Origin

As I lay there on the sidewalk with my guts spilling out of my stomach, two thoughts race across my mind; my imminently approaching death and all the shit that I will never get the chance to finish watching. 'So many animes, so many tv shows...'

On the surface, I was your average guy, except for a healthy amount of cynicism and nihilism and some shady dealings, like petty theft, drugs, and other assorted felonies on the side, but that's beside the point.

My approaching death wasn't the result of unusual or remarkable circumstances, either. A mere hit-and-run accident with the driver responsible for the accident fleeing the scene after slamming me into the window of a nearby restaurant, hence the new set of holes in my stomach.

'I have no regrets...' or so I'd like to say, but the truth is anything but that.

My cynicism and antisocial behavior, which pushed everyone away from me, aside, I never saw any worth, nor drew any satisfaction from kinship, friendship, family bonds, and whatever nonsense people deluded themselves with while blindly clinging to other people.

But that's not my regret. I never regretted being a loner, and I still don't.

I drew satisfaction and meaning from other sources; stealing an item from a supermarket and planting it in someone's pocket, buying drugs from the shadiest looking dealer and snorting them in my apartment, and the occasional armed robbery... These were the actions that gave color to my dull world.

I never did it for the money or anything logical like that. Some men just want to watch the world burn as a wise British butler once said, and I suppose I'm one such man.

Does that make me crazy? Most likely! Do I care? Not at all. I lived the way I wanted and expected to walk through the gates of hell with a smile as I die, if such a thing even exists, or so I thought, at least.

However, I do have regrets. I regret half-assing things as I did. I should have gone all out and done something really crazy like starting an evil cult or assassinating the president or something along those lines. But I suppose it's too late for that.

"Well, this is the end..." I murmured to myself as I leaned on the wall behind me, blood leaking out of my mouth and exertion pushing my guts outside of the bleeding abdomen, much to the horror of the restaurant's patrons.

'Fucking simpltons,' I couldn't help cursing the people gathered around as I watched the vast majority of them recording my dying figure with their cell phone, only one kindly-looking old man calling emergency services.

The idea that a video of me dying will probably end up in the dark web with some sweaty psychopath getting off to it in some dark basement, makes my death even worse.

"You have little time, my boy," said the kindly looking old man as he made his way towards me, having already called for an ambulance. "Quickly denounce Satan, and pray for forgiveness so that the gates of heaven may open for you," he added, his hand firmly holding mine.

"Denounce, Satan, huh?" I remarked in between labored breaths, feeling my cynical side taking over me. "Do I look like someone who needs more enemies, old-timer?" I spoke, bitterly smiling as I fished out a cigarette packet and lighter with trembling hands.

Trying to light a cigarette, I sighed as I realized my blood had already drenched the lighter, making the task impossible. "Oh well, no matter. I won't be needing a lighter where I'm going anyway..." I concluded, speaking my last words with a chuckle as my vision went completely dark, the kindly elder's sigh being the last thing I heard.

...

"What the hell is going on? Is this hell?" I murmur to myself in a sluggish tone as I slowly open my eyes, grunting in pain and holding my sore sides.

Looking around, the first thing I notice is the ungodly amount of garbage and scraps in my surroundings as I inspect the surrounding area with my eyes, a confused expression on my face.

"And here I was thinking hell would be a little less boring," I murmured again, holding my forehead with my hand as I felt a slight headache coming over me.

"You're not in hell, kid," a husky, deep voice came from my side, causing me to turn around in search of the speaker. "Not in any hell that you know of, at least," the man added, and I felt my eyes twitch at his appearance as he squatted beside me, removing his sunglasses.

"Shouldn't you lead with a sentence about waking the fuck up and burning down a city or something?" I asked in a bemused tone, still holding my forehead while looking at the man's silver prosthetic hand.

"Hold on to that sense of humor," the man replied with a toothy grin. "But no, I'm not the person you're thinking about," he added, shaking his head and standing up.

"Then who the hell are you?" I asked as I pushed myself up into a sitting posture, feeling my headache becoming more intense. " And what's going on?" I asked again, feeling more and more confused about the situation I found myself in.

"You died for one," the man said in an amused tone, seemingly enjoying himself at the expense of my suffering.

"Well, thanks for stating the obvious," I remarked, frowning as the man began chuckling shamelessly. "You've your laugh, wise guy. Now tell me what the hell is going on," I snapped at the man, trying to stand up and failing because of my quickly worsening headache.

"Fine," the man said with a shrug. "You died and transmigrated into the body of this dead loser," he explained while pointing his index finger straight at my face, causing my eyes to twitch even more.

"I see," I said with an exasperated sigh. "Do I get the man's memories or something, at least?" I asked with a frown after rummaging through my memories and finding nothing new.

"You should be feeling a headache right now," the man stated, and I nodded at him. "That's the dead guy's memories fusing into your own," he added while pointing at my head.

"The pain will only get worse, so don't worry," the man said with a blank expression, but I could tell that he was holding back his laughter.

