Robert was walking back home from work, as he had been doing since he graduated fifteen years ago. With the birds still in the sky and the moon beggining to rise as the sun set, Robert felt miserable as usual.

The city life was at its highest peak, with people going back and forth around him. A painting of beautiful suits, shirts, and dresses around him made him look disgusted at his tattered shirt and pants.

Robert felt envious as he observed people talking on their cellphones inside luxurious cars, purchasing fancy food from surrounding stores, and pretty much at everyone around him.

The cold and gray pavement was akin to his gray and cold heart, and the beautiful and crowded streets seemed to increase the void inside him.

Every day was a constant pain since his corporate hell job was as dull as the knives at his home.

He walked because, unfortunately, he was also dirt poor, besides being exploited and mistreated.

He was a social reject as well. Robert barely had any human contact. The people at his job preferred to communicate with him via e-mail or paper notes.

The person he talked to the most was an intern he trained, who escalated and became his boss in two years. Now, the intern also despises Robert because of how poorly he had treated him in the past.

Robert moved his head sideways and watched a cute couple walking in the street alongside him. His envy became unbearable, and he wished something would happen to them out of spite and jealousy.

He waited for the stoplight to change; as he watched the timer slowly go down, he kept throwing annoyed glances at the lovey-dovey couple. 

He cursed in his mind and heart, and his imagination painted vivid pictures and scenarios of the horrible things the couple was being subjected to.

When the timer finally reached zero, and the pedestrian traffic light turned green, a sea of people moved forward.

Suddenly, as the people were crossing the street, a loud bang caught everyone’s attention. 

A truck’s tire popped, and the vehicle lost control. Robert saw how the driver tried hard to handle the steering wheel, yet the vehicle kept moving…directly to the couple.

Among the things Robert saw in his mind, the couple being flattened by cars was at the top of his imaginary list.

Everyone started screaming at the dumb couple, but they were locked in each other eyes.

Robert began blaming his powerful imagination, and the feeling of responsibility encroached upon him. As the truck moved uncontrollably toward the couple, the world seemed to turn even darker for Robert.

“No way, I’m gonna rot in hell!” Robert moved through the people screaming to get close to the couple. “Really God? Now you hear my prayers? I wasn’t serious, you know?”

Even though less than a second passed in real time, Robert felt himself moving in slow motion; he had lived his horrible days hoping that the afterlife would be better for him, yet now, hell awaited him. 

He saw the truck's cabin almost touching them, and amidst the screams and chaos, he threw himself toward the couple.

He did his best, but he barely pushed them away. Just as his hands left the couple’s bodies, the impact came, and he flew like a stringless kite.

He crashed against the hard pavement, but in a rush of adrenaline, there was no pain. He saw his mangled body and knew that this was the end of Robert Peterson.

Slowly, he saw the world fading to black. The last thing he saw before his vision failed was the onlookers with their cellphones recording him.

Gasping and focusing his entire will, he tried to leave behind some parting words. He pushed himself as he never did before, and finally, between muffled sounds, his last words on Earth came out of his mouth.

“Bastards, I hate you all,” He used his last bit of strength to raise his middle finger, and everything became black.

Robert woke up inside a vast temple with four gigantic columns supporting a finely detailed stained glass ceiling. He slowly opened his eyes and found himself on a stone bed.

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The cold stone told him he could still feel things. And as he moved his fingers, he realized his mangled and destroyed body was repaired.

Lying down, he looked around, trying to figure out his location.

All around him were gold and jewel ornaments on beautifully crafted marble furniture. The room was ample, and the walls had beautiful carvings.

From the top of the ceiling, through the stained glass, blinding light assaulted him, and he had to cover his eyes with his hands.

“Welcome, hero,” a sweet and calming female voice said.

He lifted his head after getting used to the golden brightness, and the shape descending along the light began to take form. 

A woman wearing the most exquisite turquoise dress he had ever seen was floating in midair. Her golden curls wiggled in the air and the jewelry she had reflected the light from above. 

Mysterious bubbles, holding images from his life inside them, surrounded her. 

“I am The Goddess, timeless and all-powerful. You have been summoned to save the world, hero,” the Goddess said while descending at a snail’s pace.

She was extending her arms in an embrace toward him, and the loose strands of fabric that hung from her dress floated aimlessly around her.

“Stand hero, fulfill your destiny, oh almighty chosen one,” she said, her voice rumbling on every wall.

Robert saw the scene unfolding in front of him and realized a couple of things. He was alive, still in one piece, and some goddess floated before him. 

With hundreds of questions in his mind, he took a deep breath and asked the most important one.

“Why do you look like some random anime girl?” asked Robert, raising his eyebrow as he watched her with suspicion.

“Author preference, please ignore it.” The Goddess answered.

