Living is easy, but every moment of life can be difficult. At least Jason thought that way. There were nights he cried himself to sleep and walks home where he would shout to the heavens, but he never stopped moving forward. He hoped It would get easier. Hoped it would get better.
But there would be no better. No easier. As this was the day Jason would die.
His life would end unfulfilled despite all he had done to make the most of what he had. If he had known beforehand would he have been angry, maybe sad or perhaps he wouldn't have felt anything? It is impossible to know.
The day started much like any other, Jason had slept through his first few sets of alarms but this time he had an excuse, as he had been up late the night before working on an essay due that afternoon.
He lived on his own and his aunt couldn't afford anywhere closer to the university so the alarm rang out at 6:10 am. The commute to school was a long one. He had hoped to get a room at the student campus but that was done on a draw and just his luck he'd missed out.
Jason jumped out of bed and rushed to the shower trying to avoid the cold and giving out a little cry as he did. He ate his breakfast as fast as he could get it down, flung his jacket on and raced out the door. He made the bus with seconds to spare but as always there was no seat. He would be standing for the next hour as the bus snaked through the traffic.
It was a cold day so he had a thick jacket on, which only made the stuffed bus even more warm and uncomfortable. He spent the journey on his phone reading the latest chapter of his favourite web novel, while occasionally glancing at the time and willing the bus to go that bit faster.
Arriving at the stop nearest the university, it was a relief to get back into the cold air after standing in the stuffy bus. Walking to class Jason bumped into a few of his classmates who were heading to the same first-year lecture he was. They were all nice people but Jason couldn't call them his friends. They all lived in the student dorms or had parents rich enough to get them a private place nearby. Living so far away and working a part-time job Jason struggled to find the time to hang out with them or anyone.
Sitting down right at the back of the hall, Jason listened to another incredibly boring lecture by a woman who clearly didn't want to be teaching. The walls of the hall were tired and old. The desks were uncomfortable and covered with scribbles and scratches made by other bored students. They only added to the sad and tired atmosphere. This was all despite it being a pretty good university, one Jason had worked hard to get into.
Occasionally, he would get distracted and steal a glance at the girl sitting towards the front. From the back all he could see was her long blonde hair. Sophie was amongst the most beautiful girls in their year. It wasn't just him who thought so.
Jason and her got on well but like with everything else he never had the opportunity to spend much time with her. Jason wasn't unattractive himself, but he wasn't attractive either. He was only a bit taller than average and didn't have the time like others to make sure he looked good. Since he mostly spent his time waiting tables and studying, if anything, he looked a little sickly. While this meant some girls had ignored Jason, the same wasn't true for Sophie. What time they did find to hang out together was fun and they usually spent most of their time together laughing about this or that.
Eventually, the lecture ended and Jason had to move on to his next one. The day went on like this as he went from hall to hall until lunchtime arrived. Stepping out he was greeted by two of his oldest friends Lucas and Kayla, whom he had known since school.
"How was the lecture?" Kayla asked wrapped up in her big coat, scarf and beanie hat.
"Boring as always, how about yours?" Jason responded.
"It was really good actually," she replied. Kayla was studying politics and seemed to enjoy it a lot. Jason was a little envious. He was studying engineering, he had wanted to study Architecture but the course was too long and he couldn't afford not to get a good job as soon as possible. For as long as he could remember he enjoyed designing buildings and imagining his creations sitting in different parts of the city but his degree was starting to drain that passion.
"Enough of that boring stuff what about our plans for tonight? Come on Jason come out with us we never get to see you anymore," Lucas cut in. He and Kayla were both good looking and standing side by side they made quite the pair. Jason had always wondered why Lucas and Kayla had never ended up together.
"You know I want to but I can't I have work," Jason said with a pained expression. While he would have loved to hang out with the two of them he just couldn't. He needed the money for food and bills.
It was then that Sophie and the group that seemed to always accompany her walked past.
"Jason, are you heading to the cafeteria, do you want to grab lunch together? Lucas and Kayla, I would love it if you guys came too," Sophie said with a smile that was nothing less than captivating.
"I'm sorry Sophie I think I'm going to head to the convenience store." It took all he had to turn her down, but he didn't have the money to afford the cafeteria prices.
"You heard him Sophie, just let him run along." The words came from one of the arrogant guys who made it their life's goal to hang off Sophie all the time. He was always annoying and it took all of Jason's willpower not to walk up and punch the guy in the face but he knew that wouldn't help anything. Thankfully even the image of himself doing so alleviated some of Jason's annoyance.
"Are you sure? " Sophie said ignoring the guy whose name Jason couldn't even be bothered to remember.
"I think me and Kayla are going to join him," Lucas said.
"Yeah we will grab food another time I promise," Jason said stressing the promise.
Sophie smiled at this response and dawdled before she was eventually pulled away by her entourage.
"Damn, I hate that guy," Lucas said aloud what Jason had also been thinking.
"Thanks for offering to come with me guys but you don't need to. The store's a while away so I'll pretty much have to run to get there and back again in time. You've got to get to the other side of the campus for your class you definitely wouldn't make it."
"I guess. But this weekend we are getting together no matter what Jason," Kayla said with a somewhat pleading look.
"Of course, I've left the day free for us to properly enjoy some time together." As soon as he had finished getting his words out Jason turned and sprinted off, leaving Kayla and Lucas behind.
"I did try."
"I know."
Jason left the campus at pace heading to the nearest convenience store. Unfortunately, it was across a big busy road and due to the conversation delaying him, he was in a rush.
However, it wasn't so bad that he would try to cross given the busy traffic. He patiently waited till the light turned green before crossing. Unfortunately, the speeding truck didn't have the same courtesy.
All he saw were two headlights before it all went black.
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Jason felt like he floated in that darkness for an age. During that time Jason could do nothing but think about the life he had lived. It had been hard. He had constantly struggled to achieve anything. His background and devastating lack of luck always seemed to prevent him from doing what he wanted.
Eventually, he opened his eyes to see a white room that seemed to stretch onwards with no obvious ending. The only thing to be found in the room was a beautiful woman. She had a smile on her face and looked very excited.
"Hello, Jason."
Jason's mind was a complete mess he was completely confused as to where he was and what was happening, but he tried his best to stay calm.
"Hi?" He responded with a questioning tone.
"I'm very excited to finally meet you."
Not getting any answers from that Jason shot out questions rapid-fire. "Where am I? Who are you? Am I dead?" The white room seemed to trigger thoughts of a hospital in his head but this room looked nothing like any hospital he had ever seen before.
"Slow down one question at a time." The woman said gesturing with her hands. "Firstly regarding where you are. You are in the God Space and I am Kaira, a God" She said her name while doing a twirl on the spot. While this might have seemingly been an odd thing to do, Jason could only stare as he finally took the time to look at her. She was definitely the most stunning person Jason had ever seen. Even the movie stars and models he had seen in his 18 years of life couldn't have even hoped to hold a candle to this woman's beauty.
"Oh, you charmer you." She giggled.
"Sorry, what?"
"Ah, I should tell you I can read your mind. Don't worry though that's only because we have a special connection, not all Gods will be able to do that."
"Wait I'm still dealing with one god there are more?"
"Hahahhaha yes many more. But getting back to answering your questions I'm afraid you are right. You got hit by a truck and you did die."
"I'm dead?"
"Well, you died, but you aren't necessarily dead. You have been chosen by me to go to the Heroic Realm as my Champion!"