Prologue

"Where am I?"

Alex was floating in an endless expanse of darkness. He could see his body and walk around, but there was no sense of progress. It seemed as if he was fixed in space.

Before arriving in this space devoid of all life and light, Alex had been in his abusive parents' car. His parents had been berating him as usual and he had done his best to endure. Staring at his phone, he heard the booming horn of an 18-wheeler. That was the last thing he heard before he arrived in the void.

"Hello, Alex." A gentle and warm voice rippled out of the emptiness.

Scared out of his mind, Alex flinched and lashed out, "Who the fuck are you? Where are you? Why can't I see anything? Why am I here?"

The voice replied, "I am the embodiment of this space. Please, call me Null. I am just in front of you and at the same time all around you. I offer my sincerest apologies, but your life on Earth has come to an end."

Null's cordial way of speaking coupled with his soft voice made Alex lower his guard a bit. After gathering his thoughts, he sighed and spoke calmly.

"So this is death, huh?"

Null was taken aback, "You seem oddly at peace with this."

Alex replied, "It's not like whining about it will change the fact that I'm dead. Plus, I wasn't very attached to anything back on Earth. Anyway, is this purgatory? I see no flames, so this isn't hell, right? And there aren't any golden gates or anything so this isn't heaven."

"Ah. No. None of those options are correct. I belong to the Beyond."

"What does that mean? And where are my parents? They might have been kind of shitty but they were my family."

Null's quiet voice responded, "As you are, I cannot tell you about the Beyond. However, Alex, for some reason or another, your soul has been selected to be reborn before you were even conceived. The fate of your parents is something that not even I know. I was only entrusted with you. If you ask me why you were chosen for this, I must apologize for I do not know that either."

"I see. I hope they end up alright. So... What does this rebirth entail? Also, you don't really seem that well-informed for a mysterious being."

Null laughed, "Hohoho you are correct Alex, I really am not kept in the loop. You are being reborn into the world of Erzon. It is a place filled with the beings of myth and legend of your old world. However, they are not the same beings that you know. Why Erzon in particular? I do not know."

"What am I supposed to do there?"

"You will know when the time arrives. I cannot tell you more. You will leave momentarily, but I must ask you to select a few things before you go. Your new body has been gifted greatly by the God of Earth. On top of that, you will be granted part of a divinity. I can change your appearance if you like, and I will grant you three abilities from a predetermined list."

All of a sudden, a character creation menu appeared before Alex. He stared at it in disbelief before concluding that his current appearance would suit him fine.

"I believe that your current appearance will work as well. Now, please choose from this list. I'm only allowed to give a very brief summary of each ability so please, choose well. Any one of these abilities has the capacity to provide you tremendous strength."

A list of abilities appeared before Alex.

War Hero: Heightened Strength; Mastery of known weaponry grows quickly

Elemental Sage: Heightened Magic Power; Loved by the Elements

Food Deity: Grants skill: [Cooking]

Nature's Beloved: Grants skill: [Taming]

Arcane Gift: Heightened Magic Power; Arcane Specialization

Accelerated Growth: Skills grow more quickly

Blazing Glory: Pet Bestowal: [Dragon]

Martial Proficiency: Heightened Strength; [Bare-handed Combat Mastery] grows explosively

Harem Lord: Grants skill: [Irresistible]

Refining Guru: Grants skill: [Crafting]

After careful contemplation, Alex made his choices.

Null spoke, "Very good, Alex. I've been instructed to grant you "Living Encyclopedia" as well. I believe Matthew will be able to help you immensely in Erzon. The mechanics of this world should be familiar to you. Call out 'Status' once you have arrived there and you will see why."

Alex replied, "Got it. Am I leaving now?"

Null laughed, "In a moment. I'm sure you have a multitude of questions, and to put it in terms you know, this isn't much of a tutorial. I do apologize for that. But I must remind you, you only have one life on Erzon. The game-like mechanics of the world do not extend to your own life."

A wheel suddenly appeared in the space in front of Alex. It was divided into thousands upon thousands of slots, each with a god's name written in the slot.

Null spoke with a mischievous tone, "Now, we will use this wheel to decide your source of divinity! I hope you get a good one. Spin away, Alex."

Alex was shocked, "We're doing this part randomly!?"

But before he could hear Null's response, Alex blacked out and his body disappeared from the void.

Alone, Null spoke to himself, "What a terribly selfish task to give to a mere child. I'm sorry, Alex. Live well."

...

Alex regained consciousness and slowly opened his eyes to see two faces beaming at him. He was a baby. Unable to stop himself, he murmured, "Fuck."

The happy couple froze for a second before ultimately deciding to ignore the fact their child's first word was a curse.