>ERROR
>ERROR
>Attempting fix…
>Fix implemented.
>Reverting to normal transportation, old body. Locking means of transportation. NEW BODY mode deemed incompatible.
>Rerolling target coordinates: Parallel universe #3327472, 288429 layers to the left of original universe.
>Attention: hazard level is HIGH. Selected upgrades are insufficient to guarantee survival until cooldown timer is reset.
>Rerolling upgrades: Body upgraded to standard human #3327472. Special abilities: inventory.
################
UI RESET COMPLETE.
>You have been transported to a new area.
>Body upgraded to standard human.
>Body upgraded with: Inventory.
>Complete objective to unlock new area
Process complete. May you survive.
David opened his eyes, and what greeted him was no longer the sight of the white room with its endless walls of radiant light. He was in the middle of a thick, impenetrable rainforest. The transition, or transportation that brought him here had been instantaneous and painless. The small clearing he was in right now was damp and chilly, sending shivers up his spine.
Despite being a bit too vivid for a dream, it was clear to him that he was still hallucinating. Maybe he was just a few milliseconds away from death, or maybe he was already in a hospital bed in a coma. And yet, his mind had offered him this place, as a way to somehow get redemption for a life lived in uselessness. The earthy smells that came from the ground mixed with the cool air thick of humidity and the scent of a thousand different flowers.
Perhaps, he thought, this was all real. What those lines of text said, perhaps it was the truth. Maybe he was in another universe, with an upgraded body and a special ability to boot. Transported here by some kind of magical phenomenon or supernatural force.
Perhaps he had been taken here by God himself, despite how much David hated the idea of a God watching over the whole of creation. He was not so stupid as to outright refuse the possibility that supernatural entities existed, it was just the idea of an omnipotent, omniscient and perfect deity that left a bad taste in his mouth. There were just too many contradictions, too many places where logic dictated that there was no God.
But logic was a child of the human mind, so how could logic even begin to fathom the unfathomable. How could it be so arrogant as to judge God? How could he?
He took a deep breath, and the explosion of smells calmed him. He was here now, though, was he not? It didn't matter whether this was a delusion crafted by his own mind or an alternate reality, because either way he knew what this meant. It was his only chance at redemption, at living a life that had a meaning and importance. It was his second chance.
He closed his eyes for a second, and the image of his pregnant wife flashed in his mind. Her face was happy and relaxed, and yet her features were almost a blur. They were distant and ineffable, and they lacked the color all the world always lacked whenever David looked at it.
By comparison, this forest looked radiant and beautiful. Not even his wife had been enough, in the end, to overcome the thick layer of grey that had settled in his mind. This forest, however, had shattered it before it could even form. It was odd, seeing color again after so much time.
It was gorgeous. It was like being in a living, breathing place that was full of possibilities for him.
It truly was a second chance at life.
The grey had crept into his life after his parents had died. And had never gone away ever since that fated day, forever being his companion through every single day of his miserable existence. His eyes could see colors, of course, but his brain refused to look at it. His mind could conceive beauty, but it would not accept it.
This place was different. Just being here, without doing anything in particular was enough to restart so many processes that he thought he had lost forever. The rusty wires in his minds, the nooks and crannies that were filled with cobwebs and dust came back to life. And he could appreciate beauty again.
David looked around, and then at himself. He was still wearing the office suit he was wearing when he died, or when he supposed he died. It was a dark grey, a mocking allegory to his whole life on Earth, with a tie. Beneath the suit was the same man that was there before, a tall and lean guy of thirty with dark hair and brown eyes. He was dull, as always, but it would be his actions that would set him apart from the old David this time around, he was sure of it. He untied his tie, and instinctively put it into his inventory.
The inventory, he thought with a gasp. The ability that was granted to him by whoever transported him here. He was beginning to accept this reality now, to think that rather than being in a coma he was really here. He just used the inventory, a supernatural ability, and he did it without even thinking. He concentrated on the thing for a moment, on the strange feeling that he felt just before using the ability, and he found out that he could see his tie floating in a small dark space without time. Its image appeared as if he was looking through a periscope, and felt oddly distant and out of reach while at the same time being immediately available in only he so wished. All he had to do was think, and it would appear in his hands.
He approached a small twig on the ground, and tried to store it as well. He needed to see for himself how this ability worked, as there were no explanations that came with it apart from an instinctive knowledge on how to store and retrieve items.
The twig disappeared, without leaving anything but empty space where it previously was. There was no sound, there were no special effects. David concentrated on his personal space again and found the two items floating there, and saw that he could look around freely and feel each and every item as if he was holding them in his hands.
Even the temperature and the smell were clear in his mind, despite the fact that he was not actually touching and smelling the items and that they were frozen in time. He was not sure if they were actually frozen in time or if time was just dilated to a point where it appeared to be still, as his innate knowledge was very vague about it, but it certainly could have its uses.
The twig would not rot, for instance, and any food would keep indefinitely without spoiling. It would also be hot indefinitely, assuming that it was hot in the first place.
