Speedrunning a Parallel World
Onlookers gasped in horror at the red streaks of blood etched into the pavement, and the tangle of limbs, torso, and head. What was once the infamous Raging Demon, the legendary speedrunner of all game genres, lie dead in the road. In a rare stroke of heroism, he pushed a young girl out of the way of an oncoming bus that lost control of its brakes.
The speedrunner's last moments were agony; his last thoughts on the games he hadn't a record in, and the worthless life he lived in the shadows of his talented siblings. Just when he believed his last chance at redeeming himself was lost...
"Welcome to the gates of Heaven, Johnathan Rivers... Before I can allow you to pass through the Gates of Heaven, there are two tasks you must undertake."
A faceless goddess materializes before Johnny on a throne of gold. Lesser gems laid at the foot of the throne, while those of diamond, ruby, emerald, and sapphire adorned the right and left arms. Behind this magnificent seat and the personage perched thereon were the towering gates of the afterlife, shut tight. Their gilded bars stretched endlessly into an azure sky sparkled with the silver dots of stars, the sides of which were obscured by the rippling gold surface of the Barrier of the Beyond. What could these two tasks be?