The Jumper's Journals

by blackshadow111

What happens when you give an ordinary person, someone completely, utterly mundane, with little special and even less important in his life, bored and tired, a shot at... well, Everything? What would you do, with all of eternity, all that was, is and will be at your fingertips? These are The Jumper's Journals, the story of a man's ascension. There's Wish-Fulfillment, be warned.

1. Chapter 1

As deaths go, mine was pretty stupid. Like, seriously so, actually.

No, it didn't involve a truck. Why do people always ask that? I was an MBA student, enrolled in… a pretty good college, one of the best in India, as these things go. An accident of fate more than anything, really, considering my academic career before that, but that's in the past.

So there I was, happily strolling out the building with a friend, when he points to an ongoing blood donation camp and says "Hey, how about it?"

Now if I'd been a seer, I'd have said "Oh, hell the fuck no."

But then if I'd been a seer a lot of things would have been very, very different.

So I went through a 30 minute procedure that comprised my good deed for several days. Then I walked off. They said I might feel faint, I waved the concerns off. I walked over to the nearby balcony, looking out at the kinda-sorta forest that occupied the land behind the college…

And then I felt faint. Just about every symptom they'd said I might undergo, which I'd waved off, I suddenly did. I recall trying to sit down but catching hold of the balcony instead, and, well… you can probably guess the rest.

Impact was about forty seconds ago.

With any luck this'll get the college closed down. Might achieve some good before I go.

Speaking of which, where am I going anyway? This is a pretty weird experience. I'm… not sure what I'm looking at. It seems to be the sky from the perspective of a broken body lying on the ground, while at the same time I seem to looking at… other things. Weird things, flashing by almost too quick to notice. I see a brief image of what looks like a man in Chinese wear flying, then it's replaced by a white guy in a business suit, itself followed up by a pure mass of light in a sea of stars…

And then everything goes dark. Finally. Let's get a move on, why don't we?

So… the place with the endless wine and hot chicks? Or the place where I get fried alive for all time? My belief system didn't have a purgatory I know of, but we can get pretty creative with the punishments. Which I'm probably going to be headed for. I mean, not definitely, considering a bloodthirsty murderer got into the other place because he used to feed ants of all things, but you never know.

I don't know how long the darkness lasts. It seems like an instant, but it's one of those feelings where you're not really sure how long you've been asleep for, or unconscious… or dead, I guess. I, um, don't open my eyes, but just look around all the same. I'm in some kind of sitting room, on the most comfortable chair I've ever sat in.

And seated in front of me is…

Oh. Oh hell yes. Please let this be what I think this is. If anything can ever go right for me, please let it be this one thing.

"Don't worry. It is."

I pause. It doesn't merit wondering what the being in front of me is talking about. So this is going to be one of those kind of encounters.

"Pretty much, yeah. After all, I never claimed to be a good guy."

Huh. Well then, how about that?

"Indeed. Imagine my shock. One in a million have the potential, and one in a million of those ever awaken it. For us to be it…"

… seems next to impossible. But here I am and here he is. The entity who is probably responsible for bringing me here, and is going to be responsible for me going where I go next. Me. I look at the guy, dressed in an immaculate suit, specs on his eyes and a bag on his shoulders. Exactly how I was looking when I took the four-floor shortcut.

I do have to wonder about one thing, though. I'm way too calm for someone who just died. I should be raging, screaming and crying, going all Dylan Thomas. Why am I so relaxed? Is it because-

"An asshole is making you be? Yup. You know how little patience we have for that kind of bullshit."

Heh. Yeah. And it's an incredible violation of trust, a complete disregarding of my privacy and sanctity of mind, of my rights as a person. Also, exactly the kind of thing I'd do the instant I could. Probably.

"So, something specific or the thing I'm desperately hoping for?"

"It's your lucky day, what do you think?"

Aw yiss.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Seriously?" he asks me for the fourth time.

"Yes, seriously. Why are you even surprised? You must have done this same thing!"

"That's… not how this works. Don't worry, you'll figure it out in time. But really?"

