"Here again, little Sil?" he asked.
"My eyes have gone blind," and I replied.
That day, I was six. I was playing outside and suddenly discovered a truck with an ad on it passing by in front me. It was a toothpaste ad, if I remember right. I saw its name, and this was written right below it: "Brush and Crush! Exo Toothpaste kills 99.99% of the Viruses in your mouth!"
That was just alright, the problem was elsewhere. I was maybe around 50 meters away from the truck. After reading that much I looked at the phone number below and couldn't read them. Shocked, I decided that my eyes have caught a defect Smart I, knew what to do. My uncle, an eye specialist, I ran straight to him.
"How old were you again?" he asked.
"Six! Now fast treat my eyes, I think my sight is already fading. Nooo," although my blunt expression didn't support my statement, my uncle sighed and stood up.
"Come with me," he hold and led me to the next room.
And here was that eye testing sheet and I took the test. There I happened to hit a perfect score. After a few different other testings he soon concluded with a bored enough look at me and delivered something I could never forget:
"Your sight is better than anyone you will ever meet. Go home."
That for some reason made me think I am special which I really was, in different ways, and cared too damn much for my eyes ever since.
Years passed and I turned 16 nearly around the time I began to realize that I invested more in my eyes than necessary. In my 1st year, I made a research paper about eye vision which got me the first prize in whatever the event was about. I, ever since that day, became a picky eater only to suit what are good for my eyes, and tried my best to avoid electronic eye devourers (smartphones or computers I guess) until I become 18.
Until, as my expectation followed, I had the very best eyes. Well maybe not the looks but, the Most healthy eyes. The results?
I should have joined the archery club already. I just don't like it though and people uh, praise my eyesight. I was writing a book about eyes. And I play football, my eyesight kinda helps me to spot everything so I stand out rather easily. And well, that's it, sadly. Or, was, sadly.
My story began on a regular day. Tomorrow being my 17th birthday, I was out till evening playing football. I remember scoring a hattrick that day and I was happy. I am glad I was happy that day. I left happy, and I could only hope, to return happy.
The surroundings were perfectly casual as I was returning to home. However with the streets crowded as ever I suddenly felt a headache. Crossing the main street I stopped in a park finding an empty bench. I watched, the moon was out a little. I remember seeing it right above a banyan tree in the park, I still remember.
The moon of my world is so beautiful, truly it is. I am glad that was the last thing I saw.
And after that? I don't know, I just had a feeling at that moment. Yes, I died there one way or another, but nothing killed me. My vision blanked out as my soul was simply ripped apart, as far I can say. Everything disappeared instantly as I discovered myself in an empty, white void. I was shocked, as I should have been. I could feel myself, it was just me. I didn't know exactly where I was standing or that even if I was standing. There was nothing below or above me. Just a white, infinite, void.
I struggled, but I looked around, there was Nothing. Literally nothing. What options did I have then? I couldn't think. I just decided to speak.
"What do you want?"
With the feeling of a presence I immediately looked backwards and saw him. I don't understand what he was, he was imbedded within the whiteness, still distinct somehow. I could see the shape, the face replicating a human one.
"You have been chosen, Hero." he uttered. The voice, seemed almost alien. That was a totally unique tone, unknown to me. But with that, a hundreds of thoughts appeared before me. I put them aside and just told myself, "Ah, so its time I get reincarnated?"
"Why?" I didn't really mean to say this, even within this fear of nothing I was in, inside a corner of my heart, I was excited, a little. But I am unintentionally cautious. Can't do a thing about it.
"That knows the Lord alone." he answered. The face grinned up a form of smile, I saw and continued,
"Hero, I know what you think. And truly, you will be reincarnated. Come on, get excited,"
And well, I was excited. I didn't really love my world, did I? But it was nice well, not that bad to me unlike many isekai tropes I read. Maybe I was just ungrateful.
"As you expect, you are to be given the choice to choose your class. And you, will fight against other heroes, and villains, O hero! Then conquer the quest you receive, by saving the world and finally, place your hands upon the 'Wish', the Mighty reward,"
"What is the 'Wish'?" I inquired, slowly picking up the pace.
"The 'Wish', is the Grand reward for the Hero's Team each of the surviving Hero of the team shall receive this. That is, One, and any of your wish. Shall be fulfilled. Be it immortality, The Heaven, or Powers unimaginable. Hero, get excited,"
By that time, I almost adapted to this new reality. Reincarnations happen and it was happening then. The face continued:
"Hero, then choose your class. You can be any of the three. A Swordsman wielding powers unmatched, An Archer with his severing arrow or a Mage mastering secrets of nature."
I kept my calm. As things stand, I couldn't go back, of course. So let's just follow the tutorial of whatever isekai novels I read until now, I thought.
