Character Creation [Part 2]

*Scroll, scroll, and more scrolling.*

Austin continued to scroll down the form filled with infinite choices of hair colors. 

Sadly, none of the options appealed to his taste.

He wanted a hair color that would make him cool and handsome, preferably a hair color that would allow him to get a girlfriend.

…He really wanted a girlfriend, so this decision was crucial to his happiness. 

It had to be perfect.

After a while, the incessant flashing light from the rust bucket began to blur his vision and trigger a headache. Nevertheless, he persisted in his endeavor to find the perfect hair color. A little bit of pain was nothing.

Though the pain was nothing, his heart was full of worry, just within five minutes, the old rust bucket turned off seven times… each time causing a surge of panic to rush through his body.

When the computer had first turned off, he felt his heart had stopped beating.

Despite his frustration-filled pleas the the old man didn't care even after he had asked, "What if the computer malfunctions and I'm not allowed to change my appearance?"

The response he had gotten was equally infuriating as having to use the microcomputer.

"If it stops working, it stops working… There's nothing that can be done. … Don't worry, if it stops working. There's always the auto selection mechanism in place that will randomly choose for you. You will be alright." Ulric replied while munching on popcorn and keeping his eyes glued to the TV.

'Please don't turn off. Please don't turn off. Please don't turn off.' Since Austin's pleas had been ignored he could only resort to begging the inanimate piece of… crap not to turn off.

If the computer stopped working for good, he would be screwed and forced to wallow in pity for the rest of his next life.

And obviously, he didn't want that to happen.

With no other option, he forced his dry, cloudy eyes to focus, his next life depended on this.

*Scroll, scroll, scroll*

'Brown, no way!' He swiftly scrolled past the color that reminded him of the water he had to drink to survive in the orphanage.

*Scroll*

There were just too many options to choose from.

'Are these hair colors natural or dyed? I don't want to be mistaken for a thug.'

Austin opened his mouth to ask but hesitated for a moment. However, after remembering that each decision he made impacted his next life, he shouted at the relaxing old man.

"Are these hair colors natural?" 

Ulric sighed after hearing the young man's voice, reluctantly he grabbed the remote from beside him and moved his thumb over the pause button. As his fingers lingered on the pause button, momentarily, he hesitated, but after weighing the pros and cons, decided to help him. After pausing his favorite show, he stood up with the bucket of popcorn cradled in his left arm and used his other hand to stretch his sore back. Then took a step in the young man's direction, instantly arriving behind him.

"Alright, what's the problem brat? You better have a good reason for disturbing me. I was busy with my godly responsibilities." He complained with no shame evident on his face or in his tone of voice.

"..." Austin was momentarily speechless, the old man had no shame or dignity. After cursing, he turned his gaze away from the text displayed on the computer to behind his shoulder and looked at the old man only to regret his decision, veins began bulging on his face threatening to burst into a gory mess of blood and flesh.

The old man was looking at him with an indifferent, impatient gaze as if he owed him money. 

*Huff*

'Deep breaths Austin. Take some deep breaths.'

*Huff*

'You can do this. Once this is over you will never see him again…hopefully.' After a few deep breaths and self-encouraging words, he realized he had overlooked one problem.

'How did he instantly arrive behind me?' For a moment, Austin wondered before realizing how stupid his question was… the old man though didn't look like one or acted like one… was God. Of course, God could do… godly bullshit.

The old man's weird constantly changing personality aside, he was still God… One moment he would be like a friendly neighborhood grandpa, the next, he would turn into a cold-hearted uncaring bast… old man, and sometimes a grumpy senile old man.

*Cough*

Ulric coughed to get the young man's attention.

"Alright, focus up, you don't have much time." He said, seriously.

Austin furrowed his brows in confusion before panic began to rise.

"What do you mean I don't have much time!? Is this character selection form timed!?" 

Ulric blinked, realizing that he could use the boy's misunderstanding to his advantage.

"That's right. The form is timed, but don't worry, you still have an hour. It's plenty of time to finish." Ulric lied, if the boy knew his Soul was on the verge of destruction, it would do him no good. 

Austin gnashed his teeth in response, annoyed by the old man's nonchalance.

"...And you told me now… because?" As soon as the words left his mouth, he regretted it, but sadly, it was too late.

Ulric blinked innocently while tilting his head.

"Because you didn't ask?" 

"..." Austin shifted his eyes upwards to the ceiling, wondering what he did to deserve this. 

'Maybe we were wrong all along… Maybe, just maybe, God and the Devil are the same Being.'

Ulric's eye twitched in response to Austin's thoughts, which didn't go unnoticed by Austin who immediately flashed a victorious wide smile.

"That's what you get for reading people's minds without their permission."