James started to feel less and less comfortable in his sleep as strange sensations kept assaulting him. His whole body felt sore and yet warm and soft at the same time. Finally, with a gasp, he opened his eyes and tried to get up. Only, there wasn't his room. And there wasn't really anything he could see. It was like he was in a vast darkness with strange, smoky clouds all around him. He tried opening and closing his eyes again to hopefully blink away this strange fog, but it didn't leave. In fact, it seemed to be growing brighter and more cloud-like.
Blinking once again, he tried to hide the growing light with his hand, only to not see any hand come up as he'd wanted. He looked down, but there was nothing there. Just more wispy clouds. He looked around and tried to move, but nothing happened. It was like he was paralyzed and couldn't feel or see his body. At first, he panicked, but then he thought about it for a second and figured, "Oh, this must be a dream. Haha, duh. Freaking always these weird ass dreams after a long raid. Alright, uh...I want to see a gorgeous lady." A laugh followed in his head as he tried to control this dream into a more fun idea.
A young woman did suddenly appear from the smoke and clouds just near the growing light. She seemed to have rosy skin and flowing hair, even though there was no wind. Her hair was an odd anime color, similar to a pinkish purple. It wasn't really something James had any massive interest in, but seeing her rather sizable knockers beneath the very thin silk robe she appeared to be wearing, he didn't much care either. She practically floated across the clouds towards him, and he almost felt himself drooling as he chuckled at the sight. "Damn, she is fine in all the right ways. Mmmm, alright, baby, come to Daddy~" He thought as she grew closer and closer.
His eyes were blinking again and again as she seemed to almost glow in front of him once she came to a stop. Though, instead of the sexy little smirk he was expecting from all the pornos he watched, she seemed rather annoyed with a heavy glare leveled in his direction. She waved more clouds away before swirling a few into a seat for herself and leaning back. She crossed her legs and almost seemed to tease him with a near view of her nethers before speaking. "Welcome, young one. Though you do not seem to realize your situation, my name is Carmella. And I am here to guide you."
James was a little confused now. Not only did his dream seem to stop just before the good parts, but now he seemed to be dreaming about some weird dominant lady. It wasn't bad, just not what he expected. "Uh, guide me in what? I thought this was my dream. Aren't you supposed to do what I think?"
Carmella just rolled her eyes and said, "No, this is not a dream, mortal. This is the celestial realm, and you are but a wandering soul, dead and on the path to the beyond. However, you have been fortunate enough to be selected for a task to help one of my worlds and thus retain your mortal memories and psyche. As for what you want, I will not deign to dignify such mortal desires. You do not even currently possess the ability to feel, let alone perform any of the acts your tiny mind seems to wish me to perform." She said, blowing a light gust of wind at him, only for James to suddenly feel himself rolling through the air like a balloon caught in the wind before settling back down where he previously was.
"Wait.....what...I'm.....You're saying I'm dead?" His mind was racing as he tried to come to terms with all this gorgeous woman had just said. He tried to slap himself or pinch himself, but there was nothing to grab or pinch with. He was just an existence, floating on the wind. He tried turning and shaking himself, hoping to wake up. For several minutes, he struggled in any way possible as Carmella just watched on. Even conjuring some drinks for herself as she waited with dull eyes for him to finish.
Finally, James had to accept that he couldn't wake up. And that this was either the heaviest or deepest sleep he'd even had. Or, he was truly dead. He looked to Carmella and asked, "H....How did I die then?"
She suddenly conjured some strange paper in the air and said, "Uh.....it says that you died from a lack of nutrition mixed with slow heart failure in the night while you slept. As many would call it, a peaceful way to go, if not all too sudden for one of your age." This left James shocked, as he'd never really considered himself that unhealthy. Sure, he was a little overweight, and he didn't really have much of a great diet. But that shouldn't mean he'd have a heart attack before even reaching the age of thirty. Hell, he hadn't even had sex yet.
When his thoughts met with the idea of the things he'd never gotten to do, as well as the parents he'd left behind, he couldn't help but feel empty and sad at how fast his life had just gone by and ended without any major things happening. Just a normal, lazy kind of life. Looking at Carmella again, he asked. "W...why me?"
"Well, a favor was asked of your planet's administrator for a soul that could help. And given their previous experience with such scenarios happening quite often, we trusted they would select the best candidate for the job. I am not certain of the specific test or selection process, but I do know that your planet's previous souls have a pretty decent track record of helping numerous planets before. So I do not see why you would be any different." Her words cut through him like a knife as he realized that even in death, he wasn't exactly special, but once again, just one of many. It kind of stung, but hey, who's gonna turn down a second life?
"Uh...ok. So, what do you want me to do? And do I get any say in all of this?" He asked, a little nervous but also curious at how close this was going to be to all the novels and anime he'd seen with this similar scenario.
"Well, I'd like you to go down to my planet and help clean out some of the beasts and dangers that have been threatening the worshippers down there. Not to mention, the world itself could use a bit of a shakeup as it is. It's been stuck in a similar state for nearly twenty thousand rotations, and to be honest, it's gotten pretty dull. So, you'll be sent down there to have some fun and fight some baddies, and the rest is up to you. I don't much care so long as you don't start slaughtering the worshippers down there or actively hurting the world."
"Does this world have magic? And dragons and stuff like in the stories?" He asked, now getting a little excited at the idea of living out the life of a hero in a fantasy world.
"Yes, there is magic and dragons. In fact, they are some of the beasts I would like you to help reign in, as a number of them seem to be going rather nuts. They're supposed to be guardians, not bloodthirsty beasts that rampage across the planet. Any other questions?"
"Yea. Do I get a cheat, a system, or something that powers me up to better adapt to this world?" His eyes, if he still had any, were probably gleaming with excitement at the thought of truly living the dream of all fantasy gamers.
"Hmmm, yes. Your administrator did provide me with a number of suggestions to better integrate you with this world. Though I won't be taking any requests from you personally, given your lecherous little mind."
"Wait, so, my....god I guess.....already prepared something for me for this new world?"
"Oh, heavens no. It's part of the deal, you see. We get a soul to help us out, and your administrator gets sent all the information about what you do and how things happen so that they can use your stories for something I don't entirely understand. I and the other administrators have to use our powers to gift you these abilities, but your administrator often has a say in what powers would work best. Though, even for them, yours is a rather specific set of guidelines to follow. Anyway, it all just boils down to, yes, you will have some helpful divine assistance down there. Anything else?"
James thought about it and was a little disappointed that he couldn't just ask for the holy sword Excalibur or a super system to help him get rich and all the babes he could ever want. But it was still far better than what he feared might happen. Thinking things over, he asked, "Is there any way I can contact you for guidance in the future? Like if I get lost or need some advice on taking on something specific?"
"Most of your questions should be answered with your....uh....system. As for contacting me, I suppose you could offer prayer at a church. Not all of them worship me specifically or even me at all, but if you find a church with me in it, then simply offer a prayer specific enough for me to hear, and I might get back to you. Don't count on it, though. I'm dealing with several trillion souls. You can't expect me to hear one prayer over trillions all the time. While I will be watching this planet more carefully, it still isn't at the level of requiring serious crisis management. Thus is why I'm sending you. Now, off you go." And with a wave of her hand, James felt like the floor had dropped out from under him as he started falling faster and faster through clouds, mist, and smoke before everything went black again.