1 CH 1: Reborn

Marcus was just like any other regular, everyday, normal guy. He was a big fan of Marvel Comics and animations; he particularly adored Deadpool. During the pandemic lockdown, he had read most of, if not all, the comics and fanfics he could find related to Marvel.

Now after nearly two years, the lockdown was finally lifted and his life had returned to normal. Marcus was back at his office job signing papers and whatnot. This April, he just turned 25 but could only celebrate his birthday with his office buddies, because neither did he have a girlfriend nor a family.

Marcus became an orphan when he was 16, his mother died when he was born, because she was born with a weak physique and her body was too weak to handle his pregnancy but she went against her family's advice and didn't get an abortion. And his birth was her breaking point. Her body couldn't handle the pressure of childbirth and that caused her untimely death.

But unlike the cliches, his father was very loving and raised him the best he could. He was a father that tried his best to be the mother too, for his son. He worked himself to the bone as he didn't want his son to lack anything. But unfortunately, he died in a car accident, while driving home from work late at night.

This was just when Marcus turned 16. What was supposed to be a joyous day turned into the worst day of his life.

Marcus' father was already working overtime for over a year by then and the work had taken a significant toll on his mind and body, resulting in the accident.

That incident also caused Marcus to completely lose his faith in God. For he had prayed to God day and night, to keep his father safe and sound.

But now he was all alone with no one to comfort him. Sure, some relatives pitied him but what did that do? A big fat nothing.

He relied on himself and used the saved money, the insurance, and the money from side jobs to push himself through college.

Marcus completed his studies in Computer Science. And was able to get a good job in a rather big company. But no one was there to share his happiness.

Marcus still visited his father's grave on Sunday every week. He talked about what happened at the office and how he was doing alright.

One Sunday, after he was returning home from the cemetery, Marcus heard a screeching sound behind him. He turned around, only to find an out-of-control truck, speeding rapidly in his direction like it was aiming at him.

Suddenly, everything slowed down and Marcus could feel his heart beating in his chest at a slow pace. He knew he had to do something or he won't be able to anymore. Without wasting any time, he used every bit of his strength to jump out of the truck's way, and he succeeded.

But before he could even touch the ground, another speeding car rammed into him, seemingly overshadowed by the truck's big size and he was flung into the air after crashing with the car's windshield.

Marcus' broken body landed in the middle of the road but before Marcus could even feel the pain, another car, which was just behind the first one, ran over him, crushing his head like a watermelon on the spot.

All of this happened in a minute. July 25th, 2022, the day Marcus died ordinarily like many others in a day-by traffic accident he became nothing but another statistic for newspaper and public records

But that wasn't the end for Marcus, because his death on Earth started a new story, far more exciting and thrilling than he had ever imagined and hoped to live one day

***********

Somewhere in the vast void of the endless covered in pitch black darkness to the brim, a small ball of light was floating in front of a [????] being. It found this phenomenon amusing for it was a very rare occurrence. So rare in fact, that this has only happened the second time in the infinitely long life of [????].

The small ball of light was Marcus' soul, which instead of going through the natural process of cleansing the memories and being reborn, somehow came here.

Marcus slowly came to his senses; he couldn't make sense of what was happening. He tried to move but then he realized that he didn't possess any limbs. And he was floating in a dark place. It was weird, to say the least. He then remembered being hit by a car and falling down but after that, he couldn't remember anything else.

So Marcus concluded that he was probably in a hospital. Maybe hallucinating or something while in a coma but before he could think anymore, a booming sound rang in his consciousness. Like a headphone seemingly inserted in his mind very crudely.

"Marcus Hunt, You are dead." a voice resounded in his mind again and again like an echo before gradually fading away.

After hearing that, Marcus had different emotions going through his conscience. Disbelief, doubt, anger, and many many more.

But he didn't know why, he felt as if his confusion was dispelled quickly and clarity restored his mind. He could understand his situation far faster than he usually could. He knew it wasn't like him at all. And he strongly believed that this had something to do with the voice ringing inside his mind.

His death didn't bring him any sort of sadness for he had nothing to lose. But he still had many questions left in his mind. If he died, where was he? Or who was talking to him? Or what was to happen now?

"so, what now?" Marcus asked seemingly to himself. Maybe he hoped the voice would answer him.

"You have to choose." The voice boomed in his mind again.

"Can I choose to lower the voice?" enquired Marcus as he wasn't a fan of extremely loud voices.

The voice paused for a little while and then rang again, this time, normally, "You only have two choices as far as I can judge... Either become a participant in trials and tribulations, just for the hope of achieving something bigger than your pathetic little existence, or… slowly get corrupted by the energy here and become a thoughtless, inactive ball of soul energy and… I wouldn't suggest the latter.

