"So... Have you calmed down?"
"Yes, I've calmed down a bit... I'm sorry I insulted you a moment ago."
Somewhere in the multiverse, there was a room. This one was decorated in the English style of the late 19th century. The left wall was completely occupied by a huge shelf full of books, while on the right wall was an elegant white marble fireplace and some furniture, including an old pendulum clock.
Near the far wall was an antique desk. On it was a typewriter, some papers, and a cup of hot tea that smelled of wild berries. Behind the desk sat a man in his seventies, dressed in a black suit with a tie and white gloves. Despite his advanced age and completely gray hair, the man did not look old; on the contrary, he exuded an air of vitality and elegance.
"Don't worry Mr. Marcus, your previous behavior is understandable given your current situation".
"Still, it was inappropriate of me and I want to apologize for that. It's just that it all happened so fast and I lost my composure," the figure of light on the seat on the other side of the desk replied regretfully, "I just thought I would have a longer life. I mean, I knew it could happen at any time, but... Did I really have to die like that?!"
The figure of light was none other than the soul of Marcus Edevane, who had been just another member of society until the moment of his death. In general, Marcus felt that his life had not been very good, but he also knew that it could have been worse.
Marcus had started his last day as usual. He had gotten up early and prepared to go to work. With his father suffering from illness and his brother studying away at college, Marcus had no interest in anything other than working to cover all of his family's expenses. Well, that and using the little free time he had to read novels and comics, watch anime or science fiction and fantasy series.
That morning, however, Marcus had decided to stop by the hospital for a routine checkup, something he hadn't done in a while, and to visit his father before going to work. Unfortunately, his life ended before he reached his destination when he was hit by a speeding ambulance.
Much to Marcus' surprise, his day did not end with his death. The next moment he appeared in the same room he was in now, sitting across from a man who looked like a butler straight out of a British TV drama. In this situation, Marcus was very confused and all he could do was insult the man and demand answers. Although he was eventually able to calm down, he still had a hard time processing what was going on.
"Well, I won't deny it. It was certainly a somewhat ironic and ridiculous way to die," the man said, holding back a chuckle, "but I can't do anything about the means used by the Agency's field agents. I only work in the administration and deployment department."
"Wait a minute... What field agents and what agency? Where am I exactly?"
"Oh, how thoughtless of me, I haven't even introduced myself!" The man took a sip of tea and adjusted his tie. "My name is Edward, and I'm a member of the Administration and Soul Deployment Department, which belongs to the Agency of Transmigration, Invocation, and Reincarnation, commonly known as A.T.I.R."
"The what?!"
Edward took another sip of tea and looked at the clock on the wall. "Well, it looks like we've got some time, so I'll tell you about A.T.I.R. and what we do here."
****
The multiverse is a space where different universes, or parallel worlds, coexist with almost no interaction. However, under certain circumstances, some of these parallel worlds could interact with each other. These interactions were usually caused by spontaneous cosmic phenomena, but could also happen through the interference of a third party, such as a god or other being with powers capable of breaking or altering the space that separates one universe from another.
These cosmic phenomena allowed various entities, including mortal souls, to travel from one universe to another. In some cases, the souls even retained memories of their past lives or underwent some kind of reconstruction that endowed them with unique and special powers.
The gods are beings of pure energy who lived in their own dimensional planes or divine realms, but who still oversaw, administered, or ruled one or more worlds. If a problem arose, some gods would have to step in to solve it.
The downside was that if a god intervened directly to save the world, their presence alone could end up causing unimaginable disasters, as well as costing them a great deal of divine power, leaving them vulnerable to external threats. Other gods simply lacked the power to intervene directly or were forbidden to do so.
For all these reasons, the gods and other entities found it much more profitable to kidnap souls or summon beings from other worlds to solve their problems for them. Unfortunately, the constant kidnapping of souls led to anomalies and cosmic catastrophes that eventually sparked wars between the gods. This not only wreaked havoc on the multiverse but nearly caused it to collapse.