It was amazing. Finally, he had something amazing about himself, beyond the dullness of his existence. This was truly a new beginning. He was elated, and felt like he could take on the whole world alone. He felt motivated and strong, capable for once of bringing change to his own destiny. Capable of writing his own story.
A loud roar shook the whole forest.
David looked around in fear, and hoped for the best. Maybe the beast responsible for this sound was far away, and it was hunting some other animals in the distance. That would be nice, but he knew that it could also be the opposite. It could be here, and hunting for him.
He began to walk in the opposite direction, occasionally putting some items in his inventory. He found out that he could not put in things that were bigger than himself, and that the space had no limits to how many things it could hold. The only limitation was the volume, or mass that it could take in and out every hour. It was a strange limitation, but already David could feel that the maximum amount was growing bigger with each time he used the ability.
Another roar, much closer this time. The beast was approaching, and fast. He was running out of time.
There was a tree ahead of him, at the edge of the small clearing he was in. He eyed it, and the gears in his head started to turn furiously. The tree was thick and very tall, but also had many holdings he could use to climb it. If only he could get on top of it, he could hide there and wait until the beast left the area before exploring the forest. He was sure that he would find signs of civilization sooner or later, and in the meantime, he could survive if he made smart use of his abilities.
It seemed the best possible course of action, so he took it. He ran towards the thick trunk and kicked himself up to reach the lowest branch. He firmly grasped it with much more strength than he though he had, and pulled himself up without issue. He was surprised, as he did not remember being this strong.
But then he recalled what he read in the messages, and was reminded of the fact that his body had undergone an upgrade to better survive in this world. This meant that this world was quite dangerous, and not to be taken lightly. Not like he had any intentions to take it lightly. He didn't want to die again.
He crouched down on one of the tallest branches he could reach, and waited. The sun was high up in the sky, and thick beams of light pierced the air and illuminated the ground in fractal shapes. The canopy was very dense this high up, and taking a good look on what was going on below was quite difficult.
Eventually, the wild animal showed itself. David saw streaks of yellow through the few openings among the leaves, and heard the loud ragged breathing of the animal. His heartbeat accelerated, and he felt the loud pounding in his chest as his lungs tried to take in as much air as they could. His head felt heavy, and the world slowed down.
He took a better look at the animal below him. It was a yellow maned beast, three meters tall and with a head full of thin needles. As soon as he looked at it, the animal turned its face up and glared at the man hiding among the tall trees. It had spotted him.
It was a horrible sight. Crooked teeth and bloody eyes were at the center of a face that appeared too large because of the needles around it. David looked at it in fear, frozen in place and in a panic, because with just one look he knew that if he was to fight it on the ground, he would have no chances to survive. Luckily, he was up here in the canopy and the beast had no ways to reach him.
He was wrong. Despite what he thought, he was not in a safe spot at all, and a sharp pain that erupted from his right arm was the very tangible proof of it. He looked at the wound in horror, and saw one of the thin yellow needles poking out of his arm right where the pain was coming from. A numbness began to spread from there, and he could feel the muscles of the damaged arm begin to weaken and relax on their own.
It was not over yet, though, not by a long shot. He would survive, because this was his only second chance at life. He looked around in search of possible weapons to defend himself with, but all he could see was the thick network of branches of the canopy. He could jump over to the next tree, and try to escape while keeping his balance on top of the thin branches. Hopefully they would support his weight.
The numbness had spread as high up as his shoulder, but he still jumped with all his strength and gripped a branch tight with his left hand. He had to, even if he had no use of his whole right arm, or he would die. Another sharp pang of pain reminded him of the beast down below, but he paid it no mind as he concentrated on his escape.
Once again the world proved to be just cruel to David, because the beast kept firing its needles at him without any apparent effort on its part. They all struck home, and hit him in various places immobilizing parts of his body with every shot. Eventually, the poison spread to his legs and they too gave out.
He fell down, and felt as if he had been living without living once again. Everything happened just too fast, without a way to even understand what was going on. It was as if he had been drunk, or high, all this time.
He had not even been aware of where he was, of what was around him. only on this last moment of his life did he see the true beauty of the place all around him. He saw how the forest was strange and alien, with its deep blues and its crimsons. He was falling now, but there was a smile on his face.
Despite everything, and despite how badly he had spent his few moments of this new life, he was happy. He had seen color again, and it was beautiful.
The impact with the ground was painless, and while the wet thud of his skull cracking open reverberated through the small clearing, his consciousness was brought to the white room once again.
"What?" He said out loud, and an echo brought those very same words back to his ears.
He was lying on the soft, yet hard and cold floor of the white room and he was looking at the letters that floated in the air in front of him.
Reincarnating in 3, 2, 1…
2nd Reincarnation.
>Body upgraded with: jumpstarted magic affinity. Weak elemental magic: Fire
>Complete objective to unlock new area
Process complete. Namaste, and good luck!
He reappeared in the very same forest where he just died. This time, however, he was ready. Before diving deep inside his head, before thinking about what the messages meant and what him being here meant, he had to be ready to face the beasts this world was going to throw at him. There was one thing he was sure about: there was no guarantee that he would 'respawn' again, as this was no game.
And thus, armed with his new knowledge of magic and his inventory, he set out again.