---Chad---
For the past year every single reason a man might keep living had slipped away.
One by one by one.
Chad was getting old – had been for years but it hadn’t bothered him up till now. His knees went – then his wrists. He had been getting weaker for ages but recently it had all ramped up to debilitating levels. Chad was in pain daily.
His family doctor had given him some cream that helped briefly but overuse gave him rashes.
Aches and pains were just a common part of growing old – Chad could deal with that even if it made walking or doing anything with his hands hard.
After the aches and pains, the cataracts came. Not something he had ever imagined dealing with – but there you go. Blasted eyes failed him.
Why was it so hard to see? Glasses didn’t help – and surgery was too expensive in this damned country.
All of that paled in comparison to the real tragedy. The blow that broke Chad's motivation to keep going.
Two weeks ago the love of his life – Lilana – died. His wife of almost five decades just…disappeared. Abandoned him. Went on ahead. Whatever you wanted to call it.
He couldn’t sleep. He couldn’t sleep at night without her beside him – every night he dragged himself into bed and stared blurrily up at the ceiling, alone with his thoughts.
Why couldn’t he just...sleep? Drift away and join her?
When does this get better?
Chad wasn't one to even consider taking his own life...but why couldn't this all just end.
He’d tried melatonin – he’d tried every prescription pill his doctor had offered and nothing seemed to help.
It seemed like all he had left was to…just fade away. Join Lilana and be at peace once again.
Something sort of slid into his vision – somehow brightly visible despite the cataracts.
Looking for a change?
Want a fresh start? A clean slate?
A world of magic and science, wonder and excitement is but a click away.
----------------------------------------
Simply click yes to confirm the terms and conditions of this offer – act fast! Slots are limited!
Yes No
Huh…
Chads brain struggled to comprehend what he was reading.
Guess…guess the next thing that’s going to go is my mind? Ha…I really should sleep.
He turned to the side breathing heavily at the exertion.
The indent…the indent of where she should be.
A tear threatened to slip out but Chad wasn’t no snowflake. He was a real man. He could…
Chad reread the hallucination.
Either he was crazy or not – either way it didn’t hurt to humor the blasted thing.
What did he have to lose after all?
His shaking hand reached out and clumsily poked the box – missing the 'yes' by a inch but somehow still accepting the prompt.
A moment later a proper understanding of what he would be giving up and what he would be gaining was presented to Chad.
It seemed like a dream come true – so many caveats and bonuses. Chad didn’t care about dying after all.
Even if it was a lie – well Chad would prefer going out in a blaze of glory rather than this sad fading away.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
He accepted.
…
What felt like moments later he was standing in a bright crowd.
He could see! He was standing straight – his knees felt twenty years younger! Chad was still old but it felt like his body was reset. All his ailing parts fixed.
Chad was still old but…he could get used to this. Walking over to a nice young man handing out weapons Chad picked up a sturdy looking blade and went out to kill something. Maybe if he had some action he could finally sleep.
----------------------------------------
---Nicole---
Nicole was a prostitute.
She hadn’t ever wanted to be – not that there was anything wrong with her profession but…she felt forced into it and that bred resentment.
It was the only way she could make money in this country – the only way to make ends meet. Literally the only option left for her – living on the street was not an option. She wasn’t allowed to go to school she didn’t have enough to escape and try and find one of those heavenly countries like she had seen on tv.
She hated every single one of her sick clients. Asking her to do this and that. Fuck them. She especially hated that ginger that had come last. He was just so rough. Fuck if he slapped her face one more time she just might snap and bite his dick off.
Suddenly in the middle of her dinner a prompt appeared. A strange blue box that spoke to her – seeming to know she had never learned to read.
It offered her a choice – Nicole knew everything had a catch but really…could this really be worse than her current life?
She hit yes.
----------------------------------------
---Matthew---
Matthew was an outcast. Someone picked on everywhere he went. Every time he moved – every time he thought he’d escaped the bullying it all came crashing back – like someone was following him around turning everyone against him.
The only time he’d had a friend had been in highschool. The one time someone had been nice to him – the only time he’d felt like he could be himself.
Sadly she had disappeared after graduating and after entering college it seemed like the bullying reached a new height of cruelty.
I wish I could escape.
Like an angel heard his prayers a box appeared – a way out! A divine answer to his prayer.
He answered – smashing the yes button as hard as he could and then was reborn.
----------------------------------------
---Jing---
Jing lived in a white room. His food was slipped under the door twice a day and nothing he was ever given was sharp enough to hurt himself with.
He didn’t know why.
It had been like this as far as he could remember. Somedays the walls would sing music to him and he would sing back to pass the time. Sometimes the food he was given changed or someone came to ask him how he was doing.
Sometimes they would listen to him – bringing him games or books but most of the time his requests were ignored.
He didn’t know why.
Finally the source of the voices came to him – bleeding out of the wall into a blue cube that offered him a new life.
He took it.
----------------------------------------
---Tanya---
Tanya was…invisible. It felt like she was drifting though life. No connections. No attachments. No friends but no enemies either. She just kind of…was.
She read fanfiction and books and webnovels on her phone and that was it. She loved fantasy and escaped from the world constantly to soak in dreams of magic.
That was her life.
One day a familiar looking prompt appeared to her – one reminding her of dozens of isekais she had read.
It felt like she had finally gotten her letter to Hogwarts. It was years late but that didn't matter.
Maybe…maybe in a new world something might change?
She hit yes.
----------------------------------------
---Walden---
Walden had lived on the streets all his life – stealing bread from a bakery like someone from an old movie. As someone from the slums he’d never gone to school – never had a chance.
He kind of just lived day to day. What else could he do?
And then one day that changed.
Something noticed him.
Someone offered him a chance.
He said yes.
----------------------------------------
---Phyo--
Phyo lived in a country constantly at war. Gunshots were common – the sound of planes overhead was ignored. Either it was a bomb raid or not – stressing over it would just shorten his life.
Despite the war he made do. He worked hard – his family was relatively well off.
Someday soon they were going to escape. Find somewhere more peaceful. They nearly had enough money saved up for the trip as well.
And then one day the bombs he had ignored ruined everything.
Phyo came home from school to find a smouldering wreck of a street.
He rushed to his home and found the bodies of his parents.
The remains of his family.
The world had ended that day…
But a prompt appeared sneaking into his vision and quieting his angry screams.
A new world free from the current war.
He said yes.
----------------------------------------
---Phenx---
Phenox was unteathered. Bored, drifting through life.
He said yes.
----------------------------------------
---Shelly---
Shelly was just so angry all the time. Everything in life existed to push her down and she was sick of it.
She said yes.
----------------------------------------
---Mei---
Mei just needed a chance. A single chance to prove her worth.
She said yes.
----------------------------------------
---Felix---
Felix jumped at the chance of a lifetime.
And said yes.
----------------------------------------
---Chu--
She said yes
----------------------------------------
---Marven---
When Marven was 17 he raped and killed his highschool crush.
Somehow the courts bypassed the regular ruling and sentenced him as an adult.
He went to prison – begging and pleading that it had been a mistake crying crocodile tears the whole while – then sat for three years in a hellhole.
He regretted everything – he hadn’t meant to get caught. If he could do it again he’d hide that sluts body better.
Finally the devil came to him and offered an escape. Instead of vilifying him the blue box offered him a chance.
A chance to be free.
A chance to do it all again in a world without rules.
A chance to become strong enough no one could ever lock him away again.
He accepted.