Hi, my name is Jane and I’m what you would call average. I’m not overly smart with B’s and C’s with the occasional A to spice things up. I’m not super athletic; sparing just enough motivation to jog (slowly) to keep from gaining too much weight. I’m about 5’10, with a decent tan due to a Mexican-American background. My parents are still together and I have two younger siblings. Like I said, I’m about as average as one can get in Mid-West America. Hell, my name is even average.
So what entitles me to bore your with my story. The reason is simple, if a bit cliché; I died. How I died is as average as the rest of my life; a car accident. I was driving home from College when I fell asleep and went into a ditch at 75ish miles an hour. All said, I’m lucky that I didn’t hurt anyone else in the process.
It’s at this point where my life (afterlife?) gets a tad bit more interesting. First things first, which ever religions had reincarnation as the end gets the gold star for being right. What said religions got wrong is that there is a bit more paperwork involved. After who knows how long I start to regain awareness. At first I was a bit confused due to the unfamiliar surroundings, and then it hit me; a clipboard. Looking at me was a man who looked like the personification of boredom. After a few seconds of my looking at him he starts into the most monotone and rehearsed speech possible that can be summed as such: you have died, this is reincarnation processing, answer the questions on the papers. After finishing his little spiel he moved on to the next dazed person and started the process over again.
It’s then that I start having the “Holy Shit I Died” emotional reaction complete with stoic sobbing. I’m not sure how long I was truly in that state, but when I finally got a grip on my emotions I finally looked around. I was in a large hall with few hundred, if not a few thousand, other people. The most fascinating thing was that there were very few other Humans within the hall. There were tons of other races there including the various standard fantasy races; elves, dwarves, fairies, ect. Even more interesting was that there were races that I had never even dreamt of as well. An example of this being a humanoid worm hybrid looking thing.
After looking at the crowd for a while I finally looked at the clipboard the one guy gave me. The first sheet was fairly straight forward with various questions such as what my name is, gender, planet, and other such identity centered questions. The second sheet was more interesting as it asked for preferences like if I wanted to keep the same gender, if I wanted to go to the same planet, keep the same race, and other similar questions. Once I finished the questions, I saw on the last page an instruction to go to one of the doors in the back of the hall. I got up and started in what I thought was the right direction until one of the guys handing out the questions stopped me and got me going to the correct place. As I got there, I noticed each door had tens of people lined up outside of them. Looking around I decided to go to the closest door, and then I waited. And waited. And waited some more. One thing I didn’t mention was that outside of a quiet mumble here and there the entire hall was completely silent. While I waited I tried to talk with the person in front of me, possibly a female dwarf, but after a few sentences it was obvious she didn’t understand me.
I’m honestly not sure how long it took for me to get to the head of the line, but it felt like days. Especially with the silence that always makes things seem longer than they should. One thing I notices was that no one ever left the door; it just opened and the next person would enter. The time each person was in there varied as well; some were in there for only 10ish minutes while other were in there for a better part of a day. Luckily the lady dwarf in front of me only took two or three hours. When the door opened for me I just stood there, and after a minute or so a soft voice just said “Enter please”. After not hearing anyone talk for so long I was surprised and decided to enter. Once I entered the room the door it shut by itself. The room looked like a fairly standard office. It had a big desk, a single chair in front of it, tons of paper on top of it, and surprisingly enough a computer. Though the computer was definitely not from Earth. After looking around for a few minutes I heard a light cough and focused on the woman behind the desk. She looked human, but something in my gut told me that was wrong. In either case she was beautiful. She had mocha colored skin and hair that was midnight black, and her features looked like they were sculpted by ancient Greek artisans. I may have drooled a little. After gathering myself, I sat in the chair and watched the woman as she continued reading something. Finally she said:
Woman: Can I have your questionnaire, please?
Me: Of course.
At that point she studied the questions for a little while, and I started to wonder how anyone managed to get through in just 10 minutes. Eventually she started speaking again:
Woman: I noticed that you said you wanted to go to a different planet. Is that correct?
Me: Yes, Ma’am.
“Why, if you don’t mind my asking?”
