A man resting in a green field gazed up at the expansive sky with worry in his eyes. "Where am I?" he murmured, his voice barely audible above the gentle rustling of the grass.
"This is not the world I remember. It's… different, unfamiliar."
He waited, expecting an answer to echo back, but there was no response; it was utterly silent. The silent plane stretched, unbroken and absolute. Growing impatient, he pushed himself to his feet. He turned, slowly scanning the horizon in a complete circle.
As far as he could see, in every direction lay only plain, smooth fields, a sea of green stretching into the distance. The scene was utterly still, quiet, and strangely calming. A wave of serenity washed over him, a feeling he couldn't quite explain, a peacefulness he didn't anticipate.
He tried to recall how he ended up in such a place. He strained, concentrating with all his might, but to his dismay, his mind remained blank. It was an absolute void, an empty canvas devoid of color. He couldn't remember anything at all, not a single detail of his life.
The realization hit him like a physical blow. He didn't even know his name. Panic began to rise within him, bubbling to the surface.
"WHY AM I HERE?" he shouted, the force of his voice tearing through the silence, a cry filled with confusion and desperation. Yet, even his outburst did not break the tranquility. The fields remained undisturbed, the air still, and no voice answered his desperate plea.
Defeated and weary, he sighed heavily, and with a sense of resignation, he began to walk in a random direction. He walked slowly while constantly scanning the landscape, searching for some clue, anything that might offer a hint of explanation. But as he walked, a disconcerting feeling began to grow. It felt as though he was not making any progress.
Despite his efforts, the fields seemed to stretch endlessly around him, unchanging and monotonous. He still felt like he was in the exact same spot, trapped in a loop of green. After what felt like an eternity, a small, dark object caught his attention in the distance.
A stone.
It was the first thing he had encountered in this endless plain. His heart leaped with a surge of excitement and he quickly ran towards it.
His fingers slowly reached out to pick the object. It was a black stone, small enough to fit comfortably in his palm, its surface smooth and polished, like it had been worn smooth by the passage of time.
With curiosity, he examined the stone and even turned it over multiple times to discover something about it. He even examined the ground where the stone previously was, trying to find a clue. But there was nothing, only the same green grass that covered the rest of the field.
He shook the stone gently, feeling for any movement inside. He turned the stone over repeatedly but found nothing. The stone remained silent. He pondered for a moment, his brow furrowed in concentration. Suddenly he thought of something and tried to squeeze the stone in his hand. To his surprise, the stone crumbled in his hand, turning into fine powder.
The dust didn't simply fall to the ground. Instead, it began to swirl, rising into the air and forming a slow, mesmerizing vortex around him. The dust danced and twirled, circling him in an ever-tightening spiral.
He watched in silence, his eyes wide with disbelief as the swirling dust began to shift into a new form. After revolving around him for some time, the dust gradually began to compress, solidifying and taking shape.
Slowly, painstakingly, it formed a rectangle, a shimmering, translucent window suspended in the air before him. He was utterly astounded by this transformation, his mind struggling to comprehend what he was witnessing.
Then, slowly, some letters began to appear within the window, glowing faintly against the dark background of the dust.
… [WELCOME FRIEND]
"Huh! Welcome?" he said, his voice filled with incredulity.
"What exactly is going on here?"
[WHAT DO YOU WISH MY FRIEND?]
"What do I wish?" he repeated, thinking aloud. "What is this place? First, I have no idea how I ended up here, and now you are asking what I want."
"What kind of sick place is this?"
Even after he said so much, the word in the panel didn't change and remained the same as before. After a while he calmed himself and began to think.
"Let's see... How about telling me my name and where I am from? That seems like a reasonable start."
[WHICH NAME DO YOU LIKE TO HEAR?]
[YOUR PREVIOUS NAME WAS NEUMAN AND BEFORE THAT YOUR NAME WAS PETER AND BEFORE THAT..]
Neuman lost focus after he read the first and second names and thought of something before asking. "Huh? Am I... dead ?" A sudden chill ran down his spine.
The implications of that statement were starting to sink in.
[YES]
[YOU DIED DUE TO HEAVY INJURIES]
[BEFORE THAT YOU DIED OF OLD AGE]
"So, I died of old age and due to heavy injuries?" He paused, processing the information. "After all that time..."
