On an island, floating on a spinning blue sphere sits a park surrounded by millions of people, going about their daily lives, and what a wonderful day it was. One such individual strolling through the park was Donald. He breathed deep, just enjoying being able to walk again, and the weather was just perfect for it. With the winter giving way to spring, when the air was just right, for an older gentleman such as himself. He had only recently been given the all-clear by his doctor, after his much-needed hip replacement. As a matter of fact, his doctor was actually encouraging the exercise now that he was recovered enough, saying it would help him recover, and to just not overdo it.

Yes, this was the perfect day for an old codger like him, to get off his butt, and take a nice long walk. Though he was currently finding himself regretting this course of action, he had been quite ambitious when he set out for the park, but now he could feel a deep soreness in his new hip and legs. He had forgotten his age again, and pair that with his latest inactivity, he was already exhausted. Thus he found himself sitting on one of the many benches scattered throughout the park, watching the people go about their day.

There once was a time, when a simple jaunt through the park was uncomplicated. Now it was all his body could do. I wonder sometimes if I had taken better care of myself when I was younger would it be like this? Thinking about his days when he was much more ambulatory and in better health.

Oh, Donald had actually taken decent care of himself eating regular meals, even indulging in a few savory snacks, but all in all relatively healthy diet. All the while staying away from anything harder than a beer, and thanks to his mother he never touched a cigarette. Though when they were officially labeled a health hazard, she became unbelievably smug about it.

No, his problems stemmed from a much less obvious source. Not to say he was lazy, but as he grew older things slowly became more difficult. It started simple enough when he landed an office job and just wanted to relax after work. Slowly, life became busy, for himself and his friends. Making it harder to find a reason to get up off the couch. Now he was old with a new hip, and all the time in the world since his retirement. Though, most of his time was now included doctors in some way shape or form.

With nothing else to do, he watched the other people that bustled around the park on this fine day. He caught sight of a yoga class in the field far across from himself. He thought about going over and inquiring about joining, but Donald was just too exhausted from his short tour. His imagination ran wild and couldn’t help but imagine himself trying some of the poses the group was doing and could only let out a laugh. I would probably break my hip all over again if I tried some of those poses.

With no one but himself to blame he let out a long and tired sigh.

"Hello, mind if I sit? It's been a long day." A tired voice called out.

Donald looked up to see a man in his early thirties, with a rough five o’clock shadow, in grease cover overalls, drenched in sweat. Donald thought the man was about to collapse, he couldn’t help but feel for the man, notably for the fact he had taken a seat for a similar reason. He smiled, “Go right ahead, young man."

“Thanks.” He practically collapsed into the bench, nearly jolting Donald off the bench. Startling him into laughter at the absurdity.

“What's got you all tired out?” Donald asked, curious about what put the man in such a state.

With a deep inhale of breath the man answered, sounding exhausted, “Just my job. They got me running ragged. The multi-verse is a complete shit-show right now, and for some reason, they just love people from Earth.”

That was such an unexpected answer, Donald could only blink and wonder, Multiverse? As in multiple universes? He stared at the man in moist overalls, trying to understand, why he was talking about such a concept when an idea hit him. “Ah, you’re a writer, aren't you?”

The man belted out a laugh finding the idea, rather hilarious. Though, he did give the idea some thought before, “I guess you could say that.”

“Well, I always liked the stories with adventure,” Donald answered sagely.

Taken aback, by his answer, the man sat up and said confused, “That's all of them.”

Donald kept a straight face for as long as he could before breaking into a wide grin, “Right you are.” Of course, Donald knew it was nonsensical, but some of the best conversations began that way, and this was shaping up to be interesting, at the very least.

The man in soggy denim looked the senior up and down, “So, what do you do?”

"Oh, I'm just an old man. I go on walks and watch people. Sometimes I take a water aerobics class. It's nice to move, keep the joints limber, and interact with people." He really did enjoy the aquarobics class, it was a great way for him to get out and socialize. But, since the surgery, he hadn’t been able to attend, due to the possibility of infection.

“Scope out the honeys?” The man asked, giving Donald a rather suggestive eyebrow wiggle.

The man’s antics brought about a belly laugh from Donald, “That too. Though, at my age, you have to worry about breaking the hips.”

The man grimaced, at the image, “I don’t think I wanted to hear that."

Donald found he was right. This conversation was quite entertaining.

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Visibly shaking himself, the man amended his original question, “So, what did you do?"

"Oh, a little of this and that. I was an accountant, but I always liked to paint. I still do from time to time." He said wistfully.

"Any good?"

"Terrible."

Caught by surprise the younger man let out an involuntary snort.

“Didn't expect that, did you?”

"Not at all." Del was wholly enjoying his little break from work. Only to be rudely interrupted by the buzzing of his phone, something he was trying out, and after this fiasco of a promotion he, now sorely regrets. The notifications had been running him ragged, as they seemed to be non-stop. Regretfully, he let out a long tired sigh. “That's work. They always need a Hero."

Hearing this Donald gave a flirtatious wink, “I could be your Hero.”

Del gave the man a once over before, nodding, “Maybe you could.” Del stood, “I’ll see you later."

