Let me just say this right now so I can get it out of the way.

I died.

However, I am still alive. To explain that, we need to rewind a bit- but only a bit. Barely even two minutes ago, actually. I was leaving school for the weekend. I walked out the doors, passed by the many students conversing with each other, and went on my merry way to the other side of the street to get to the bus about a couple blocks away. On my way there, I passed by a small park. I used to play there all the time when I was younger. Tag with my brother was fun. Two small kids were kicking a soccer ball at each other, playing a small game with pretend goals and no real rules. Everything was fine, when one missed and the ball rolled off into the street. As that child began to run after a bit, he didn’t notice the car speeding towards him. The driver was unaware of the kid as said driver was not very responsible. He was in the middle of a text. “Kid, look out!” I yelled towards the child. He looked up to me and saw the car almost directly in front of him. He went wide-eyed. Before the car hit, he was pushed away by someone. That someone was me. I felt the brute force of the bumper and metal ram into my side as I fell and got run over by the tires. I didn’t really get to hear or see much else before everything went black. All I heard was the sound of someone screaming, a kid crying, the worried voice of a gristly man, and the opening and closing of a car door.

And that was it. My soul just up and left my body.

Then I woke up.

My eyes shot open and I sat up, looking at the blank space around me. There wasn’t anything spectacular or amazing. It was just… white. White as far as the eye could see. I looked down and was surprised that there wasn’t really a floor, either. I stood up and didn’t really know what to do or what was going on. Go figure.

“Hello.” It was a loud and assertive but somehow calm voice that spoke to me. Looking behind me, I saw a grey-bearded and haired man, wearing white robes and sitting on a throne of colorlessness. “How are you feeling?” he asked. I assumed it was a he, at least. He indeed has the look and ‘feel’ of masculinity but I was being thrown of by more than hys physique.

“Um… g-good, I guess?” I replied, trying to and failing to sneak past a stutter.. “I hope you don’t mind me asking, but… who are you…?”

“I’m going to put it simply for you,” he began. “I am a God.”

I was taken aback by this. I was basically face to face with God- I was talking with the being that supposedly created everything in existence. Extremely hard to believe, I know. Even worse is how I had a small feeling of guilt from my partial disbelief in my Judaism.

“Well, more specifically, I am ‘a’ god. There’s more than one. You see, there is a friend of mine who is in a bit of trouble. He needs beings from other worlds to come to his world in order to stay alive,” the supposed deity said. “Initially, that child was supposed to come here and start his new life, free of memories, and granted incredible power to guide him on his way in this new world. But you defied my will and took his place.”

I knew I died, otherwise there would be no way any of this would be happening. Plus, that pain was excruciating. “So… what happens now?” I asked.

“Just as I attempted to do with the child you saved, I will be sending you over to that other world.” he replied.

I asked another question. “What… what is this world full of?” I am asking this because there is a certain hope I am having. If I am to go to another world, then what I am hoping for is-

“It’s a world of swords and magic. I believe it will be reminiscent of those role-playing games you had back in your world.”

I went starry-eyed. I was going to a world where swords and magic are the norm; it’s a dream come true for me.

If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

“Because it will be difficult to truly get yourself accustomed to this world, not to mention you apparently have the power to defy my word, I will give you some leeway to being who you want to be. As such, you will be granted some wishes. Tell me them, and I will see what I can do.” I brought my hand up to ask a question about that right off that bat before he raised his and stopped me. “Don’t worry, I’m not a genie. I won’t twist your word or anything.” I breathed a sigh of relief.

After hearing that, I had a hard time keeping myself from letting my mouth go agape. Not only was I going to a new world where combat will become like a fever dream, but I get some amount of decision on what I get to be? “...I will tell you what I would like after a few questions. Is that alright?” I ask. The god nods his head. “Then first…concerning magic, what are the supposed ‘elements’ in this world?” I started.

God responded that there were ten core elements, and four divine ones. The ten normal ones are [Fire], [Ice], [Bolt], [Water], [Wind], [Earth], [Dark], [Holy], [Poison], and [Non], which means Non-Elemental. Stupid that the not became part of the not-not. For the four divine elements, there is [Summoning], [Astrology], [Space], and [Time].

“Second question… what kinds of people live in this world? What are the races?”

God told me that there were a large variety of people, each race also holding innate talent with certain elements. There were the Humans with the Fire of Pride, Djinns with the Bolt of Power, Giants with the Ice of Solitude, Mermaids with the Water of Wisdom, Elves with the Wind of Intelligence, Dwarves with the Earth of Fortitude, Devils and Demons with the Darkness of Evil, and the Angels with the Light of Justice. [Poison] and [Non] can be used by nearly anyone but aren’t of innate talent from birth. Anyone can technically learn all elements but their teacher must either be really good at educating others or you must also have some amount of innate talent towards that element, such as me and [Fire] considering that I was human in the previous world. The only way to use any of the four divine elements is to be born with the fervor of that element’s creator in any capacity.

“Final question… is there slavery? And, if so, who is enslaved?”

After asking that, the man on the throne broke eye contact for a bit with a slightly sour expression. He looked back at me and said that there were also beast-men in the world; people with ears and tails of animals. They are typically the ones enslaved by humans, since they have a special form of balance within their race. This balance grants them more general power and talent than any of the other races singled out, and are hunted throughout the world. They have an innate talent that is dependent on the clan, such as bear beast-men being proficient with [Earth] or [Bolt], while wolf beast-men are better off with [Ice], or [Wind]. Cat beast-men would be good at [Wind] as well or maybe even [Dark] or [Poison], while fox beast-men are likely users of the [Holy] or [Fire] elements.

“That’s all the questions. Thank you for answering them.” I told God. He seemed to breathe a small sigh of relief as if I touched on a subject that I probably shouldn’t have talked about. In hindsight, slavery was good to learn about but was, indeed, touchy. Regardless, I continue with who I want to be in this new world. “What I would like when I go to this new world are these few things. I would like to be able to read, write, and be able to talk with any person- in the sense that I know the language of this world. I would also like to be born with the talent for the [Dark] element, at least. And, although this may come off as weird, my final wish… is to be born as a female beast-man.”

After that kinda long, sorta drawn out summary of everything I would like (at the very least), God closes his eyes and lowers his head. He looks back up at me and smiles. “... you are strange… but you are a good person at heart. I’m sure you will be amazing in this new world. I grant all three of your requests, and will even put in a little extra, if you will. That ‘extra’ is for you to find out.”

I was a little confused, but very happy at his sentiment. I wonder what that little ‘extra’ is…

“It’s time for you to go to the new world,” he said. “I hope you have an incredible life.” As he said this, everything around me started to disappear. God and his throne started to dissipate, and my body started to become transparent. My eyes went wide. I smiled.

Then everything was white.

And then I opened my eyes for a second time after my death. It was a bit hard to see but I’m hearing someone crying. I think that crying’s coming from… me? In my view, there’s a woman I never knew in front of me. Seeing a ceiling, I know we’re in a building and that I was either laying down or being carried. The woman is smiling with happiness. She says something about ‘our big bundle of joy.’ I assume she means me. Looking her over a bit more, she has brown hair, beige shirt, and white apron. She also has orange ears at the top of her head and an orange tail with a white tip. I think she’s a beast-man, but also…

My mother.