Chances to Another Life

3. First World

For a moment I thought I was sinking into a cold, dark and deep ocean. My hands and feet were paddling, looking for something to hold on to, but all there was was emptiness. Then I realized that I was floating somewhere. My body was floating as if defying gravity.

I opened my eyes, and all I could see were blurry flashes that were not clear. It was like an empty room without even a speck of dust; I almost doubted how I could breathe because I wasn't sure if this room had oxygen.

Gradually, however, my senses began to adjust. There was nothing to see in this empty space, no matter how desperately my eyes looked around. It felt like my weight was now as light as a feather, easily played by the wind, but fortunately there was no breeze here.

My distorted mind still had various bitter memories from my 27 years of life; I took a deep breath to calm myself down. I wondered if this was the afterlife, and if the dwarf-like man who had been haunted me with text messages at the hotel turned out to be the angel of death?

If it's true, it means I'm really dead. I won't be able to attend Katharina's wedding next month; oh, we didn't even have time to apologize after our fight last night. I thought with closed eyes.

No matter; no one will cry for me when I die. They will only mourn for a short time and continue their happy day tomorrow. More than that, I am grateful because my dream has come true: to disappear from Earth forever.

No longer do I have to worry about the continuation of my life or be overshadowed by sickening feelings about my sad past.

Ah, it turns out that death is not so bad after all. I do not believe in God, and religious people believe in resurrection after death. However, it seems that atheists like me are not accepted in the afterlife of God, so I am drifting in this empty space. That is more than enough.

"Oh, you're someone who gives up easily." The dwarf's man baritone voice made me reflexively open my eyes.

He stood in front of me, still wearing his cleaner and neater version of his construction worker outfit. Slowly, the surroundings brightened because, I was sure I wasn't hallucinating, the man radiated a warm glow. Suddenly, I felt alive again. Strangely, I wasn't afraid at all.

"I haven't introduced myself. Call me Solace; I am the bridge to new worlds for failed people like you," he said with a smile, as if he was calling me a failure a thousand times over.

I couldn't imagine stepping into this empty room. I looked at Solace as I waved away the fog with a wave of my hand, "Worlds, you say? So I'm not dead? This isn't the afterlife?"

Solace nodded wisely. "You're not dead yet, but your body buried under the rubble will be evacuated soon enough. At most, you'll be in a coma."

From the tone of his voice alone, I could tell that Solace had indeed put many others into comas before.

"This is the border between worlds, Joe. Everything in this place contains records of your less than pleasant journey through life. Sorry for peeking into your memories earlier," he continued.

"Hey!" I started to protest, but Solace quickly cut me off. "You have no purpose in life, do you? There are four different worlds that need your help; make yourself useful there and then you will understand the meaning of life."

All of this still felt too strange to me, like I was venturing into a fantasy world and would soon meet a fire-breathing dragon. But I knew I had impulsively agreed to Solace's words when I couldn't bear the weight of my past memories.

"Are there really people who need my help? If you want to help me, then make my life easier in the future," I said.

Solace sighed, with its radiant glow, it seemed like it could blind me in an instant if it wanted to. "Typical young person who just wants to have fun. I am not a fortune teller, I cannot change your future. I am only here to help people like you live the rest of your lives. The only one who can change your destiny is you."

"So you're not a god?"

Solace looked visibly annoyed by my question. "No! I am a helper of the universe!" he exclaimed.

I had already mentioned that I wasn't religious, so this was still hard for me to accept.

"Joe, I mean well. You always feel sorry for yourself and think you are the unluckiest person on earth; I want you to learn to accept yourself. Those who need your help will be useful in teaching you to appreciate life," Solace repeated in his last sentence.

As I thought about this, I realized that my life was indeed resigned. I did not even care about my health or my relationships with friends and colleagues. I often ignored them, assuming that they were only friends with me because they had no other choice. They often left me as their last option for weekend plans; they never responded to my messages when I was in trouble. That's why I cut myself off from socializing.

If they treated me that way, why shouldn't I do the same? That's why I never made friends. I spent almost all of my time alone, but strangely enough, I didn't mind being alone, because I knew that people saw me as stupid, awkward, and nervous, so everyone looked down on me.

This time, too, I had resigned myself to fate.Who knows what Solace will do?

"If you want to improve your life, start by seeing the world as big as possible." Solace continued to ramble on about the world, or whatever it was.

"What if I can't improve my life after that?" I asked.

"That means your soul is truly dead. You don't deserve to be human," Solace replied too lightly. "Just kidding. You're not as bad as you think, believe in your own strength."

Solace waved his hand and immediately four holographic displays appeared. Different images could be seen.

"This is the world you will explore, they are waiting for you. Not Joe the man with no zest for life, but Joe the Observer."

"Observer? What does that mean?" I asked quickly.

"Earlier I asked what is the most useful work for others, right? You can start by being an observer. You have to observe and help them solve their problems while finding solutions. It's very simple, isn't it?" Solace glowed until I shivered under his bright green eyes.

I couldn't even live my life properly, and now this creature from nowhere was saying that?

"That doesn't seem to be for me. Are there other jobs, like bathing dragons?" I tried to negotiate.

Solace glared at me. "Your time is up. This is the border between your world and four others. Enjoy being human!"

Right after that, the empty space burst like a water balloon. I was once again distorted by another world while echoing Solace's last words, as if I wasn't worthy of being called human yet.

I couldn't scream; my throat felt choked. I hoped this was just a dream and that I would wake up in my bed, take a shower, then go to work and buy chocolate cupcakes at Katharina's favorite bakery so she wouldn't be mad at me anymore.

"Ow!" I groaned after hitting something hard, like a wall. Screams of panic brought me back to consciousness.

The first thing that greeted me was the uniquely carved wooden ceilingt; I didn't know where it came from. I lay on an incredibly soft bed until I refused to move. My forehead was still throbbing with pain. Observing my surroundings, I realized that this place was very different from my simple apartment.

This realization was confirmed when a beautiful woman dressed like a princess pressed her hand to my forehead with a worried expression on her face.

"Are you all right? I'm really sorry for leaving you by the lake until you got sick when we promised each other otherwise," she said as softly as silk.

I really wanted to scream, what is this? Why was I at the lake overnight? Who are you? Why are you confiding in me all of a sudden?

Then I felt like I was being tapped by Solace's wrinkled invisible finger. Yes, this is part of my journey to become a true human being. Solace is truly a powerful being who has transported me to another world.

The woman leaned back in the rickety chair that surely belonged to me. "I cannot marry someone I do not love, but my father insists that I provide an heir as soon as possible. I can't! I already have someone I love," she lamented.

Solace may be right. I have only been here a few minutes, and I already feel that this woman has bigger problems than me, and from the familiar way she speaks to me, it is clear that I am her confidante. And I'm sure her problem will become mine in the future.

Hey, but should I be grateful that in this other world my name is still Joe?