Life was not easy. That was a common law of reality, and I knew it better than most. Life wasn't fair and you had to deal with it in whatever way you could. For some, it was through drugs, alcohol, or another form of escaping one's own mind or reality. I had my own form of escapism which was what I was on my way toward now.
The streets were pretty quiet at this time of night. Living in a town far from any cities and with a low population led to far more peace and quiet than most areas in the states, although we still had our fair share of crazies, more after the whole pandemic had occurred. Lines had been drawn and things had got chaotic. It had been really bad for me due to my job in this small town. A place I hadn't wanted to remain in but once again life wasn't fair, and I admit, I'm not the most motivated of people. So I was stuck with a nine to five or so it had said on the job application. In reality, it was more like an eight to six or seven or even further. It was one of those places that basically made overtime mandatory with no pay. You were seen as less if you didn't and not as loyal.
For me, it was worse, due to my skill when it came to numbers and planning, a lot of things were dropped onto my lap, and it was either do them or leave and find another job which would undoubtedly be difficult if my boss decides to spread the word of my lack of… motivation. I'd end up in construction or something and with my lean and stick-thin body, I'd drop the first day like a sack of damn potatoes.
So here I was on my way home at nearly midnight, having been forced to do the work of five people with only a bit of extra pay. The bosses were assholes, but they didn't want to lose a… valuable employee, or slave as I thought of it. But I could have it worse. I didn't work all week, and that meant I could spend some days enjoying myself with video games.
I smiled, remembering that I'd begun the download for Elden Ring just before I'd left for work and so it should be done by the time I got back. And I had tomorrow off so I could play all day long, and just relax. I sorely needed it.
As I was thinking of all joy to come, I felt my car swerve a little and quickly pulled it back on course, frowning, I glanced in front of me, the front lights of my car piercing the darkness, but the road seemed pretty normal. I shrugged, but kept my eye on the road and took the next left. It was only because of choice that I was able to see the car coming my way.
In movies and other fiction, it's often said in certain moments time slows down. Before an impact or fall or whatever. That was a lie apparently because nothing slowed down. Certainly not the car in front which crashed into me at what must have been easily over 100mph. I felt the impact and only my seatbelt and the airbags kept me in the seat, which didn't matter because I only remained awake long enough for all sound to be replaced with the crash. Then I hit my head on something and was out. No slowing down, no pain, just an impact, and darkness.
I woke up an unknown amount of time later, feeling good, very good. That filled me with worry, especially the fact that my mind was very clear, and the memory of the car crash was fresh. I had never woken up in this way before. Normally there was a few moments of blankness and staring at nothing while my brain kickstarted, but it felt more like I had blinked. In fact, the crash felt like it had happened only seconds ago. I gulped and when I finally took note of my surroundings I didn't know whether to scream or just stare in shock. Well, there was shock either way.
I wasn't in my car anymore, or anywhere in my town. I was sitting down in a chair, and in front of me was a woman. A very plainly dressed woman. That was the only normal thing about her. That and the desk she had a hand on. There were papers scattered about it, and though it looked old-fashioned, it wasn't overly gaudy. In fact, it looked similar to a desk my father had once had. I blinked. It was exactly the same desk, even with the marring, and scratches. I could see the curse word I'd scratch one time when I'd been angry. He'd whooped me for that. He had always loved his desk.
"Do take as much time as you need to compose and calm yourself. We aren't in much of a rush." Her voice was smooth and had a musical note to it. In fact, it sounded like she autotune. She was beautiful. No, that was too weak of a word. She had to be the most attractive woman I had ever seen in a very unnatural way. She looked too perfect. Too symmetrical. Like she'd been sculpted by an artist. Her body even with the plain dress was an hourglass figure and her face was free of all marks of blemishes. And her eyes were a shining silver with flecks of blue.
I gawked openly, and the first words that came out of my mouth were, "Are you an angel?" It wasn't meant to be a compliment or even a cheesy line, although it certainly sounded like one. She chuckled. "Something like that, but it's not too important. I take it you're ready to hear what has happened and where you are?"
I nodded. "Heaven?" I had hope in my voice. Who wouldn't? It didn't last as she shook her head, but there was no pity or sorrow so I hoped that didn't mean this was a pitstop before hell. "Afterlife?"
"Sort of yes. You died, rather quickly, and luckily for you without any pain."
