What's a second chance in life?
Is it when someone gives you a second chance? Or when you get to choose how to live your life? Maybe it's when life gives you an opportunity to do better.
It's a little bit of a philosophical question, one that could have too many different answers simply based on perspective. But most of them are more influenced by the fact that people only think about the life they have, a single one. Perhaps they think it's a chance to do better in their life. A second chance in life.
Something to grasp with your hands and never let go. Something you need to prove, like desperation you don't truly understand. Could never understand. Humans seek redemption like a glass of water in a desert and second chances are just as precious.
But he digresses.
For him, a second chance is a little more literal than that.
[You died. Select the next course of action.]
[New game]
[Quit game]
He stared at the words. Or it felt like he was staring, he wasn't in possession of a body, couldn't move actually. It was weird, being conscious without a body. Like he was aware that the lack of his body shouldn't feel as comforting as it was.
There was a particular awareness he had never possessed before, an assurance that this was okay, even if the situation was completely foreign to him.
He wasn't sure exactly what was going on. Besides the words blaring into his, ha, face, he had no other clues.
He didn't remember dying. But then again, freak accidents happen, and maybe he wasn't supposed to remember it.
Or this was a coma or a dream. But he wouldn't know. He never had such vivid dreams, with this kind of awareness. Heck, every time he dreamed and realized it was a dream he immediately woke up. That wasn't happening. He would have woken up by now. That doesn't disqualify the coma bit, but he didn't have a frame of reference to use. He'd never been in a coma before.
Probably dead, maybe in a coma? Both were sad options. Not very ideal options if he was being entirely honest.
Maybe this was normal. He wouldn't know.
He focused on the blaring text before him again, it really wouldn't do to zone out and miss something. As silly as that thought is he wouldn't put it past himself to actually miss something in this weird afterlife thing.
[You died. Select the next course of action.]
[New game]
[Quit game]
Was reality just a game?
Was this literally all there was to it? A game? That was a little disappointing but still cool in a way. Disappointing, because he kinda had wanted to see which entity was in charge of everything and had screwed it all up. Clearly, something had gone wrong. But he supposes it's not that bad, games were fun. Games had endings. Games had sequels.
Games weren't as serious as real life. Though now they were? He wasn't sure. It was a little scary to think too deeply about any of it.
Well, he didn't exactly want to find out what would happen if he quit said reality.
[New game selected]
Somehow the game just knew what he wanted. Like he didn't have to be conscious about his decision until he really made the decision in his brain? Now he was confused.
It kinda just worked. Like the system could read his intentions.
[Loading…]
That didn't sound ominous at all. How long could something load? Not like he knew how much time was actually passing. No light, no clock. Only him and the strange game text.
Was it even possible for time to pass right now? Or was this strange limbo-like place outside the spectre of time?
Oh, now he's getting a headache. While not having a body. How was that even possible? He didn't like any of this one bit.
[Choose world]
[Fictional world]
[Random world]
[Old world]
[Fantasy world]
[Gamer world]
[Quit]
He stared at the choices, ignoring the quit option.
There really weren't that many options, not many that would truly make it fun. Or worth the hassle.
Also, he couldn't go back to his own world, which he should've seen coming but was still a disappointment. He had hoped, even if he didn't think it was possible.
He didn't want to select a random world, an old or fantasy world was just as dangerous. That left his choice as either a fictional world or a gamer world.
He didn't want his life to be a game. Not more than it was right now? He's not sure. He just barely remembered the plot of the gamer. It would suck to land in that world with almost no knowledge.
[Fictional world selected]
[Spinning wheel…]
Oh great, a wheel spinning. He saw Attack On Titan spin past and felt very relieved.
Some things, you just do not want to experience for yourself.
It did suck that he couldn't choose a world himself. It was all up to chance now. That wouldn't work great for him at all. He really really didn't have much luck. At all.
He was very much hoping it didn't stop in an unfamiliar world and that there were no zombies in said world. He'll quit if there were zombies. He just really really hates zombies.
[Star wars world selected]
[Congrats! You now get to live in the Star wars universe.]
Oh, that was just unfair. He didn't know that much about Star Wars at all. In which movie was he even supposed to be? Was he even going to be in the movies? He knows there's some animated series, right?
All that he knew were like mentions of it from one of his cousins that was obsessed with the series. And some cool Mandalorian facts because of that same reason. Nothing that would really ensure his survival in a whole new universe.
