"So you mean that the only thing I'll need to do is correct the plot errors I find in the stories I visit?" I asked confused.
["Affirmative, you'll be sent to the world of a story where the plot didn't go according to plan, and your job will be to prevent the Bad Ending from happening."]
"Right, but then I'll be forced to travel to several different worlds constantly?" I asked a little worried, not too thrilled with the idea of being thrown from one world to another constantly.
[Negative, all the worlds accessed will be eternally available to the Host and can be accessed at any time. While the first world is a smaller universe, the next worlds will be multiverses, without the need to constantly travel between worlds].
Hearing this made me relax. My biggest worry was whether I would become a slave laborer even after my death, and that was the last thing I wanted right now.
Yes, I'm dead.
My name is Harry Steel, a boy too smart for his own good, to the point where I became a target for big corporations after considerably improving the lives of ordinary people.
By the time I was 26, I already had 8 PHDs that I decided to get on a whim, as well as being able to develop a cure for cancer, develop batteries that allowed cars to travel thousands of kilometers for just $1 in electricity, and even create a potion to improve people's bodily functions and double human life expectancy.
Everything I've done has been to improve people's lives, and how have they thanked me? With a 9mm hole in the head.
Sure, millions, maybe billions of people were extremely grateful to me, to the point of treating me like a new messiah, but I think I was too naive to believe that everyone was grateful.
Now here I am, in what I believe to be limbo.
A totally black place, with no body, no sense of time, nothing.
I've been lost here for what I imagine to be a long time, trapped in my own thoughts, reliving my life and questioning my choices.
Despite everything that happened, I didn't regret what I did to people, if I could I would do it all over again.
What I did regret was living too much for others and not enjoying my life.
Hell, I only had one girlfriend and she left me when I started to get rich, thinking I'd only make that little bit of money and then wanted to take 'her share', after which I lived alone until I died.
I had so much money, so much potential, but I couldn't make use of any of it... my only hobbies were watching anime, movies and working on my cars in my spare time.
What pulled me out of the depressive spiral I was entering was a strange blue floating screen in front of me.
[Congratulations! Due to your extremely positive karma, you have been chosen for a second chance at life!]
[You can choose between:
A - Reincarnate with your memories erased, starting again from scratch...
or
B - Continue this life on other worlds, helping God to prevent the Bad Ending of the parallel realities of the worlds he loves].
[Which do you prefer?]
"God?" I asked shocked. "Wouldn't erasing my memory be the same as killing my current mind? Who would be foolish to choose that, I want option B! But why didn't God tell me that himself?"
[Option B selected... analyzing the Host's life... this might take a few seconds...]
[Answering your question, at this point you are still a very low life form, an encounter with God, although possible, could leave permanent wounds on your soul, something not recommended for the time being].
"Right..." I nodded, accepting that. "So who are you?"
[You can call me Gabriel, but don't worry about me, soon my appointment with you will end and your System will take over].
[It was detected that your regret in life was not having connected with enough people... generating an adequate system...]
[Goodbye Harry, enjoy your adventure. <3]
[Ding, Welcome to the Multiversal Gacha System!]
Looking at those messages appearing in front of me, I was shocked by it all.
Isolated for so long, just reading something completely new was incredible for me, so incredible that it took me a few minutes to process those few sentences.
"Goodbye Gabriel, and thank you for your help." I said gratefully as I imagined myself bowing politely.
[As the name implies, the Multiversal Gacha System allows the Host to draw rewards from various worlds, known as Rolls. For each main mission completed, the Host is entitled to 10 Rolls. The number of attempts can be increased by completing side-quests or secondary objectives].
[In addition, the quality of the rewards scales according to the difficulty of the mission and how many missions the Host has already completed. The more challenging the task completed, the greater the chance of obtaining high-level rewards, and the more jobs the Host does, the more powerful rewards will be unlocked].
[The Host's progress has no set limits. With enough dedication and luck, it's possible to transcend to stages of power that surpass even divine concepts, making the meeting with God that the host desires even possible].
That made me happy.
As a man of science, I didn't have a defined religion, but I never doubted that there was a supernatural... to be able to meet Big D, the creator of heaven and earth would be an honor.
With such an interesting System, I started to get excited about the life I would have.
Unlike life stuck in a research room interacting only with my AI, in these next lives I would be able to interact and meet people from the various worlds that God loves, and that in itself was a priceless experience!
"So I have 10 rolls available now?" I asked excitedly.
[Affirmative, would you like to do these rolls now?]
"Yes." I replied.
I didn't have anything better to do in limbo anyway.
[The rewards are ranked from 1 to 10 stars, your chances are: 1 Star 60%, 2 Stars 25%, 3 Stars 10%, 4 Stars 4% and 5 Stars 1%... higher level rewards will be unlocked after completing other tasks].
