Chapter Text
- Game Over. -
>New Game
>Quit
I stare at the big, white letters floating in front of me, not quite registering what they say. I feel like I’m unable to move, and I’m breathing too quickly - if I don’t get this under control, I’ll probably have a panic attack, but what else am I supposed to do in this situation? I’m standing in an empty black void, and there are words floating in the air, telling me that I lost a game? What game, exactly?
I try to think back to the last thing I remember, hoping to find some clues as to how I got here, but my mind is fuzzy, and it feels like every time I try to focus on a memory, it slips away. I remember waking up this morning, but then it feels like I just fast-forwarded straight to school. Then after that…
I was walking home! I remember now, I was walking and then…
I slipped. I slipped on the edge of the pavement, right next to a river. I fell into the water, and that’s when everything went black.
Did-
Did I die?
I take a deep breath. I don’t know how that’s possible, if I’m dead - maybe it’s just a reflex.
I feel strangely calmer now, no longer on the verge of a panic attack. I don’t know why dying at the ripe old age of nineteen isn’t freaking me out more, but I guess there’s not much I can do, really. Except for making a choice. I look at the words floating in front of me once more. I don’t know what “New Game” means, but I assume it means a new life. Do I really want to start over, though? Will I keep my memories, or will I be blissfully unaware of my past?
I consider choosing to quit, but I have no idea what that entails. Will I just lose consciousness and never wake up? Or will I be stuck in this black void forever?
The “Quit” button seems too risky. I have no idea what will happen, and although starting a new game - a new life, I guess - is also a mystery, at least I have some idea of what I’m in for. So I raise my hand, and lightly tap the “New Game” button.
- New Game + Unlocked -
I barely have time to read the words before they disappear and new ones appear in their place.
- Character Selection -
- Sex -
>Male
>Female
>Intersex
I almost click the “Male” button before hesitating. While I am a man, I was born AFAB. Or at least, I was in my previous life. And although being born male seems like a dream come true, I’m not quite sure how to go about it. And I do love the community that comes with being transgender, and I don’t really want to lose that. So, I click the “Female” button, hoping I won’t regret this.
- World Selection -
>Slice of Life
You will be reincarnated into a regular world where you will navigate your way through a normal life.
>Apocalypse
Humanity has gone through a major extinction event, and only a tiny percent of the old population remains. The world as you know it is gone, and you must survive in this new state of living. (You may choose between several possible apocalyptic events.)
>Dating Simulator
Your life will revolve around romancing the person of your dreams - or multiple, if you so choose. You may choose between several scenarios, including but not limited to: Royalty, Boarding School, and Coffee Shop.
>Fiction
You will be reincarnated into a fictional universe from your previous game. There are no guarantees you will be familiar with the world you are transported to, but you will have at least heard of it.
>Gamer
The world you reincarnate into will be chosen at random, and you will be awarded the and attributes. You will be able to go through life as though it is a video game.
I groan at all the choices, the bright white letters making my eyes water as I try to read them. I really need to have a talk with whoever chose the font and color for all this.
As I read through all the text, I ponder my options. The slice of life doesn’t sound too bad, but it also doesn’t sound particularly interesting. That’s probably a good thing, but I can’t help but want a little adventure in my next life. For the same reason, I decide not to go with the dating simulator either - and also because I don’t want my life to revolve purely around romance.
The other options are harder. Apocalypse sounds very interesting, and certainly full of adventure, but also very dangerous, and I don’t want to die within a week. Fiction is also tempting, since I’d love to go to Hogwarts, or become an Avenger, but then again, there’s no guarantee I’ll get into a world I know. It guarantees I’ll have heard of it at least, but I’ve heard of Naruto and I have no idea what it’s even about, so I’m not sure if I want to take the risk of being reincarnated into a world I have basically zero knowledge of.
And finally, that leaves the gamer option. I don’t know what gamer’s mind and gamer’s body entail, but I’m guessing it means that I’ll get to pause the game - life? - and maybe save and load it too. Either that, or it gives me terrible posture.
It would be very useful to be able to treat life like a video game, but the catch is of course, that I don’t get to pick the world. It might dump me into slice of life, and then my gamer attributes would be useless.
I thread my fingers through my hair as I think. I cross apocalypse off the list in my mind, not wanting to deal with zombies or whatever this stupid simulation will give me. Only fiction and gamer left to choose from…
If only I had a coin to flip. That’s how I usually make decisions when I can’t decide between two options. Either that or I ask a friend, but unless one of them dies - which I hope they don’t - that’s not exactly an option right now.
