For a split second, the pain of burning alive from a supermassive nuclear blast hurt like hell. But thankfully it was over in the blink of an eye.
Now everything was quite cold. But not too cold—a strange limbo.
Mark's bare skin touched the sharp air of an infinitely vast white world. He stood on solid ground, staring at his body in confusion, then staring up and around his surroundings.
'Heaven?'
All the depictions of heaven were pretty white. Though not nearly as barren.
The thought of spending eternity here gently encroached upon his mind, followed by the tug of terror. But thankfully, the boundless silence was broken.
"There you are!" A voice echoed through the endless expanse.
A yellow sphere with a smiley face popped into existence in front of Mark.
'No fucking way… God's an emoji?'
The emoji ball was so surreal to look at that it gave him a migraine instantly. It seemed foreign to this world. Or perhaps Mark himself was foreign to this world.
•ᴗ• "I've been waiting for you."
"You know me?" Mark asked. "Are you God?"
ծ_Ô "No. I'm just a God from another universe," the emoji said with a perplexed look. "But we know one another!"
"How would I know a god from another universe?"
(¬､¬) "Remember that novel you read a few years back, the one where you cursed in the comments of every single chapter?"
"…Which one?" Mark said with a slight pang of guilt—though mostly at his ignorance.
•ᴗ• "The Strongest Mage with a Skill Weaving System."
'Jesus Christ, not that one.'
"Uh… yeah. I remember now. I think."
(•‿•) "Well. That was my story."
…
"Oh. My apologies," Mark said, holding his panic inside.
'Oh shit. Is he gonna send me to eternal purgatory for shitting on his story? What did I even say to him?'
ヽ (°◇° )ノ "Oh no! Don't apologize!" the otherworldly God pleaded.
Mark breathed a sigh of relief—though he couldn't even tell if he actually did breathe in this strange space.
'Glad emoji god can take criticism well…'
The word 'criticism' did a lot of heavy lifting. His comments on the novel were 25% critique and 75% pure hatred that originated from the deepest depths of his being.
"So you're saying that you, WorldEnder420, are a God from another universe?" Mark asked with an inflection of disbelief.
•ᴗ• "That's exactly what I'm saying."
"Sorry, but I'm not sure I understand."
(◑‿◐) "Transmigrated to Another World with a Skill Weaving System is an actual world that I inhabit. For funsies, I made it into a big 'ole book and sent it to another universe for some exposure. Then you came along and wrote a ton of helpful comments!"
"I'm glad I could help, but what exactly am I doing here? Aren't I dead? I should probably just go to heaven, no?"
(︶︹︺) "Would you like to be condemned to an eternity of monotonous nonexistence? If so, go to Heaven."
"Uh… is there another option?"
•ᴗ• "Of course! I think my proposition will interest you. Would you like to hear it?"
"Please," Mark beckoned.
(⌒▽⌒) "Yup! I made some adjustments, just for you. It's much better now! So why not transmigrate to my world?"
'Every fantasy enjoyers dream…'
A mini-nuclear explosion went off in Mark's vulnerable mind. And all those regrets… there was so much Mark could do differently.
If only he could have a fresh start.
"So, is there a catch to this?" Mark asked.
'This is a big decision, what if I make a…'
He didn't want to say the word 'mistake' in his mind. All this self-reflection only made him realize how mundane and sad his life really was.
(ᵒ﹏ᵒ) "Alright, you got me," WorldEnder admitted. "I have a big favor I need to ask of you…"
ʘ‿ʘ "…I need you to kill the protagonist for me."
…
'What? Why do I have to do it? Aren't you a God? You do it!'
"I don't really wanna get too deep into it," WorldEnder said, somewhat reading Mark's perplexed face. "But I don't have the power to undo the protagonist, so I need you to do it."
"What's wrong with the protagonist? And 'undoing' and 'killing' are two very different things!"
ʘ‿ʘ "You said it yourself. He's generic. So he needs to be dealt with."
'When did I say that? Not that I don't believe him… I think the story is coming back to me now…'
"And If I transmigrate but then refuse?"