“Well, a sense of adventure I guess. I had a good life back home, it was just, I don’t know, kinda boring. All I did was go to school, and after that I would work some job. I’m not sure what to expect on a different world, but I’m hoping it’s different, you know?”
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After that the woman continued reading my answers and occasionally looking at me. At one point she even started using the computer, though she was glaring at it the entire time and I started laughing.
Woman: Why are you laughing?
Me: Because you were looking at that computer looking thing like it owed you money.
After saying that a slight blush colored her cheeks, but she still glared at the computer. This time I was able to keep from laughing. After about half an hour of silence she started talking again.
Woman: Alright, sorry for the wait but I had to make sure everything was entered in correctly. I have a couple options for your future placement. First is that we just put you on a random planet with a new race. If we do that you will of course lose your current memories and be reborn as an infant. There is also a second choice of going to a brand new world that has nothing built. No building, roads, or even huts. You would literally be dropped on a wild planet and start from scratch.
Me: Huh, umm . . . . . is there any way to get more info on that second option?
Woman: Of course. Well first of all there will be a few differences in this new world. First is that energy manipulation will be possible. By that I mean magic, or chi, or whatever the term you want to use is going to be possible. The second is that you would keep the same race and appearance, as well as retain most of your memories; the ones you will lose will be the more personal one related to friends and family. The reason for this is so that you don’t depressed missing said people and to help you focus on the present. It won’t be a complete wipe as you will still know who your parents are, but you will lose the emotional connection. Next is that your body will be enhanced in the process. By that I mean you will be stronger, faster, and smarter in order to help you survive. And lastly, there will be a game like system in place in place of a deity.
Me: Game like system?
Woman: *sigh* The beings that decided to make this new world noticed that on most technological worlds that the same style game kept appearing. Your world, Earth, would know these games as video games. Specifically, RPG games. At first these beings never bothered with them, but after a few millennium they got bored and started seeing what had been created in the various worlds. A few of them found these games and started playing them whenever a world found them. They then thought it would be interesting to have a world with similar mechanics, but also a bit more realistic. There will be levels, but they won’t be too important as they are only a general view of a person’s strength and all people will start at level one with no skills. If one had been a master magician in their old world they would have to start again here. Same with sword masters, they would know the movements but their bodies wouldn’t be able to move the right way straight away. The rest you will have to learn yourself if you decide to go.
Me: Give me a moment, I have to think about this.
Woman: Of course.
While thinking about it I got more and more excited. The chance to use real magic is something most kids dream of at one point or another, and I’m no exception. Especially with a slight obsession with fantasy books. The only part that makes me hesitate is losing an emotional connection with friends and family, but at the same time I realize that I would lose that anyway if I chose regular reincarnation.
Me: If I said yes, would I go right away?
Woman: Yes and no, to you it would feel like an instant but in reality it will take many more years until everything is completed on the world and the system is in place and working. Also, the powers at be want at least a few million people signed on before beginning. Like I said, the world will be new and all the people will be dropped in at the same time. Oddly enough there aren’t as many people signing on as I thought there would be, so that will probably be the thing that will take the most time. Any other questions?
Me: Will there be respawning?
Woman: Yes, but it will be limited to twice a year. Speaking of which, there will be about 400 days in a year with 31 hour days, roughly. The exact numbers aren’t available yet due to the planet not being finished yet, but that’s what they are aiming for.
Me: Hmm…you know what, I’m in. What have I got to lose anyway? I’m already dead.
Woman: Very good then. As a bonus for being in the first hundred thousand to accept you have your choice of one of these perks.
She hands me a list of choices ranging from an even more enhanced body to better innate skills with energy manipulation to having certain senses being extremely increased. The one that caught my attention though was Perfect Memory. The description was fairly obvious with it stating I would be able to recall anything with perfect clarity. When I told the Woman my choice she seemed surprised. When I asked why the surprise she said: “Most people so far have chosen to enhance either physical or magical abilities. You are the first to pick that particular option. In any case I believe we are done here. Would you please go through the door to your right please?” After that, I got up and went to the door. After walking through everything went dark, and I lost consciousness.