"Bzztt"
"Swosshh"
"Heyy.."
"Heyy.. you"
Elio felt called and was surrounded by noise when he woke up. Elio was shocked when he opened his eyes and saw what was before him. In front of him, the sky was red and black.
Small lightning strikes happen one after the other. Plus, you can't see any sun in the sky. At least the moon will be visible if it's still night.
After all, the night sky isn't red-black everywhere, right?" Hey, wait, wasn't that the last time I slept?"
"Am I dead? Am I gone?"
"Heyy.. are you deaf?" Elio thought he heard a voice calling him again, but this time it was clearer.
Elio finally came back to himself after his earlier thoughts. He turned to the right, where the call was coming from.
Not far from where Elio was standing, he saw a guy with long hair and a dress that looked from a long time ago. The man looked like a dead fish because he had black makeup around his eyes. He doesn't look like a live thing as a whole.
"Are you deaf? Quick, get in line!"
Elio started to walk in front of the line. People in this line were heading toward a beautiful grand hall in front of them. The entrance is white in color, like an ancient architectural model, with pillars lined up around it.
"What's this?"
"Why are we all walking toward that beautiful grand hall?" As Elio looked around him more carefully, he wondered what was happening.
Elio also didn't notice that the people in line with him didn't always look the same age as him until he looked around. Some looked old, and some seemed very old.
"You, it's your turn now. Hurry in!"
It was Elio's turn to enter the beautiful grand hall.
As soon as he entered the beautiful grand hall, Elio saw that it looked so architecturally, more like the hall of a royal palace. In the center of the room was a large crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling.
At the end of the hall, where Elio was the furthest away, a beautiful curved staircase rose gracefully to the second floor. Its balustrade is supported by light scrollwork of iron with flowers and leaves made of bronze.
"Very pretty." Elio's mouth accidentally gave away what was happening in front of him.
"Syuutt."
All of a sudden, Elio's world went all pitch black. It was like being swallowed up and thrown into a different world. The surroundings changed totally.
"Welcome to the Hall of Two Truths."
Elio saw a chair in front of him, and it looked like the only place with light was around the chair. The chair's primary color is brown, and it has gold details that make it look like the chair of a king.
On the left and right sides of the chair are sculptures that look like a crook and a staff.
A man dressed as a Schenti in the way of ancient Egypt was sitting on a chair. He also wears what the Egyptians call Atef's cap, a white cap with feathers on the sides.
"My name is Osiris, and I am the God of the Underworld." The man said who he was. His voice was calm, but he had the air of a bigshot person from how he carried himself.
"Okay, let's look at your life history data, young man." Osiris put his hands together and clapped them in the air. Then appeared a transparent book shaped like a hologram in front of Osiris.
The book was opened by Osiris. "Hhmm. Ohhh… Hum. I see." Osiris also talked to himself as he looked back and forth through the book.
"Elio Vukan was 15 years old at the time. When he was 11, an accident killed both of his parents."
"When his parents died, his wealth was controlled by his parents' relatives. He was kicked out of his home and forced into an orphanage."
"Two years after that, when he was 13, there was a fire at the orphanage. Since then, he lost his home and lived on the streets."
"In the end, he died of hunger at age 15." When he said this last statement, Osiris quickly looked at Elio and saw the young man slightly lower his head.
"Oh my goodness, young man, you've had a terrible life. This is the first time I've seen information about the life of someone as unfortunate as you," Osiris joked while pretending to give a sobbing expression.
"Jiiii.."
Elio just stared blankly at Osiris.
"Uh-huh... well, back to the point." Osiris tried to stop his joke, which didn't seem very funny.
"All right, assessors, what do you think?" In the pitch-black quiet, Osiris asked loudly, which showed that some other beings were watching.
"Then let's start making a judgment." As soon as Osiris was done talking, the hologram book went away. Then a substantial big scale showed up.
The huge scales have two boxes on top of each side plate. On the left scale of the box, it says "Sin," and on the right scale, it says "Virtue."
"These scales will tell if a person is worthy to incarnate," Osiris said
"As the name implies, on the left side of the scale with Sin written on it is how many sins the soul committed during their lifetime."
"While on the right is how much good the soul did during their life."
Elio also paid close attention to Osiris's answer.
"If the scales are heavier towards Virtue, then the soul is worthy to incarnate."
"If the scales are heavier towards Sin, then the soul is not deserving to incarnate," Osiris added.
"What happens to a soul that isn't good enough to incarnate?" Elio asked, "What will happen to them?"
"The Devourer of the Dead will eat them, and they will cease to exist," Osiris replied with a serious look.
"Gulp.. disappeared.. forever..?" Elio feels a little uneasy after hearing this answer.
"That's not going to happen to me, right? Since I've had a history of bad luck." Elio groaned a little bit in his heart.
"Tingg... Tingg."
The scale stopped with the heavier weight towards the scale labeled Virtue.
"Congratulations, young man! Your soul is worthy to reincarnate." Osiris said happily, congratulating Elio
"Okay, young man, since you deserve to be reincarnated, I'll tell you why you've had such a terrible life." Osiris' voice instantly turned more serious.
Elio also put on a serious face as soon as he heard. He was always having bad luck, so it was only natural that he wanted to know why. He had always felt odd about it.
"In your last life, a God put a curse on you!"
"What!?" When Elio heard what Osiris said, he jumped, a little surprised.
"Cursed by God? "What have I done to make God hate me?" Elio couldn't believe that a God-like entity could curse him.
"Sorry, young man, I know nothing about that. Because you did it in a past life." Answered Osiris
"Even if you die and come back to life again, the curse will still be on you because it stays in your soul for up to three lives," Osiris added.
Elio felt like he had been hit by lightning in broad daylight when Osiris spoke. He will always have a string of bad luck in each of his three lives.
"What the hell." Elio looks down, slightly depressed.
"Then, young man, you have another option from me. You will be reincarnated in a different world. A world that exists magic."
"I'll give you a system to help you become a Ranker."
"A Ranker is the only mortal entity capable of going head-to-head with a God."
"So what's your choice, young man?" Osiris asked, waiting for an answer from Elio
"Hump.. living a terrible life up to three lives? Are you joking with me? Of course, you already know my answer, uncle." Elio answered Osiris' question with firmness and eyes that radiated determination.
"All right, I hope you find the answer to your question earlier."
After saying that, suddenly, a staff appeared in Osiris' hand. He also said something like a spell in an old language. The staff then shone brightly.
The light from Osiris's staff went in the direction of Elio. The light wrapped around Elio fully before going away on its own.
"Okay, young man, you've made your decision. You may exit through that door." Osiris pointed out a door on his left side.
"Yosshh... well, with this God-given system, then it looks like I'll get powers like in the comics and movies I saw as a child."
"You gave me a curse on my previous life, didn't you? All of that will be paid back in this life!"
"If you are a god, then I as a mortal with the help of the system will exceed the existence of the god itself!"
Elio walked toward the exit door that Osiris had pointed out with hope glimmering in his eyes.
"Osiris, do you pity him?" A voice behind the shadowy silhouette suddenly appeared at Osiris's side. Slowly the silhouette formed into a figure with a dog-headed human body holding a staff.
"Maybe," Osiris replied shortly
"Okay, I'll change my question," the figure said in response.
"Do you see your old self in him?"
"Well... not really, at least for now," Osiris replied with a somewhat sentimental-sounding tone. He directed his gaze towards Elio's back which began to fade away, and headed towards the exit of The Hall of Two Truths.