1 A Second Chance

"I'll take one more" I hollered, holding up a few crumpled bills between my fingers.

A soft smile graces my lips as an ice cold beer is set down in front of me, and the money quickly plucked out. The bartender turns to serve the only other person in this dive bar, and I'm once again left to my own devices. Which is how I prefer it if we're being completely honest. Wrapping my hand around the beer I lift it up for a long swig until that light burning yet tingling sensation hits. It forces out a small sigh of satisfaction as I set the drink down, always the first sip that gets to you.

As I lean back in this old wooden chair at a beaten up table my torso naturally arches out of habit from my high school days, those desks were your own personal chiropractor. With all the shit going on in the world you've got to enjoy the little things. I close my eyes to relax but the moment is ruined by the sound of a tv playing the news which triggers thoughts of current world affairs into my head. After we nearly destroyed the planet, the World Leaders got together to make an attempt at ending all war for good.

But as those of us who can remember the word politician know they are about as useful as tits on a boar. So of course all talks failed, but on the bright side we had already destroyed half the planet so there really wasn't anything else to blow ourselves up with. We've been in the rebuilding phase for about five years now but most people carry the, "Go Fuck Yourself" chip on their shoulders these days so there is no unity, coming together or any going back to the way things use to be in sight.

I was jarred from my musings with the appearance of something flashing in the corner of my eye. At first, I thought it was just the glare of the tv or maybe the reflection from one of the various neon signs hanging around. But when I attempted to glance down at it whatever was the flashing moved just out of view. I followed it progressively getting faster until my nose was just about buried into my shoulder before the thought of maybe it's just a bug crossed my mind and I took a swipe at it. There was a small swish sound before a box just appeared in front of my eyes. Almost like someone bringing back a tabbed out browser.

At this point, I had to pause for a moment and think real carefully about what I was seeing in front of me. This was only my second beer and to be completely honest I can down a 30 bomb before getting shit faced. So being drunk is out of the question but I still picked up the bottle and stared at it like it was somehow going to start talking and tell me what the hell was going on. A white number 42 appeared in the middle of a black box which was gradually going down and all I could do is stare at it wondering what was going to happen when it reached zero.

When the timer finally ran out my eyes began to water a bit as I hadn't blinked once and suddenly the black screen was replaced with a video of what looked to be a beach. The picture swayed up and down giving me a glimpse of the ocean and then sand, almost as if someone were carrying a video camera in their hand. It suddenly stopped swaying and just left an image of the sand before it moved up and was set on top of something. A few seconds later a man walked out in front and squatted down. He had long hair with a sharp nose and full beard. If I didn't know any better he almost looked like the pictures of…

"Hello my little creations, my true name is a bit hard for you all to pronounce but most of you know me as Jesus, Zeus, Allah or whatever other weird names I was given over the years but you may all just call me God" stated the man as he moved from his squat to being seated on a driftwood log.

You know that feeling when you were younger, where you knew that you had fucked up and your parents were going to find out no matter what. The cold shiver that runs down your back and the panic that then sets in as you begin to think of any reasonable excuse to prevent the ass whooping you knew was on its way? My mind began to race a mile a minute as I thought of all the bad stuff I'd done in my life. Don't get me wrong I wasn't some murdering rapist but I sure as hell... I mean heck didn't go to church every Sunday or live a completely honest life.

"Now most of you are probably panicking, denying my existence or praying for forgiveness right now but quite frankly it's all a moot point" said God before pausing and emptying some sand out of his shoe and brushing his soles off before replacing it on his foot.

"Believe all of this, don't believe it, doesn't matter to me as it's either sink or swim for you at this point. I took a backseat approach the last time and I think we can all agree that it didn't quite work out" a small sigh escaped his lips as he gazed off into the distance for a brief moment before turning back towards the assumed camera.