To prevent this from happening again, a group of interdimensional beings created the Agency of Transmigration, Invocation, and Reincarnation (A.T.I.R.) to regulate the traffic of souls to other worlds so that no more catastrophes would occur that could endanger all of creation.
****
"In short, we monitor and regulate who or what travels from one corner of the multiverse to another. We try to protect peace and order and maintain a balance between the various cosmic forces, in addition to preventing any disasters that might endanger the multiverse," Edward explained.
"Any disasters? Like what?" Marcus asked curiously.
"Well, the list is long: soul-devouring cosmic parasites; alien civilizations that invade and enslave other worlds; interdimensional traffickers; 'Lovecraftian' monsters, as they're called in your world, that just want to destroy things; mad gods; there's also the case of Earth GDR 6-98.
"Like many others, this version of Earth was not under the supervision of a god or similar being. With no one to protect them, its inhabitants became targets for abduction by cosmic entities who wanted to use them as pawns to solve their problems. One day, more than ten thousand people were simultaneously abducted by foreign gods.
"But the real problem arose when these thousands of souls were returned to their home world. For when they returned, they had been left with supernatural powers granted to them on other worlds. As such, they were walking weapons of mass destruction. It wasn't long before a group of them started a war that wiped out the entire civilization of GDR 6-98 in just a few months.
"And the worst part was that some of the survivors managed to become gods. In the end, they left their world and went to other universes to conquer them. This incident sparked a conflict that resulted in the destruction of four universes. Hundreds of civilizations were nearly wiped out, and a war was provoked that left more than seven thousand gods wounded or dead! Sigh... but that was millions of years ago and hasn't happened since then."
After finishing his monologue, Edward grabbed the teapot to his left and poured himself another cup of wild fruit-flavored tea, took a sip, and then continued speaking, "In any case, to prevent incidents like that from happening again, the Agency dispatches field agents throughout the multiverse to then select and collect capable individuals to send to other worlds."
"Yeah, about that, why me?" Marcus asked "Why was I chosen? From my point of view, I'm just an ordinary person."
"You have been chosen because you meet the necessary requirements. You are persistent, hard-working, and don't give up in the face of problems. In addition, you have read many novels and watched dozens of fantasy and science fiction series, so you have a lot of knowledge on the subject. Although it seems you've never played video games and the amount of anime you've watched is small compared to other people selected for reincarnation, you have other qualities that...".
"Wait a minute! Are you telling me that the only reason I was chosen for this... is because I'm a geek?!" Marcus exclaimed in disbelief. Of course, although he didn't know it, the Agency was actually responsible for creating and distributing at least 70% of the fantasy and sci-fi stories and video games on Earth, many of which seemed to be based on real events, in order to ''train'' and inform humans and then send them to other worlds.
"No, it's not just because of that. But basically, yes, that's the main reason," Edward admitted, "Still, I have to say, it's strange to see someone like you here. I mean, you're American, right?"
Marcus nodded hesitantly, "Why, is there something wrong with that?"
"There's nothing wrong with your nationality. It's just that usually, 80% of the people who come from your world and are chosen for reincarnation are Japanese, Chinese, or Korean. They adapt very well to the new world and are always very excited about the mission to save the world and fulfill God's will. In fact, our agency is responsible for more than 60% of the traffic deaths in these three countries."
Marcus was shocked. While he could get an idea of how powerful it was, he hadn't expected the Agency to be so embedded in his world that it was responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of people every day. However, he tried not to think about it too much and got on with the conversation.
After everything Edward had told him, Marcus still had a lot of questions. What would happen to his family now that he was dead? Would he still be able to remember them or would his memory be altered? And what would become of him? Where would he be sent? Unfortunately, he couldn't ask these questions.
The typewriter on Edward's desk started typing on its own. A minute later, a sheet full of strange words was in Edward's hand, who, after reading the contents of the sheet, couldn't help but look at Marcus with pity.
"I am very sorry, Mr. Marcus, but it appears that the entity that requested you does not wish to give you any sort of divine ability or blessing. Furthermore, the entity wishes for you to be reborn in a rather... dangerous environment."
