I opened my eyes to see a white expanse. The only things in it were myself and a being sitting at a desk.
It looked human, but blurry.
My eyesight was fine, dying seems to help fix that issue, so there was some odd effect to not see them clearly, somehow.
Talking seemed to be the only available avenue. Or waiting until I died, again.
“Hello,” I said.
“Hello,” it replied. Its voice was rough and oddly robotic.
“Can you tell me what’s going on?” I asked.
“Of course, that’s my job,” it replied.
“Right, well, where are we?”
“Limbo is what the area is commonly referred to as.”
“And why am I here?”
“After death, some souls are brought here to be assigned a new journey.”
“Some?”
“Others are usually claimed by a higher being, destroyed, or in rare cases lost.”
“Okay, so, where am I going?”
“That’s up to you. We’re very big on free will here.”
“So I could go to the Marvel universe?!”
“Yes, any iteration is fine.”
“Then the MCU is my choice.”
“Perfect. And, because your karma was high enough, you’ll be given a boon.”
“Oh, well that’s nice.” I totally thought I would be given one regardless.
“Yes, you’ll be given a system. Don’t worry, it’s pretty snazzy if I do say so myself.”
“Uh, thanks.”
“Not a problem. Good luck out there.”
The being, whose name I never got, slams its hand on the table. I then fall, what feels like hundreds of feet, to my new life.
—
I open my eyes to see a busy New York street. People are walking past me, cars are going by, but what catches my eyes is the building in front of me. 177A Bleecker Street.
“Of course I’m sent here.” I say to myself. “Well, let’s look at the System before we start.”
System.
[System initializing. 0% … 14% … 26% … 46% …80% … 99% …
Welcome user to the Hero system. Features include and are limited to the Template section, Summoning section, Store, and Inventory. Would you like a breakdown of the sections and their uses?]
Yes.
[Great. Let’s start with the Summoning section, as that is the basis for which the others will make sense.]
Yea sure.
[You receive one summoning point for every heroic action you or your summons take. You then spend it to roll the summoning wheel. After that the summoned hero will be placed in your inventory to be summoned or absorbed into the Template if you so choose. The odds for the summons are 50% for D rank(mundane), 25% for C(gifted), 15% for B(supernatural), 7% for A(marvel), and 3% for S(God-like). Does that make sense?]
Are the summons completely loyal? Also can any number of summons be out at a time?
[Yes to both questions.]
Alright, continue.
[Great. Now the Template. When you absorb a summon to be used as a Template you are effectively fusing yourself with the character. Initially, this means you can transform into that character but after you reach a synchronization of 50% then you’ll be able to use their intellect, skills, or abilities with your current body. Note: you can only have one Template active at a time until it reaches 100% sync rate and is permanently slotted. Does that make sense?]
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
Yeah, I think so.
[Great. The last two to note are the Store and Inventory. In the Store, you are able to buy anything except summons, and you can only use credits. You can exchange local currency but the exchange rate is ever fluctuating. Additionally, you can always sell a summon to receive credits. From D-rank at 100 credits to S-rank at 1 million. And lastly is the Inventory where you can store anything. But take note that the larger the object is the longer it takes to absorb into the Inventory. Does that make sense?]
Yes, but I’d like to know if it’s possible to exchange credits to local currency.
[Unfortunately, user, that is not possible at this time.]
Sucks. Alright, is the tutorial over?
[Yes, and with it you receive a gift box. Please check your inventory.]
Thank God. I thought I’d have to join the sorcerers and then take forever to learn magic and save someone before being able to roll a summons. Phew. Anyway, Inventory, open gift box.
[Gift box opened. You received: 1x Oliver Queen(DC) summon, 5x Summon points, 100 credits, and one letter addressed to the Sorcerer Supreme.]
Great! Now, before getting into the other stuff, I’ll do my summons now.
[Rolling…
4x D-ranks: Jules Winnfield(Pulp Fiction), Eudora Addams(Addams Family), Brakken(Bakugan), Darcy Clarkson(Assassin’s Creed)
1x C-rank: Prince Zuko(Avatar: the last airbender)]
Shame that; 50% means a lot I guess. I’ll just sell those.