I roll my eyes. How many times must I say it?

"Yes, really! That's I want, and that means you have to do it!"

The expression on his face grows even more bemused. "Fine, then. I change everything in your life. I open up the cosmos, the whole of time and space, every world that exists, has ever existed and will ever exist to you, to go whither you will… and the first thing you want to do is to sit and play Monopoly. You know what? Fine. Go ahead."

I don't bother with a sassy reply. Getting ahead with the build before he changes his mind is more important!

Monopoly

The game was an experience like few others I'd ever had, I'll be honest. I was playing on a board alongside the likes of Warren Buffet, Andrew Carnegie and John Rockfeller, with all of them using every scrap of business skill they had to try and win against me. That's something you see every day, y'know. I was actually in trouble now and then, or at least, it felt that way.

But in the end… well, itwas monopoly. Considering the perks I had, such as buying up everything any player landed on so long as I offered at least 1.5 times its value, paired with the sheer number of players, the fact that I had double the starting capital as the others and was the bank, and that I rarely had to pay any rent given how much time I spent in jail, well…

Of course, it wasn't as simple as all that. The stakes everyone else was playing for were different from the ones I was playing for, and that led to some pretty unorthodox playing, let's just say. For one thing, I had to make interest-free loans from the bank to keep the others in the game and to pump up the amount of liquidity in play a thing. Another was additional increases in the values of the properties being sold by allowing multiple hotels or 'deluxe' hotels.

Still, again, no matter how much one might try to build it up, it was still monopoly. I managed to keep things going till I owned literally the whole board, with hotels on the vast majority of properties but over a dozen houses scattered from the poorest to the richest properties, and a liquid wealth alone more than a billion.

This wasn't all just real estate, of course. I owned multiple ISPs and Telecom companies, as well as a couple airlines, those being what the 'Here and Now' version which I was using replaced the original utilities with.

But in the end it matters little enough. Point is… well, this was it. When I'd started I was still more than a bit worried that this is all a dream, that I'll wake up at my bed any minute now. But now, with the cash in front of me, and land deeds and cards and checkbooks for the accounts that hold the remaining cash… well, maybe it still is, but it still feels real. Too real, if there is such a thing.

It's something I'll need to work out, I think.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"So, how was it?"

"Um… were you waiting for me to come out of my reverie?"

The benefactor smiles sticks his tongue out, an act that looks especially weird since he's wearing my face.

"It was… okay. Kinda weird, tell you the truth." I say after a brief silence, There's no point trying to hide any of my thoughts from him, after all.

"Oh? How, exactly? It was a game of monopoly. Nothing you haven't done before."

"Exactly. And realizing I now have literally more money than my wildest dreams just because I sat around a table playing a game… that's kinda a big thing to grasp."

He looks entirely lost at this. I suppress an urge to sigh. How would the omnipotent cosmic being understand?

A few minutes later, though, he smiles. It's not a very nice smile. Actually, it looks like a cross between a slasher grin and the smuggest smirk that ever smugged.

"Speaking of getting things just because you sat around a table playing a game... tell me, don't you think there's something you're not noticing?"

"Huh?" I look at myself, then all around me. We're still in the same room where I was playing monopoly, the others having melted away into nothing not long ago. Uncle Pennybags also disappeared after giving me my money.

"I don't… wait. Why am I still here? Shouldn't I be along to my next jump now?"

"Ah, he caught it!" The grin on his face gets bigger, somehow. Really, why is he…

"…why are you smiling?"

"Because I have an idea!" he chirps, actually hopping.

"And I just figured out what it is. My point is, even then, why are you smiling? It's not like it's any great victory for you!"

"Hm?" he pauses for a second, before his eyebrows furrow in an expression I have seen on my face a thousand times before.

"Huh. Yeah, it's not like you're going to have many great adventures there or something." He's stopped smiling completely now, and is actually playing with his chin in that 'thoughtful' expression so many people like to make.

