Chapter 1: Death

POV: ???

Sigh. "What a long day," I say, as I look up after leaving the Engineering building on campus, only to see a pitch-black night sky sporadically interrupted by bluish-white starlight. "Heh, makes sense," I mutter to myself in a hardly audible voice. I mean I've quite literally been in that god-forsaken building since 7:00 a.m. this morning and it is currently… "Jesus H. Christ it's 2:47 a.m," I say to myself as I see the time displayed on my phone screen.

'God damnit! I fucking hate mechanical engineering!' I can't help but scream internally as I remember that I have thermodynamics class at 7:30 a.m., again, tomorrow morning. 'Well, no use complaining and whining about shit right now. I need to get home, shower, and hop in bed for around 3 hours of sleep or so, then get up and start this process all over again. Rinse and repeat, rinse and repeat, until the work is done.' With my thoughts now somewhat organized and focused on the task at hand, I begin the 20-minute trek home.

While on my way I pass by a gas station to pick up some snacks for the morning because I currently have no food in my apartment. 'Fuck. I really need to go to the store this weekend,' I think to myself. 'Well, I'll log and file that thought away for future me to deal with,' I muse, as I begin heading home to my apartment. However, as I'm passing an alley, I hear a noise that sounds like muffled screaming, however, I don't stop. Well, not at first, at least. My conscience gets the better of me and I turn around and head back toward the alley as quickly as I can. I stop and peek my head around the corner, but some big gorilla-looking guy's back is in the way. 'Note to self, I need to start working out again' I think as the very muscular man's back makes me feel somewhat self-conscious.

Not being able to get a good view around the heap of muscle, I just confidently waltz into the alley, and what I see pisses me off in a way I can't properly articulate. Pinned to the wall of the alley is a middle-aged woman that probably just finished her shift at the clinic a few miles from here, judging by her nurse scrubs. But what really grinds my gears about this situation is the fact that her scrubs have been torn open and her underwear is exposed. Furthermore, the big guy has an accomplice, well two to be exact. The furthest from me is a skinny weasely looking fucker whose every ounce of existence just screams slimy-sleazeball. The other one is a bald overweight man who looks to be in his late 30s to early 40s and is currently undoing his belt while fondling the now profusely crying nurse.

Not liking how this situation is playing out I immediately take my backpack off and charge the wannabe Arnold Schwarzenegger. He notices me but is a second too late as I slam the ever-living shit out of my backpack into the side of his knee. He crumples but to be safe I kick him as hard as I can in his crotch, for which I am rewarded with the sound of a very audible crack.

The fat man, whether out of surprise, embarrassment, fear, or a combination of the three, lets go of the nurse and begins trying to put his pants back on. The nurse, still in shock by all appearances, isn't moving, so I use this moment to scream at her to run. This seems to do the trick as her eyes snap wide open and she begins to run. Before she leaves the alley I yell at her to call the police, while kicking myself for having not done it myself before getting into this situation.

However, a loud thunderclap sounds in the alley silencing my thoughts. I turn back, just in time to see the nurse fall to the ground, seemingly lifeless. Realization dawns on me as I turn to the weasely fucker who is now quite literally holding a smoking gun, though his hand is shaking like an epileptic having a seizure under strobe lights.

With my now extremely limited options I put my backpack in front of me as I charged toward the weasel, all while hoping that my backpack which is full of books and my computer will hopefully stop any bullets. Sadly however it was all for naught as I heard another thunderclap and immediately felt pain like I've never felt before in my chest. I look down to see the now relatively large hole in my chest and realize the fat fucker that I ignored momentarily had just shot me in the back.

As I fall to the ground in a heap I can hear the weasel and fat fuck arguing and yelling at each other while grabbing the muscular man, helping him up, and running down the alleyway as sirens sound in the distance. I look down the alley as I bleed out and my vision begins to blur and realize that the corpse of the nurse isn't there. I try to look around the alley toward its exit, but my body is limp and I can hardly move a muscle.

Unable to move, left with nothing but my dying thoughts, I can't help but marvel at the absolute fucking absurdity of the situation I have now landed myself. I mean really. How the fuck does this situation make sense. 'Oh well, no use wondering about it now. It's not like it'll stop me from dying. There's nothing that can do that now. I think to myself. Then everything went dark.

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Light, and a whole hell of a lot of it. What the hell is this and where the fuck am I. No, should it be What the fuck am I, or Why the fuck am I? Jesus H. fucking Christ I'm not continuing down that line of thought. I'll have an existential crisis again at this rate if I do. I began to take a few deep breaths and finish calming down in a minute or so with a final "phew".

"Have you calmed down enough"? However, that calm was abruptly and terrifyingly shattered by a deep masculine voice that seemed to carry authority and power, with just a hint of benevolence and gentleness.