[4x D-ranks sold to shop… 400 credits returned. Thank you, please come again.]
Right, I’ll do that. Oh, wait, I could’ve kept Jules and then pranked Fury so hard by looking like him. Nevermind I guess.
I sigh and walk up to the building’s door, then I ring the doorbell. It takes a few minutes for someone to show up.
“Yes?” Wong asks.
“Ooh, it’s you- I, uh, mean, hello.”
“Right, hello, is there something you need?”
“Yes, I’d like to speak to the bal- *cough* Oh, sorry. I mean the Sorcerer Supreme, please.”
Wong stares at me for a moment. I stare back, excitedly waiting.
“She wasn’t expecting anyone. Can I ask you to wait here while I go see if they are available?”
“Sure, that’s fine. I’ll just… wait here.” I give two thumbs up.
“Thank you,” he says as closes the door.
I’ll just check out the store while we wait. Oh, look, a furby!
-5 minutes later-
Wong opens the door suddenly. I nearly poop myself.
“Please, come in,” he says.
“Right, yeah, thanks.”
We pass through the entranceway and then Wong activates his sling ring.
It’s a lot cooler in person to see a wormhole open up in front of you.
“Please, follow.”
Right on his heels, I travel from New York to Nepal. The pretty orange particles popping like popcorn and flowing over me like fairy dust.
We pass by the courtyard and all the trainees. Some notice me, but none point out my being here.
We come to a door. Wong knocks.
“Come in,” a voice says.
We walk in to see an old man with long gray hair in monk robes sitting at a table motions us forward. I go sit at the table.
“Hello,” I say.
“It seems you asked to see me?”
“No,” I say. He raises an eyebrow. “I asked to see the Sorcerer Supreme.”
“What makes you think I’m not?”
“Besides the fact that you’re a man, and not bald?” I pause. “You’re too young.”
The old man looks at me confused. He is about to speak again before we hear a chuckle.
“That’s enough, grandmaster Zhao, I’ll take it from here.”
The Ancient One appears from the side of the room. She goes to sit where the old man did while he stands, bows, and walks away.
“So, you’ve asked to see me,” she states.
“Yes, I have something for you. Your eyes only,” I say, pulling out the letter from my inventory.
Her eyebrow raises. A combination of the letter and me pulling it out without using magic.
She looks at the letter questioningly, does some spell to test its mundanity, and then opens it.
As she reads, I keep an eye on her facial expressions. Unsurprisingly, there is barely any. Except for her eyebrow twitching. When she’s done reading she looks back to me.
“I think I understand,” she says.
“Do you?” I ask, unsure a small letter could convey everything.
“Somewhat. Do you have questions?”
“Yea, I mean, if that’s okay.”
“Of course,” she says, drinking tea that appeared from nowhere.
“Do you know why I’m here?”
“Free will.”
“No, well yes, but I meant why I’m here delivering a letter to you.”
“I would have become aware of your circumstances and tried to find out myself, but this way is easier and with less worrying.”
“Okay… Can I learn magic?”
“It says here,” pointing towards the letter, “you’ll be able to do so on your own. It also says ‘No freebies.’”
“Sucks. Uh,” I think for a moment, “I don’t really know what else to ask.”
“That’s quite alright. Know that, although there are ‘no freebies’ you can always ask for help in a time of need.”
“Thank you. Well, I guess I should be going.” I stand up and am about to leave when I think of a good question. “Oh, sorry, one last question. What year is it?”
“2007.”
“Thank you.”
She nods and I leave the room. Wong is there waiting.
“Back to New York, Mr. Wong.”
He nods and I follow. We quickly make it back to the New York sanctum and then out the front door.
“Thanks for your assistance,” I tell Wong.
He nods and closes the door.
“Well, now what?”
Today was the first day of the rest of my life. I, Brian Waterson, would go further and farther than anyone ever thought. The stars were the limit and I was limitless.
Or something like that. Seriously, what do I do?!