I should just take the archer already, knowing my eyes, I could maybe be the best archer ever. But, damn that's work. Who doesn't want to be a cool spiritualist necromancer, or maybe a spellcaster? I did too. Archer or Mage? Sad how I didn't even consider Swordsman. They are typically the most balanced class and powerful class. Whatever.
"Mage,"
"Great choice, Hero. Now a Necromancer, a Spellcaster, as you imagined, or a Spiritualist?"
The face was reading my mind, creepy. But can't help it. Necromancers are portrayed as so dope in novels, but now that I think about it, they require absurd luck at times. You know, say this spellcaster started a cyclone, my whole skeleton army will be dead in moments, of course I would have more powerful units. Maybe dragons, uh... Golems? What are strong units? But you see, when you fight the 'bosses', these units get sweeped. At least that's the conclusion I reached after finishing my 5th necromancer based isekai novel.
Then you get spellcaster, powerful. I don't really know if they can be defeated in fantasy tropes. Like if you get the right skills you are literally invincible, much like necromancers too actually after they make a tough boss as their unit. Again, they still, quite frankly seems like too much of a brainwork to me. Like man, the amount of things those spellcasters need to keep in mind while activating their traps and fighting according to the plans, damn. I might be kinda smart as well but I am not a novel protagonist.
Then spiritualists, they are probably the healers, priests and things. I didn't really know.
"What are spiritualists?"
"Curious inquiry, Hero. As you imagined, spiritualists expertise in healing, as healers or priests. However, each class has both a defense and attack system. Spiritualists can engage in maximizing the power of your spirit to gradually even overcome the spirit. They can spiritually, physically or mentally extend or shorten your friend or foe."
Great, that was a trash class. At that point I understood that the system was not really unbalanced like things I read though. Every class happened to have their form of weaknesses and strengths. I could predict that almost nobody will select this class, but its a necessary one. Useless only if I was alone.
"Are the Heroes alone?"
"Certainly not, Hero. Each party will have three different heroes with same or different classes. And as you imagined, Hero, I affirm that this class has been chosen the least."
Yeah I expected that.
"Can I change my mage cl-"
"No,"
That was one unexpected moment. Whatever.
"What is the quest about again?"
"Hero, the quest is to save the world you will be sent to. The world is named Asylna. The world is divided into the Upper World and the Underworld. Humans, elves, dwarfs, few monsters and other races live in Upper World enjoying complete harmony while in the Under World lives their universal enemies, the Demons."
Ah, classic, I thought.
"And around the world of Asylna revolves a moon which finishes half its rotation in a thousand years. And the Demons, they can't tolerate the moonlight and hence melts as they come in contact with it."'
'Oh? Amazing.'
"And henceforth, every thousand years the Demons rise up from their underworld and invade the Upperworld to live the next thousand years there."
'Oh.. Not amazing.'
"Then listen now, O Choosen Hero! Within 70 years from now, the Demons from Under World shall begin there invasion. You, along with five hundred other heroes scattered throughout the world, shall accumulate enough power to stop this invasion by one of the three ways: First, bring the moon back to its initial rotation point. So, gain enough power to bring back the moon to its first delaying the invasion by a thousand years. Or second, by invading the Under World beforehand, and eliminating them just there. And the last way, must not be revealed to you. You may learn it, once you reach Asylna." he finished.
Well, gathering enough power to move a moon sounds... hard? Invading the entire underworld sounded no better as well. But the time limit is 70 years. Well, there are five hundred heroes too. Of course someone was going to win, I didn't need to be really a try hard.
"And last question, what happens after the quest is finished?"
"Curious question, Hero. If your team finishes it, you receive the 'Wish' and may go back to your world if you desire. And if as you imagined, if somebody else finished it, you still may go back however, but their use of 'Wish' might simply be disastrous, do you know Hero, if truly a villain wouldn't complete the quest?"
He made a good point but I couldn't care less. Why would a Hero save a world to harm me or the world again? They did just use the 'Wish' for immortality or something rational. I was set. I don't really need the 'Wish'. I just need to survive, right? Spiritualist is the class for that.
"Spiritualist."
"Great choice, Hero. Your class has been locked. And news, you have chosen the worst class,"
I wasn't really shocked.
"As a compensation, you can enhance any of your senses to a greater potential, which will it be?"
"You know,"
"Great choice, Hero. You desire 'Sight'. Then right, you shall receive your first skill as you are reincarnated. Good luck, Hero."
Everything, everything just vanished yet again. But this time, I fell unconscious. Who knows what happened inbetween and how much time had passed. But there I was, in a whole new world ahead of me. And I know what I felt, excited.