1 Chapter 0: God is A Middle Schooler?!?

The sounds of life happening in the background, the feeling of the oil smudging against the screen of my phone, the uncomfortable touch of a stranger's shoulder bumping into to me and quickly retreating, and of course, the emptiness I feel after finishing another web novel on my way to work. Yep, this is my life.

I've been stuck in a loop for a while now. I have a pretty strict and consistent schedule I keep. I wake up to the sound of my alarm making a faint *ting, ting, ting* noise, to which I answer with a strong slap to the top of said clock. I quickly wake up, knowing that if I don't I will just fall back into the abyss, and search for the soft, warm light of my phone. I open the phone with a few quick taps and pick up where I left off in whatever web novel I am reading currently. It's a pain sometimes to try to remember which plot line I am currently reading, as a lot of the web novels I read are close in style and content, so I always keep the app open to where I left off. From there on, my day becomes a blur. My body does the necessary activities, while my mind floats off to some world of my imagination.

I work at a big tech company in South Korea, although I don't remember the name. I'm an American who moved hear for two reasons, because I can live fairly comfortably with little effort, and no one will bother me. The remnants of my family that I left in America barely call anymore and I have no one I know here, so its just me, myself, and I. But who else do I really need?

The only time I take my head out of my stories is when I have work at the tech company. I'm a work monkey, getting all the assigned work I have done in the shortest amount of time possible. Cutting the expected 9 hours of work I am given to 5 hours is a peace of cake for me. This rush is of course because I feel compelled to get back to reading. This has however made me an extremely good programmer. My logical thinking, memory, typing speed, and understanding of systems is near god-like. Or at least that's what I hear my superior say every time I get a performance review. This is also the reason he doesn't bother me when I slack off for the last 4 hours of work and get back to reading.

This was how I intended to live my life until I died, working, reading, eating, and sleeping in an endless cycle. Not a bad life if you ask me, but also not a perfect one. The feelings of loneliness and emptiness kept building up and consumed me. I always felt that there was a lack of passion for the work I was doing and I never truly felt accomplished.

When I was younger, I always dreamed of being a creator, someone who made something that the public enjoys and wants more of. I tried writing, drawing, singing, and even acting, but nothing stuck. I eventually got around to programming and decided I would try to make a game beloved by all, but I fell short somewhere along the line and ended up here, in South Korea. I felt fine about giving up on my dreams for the first couple of years I was here.

But now, the emptiness I am left with is almost unbearable.

*ding* "Alright Wilbur, this is your stop. Get out of your haze."

I faintly hear the incessant jabber of someone trying to interrupt my reading.

"Wilbur, come on man I have a schedule to keep."

I look up to see the bus driver, slightly annoyed at me, waving for me to get off.

"Right, sorry. Have a nice day." My words are a little more than a mumble, but I am sincere as he is the person that gets me back and fourth from work everyday, a kind and constant necessity in my life.

"You too."

*ba-dum*

I step into the bright sunlight and hear the hydraulics of the bus door closing.

At the same time, I once again finish the last chapter of the web novel I am reading. I feel the emptiness grow stronger again.

*ba-dum*

"Ugh, what an awful feeling this is." I mumble to myself, exasperatedly looking up at the night sky. I do this when I feel that life is too much of a burden to bare anymore, as each twinkling light in the sky feels like a thousand possibilities waiting for me.

But of course, the opportunities I dream about are just as far away from me as said stars.

*ba-dum ba-dum*

As my eyeline slowly comes down from the endless shining sea above and returns to reality. My apartment building looms in front of me and I feel a pang in my heart as I realize the futility of how I have been living my life. Although I tried a lot of things, I never truly took risks to make my dreams happen.

*ba-dum ba-dum ba-dum*

I should have tried harder when I was younger, should have taken some risks to do what I wanted.

*ba-dum ba-dum ba-dum ba-dum ba-dum*

I should have done more. But the past is the past. There is nothing I can do about it.

After a long sigh, I take a step towards my apartment building, only for my face to hit the sidewalk and my vision to go black.

...

"Hello? Hey Wilbur wake up! This is your big break! Wouldn't want to miss it would you?"

My eyes flutter open at the shrill sound of a little kids voice yelling at me. As my eyes adjust to the well lighted room I am in, I am shocked to just see white everywhere. No floor, ceiling, or walls, just white. I get up slowly. Looking around I see a set of chairs facing each other, with a kid no higher than my waste line sitting in one of them, his legs swinging back and fourth since they can't touch the ground. He is cute in the way that a bunny or small dog was cute, with messy hair and gleaming eyes. The color of his eyes slowly change color as I watch, cycling through normal colors like brown, green, black, and blue, but also through abnormal ones like gold, silver, purple, and red.

The little kid smiles at me and gestures for me to come over.

"Come on we don't have all day! Sit! Sit!" He bounces up and down with these words, radiating excitement. I walk over and take the seat adjacent to him. His smile becomes wider.

"Nice to meet you Wilbur Hall. Welcome to your second chance!" His eyes glint with these words, giving off a hint of friendliness.

"Um, second chance at what? Where am I?" My words come out a little more forceful than I intended, making the kid frown a little.

"No need to be scared Wilbur. You are dead and this is your second chance at the existence you want. You are currently in the center of the multiverse!" The kids eyes light up and he raises his hands upward as if he was saying something I could completely understand.

"Ok... Then who are you?"

"Well I am God of course!" He gives off another radiant smile.

"Ya sure... Um WHAT!?!?!"