Jack did not have an easy death. He would have loved to die an old man, just falling asleep and never waking up. But reality was cruel. Well not at first, he lived a peaceful and in a sense a spoiled life. But the memorable and cruel part of his life was the end. Burned to death in his families home while being trapped under a collapsed wooden ceiling. By all means he should have suffocated before burning to death but sadly the air was just the right mix of hot and oxygen rich to prevent that. To Jack’s surprise, after burning to death, he did not loose all sense of self and stopped to exist as he would have expected and, after what he has been through, liked. Instead he woke up again. Bad news for him, because waking up again meant that sometime in the future he probably had to die again.

When Jack woke up he was surrounded by nothing. Not a never-ending black expanse or a plain white room. Just nothing. Jack couldn’t tell if he floated or just stood still. His eyes and his breathing worked, the rest was unresponsive. Not being able to move and having no sound around him wasn’t the most comfortable. The only reason he knew his sight even worked was the text field in front of his eyes. The Words were in plain black on white Background.

Welcome Jack

I pulled you away from death because I could use you. Some of your fellow people are also with you and are in the same situation as you. So don't worry you are not alone.

Reading the text Jack’s mind felt a little overtaxed. It’s not that the text was difficult to understand, it’s just the whole situation that made Jack feel like he was losing his mind. Reading that there were others in the exact same situation helped a little, but maybe not as much as the being tried to communicate here had hoped.

The first coherent thought he could form was in the form of several questions. ‘Who wrote the text and pulled him from death? Could it be that the other people mentioned were his relatives that maybe died in the fire as well? Or were they just fellow humans that died at the same time as him? Am I even able to help a being that can pull me from death?’

In the next few minutes some Information will be displayed here. So try to focus.

It should be mentioned that the interactive part of this procedure comes later. So just listen and don’t make me put you back.

‘Looks like a new chance at life and I already have the first death threat.’ Finally Jack manages to form a thought that is not in the form of a question. Although he could feel a literal torrent of them trying to get addressed in the back of his mind. While he wouldn’t mind going back into the sweet embrace of not existing, as long as it meant the way back would be painless, he didn’t want to risk it. Before he could continue the words changed for the second time.

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I found a new habitable world and I need it to change. You and others like you will help me with that.

Reading this Jack answered the third question that came to mind, but it did make Jack hope that the word “habitable“ was meant in the human definition. ‘Maybe this new world was Earth?’

The world mentioned before lacks some diversity, so you and the others will start to bring some colour into this world. What is meant by that will be obvious. Now you have some choices to make.

‘Well good communication is something else. I am getting more confused by the second.’ Sadly there was no way for Jack to even attempt to communicate. Having to choose gave Jack a goal and a sense of direction, pushing the last sense of panic and disorientation out of his mind.

First Choice:

You will start a settlement, civilisation, tribe, sect, clan, herd, pride or something else entirely.

What faction do you choose?

Light, Dark, Neutral

(Light/Dark are always at war, neutrals not.)

Jack had to choose. Problem was he had no idea how to choose and maybe more importantly what this choice even meant for his future. Of course he could guess, but it sounded like a choice to important to involve guesswork. ‘So light/dark fractions sound like eternal conflict. Neutral sounds like neutral, I guess? But eternal conflict sounds like the eternal enemy of my eternal enemy should be my ally. Play it safe and go for neutral?’ But neutral really sounded like necessary casualty or sacrifice between two fronts in Jack’s non-responsive ears. On the other side light or dark sound like just plain old regular war and casualty.

‘A decision has to be made, so I choose neutral in the hope of… neutrality.’ Given that Jack could only use his eyes and his mind, he figured that the way to confirm the choice is either looking at the text or just consciously thinking ‘ I choose neutral.’ Before he could try to use his eyes and maybe blink to confirm the choice the text changed again.

Second Choice:

Do you want to start as an humanoid or as a beast?

(Humanoid: More potential, more complicated

Beast: Stronger Individual, Faster Growth, Less Diplomacy)

Hint: These are only general traits, exceptions are to be expected.

‘Finally more information! Did the being learn to better communicate or am I just reading too much into this? I would appreciate even more information. For example what should I understand under the term more potential?’ Jack was thinking about the choices offered, paying the most attention to the stronger individual trait. ‘Sounds like more survivability to me. I do have to consider that being a humanoid should be more familiar. Will I even have the instincts of a beast necessary to survive?’ Taking the more potential trait into consideration, he chose humanoid.

Third Choice:

Choose one of the three random races/people:

Eastern Arakocra

Tabaxi Nomads

Lost Nordar

(Hint: This is the final choice. As soon as confirmed, you will be transported into your second life.)

Jack had no idea what awaited him. Mainly because he suffered from the misfortune of not knowing any of these three races. The only thing he recognised was the ‘Nord-‘ in Nordar. ‘North is cold, north is not hot, smaller chance of burning to death. Sounds good.’

Confirming the third race as his choice, the words disappeared. And with it his sight.