"Oh." My voice sounded sorrowful, but I didn't feel particularly sad. I guessed it had something to do with the pace of events, and of course the women in front of me. I expected something more to happen and clearly, she did as well, but no tears came. I had no family left and my life was pretty much average in all ways. There was nothing I had left behind, except Elden Ring. I felt genuine disappointment that I wouldn't get to play it.
"So what then?" I asked, confusion taking over.
"Well, normally you wouldn't meet me. You'd die, and either be reincarnated on your world or another or be sent to an afterlife. However, your case is rather interesting," she said, searching the desk for something. "Here we go, Jericho Law, adopted child of Marish and Alex Law. You never knew your blood parents."
I shook my head, even though it hadn't been a question. "No, I spent some time as an orphan, but luckily I ended up in a pretty good place, and got adopted when I was five."
"Indeed, and your life, and what I say I mean without offense, has been nothing less than average in most regards save for some natural talent in management."
I nodded, not offended in the least. She was absolutely right. I wondered where she was going with this. "Did I do something for this to happen?"
"Not really, at least nothing you had control over, and this may come as a shock, but your parents were not born on Earth."
I leaned back, staring at her. "You're saying I'm an alien?"
"No, you are very human, just not a human of Earth."
"Then what would I be a human of?"
"Merityll," she replied with a smile that made me gulp. "It's a neighboring world, not of this universe, but similar. I know it's hard to believe, but your parents managed to leave for reasons I shall not speak of, but they left and had you. However, Earth could not sustain them so they had to leave. While born on Earth, you are not of Earth. Dimension travel is allowed, and since they didn't do any harm or change the world drastically, nothing was done. You wouldn't grow up with any abilities so all would be well and nothing was done. However, a decision was made that should you fall before having lived a half-life at the very least, then this would occur." She waved at the small white room.
"And this is…?"
"A chance to see your true home." She smiled and snapped her fingers, and two transparent blue screens appeared in front of me. Each had a single line of text.
Transmigrate: Y/N
Reincarnate: Y/N
"Due to the short length of your life, you are not eligible for any of this world's afterlives, nor any punishment since the worst thing you've done was steal a packet of skittles. So you are left with two options. First is the option to reincarnate which is what would happen automatically to an earthling in your shoes. The place you would reincarnate into would be random as would the circumstances of your birth. Since your karma and luck as average as well, they won't be any interference to give you a harder or easier start. Personally, I think they never should interfere but some disagree very profusely."
"And the second?" I knew what both meant. After all, I had read my fair share of manga, novels, and such.
"You transmigrate to Merityll, as you currently are."
"And why would I do that?"
She blinked, then relaxation dawned. "Ah, yes, well it has been deemed that should you choose this option you shall be given the chance at a few bonuses to begin. You see, Merityll is governed by a system similar to those in some works of fantasy back on Earth. This changed the dynamic and its growth is far more real and visible than on Earth. Don't get me wrong. Wealth, blood, tiles, and such still exist similar to certain periods of Earth."
That immediately piqued my interest. "A system? Like a video game system?"
"In a way yes," she replied. "Very similar. I can show you what your current stats would like on Merityll if you want."
I nodded slowly. "I'd like that."
She smiled and waved a hand. A second later the two screens were replaced by another much large screen.
Name: Jericho Law
Titles: None
Race: Human
Gender: Male
Age: 22
- Attributes -
Strength: 4
Endurance: 3
Constitution: 3
Dexterity: 5
Agility: 2
Intelligence: 7
Perception: 5
Sense: 2
Willpower: 3
Wisdom: 4
Luck: 3
- Skills -
None
- Abilities -
None
- Magic -
Magical Skills: None
Spell List: None
It looked very similar to some works of fantasy, and I immediately looked over my stats or attributes. It was about what I expected, although I didn't have anything for comparison so it was hard to know if it was really bad or like everything else about me, average. "Is this bad?"
"If you were a commoner of Merityll, neither very rich nor very poor, your stats aren't too bad, but they are below most. The average stats of a middle-aged man in good health would be 5 for everything, so in some regards, you are above average, but not by much, and with the way the world works, most people without means will have some good stats, some average and some bad, or maybe just average and bad. Your intelligence is above average."
"Gee, thanks." I moved down to the others sections. "What's all this? I have no skills?" I could understand having no abilities and magic, but no skills? Unless this was the RPG way of calling something a skill which is something anyone can learn, while an ability is like a power. A lot of RPGS and even novels tend to get confused.