[Spinning wheel for which time period…]
Oh, he shouldn't have chosen this option, he's only feeling regret. Please don't be the clone wars. Please not the clone wars. Please not the clone wars.
[Year selected: 45 BBY]
What in the fuck was BBY. What did 45 even mean? How much earlier was this from the movies? What was the system talking about? He kinda wanted to cry if he could. He really hopes he didn't screw himself over. He should've watched the Star Wars movies and series better than this. He should've paid attention to them. He shouldn't have disregarded them and zoned out during his cousin's ramblings.
He was so very screwed.
[Select character]
[New character]
[Import old character]
[Random character]
[Use character from database]
[Quit]
He stared.
He could choose to be anyone? Literally? That's concerning.
Also, why the fuck is quitting still an option?
He hesitated, while choosing a new character thing sounded fun, he didn't know how it would work. Would it be like the sims? He enjoyed building sims, but there were limitations to that. And he'd have to build a body for himself. That's a lot of pressure.
Importing his old character just sounds like using his old body. Which he was definitely not doing. Was he a little attached to it? Sure. But that same body was used to being ill, it was so many things he didn't want to be. Not something he wanted for a second time. Especially not in a fictional world where people dying was an average Tuesday.
The random character was a definite no-go. He knew his luck, he'd end up looking like a potato. Literally, he didn't know what this system saw as a character, he hopes it means humans, but you can never be too sure. He just doesn't want to be an inanimate object. Or a bug. That would suck.
The last option was using a character from the database. Which sounded less problematic. And maybe he could even adjust some of the settings like you did with the sims? Well, he hopes he can. The option would at least make sure he wouldn't screw this whole thing up.
[Use character from database selected]
[Choose gender]
[Male]
[Female]
[Intersex]
[None]
He chooses male. Not wanting to be the opposite gender. Heck, he'd finally be the gender he wanted to be, in body. That was pretty great.
[Loading up characters]
And suddenly tons of names and characters were floating before him. Each in neat little rows standing still.
[Select a character]
[Adjust selected character]
[Go back]
He didn't know how lucky he was but the adjusting option made him so very relieved. There were way too many choices.
It started with easy ones, normal human faces with names like Human #1. But the further he went on the list the more it became. Harry Potter, Legolas, Naruto Uzumaki, Edward Elric, Satoru Gojo, Peter Parker, Bruce Wayne and so much more. All pieces of media in existence, are movies, series, books, games, comics and anime. And each character had a different version, like either movie or a book or more. There were some that were none human too, and he didn't want to delve into different species. Being human was already weird as fuck, he didn't need the whole adjusting to being something else on top of a new life. Any story was written and a character from that story. It was endless.
Except for all Star Wars characters or well people, were crossed out. None of them was selectable. Which he was kinda happy with. He didn't want to be a copy of someone.
So maybe he hadn't thought it through that much. And it felt a little weird to just, steal, someone's body. Even if it was a made-up one. Sure a different lifestyle and haircut would do loads of changes. Heck, he could simply dye his hair if and when he wanted to. There were no rules. But it was still weird as fuck.
He simply looked through the options. There were too many options.
So, maybe he was a little indecisive. That's fine! Who cares? This was his afterlife. He could do this.
At least he could adjust to whoever he chooses to be. God that's so weird to say or think. He's not so sure how that works right now.
Then his gaze found another text.
[Find characters most suited to you]
What was the harm in that?
And then the list got shorter. Loading in characters that he knew pretty well.
Weren't these the same as the ones he had gotten in the results of personality tests? He's pretty sure at least half of these were INTP characters. Oh god, was the afterlife system based on his personality test? And he's pretty sure he saw the other ones from other types of off-brand personality tests he took out of boredom.
How did this somehow get worse?
At least he didn't know all of them.
He looked at the list and then decided to filter out the ones that were a little bit too much. He didn't want to be a dragon thank you very much. He does kinda, but being already dead is a mind fuck and a half. He doesn't think he could handle that big of a change just yet.
He narrowed it down, they were all from different types of media.
And then he decided that he could have fun and just choose the one he thought was the coolest. Sure he'll adjust some of their features, but he could still have a favourite character he wanted to be like.
He's pretty sure that if he was 11 years old still, he'd have immediately gone for one of the flashy main characters with a sad backstory even though he wasn't the flashy main character with a sad backstory. 11-year-old he would never cringe. He'd live his best life.
But current him didn't need the extra attention. Didn't need to be flashy or obvious. Heck, if he was going to be in Star Wars it would be best not to be flashy. Or obvious. Too flashy catch the wrong kind of attention. He's pretty sure that what he did understand from Star Wars was that it wasn't a very happy fictional universe.
