Initializing…Race Detected! Human…change? Input accepted! “Yes”...please standby.

“Ughf.” Phoenix groaned. What the hell happened? She thought, trying to move. Her whole body felt like sludge. The last thing she remembered was…the war, fighting, Brian yelling something, and then, oh shit, right, she got blown up. So why was she conscious now? This has to be the afterlife, or maybe none of it happened, it was all a dream and I’m going to wake up any second now. After a couple seconds went by it was clear that something else was happening. She worked her jaw, finding it less locked than before.

“Okay Phoenix, pull yourself together.” She tried moving her head and neck to find them slowly responding to her movements as well. After another couple of minutes she could wiggle all her fingers and toes, and finally had the awareness to realize three things: she was curled up in the fetal position, wherever she was, was white and misty, and she was completely and utterly naked.

“Common soldier, GET YOURSELF UP.” She yelled at herself, voice echoing back at her. She groaned as she slowly got to her hands and knees. Her drill sergeant's words began replaying in her mind, and she relayed them outloud.

“What are you? A baby first learning how to walk? Get on your FEET! What if there were soldiers down and enemies coming up behind you? You’d be fresh meat to them. On. Your. FEET!” With those last words she managed to push herself up, swaying as she stood.

“Well, that was pretty quick for someone who just got blown to a million tiny pieces.” She whipped around, or rather tried to (all she managed to accomplish was end up back on her ass), to the sound of another voice. Sitting calmly in front of her was an old man. What was even more surprising than him seeming to have materialized out of thin air was the small side table that was next to him sporting a fine china teapot and two cups.

“Who the fuck are you?” She asked, trying to get back to her feet again and covering particular parts of her body that would be uncivilized to show. He smiled gently at her, causing the sides of his eyes to crinkle. His white beard went down to his waist, tied neatly at the end. He honestly reminded her a bit of Dumbledore.

“You can call me Light for now. You are Phoenix, former combat medic in the Fractured US Army. Come, sit and have a cup of tea with me.” He gestured to the empty space next to him and a second chair appeared. Phoenix looked at him pointedly and then back down to her unclothed body. He seemed to remember something responding,

“Ah right, sorry about that, hold on please.” Waving his hand, she felt fabric settle on her person and found herself in a brown tank top and shorts. Only then did she move closer to the table and finally take a seat, not wanting to disobey whoever this man was.

“Sugar?” He asked, picking up a spoon that had definitely not been there a minute ago and held it up to her. She shook her head, and he shrugged, the spoon vanishing with the movement. She opened her mouth to begin asking him what the hell was going on, but he raised his hand to stop her.

“Now, I know you must have a thousand questions, but I cannot answer them all here or now. We are on a very tight schedule. I will say what I can but after that, your journey will begin.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

You were killed on Earth by a very unfortunate accident, trying to help save someone else’s life. Very noble of you, by the way. A bit stupid but noble nonetheless. The reason it was so hard for you to move a couple minutes ago was due to the way you died. Being blown up does cause quite the mess and putting the pieces back together takes some time.

Anyway, you were brought to the in between by me. You see, my world is teetering between the edge of Darkness taking over. Normally he and I coexist in a peaceful balance and harmony, however, the scales have been tipped and it’s just a matter of time before my world becomes what yours was, fraught with wars, illness and incurable disease. Now, I don’t much like the idea of dying, which is where you come in.

I believe you can help my world, and maybe even save it, but it has to be your choice. My world is different from yours in the fact that we have cultivation, something similar to what you might know as magic. We are ruled by a System. The higher level you are, the stronger you are. The higher your stats, the better off you are in the world. Are you following me so far?” Phoenix slowly nodded.

“Uh, I think so. It’s like a video game.” The man laughed, which soon turned into a wracking cough. Phoenix grew concerned when it went on for a few minutes but just as she was about to say something he righted himself.

“Sorry about that, my time is shorter than I thought. Yes, kind of like your world’s video game. I wish I could stay and tell you more, but I’m not going to have much left in me in a couple minutes. War takes a toll on you and all that as you know.

You are going to be teleported here shortly into my world if you so choose to do so. You will not be human, however, it’s my last parting gift to you. You should be arriving somewhere in a forest about two day’s walk West from a big city named Izhork. There you can meet good people who can help you start your journey.” The man’s image began to fade out.

“I won’t be able to talk to you again until you can tip the scales from Dark to Light, good luck.” And with that, the man faded completely leaving Phoenix sitting by herself. She went to finally take a sip of the tea in front of her only to find that it had faded with him.

“You bastard! You couldn’t even leave me some tea?!” She yelled into the abyss, receiving no answer. Phoenix had always been simple minded in the fact that if that’s how something was, then there was no reason to question it, but magic and levels and stats? It was just nuts! Just then something appeared in her vision.

Do you wish to be transported to a New World? Y/N

She stared at it a minute before letting out a frustrated yell. I’m beginning to think that I would take the wars on Earth over this insane, stupid, bullshit about a fantasy world. I just got killed in a war, why would I even want to go back to something like that? I deserve to just move on to whatever Heaven or Hell is out there and be at peace. I did my time in a war, my fighting, and my serving. Why should some old man who sounds crazy by the way, choose that I’m just supposed to save his world? How do I always end up in these situations? Just like before her drill sergeant's words came flooding back to her.

“You’re going to leave a man down?! You NEVER abandon someone who needs help! You’re a MEDIC for god sakes! Get back out there AND SAVE SOME LIVES!” I really hate when he’s right. She thought, still contemplating her decision. Goddamnit, I’m going to regret this. She thought, as she chose “Yes”. Immediately it was like the world around her became a tornado. The mist began swirling around her, taking her to god knows where. She felt like she was going to vomit and explode at the same time as the mist began swirling faster. Suddenly bright red text flashed across her vision.

ERROR! Location: Menrood Thicket blocked by external forces. New Location: Shadow Woods.

Oh shit, that can’t be good.