"Then what happened to my memories? I want to remember what I was like before, what I did, who I loved... And another thing: why am I even here rather than being born somewhere else? What's so special about this place?"
[AFTER SOUL LEAVES THE BODY ALL THE MEMORIES ARE LEFT WITH IT SO THAT THE SOUL CAN FREE ITSELF FROM THE PREVIOUS BELONGING AND START A NEW]
[IF YOU WANT YOU CAN BE SENT BACK AND BE BORN SOMEWHERE ELSE]
[AS FOR YOUR MEMORIES YOU CAN GET THEM BACK]
"How?" he pressed, eager for any glimmer of hope. "Tell me what I need to do."
[PREVIOUSLY YOU WISHED FOR LIVING IN A DIFFERENT WORLD...]
"What? I wished for that? When? Why would I wish for something like that?" he exclaimed, his confusion mounting.
[IT'S NOT MY PLACE TO ANSWER WHY YOU DESIRED SUCH A THING]
[AFTER YOU ARE SENT TO A DIFFERENT WORLD AND SPENDING TIME THERE YOU CAN SLOWLY REGAIN YOUR MEMORIES BACK IF YOU WANT]
"May I ask what kind of world I will be sent to?" he asked curiously.
[YOU CAN CHOOSE]
"I can choose!" he repeated, his voice rising with excitement. "That's... unexpected. I actually get a say in this?"
"So what are the options?" He asked, impatient to hear what was on offer.
[APOCALYPSE WORLD] [ANGELS AND DEMONS] [KINGDOMS AND EMPIRES] [MARTIAL ARTS WORLD] [TECHNOLOGICALLY ADVANCED WORLD] ...
There were a few more options there; seeing the options, Neuman paused, his mind racing, weighing the possibilities.
"Can I only choose one kind of world?" he asked, seeking clarification. "Or are these mutually exclusive?"
[THESE ARE OPTIONS TO SIMPLIFY YOUR ANSWER]
[YOU CAN ALSO CHOOSE WORLDS WITH SOME RANDOMNESS OR WORLDS HAVING THOSE ABOVE OPTIONS]
"Ok, then I choose..."
He stopped mid-sentence, overwhelmed by the sheer number of potential combinations. He needed more time to consider. ...
[BEFORE YOU ARE SENT TO THERE IS ANOTHER THING]
[HOW DO YOU WISH TO BE SENT TO THAT WORLD]
[DO YOU WANT TO GET BORN IN THAT WORLD AS A CHILD, SENT AS THE SAME BODY, RISE FROM THE GROUND, OVER ANOTHER BODY, TAKE OVER A DEAD BODY...]
"What? There are so many options for this," he stammered, completely taken aback. "This is getting more complicated by the minute."
Seeing so many ways he wasn't able to settle his mind on one and asked which one is best among them. He was gripped by indecision, unable to weigh the advantages of each path. "So which among them has the most advantages and the fewest disadvantages?" he asked, desperately seeking a way to simplify the decision.
[THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS BEST AMONG THESE]
[THEY HAVE THEIR OWN ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES]
Then information started to appear in his mind, as if the window was directly injecting the answer straight into his thoughts. The first among them was being born, which had the most advantages and very few shortcomings.
Firstly, the world he had chosen is quite peculiar, and being a little child who couldn't even lift a stone is very dangerous for his life, as he doesn't know if the place is safe or might even get dangerous later on. He would be vulnerable, defenseless, and entirely reliant on the kindness of strangers.
The other one is being sent there as he was. But he doesn't know how strong he would be there, and he will have issues regarding his identity. He would arrive with no history, no connections, and no explanation for his presence. Suspicion and mistrust would undoubtedly follow him.
Next was taking over a dead body. When he asked whether it would be a just dead person or he was buried for a long time. The answer he got was, "He could choose randomly." The body could be fresh or decaying, intact or mutilated. The possibilities were gruesome and unsettling.
There were many other options and he was having a hard time choosing one. He was thinking that he should just choose any random option. After some thinking, he chose an option.
The endless array of choices was exhausting. He just wanted it to be over.
[SINCE YOU HAVE CHOSEN EVERYTHING, YOU WILL NOW BE SENT]
[OTHER INFORMATION REGARDING THIS WILL SENT OVER TO YOU LATER ON]