In a simplistic but luxurious bedroom. There stood a man admiring himself in front of a mirror. "Wow, I'm actually handsome. A big difference compared to my previous body, that's for sure. Fluffy light brown hair, blue eyes, naturally muscular frame. I bet this fella was a heartbreaker."
This man's name is Quentin Evergreen. Once upon a time, he was just your average college student until one day, an unfortunate accident happened. A reckless truck driver, he realized far too late. As he was bleeding out on the pavement around him, he heard an almost divine sounding voice speaking.
"Ah, a casualty. It is no problem, simply erase his existe- Wait a minute. What did you just say? He accomplished what in the future? Oh... Oh no. Forget what I said about erasing him, bring him here NOW!"
After hearing that, Quentin lost consciousness and woke up in what seemed to be an office. As he looked around, he noticed that the walls were covered in bookshelves filled with books of all sorts, some were ordinary books that even Quentin had come across, while others were almost otherworldly in their presence. The lighting in the room was comfortable and suited for working long periods of time, though no sources of light were visible.
In the middle of a room, there was an antique desk with two plush chairs on one side and sitting on the other side, there was a middle-aged man with glasses wearing a well-tailored black suit.
Suddenly, the middle-aged man spoke in a exasperated tone, "You've caused me a lot of trouble today."
Quentin, still shocked by dying and appearing in a random room, replied in a confused tone as he stares at the middle-aged man in shock, "Uh... What? Did I just die?"
The middle-aged man took off his glasses and rubbed his forehead, clearly displaying signs of tiredness. After putting his glasses back on, he replies. "Yes, you did. One of my more incompetent agents was on a mission to hunt down someone in your world with the intention of reincarnating them, and accidently killed you. Normally, if a casualty occurs during a mission, the person would be erased from existence so long as they're not important to the timeline of that world."
Slightly understanding what happened, Quentin suppresses his anger and shock at the unfairness of the whole situation, and replies, "So, uh... Why was I not erased? I'm nothing. I've done nothing."
Quentin watches as the middle-aged man pulls out files from one of the drawers in the desk, and throws it on the desk in front of him. "I thought so too, until I saw this. You're currently developing a certain nonprofit website and program that allows random people from all over the world to contribute their knowledge of diseases, correct?"
Shocked at their level of information, Quentin quickly explains, "Yeah, it was a hobby of mine. I took up programming as a hobby a few years ago. After a close friend of mine got sick, I decided to take up that project in the hopes that I could help other people suffering. I only just started it, how did you know about it?"
The middle man gestured towards the files on his desk, as if gesturing for Quentin to look through them. Quentin understood and picked up the files, quickly reading through them. His head snaps up as he finishes reading the file and he stares at the man in abject shock.Â
Quentin put the files back on the desk with shaky hands. Unable to handle the shock, he fell backwards into one of the plush chairs and laughed in disbelief. "So, I... uh, guess it worked."
The middle-aged man picks up the files, and slides them back into the drawer he got them from, before speaking in a serious tone. "Yes, it worked- or well, it should have. If you lived, you would have continued the project until it eventually attracted the attention of a financial backer, and that would spearhead your mini-project into the world's view. Millions of people, contributing their knowledge to the project."
He let the knowledge sink in before continuing, "After many lucky occurrences and many dangerous situations, your little project would eventually lead Earth into what billions- no, trillions - of people in the future would consider the Earth's 'Golden Age of Medical Advancement.'"
Quentin could only sit limp in the chair, as he took in the implications and consequences of the project he started on a whim. Seeing his silence, the middle-aged man continued in a grim tone, "That should have been your legacy, now it will be someone else's. Your specific Universe has a... system in place. Time will try to fix itself, and it will. Someone else will start your project and complete it."
Taking off his glasses, the middle-aged man stood up from his chair and walked over to Quentin. Resting his hand on Quentin's shoulder, he spoke. "We are truly, deeply sorry."
Immediately, Quentin tried his absolute hardest to get angry, apoplectic even, but just couldn't find it in himself after hearing the sincere apology and seeing the genuinely remorseful look on the man's face.
Quentin sighed loudly, and spoke bitterly. "It's not like I ever got to enjoy that success, so it's hard to be angry about not having it. You can't miss what you've never had, right?"
Taking the time to compose himself, he continued in the same bitter tone, "What now? Do I just get an apology, and then erased from existence? "Â
The middle-aged man ignored his tone, seemingly understanding his anger, and started speaking while walking back to his seat. "That would be the case, normally. However, you are a complicated space-time event of unparalleled complexity. Your existence, though it will eventually be corrected, is still too large to erase without your universe suffering severe side effects."
As he sits down and puts his glasses back on, the middle-aged man stares deeply into his eyes and continues, "That's not all, though. We recruit people from every universe, every time period. There isn't an insignificant number of people here who have directly or indirectly benefited from what you would have done. We are not so heartless as to forget that."
"That is why," The middle-aged man pauses as he opens up one of the multitude of drawers on his desk, then pulls out a few stacks of paper before continuing, "we are giving you an opportunity that doesn't come to many people very often, if ever. You have heard of reincarnation, correct? Your file mentioned the love you hold for stories of that type."
Quentin nods and watches as the man sorts through the papers and puts them on the table in front of him in one stack. "We're allowing you to choose a world in which you will reincarnate into. You will hold on to your memories, but whatever ability you get will be up to chance. Read through them, take your time. I have to handle something."
