„Wanna play the game of your Life?“

The voice came out of the light. A light so strong, that it transcended his whole being. Nothing could have been kept in the dark before this light.

Just moments ago he has been incinerated by a crazy terrorist on his way to his god. And now he stood in the light and was been questioned like it was the most normal thing in the world.

Was this the afterlife, heaven or perhaps nirvana?

“You're dead. This you should'nt forget! But as it happens, you carrying a spark of divine power in you, just as some other of your people. This spark gives you the power to become an Avatar. That's a being with the power to reincarnate itself. As such you can partake in the Game. It's a chance to become more than you were before. A creator perhaps of your own small or maybe even bigger universe.”

The voice was strangely not male or female, somewhere in between. Powerful, but not uncomfortable.

“This game is like the games you played before. I think, you would call it a MMORPG. You get power by solving quests, absorbing the power of your enemies, or just by existing long enough. If you die, you lose a portion of your power. By losing too much your divine spark dies out on you and your immortal soul with it, as long as you did not associate yourself mit a higher being. This excludes you unfortunately from becoming yourself such a being!”

So you had to become a god or you search for a sponsor to get new chances.

The choice was clear, if he wanted to play or not. Nobody wanted to bite the dust.

“I'm going to play! Sounds fun. But where exactly do I start the Game?”

“Do not make such a haste, young one! First some rules for dummies!

Your old life is over and all your ties with it. No returning to family and scaring the shit out of them. Do not go Jesus on them!”

“If they happen to become Avatars themselves, then you can reconnect with them but not sooner. And yes this means that you live on earth for the next time. You will soon realize the endless potential of your future, even the possibility to travel to the stars. Avatars are a powerfull force, even at the beginning of their career. So what you do with your life depends only on you.

But be warned that other Avatars or higher beings have their own goals and by disturbing them, you will be painting a targeting cross on your back.

Almost all the big wars have been instigated by Avatars in their struggles for power. By forcing your hand in them, you could cross the path of people you don't want to mess with! And if you get killed by an Avatar you lose much more power than by an usual mob, sorry I mean a mortal!”

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Could he hear a little bit of sarcasm here.

“Oh, I forgot to tell you, that the mortal world has a bad memory when it comes to Avatars. Just imagine what a mess it would be, if in the digital world every immortal could be traced back. You can even use your power to fasten this process. But this has a steep price so you should refrain from this in the beginning. For now I think, that I have said enough.

Have fun with creating your Avatar and enjoy the Game!”

Just as he wanted to say something the light vanished and he saw a humanoid being without a face and sex. Looking closer he had as only race the human standard but perhaps this could be changed some other time.

He began with the creation of his Avatar. First he should be a man, clearly, and muscular but not to much Arnold Schwarzenegger. Good muscles but a lean build.

Then he wanted to be around 1,85m high and now came the face. This was something difficult. He wanted to be good looking but not handsome like a Brad Pitt or David Beckham.

A strong face, that gives the impression of being trustworthy. When he thought of the latest examples of modern Pop culture he remembered himself of Russel Crowe. Then he changed the eyes to a dark blue and removed the beard completely. Then the chin became somewhat smaller. And last but not least the hair became black as night.

Finished with the looks he got to the attributes and he noticed that there were uncountable skills and talents but nothing like a standard rogue, mage or fighter. Instead the attributes ruled what you could become and learn.

Looking to the attributes he could see strength, endurance, intelligence, dexterity, wisdom and luck. There were also secondary ones like speed, energy, stamina, health points and perception. All of these seemed to depend on the primary ones.

Then the voice was back again.

“So, wow, I thought your looks would take longer! You have the chance to roll three times for your attribute points. When you died, you gathered the soul energy of all the people around you. See it as a little karma gift from the universe.”

Then she was gone like she came.

So, now he only had to discover if 20 points was much or less in regards to the 4 dices he could roll. After a second he shrugged with his not existing shoulders and rolled.

“FUCK!”