“Good-Bye.” Donald was a bit disappointed to see the strange man leave, but he at least had an enjoyable time. What a nice young man. I wonder what he actually does. It sounds important, or maybe he just likes being the Hero.

With his conversation partner gone, and his fatigue reconciled, he found himself somewhat hungry. “I think I'll grab a slice of pizza.” Now he just needed to carefully consider where would be appropriate. There was a place right around the corner, it wasn’t the best pizza in the city, still good, and they always had fresh pie, not to mention they were cheap.

Without much fanfare, Donald stood and made his way out of the park, and all the way to the crosswalk, the 'do not cross' light lit. Surprisingly, there was no traffic on the road, to the point he contemplated just traversing the intersection. In the end, he decided to push the button and wait for the light to change.

The light turned, and he looked both ways. Seeing no cars, he began to cross. He made it only halfway before hearing the loud, honking wail of a semi-truck. This was in fact shocking as he knew for a fact there was nothing there just a moment ago.

I just wanted some pizza.

——

Inside the cabin of a semi-truck, driving through a road a path between worlds, in a bubble of its own reality, sits a man and a woman. The interior was quite clean, yet slightly cluttered. Looking in the back of the cabin, one would see the evidence of life but the front was much more sparse. Sitting behind the wheel was a soggy man in greasy overalls named Del, while the woman, Ge, wore a blue jumpsuit with the upper portion zipped down, showing a dark tank top.

Ever since they had taken the old man Ge was feeling conflicted. She had witnessed the entire interaction Del had with the man and didn’t know what to think. Eventually, she said, “I’m going, to be honest here. I don’t know if that was kind, or cruel.”

Del didn’t have an answer for her. At least, not one he knew would placate her. He never really knew what would happen, to the Heroes. Sometimes it was a blessing, others it was not. He shrugged, “They wanted a reincarnator, and the old man was cool.” He added the last bit at the end, as an attempt to explain himself.

His answer did nothing to placate her, “Yes, but we don't know how he'll be treated.”

“We never know that. If he's smart and lucky, he'll grow and have another good life. This time with magic.”

“And if he's dumb, reveals himself? Or if demons get him, or slavers?” Ge’s voice rose with every scenario she named, “and life can be quite brutal for someone just born into a new world.”

Knowing she was right Del’s shoulder drooped. He would wish the man the best of luck but he couldn’t control any of it. But he could see the wariness the man carried around with him, and the lust for adventure in his eyes when he spoke, despite the man playing it off as a joke. Del let out a long sigh, as he tried to explain “Look, I wanted to give him a chance.” He could feel her eyes boring into him, and he wasn’t always the best at explaining his feelings. Thinking fast he quickly changed the subject, “How long are you going to be hitching along, anyway?”

“What? don't enjoy my company?” Ge asked as a big smile crawled across her face, hearing the familiar question. Once it used to cause her anxiety every time he asked, now it was almost a term of endearment.

“You’re a pain in my ass is what you are.” The same answer he always gave, and always with a small smile, on his lips.

Leaning forward teasingly she asked, “So, is that a no?”

Rolling his eyes, Del ignored her keeping his attention on the way between worlds. It would come as no surprise that traversing realities could become quite, chaotic, so it was paramount that he pay attention. Though he only followed that rule when he felt like it, he would admit.

With the cabin falling into a companionable silence, a question began to gnaw at Ge. Due to the nature of their work, she had been reading stories of people transferred to another world or better known as isekai, and she was shocked how many, especially the Japanese ones, had a truck as the instigator. With nothing else to distract her, she asked, “So, are you responsible for all the summoned Heroes?”

“Not all of them, but plenty of them.” He answered casually, after all, it wasn’t like it was a secret, heck he even advertised. Though he was thinking of taking a break after this rush of orders.

“Is it always from Earth?” In her mind, it would be strange to only take from a single planet, but they had been taking from Earth for what felt like years.

“The most popular Heroes tend to be. But I get a few requests for people from other worlds too. Usually, they ask for someone who has something their world needs.”

There were a lot of interesting places she had seen traveling with the man, and yet there was one she had never seen, “Ever grab someone from a high-tech world?”

Her question caught him off guard since he was expecting her to ask about a magic world or what a Hero could give a planet. “Yeah, actually, they are big with transmigrator worlds. You know the martial arts ones where they’re always chasing after immortality. What were they called.” He scratched his head trying to remember what they were called,

“Wuxia and Xiania.” She answered as it was one of the more varied genres she had been reading. She had been impressed by the near-daily uploads by so many authors, and the incredible amount of chapters per series, some numbering in the thousands.

“That’s it!” He confirmed, excited. “Those worlds love them.”

“Why?” It made no sense to her that a world of martial arts would prefer to have people from high-tech worlds.

Sadly, the man’s answer was entirely disappointing. “No idea.”

With that, the cabin grew quiet, as Del drove, and Ge watched the unreality outside, for a time before thinking back to the old man. “Where to next?”

Grabbing a plain wooden clipboard from the side of his chair, Del looked over the paperwork, “Delivery to a god of art.”

“What kind of world?”

Lifting the paper he scanned it looking for the world itself, "Looks like a magic one."

"Think he'll like it?"

"He did say he liked stories with adventure."