"His title is... The Eternal Engine."
Evan felt his blood freeze. Who the hell gets a title like that? 'The Eternal Engine'? Yeah, I ain't going against whoever that is.
As if reading his thoughts, the Goddess said, "Don't worry, you don't have to eliminate him immediately. But don't take too long, or he'll ascend..."
Her voice trailed off.
"By the way, you didn't tell me what he did," Evan pointed out. "If you don't tell me, I'm not accepting your request."
She sighed in resignation. "He captured my daughter and is using her as a test subject for his stupid experiments. My daughter... her name is... or as you would call her, Mother Nature."
Evan's eyes widened in disbelief and horror. What kind of mortal entity had the power to capture and experiment on flipping Mother Nature?
"I'll give you a gift to help you on your journey if you agree to help me free her," she said in the pleading voice of a mother.
Evan accepted and asked for a drop of divine mana as his gift. The Goddess hurriedly agreed, informing him of her plan to forge a body for his next life that could contain the divine mana until it was needed.
"Miss Goddess, I have a request," Evan said. "Please grant me the pleasure of erasing my memory."
"Why?"
"I need you to erase the memories—not all, but leave fragments—of my meeting with you and the sins beforehand."
"Of course. Just make sure you free her, that's all I ask."
Evan nodded, and the Goddess, telling him she was done, finally sent him to the Wheel of Samsara.
Evan didn't expect what he saw next. Sure, he expected a wheel based on the name, but this... why did a divine dimension have a literal Ferris Wheel?
He stepped inside and sat in a cabin as it slowly ascended, just like the ones on Earth.
The reason he had asked the Goddess to wipe his memories of the torture was simple: he didn't want to carry the trauma of what he had endured into his next life.
To pass the time, he decided to interact with the system.
"Quest page."
[QUESTS]
(???)
Difficulty: ???
Info: ???
Time Limit: ???
Reward: ???
(SAVE MOTHER NATURE)
Difficulty: SSS
Info: Goddess Aurora's daughter, Mother Nature, has been captured by The Eternal Engine.
Time Limit: 5 centuries
Reward: 1x Ticket for Desired Ability (???-Rank)
"Yo, System."
[Yes?]
"Sorry, what's your name again?"
[Envy's Successor System.]
"Okay, what's with the unknown quest?"
[Host is too weak.]
"Hey! I survived torture from six of the seven sins, and you're calling me weak?!"
[...]
"Humph. When will I unlock the details of that quest?"
[Once Host grows strong enough and meets the requirements.]
"Oh? And what are the requirements?"
[Host is too weak.]
"The hell! Then get it off the quest page or hide it!"
[Command received. Quests taking too long moved to 'Long-Term'. Quests exceeding current capability moved to 'Hidden'.]
[Is Host satisfied?]
[QUESTS]
(LONG-TERM)
(HIDDEN)
"At least that's cleaner," Evan grumbled.
Suddenly, the Ferris Wheel ground to a halt, and Evan was once again enveloped in darkness.
When Evan opened his eyes, he saw nothing but pitch black, and his movements were severely restricted. He squirmed as best he could until he spotted a tiny sliver of light. Driven by instinct, he wiggled slowly toward it.
A pair of hands reached out, holding his head firmly yet gently, and pulled him out into the light.
Evan squeezed his eyes shut as the bright rays filtering through the window hit his face. When he finally opened them, his blurry vision sharpened to reveal an elderly woman holding him in her arms before placing him into the hands of a pale, beautiful woman panting heavily on a bed.
She had shimmering silver hair, ocean-blue eyes, a delicate nose, and bow-shaped pink lips. She was truly a sight to behold.
The elderly woman kissed the pale mother on the forehead before leaving the room. The mother looked down at her son with a gaze overflowing with love.
The door swung open, and a handsome man with short red hair and striking golden eyes stepped inside, wearing a red overcoat over black attire. But Evan's attention was immediately ripped away by a translucent system panel hovering right before his face.
[System will enter lockdown in 24 hours. Host is granted a surprise reward prior to lockdown.]
[Good luck.]
"Has my beautiful devil delivered happiness into our lives?" the man asked, leaning down to kiss the woman's forehead. It didn't take a genius to figure out they were husband and wife.
"He has your looks, my love," she said in an angelic voice.
The man pouted, putting on a playfully hurt expression. "But that's all he has of his father! The hair and eyes are entirely yours. That's not fair!"
She giggled softly and spoke to her child in a soothing tone, completely ignoring her husband's theatrics. "I will protect you, my child."
Meanwhile, Evan was internally cursing everything he had ever read about reincarnation in web novels and anime.
Why here?! Wasn't reincarnation supposed to let you choose, or at least default to a human? I never asked to become a vampire!
Evan looked back and forth between the man and the woman, painfully accepting the reality of his pale, fanged parents.
Out of all the fantasy creatures in existence, he would have preferred being a slime over a vampire. Why? Because the sun was supposed to turn him to ash, and his main quest was to save an entity directly tied to nature!
Then there was the little issue of wooden stakes—literally carved fence posts—that could end his life in seconds. And garlic! A common kitchen vegetable could send him straight back to the afterlife before he even got started.
A shiver ran down his tiny spine.
Trying to distract himself, he looked around the room. A vintage clock—reminiscent of the Victorian era on Earth—hung on the wall, alongside a radio-like device and a glowing crystal acting as a light fixture.
Evan stared at the crystal in awe. Even if his species selection was a complete mess, at least the world's tech level was heading toward a modern era.
Suddenly, an old man without the pale complexion of a vampire entered the room wearing white priestly robes. He gently took the baby into his arms.
Evan stared up at him in curiosity, and the priest smiled back. The old man raised a weathered hand above Evan's head, and a warm green aura emitted from his palm for a few seconds before slowly fading away.
Shaking as if doused in ice water, the priest quickly handed Evan back to his mother.
He turned to Evan's father. "Duke... th-this child..."
"Stop," Evan's mother interrupted smoothly. "His name will be Evan Augustine."
The old priest took a deep breath to steady his frayed nerves before speaking again. "Evan has... he possesses an ice affinity... but his mana is... extremely faint."
The priest looked at the mother, whose face immediately drained of color in horror.
He then slowly turned to face the Duke, whose expression made the priest inwardly pray to the gods for his survival.
"WHAT?!"