Prologue

I woke up to a white void of nothingness, confused. Why wasn't I in my bed? I distinctly remember going to sleep in my pyjamas and waking up like this wasn't normal. Come to think of it, being this calm wasn't normal either...

From the corner of my eye I spotted something. I turned, as much as I could turn in the void, and saw something that elicited a groan from me.

Worm CYOA

In bold, bright letters, the classic Worm Choose Your Own Adventure appeared before me.

I never believed in the existence of higher powers, but I should have known better than to tempt fate by posting daring comments on the internet. Was this the work of a R.O.B.? Where was he/she/it? I looked around, but all I could see was an infinite expanse of white nothingness.

I know I should be panicking now. Despite knowing the CYOA and knowing that after ten years I should be able to go home keeping any powers I get, I should be panicking. I would leave behind my home, my family, my comfortable life, everything I know would be different. Instead I was calm, I was accepting and was viewing the situation rationally. Probably the work of R.O.B., I shrugged and went on. If it was an hallucination I would wake up and laugh at my imagination, if it was real it would be an incredible opportunity to gain immense power.

Let's see... I gingerly extended my arm and touched the Self-Insert option and in response it glowed a light blue color before the image changed.

Difficulty? World Breaker, obviously. Despite having written a story previously and having my character chose a more challenging difficulty, this is real life and I very much like to keep living.

I watched thoughtfully as the powers screen came into view. All of them were fantastic powers, some having the potential to turn me into a nigh-omnipotent entity, like Power Manipulator. All I would need is a bit of time and careful planning. The same goes for Shaper, Inspired Inventor and Kaleidoscope. But that wasn't what got my attention.

I touched the Emperor of Man option, selecting to have the same body as the Emperor. I have always been fascinated by the lore of Warhammer 40k, and the Emperor himself was such an amazing and inspiring figure, his powers nearly god-like, able to rivale the Chaos Gods at his peak. With this the possibilities were endless.

I skipped the companions screen without second thought. I have always been a loner of sorts, except for a few trusted friends, and having someone dropped into my lap ready to become my subordinate without the effort required left a bad taste in my mouth.

As for Perks... Blank, definitely, so that Contessa and other Thinkers couldn't act overtly against me, Shattered Limiter too, that would boost my powers further, without taking into account that I chose World Breaker difficulty, which would leave me with already double the power of the Emperor at his prime. Secret Lair, because I seriously didn't want to wake up in an alley as a 13 feet tall man of god-like power.

With that, I went to the last page and pushed the finish button, feeling satisfied in my choices. I would gain the power of the most powerful psyker to ever live, and those powers would become even more powerful as time went on. I would be invincible!

As the CYOA screen disappeared from view and the void began to fade around me I felt a disorientating sensation, before pain hit me.

Pain unlike anything I ever felt before, my whole soul screaming in torment. I didn't know what was happening, but in my last moments I felt IT. Incredible power, and bright, searing LIGHT.

oOo

Bob the R.O.B. -shut up Marlene, my name isn't funny!-, some higher planes of existence, a few multiverses and in his own personal dimension far away from where he dropped the boy, was watching what just happened and winced.

"I just had to screw up my first insert...", he lamented mournfully.

He had just reached the middle-tier of nigh-omnipotence and just wanted to have some fun. So he did as his brethren in power did, visited a world and took a poor schmuck, offered him power and sent him on his way to have an adventure and in the meantime entertain him. THIS certainly wasn't the desired effect though...

He sighed, he could already imagine what Marlene would tell him, it would be eons before she would let him forget this.

Oh well, he shrugged. He moved his attention to what he liked to call a 'Prime Earth', a dimension where no magic or other supernatural powers existed, and started searching for the next target, this time he would pay more attention to the transition and everything would be fine...