Character Creation [Part 1]

If a shady, wrinkly, hunchbacked old man approached you one day claiming to be God and offered you the choice to live that one perfect life that you had always dreamt and wished for… would you choose to accept or decline?

Would you walk away while cursing the lunatic homeless old man, would you call the police for assault, or would you choose to believe him?

What if the old man truly was God? Would that make your decision easier? Even if there were strings attached?

Even if the condition was to sell your Soul, forever becoming a slave of the Dev… God?

Some would gladly give up their Souls and become slaves for the one 'perfect life'.

Some would hesitate, while others would decline.

Thankfully, the Dev… God, who gave the choice didn't require the Soul of his chosen.

—-------------------

Austin had just been briefed about the reason why he was still alive; apparently, the hunchbacked old man surprisingly was the Supreme God… whatever that meant. After asking, Austin learned it meant he was some big shot among other gods. Learning that other gods existed wasn't a shocker. Austin used to be a believer in every God; however, his faith had waned with time…and that decreased faith of his had nothing to do with his wish for a better life never being granted… He wasn't lying, okay? He had never lied in his life.

That being said, the old man… God had a mission for him; to save a world that would soon face destruction.

To Austin's annoyance, the old man gave no other information regarding the mission. Therefore, Austin didn't know who would destroy the planet, when it would happen, or even how.

If Austin remembered correctly, the old man had said, "Sorry, lad, but the Universal Laws restrict me from giving you further information regarding the future."

Why couldn't the old man… God save the world himself? The answer was another annoying statement about the Universal Laws stopping him from doing so.

Though… Austin still thanked those Universal Laws, if it wasn't because of the texts… or whatever they were, he would not have been given the choice at rebirth.

With no better choice, Austin accepted, otherwise, he could only choose to go into the Cycle of Reincarnation, forever losing his memories. 

—-------------------

In a lavishly furnished living room, an old man reclined with leisure, a bucket of popcorn atop his stomach, and his legs extended on the table in front of him. Periodically, he would burst out in laughter as he watched what looked to be a children's cartoon.

To the side of the old man, a brown-haired young man whose face was marred with bulging veins sat in a chair facing a microcomputer. His right hand was on the computer's mouse occasionally scrolling. Intermittently, he would turn his head whenever the old man would burst into laughter.

'What old man watches PantsRoundBobSponge?' He thought incredulously for the umpteenth time.

Austin understood the allure of the cartoon playing on the TV, it was fantastic, but did old people find it just as hilarious as kids?

*Cough*

He coughed before shaking his head to remove the unnecessary thought.

He turned his eyes back to the microcomputer and became once again mildly annoyed.

'Honestly, it's surprising that a God who could probably create a supercomputer out of thin air with a snap of his fingers is using this rust bucket.' Austin thought bitterly as he looked at the microcomputer on top of the desk displaying:

—------------------ 

<Choose Hair Color> 

- Red 

- Gray 

- Brown 

- Blonde 

- Caramel 

- Burgundy 

- Blue 

- White 

… 

… 

… 

—----------------

Despite his annoyance, it was stifled by the rising excitement at the prospect of creating his next life. 

'To think this rust bucket will be used to create my next life.' 

With a swipe of his index finger on the mouse's scroll wheel, Austin navigated through the options.

'Green… eww! I don't want vomit for hair.'

*Swipe*

'Orange… no, it's overused.'

*Swipe*

'Hmm." He pondered, his brow furrowing in contemplation as he looked at the next option, "What about blue hair? That could be cool.' 

He dragged the cursor over to the option labeled 'Blue', and just as he was about to click, he hesitated. After a moment of contemplation, he decided to wait, he had time and the option would go nowhere. He wanted to be completely sure of his decision, he didn't want any regrets in his next life.

Suddenly, while scrolling his index finger began to ache.

He sighed.

"How can there be a thousand hair colors?" He inquired, directing his question to the lazy old man… God, who continued to watch the cartoon without a care in the world.

In response to the young man's question, Ulric groaned, without so much as shifting his eyes away from the TV, he explained in a tone carrying wisdom, "Everyone sees the world differently, so of course, there would be an infinite number of colors." 

He paused, threw some popcorn into his mouth, and then continued, intermittently chewing as he spoke:

"Just…choose a color…it doesn't matter!"

Austin's eyelid twitched in annoyance. He felt a surge of frustration, wanting to retort, 'What do you mean it doesn't matter? This outdated computer is creating my next life.' 

But he kept his complaints to himself.

He turned his gaze back to the computer and continued to look at the infinite options. The form was simple to understand. To his displeasure though, when the old man explained the process, he called it 'Character Creation like in video games'… he had even emphasized the words 'like in video games' as if to mock him. 

In all fairness, Austin didn't like his life being treated like some video game, but he decided to keep that comment to himself. …And even though they had only just met, he understood the old man had a propensity for teasing.

That being said… like in video games, he was allowed to create his 'avatar' by answering multiple options. According to the old man, all he had to do was, using the mouse, click on his desire option and then click on 'submit' at the top right-hand corner of the page. It sounded simple enough, even for an inexperienced technology user like himself.

However, even after five minutes, he was still stuck on the first Character Creation option: choosing his hair color. Not because of his lack of technology knowledge… It was because each option frightened him. This was the first choice out of who knew how many and he was already struggling. Each decision weighed down on him. Now that he was given the chance to change his life, he didn't want to settle for mediocrity. He wanted his next life to be perfect. He didn't want to be ugly, or even ordinary in his next life, he wanted to be divinely handsome. 

The memory of the the mocking gazes and disdainful words from people though didn't affect him, still stung.