And now he was second-guessing himself.
He had to narrow it down further, he deselected the ones that he definitely didn't want. No, he didn't want to be a robot from Wakfu, Noximilien had to go. And so he went down the list, each option he dismissed magically disappearing.
It was a little strange, but hey, he wasn't going to complain.
And then the list ended at around thirteen names. Thirteen faces. And then an option popped up.
[Spin the wheel. You will have 3 spins, those 3 will form a list and will be your last choice if you spin 3 times.]
And he spun.
And names shot past his face, faster than he could keep up with before it finally settled down.
[Ron Weasley]
[Spin again? 1/3]
He had not expected that. He wasn't opposed to the choice, but it was still a little strange to realize he could look like Ron Weasley. Though different lifetime choices would impact how he would end up looking like.
He spun again. A top 3 sounded way easier to choose from.
[Hitoshi Shinso]
[Spin again? 2/3]
Again, not expected. He wondered why he kept getting the characters he looked up to. Was personal preference playing a role in the spins?
He spun again.
[Nico Di Angelo]
[No more spins]
And that was all his spins. Ron Weasley, Hitoshi Shinso and Nico Di Angelo. He just had to choose. Heck, he could easily adjust some things to them.
Ron was out in virtue of the fact the man was way too real for him to be comfortable looking like. That was one of his childhood heroes okay. It's a tad unreal.
That left his choice between Shinso and Nico.
He looked at the figures, and it was a little strange. Shinso looked like a 3D version of himself. Like a real person with purple hair and eyes. A little unsettling. Nico looked like his book counterpart.
He dismissed Nico.
Okay, so maybe he was a little freaked out about looking like someone who had been depicted as a real person. Who could blame him? There was just something about it that made it far too real. Far too personal.
An anime character? Way better than choosing to look like an actor. He once cosplayed as Shinso at a convention so he's not unfamiliar with him at all. Plus it makes it somehow less intrusive than choosing to look like someone real that played the part.
And he was still very indecisive so if he had made his own character he's pretty sure the afterlife would have just kicked him out for wasting time.
Shinso's figure suddenly enlarged in a way, and a panel of adjustments popped up.
He couldn't adjust things like hair length or how strong his bones would be. That would be cut or changed as he lived. So further along this whole process. But he could make himself have another hair colour or eye colour. And his facial structure could be adjusted too. So it was less, Shinso and more him. From back when he was alive. He was a blank slate in a way.
He changed his hair colour to black. While purple hair was cool, it would grab way too much attention, though the purple eyes could stay. He needed something cool even if it was just some purple eyes with white pupils. He was going to be in space, no one would blink twice at the colour of his eyes. At least he's not making them yellow, he's pretty sure that he doesn't want to be mistaken for a sith.
There wasn't much else to change, he was fine with his skin tone as is. Heck, he's pretty sure it was the same as when he was alive either way. Though maybe less pale because of the fact that he barely went outside. He wondered if he'd do the same again.
[Character creation done]
[Loading…]
It changed automatically. He wondered what he could choose now.
[Choose 3 skills]
[Force sensitive: Congrats! You are now force sensitive, spin a wheel to see how force-sensitive you get to be. You will automatically start in the Jedi Temple on Coruscant.]
[D&D: Are you a D&D enthousiast? Good news for you! You now get to live life as if it's D&D. Roll for literally every action you take.]
[Random superpower: Receive a random existing superpower.]
[System: Can't get enough of this? Live life with a system tailored to your personality and comfort!]
[Dimension hopper: Tired of this dimension? Just hop to another one! The destination is determined with a spin of the wheel and you can't change it back.]
[Instant teleportation: Don't want to wait to travel? Just teleport! This includes a map of the whole universe. All of it.]
[Background song: Bored of no soundtrack to your life? You can now have one!]
[Deadpool: You can't die! You just regenerate.]
He didn't know how to unpack any of this.
Obviously, he was going to be force sensitive. He would be stupid not to be. Also Jedi laser sword? Count him in. And, he didn't want to have all those not fun things happen to him, like mind control. Or things like that. He's not sure. He just hopes that being force-sensitive meant he wouldn't immediately die.
What else? D&D sounds like an actual problem. Every choice is a dice roll. He'd die so quickly. He has the worst luck. No thanks.
Random superpower? Maybe. It's too big of a change though. So the same as D&D, no thanks.