“Can’t you just choose for me?” I yell at the void in exasperation, half joking. I jump in surprise when the text flickers away. Did it actually choose for me? I almost regret asking whoever is running this to literally choose my life for me, but it’s not like they gave me many options to start with, so I guess it’s fine.
- Gamer -
- Selecting World… -
- Fiction -
I release a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding. I didn’t have to choose between the two after all! I get to have the best of both worlds. Take that, indecisive past me from twenty seconds ago.
- Selecting Universe -
Titles start flashing in front of me, too fast for me to read, and giving me a bit of a headache from the brightness and the speed at which the words appear and disappear. This void is not very accommodating to people with seizures triggered by flashing lights.
The titles start to slow down a little, enough that I can read them - The Stanley Parable, Spy x Family, Stranger Things, James Bond, H2O: Just Add Water, and more. Squid Game flashes by, and I shudder at the idea of being reincarnated into that. I’d probably die in the first game.
Finally, the titles slow down, a few more flashing by, before…
Arcane
I sigh. I’d heard about Arcane, of course I had. It was almost impossible not to, with my for you page on every social media app I have being full of various memes, and every single one of my friends recommending it to me. I’d been meaning to watch it, I just hadn’t gotten around to it yet. And now, I never would - I’d be living it instead.
I do at least know the basic plot, but even what I know of it is quite complicated. So many different characters to keep track of, all living different stories, and of course, I have no idea yet which storyline I’ll be following, if any.
- Skill Selection -
You have been awarded 4 Talent Points (TP) based on your achievements in your previous game. Each Skill costs 1TP and may only be taken once, unless stated otherwise.
>Probabilistic Equilibrium: You have the power to manipulate any probability and make it 50/50, making any possibility equally likely to happen.
>Weapon Creature Creation: You can create living beings out of weapons or shape weapons into different forms. Beings created will perish after 3 hours, and transformed weapons will disappear after 6 hours.
>Planeswalker: If you survive in your current world for ten years, you gain the ability to choose a different World State upon your death with all of your skills and Talents intact. Any additional Talent Points gained in this world can be used to purchase additional Talents upon relocating.
>Sense Manipulation: You have the ability to manipulate a physical sense (sight, smell, taste, touch, and hearing) of yourself or others. You can enhance, reduce or remove senses entirely, whether it be temporarily or permanently.
>Animal Friendship: Animals and beasts are never hostile towards you, and will never engage in conflict with you unless you attack first. With practice, you may be able to engage in primitive communication with animals and beasts, and make friends with them.
>Wing Manifestation: You have the ability to manifest wings on your back at will, and disappear them at will. Depending on your strength and how much practice you have with the wings, you may be able to fly or glide, or your wings may be useless.
Random Skill: A skill will be selected for you at random. The skill may or may not be included in your current options. You may reroll if the skill you have received is undesired.
So many options again! Why can’t this game just go easy on me? If I could take all of them, I would, but I only have four points.
The weapon creature creation sounds kind of useless, so I definitely won’t take that one. Having wings is something I’ve always wanted, but I’m not sure I want to waste a point on it if there’s the possibility I won’t be able to fly. Sense manipulation would be quite useful, especially for myself - if I can reduce my senses, I won’t get overstimulated too much. And if I’m ever in a sticky situation, I can just remove the eyesight of whoever is threatening me and get away. Probabilistic equilibrium sounds perfect for me, due to my coin flipping tendencies, although there’s always the risk that a coin flip goes bad for me.
Planeswalker would be nice, especially now that I know that anything I do is useless since I’ll die in the end anyways and end up back in the void. At least with planeswalker, I’ll have a motivation to live for at least ten years and not just kill myself if I get bored, and when I do eventually die, I’ll be able to get even more skills and not lose these. Gotta catch ‘em all.
Animal friendship would be great - I love animals, and I’m definitely going to collect all the pets I can. Plus, I’m pretty sure there are some hostile beasts in Arcane, and I don’t want to risk getting mauled.
And then of course, there’s the random skill. The curious cat in me really wants to waste a point on that. But I’ll wait until I’ve picked the others out. It can’t give me doubles, right? So if I pick out what I want for sure first, I can use it as a coin toss between whatever is left over - and if it gives me something random that isn’t on the list, then so be it.
First, I pick animal friendship. It’s just awesome to have, I’ve always loved animals, and was pursuing a veterinary career before I…
Right.
Back to the skills.
After a moment of hesitation, I click planeswalker. And then I groan when I realize I have to choose between the wings, the probability, or the sense manipulation. All of them are equally tempting, and I really can’t decide, so I Eenie Meenie Minie Moe it. Sue me.