"Oh well. When you're a being like me you learn to savor the little things. And you actually do deserve this, consider how you managed to make a game of monopoly… well, I wouldn't go so far as to say it was interesting, but 'not terrible and dull' is already an immense achievement considering, y'know, monopoly."

"Uh-huh. And that means what exactly!"

"It means you're getting a lotsa nifty things while remaining completely safe! Yay me!"

Okay. Huh. I can't believe I was concerned about this.

"So… what's the jump, then?" I ask just a bit hesitantly. This guy has been good to me from the start, but the 'b' in ROB is there for a reason.

"This one!" He answers, before tossing me the phone he's suddenly holding.

Catching it is easy enough, and then I'm looking at the jump and I can feel myself smiling as a whole lot of paradigms shift and snap, any and all random ideas I had for my future being wiped away in an instant.

Then I shrug. Best not linger here, what with gift horses, mouths, and all that.

Let's get going!

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Generic Roleplayer + Comedy + Razzle Dazzle + Generic Hentai Modern + Generic Hentai Supplement

"Ladies and Gentlemen, without any further ado I give you, Herrmann the Great!" The announcer's voice was brash and bold, full of a practiced cheer. The camera swiveled, following the spotlight as both focused on an empty spot on the stage.

Then the floor burst into flame right there. They rose high, raging and glowing a deep red, dancing merrily in front of thousands of people.

And then right between them, a shadow appeared, crouched over in a classic 'superhero' pose.

I pause the video here.

Turning around, I see the assembled crew behind me. They're all staring at the screen like their lives depend on it… and in a way they do. Jobs in my organization tend to redefine lives, after all.

"Now which among you has noticed what I was talking about here?"

I sweep my graze across them, the very finest technical minds in the world in the fields of video manipulation, CGI, live special effects, and all the other niche specialties that it takes to put together the show of the world's most popular magician.

Well, magician, actor, comedian, brand ambassador… but mostly Magician.

Eventually one of the braver techs starts tentatively. "You said it should look as if the flames came together and you were made of them?" he trails off questioningly, looking desperate to be anywhere but here. I suppress an urge to sigh. Why did I have to be such a tight ass in this life?

Oh, right. Because I'm the 'King' of all Stage Magic.

The ridiculous thing is, I am. Apparently taking the 'traditionalist' background, along with going heavy on the 'actually perform ridiculously well' abilities end up in making me part of one of the oldest, most respected families of the magical tradition.

You can imagine my surprise when I woke up in this incarnation as Michael Leon Herrmann, as in, yes, the Hermanns, once of Germany. I don't know what exactly happened in the original world, since I never heard of us there, but here we're a big deal, especially when it comes to showbiz.

My father, Carl Hermann II, was the one to add in a dab of humor to the normally rather serious tradition passed down in the family, and I, that is me from before the insertion, was meant to take it on and help it reach greater heights.

Which, well, considering the show I'm currently working on has an audience bigger than the last half a dozen shows by other magicians put together… well, you tell me.

Of course, all this is strictly voluntary at this point. Herrmanns practice magic because it's on our blood. We don't do it for anything as petty as money. Multiple centuries of profitable shows, along with a couple of marriages to easily charmed heiresses set my father up as a man of frankly obscene wealth, which he parlayed into greater wealth still though a series of investments.

Right now I'm sitting at a fortune that makes what I made in Monopoly look like peanuts, let's just say.

Still, it allows for some pretty magnificent magic when you can afford the very best in the world in talent and toys, on top of having the skills of a ridiculously good actor, magician and comedian.

Which reminds me, I should get back to planning!

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Your horses slow down as you near the Prince's Castle. It is an ancient, brooding thing, with tall towers rising ominously into the sky, dark banners fluttering in a wind you don't feel. Battlements that have seen a hundred wars loom at you, loaded with weapons and men going about them. You can feel the thrum of magic about it, present and cloying, just enough of a presence to be detected if you really focus." I pause to draw breath. This next part is pretty important, but it'll only matter if I can get it out before someone says something like-

"It's only a model!"

-that. Yeah, that.