“So, I’m dead?” He said, partially asking but also assimilating it at the same time.

“Yes, chosen one, your noble sacrifice was foretold long ago, you who gave away your life to save others.”

A bubble with the memory of him throwing himself at them got closer to his eyes.

“Did they survive?” He looked at the bubble, and remembering the annoying couple, he wondered if he had achieved at least something before dying.

“Nope, dead; they have become worm food, both of them,” the Goddess answered with a smile on her beautiful lips. 

Her tiny feet finally touched the ground. “You will reincarnate in the World of Insania, Chosen One, and defeat the evil Dark Lord who’s threatening the kingdom.”

Robert watched the Goddess taking little steps and jumping as she headed to the back of the room, and he already started regretting not staying dead.

“Why me?” Robert asked, a bit annoyed. He had little to no care for the task imposed on him.

“You are the chosen one.” The girl made a face as if he had said the most obvious thing.

“Yeah, but why me? Of all the people on Earth, why choose me?” He put his palm on his face.

“Don’t think too much, hero. We better focus on your reincarnation,” she said as she moved behind a gigantic room divider.

“Look, Chosen One, this will help us decide your future reincarnation.” The Goddess was dragging a weird spinning wheel. “Spin the wheel of destiny, oh mighty hero… and begin your new life!”

The spinning wheel was taller than the Goddess herself, but not much. It was filled with lights that flickered in many colors, and things were written in bright neon letters.

Robert saw what was written on the wheel: Starving farmer, poverty-stricken peasant, crippled young master, orphan, bullied schoolkid, amnesic nobody, and assassinated noble.

“What the…these are all horrible!” Robert exclaimed to the Goddess.

“OH! Chosen one, I almost forgot about the system, yes, the system!” The Goddess said excitedly. “Say Status and think about it in your mind.”

“You aren’t listening to me at all, aren’t you?” Robert sighed. He had no other choice since he was already dead after all.

 “Status!” Robert said in an annoyed tone.

Nothing happened.

“Status.” Nothing. “Status!” Still nothing. “Status?”

“Uhm… Chosen one, give me a bit.” The Goddess said while she took a small crystal from her clothes and placed it next to her ear. “Hello, IT? Yes… No, the system isn’t working… What do you mean by turning it off and on again?...yes it is plugged in, I checked…fine! Forget it!”

The Goddess threw away the crystal and looked at him with a beautiful smile on her face. “Let’s forget about the system. I’m sure everything is gonna be alright.”

“Wait, what?” He couldn’t believe the absurdity of everything that was happening.

The Goddess kept ignoring his complaints and instead focused on remembering what she was missing. She counted with her fingers and looked at the wheel and the crystal on the floor, the ceiling, the walls, and at Robert himself.

“Ah, the weapon! A chosen one needs a weapon fit for a hero!” she ran towards a stone chest in the corner of the room. “Here, noble hero, take this weapon, which is totally not a cursed and heaven-deifying sword.”

The sword she had in her hand oozed blood sporadically, and he could see agonizing faces and hands pushing through the blade.

“That is one hundred percent a cursed sword,” he said with his palm on his face and sighing.

“Come on hero, grab 'Soul Devourer, Bane of kingdoms' and spin the wheel,” She said happily.

He dragged his feet towards the wheel and gave it a spin. Before he could see where the needle stopped, the floor started trembling, and a weird mist enveloped the place.

“No! Hero, run!” the Goddess said while exaggeratedly moving her arms all over the place. 

Robert felt himself falling asleep again.

When he opened his eyes, the place was the same. Except that instead of marble, the furniture was made of obsidian, and the walls and floor were made of basalt. Also, the beautiful paint on the ceiling now became a scene of mass murder.

A deep wine-colored light rose from the floor, and the same Goddess ascended. But, her hair now became black, and her turquoise dress was dyed black and red. She wore a ridiculous mustache, and the jewelry she previously had was now replaced with bones and skulls.

Thick smoke covered the Goddess's feet, and voices of agony could be heard through the walls.

“Muahaha,” her voice sounded distorted, “I am The Dark Lord, Chosen One. I will make sure you do not fulfill your destiny!”

“I don’t even care anymore. Can I die again, please?” Robert said, looking emotionlessly at the dark lord.

“You should go now, hero.” The Dark Lord signaled with her finger to the mist that began emanating from the walls. “You will never find me!”

 “I am in my castle. You will never be able to reach here. You will never defeat me!” She said laughing. “My castle is north, quite north. You will need a boat. There are ports where you can board one. Also, make sure you don’t deviate because I live on an island.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t go,” Robert said, exasperated.

“By the way, I don’t like your name. You shall be known as Hiro from now on!” The undistorted voice of the Goddess slipped suddenly.

“Whatever, just kill me again,” Hiro said as the mist completely enveloped him, and once again, he fell asleep.