"Then can't you just throw me into the normal procedure of reincarnation?" hoping to hear a positive response.

"That isn't something impossible, I'm capable of doing it." replied the ancient being with neither humility nor arrogance.

"Then please, just let me be done with this. I don't want to participate in whatever this trial is." pleaded Marcus, hoping to not get roped in whatever was happening. It sounded dangerous and he didn't want to be a part of it.

"Why should I?" The being asked with seemingly no hints of sarcasm like it was just a curious question.

For that Marcus didn't have an answer. He wanted to ask the being for help but he knew he would get another question instead 'why should I help you?' from it. As though it read his mind it asked again

"Tell me, mortal, why should I offer my help to you? Why should I have to go against the order of reincarnation which is almost as old as time and space itself to help you? Give me a good reason then I shall oblige" It said

After hearing what the being said he was helpless, he was infuriated and angry, he wanted to shout and curse but just like before, something made him calm and rational again. It was unnerving to him that he wasn't in control of his emotions. But he pushed it to the back of his mind to concentrate on pressing issues. Why in the world should it help him? He didn't have anything to counter that.

It felt almost as if things were predestined he was forced into the corner with almost no choice.

Marcus didn't even have to wait to choose. What was there to think about? On one side there was hope that he will live for a while and can do something and on the other was a fate worse than death.

"I choose the trial," replied Marcus dispiritedly.

There was no reaction from the being but Marcus somehow felt that it was grinning...

"Now for choosing the trial you get some perks, think of it as some investment of sorts. I would hate to see a participant die an early and meaningless death."

Hearing that left Marcus with some semblance of hope, sometimes even the smallest of advantages can make a massive difference, he thought.

"You can wish for 2 advantages/perks and they will be granted based on their reasonability, but remember, they ought not to be too powerful and you can't be asked to be born as any other species than a human…your soul would not be compatible for such…Now Go ahead, wish."

Marcus was silently listening, thinking of the wishes that could be helpful in any situation. And after thinking for a while, he stated his wishes…

"My first wish is to be given the highest possible intelligence that can be provided.

My second wish is to have a system that could help me learn any learnable skills in the whole multiverse."

"Your brain functionality will be higher than even the most genius of your species but can only be useful with sufficient knowledge. And a system will be provided which will contain all data regarding abilities that are theoretically possible to learn and only be mastered through practice."

That being said, applying limits and restrictions for his wishes so that they were not unreasonable. Marcus was happy that they weren't too far from what he hoped to get.

Marcus had thought of his wishes which were capable of helping in any type of situation, high intelligence would be helpful in any type of world, from cultivation to magic and even a backward medieval world, not to say in a highly advanced technological world.

And the ability to learn skills was very much compatible with the high intelligence he asked for.

Marcus was thoroughly prepared for his upcoming life, and soon he heard the voice again…

"And, by the rules of the trial, you will be protected from the entities which can end your life before it even starts. Until you are strong enough to face them or you approach them yourself."

And that were the words he heard before Marcus blacked out again, only to wake up staring at the face of a giant human.

Marcus screamed after being frightened by the sudden jumpscare, but instead of his usual voice, he let out a screech which turned into crying, "WAAAA WAAAA WAAA"

Before Marcus could understand what was going on, he suddenly heard a calming voice, "Thomas, you scared him, and now he is crying. Hand him over to me."

"Honey, I was just trying to play with him, how would I know he would start to cry?" As he said so, the man slowly picked up the crying Marcus out of his crib and handed him to the woman sitting on the bed.

Meanwhile, Marcus had heard the conversation and could understand it easily because the couple was speaking in English. Marcus understood that he was reborn as a baby and the giant man was probably his father Thomas, and the woman he was handed to, was his mother.

She was of Asian descent, unlike his father who was caucasian.

But as he was thinking, the woman pulled out her breast and put his head near it. "There there, Marcus, my baby, Are you hungry? Here, drink it."

Marcus was stunned for a second, he didn't know how to react, wouldn't he be a pervert for sucking on a married woman's nipple, the thought was disturbing, to say the least for the current him. On the other hand, he was also their son and needed to drink his mother's milk to survive.

After a while, his thoughts came to an end as he was starving and finally decided to do whatever was needed to survive. Marcus started to drink the milk and slowly fell asleep from his mother's rocking and tiredness from all the things that happened.

**********

This chapter has been rewritten, but it still is connected to the story, so don't worry, ch 2,3,4 will be rewritten too. Because many people felt that the starting chapters were a little bit too much of a letdown. Anyways, as of now, only this one has been rewritten.