[Wake up, Beta.]

I was lying on a simple bed when the voice woke me up. It was a familiar voice.

“Is that you, GOD lady?”

[Yes. Get up, move your body around, check if there’s anything wrong. Sometimes souls cause malfunctions during transfers.]

“Did you just call me ‘Beta?’ Is that what I’m going by now?”

[The sooner you lose ties with your former life, the better.]

“Sure,” I said, getting up from the bed and looking around the dark surroundings. Meanwhile, I stretched my neck and shoulders, feeling strangely refreshed and energetic.

“My neck feels better. Always had that pain from sitting too long. All the time, actually, staring into the monitor, you know.”

[Your physical abilities have been upped, along with other bonuses.]

“Thanks. I guess.”

[Do you want to hear about the bonuses?]

“Can it wait? It’s weird, but I’m kind of hungry right now.”

[Good. You can begin your task right away.]

“Of course, I have to get my own food. You couldn’t add food to one of the bonuses, could you?”

It was then that my eyes adjusted to the dark and I realized I was standing in the middle of a small room, or in fact a house—with broken furniture and general mess as if a tornado had swept the place methodically as well as thoroughly.

“What is this place? What happened?” I asked in dismay. I approached one of the broken windows and looked out to find couple other houses sitting silently in the dark, with no sign of life anywhere.

[Some weeks ago, there was a Goblin attack at one of the human settlements. You are standing in one of them.]

“There are Goblins here?”

[And strong, in terms of numbers game. There are more Goblins than there are Humans in this world. You are a Human, by the way.]

“I would’ve been pissed if I were anything else. Though, an Elf wouldn’t have been too bad. I’m assuming there are Elves as well? And Dwarves?”

[There are six races in total: Humans, Goblins, Elves, Dwarves, Orcs, and Reptils.]

The last one sounded unfamiliar, but not too unfamiliar.

“Let me guess. Reptils are covered in scales and look like lizards. With spiky tails and nasty teeth and all.”

[Some of them fit your description.]

“Really? You’re going to make me guess on that one?”

[You will meet them eventually. I don’t want to ruin your first impression.]

“How kind of you. Well, based on what you told me, that’s a lot of folks, and it’s one hell of a busy Dungeon you got here, ma’am.”

[You could say it is a ‘hell’ at this point. Interracial wars are at their peaks, and no one race is kind to the other, generally speaking. There are a few exceptions, but even those relationships are precarious.]

“Sounds like a real paradise.”

[Welcome to your new home, Beta.]

“I’ll need more time to get used to that name. So, this interracial war. How are the Humans doing?”

[Not so well.]

“Another good news, not. What, are we losing or something?”

[Humans are... weak. The weakest of all six races, physically and physiologically.]

“And you had to make me a Human. Thanks a lot.”

[Humans are versatile, but they are also vulnerable on the whole. Besides, they lack a hero at the moment.]

“Whoa. Am I that hero?”

[That’s up to you to decide. Now, here’s what you’re going to do. First off, you will have to learn to survive. Gather gear and items from the abandoned houses. And don’t worry. The corpses have been consumed—cleaned by the Goblins long time ago.]

“I caught that. You said ‘consumed.’ Don’t tell me Goblins eat Humans?” I groaned in horror.

[So do Orcs and Reptils, but those two eat their own kinds as well. Quote-and-quote, ceremoniously.]

“Are you kidding me? That’s... abominable!”

[I never kid.]

There was that stern voice again.

“And you’re okay with that? You’re letting cannibalism run abound your... creatures? Wait, what do you call us? Mortals? Test subjects? Toys?”

[Try the ‘inhabitants of the New World.’]

“Hmm. Nope. Not feeling it. Sounds awkward. Sounds like you’re giving up your responsibility to look after your children, cannibals and lizards included,” I shook my head adamantly.

[Listen, Beta. We don’t get to decide what the Next World looks like. It could be the Humans like the present world who prevail, or any of the five other races could be the winners this time. We just watch over them. It’s your war, your future. And on a not-so-completely unrelated note, I remember the Humans in your former world practiced cannibalism for some extended period of time.]

“Way in the past. And I don’t think I’m even related to them, actually.”

[You are. Everyone is, one way or the other.]

“You’re GOD. You can’t support evolutionism. ”

[Evolution is real.]

“Wow. Looks like someone’s going to lose some churches and believers.”