"Are you really telling me, that due to me being egotistical, that's why you're doing this? ... Wow." I asked the glowing, featureless humanoid sat behind the desk between us. We were in a room(?) seemingly made out of the cosmos. A look of incredulousness was on my face, if I had one. I don't think I have a proper body. Or am alive.
"No, that's not wh-" They tried to say something, sounding like all manners of people saying the same thing. Old, young, Asian, African. All manners of ages and ethnicities.
"I quite literally said 'If I were in his shoes, I'd already rule theworld'. Next thing I know I'm here, wherever the fuck here is, and you saying, and I quote *ahem* 'Bet'. And can you stop talking like that, it's kinda annoying." I said looking at him... her... they... it? I really can't tell.
"Anything's fine, and yes, you aredead ... well not fully. Right now you are a soul in a state between life and death, and what you choose next determines the rest of your existence." They it is. So they can read my mind, not too surprising. Slightly annoying, but not surprising. I don't like the thought of someone in my head.
Thankfully they stopped with the voice thing. I've only been here all of two minutes, but it gave me a migraine.
"Sorry about that too, I forget how weak people start out." Ow, not my fault I'm weak.
"No, no, it's fine, it was just kinda annoying. What do you mean what I choose next determines the rest of my existence?" That's totally not an ominous thing to say.
"Oh, well, for you to take up my offer, you'd have to die in your original world, otherwise terrible consequences happen, and I can't exactly kill you just in case you say no. It would hurt my rep." Huh, I wouldn't think that a god would care about their reputation.
"Well, one, I'm not a god - I'm better; and two, I'd have to reimburse you. Also, some people and forces/entities that I know would never let me live it down. Much better, and easier, to bring your soul to my realm for some time so you can make your decision in peace, immune to any force seeking to manipulate your decision." Well ain't that impressive, the humility of this guy. I mean, we all famously know that gods ain't shit.
"Thank you" I just stared at them.
"...Aside from all that, why me? Why did you choose me instead of anyone else? I'm nothing special." I mean I was just an orphan that managed to get myself a stable job and a nice enough apartment, spending most of my free time playing games, reading novels, watching anime; really, just immersing myself in fiction to get away from reality. No future prospects or untapped potential.
"Well that's just where you're wrong. The way people get chosen is through a multitude of parameters, most important being potential and mentality. While we could just give people power, it's fun to see how people rise through the ranks to become something better than they ever thought possible. At least for me, others just want chaos."
" So this is all real then huh? Your offer, parallel worlds, the multiverse? This isn't just a sick joke, or a weird dream right?" I mean, I've consumed media in which some guy down on his luck gets sent to a new world with extraordinary powers, but what sane person would think that would happen to them ... wait, are all those stories true?
"Yes it's all real, even those stories your thinking of. Your home reality has an uncanny way of knowing whats going on in the Omniverse. I mean, none of you have any powers, but still *whew*" Did they just whistle? But he doesn't have any li- never mind I'm talking to something BeTtEr ThAn A gOd (insert as much sarcasm as possible) .
"Keep that in mind, it'll do you well." I just stared at them again.
" ...*ahem* While we do have an eternity, I'd rather not have to wait that long to get my entertainment, so just go ahead and choose what abilities you want. Provided only if you accept my offer" So gods- no- whatever they are can also feel awkwardness. Noted.
"Of course I accept, but first, who and what are you. I like putting names to faces, especially if they're giving me a chance to live out my fantasies." To that, they seemed to just looked past me into the semi-distance. Almost as if looking at someone. I looked back and... yep, there's no-one there.
*snort*
Did they just snort. The fuck??
"Don't worry about it. Anyway who and what I am doesn't really matter, you wouldn't understand anyways, however, you can call me uh... Ascension." They said. I swear I heard a hint of apprehension in their tone.
"Don't tell me you just thought up that lame ass name right now. I'm starting to regret accepting this offer if that's true." I mean like, who the fuck picks Ascension as a name?
"Hey, It's not my fault you're too weak to hear my true name, and besides, considering I'm practically giving you a quest to ascend to powers beyond godhood, I think it's fitting." They said, looking past me again ... Strange.
"Fine then, Ascension, *snort*, I won't say anything... but like, my powers, what can I get?" If I could get anything, there were some combos out there that would make me busted. My mind was already working on what would synergise well.
"And that's where I'm gonna have to stop you. While you can ask for anything, it either has to be in reason or you have to convince me. No matter what I'm not giving you Saitama's Limitless Growth, or any ability that would make you too strong, too quickly. As I said before, this is mostly for my entertainment. So think carefully about what you want, you can only choose 3." They said, now just fully facing past me. Will you stop that, I'm not liking the implications.
"No".
Bitch.
"... Fine then, considering that I'm going to a different world next—supernatural?" They nodded. Cool. "I'll need something that will allow me to at least have a chance of survival. Hmmm"
"You don't have to fully worry about that. One of the boons you get is that unless you place yourself in danger, you wont die as a child. To reiterate, don't do things that could kill you as a child just because you have this assurance."
"That's cool and all, but, like what?"
"Like trying to harness energy your body is too weak to handle. It gets messy to clean up" Fair.