[As a newbie bonus, you are guaranteed a reward of 5 Stars].
1 - [1★ - Lucky Stone (Pokémon)
A small shiny amulet that gives the wearer a bit of Luck].
Seeing this prize, I was excited that it would already help me in the next Gachas I would have in the future.
2 - [1★ - U$1.000
Money equivalent to U$1,000 that can be converted into any currency from anywhere in the world from anywhere in the world].
This prize just made me raise an eyebrow, it wasn't a lot of money, but it was very handy to be able to convert it to any world's money.
3 - [1★ - Jar of Spinach (Popeye)
Gives absurd strength for 10 seconds].
Remembering how powerful Popeye was after eating spinach, I was excited to try this and find out how much that "absurd strength" was.
4 - [1★ - GPS (Waze)
A GPS that updates the user's current location in real time, regardless of internet or satellite signal].
This was very useful, it was like a mini-map that I could access at any time!
5 - [2★★ - Skill: Instinctive Drift (Takumi - Initial D)
Intermediate/advanced Drift skill].
Thinking about the worlds I could go to and the problems I'd have to help God deal with, I didn't really know how this skill could help me... but it's better than a consumable item, so I shrug.
6 - [2★★ - Mask of Courage (Courage - The Cowardly Dog)
A hideous mask that scares the target for a few seconds].
This could be useful in combat.
7 - [3★★★ - Skill: Bullet Time (Michael de Santa - GTA 5)
A weak version of Bullet Time, but still useful, being able to accelerate the user's perception of time for 10 seconds].
This was a skill that could be useful in MANY situations! And remembering that the more Michael used this skill in the game, the longer it lasted, I was shocked at the potential a 3-star item had!
8 - [3★★★ - Speed Charm (Haste - Final Fantasy)
Doubles speed for a few seconds].
This skill looked really good, even more so if it could be combined with Bullet Time!!!
9 - [4★★★★ - Magic Core.
Unlocks the user's Magic Core, allowing the body to generate Mana].
This made me realize that the previous skill could be completely useless if I didn't have it... thank God!
10 - [5★★★★★ - AllSpark Seed (Transformers)
An incomplete proto-spark capable of absorbing energy and growing over time.
If developed, it can evolve into a complete AllSpark, capable of giving life to machines and even creating new Cybertronians].
Now that last award was the one that really shocked me.
Heck, an AllSpark Seed, from what I remember of the Transformers movies, that cube wasn't powerful enough to turn the electronics of an entire city into Cybertronians?!
Unfortunately, this was just a Seed that I had to feed with energy to grow, and it could take a long time to develop to its full potential.
But considering how powerful it could be, I was excited.
Taking this time to absorb the skills I had gained, I felt the new knowledge coming into my mind like a slight mental itch.
In just a few seconds I had the experience of a veteran drift driver, and even the idea of how I could speed up my perception of time.
I just didn't do it now because it would be impossible to tell if the skill was working or not in a totally empty place.
This also applied to the test of the Haste skill I got, it would be impossible to test this without a body, right?
As for the items, everything was in the System Storage and could be taken out at any time.
But considering that I didn't have a body, that was useless now too.
"Right, which world am I going to, System?" I asked excitedly.
[Another blue window appeared in front of me.
"Yes, but tell me which world..." Before I could finish answering, I felt my consciousness being pulled to another place.
Little by little, I began to feel the sensations again.
The sun beating down on my body, the sun rubbing against my skin... wait... this feeling is different from what I remember.
Opening my eyes with difficulty, the first thing I saw was a rusty winch looking at me with wide eyes and a curious expression.
"Mater?" I asked on instinct, and to my surprise, as if it really were a living creature, the winch cracked a big smile and started swinging the tow hook like a puppy!
"Do you know me?" He asked excitedly, moving from side to side with an ease impossible for the structure of normal cars in my original world.
But considering that I knew that character, and knew where he came from, I was shocked to realize that the first world I came from was the world of Cars!
The way he moved from side to side was very natural, his suspension rising and falling, his wheels stretching and retracting, everything showed me how fascinating his way of life was.
Seeing him looking at me expectantly, my brain froze for a second and I didn't know how to answer his question.
I couldn't say "Oh, I saw you as a character in a movie I watched!", right?
So I quickly thought of an excuse.
Looking away from him, I nodded at his door, where it said 'Tow Mater' and replied. "I read it there, is that your name?"
Hearing my explanation, he was visibly discouraged, but looking at me again with curiosity, he asked. "Yes, that's my name!"
Then he "walked" around me, looking at me from end to end, while commenting with interest. "I've never seen a car like you around here, are you lost with a problem and need me to tow you?"
Looking down, I realized that my eyes were where the windshield of a car should be, and below my eyes was the dark blue hood of a car, which I had been ignoring until now like a human ignores their nose 99% of the time.