…
(≖_≖) "Do you want to find out?"
The omnipresent voice chilled Mark to the core.
It was eerie, unnerving, and sinister, all in one. The overbearing cheeriness had been replaced with a trace of malice.
'Woah. Okay…'
Something was very, very fishy about this whole ordeal. No matter how Mark spun it, there had to be more to this whole scenario.
But the thought of spending eternity in a white expanse with nothing but regrets was even scarier than this emoji's wrath.
And transmigration appeared to be the answer to… well, everything. He could right his wrongs. Do things differently. Live a life of free choice.
All he had to do was one little job. Though it was against his will, surely the tradeoff would be worth it in the end.
Right?
"Alright… but I have a few questions."
•ᴗ• "Do tell."
"Who will I transmigrate as?"
•ᴗ• "Just an average academy schmuck."
"Can I keep my name?"
•ᴗ• "I can make it happen."
"Will I have any prior relationships? Friends and family?"
•ᴗ• "Nope. You'll be an orphan. A total extra nobody."
"Is the story the same as it was before?"
(•^•) "Erm… you'll see similarities."
"What about money?"
(•-•) "You'll start with some..."
"Any skills or boons to start with?"
( ๐ -๐) "Uh… No."
'Seriously? Starting from zero. Gonna be rough. I guess my knowledge will do the heavy lifting…'
"Anything I should know about the protagonist?"
(ㆆ ᴗ ㆆ) "…"
'That's not weird at all…'
"After I kill the protagonist, what happens to me then?"
(ㆆ - ㆆ) "You. Uh. Do whatever…?"
"So if the book I read was from the world you live in…"
(ㆆ _ ㆆ) "…"
"…how come I don't remember you as a character?"
…
{⋋▂⋌ } "Alright, that's enough talk! Do what you're told! Goodbye for now!"
The spherical yellow emoji god disappeared.
Then in the next moment, Mark's ears began to ring. It started quiet before gradually ramping up
"Agh…"
Mark's chest became tight, a pain coming straight from the soul. His face grew tense with a contorted, agonized expression.
Falling forward toward the ground, he outstretched his arms to brace for a fall.
But they touched nothing. Mark fell through the white expanse and entered freefall.
'Shit… shit! I made a mistake! Did I just sell my soul to a devil masquerading as an emoji who writes web novels?'
He soared through the clouds of blank nothingness as his confused mind filled with horror.
The clouds grew thick, slowing his freefall and covering his eyes.
'This is nuts…'
Mark's eyes rolled to the back of his head as he went unconscious in the blink of an eye.
***
'The fuck? What's wrong with that god?'
When Mark came to, all he could see was darkness.
Though it was quite obvious to him at the moment that he was face first on some very comfortable bed fabrics.
But there was one thing that was immediately on his mind.
Something he had been wanting to do for a long time. It was the very first thing he thought of doing.
'Status.'
The inside of his eyes lit up with a screen of text.
┌─────═━┈┈━═─────┐
Name: Mark di Abbott
Age: 18
Race: Human
Class: None
Title: End's Apostle
[Level: 0] Novice
◄ Strength: 0 - ◇─◇─◇─◇─◇ ►
◄ Vigor: 0 - ◇─◇─◇─◇─◇ ►
◄ Insight: 0 - ◇─◇─◇─◇─◇ ►
◄ Dexterity: 0 - ◇─◇─◇─◇─◇ ►
◄ Intelligence: 0 - ◇─◇─◇─◇─◇►
◄ Arcane: 0 - ◇─◇─◇─◇─◇ ►
◄ Faith: 0 - ◇─◇─◇─◇─◇ ►
◄ Charisma: 0 - ◇─◇─◇─◇─◇ ►
◄ Luck: 0 - ◇─◇─◇─◇─◇ ►
➥Unallocated Shards: 0
◃───***Skills***───▹
◃───***Arts***───▹
◃───***Affinities***───▹
◃───***Items***───▹
└─────═━┈┈━═─────┘
This… this tickled Mark's brain in all the right places.