As the middle-aged man stands up and walks through a door that Quentin could have sworn wasn't there a minute ago, he waits until the door shuts behind the man and looks back down at the antique desk and gently picks up one of the stacks of paper.
Quickly reading through the first page and glancing at the rest, Quentin quickly realizes what the middle-aged man meant by "choosing" what world he wants. Every paper was a description of a different type of world and setting that he could choose from. By his quick estimate, there were at least seven pieces of paper that he could choose from.
As he looks back at the first piece of paper that he glanced over, Quentin couldn't help but be invested in what he sees.
[Cultivation World: 0233345]
Plot: In a world of Immortality and Cultivation, your name is Li Tianyu, the youngest son of the Patriarch of the Li Clan. Being the youngest and the weakest of the sons of the Patriarch of the Li Clan, everyone mistreated you. Unbeknownst to them, you gained a special ability that can enable you to grow faster than anyone else.
Special Ability Roulette: Strongest Cultivator System, Lust God System, Mystical Black Book, Mysterious Orb, Fiery Eyes and Golden Pupils, Protagonist System, Primordial Body, Saint-Level Chess Skills, Weak ...Â
As Quentin finished reading, he began to speak aloud to organize his thoughts. "So, there are seven different worlds here, each with their own plot. My role is the character mentioned. It seems that all of the abilities..." He lets the sentence fall as his eyes dart towards the 'Lust God System' before continuing in a wry tone, "Well, most of them seem to relate to the type of world it is."
Finally getting his thoughts organized, Quentin quickly picks up the second piece of paper and starts to read it.Â
[Swords & Magic World: 45002123]
Plot: In a world of swords and magic, your name is Quentin Evergreen. You were born into a destitute noble family. After your parents ran away from the family, taking most of the valuables and leaving you with only a few servants behind, it became your responsibility to bring prosperity back to your family!
Special Ability Roulette: Town Governing System, Mystical Magical Body, Full Elemental Attributes, Weak Fire Attribute, Strong Lightning Attribute, Time Magic Attribute, All-Seeing Eyes Of Magic...
As he read through the seemingly infinite choices in the Special Ability Roulette, Quentin couldn't help but smile wryly. He loved the plot of this world, but just like the cultivation world, there were a seemingly infinite amount of things that he could obtain. None of them were specifically bad per say, but some were definitely scenario-limited.Â
His eyes land on one such example, Magical Snake Rope. After learning that he could check the description of an ability by tapping on it, he learned that Magical Snake Rope's only capability is capturing and holding low-level magical snakes.
Sighing, Quentin shakes his head and quickly reads through the rest of the papers. Not particularly interested in any of the other worlds, though he does take note of a sci-fi world where the main character is the last member of a species that mastered time travel, he shuffles the remaining papers into a stack, and keeps the initial two papers out, The Cultivation World and the Swords & Magic World.
As he reads them over once more, he lists the pros and cons of each world down in his head before quickly deciding upon which world he wants. Finally, he slides one of the two pieces of paper back into the stack. The remaining paper in front of him read: [Swords & Magic World: 45002123]
"Guess I'll just-" Quentin cuts himself off in disbelief, as the door that the middle-aged man went through somehow disappeared at some point when he was reading. "Guess I'll just wait here..."
After twenty minutes of waiting, his eyes couldn't help but linger on the mysterious bookshelves that lined every wall. Standing up, Quentin walks over to one of the bookshelves, a specific book catching his eye.
It was a beautiful book, mostly crimson in color, with intricately designed golden patterns lining its entirety. However, what truly captured his attention was the title: 'The Rise And Fall Of ####### ###'.
Just as he was about to grab the book, his hand hovering right above it, the middle-aged man's voice sounded out right behind him. "Have you chosen yet- Oh, I see."
Quentin's eyes doesn't leave the book, though his hand falls back to his side, as the middle-aged man walks up and stands beside him.
Quentin shakes his head, as if trying to throw off the enchanting effect the book had on him, and he looks over at the middle-aged man. "It... It feels as if it's calling out for me." He pauses for a few seconds, finally turning to the middle-aged man, before he asks the one question on his mind. "Why can I not read the name? It's like... like my brain sees the words, the letters, but it just can't comprehend what it's seeing."
Suddenly, the middle-aged man sighs and gestures to move away from the bookshelf. "Not yet." As he says that, he's already turning away from the bookshelf. Walking around the desk, he quickly sits down and asks, "So, your choice?"
Quentin hesitated, throwing glances back at the book, but eventually moves to sit on the opposite side of the middle-aged man. Quentin took out the piece of paper that held the world he chose and slid it over the table to the middle-aged man.
Reading through it, the middle-aged man pushes his glasses up and speaks in a surprised tone. "I have to say, it's an unexpected choice. Given your love for cultivation stories, I figured... Well, it's acceptable."
The middle-aged man snapped his fingers and the paper disappeared in a shock of bright light. Checking his watch, he looks up at Quentin and speaks. "Now that the information has been submitted, it's only a matter of time before you're sent off. I'll lead you to the waiting room."
Quentin looks at him in disbelief. "A waiting room? I thought that the process would be instant like the stories."
"No, this sort of process requires time. There are a thousand trillion people dying all over the multiverse at any given second. That means a system needs to be put in place to handle it, which is where we come in." As the middle-aged man speaks, Quentin notices the door reappear out of thin air.Â
"Follow me."
As the middle-aged man gets up and walks to the door, Quentin's eyes kept darting towards the book. Sighing, he follows the man to the door and after letting the man go through first, he quickly follows after and immediately gets hit with a bright light.