It was a beautiful day outside. Birds were singing, flowers were blooming… On days like these… College students like him… should not be choking on pizza.
"Grrlgg…!" Lothar dropped to his knees as he felt the air slowly dwindle inside of him, a foreign object stuck in his throat making it impossible for any new air to come in. All around him, the decrepit walls of his apartment stared at his plight, not a single soul nearby to hear the distressed calling of one such unfortunate person.
He tried pushing on his abdomen, only to receive nothing for his efforts. His vision slowly fading, Lothar decided to make one last attempt. Grabbing a glass of water, he gulped it all down, only for the water to choke him immediately, along with the food stuck in his throat.
'… Can't… Breathe…' Lothar felt his vision swimming, until he could see only darkness.
[]
[]
[]
Lothar couldn't believe it. As he hovered over his obviously dead body, he stared emptily at the box of fried chicken and pizza he was devouring just a minute earlier. His intangible hands clenched tight as an inhuman scream came out of his mouth.
"WHY!? WHY THE FUCK DID I DIE LIKE THAT!? I HAD SO MUCH I WANTED TO DO!" His yells and screams went unnoticed by the common populace. After all, dead men tell no tales. It was only until he spotted his smartphone, which was unlocked to his horror, that panic immediately set in as he tried to grab the smartphone and destroy it. "NO! MY CULTURE!"
Even after his unfortunate death, Lothar could only lament the fact that his smartphone was unlocked and was accessible to any person who was able to get a hold of it. His only hope that his stash of culture wouldn't be found was that his smartphone's battery would die before someone arrived.
Sadly, a knock on the door proved that his smartphone would be momentarily accessed and his culture shared with any unfortunate bloke who accessed his hidden files.
"FUCK! NONONONO!" Lothar quickly moved his spirit body to try and block the doorway, only for said door to open and pass through his intangible form. "FUCK!! NOOO!"
"Uh… Lothar? You okay here…?" His neighbor, his childhood friend and crush, slowly made her way through the short walkway and happened upon his corpse. Her eyes bugged and her pupils dilated as she looked upon the corpse of her best friend, whom she was hoping could be more than friends. "L-L-Lothar…? S-s-stop kidding with m-m-me… Get up… P-please… Get up…"
She stumbled on the ground as she held the corpse within her arms, the cold skin of her crush's corpse touching her own. Her tears then began to cascade down her cheeks and onto Lothar's corpse.
Seeing this, Lothar couldn't help but be mind-boggled at the scene. It was then that he felt something pulling his body from behind. Looking to his back, he saw an incredibly dark portal, one that filled him with dread as he panicked and grabbed anything that could stop him from ever entering that portal.
Unfortunately for him, he was now intangible and was unable to grasp any physical object that could stop him from being sucked into the terrifying portal.
That last thing he saw was his crush slowly getting up and taking a knife as his screams suddenly vanished once he was sucked into the portal.
[]
[]
[]
How long has it been since he's been here? A day? A year? A decade? All he knew was that he was tired of drifting about in this infinite void of darkness. During his stay here, the only thing that was able to keep him company was his memories of his old life, one where everything was just normal.
He studied in school. He played games. He had friends. He had a crush.
And he saw said crush grabbing a knife before he was sucked into the portal that brought him into this hellhole. He willed his body to float forward, the vast expanse of darkness being his only company in this state. He was already starting to go mentally insane, until he heard a ping and saw a light.
[You have been selected as a beta-tester for our up-and-coming System for deceased souls! Would you like to accept and be part of this wonderful new future our company is currently advocating?]
Y/N
Lothar stared at the message box, his non-existent eyes wide and his mouth hanging open. He looked around, only to see the message box following his vision every time he turned. Lifting his intangible hand, he shakily moved it towards the Y button, his finger hovering over it, before he pressed it.
And he screamed out.
[Very well then. We understand your non-participation in our beta-test, and we wish you a wonderful day in the void. Farewell!]
Due to how shaky his hand was, he accidentally pressed N, and since the Y and N buttons were so damn near each other, it wasn't a surprise that Lothar accidentally pressed it. The message box was not yet gone, so Lothar quickly pressed on the Y button, spam pressing it with both of his hands when it didn't work.
A few moments later, the message box was gone, and he was once again greeted by the vast expanse of the void as his blanket.
Lothar could do nothing but scream in fury at the bullshit that had just happened. It lasted for seconds, minutes, hours, days… No matter how long, his fury never subsided. All he could do was rage at the fact that his ticket out of this hellhole had just up and vanished due to a misclick.
And then, a miracle happened.
He blinked, his rage and fury all but forgotten due to the fact that his eyes were now registering what seemed to be a forest, instead of the black expanse of the void. Looking around, he saw the various trees, shrubs, grass, and plants one could typically see in a forest.
He felt the wind brush against his skin and the soft fabric of his clothes on his body. Looking down, he saw that he was clothed in what seemed to be his clothes when he died.
And in front of his gaze, he saw something he couldn't believe was possible.
Name: Lothar Edwin
Age: 19
Gender: Male
Class: Outsider
STR: 5
AGI: 5
INT: 5
LUC: Error!