I just had the most extraordinary Plot Bunny idea. You know how RPGs like D&D and Exalted posit cosmologies with gods that are empowered by faith, where more worshippers equals more powerful gods? What if the opposite were true? What if, instead of being fonts of spiritual energy, humans from Earth (and only the ones from Earth) are spiritual vacuum cleaners? What if tales of magic and miracles which rational minds disregard as superstitious nonsense were once common, but the presence of nearly 8 billion such people has left the world a mana deprived spiritual desert?
Is human sacrifice so common in magical fiction because the body releases its stored magic on death, and a proper ritual has a chance to use that magic before it gets sucked into the nearest human?
Are Isekai where the protagonist reincarnates into a magical world after dying so common because it is only when their tiny pool of magic is released upon the moment of death that the gods can use that dribble of free spiritual energy to yoink them off of Earth? Are they so valued as protagonists because, being spiritual vacuum cleaners, these reincarnated souls inevitably wind up becoming ultra powerful when introduced to a magic rich environment that can finally fill their spiritual reserves?
Is human sacrifice so common in magical fiction because the body releases its stored magic on death, and a proper ritual has a chance to use that magic before it gets sucked into the nearest human?
Are Isekai where the protagonist reincarnates into a magical world after dying so common because it is only when their tiny pool of magic is released upon the moment of death that the gods can use that dribble of free spiritual energy to yoink them off of Earth? Are they so valued as protagonists because, being spiritual vacuum cleaners, these reincarnated souls inevitably wind up becoming ultra powerful when introduced to a magic rich environment that can finally fill their spiritual reserves?
“I really hope I’m behind this convoluted mess; at least that way I’ll be able to get revenge by doing this to myself. I won’t even have to feel bad because it’ll be all my fault.” - Harry Potter, The Master of Death by Ryuugi.