1 Choice
A lonely soul flew out from an unremarkable, ordinary planet. Its path should end now. It should inevitably dissolve into nothingness...
.
.
.
.
.
.
But...
For the first time in the entire history of the multiverse, a crack appeared in the space connecting two parallel existing worlds. That crack existed for only a mere second. Nonetheless, little soul slipped through it changing everything, breaking predefined fate of the whole universe.
•Some time later.•
'This place is so ... white ...' The soul began to regain its self-consciousness. It felt somewhat uncomfortable. Just a few moments ago it was in a peaceful state. And now it felt like it was forced to live further.
'I died. I saw my own lifeless body laying on the bed. And just when I thought that my somewhat ordinary, but happy life ended...*sigh*.' The soul of a man was bewildered.
It then looked around to see if there was anything in this white room besides white walls.
'Hmm?' At this point, his attention was drawn by three items. To be more precise – three picture plates. Apple core was carved on the first plate. Second contained a coin, and the third – knuckle.
'Riddle? ... Hmm ... May it be a test from a highest court?' Even though he was an atheist, after the recent events, outrageous thoughts began to creep into his head.
'From all of the options first one seems the worst. But if we dig a little deeper, coin is an embodiment of money or maybe greed. And the knuckle may mean violence, whereas apple core is ... poverty?'
After a couple of minutes of reflection, he finally made his choice.
Apple core picture plate started to levitate. The remaining two plates disappeared.
[Choice has been made]
[You've chosen ^Potential^]
A soft, pleasant voice rang out.
'Huh?'
Immediately after that, everything went dark.
****
At that very moment a boy of about 16 suddenly fell unconscious. Judging by his clothes he wasn't rich nor was he from a middle-income family. He most likely was a homeless, lost boy.
The poor boy was thin. His body was full of bruises and scratches. Such a life is not to be envied.
"Haa...haaa" The child opened his eyes and began to breathe quickly as if he lacked air. He rose to his feet and began to examine himself and his surroundings.
"A dump?" The boy's body changed its owner and now the soul of a 24 year old guy was at a landfill on the outskirts of New York.
'This is not what I expected' At the moment, his head was filled with different thoughts. 'So of all the crazy and incredible theories about afterlife, the only genuine is reincarnation?'
"What should I do now?" The guy, formerly known as Alan Rowan, asked, not expecting to hear a response.
[Do you need a help?]
A familiar voice sounded in Alan's head. Hearing it, he froze for a couple of seconds and then spoke quickly.
"Yes, I do! Short explanation of the current situation would be nice." He was wondering what that voice is, but he decided to start with the main thing.
[You, Alan Rowan, died on 19th March of 2019. But by coincidence, you were reborn into this body, on another planet, in a different universe.]
"Coincidence? All those plates, choices ... are just a coincidence?"
[No, your existence as a whole is a coincidence. You don't belong to this place.]
"Wait but what about my choice? Someone created that room and the plates right?"
[I am sorry but I do not have this information. My database is limited.]
"Well, then who are you?" At that moment, Alan held his breath. Throughout the conversation, he was a little frightened. Hearing a voice in your head will scare anyone, except maybe a mentally ill person.
[Virtually, I am your choice.]
"... Apple core?"
[I prefer ^Potential^ if you don't mind]
"Potential..."
[Yes. And by choosing me you gain 'status window' and 'growth potential']
"Now everything fell into place." He used to read such kind of novels, so he now understood what was going on. Just a word 'status' was more than enough.
"What if I chose other two plates?"
[No information]
'I hope that I did the right choice'
"Show me my status, please"
[Alan Rowan
Powers: None
Age: 16
STR(strength): 0.57
AGL(agility): 0.6
END(endurance): 0.5
INT(intelligence): 1.4
Charm: 0.6]
[*Note* Average adults indicator: 1]
[Special abilities: Growth]
Holographic status window appeared in front of Alan. It was semi-transparent. And it was impossible to touch it.
"How do I activate my special ability?"
[Mentally click on the icon with the ability]
Alan concentrated on the icon and tried to click on it. A new window appeared immediately.
[Shop points: 0]
[Stat points: 0]
[Alan Rowan
Powers: None(Check the shop)
Age: 16
STR: 0.57/°°°
AGL: 0.6/°°°
END: 0.5/°°°
INT: 1.4/10
Charm: 0.6/10]
'Ohh. I assume that it's possible to change your stats. It's quite exciting, even INT and Charm are changeable. But why last two are limited?'
As if answering his question, 'Potential' explains:
[Growth potential of your strength, agility and indurance is unlimited. The limitations of intelligence and charm are common. Example: The smartest person in this world has 9.4 points of intelligence.]
Alan felt delighted. Despite the current state of his body, the growth potential is simply enormous. Now he was more convinced in the correctness of the choice he made.
'Shop' He tried to summon new window just by thinking, and it worked.
[Marvel Universe Shop:
>Powers
>Items
>Exchange]
Alan involuntarily pinched himself. 'Marvel!!'
