Chapter 1: A New Beginning

I had just come home from another dead-end day at the office, feeling utterly defeated. The future ahead seemed as bleak and hopeless as ever. As usual, I found myself reflecting on my life, cursing myself for not having worked harder. Suddenly, something happened.

It happened so quickly that, even now, I'm not sure exactly what occurred. One moment, I was in my room, and the next, I was enveloped in complete darkness. Instinctively, I screamed, hoping someone would hear me.

"You know, for a 22-year-old man, you scream like a little girl," said a voice, ancient and commanding, one that seemed to echo from the dawn of time.

"Who are you?" I shouted, not caring if I sounded like a terrified child. It didn't help that I still couldn't see anything.

"Well, if you'll calm down and stop trying to deafen me, I'll explain who I am—and the choice I'm giving you," the voice replied with a tone of amusement that irritated me.

Taking a few deep breaths, I quieted down and asked, "Okay, who are you?"

I was scared, uncertain if I'd lost my mind or if I'd been kidnapped. A voice in the back of my head—probably the one that fed my perpetual self-doubt—reminded me that I didn't exactly have much worth kidnapping.

"What am I? Well, that's something you'd never understand. But since you've read Percy Jackson, let's just say I'm like a primordial, but far more powerful," the voice said with an arrogance that rankled me.

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. Part of me wanted to believe this was an elaborate prank my roommates had set up. But no matter how much I blinked, I couldn't see or feel anything, as though my senses had been dulled. Maybe Ashish, my friend, had somehow procured some kind of sensory-altering drug just to mess with me?

No, that didn't make sense. Ashish was as lazy as I was—he'd never go to such lengths for a prank.

"The reason you can't see anything," the voice continued, "is because if you saw or even felt my presence, I couldn't prevent you from dying on the spot." His wording reminded me of a mythological figure with the ego of Zeus, and I found myself growing increasingly annoyed.

"Why did you bring me here?" I demanded. "Why would someone so powerful bother with me?"

To this day, I don't know where I found the recklessness to speak so boldly. Maybe it was the surreal feeling that I was in the opening scene of a movie. Or maybe it was the thrill of finally living out the kind of adventure I'd only ever read about.

"Well, I'm offering you a game," he said, in a tone that reminded me of some wise quest-giver in a fantasy. "Every few millennia, I grow bored, so I select someone from one universe and send them to another—a universe that resembles a story they know."

I froze, hardly daring to believe it. This was the stuff of my dreams. I'd spent countless hours imagining myself as the hero of my favorite books, TV shows, and movies. Over the years, I'd lost myself in fanfiction, devouring "what-if" scenarios of Harry Potter and other stories.

"So, are you saying there are real universes for Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, and others?" I asked.

"I can't answer that—your mortal mind wouldn't be able to grasp it," the voice replied, laced with irritation.

"What's your name?" I pressed.

"I'm not your servant to answer every whim," the voice roared back, making me flinch. "Either take the choice I'm offering or leave. If you choose to walk away, you won't remember this conversation and go back to your previous life."

I hesitated, realizing the seriousness of this offer. Somehow, I could feel the weight of this being's power in my bones.

"What worlds are you offering?" I asked, my voice wavering.

"You have the chance to be reborn as Percy Jackson, Harry Potter, Jon Snow from A Song of Ice and Fire, or Red from the Pokémon manga," he replied, his tone bored yet expectant.

My mind raced as I weighed each choice. I was a huge fan of all four worlds and knew their stories by heart. At the same time, I thought about my current life—a string of disappointments, a job I hated, barely making ends meet. Each world held dangers, but also the promise of a fresh start.

I started considering all the world. If I reincarnated as Percy, there was a serious chance that Zeus would just throw a lightning bolt at me since Percy was one of the forbidden children. As Jon Snow growing up as a bastard and being hated by Catelyn Whore Stark was not much appealing either. Being Harry Potter meant growing up in a cupboard, being horribly abused, and also the danger of dying before reaching the age of eleven. Only Red had kind of a normal, happy childhood. Red also was not in danger of dying as a child nor did he have mortal enemies enemies from birth. Pokemon World was also a great place to live in.

Then I thought about my family- my drunk father, my kind mother, and my sister whose only friend was me. I started to think about what kind of person would I be to leave them. Also, how would I know my life in the story world would be good? Reality is often disappointing compared to imagination.

"I refuse your offer," I said with a determination that shocked me. I will make something of myself in this life. If I am so weak that I will run away from my life in this world, then how will I succeed in the story world where I will face countless obstacles as a protagonist of a story?

"Hmm, I thought you might say that. Out of curiosity, which world would you have selected if you had to choose?" came the voice which sounded bored now.

"I would have chosen to become Red of Pokemon Manga." I chose considering the fact Red had a childhood with a loving mother unlike Jon Snow and Harry Potter. Red has no mortal enemies just because of his birth unlike the other three and had a better childhood than all four. Seriously, a protagonist being an orphan and enduring an unhappy childhood was such a cliché. Even Naruto was also an orphan and had an unhappy childhood.

The being started laughing madly like a hyena startling me.

"You are a fool human and you will lose everything" came the voice before a great pain went through my body and I felt I was being pulled apart from all directions.

After what felt like aneternity or what was perhaps just a second, I woke up and for the first time since meeting that horrid being I could see. What I saw made me want to curse. I was locked up in some sort of cupboard.