Another Chance

Silence.

If I were to descibe what I felt or could feel or think about was silence. All encompassing, all devouring, omnipotent, omniscient darkness, and subsumed in this... existence, all one could feel was.

Silence.

I do not know how long I was there. 

It felt like barely a moment had passed, just now I could feel the blood deserting my veins, and yet it felt disconcerting, I felt disconnected; as if all that had happened to someone else, a character in a movie or some piece of literature, somebody I could empathize with, but never really identify as.

Almost as if the surrounding silence was infecting me, the darkness constantly assimilating me, until I was simply..

Gone.

The last moments prior to my death were ... exhilarating. It was as if I had found what I had been desperately searching for all my life. The emotions, though mine, were confusing for they were clumped together. And the cold gradually enveloping me seemed to provide almost an ice cold reasoning and certainly which allowed me to entangle my emotions.

I was excited by the fact that she was a yandere.

I loved the fact she was a yandere, and should have cherished her.

I deserved to die because I was overconfident, and should have been aware of my surroundings, especially when she seems to have been followed me from my apartment.

While I did blame her for my death, it did not seem to diminish my attraction to her now that I knew she was a yandere.

Pretty fucked up, I know.

As involved as I was in this round of introspection brought forth by my unassuming demise, I largely wondered if this was it. While I had given a certain amount of thought to what happened after death and researched the same, I was not prepared for this. Give me hell, give me heaven, give me some torture or some personal limbo; that I was somewhat prepared for, but not this.

Not grim, all devouring darkness slowly sucking out my personality and emotions until I became a part of this darkness.

If it was before the traumatic events which led to my death, or had I passed on due to some other reason, I would have accepted this.

Becoming a part of the collective or living an existence where I was forced to find out new sources of thrill just to keep living, was an easy choice.

But now, when I finally found something which sent my heart racing and all previously illusive emotions bombarding my mind, a reason worth living for, there's no fucking way I'll give in.

Death would have to claw Life out of my cold grasp before I would let her go. If that is even possible.

And as I gathered my bearings, almost as if in response to my resolve, an honest-to-Gods blue screen flashed into existence before me.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

[You Died!

Fortunately, you have been selected to be a part of the Multiversal Questers Agency on the recommendation of your World Will and hence will have to participate in the Rookie Rumble to successfully regain life. Successfully surviving the Rookie Rumble will grant you the qualification of an Inter-Dimensional Quester and make you a part of the M.Q.A. where you can live a life beyond your wildest dreams as long as you prove your worth.

However, be warned for this is your second chance, and death while on a quest, or as in this case, a test, shall lead to your soul being annihilated and your existence erased. So, be smart, be devious, and don't hesitate to fight- for only the fittest would survive.

As a kind of tool to aid your survival in the test (or compensation to make the stakes even), you will be granted a super power of your choosing as your basic ability or skill, subject to certain limitations:

>No overpowered or broken powers allowed-if the power is too strong certain limitations or negative traits will be granted

>Powers should be properly defined to get the specific effect you desire, if power is too general it would be granted as per understanding of the World Will

>Powers containing word or concept –Omni like Omnipresence or Omnipotence or the likes would be completely ignored

Note: The Power would be granted by your World Will, that is the Will of YOUR World. So M.Q.A. is neither responsible nor answerable for dissatisfaction with your powers. However, M.Q.A. does provide for opportunities to gain superpowers in quests. But for that, you need to survive.

Your Superpower: _______________ ]

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Firstly, this was insane. There was clearly a blue screen in front of me yet I could not touch it. I had no sensation of my hands or any sort of body, and yet how exactly I could see was a question I had no intention to find the answer to. Somehow hoping to interact with the screen, I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was a thought-to-text interface, for otherwise it would be quite the hassle to fill this.

All my humor was just an attempt to focus on something other than this shot storm I found myself in. I still seemed to have difficulties accepting the fact that I had DIED. If that was not enough of an issue, I was still not sure about what the brief surge of affection regarding my life taker had been about or what to do with the fact that I couldn't bring myself to hate her.

What's more is now I had a chance to be reborn, or rather, scratch that, I had to be reborn and become a plaything, a performer who had to achieve certain goals to continue living. Very much like a salesman who had to meet the target to keep my job, only here my job was my life.

Ok, ok, deep breaths. Huh, that was a handful. Now calm after my outburst, I gave this screen in front of me a once over and gave it a rational thought.

I was dead, and was not going back anytime soon. I lived a good life, and was not worried about my parents. While I love them and care for them, I invested enough in long term holdings and along with my life insurance policy, they have nothing to worry about. But yeah, I'll miss them.

And who am I kidding, I get a fucking Second Chance at life, who would not jump at it? People kill for a possibility of a second chance at life, and here I actually get one.

So yeah, count me in.

Not that important, but the part about the superpower motivates well too.

So utilizing my now pretty much free schedule to think, I briefly wondered, what would be the best superpower?

[Entity Manipulation], where I could create entities from scratch to do my bidding. I do not mean simple human sized humanoid dummies, but golems made from sand, shadow creatures, literal legends and myths brought to life. Entity is a wide term, and with powers like such, they are entirely dependent on your imagination. Your mind defines your own limits. It could be fun.

[Superior Adaptation] can be another brilliant choice. You evolve in real time, in response to challenges you face. Like an opponent with fire powers, bam! You gain [Fire Resistance]. In an environment with high temperature, you gain [Glacial Manifestation]. Your needs get solved in real time. This one has scary potential and infinite survivability.

[Blood Manipulation], another enticing choice. The innumerable animes, mangas, novels, fanfictions and whatnot have already formed a cool culture around it. Just a simply search across the internet could enlighten one of the vast application of this power.

Choices, choices, too many to truly make my mind. 

It's really frustrating, like a kid in a candy store with a few bucks, enough only to get one when you want all.

That's when something clicked in my mind, and like a switch which had gone off in my mind.

Kids choose one.

Men want them all.

I knew just exactly which Superpower I wanted.

And it was one with the potential to overshadow all potential competition.