Chapter 1 : It was the Truck

The street was almost empty given it was way past midnight. It was another hellish day at work. Everyone in my department had to work overtime to finish up our work because the deadline was so near. Sleepless nights, tired eyes, sore body and there was no hope of getting bonus after all that crap. How wonderful, the pay was less but the work was heavy. I had been thinking of quitting for a long time now but thought better of it. I needed the money.

The light turned green and of course, as a law abiding citizen, I took a step forward to cross the street. Was it because of my sleep deprivation or was it because of my distracted mind? I didn't realise a pair of headlights came toward me in a fast pace.

It was as if the world slowed down around me. I was in the middle of the street with a big truck right in front of me. There was no saving. I didn't have time to evade. If I survived this crash, I would end up with severe injuries that most likely to be permanent. The saying of 'my life flashes before my eyes' rang true at that moment.

'Is this how my life is going to end?' Then it was dark.

~~

BREAKING NEWS:

TWO DEAD AFTER GETTING HIT BY A TRUCK

The incident happened at 2:24 am on Kingsman Street. A truck suddenly lost control after taking a turn around the corner and hit a pedestrian, 27, Male. The truck however failed to stop and continued on moving at high speed forward, hitting its second victim, 17, female. Both victims were confirmed dead as soon as the ambulance arrived.

The male victim was identified as Roman Thomson, who was about to return home from work. The female victim was identified as a student named Victoria Johannes. The bodies were too damaged to be properly identified and their identification can only be done using their identity card that was found in their belongings.

The driver of the truck was missing. It was suspected that he had run away before the authority came to the scene. If anyone has any information regarding this case. Please come forward to the nearest police station or call the numbers stated below.

1200xxxxx.

~~

I heard voices around me. They were closed and they were arguing about something. I couldn't move or open my eyes. In fact, I couldn't even feel anything. I felt weightless. It was weird.

"I think he's awake." One of the voices spoke.

"Ah yes. It's about time after all." Another one spoke.

"You can stop pretending to be asleep now." The first voice said in a bored tone. In that moment, I finally could open my eyes.

The space I was in was freakishly white and there was no end of it. For sure, I wasn't in a hospital or anywhere on Earth. I was lost. Near me, there were 2 people. People? Both of them looked somewhat not human. I could tell. No, I could feel it. Something about them made me feel intimidated. They held some sort of authority that I couldn't disobey.

'Am I dreaming?'

"No, this is not a dream." The one with blue outfit said. My eyes widened in shock. "Yes.. Yes.. I can read your mind, get over it."

"Hey, be nice to him." The other one scolded, the one that wore pink outfit. I looked at them back and forth, speechless. I wasn't able to see their face clearly. It was as if there was a mist covered their face.

"Well, say something." The blue one urged. My mouth hung open but no sound came out.

"Take it easy now. Just relax okay?" The pink one was gentler. I took a deep breath to calm down. Actually, I didn't even need to breath. My body wasn't even like a body.

"You're dead." The blue one told me without any warning.

"Hah?"

"Seriously?" The pink one turned to look at the blue.

"What? It's the truth." The blue shrugged nonchalantly.

"So, is this the afterlife?" I found my voice again.

"Erm, not really. It's a special space. Not the afterlife. The afterlife is more.. Lively." The pink explained. I blinked. Was that supposed to be a pun? The blue gazed at the pink, it was a judging look.

"Okay, sorry. I can't help it. I thought it'll help to cheer you up a bit." The pink said awkwardly.

"How can he be cheerful when he's dead?" The blue one retorted.

"And who's fault is that you think?" The pink glared at the blue.

"Look, it's a miscalculation okay?"

"Your miscalculation cost a life!"

"It can't be helped!"

They argued and that lasted for a while. I picked up some of the information. These.. Individuals were the one in charge of.. The world? Universe? The reality? I don't know. They were gods. And they killed me off accidentally? What?

"Okay! Let's talk to him first." The pink one sighed heavily and they finally remembered I was there.

"So, we are gods. We are the one in charge of the worlds. We look after the humanity. So, you can call us the gods of humankind." She continued. "I, specifically in charge of new life. While, this one, in charge of death."

"We decide when someone is born until the time they died. Do you understand now?"

"Yes."

"Good, so, god of death accidentally killed you. He's not targeting you specifically. You were kinda in the way during that time.. So.."

"So, I was a collateral damage?" I looked at them flatly.

"Yes."

"Okay." I uttered casually. Both of the gods were baffled to see how calm I took the news. Well, for sure, I didn't mind dying. I was giving up living anyway. I've spent years being a slave at that shitty company and finally having a permanent break from that place was luxurious.

"We feel bad for you. So, we want to give you a compensation for it." The god of death said. "The truck that hit you was meant to send someone to another world. Usually, we're the one that decide which world they will end up in. However, as a compensation, we're letting you choose your new world."