I whirled around to find the source of the voice but the voice appeared behind me once again this time. "How Interesting," it said. I turned to face the voice again, this time however the sight that greeted my eyes was truly magnificent. I laid eyes upon what I would assume was a man of African American descent with graying hair, wearing an immaculate white three-piece suit with white slacks, white socks, and even white shoes.

"It seems like you have finally calmed down enough to talk." the voice said in the same manner as it had originally, however it now carried a hint of jovial playfulness. I could only nod my head in reply to his statement as he gestured to the white chairs set up on either side of the white table.

As I sat down my mind was in one horrific mess. However, as I finished taking my seat I managed to blurt out "So, you're God, Like the big G-O-D, God right". It may have sounded like a question, but both God and I understood that it was more of a statement, to which He replied by simplifying and firmly saying "Yes".

"So, why am I here?" I couldn't help but ask. "You wanna go to the other place?" God responds to my question with one of his own. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no." I hurriedly replied. "Then?" God questions me. "I guess I'm just wondering why I'm here?" I ask. "Nothing special really," God says. "Hm? I can't help but hum in response, somewhat flabbergasted by God's comment. "It's just part of the system." God States matter of factly.

God must have seen the very confused look I definitely had on my face because he continued to elaborate. "Whenever a mortal achieves enough karma, good karma specifically, they are summoned here."

"Well I hate to be the bearer of bad news but I'm pretty sure that your system is broken. I mean there is f—", I look up and feel God glaring at me so I decide to change my word choice,—reaking way in h—, I feel another glare and change my word choice again,—eck that I did enough to achieve such a level of karma.``

"A random act of kindness." God States matter of factly once again. "What?" I reply more confused now than ever. "It's as I just said, a random act of kindness. That is what brought you here, what led you to the situation you're in now." He says.

"Ah," I say as realization dawns on me. "But I failed," I said in a sad tone a moment later. "Both the nurse and I died that night". I pause, then look up at God and ask "Didn't we?" with question marks practically hovering above my head. "Did you?" God responds with a cheeky grin.

"IDK, did we?" I question back, though God must not have been amused at my smart-aleck behavior as he just continued to stare at me with a deadpan look. "Sorry," I can't help but whisper and God just chuckles to himself at that.

"Yes, although you did die, the nurse managed to call the police and survive. Which inevitably led to her being reunited with her children and raising them into people that would inevitably change the world. That is why you are here now." God says to me.

Sensing my confusion once again, God elaborated "You see that nurse was the single mother of three children. Her children grew up to change the world due to your intervention that night. The eldest became a soldier, the best the world had ever or will ever see, so when World War III broke out he was able to distinguish himself and rapidly rise in the ranks inevitably becoming the Army's Chief of Staff in a little over seven years. He used his brilliant mind and tactical acumen to bring a swift end to the war in a little less than four years after being promoted.

His younger brother became a lawyer and eventually ran for president. He won with an overwhelming landslide victory. After he was sworn in office he immediately got to work and began to uproot corrupt politicians and officials. He surrounded himself with loyal and intelligent associates and together they were able to bring about a revolutionary change in government. They stripped the government of unnecessary bureaucracy and red tape, removed useless and incapable people, and even balanced the federal government's budget. As a result, the country was eventually able to pay off much of its debt it owed to other countries, which inevitably benefited the citizens of those countries in some small way or other.

Furthermore, the youngest child brought about a revolution in the medical industry. She completely changed how medical personnel approached the healthcare industry. She found multiple cures for cancer and was able to find cures for previously incurable diseases. She even discovered a way to remove genetic defects in the human genome effectively curing every genetic disorder known to mankind.

Humanity has, as a whole, benefited massively from the contribution of those three children. The ramifications of their contributions are still being felt by the human race to this day. As such the amount of positive karma that those three accrued in their lifetime is nigh incalculable. Now tell me, how much karma do you believe the person who, through a random act of kindness and selfless self-sacrifice, facilitated the growth of those three giants of the human race would have accrued post-mortem?"

"A lot." I can't help but say with a somewhat subdued voice, due to the shocking realization of how much the world can change due to one simple act. "A lot is an understatement". God replied seemingly oblivious to my internal shock. "As a result of your karma, which you have accrued post-mortem, you have been brought here, in accordance with the system that has been put in place to govern your universe."

"Okay, but that still begs the question 'Why am I Here?'" I say as I look at God. "Though perhaps I should expound upon that question a little. I guess what I'm asking now is 'Why did I need to be brought here?' or 'What am I here for exactly?'" I elaborate while looking at God.

"Well to answer your questions we must first answer the question 'What is this place?'" God replies. "This room has many names. To some, it is 'The Room of Wishes', to others 'The Room of Transmigration', and to others still, it is 'The Room of Reincarnation'. I simply prefer to call it 'The Room of Choices' because that is exactly what you will be doing here in this room, starting now."