"Though disappointed with the majority, you are all my children and thus we shall try again taking into account your... primal natures. As soon as we are done speaking your souls will be placed in another realm, Purgatory if you wish to call it something. Now while you wait I shall terraform this world and between your wonderous imaginations and my godly spark we shall create the world anew" with a big grin on his face he stood up and walked over to the camera before picking it up and adjusting it to show just his head.

"Judgement Day has come but it will be over soon. Oh, a bit of advice... do be nice to the helpers" with a snap of his fingers the screen went black once more.

Before I could even begin to process what the hell just happened everything began to shake. At first, I thought it was a normal earthquake but it quickly felt as if the very air itself was rumbling. I instantly hit the floor and got under a table to ride it out. With the adrenaline running through my body I wasn't exactly focused on anything in particular except, survive. Suddenly small clumps of dust began rising in front of me. Following the trail down and seeing that it was pieces of my hand that looked as if they were being torn off and rising I did the only thing someone could do in that situation, I passed out.

"How much longer is your tutorial going to take? The rest of us were done hours ago!" a high pitched voice began to slowly rouse me from probably the most comfortable bed I'd ever been in.

"How should I know? I'll meet everyone when I'm done"

A groan escaped my lips as I found myself leaving that wondrous realm of half asleep and half aware of what's going on around you. I wish I would've stayed there because as comfy as this bed may be my body feels like I was in one hell of a car wreck. Attempting to open my eyes they are immediately shut again as that blasted sun tries to blind me and I roll over instinctually… only to feel nothing under me followed by a sharp pain in my nose.

"What the fuck! Piece of shit, fucking… ahh, that fuckin hurt!" I would like to say that my vocabulary is a bit more extensive than just "Fuck". However, all thought process goes out the window when you get essentially sucker punched in the nose. With tears forming in my eyes I stood up quickly and brought my index finger and thumb to my nose gently to see if I had broken it. Luckily no, but damned if it didn't hurt.

A small snort and what sounded like the stifling of laughter reminded me that I wasn't alone, wherever this was. Blinking then wiping away the tears I turned towards the amused party only to see...a midget? Glancing around only further confused me as I was in a glade of some sorts. Now I'm not gonna lie, I've been known to get pretty drunk. But to go home with a midget and wake up in a forest? This will definitely be in my top five drunk stories.

"Good, you're finally awake! Now we can get this character creation over with. Let's see…" the little lady began making some weird movements in the air and pretending as if I wasn't even there.

"Wait… wait, what are you talking about? Who are you and more importantly where are we?" I asked as I began to rub my forehead to ward off the headache that I knew was soon to come.

"A rather odd question, didn't you watch the introduction? Never mind, you were in Purgatory while Te'luna was formed" like the pieces of a puzzle falling into place, everything came rushing back at the words Purgatory.

The bar, the video, my hands… I quickly brought my hands up and examined them thoroughly before letting out a sigh of relief. Looking back at the small person in front of me I was met with a weirded out and wary stare. Smiling sheepishly at her I mumbled a quick "Sorry" before she continued. Of course you have hands you idiot, you just touched your nose.

"Right… I am Nevea a Helper and this is the Tutorial area for creation and adjustment" she slowly finished while still giving me an odd look.

I guess what happened at the bar was real. But character creation? Tutorial? Sounds almost exactly like the start of an RPG game. I'd say maybe I'm still dreaming but that nose to ground kiss felt pretty damn real.

"This sounds more like a game, next you're going to tell me we get to pick a race, stats and skills?" I asked mirroring the same odd face she just gave me.

"It may emulate one but this is no game newbie, but yes I assist with picking your race, stats, starting skills and a few other things. That information then gets sent to System and you are essentially "Born" in Te'luna" she replied in a matter of fact tone.

"Look I don't mean to be rude but I've been here for three hours now due to you sleeping like a hibernating bear. I can normally complete three to five newbie characters in an hour. So I've lost a ton of reputation points today and have plans for tonight so can we just get started already?"