I Derek. "Suddenly, your horse slips on a patch of ground. Your fall is rapid and unavoidable."

"Oh come on!"

I continue obstinately "As the horse's feet entangle themselves and you fall, you feel your neck crashing against a stone lying on the road."

"But I thought you said the road was clear!"

I ignore him again. " While normally there should be no danger to you what with all your protective spells and equipment, for some reason you realize that this impact bypassed them all. And then, as you lie there dying of a broken neck, the last thought that crosses your mind is "Man, I shouldn't have broken the 'no Monty Python references' rule.

"Ha!" one of the other players laughs out loud.

"But-"

"No buts! I told you, no Monty Python! Not until we're done with this, at least!"

"Oh fine." He sighs out, sounding remarkably like a five year old. Which is an achievement by three years to what he normally sounds like, so I'll take the win.

Yeah, bet you didn't expect this, did you? Turns out when you pick some of the biggest 'nerds', that is, video specialists and content writers and the like, in one place and make me the boss, this is what we do in between work.

Well, this and about a thousand other similar games, but mainly D&D. It plays a huge part in defining the whole idea of a Roleplayer, y'know.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The room's warmth was a welcome change from the chilly winds outside the building. Olivia sat nervously, wishing yet again that she'd objected harder to being sent to interview the charlatan. So okay, he had done some kind of show that supposedly 'broke every record for a public performance ever set', and had a veritable nation's worth of cult-like fans across the globe, but that didn't make him anymore a 'Magician' than it made her the president.

But the Tyson had insisted, and seeing how much her boyfriend-cum-AP loved it, she didn't want to tell him she thought magic was a load of crap, especially the magic of this 'Hermann the Great'. Honestly, this guy seemed like someone right out of 'things I like least about guys' list. A fake, and a spoiled brat.

Even the name was something he inherited! A guy who couldn't even come up with a stage name of his own…

She was jerked out of her thoughts by the sudden noise, as the target of her thoughts quite literally jumped into the room.

From the window.

Into a room on the 31st floor.

Dropping into the room just next to the window, he actually, actually Moonwalked to a chair, before turning to face her.

Any awe Olivia might have been conned into having for him evaporated into nothing at the sight, especially with the goofy, expectant look on his face.

And then she froze. Going still, Olivia scanned theface, looking as close as she dared. Then she looked him up and down, pausing at specific places. This… she'd arrived little over five minutes ago. Did he know she was coming? That shouldn't have been possible, since she hadn't told anyone when exactly she would be coming to him, as part of her standard interviewing style.

He must have found out somehow, and gotten a makeup team into his room. Or something. Anything. Because the alternative was too crazy.

Because what Olivia had in front of her was not a man. She tried to gather her thoughts again, trying to say something, but failed again and again. She looked at the face, at the perfectly chiseled jaw, the nose that was the finest she had ever seen, and eyes of the purest metallic-grey.

She looked downwards, at the shirt stretched tight across a broad chest, a hint of rock-hard muscles just barely apparent underneath.

Olivia would later thank every god she knew of that she'd been able to skip across what was lower, going straight to his legs, before she managed, with an immense exertion of will, to bring her eyes back to his.

The whole checkout, and she wouldn't fool herself into thinking it was anything else, had only taken about a second, thankfully. Olivia looked close at him for any sign of recognition of her lapse, and found it immediately, a tiny smile playing at the edge of his lips.

She then watched, fist clenching tight and mouth almost opening agape, as he very, very deliberately slid his eyes down her body.

She could almost feel him undress her with his eyes, a sensation that sent a wave of what she desperately tried to convince herself was repulsion crashing throughout her body. She was aware, always had been, that she was an extraordinarily beautiful woman.

She had blonde hair that looked like a wave of solid gold down her back, eyes blue as sapphires, and a figure that could, and had, gotten veteran priests to knock holes into stained glass windows. The number of times she'd been under the male 'microscope', so to speak, was more than she could count.