"What, this is a joke, right?" Marcus asked, stunned. Everything that had happened in the last few moments had been like a roller coaster of emotions. He had died, discovered life after death, and the existence of other worlds. But in the end, he was just going to be thrown into a hostile world by a god he didn't even know. It just wasn't something he could process in an instant. "Is this for real?"
"I'm afraid so," Edward said. He was silent for a moment before speaking again, "I'm so sorry... but these things happen sometimes."
Marcus slumped dejectedly in his seat. The whole situation seemed like a very bad joke to him. He had spent his last few years working hard, giving his all, just to provide a better life for his family. But then he had died, and all his efforts had been in vain. Even now, when he found out that he would have a second life, a new chance to live a full life, it turned out that he was already doomed.
"Are you sure there is nothing you can do? Anything is fine... please," he asked in a pleading voice.
Edward couldn't help but feel sorry for the soul in front of him. He had been working at the Agency for a long time, longer than he could remember. He had seen all kinds of souls come and go, many of them not having a happy second life. In all that time, he had felt sorry for them, but he had never done anything to change that. He always justified himself by saying that it was for the good of the Agency. Now the same situation repeated itself.
Edward had seen how unfortunate Marcus' life had been. He knew the entity that had chosen his soul. He knew how twisted it was and he knew what it was capable of for the sake of "having fun". In this situation, he could only feel sorry for Marcus. But did he really want to leave things as they were? Send another soul into a hostile world with no chance of survival? With no choice but to suffer, die, and hope that his next life would be more fortunate?
After thinking and hesitating for a while, Edward finally decided not to sit idly by this time. He snapped his fingers and suddenly a blue holographic screen and a keyboard appeared in front of him. He began typing on the keyboard at a frighteningly fast rate. A few minutes later, when he was finished, the screen and keyboard disappeared and a light appeared out of nowhere. The light went to where Marcus was and merged with him.
"I just installed an 'upgrade' to the stat system you were supposed to have in the world you are going to. I also added an 'inventory' although it's not the best of the lot. Unfortunately, this is all I can do. If I do anything else I will be punished for breaking the rules. " Edward said.
"Sigh... I guess it's better than nothing. Thank you. I know we haven't known each other for a long time, but I hope we can meet again." They both stood up from their seats and shook hands by way of farewell. "Emmm... Mr. Edward, is it okay if I can ask one last favor from you?"
"Don't worry Marcus, I'll take care of your P***web account."
"Thank you very much!"
Marcus' soul began to glow and in a few seconds, he disappeared into thin air.
Edward sat back down, drank some tea, snapped his fingers making the same blue holographic screen appear, and started typing on the keyboard.
"Oh my...I have to admit you have good taste Marcus.... hmmm, I think out of respect for your good taste I better blow up the computer."
And just like that, Marcus' last unfinished business on earth was resolved without a trace of his existence.
****
Marcus woke up startled, wondering what had happened? Where was he? What had happened to Edward? But before he could answer these questions, he heard a robotic sound and then something popped into his mind.
Ding!
...
[User status completed]
================================
Name: Marcus Edevane
Race: Undead
Species: Common skeleton
Rank: 0.5
Level: 1 (0/10 xp)
================================
HP: 30/30
MP: 0/0
Strength: 9 Stamina: max
Defense: 7 Intelligence: 0
Vitality: 3 Wisdom: 20
Agility: 10
Stats points: 0
================================
Skills:
{[Poison Immunity][Necrotic Damage Immunity]
[Disease Immunity][Cold Immunity]
[Dark Resistance lv:1][Evil Resistance lv:2]
[Primary Sense lv:1][Inventory lv:1]}
Weaknesses:
{[Blunt Damage lv:8][Solar/light Damage lv:10]
[Magic Damage lv:4][Aura Damage lv:4]
[Spiritual Damage lv:10][Fire Damage lv:9] [Sacred Damage lv: Max]}
================================
Marcus was speechless, a black status screen with white borders appeared in his mind.