"Wait, so that truck really exist?! The truck that made people reincarnated to a different world?" I exclaimed.

"Well yeah, the truck is our best method so far." The god of new life spoke.

It was unbelievable. There was no way, those novel stories about people got hit by a truck and were reincarnated to a different world was true. There was too many novels and mangas about that and it was actually true?

"Anyway, you have to make up your mind now. Choose the world you want to reborn in."

"I don't know.." I muttered sheepishly. There were too many and I didn't think I could make up my mind.

"Hm... Should we do wheel pick then?" the god of new life suggested with an enthusiastic tone.

"That's a good idea. I don't want to waste more time here. I'm busy." The god of death quickly agreed. I just went with the flow. They were gods after all.

"Great!"

A wheel appeared out of thin air. There were words carved on it. I squinted my eyes to read them. I was so confused why those were there.

'The Woods'

'Age of Demolition'

'Chains'

'Aurora'

'The Beginning'

'Magic in a Different World'

'Demon Army'

'Swordmaster King'

'Battle of Emperors'

'Warriors'

'From Another World'

"You must've noticed by now. Yes, those novels that you've read before are actually different worlds. Those are real places. We're transferring you into one of these world." The god of death explained.

"Wait.. Wait.. Are you serious?"

"Yes. Can we continue please?"

"Right away!"

"No wait!" It was too late. The god already spinned the wheel and the arrow soon landed on 'Swordmaster King.' oh no.

"Okay, that's settle it! You'll be reincarnated into this world. Congratulations! Don't worry, we'll give you a great power too." The god clapped happily.

It happened so fast. They were in a hurry and I was zapped out of the white space. I was flying in a void of nothingness. It was scary and I wanted to get out from here. I was dreading the world I was going to. Most of the novels I read before consisted of gore. Dystopia, wars, deads, pains and suffering. Those were the main themes and the 'Swordmaster King' was one of the novels that depicted violence and bloodshed the most. It's a tough world to live in. Ugh...

Who would've thought that getting hit by a truck would end up like this. Not any truck but it was the truck. It was ridiculous and insane. I wanted to laugh but I couldn't. I hoped the world would at least be merciful towards me.

It was a world infested with darkness, derived from the the demon king that wished to take over the world. Maybe when I was reborn there, the terrible war was over. Maybe I was born in the time where it was already peaceful. I could probably live peacefully. Right?

~~

When I opened my eyes again, it was bright. It was a sunny day and the sunlight shone through the broken window into my crib.

'Huh? Crib?!' I look around me widely but found it really hard to do that. My movements were limited. When I looked at my arms and..

'I'm a freaking baby!'

I could only cry because that was the only thing I could do. Soon, the door swung opened, revealing a lady wearing a nun outfit. She was an old lady. There were wrinkles on her face and hands. I felt like she could fall down with a simple nudge to the side. Despite her fragile appearance, she picked me up into her arms securely. She was warm.

"Shh..shh.. It's fine. I know you're hungry. Please bear with it for a bit.." She said soothingly. This was embarrassing. The gods didn't erase my memories and I ended up having a grown up mind in a baby's body.

I felt angry all of a sudden. Like she said, I was hungry. So, I squirmed in her arms, expressing my anger because I couldn't even form any word. I had to deal with all this?!

"Shh.. It's okay.. It's okay Owens.." The nun held me tighter, caressing my cheek gently. Her soft brown eyes somehow pleasant to look at. Feeling guilty of my tantrum, I stopped giving her a hard time. "Good boy.. Good boy.. Just wait a little bit okay?"

Owens.. That name was strikingly familiar. I was sure that I heard of the names before. I knew she was calling me using that name but.. Who?

The door opened again, a younger looking nun came inside with a bottle of milk. Oh no.. I was supposed to eat with that?! This was humiliating. I was already way passed that stage and here I was again in this stage. Just great.

"It's okay now, Owens. You'll be okay now.." The old nun said and feed me the milk.

'Well, better than eating from breast milk, I guess." I thought reluctantly. Breast milk was probably more embarrassing and humiliating.

" They're cutting our fund again." The younger nun told the other.

"Again? How many times now? Can't they see that we desperately need more money here?" The older nun scowled.

"There's nothing we can do Sister Jane. I think we should sell some of the furnitures if we want to last until the end of the month."

"I guess, that's all we can do for now." She nodded sadly. The older nun, Sister Jane, looked down, gazing at me with somber eyes. "It's really unfortunate time for you, Owens. I hope that you're able to grow up well."

Wasn't that a foreshadow of my fate in the future? I just arrived in this world and I was presented with hardships like this. Well, at least, sister Jane was kind to me. She looked sincere enough to take care of me.

My eyes slowly dropped. This was all this weak body could take. I couldn't stay awake for that long. The nuns were still talking. I wanted to hear more of their conversation but I was reaching my limit. Hopefully this was only a dream when I woke up later.