Congratulations, Roland Webb!
You have been selected as Ascendant #701 by the System (Iteration 78.2). As one of the first seven thousand humans to take the first step toward Ascension, you have been awarded the status of Exemplar, with the potential to become a leader and protector of your species – or a terror and scourge, should you choose a different path. You will receive several boons that will greatly assist you in growing in strength and, hopefully, wisdom as you leave the frailties of mortal existence behind and become something greater.
While the honor of becoming an Ascendant Exemplar cannot be refused, rest assured that all subsequent choices will be in your hands. Those choices and your abilities will help you forge a path through what will unfortunately be a harrowing time for all of humanity.
May fortune favor you moving forward!
I’ve lost my mother-loving mind, Roland thought. Or I’m dead. Or – I’m getting Isekai’d? I thought that sort of thing only happened to people after they got hit by a truck.
The text screen disappeared and was replaced by a tiny glowing figure that popped up just as suddenly. Either he was already dead and this stuff was nothing but his dying brain cells firing off mental farts on their way to oblivion, or he had gone nuts and everything he’d experienced after dropping off Cousin Bob was part of a psychotic break. Or all this might actually be happening, he supposed. He might as well enjoy the trip while it lasted.
Unable to so much as drool in response – in fact, he couldn’t see or feel his body at all – Roland stared dumbly at the shiny humanoid that appeared in front of his face. The new arrival was about the size of an action figure, four inches or so, and it glowed so brightly he could only see its vaguely humanoid – and female – outline. Tiny gossamer wings protruded from its – her – back. She was wearing something like a one-piece swimming suit, except it looked like it was made out of a single leaf skillfully wrapped over her body.
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What the eff is this?
That should have bothered Roland more than it did, but he was still processing his near-death experience. He would probably care a lot more about the rest of the world in a while.
Who are you? Roland asked next, resisting the urge to curse. Might as well be nice to dollar-store Tinkerbell.
Okay… Can I shorten it at bit?
Her chipper tone dimmed by a few notches.
How about Trixie?
The winged doll looked a little miffed but nodded.
Thank you, Trixie.
As Roland absorbed the Guide’s words, he decided to treat everything that was happening as real until he got some convincing evidence to the contrary. If he was wrong, that meant he was dead or insane, so it wouldn’t matter. If he was right, though, he might just survive whatever was happening to him.
Okay, Trixie, can you give me a Cliff’s Notes version of what is happening here?
Roland grunted. He didn’t read fiction as much as he had when he was younger or bored out of his mind in the Army, but some of his coworkers at GameDrop had recommended a few books that described something like the System the Guide was describing. Some had people transported to worlds where magic and game-like rules were real.
And then there were apocalyptic tales where Earth was transformed along those lines. The latter stories usually ended with most of humanity dying horribly. He’d read a couple of those but found the overall premise too depressing to get the sequels. Sure, it was nice to be one of the elite few who survived and became uber-powerful. But knowing most everyone else just up and died early on wasn’t his idea of a fun read.
And now he was living through one of those scenarios, which didn’t give him the warms and fuzzies.