"The way skills work on Merityll are different than what you might expect, and it says you have skills since it only shows skills it deems as important or having a true impact on your life and actions. It's not going to list your skill in video games or something trivial like your ability to throw cards, but something like swimming, climbing, or writing if it has an impact will be listed. It depends on what you do. If you are not a writer and seek the skill then it will come, but if not used or trained, it will fade. Its level won't lower, but the skill won't show, and a lot of skills simply don't appear due to how simple and common they are. You aren't going to see a walking skill, but sprinting and even running might show up though named differently."
"So I do have skills?"
"Yes, but none that the system registered as having much meaning or a reason or put in in your status. If it listed everything which could be defined as a skill then it would be very, very, uneasily long."
"And the abilities?" I asked, a bit bummed out, but not really surprised.
"They are more akin to supernatural powers. An example would be this." Another screen appeared in front of me.
-----
Sleep Touch(34)[D]
Sleep Touch: By touching a person for 12 seconds straight you are able to put them to sleep.
Time: N/A
Cooldown: 1 hour
Type: Active
-----
"Or this."
-----
Blade Projection(Slash)(1)[C]: Project the edge of your blade as a moving slash and send it forth at high speeds.
Time: N/A
Cooldown: 10 Minutes
Type: Active
-----
These are abilities, and every person can gain them through different means. The amount you can have depends on certain factors such as stats. You will gain two random abilities should you choose transmigration and language comprehension as a bonus. Plus three skills of your choosing."
"How do you increase your stats?" I asked, my excitement rising.
"That's enough questions. I'm afraid our time is running you as I have explained everything, and so a choice has to be made. You will find out what you need to know should choose Merityll. If not, then reincarnation it is which you will default to should you not make a choice in the next minute."
My eyes widened. "Only a minute?"
"Is it really a hard choice?" She asked. "I can see it in your eyes. You know what you're going to pick."
She was right. I was going to pick transmigration. It was an easy choice compared to the lottery of reincarnation. I had to admit it intrigued and exited me, a world governed by a system with skills and abilities, and who knew what else. Where Growth was far more tangible, and apparently it was where my parents were from.
"I pick transmigration."
"Wonderfull, then please remain seated while your abilities are picked randomly. While that happens please look over this list of skills. They're just the ones that are recommended and very common. If you require information about another skill please just think and it shall appear. Each skill shall you choose shall be pushed to level ten, the novice rank."
I nodded and immediately started looking over things. There were all sorts from weapon skills to climbing, reading, writing, dancing, and to my shock even sex, and I moved over them all, my video game mind taking over. First I looked for a combat skill, something to defend myself, and ended up with three potential choices. A sword skill, spear skill, or unarmed combat. The spear was the first thing that came to mind due to its ease, and the fact that on Earth, for thousands of years, the spear ruled as the king of war. The sword was very romanticized when in reality the spear was the more common due to it being far cheaper to make and easier to learn.
But, I would have a headstart and thought it was probably stupid, I wanted to go with the sword. I just really preferred swords. Unarmed combat was good, but it seemed from what… I paused and looked back at the woman. "I never got your name?"
"Hmm, oh yes. You can call me Angelica." She smiled.
"Is that your real name?"
"No, but I can't tell you my real name. Now I recommended you hurry up or your skills will be chosen for you."
I quickly got back to it and quickly found my next choice which was a persuasion skill. I didn't need to think about picking that one. It was an obvious choice and though bartering was also there, it couldn't be used for everything like persuasion could. The last was the hardest since. Three skills stood out.
Hunting
Foraging
Crafting(General)
These three were perfect choices, but I could only pick one unless. I looked back up at her. "Can I trade one at level ten for three at a lower level?"
She frowned and her eyes glazed over for a second, but refocusing on me. She nodded. You can give up one skill at level ten for three at level 2, or two at level 5."
My mind raced thinking over things. Having all three was good, but in a dire situation wouldn't it be better to have two at a higher level? But then I'd be missing a crucial element. I needed more info. "What do I start off with, where do I start."
"Some basic clothes, a weapon, and some rations. That's all. Now, quickly if you would."
I shook my head and decided to go with three at level 2. I told her my choices.
Weaponry(Swords)
Persuasion
Hunting
Foraging
Crafting(General)
"Then this is goodbye," she said, smiling, and reaching over to shake my hand. "I wish you well, Jericho Law."
"Thank you. Is there anything else I need to know?"
"Not really. You're all ready and set."
I took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. I gave her a smile and she smiled back as she snapped her fingers. Everything went black once again.