None of them had been like this. She thought she could feel phantom hands running across her breasts, one pausing at her nipple and circling it oh so gently. She knew it when the man in front of him was trailing his eyes across her exquisite legs, and when he paused them, again, on her breasts on their way back.

Then he smiled wider and extended a hand.

"Hi, I'm Michael Hermann."

She extended one in return, just about managing to not clench a fist and slug him on the jaw for his stunt right now.

"Olivia Selkin, Latest and Hottest." She half sighed. Not for the first time, Olivia wished her show's name was something less… cheap. It made them the butt of a lot of jokes, or would have if it didn't have the following it did. As it was, no one at the channel would imagine doing something to rish the single biggest cash cow they had.

But that didn't help her with this guy, did it?

"Oh, I know." There it was, smugness dripping off of him. He took her hand into his, shaking it with a firmness uncharacteristic of what she'd peg his character to be.

He gestured for her to sit back down, taking a seat himself.

Gathering herself again, Olivia placed the recorder on the desk in front of her, setting it to record and looking the man she was interviewing in the eye.

"Well, Mr Hermann. You are one of the most popular public performers in the world."

He smiled again, half bashful and half smug. "I have some fans, yes."

"Not just some fans, your numbers outmatch your closest five competitors put together. You've performed shows across the world." She insisted, trying to establish hard facts so that she could build up properly for what came next.

"Alright, so yes. People like me, I'm funny!"

Huh. She had him. That was quick, Olivia had expected it to take a while to get him to stop the self-depreciating comments and get a positive comment for himself. Doing it this soon would actually reduce the anticipation, but she'd handle that later.

"So how does it feel to be the greatest fraud on the planet?" she said boldly, focusing the camera on her lapel entirely on his face to catch the reaction.

To the man's credit, there wasn't so much as a flicker on his face. He did pause before speaking though.

"Ah. So that's the kind of interview this is going to be, is it?"

"It is, Mr Hermann. Don't you know me?" she said sweetly, barely resisting the urge to bat her eyelashes. She didn't know why, but there was something about him that just made her want to revert to being a child. It was an old instinct that had served her well for a long time, am innate understanding of just how best to interact with people of various types.

And right now, it was telling her that the best way to get the exact interview out of this meeting was to just try and have fun with him in little ways like this.

And it was working! Instead of getting angry like so many other people whe knew would have, Michael Hermann smiled, his grin matching hers. Then he leaned in.

"Well, if that's the case, why don't I let you understand just how important this work is, in so many ways other than money. It's a chance to introduce unaware people like you to true wonder. To bring charm and fun back to where it's been chased out of, to bring magic back into people's lives!"

Olivia rolled her eyes. She'd heard this drivel a thousand times before, and it wasn't convincing her now when it hadn't the previous times.

But then he continued. Slowing down, he looked her straight in the eye, and continued speaking.

But as he did, Olivia found herself entirely unable to focus on what he was saying. She was aware that it was something about how a life without magic was entirely without worth and how people needed magic in their lives… but she really couldn't give a damn. Her entire focus was on him, on the sheer smoothness of his voice, on how the muscles on his chest moved when he made animated gestures…

Before she knew what she was doing Olivia was leaning across the desk, clasping hands behind his neck. She leaned in closer, and, absently noting the look of surprise on his face, captured his lips in the hottest, most passionate kiss of her life.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Well, this is nice.

I wrap my hands around the woman, pulling her onto the desk for easier access. She's attacking me now, tongue smashing into mine in a brutal assault of a kiss. I don't mind, this happens when you've been going for chaste stuff your whole life.

Pulling her straight onto the desk, I step back a bit further, hands firmly around her. I pull her all the way across, ensuring her feet land on this side of the desk. Then I allow myself to go to work. I must say, this woman is beautiful. One of the finest specimens of female beauty I've ever had the chance to encounter.

I keep one hand on her back just below her neck, pulling her tight to me, enjoying the way her breasts press into my chest. My other hand roves downwards, touching and picking the whole way on specific spots. Each touch is responded to with a moan into my mouth, so I continue till I get to her ass.