System? Probably yes. It would be useful. A system menu had many cool things, right? He hopes this would be useful. It would be so incredibly useful to just have things spelt out for when it was happening. He didn't know enough about Star Wars to not grab any guidelines he could use.
Dimension hopper was trying his luck. Yeah, that's not happening. He got lucky enough with getting a dimension that he was familiar with. He really didn't want to tempt it.
Instant teleportation? Yes. That would be a literal lifesaver. Also, he'd never get lost again. It would be awesome. No more walking or travelling for too long. Wait, would he still be motion sick? He hopes not.
The background song was useless. A good pair of headphones would work just as well. It would also be kinda distracting.
Deadpool, never dying. Well, that doesn't sound that bad at all. He liked not dying. But that would mean he'd be immortal. That's a little less great. He was actually pretty okay with dying. If it was painless. Maybe he didn't want to be Deadpool though. Great regeneration means bad things for healing. And living forever would be a consequence of this. He'd grow way too bored. That's too many years, no thanks. Or maybe it would ensure his survival in the fucked up universe.
So he had a definite yes on being force sensitive. A yes on Instant teleportation. Now, either a system or Deadpool. The system wins that one.
[You selected; Force-sensitive, System and Instant teleportation.]
[Spinning wheel for force sensitivity…]
[Congrats your Midi-chlorian count is 11.000]
[Loading…]
He didn't even know what Midi-chlorians were. Sure force sensitivity sounded pretty obvious but how was that related to his Midi-chlorian count? What did 11.000 mean? Was that a lot? Or was it nothing at all?
What was there left to choose?
[Perks and disadvantages! Choose a max of 3 perks and disadvantages. For each perk you have a disadvantage.]
[Perks:]
[All-Speak: You can now speak to anyone and every being that is capable of speech or something like that. Communication has never been easier!]
[Magician: You can choose a magic form to have an aptitude for. Bewarned, you will not have any guidance at all.]
[Animalistic: You now can shift into an animal! Spin the wheel to see which one.]
[Shield: You have a mental shield for all your knowledge. No one can get past this shield.]
[Average: You are average. No one will ever see you as the worst or the best. You are just average.
[Tehcnology god: All Technology is easy to use for you. You are a true hacker now! You could even make a whole computer because of your knowledge. Nerd.]
[Mythical being: Wow, look at that. You get one mythical being as a companion. Lucky you. Spin to see which one it is!]
[Disadvantages:]
[Child!: You begin life as a toddler.]
[Blindness: You cannot see. Sorry.]
[Authority problem: You are marked as a troublemaker by any type of authority.]
[No ships: You cannot handle space travel, you get sick.]
[Problematic heritage: You might find that your parents weren't really the Jedi Orders' friend.]
[Animal enemy: All animals will automatically dislike you. A lot.]
[Unlucky: You are very unlucky. You will never have a lucky day.]
[Conflict of interest: You will have one enemy, randomly chosen.]
Okay, that was easy for perks, All-Speak would be a god-sent. There were simply way too many languages in Star Wars. It would be awesome to be able to speak to everyone. And it was convenient.
The shield was definitely a must-have. He didn't trust his own capabilities. He better have a failsafe, heck he's pretty sure Jedis and Siths could mind-read. He did not want people to wonder why he knew shit he shouldn't.
That left one perk he could choose. Both Technology god and Mythical being sounded good. But the sarcastic lines in Mythical being gave him a sense of dread. It makes sense though, just because he had a companion didn't mean said companion would like him. And who said it would be anything cool like a dragon?
Technology god would be better.
3 perks, so he had to pick 3 disadvantages. Blindness, No ships, Conflict of interest and Unlucky were definite no's. Animal enemy, he'd rather avoid. There were a lot of terrifying space animals he didn't want to mess with.
That left Child, Authority problem and Problematic heritage. He was going to start in the Jedi temple anyways, so it wouldn't matter that much that he was a child, right? And he had thought he was going to be reborn, but instead, he gets to skip being born. That's actually good news. Having an authority problem wouldn't be a first, he was definitely going to be marked as a troublemaker anyway. And Problematic heritage didn't sound that bad. It's not like the Jedi would care, right?
God, he hopes he's making the right choices.
[Perks selected! All-Speak, Shield and Technology god.]
[Disadvantages selected! Child, Authority problem and Problematic heritage.]
[Loading…]
[Congrats! You've finished your character creation. Good luck, and may the force be with you, PLAYER]
Wait, was that it? Was he now going to spawn in or something–
[Start game!]