With a simple gesture of his hand, God raises a massive wheel of seemingly infinite size and begins to move toward it. I do the same as I push my chair away from the table and get up out of it to follow Him. As I reach the wheel in tandem with God, He suddenly stops and speaks, "This is the first of the choices you will have to make. Do you wish to enter heaven and enjoy a peaceful blissful existence for all eternity or do you wish to reincarnate?" God says as He gestures to the wheel. "This wheel includes all of the infinite realities, of the infinite universes, of the infinite multiverses, of the infinite omniverse. If you choose to reincarnate then you will have to spin this wheel. The slot you land on will include the universe and world you will be reincarnating into as well as who you will be born as when you reincarnate. Now, fair warning, you could reincarnate in a horrible universe like the 'Warhammer 40K' or you could reincarnate into a peaceful universe like 'Kuroko's Basketball'. Additionally, you could reincarnate as any human in those universes. You could be born as someone important to the world, like a protagonist or antagonist if you will, or you could be born as a random no-name individual that no one will ever have known existed. It's all up to your fate and luck as they say. Finally, should you choose to reincarnate you will be completely wiped of all your memories, consciousness, emotions, awareness, etc. You will quite literally become a clean slate for your next life aside from a few things that will be decided upon after you make this decision. This… is why you were brought here. Your high amount of karma affords the chance to choose the direction of your future to some extent." God says as he finishes his description of the two options I have before me.

I look at God then back to the wheel, realizing why it's so big, and think to myself, "How in the blue heck am I supposed to spin this thing." God must have sensed my thoughts as he said suddenly, "Oh don't worry about the size of the wheel by the way. It will never be too heavy or hard for you to spin. It would be kinda pointless to bring someone here and let them choose to reincarnate only for it to be impossible for them to spin the wheel after all."

'Yeah that makes sense', I can't help but think to myself as I begin to deliberate on my choices. On the one hand, staying in heaven and enjoying a peaceful blissful existence for all eternity sounds nice, like really nice, on the surface, but the thought of living in a utopia as a perfect existence doing whatever they do in heaven just disagrees with me. Like where the danger, the excitement, the fun, you know. Just to be on the safe side though, I ask God if he is willing to elaborate on the state of heaven and what I would be doing there.

"In layman's terms, heave in like a copy of earth to an extent. However, heaven is the perfect version of earth. There is no war, violence, death, pain, or any other negative quality of life in Heaven. There are no homeless people because everyone wants to work and there is always enough work to be had for everyone. Schools in heaven are free and teach adults according to their learning capabilities so no one makes less than 100% in everything they take. There are no single parents because there are no children born in heaven. Children who have died before they have lost their innocence are reincarnated. When one enters heaven they are given a perfect body designed by me with which they can use to enjoy the physical perfection that is heaven. Does that explain heaven well enough for you?" God asks after his expose' on heaven.

"Yes sir," I say in reply. With Heaven's nature now thoroughly explained to me I begin to once again deliberate on my option before finally coming to a decision. With my decision made I begin to move forward. God notices this and says "It looks like you've made your decision". I reply to his statement with a simple nod and continue forward, to my destination, the wheel.

As I reach the wheel I look up in a vain attempt to ascertain the true vastness of the wheel, however to no avail. Realizing the futile nature of my attempt I grab onto one of the massive wheels' pins that fit perfectly into my hands and pull down hard. The wheel begins to turn at a rapid pace and continues to spin for what seems like both milliseconds and an eternity before finally coming to a stop. I hesitate to look but my curiosity gets the better of me and I look at the label the arrow has landed on. Upon seeing the label I immediately heave a sigh of relief. On the label reads 'Universe: Cyberpunk' 'World: Earth' 'Human ID: Robert John Linder'.

I once again heave a sigh of relief after realizing I'm not going to one of those overpowered or just generally fucked up universes like Marvel, DC, Warhammer 40K, etc. I mean at least in the cyberpunk universe most problems can be solved with some cyberware, a gun, and a little bit of skill.

"Ok, now that it has been decided where you're going to go you have to decide on what 'cheats' you're going to be taking with you into that world," God says, shaking me out of my thoughts. "What do you mean by that?" I can't help but ask, surprised by the fact that I have even more choices to make.

"I had said before that the choice between heaven and reincarnation was but the first of your choices. Now you will be allowed five wishes if you will. After you have made your choices about what wishes you want fulfilled you will be reincarnated into that world as a fetus. Oh and no wishing for infinite wishes or the like. That is a swift way to get me to smite you." God says, and I can't help but nod my head in a combination of agreement and understanding. "Also just a general rundown on the rules. Your wishes have to stay in line with the theme of the universe. So for example you could ask for nanites and that would be fine as its technology falls in line with the world theme around technology and cyberware, but you cannot ask for the ability to read minds or manipulate energy as that is outside the scope of that universe's theme." After a few more minutes of going over the rules for what my wishes can and can't be, God finishes and allows me to begin making my wishes.

"For my first wish, I would like…"