My hand dives straight under her pencil skirt and what I feel to be lace panties, kneading the flesh of her fat, juicy ass directly, enjoying the way it feels between my fingers. I keep at it for a while, enjoying the way she keeps trying to swallow my tongue whole with every touch.

Eventually, of course, I withdraw, as she comes up for air.

"We shouldn't be doing this. I- I have a boyfriend."

"Well, he is the one who sent you here, isn't he? Let him suffer for exposing you to the big bad fake, especially when you didn't want to."

Wait.

Oh, crap.

I know what I just said wrong, even as the words fade from the air. Sure enough, Olivia's eyes, clouded with lust, clear in seconds, regaining focus.

"What?"

"Nothing, I just said he should suffer for sending you in!"

"But how did you know I didn't want to come?"

"I…" crap. I feel a dozen responses coming up even now, but I also know it's too late. The haze has already cleared, and the guild should be following in 3…2… and there.

I can actually see, thanks to one of my perks, as the flashes of her boyfriend, all the promises made and good times spent, come rushing into her head, followed by a veritable tsunami of guilt.

She steps back in a second, standing up straight.

"I… forget about it. I should go."

I don't roll my eyes, but it's a close run thing.

Then I act. It's a tiny trick, so subtle she notices none of it. But it should help later. For now, though… my telepathic powers are meager, barely worth the name. But they should be able to do this well enough.

I smooth over the guilt she feels, weakening her internal arguments and recriminations with suspicions and anger she's had at him. Then it's a matter of leeching away some of the active emotion around what just happened, leaving it sapped of strength in her mind.

And it works! She's obviously not over it, but she'll start justifying it to herself in a couple moments from now, and I'd wager that by the time she reaches the floor she'll have started delving on just how good it felt.

It should prepare her nicely for the surprise I left her, at least.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

As she walked out into the hotel atrium from the lift, Olivia shook her head lightly. What had she been thinking? No, it wasn't her fault, it'd been something he'd said, something about him… that had made her kiss him like that.

But what a kiss it had even been! She could still feel his taste on her lips, like chocolate and wine and everything else she loved. No, it was probably for the best, Olivia thought as she neared the glass door, that she hadn't gotten an interview. It meant the chances of her being sent back to him were miniscule, and that…

Olivia stepped out of the building, nodding absently at the doorman holding the glass door open for her. As she stood in the chilly air whipping around her, she suddenly went ramrod straight.

Why was she feeling a draft like this?

Very, very subtly, dreading the answer she knew she would get every second, Olivia checked. Yup. She wasn't wearing panties anymore. That sunofabitch. How did he do it?

So distracted was she that she completely missed the man walking towards her till he rammed into her shoulder in his hurry to get into the building.

As he purse fell and the contents clattered out, she shook herself out of her reverie, waving aside the man's apologies and starting to gather things up.

Then she slowed, but very deliberately did not let herself freeze up yet again. There, in the middle of all her stuff, was her recorder. The recorder she perfectly recalled had been tossed aside from the desk when Hermann had pulled her across it and started… nevermind.

But what was it doing here? How could it possibly be here?

Very, very deliberately, she finished picking everything up and walked away from the building. Getting into her car, she hit play on the device.

And then she listened, in growing confusion, as a full, detailed interview played itself. They were all there, every question she'd planned to ask, every trick she'd intended to play on him. He had accounted for himself well, very well, as a matter of fact if the 'believer' tones she heard from herself towards the end were anything to go by… but how?

How was this possible?

And what was she supposed to do now?

Not for the first time this morning, Olivia Selkin wondered just what she'd gotten herself into.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

So… yeah. Restarting the whole story, taking a real proper look at just what I want to do with this, where I want to take it.

This chapter was just the essentials, a basic start to things. I'm hoping to get into proper action pretty soon, so hold on! Before you ask, Olivia's story will not be continued. This chapter was basically a collection of snips from each of the facets of our protagonist's new life. We'll get into more details about each of them in coming chapters, but this is a 'trailers only' chapter.