The first thing Achen noticed was the silence.
Not ordinary silence.
Absolute silence.
No wind.
No distant noise.
No heartbeat in his ears.
Nothing.
Achen slowly opened his eyes.
White.
That was the only thing he could see.
White above him.
White below him.
White stretching endlessly in every direction.
It was not fog.
Not clouds.
Not light.
Just… white emptiness.
For several seconds he did not move.
His mind began working immediately, analyzing the situation the same way it always had.
Observation first.
Emotion later.
He lifted one hand slowly.
His fingers moved normally.
No burns.
No injuries.
He turned his palm, studying the skin carefully.
Perfectly intact.
That alone was impossible.
The last thing he remembered was a nuclear explosion.
Thermal radiation alone should have vaporized his body.
Yet here he stood, unharmed.
Achen flexed his fingers once more before lowering his hand.
Then he began testing the environment.
He took a single step forward.
His foot touched something solid.
But when he looked down—
There was nothing there.
No ground.
No surface.
Yet his body remained supported as if an invisible floor existed beneath him.
Interesting.
Achen crouched slightly and tapped the air beneath him with his fingers.
There was resistance.
Like touching smooth glass.
But he could not see it.
He straightened again.
The environment had no visible boundaries.
No shadows.
No horizon.
No change in color or depth.
Just infinite white.
Achen slowly turned in a full circle.
Nothing changed.
His brain continued processing possibilities.
Hallucination.
Dream state.
Post-death neurological activity.
None of them matched the situation perfectly.
If this was a dream, it was extremely stable.
Too stable.
His senses felt precise.
Clear.
Controlled.
He walked forward again.
Ten steps.
Twenty.
Fifty.
Nothing changed.
The white void remained endless.
Achen stopped walking.
A faint thought surfaced in his mind.
If I am conscious… but the physical body was destroyed…
Then one possibility remains.
He spoke the words aloud.
"Am I dead?"
The voice echoed softly through the emptiness.
For several seconds, nothing happened.
Then—
A calm voice answered.
"Yes."
Achen's eyes narrowed slightly.
The voice had not come from any direction.
It simply appeared everywhere at once.
Not loud.
Not threatening.
Just calm.
Achen slowly turned his head.
And saw someone standing a few meters behind him.
The figure had not been there a moment earlier.
A tall person dressed in simple white robes.
Their appearance was strangely difficult to focus on.
Every time Achen tried to look directly at their face, his vision seemed to blur slightly.
Not enough to hide them.
Just enough to make precise details impossible.
Achen studied the figure quietly.
No fear.
No surprise.
Just careful observation.
"Correct," the figure said calmly.
"You are dead."
Achen remained silent for several seconds.
Then he asked his first question.
"How?"
The figure tilted their head slightly.
"You were standing in the center of a nuclear detonation."
"That generally results in death."
Achen considered this answer.
Accurate.
Direct.
But not particularly useful.
"Then this location," Achen said slowly, "is not part of the physical universe."
The figure seemed amused.
"You reached that conclusion quickly."
Achen ignored the comment.
He continued analyzing the situation logically.
"My body was destroyed," he said.
"Yet my consciousness remains intact."
He looked directly at the mysterious figure.
"This implies an external intervention."
A small smile appeared on the figure's face.
"Very good."
Achen folded his arms.
"Why?"
The figure walked forward slowly.
Each step made no sound.
"I was observing your world," the figure said.
"Your species is… fascinating."
Achen said nothing.
The figure continued.
"You, however, were slightly more interesting than most."
Achen raised one eyebrow slightly.
"In what way?"
The figure stopped a few steps away.
"While your entire civilization collapsed around you, you showed no panic."
"No emotional instability."
"Only analysis."
Achen answered calmly.
"Panic does not improve survival probability."
"Correct," the figure said.
"Which is why I decided to offer you an opportunity."
Achen's eyes sharpened slightly.
"Opportunity."
"Yes."
The white void suddenly shifted.
The empty space between them filled with several floating symbols.
Each symbol glowed faintly with strange energy.
Achen studied them carefully.
They were not languages he recognized.
Yet somehow he understood their meaning.
Different paths.
Different forms of power.
The figure gestured toward them.
"You may choose one."
Achen did not respond immediately.
His mind began working again.
Fast.
Precise.
Careful.
The entity continued speaking.
"Each option will allow you to begin a new life in another world."
"Different universes possess different systems of power."
The glowing symbols shifted slightly.
Achen stepped closer to examine them.
One symbol pulsed with violent crimson light.
Martial strength.
Another symbol radiated golden energy.
Divine authority.
A third symbol shimmered with intricate patterns of blue light.
Magic.
Complex.
Structured.
Almost mathematical.
Achen's eyes focused on that one.
The figure noticed immediately.
"Ah," they said softly.
"That option interests you?"
Achen did not answer yet.
He was still studying the symbol carefully.
Magic systems required intelligence.
Research.
Analysis.
All things he excelled at.
His decision formed quickly.
He pointed toward the blue symbol.
"That one."
The figure's smile grew slightly wider.
"A Wizard System."
"Paired with a Wizard World."
Achen nodded once.
"Yes."
The entity studied him for a moment longer.
Then they spoke again.
"Very well."
The white void began glowing brighter.
Reality itself seemed to distort around them.
Achen felt a strange pulling sensation across his entire body.
The figure raised one hand.
"One more thing, Achen."
Achen looked up.
The entity's blurred face seemed almost curious now.
"I look forward to seeing how far you climb."
The white light exploded outward.
And the void vanished.