instead.
So he made me a deal: I would take his opportunity and reincarnate in exchange for giving him enough points to grant his son Jason—my best friend and brother—the opportunity he wanted. I agreed instantly, though I chose a normal life, much to his disappointment.
His disappointment in my choice was because, after reincarnating in a normal world, I would automatically become a worker for the organization, which allows me to spend my Karmic Value Points while alive. However, Karmic Value cannot be gained as quickly as other methods, like Destiny Points, Luck Points, or others that are only available in supernatural worlds.
That’s when I accidentally heard the truth about God and the organization. As it turned out, creation deities use their energy to spark the creation of a world and then wait for the energy to accumulate until said world dies, reabsorbing all that energy to gain more power. So, in a way, they invest their energy and then gain profit; they mostly don’t care what happens after creating a world—they just laze around and reap the benefits.
The organization, on the other hand, was created by the first beings from different worlds as a way to entertain themselves and gain different types of power along the way before the inevitable death.
That’s how I found myself reincarnated into this parallel reality where everything is the same yet so very different.
I don’t know what kind of shows are real here, but I at least know about "Friends" and, if my guess is right, "Grey’s Anatomy," too.
Still, all of this doesn’t really matter. What matters is that today I just finished paying off the debt of points I had, and now I am debt-free.
It took me 13 years to repay my debt to Uncle Martin—most of my life—but it was worth it.
And let’s not forget that I bought things needed for my second life, like upgrading my intelligence to prodigy level, enhancing my talent, the stories I wrote, advanced knowledge, etc.
“Oh, wow, most of my success is bought.” Now that’s an ironic thought.
Still, it would have taken me a lot more time and effort to gain the wealth and knowledge I have if I hadn’t had the advantage of trading my karma.
*knock* *knock*
“Danial, dinner is ready. Come out to eat quickly!” Monica’s voice came through the bathroom door, breaking me from my thoughts.
“I’ll be right there, Mon,” I replied, drying myself, wrapping a towel around my waist, and heading out.
“Whistle.”
A whistling sound bounced through the room as soon as I stepped out of the bathroom, followed by Monica’s scolding of Phoebe, who had been whistling and swatting at her.
“What? Look at him! He’s like a Calvin Klein model that came out of a magazine!” Phoebe said, defending herself.
‘Vanity is not my thing, but you have to admit, a little bit of Phoebe does wonders for the ego… that and looking like a young, more handsome Matthew McConaughey,doesn’t hurt ’ I thought to myself, smirking at her while giving her a wink.
“Don’t just stand there winking! Go change and come out to eat!” Monica said, giving me a glare and starting to push me toward the guest room, preventing me from greeting Uncle Jake, Aunt Judy, and the gang.
“Okay, okay! Can you loosen up a little? You don’t have to be so uptight all the time,” I grumbled in a low voice, which earned me a hit on the back from her.
...
“Jack, Danial is here,” Judy told her husband in a not-so-secret voice.
“I saw him, Judy. He grew up to be more handsome than his parents,” Jack replied.
“Monica, you didn’t tell me your cousin is a time-traveling hunk!” Phoebe said to Monica, earning a scolding stare from her.
“Phoebe, what are you talking about? That’s Danial. We’ve known him since he was a kid. If anyone is allowed to get close to him, it’s me,” Rachel said, muttering the last bit in a hushed voice.
“What’s the big deal? He’s just a little bit good-looking,” Ross said to Joey.
Joey just gave him a pointed look that said, “Who are you trying to convince?”
Chandler, who heard him, leaned closer and said, “Yeah, do you think his abs come with a warranty?” His sarcasm made Ross’s frown deepen.
...
“Monica, all this food looks wonderful. You should think about doing this for a living,” Jack said, making Judy roll her eyes.
“Ahhhahahhaha!” Chandler laughed a little too hard at this while pointing at Jack.
“Okay, I have dandruff; there’s no need to laugh and point,” Jack told him.
