1 A Second Chance

With pale skin, a frail body, and a sickly complexion sat a young man on top of his bed. Well, it was a hospital bed, but with the amount of time he'd spent glued to it, it may as well be considered his own. The room was quiet, save for the dull monotomous sound of the respiratory machine he used. It was nighttime, midnight to be exact, and the only source of light in the room came from the man's phone, his thin fingers weakly swept across the screen.

'He he he... This is pretty funny, I should bookmark this one.'

This is what the man's life had been like for the last 8 years since he turned 16, stricken with a deadly disease his only pastime became a hobby that followed him since childhood, reading. He had always been a fan of fantasy, it gave him an escape from his depressing reality.

'Alright... that's enough, I'll read it tomorrow.'

He placed his phone on the nightstand and closed his eyes, keen to continue reading once he woke up. Alas, with all things in his life, nothing went according to what he wished. In the middle of the night while he slept, the machine responsible for his breathing, the only thing keeping him alive, malfunctioned. So with that, slowly yet surely, the small flame of life inside of him was snuffed out quietly. And with not a single person noticing, the young man passed away...

***

With a flash of light, the young man found himself inside an empty space, he stood on top of a reflective sapphire floor, and with every movement he made in surprise small ripples spread outwards from it.

"Th-the hell?!"

In his stupor, the man fell backward onto his ass. His first thought was that he was dreaming but his misconception was immediately rectified by the sharp pain that came from his fall.

"OW!! That smarts!"

No one could blame him for his loud yelp, after all, he couldn't feel anything at all for the last 8 years, let alone pain.

"I-I can feel? I-I can move? Holy f**k I CAN TALK!"

The man immediately jumped up in glee, not giving a single notice of his mysterious circumstances of where he was or how he got there. All he cared about was that his legs could move, his arms travelled faster than a snail's pace, and that fresh air was entering his lungs. During his feverish discovery of his newfound health, he hadn't even noticed that a beautiful blonde woman wearing a white silk robe began to materialize behind him.

"Welcome young one."

"AHH!"

In fright, the man once again fell on his ass, accompanied by the same feeling of sharp pain.

'Pain huh? Not bad, how long has it been since I actually felt pain!'

The woman continued to talk, unperturbed by his scream, her voice smooth and sweet like honey.

"My name is Salferia, I am the one responsible for bringing you here, and I have done so for an important reason. But, before I tell you that reason, I must be the bearer of bad news. You see, I was only able to bring you here because you have, in fact, sadly passed away..."

'I'm dead?'

Upon discovering his demise, he found that he instantly believed her and was not that saddened by the news. He'd been a step away from dying for too long at this point, he was even slightly relieved to be dead, all he had done since his diagnosis was burden his loved ones with pain and financial debt.

"I understand if you need some time to come to terms with your passing, I can give you a minute to consolidate what I have told you, but know that while I know you have passed I don't know the circumstances surrounding your death nor how you died."

"No... It's fine you can tell me what you brought me here for."

He wanted to move on from his death as quickly as possible, the man was even slightly excited to hear what she had to say, maybe he had read too many novels but he had a certain inkling of why she brought him there.

Standing in front of her he waited for her to continue, an expectant glint of anticipation inside his eyes, but strangely Salferia just stood still with her eyes closed, not saying a word.

'Umm, did she not hear me?' He continued to try getting her to respond again to no avail.

Then a minute passed in awkward silence...

And then another...

And another...

Sweat began to form on the youth's forehead, not know what to do, he wasn't the best at social interactions after almost a decade of not being able to talk, especially in such a strange scenario. After 5 minutes of the woman being uncomfortably quiet, he tried talking to her again.

"Excuse me miss, but-"

"Alright, I feel it's time I told you why you were summoned her young one."

'What the actual f**k?'

He began to feel like he was talking to automated video and not an actual person. Well, that was basically what was happening.

"You see young one, I come to you from another world, one entirely separate from the universe your world is in. The world I am from is called Altera, within my world are things unimaginable from where you're from. There are swordsmen who can split mountains, mages who can control the elements, and beasts that sore the skies spewing flames. This is all due to a form of energy found all throughout my world called mana."

'HERE IT IS!'

Completely forgetting the last few minutes, the man's eyes widened with anticipation.

"I am known there as the Goddess of light and pureness and I love my people and my world very dearly. You see, a calamity has been foretold to occur in Altera and I have decided to scour your world for a suitable hero to aid me in saving my world, you are that very hero young one."

'I knew it, I knew it! Though that calamity does put a damper on this...'

"I understand if you are apprehensive to help me due to the danger, but I will not send you to Altera without any help. Not only will you be given a second chance at life, with all your current memories, ensuring you reincarnate in a safe and hospitable environment, but I have also prepared a gift to follow you in your new life and help you become as powerful as possible..."

'IT'S 'THAT' ISN'T IT, IT HAS TO BE!!!'

"You may be familiar with it, It is called a 'System'."

'WHOOO HOOO, LET'S GO, 5-STAR DRAW BABY!!! A system! A God dammed system! ...Wait, let's not say God's name in vain in front of an actual God, haha.'

"Now, I must ask you young one, would please accept my offer and help in saving my world?"

"""""I ACCEPT!"""""

Strangely, the youth felt as though he could hear multiple people when he accepted, but in his joy he ignored it.

"I thank you... 'My' Hero"

With a sweet, holy smile, Salferia sent the man off, his body began to dissipate into particles of light, moving off to the new world he would be reborn in, and a pure, passionate smile began to spread across his face.

***

After the man left, 'Salferia' continued to stand still, with the same unmoving smile.

In the empty space a door that he hadn't noticed started to open, and a familiar blonde-haired woman walked out from it. She looked exactly like Salferia, but instead of a white robe, she wore grey sweatpants and a loose T-shirt covered in crumbs, her luscious hair messily tied into a bun. With a yawn, she wearily looked around the room.

"Did I find someone? So quick? Nice, this is way better than doing it myself."

"Welcome Youn-"

"Shut up." She quickly pulled from her pocket what looked to be a TV remote, pressing a button while pointing towards 'Salferia'. The other version of herself quickly disappeared. no special effects whatsoever.

"Alright, just need to send whoever accepted the system now."

She pulled out a small orb that shined with light and with a wave of her hand it began to travel to Altera.

"That novel was pretty funny, I better get back to reading it."

Salferia quickly ran back to the door before slamming it shut. Unbeknownst to the lazy Goddess, as the orb travelled, it began to crack, eventually breaking into 5 separate pieces, each piece wandering towards 5 different babies, each of which had just been born. Each piece entered the babies' bodies, unnoticed by any of their parents.