JP awoke standing, though he couldn't recall standing up. Around him stretched a grand hall of polished stone, the ceiling lost in shadows. Strange runes floated in the air, shifting like currents of electricity.
"Where… am I?"
A voice, deep and resonant, filled the hall.
"You are between worlds, mortal."
JP spun, but there was no speaker—only a radiant sigil glowing in the air.
"You lived with knowledge rare among men," the voice continued. "You shaped currents unseen, bound lightning into wires, gave light to darkness. Such wisdom… has value in my world."
"Your world?" JP frowned. "Wait, am I dead?"
"Your mortal coil has ended. But your spark shall endure."
JP rubbed his temples. This was sounding dangerously like the isekai stories his nephew used to binge. He half expected a goddess to show up any second.
Instead, the voice intoned:
"I grant you two gifts: Appraisal, to see the truth of all things, and Alchemist's Touch, to shape and fuse materials beyond mortal limits. With these, you may forge wonders—or calamities."
Before JP could protest, the hall shattered like glass. Light swallowed him whole.