"So no doing dumb decisions while young. Or in general actually, might actually help me live longer. Hmmmm, what to choose." This is exactly why I hate being given multiple options, it takes me a while to pick. " Well, since this all came about because you want entertainment, and also for me to struggle to gain power, why not something like a skill tree."
"Hoh, that's certainly new and interesting. Let me tell you, I've done this quite a few times, but you're the first to ask me this. Go on, explain yourself more." I'm the first, huh.
"Well I've always liked games where there's a visible path of progression, so I'd like something like that. Something that shows me a goal to work towards and attain." With this it should be easier to gain more powers. At least, I hope so. It would be annoying if I couldn't.
"Hahaha well done, this is turning out to be better than I thought. For that, I'm giving you two more boons, a Quest-Reward system, and a Tag system. To make it slightly more fair, they will only work in conjunction with your Skill Tree. I'm also gonna tweak your Skill Tree to work slightly more like an Achievement system. So to get more skills you're gonna have to put in work." You know, I might actually prefer that, it would get either boring or annoying if I had to either buy skills or grind something like Skill Points. Blegh.
"For my second ability, I'd like a body that can adapt to and house multiple types of energies and power systems." I don't know how, but Ascension looked shocked, considering they don't have any facial features.
"Now why would you want that?"
"You said something about my people having an uncanny ability to know things about the Omniverse, and considering that you want entertainment, I have a funny feeling you're gonna send me around and about. If not, I might just go myself." I've always wanted to go to my favourite verses and meet my favourite characters, kiss some of them, and maybe kill some trash that should be dead.
"You have just made yourself my favourite human, nobody ever thinks to get an ability like that. You're two for two. Keep this up and I might give you more boons. But you are right, you're more than likely get quests that require you to go to alternate universes to complete. But I don't think you'll mind." Damn right I don't mind, that sounds like it'll be an outright blast.
"And for my last ability, considering I'll more than likely end up having some form of supernatural energy, something to help me learn quicker would help. I don't want to spend years working on my control just to throw a fireball. So how about an Analyse ability." This should allow me to learn how to wield more mystical abilities faster and easier. It would be funny if mid way through a fight I analysed my opponents moves then did them better.
"That would be funny, but somewhat overpowered, so I'm gonna limit it. Instead of you learning anything and everything about what you want, it's going to be linked to your knowledge, physical stats/state of being, and what you can sense. We wouldn't want you to analyse cosmic energies when you can barely throw a punch." Fair. I mean like, while it's a bit annoying, it's not like I'll never be able to do that, I'll just have to get good first.
"Wait, but why physical stats." I can get everything else but that.
"Hmmm, how can I explain this... Ah. Imagine a table, it's all well and good if you find out what type of wood it's made from and how it was made, but what about what atoms it's made from, where they all are in comparison to each other, where each subatomic particle is and what they are made of. This is more to keep you safe than anything. The human mind can only store so much information." ... Damn.
"Damn right."
Really? 🫥.
"Anyway, now that I've chosen my abilities, what now? Is there anything I need to know?."
"Well there is actually one more thing. When do you want to awaken your memories?" Huh?
"What do you mean?" I thought he'd make me start out as a baby, watch me struggle for shits and gigs.
"While I could do that, it gets boring to watch someone flounder around until they can walk.
Also, do you want parents?" Whew, I was scared for a moment, but...parents? Do I really want them? I mean, I've spent so long without any, that it would feel weird to suddenly get them, however nice it may be.
"You know what, I'll randomise it. You'll find out when you gain proper awareness. When do you want that to be?" Well that makes it simple.
"Is there a max age I can pick?" They want enjoyment outta this, there's no way he would let me choose something like 30.
"This is why I like you, it's 15." Older than expected, I thought they'd say like 10.
"Okay then... hmmm, while I would like more time to learn things and get some training under my belt, most young kids aren't left their own devices. I could maybe get my parents to sign me up for karate or something, if I have even them that is. Ugh, this is harder than expected.
Hmmm... okay, I've decided on 8. That should give me plenty of time, especially if I'm an orphan again, I'll have to find a way to get adopted first, and being smarter than other kids would hopefully help."
That should hopefully give me plenty of time to get strong enough to at least protect myself. Especially in a supernatural world. Wait... is 15 the age when that child protective service stops?
"It is. This is why I like smart people, they generally live long enough to give me a lot of entertainment. However, it is fun watching dumbasses get humbled because they think they have until 18. Now, are you ready to go to your new world" Of course I am. I wonder what world I'll be going to.
"Me too."
What?
"Don't worry about it, you wont be going anywhere exceptionally dangerous like 40K. You'll be fine."
"THAT DOES NOT MAKE ME WORRY LESS. ASCENSION WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU TAKING MEEEEEEEEeeee~~~~" Unluckily for me, the glowing bastard just opened a hole below me.
The last thing I saw was Ascension waving at me while smirking. When did they grow a mouth?
The Bastard.
_______ End of chapter _______
Ash here,
Thanks for reading my first chapter of this fic. I tried to keep it light in mood and tone, and hopefully that came across.
I honestly didn't expect it to be 2k words, but I didn't want to split this up into multiple parts. It also didn't feel either right or necessary.
For those wondering what world our MC ended up in, read the next chapter.
Here's a little secret, our innocent little MC won't figure it out for chapters to come.
Ash out.