This hood looked a little familiar, but everything was so new and strange around me, even when I tried to walk, the feeling seemed so foreign that I didn't think much of it and just decided to accept Mater's offer.
"Sure, how much would that cost?" I asked, remembering the money I'd earned on my 10 System rolls.
A gleam appeared in Mater's eyes and he quickly turned around, attaching the tow hook to my rear and lifting me up, leaving only my front wheels on the ground as he spoke. "Don't worry about money, I'll take you into town first!"
The sensation of being towed was very strange.
It was like the Wheelbarrow game I used to play at school when I was a kid, but much smoother.
There was no "clunky" feeling of my uncoordinated arms trying to support me on the ground, my front wheels rolled in a very satisfying and relaxing way, giving me a sensation I had never felt in my life.
Gradually I got used to having my hands and legs replaced by wheels, but mentally I still asked the worried System.
'System, is this change in my body something permanent?'
[Negative, this is just an adaptation to this world, since humanity has been exterminated here, System thought it would be safer and more stable to adapt his body to that of the life forms that dominate this world. All the knowledge and skills learned in this body or the other will be shared. In other worlds, the Host will be able to switch between their original body, this current body, or the body that best suits that story. If the Host really doesn't want to continue in that body, it's possible to reverse it now].
Seeing that this was only temporary, I became much calmer, stopped resisting this sensation and enjoyed it.
"So, what are you doing in these lands? A sports car like you from the other side of the world isn't the kind of person we see around here." Mater asked curiously, looking at me through his rear-view mirror.
I also looked at him through mine, which I was able to control more easily than I'd imagined, much like controlling your eyebrows in the other world, and replied with the excuse I'd been thinking of all this time. "I don't know... the last thing I remember is waking up and you being in front of me."
"So you've lost your memory?!" Mater asked shocked.
"I guess so..." I sighed.
That was the best excuse I could think of to explain the ignorance I would show about everything I was shown about this world, so I decided to go with it.
"Damn, that makes perfect sense! Don't worry, I'll take you to Radiator Springs, the cutest little town in Carburetor County, there we have Doc who is a doctor and can help you with this memory loss problem!" He said excitedly, instinctively picking up speed.
Feeling the speed we were going, I could see something like an interface in my mind's eye, like a car dashboard with a very familiar speedometer.
This was the custom dashboard I'd made for my favorite car in my collection, the car that despite all the models I had, was the one I'd spent the most time customizing, my Nissan Skyline GT-R R34.
The car was a beautiful 2002 R34 GT-R V-Spec II Nür, painted in the iconic Bayside blue, the same shade as the Skyline that Brian used in Fast and Furious 4, from where I got my passion for this car and decided to buy one.
The dashboard was showing 90 mp/h (144 km/h), an already surprising speed for an 'old winch' that was pulling another car, and the most surprising thing was that the speed was steadily increasing.
Looking again at my hood below my eyes and realizing the similarities of what I was seeing, I realized that this was the hood of my R34...
'So I've become my car?!'
Now it made sense for Mater to say that I was a "sports car from the other side of the world...", considering that episode when he went to Japan, it's even likely that he would recognize my model from there!
Curious, Mater wanted to ask me several questions, but as I "didn't remember anything", it was difficult to develop a conversation like that.
Fortunately, after a few minutes we arrived in the city.
I was being carried on my back, so I only realized that we had arrived after we passed the town's "Welcome" sign.
Shortly afterwards we passed a "natural products" store, with a green Kombi that heard the noise and got out curiously, looking at me with amazement and a little expectation.
Next to this store was a military goods store, with a green military jeep looking at me suspiciously but with a well-disguised hint of expectation.
On the other side of the road was an apparently empty police station, and then a cute hotel with orange cone-shaped huts also appeared.
From inside the central hub of the place, a light blue Porsche 911 Carrera also came out and looked at me expectantly, already accelerating to "walk" next to Mater and started talking to him.
"Hey Mater, what happened to him?" She asked curiously, looking me up and down.
"He woke up all forgetful, I'm going to take him to the Doc to see if he can make his memories come back!" Mater said proudly.
This made Sally look at me with a little concern and pity. "I'm sorry, I assure you that Doc is the best doctor in the whole region, even cars from neighboring towns come to see him from time to time."
Waving at her, I replied, "Don't worry, I'm not that worried, from what I know about it, it's quite likely that my memory will come back over time."
"You know about doctor stuff?!" Mater asked shocked.
Realizing I'd said too much, I looked at him in surprise and spoke a little uncertainly. "I think my memory is slowly coming back?"
Sally looked at us confusedly, still trying to understand what was going on, but as the town was small, in just a few seconds we arrived at Doc's clinic.