"I refuse to take that bait," I said with a sigh, feeling an urge to stand up and smack the smug asshole. "So who are you, and what are you doing here, then?" I asked after a second of silence I spent enjoying the man's disappointed expression at failing to get a rise out of me.

"I'm someone like you. I died, and your friendly neighborhood ROB sent me to a different world," the man replied with a smirk. "I did everything there was to do in that world, so I got a new deal to help create systems for people like you to experience upon their deaths," he added, clapping once to create a holographic image of people dying all manner of deaths.

The people would then wake up, and the smug bastard standing in front of me would introduce them to the new world they found themselves in after they died.

"That's a neat trick," I said with a raised eyebrow. "So, what kind of world did you go to first?" I asked in a curious tone while watching the transmigrators wake up in all sorts of worlds, fantasy, sci-fi, and even some worlds that seemed suspiciously similar to fictional works I've seen in my life (Past life, in this case).

"I'm afraid I can't answer that question because of copyright laws," the man replied with a helpless look on his face.

"What do you mean copyright laws? We're in a different world, for fuck's sake," I asked with an irritated expression on my face.

"You know what? I don't want to know," I said after taking a deep breath. "So what happens now?" I asked with a frown, returning to the topic at hand.

"Now, you get the usual world introduction, but we have little time, so I'll be quick," the man said with a grin. "Welcome to your new world, where everything is a piece of shit!" he stated, dramatically spreading his arms to the side.

"It is now the year 2222. Humans have figured out an efficient form of space travel in the late years of the twenty-first century, starting a prosperous era that witnessed many advancements in science and other fields," the smug bastard said, snapping his finger.

The holograph changed from showing transmigrators into a video of space ships with numerous designs and flags, leaving the Earth's atmosphere and heading into space to explore and gather resources.

"That era did not last long, as creatures that were once nothing but figments of imagination came to life on planet earth in the year 2150, decimating life as humans knew it," he added, snapping again.

The holograph changed, showing videos of monsters like giant inspection of various colors, gigantic wolves with black horns and misshapen glowing eyes, and even grotesque tentacle monsters slaughtering civilians humans while shrugging off most of what humanity threw at them.

"Humanity came very close to extinction during these times, but luckily, humans with unique abilities and powers appeared, saving humanity from the brink of destruction by fighting these dangerous creatures," the man remarked, snapping once more.

The holograph changed to videos of humans showcasing different abilities. There were people flying in the sky, ripping monsters apart with their bare hands, and even shooting fire from their hands as they fought for humanity's survival.

"How convenient..." I muttered, raising an eyebrow in bemusement at the cliched scenario.

"There's a logical reason people with powers appeared, of course," the man said with a smile, waving his hand to the side. "As reasonable as the reason could be in sci-fi, and fantasy bullshit-infested world, of course," he added with a careless shrug.

"Oh, yeah, and what's that?" I asked with a frown.

"No spoilers!" The man said, waving his index finger at me. "You'll have to figure that one out for yourself if you're interested," he added, making me sigh as I nodded.

"At any rate, the damage had already taken place, and earth's technological level reverted at least a century backward, with many power-hungry individuals and organizations forming their own factions and proceeding to dick-wave each other in a massive war for supremacy and conquest," he concluded, snapping one last time.

The holograph changed to humans fighting each other with superpowers and traditional weapons alike all around the Earth, destroying much of what remained of human civilization that survived the monsters and leaving Earth a mere husk of what it used to be.

"In a decimated world where despair, ambition, and conflict had replaced common humanity 72 years after the incident, which humans now refer to as the unveiling, begins your story," the man exclaimed dramatically, clapping his hand as the holograph disappeared.

"Well, shit," I said with a sigh. "Out of all the fucking worlds, I had to end up in this shitty one," I added as I began wondering how the hell I was going to survive.

"It's not as bad as you think," the man said as he strangely gestured in front of my face, and I felt something change inside me. I can't quite put my finger on what exactly changed, but I'm more than sure something did.

"No need to worry. That's just your system making itself home inside your soul," the man said, addressing my worries before I even had the chance to voice them.

"Something foreign is making itself home inside my soul, yay," I deadpanned as I looked at him, causing him to chuckle.

"It's out of precaution more than anything else.. because there are things... capable of discovering your system if I don't hide it properly," the man said as he turned around and started walking away.

"Where are you going?" I asked as I massaged my head, feeling my headache becoming worse and worse by the second.

"Our time is up. The memories you're about to receive should be enough to answer most of your questions," the man replied as a silver portal appeared in front of him.

"Take care, kid," the man said as he began walking towards the portal. "I'll see you again if you survive the game," he concluded, stepping through the portal.

"Wait...! What game...?" I asked, trailing off as the portal closed behind the man, and I fell to the side, cradling my head as the pain became too much for me to endure.

"We have a living one here," I heard a voice coming from the distance. "Load the poor bastard up. We'll take him to that place too," and that was the last thing I heard before my vision went completely dark and I lost consciousness.