The void wasn't dark. It was ridiculous.
It's an absolute joke to die because your high-end gaming PC exploded right in front of you.
"No way, 17 years old… I still had so much ahead of me," I grumbled.
"I spent a fortune on that thing. RGB even on the power supply. And it assassinates me?"
My voice echoed... or it didn't. It's hard to tell. In the void, even sound seemed to be frozen.
"Seriously," I continued, pointing at nothing. "If this is the afterlife, it's running at thirty FPS. And with lag."
"You still haven't stopped complaining," someone said.
The voice appeared out of nowhere. No answer. No direction. No stress.
I tried to turn — or tried to. When everything is nothing, it's hard to know which way "turning" is.
There was a presence there. It wasn't exactly a person. More like an existential crisis. It's like a 404 error of the universe that no one bothered to fix.
"Great," I replied. "Even dead, I get technical support."
"Always complaining," the being stated, with a nearly artistic boredom.
"Process initiated."
"Process of what?"
Three roulettes appeared between us. Large. Luminous. Spinning on their own.
One looked like a futuristic arcade exit.
The other was from a museum of things that shouldn't exist anymore.
The last roulette was new, very new.
"You will spin three roulettes," the being stated.
"One of them determines the world. The others establish… the rest."
"Is this like an isekai?"
"It's a kind of time-saver. Spin."
I didn't care much. I was already dead. I triggered the first roulette.
It spun fast. Too fast.
Images flashed: cyberpunk worlds, medieval kingdoms, cities in ruins, universes that looked like old forum fanfics.
Then, it slowed down.
It stopped.
A trident with a few other strange symbols.
"Percy Jackson?", I asked.
"The sea boy?"
"That's the one," the being confirmed.
"I watched the movie, it's the same one."
The being seemed to reflect. Or just be lazy.
"Is it going to be like the movie?", he asked.
"I don't know. Usually it's not. However, you will find out."
It didn't sound like a threat. It felt like a warning.
The second roulette approached. It was older.
The symbols represented names. Some relatives. Others looked like Wi-Fi passwords.
"This determines your divine origin," he stated.
"Spin."
"Hold on," I raised my hand.
"Divine origin like in mythology?"
"You understand the basics, don't you?"
"Enough to know that this always ends badly."
Still, I spun it.
The roulette spun slowly. As if it were reflecting.
The names were called out one by one.
It stopped.
Demeter.
I just stood there watching.
"Oh, no," I muttered.
"The one who made the crops wither because her daughter went missing?"
The being sighed. Literally.
"The last one can spin."
This different roulette was colorful and looked new.
I spun it like the others, and it didn't show names until it stopped on Gamer System.
Hum, that's different. Seems powerful.
"Can you explain more?"
"Goodbye," he said.
"Hey, wait! This doesn't seem right! What if I die again?"
"Tiring," he murmured, starting to fade away.
"I need to retire."
There was a snap. Nothing extraordinary. Nothing grand.
Just the sound of someone turning off an old piece of equipment.
The Void came to an end.
I woke up with the scent of grass.
I opened my eyes slowly.
The sky was excessively blue.
I tried to stand up. There was something wrong.
"Holy shit..."
The voice sounded thin, high-pitched, and annoying.
I looked at my hands. They were small, with nails stained with dirt.
I looked down and saw that my black tech t-shirt, now faded, almost reached my knees.
"I'm a dwarf. I died and reincarnated as an 11-year-old boy."
I walked to a shattered shop window.
The reflection was strange.
A boy with brown hair, dark like damp earth and completely messy.
However, what terrified me were the eyes.
They were green, a deep moss-green, glowing with an intensity I never possessed.
"Where is Logan Lerman? In the movie, Percy already had a beard, dammit! If I'm a kid, I'll be a monster snack."
I slapped my face and felt the warm skin. It wasn't a dream.
"Alright. Inhale. I am a son of Demeter."
I clenched my fist, feeling a vibration emanating from the ground.
"Divinity of agriculture. In the movie, what did they do? Grow some flowers? No way. If the laws of physics allow it, I'll be the botanical nightmare of anyone."
I pointed to a dry vine on a wall.
My mind started firing connections.
"If I can do what Kurama does with roses... or use a vine whip like a Bulbasaur..."
I tried to concentrate the energy.
I focused on the base of my spine.
"Let's go, release this mana!"
I tried to visualize the plant coming to life, not as a little flower, but as an RPG weapon.
I felt an intense pain in my stomach, as if my soul were being sucked through a straw.
CREEEEK.
Beyond just growing, the vine whipped the air, becoming rigid and covered in thorns that resembled daggers.
"Yes!"
I exhaled, resting my hands on my knees.
My vision darkened for a moment.
"Damn, the stamina consumption to use this 'skill' is huge. My level is too low for this mana cost."
I needed a place to hide.
I noticed an old building with a garden in the back.
It seemed like the ideal spot to gain XP or simply avoid death.
I was walking towards the building when, suddenly, a blue screen appeared in the air in front of me:
Gamer System loading...
20...
25...
39...
68...
97...
100...
System loaded.