Nodding my head in annoyance I couldn't help but think it's not my fault I was shipped here with basically no knowledge of what's going on. But sometimes it's easier to just go with the flow. The appearance of a screen in front of me was a tad startling but it wasn't the first time so I was a bit more prepared.

It was asking if I wanted to create a new character. Reaching forward and pressing the yes button the glade around me shattered like a baseball hitting glass. Nothing but white could be seen as the shards fell out of view, not even sure what it is I'm standing on.

"Please state your name" came the voice of Nevea though I didn't see her anywhere.

"Uhh… Reginald"

"Please select a race" the screen flashed and brought up some kind of table.

*~~*

Name: Human

Strength: 20

Dexterity: 20

Constitution: 20

Magic: 20

Wisdom: 20

*~~*

Name: Elf

Strength: 15

Dexterity: 25

Constitution: 15

Magic: 25

Wisdom: 20

*~~*

Name: Goblin

Strength: 20

Dexterity: 30

Constitution: 10

Magic: 15

Wisdom: 25

*~~*

Name: Dwarf

Strength: 30

Dexterity: 10

Constitution: 30

Magic: 10

Wisdom: 20

*~~*

Name: Halfling

Strength: 10

Dexterity: 40

Constitution: 15

Magic: 15

Wisdom: 20

*~~*

Name: Gnome

Strength: 10

Dexterity: 20

Constitution: 10

Magic: 30

Wisdom: 30

*~~*

[Try Your Luck?]

*~~*

Hesitantly I moved my finger towards the screen and pressed down on Human causing a picture projection of a normal looking Human to appear.

*~~*

(Humans, the most average race on Te'luna. Contains the most sub-races of all the standard choices and comes with a bonus of 5 free stat points to spend after creation)

*~~*

"Nevea, what does all of this mean?" I played a few games back in the day but this was all getting a bit over my head.

"You need to pick one of the standard six races, the pros and cons will be listed when you select one. Alternatively, you can choose the [Try Your Luck?], which will randomly choose a race for you but allows for the various sub-races to be obtained"

"What are the sub-races?"

"Sub-races are variations of the main races, for instance, should you [Try Your Luck?] and the Human category be chosen you could find yourself as a radical as a Minotaur or something with only a slight change such as a Highlander. These races are special and break past the starting limitations. They are classified as Uncommon or Rare which are always related to your base race and can break the starting stat limit by 10 and 20 respectively. Then there are Uniques that have no racial boundaries and can break the starting limit by 40"

"Alright, what about the stats?" the screen in front of me flashed again as a pop-up came into view.

*~~*

[Strength] Physical Damage and Carry Weight

[Dexterity] Speed and Chance to Dodge

[Constitution] Maximum HP and Stamina

[Magic] Maximum Mana and Magical Damage

[Wisdom] Increases Exp Gain and Skill Leveling

*~~*

After studying the stats for a bit I remembered something from back when I use to play these kinds of games.

"Isn't there normally a Charisma and Intelligence stat?"

"Charisma is subjective and therefore not one of the main stats. One person might find you charismatic and another deplorable no matter what. You can find who likes or dislikes you on your [Relations] tab once out of here. Intelligence is a hidden stat so to speak, one might associate it with magical ability but there are complete idiots who have an astronomical gift for Magic"

Easy enough to remember I suppose, though I have no idea what to pick. It does sound exciting to become another race but what if I become something like a goblin? I browsed through each of the races and there wasn't anything new to be gleaned besides humans giving a few extra points, the stats really said it all. Ah, screw it we have a new chance at life and I should be thinking about it carefully but the itch to gamble and roll the dice is too strong.

"Here we go, bless me Lady Luck" placing my index and middle finger to my lips I gave them a brief kiss then aimed them upwards before bringing them down and pressing on [Try Your Luck?].

"There is no redo, are you sure you wish to [Try Your Luck?]"

"I'm sure"