It lands on Wing Manifestation, and honestly, that was the best one, now that I think of it. I’ve been dealing with my neurodivergency all my life, I don’t need some fancy schmancy superpower to block my senses. And the probability thing is just way too risky, if I use it on the wrong thing and the odds aren’t in my favor, I could die.
So now, all that’s left to do is the random skill.
- Ability Learning -
You have the power to learn any ability instantly by observing it. This only encompasses abilities you would be able to learn regardless with enough time and practice, such as crochet or rocket building. It does not include powers such as flying or turning invisible. You will have a basic skill level at any learned ability. If you wish to master abilities, you must learn them normally.
>Accept
>Reroll (1TP)
Ok. That’s actually quite useful. I might need to know how to fight, or solve equations or whatever, so it’s pretty great I won’t have to learn from scratch. I accept. Not like I have any talent points left to reroll, anyways.
- Perks and Disadvantages -
You may take a maximum of 3 Perks and 3 Disadvantages. Each Perk costs 1TP and each Disadvantage taken will award you 1TP.
(Perk) Linguist: You possess the ability to learn languages at a very fast rate, and with enough practice, you will be able to learn inhuman languages as well.
(Perk) Incognito: The true origin of your powers is impossible to deduce without you outright telling people - mind readers cannot find the information, truth serum will not pull it out of you, and anyone around you will make up false explanations for anything you do relating to your powers.
(Perk) Mechanic: You are very gifted with all kinds of machines and electronics, and are able to easily make anything work. You must still learn exact engineering for more advances things, but you will have an advantage.
(Perk) Comic Book Pretty: You are always airbrushed to perfection, after battle your clothes are always only artfully torn, and any wounds you take will only leave aesthetically pleasing scars.
(Disadvantage) Discrimination: You will be reincarnated as a species or race that is discriminated upon - this may range from mild to heavy discrimination. You will not be killed due to discrimination, but it may have a heavy impact on your life.
(Disadvantage) Regression: You will be reincarnated as a small child, but with access to your adult mind and emotions. Your skills and powers will be at a weaker level to compensate.
(Disadvantage) Behind Enemy Lines: You will wake up in a hostile environment - nothing will immediately kill you if you’re careful, but your life will be difficult until you can escape your environment.
(Disadvantage) Disability: You will have a physical disability, which will have a mild to heavy impact on your life and how difficult it is to survive. You will be assigned a single disability, however you may eventually develop co-morbid disabilities.
I curse myself for wasting all my talent points on the skills. I should’ve known there was more to come. I’m starting to think I’ll just be stuck here in this void making choices for all eternity. Maybe this is hell, and I’ll keep thinking this menu is the last one, only for another one to pop up.
I scan all the perks and disadvantages, scoffing at the ridiculousness of all this. What, is this some sort of game?
Oh. Right.
I sigh at the trainwreck my life - death? - has become since I fell into that river. I guess I could just skip the perks and disadvantages, but I do really need the mechanic perk. From what I know, Arcane is very mechanical, set in a steampunk world, so I need to have at least some knowledge of engineering if I want to survive. I could use the ability learning for that, but there’s no guarantee the basic knowledge I’ll get from that will be enough.
The linguist perk seems great as well, especially combined with animal friendship. With all the different species in Arcane, I’ll probably need to learn some new languages either way, so why not speed up the process? Incognito seems kind of useful, but I don’t think there’s any mind-readers in Arcane, nor truth serum, and I don’t really care what people think of me, so I decide to leave that one. And comic book pretty is just plain stupid.
If I get the Mechanic and Linguist perks though, I’ll need to get two disadvantages to even out my points. Discrimination could suck, but I’ve dealt with discrimination before, and I know how to handle it. I’ve just never been the subject of racism before. Then there’s regression, and to be honest, I was kind of under the impression that I’d be reincarnated as a baby, but I guess being an adult is an option. I don’t really want to have to go through childhood again, so I’d prefer not to have regression, though.
Behind enemy lines would be difficult, from what I know of Arcane. There’s some pretty nasty environments I could spawn into, and I’m not entirely sure I can be careful and survive. And finally, there’s the disability disadvantage. I already had a physical disability in my past life, and although it had a mild impact on my life, I know how to handle myself. There’s the risk this new game assigns me something with a heavy impact, but honestly, I think I can deal with it.
I’m pretty much done with all these stupid questionnaires, so I don’t really think things through and just impulsively click on Mechanic, Linguist, Discrimination and Disability. The text flashes away, and I pray that it’s done now, and I’ll be free of making choices. Another text bar shows up and I almost scream in frustration before reading what it says.
- Character Creation Complete -
- Starting New Game + -
I barely have time to register the words before everything goes black.