Cool moist darkness.
Soil. Long body. Burrow burrow burrow. Leaf piece. Eat. Burrow.
Thud. Thud thud above.
Water trickling down. Rain.
Thudthudthudthudthud. Hard rain.
Wet. Very wet. Burrow up. Burrow burrow burrow burrow burrow. Air. Fresh air.
Thump. Thump. THUMP.
Ground shaking. Something coming. Must escape. Must escape. Must esca–
Splat.
"Please state your name and nature for me."
I was back in the same cramped office in the Bureau of Reincarnation, with the same bored clerk skimming my paperwork. And I still shone with the same blinding whiteness.
Piri. Earthworm. Hey, why am I still White Tier?
There was no way I could have been an evil earthworm. For one thing, earthworms didn't have the mental capacity to comprehend concepts such as "good" and "evil." I floated higher so I could read my list of deeds – which consisted of a single item: "Renewed the soil." I was neither a farmer nor a natural philosopher, but soil renewal sounded like it should be good for agriculture.
Didn't I, I don't know, help the farmers?
"You did," replied the clerk without looking up. "And you earned positive karma for it. However, as you were stepped on and killed in a matter of days, your positive karma from this life is not nearly enough to compensate for the negative karma from your past life. Now, if you will dip yourself in the Tea of Forgetfulness – "
Wait a second, I broke in. What am I getting reincarnated as this time?
"It is not customary for souls to be provided with this information beforehand – "
Seriously? Why? What are you afraid of? Hey, wait a minute. Don't tell me I'm going to be a worm again!
In answer, he raised a finger and pointed, and I sailed towards the vat, still yelling, Stop! Stop! I don't want to be a worm again!
Splash.
Cool moist darkness.
Soil. Long body. Burrow burrow burrow. Leaf piece. Eat. Burrow.
Burrow burrow burrow.
Lots of burrowing.
More burrowing.
So much burrowing.
Okay, how much positive karma did I earn this time? I lived longer this time, right?
"You did."
So can I move on to the next Tier now?
"I'm afraid not. Your total karma does not yet qualify you for Green. Now, if you will dip yourself in –"
Oh, no no no! You're not going to make me a worm again, are you? Stop making me a worm!
Splash.
Countless lives as an earthworm later, the clerk finally informed me that I had completed enough soil renewal to advance to a higher lifeform within White Tier.
YOU ARE READING
The True Confessions of a Nine-Tailed Fox
FantasyAfter Piri the nine-tailed fox follows an order from Heaven to destroy a dynasty, she finds herself on trial in Heaven for that very act. Executed by the gods for the "crime," she is cast into the cycle of reincarnation, starting at the very bottom...