“Dad, Chandler was just laughing at your joke,” Monica said, trying to help her boyfriend and salvage the situation.
“My joke was not funny,” Jack replied.
“Uncle Jack, this could be due to stress-induced seborrheic dermatitis—try ketoconazole shampoo,” Danial said, trying to steer the conversation.
“That might be it! I’ve been very stressed lately. Thank you, son. Write that down for me later, okay?” Jack said, looking at Danial.
“Danial, sweetheart, what do you do these days?” Judy asked.
“Oh, I’m in my last year of surgical residency at Columbia-Presbyterian. I will start a fellowship in heart surgery next year,” Danial replied.
“Oh, honey, congratulations! You have always been a genius. Nana would have been very proud,” Judy said, extending her hand to hold his.
“Thank you, Auntie,” Danial said sincerely.
“What about you, Ross? What’s new with you?” Judy then turned her head and asked Ross.
The dinner after that was somewhat quiet, with Ross trying a few times to outshine Danial in his parents’ eyes, Phoebe attempting to read Danial's aura by feeling his biceps “to check his chakra points,” as she said, and Rachel talking about the past when Monica always tried to give her something to eat, even though she hated sharing food back then.
...
Danial helped after dinner by taking the plates from the table to the sink, with Ross doing the same. Rachel was trying to decorate her dessert, with Joey behind her urging her to finish it faster because he needed to go to a party with “hot girls.” Monica was trying to help Chandler change her parents’ impression of him— and failing.
Danial didn’t find a reason to stay in the kitchen longer, so he went to his room. He was debating whether he should write another Sherlock Holmes book or go with Harry Potter, because, as it turned out, there’s no J.K. Rowling in this world, and thus no Harry Potter series.
While debating and looking through the draft in his hand, Ross and Chandler barged into the room.
“Okay, I think I know why my parents don’t like you,” Ross said, completely failing to notice Danial sitting on the bed.
“You do? Why?” Chandler, who was about to greet Danial in a sarcastic way, turned his entire body to face Ross.
“Remember when we were young?” Ross said, confirming to Danial that he was the reason for this whole mess.
“Spring break, sophomore year in college, I got high in the bedroom, and my parents walked in and smelled it. So, I told them you had gotten stoned and jumped through the window,” Ross revealed.
“Why? Why did you do that?” Chandler asked in disbelief.
“Because he is a spoiled mama’s boy. What do you think? Have you ever seen him take full responsibility for his actions?” Danial cut in, answering Chandler.
“Hey, you have nothing to do with this, so stay out of it,” Ross raised his voice a little and said to Danial before turning back to Chandler.
“Look, I’m sorry, okay? Your name was the first one that popped into my head. How could I have known that we would still be friends after college, or that you’d end up living with my sister?”
“What about all that friends forever stuff?” Chandler asked him.
“I don’t know; I was high,” Ross answered.
*Cough* “Typical,” Danial said, doing the coughing insult thing, which earned him a glare from Ross, which he returned with a smug face.
Monica entered the room at that moment, saying, “My parents just sent me to see if you were trying to get Ross and Danial stoned.”
“Your parents caught Ross smoking pot in college, and he blamed it on me,” Chandler told her.
“Ross, I can’t believe you’d do that,” Monica said, looking at Ross with dissatisfaction.
“Of course he would! Remember how he scratched Nana’s car with his bike and tried to blame it on me? Thank God Nana knew me well enough not to believe him; plus, she didn’t like him very much,” Danial added, fanning the flames against Ross.
“What’s your problem?” Ross glared at Danial.
“Well, my problem is that you…” He couldn’t continue because Monica interrupted him, looking at Ross and saying;
“I don’t care what you do. Fix it now, or I will,” Monica told Ross, appearing fed up.
“Okay, okay! I’ll tell them it wasn’t Chandler. Now who should I say it was?” Ross asked in a subdued voice.
*Scoff* Danial scoffed but fell silent when Monica gave him a look that said, “I am about to sit on you,” and then turned to look at Ross, pointing at the door.
...
