It's funny how cruel fate can be to an ordinary person.
The death of a loved one, the loss of a great job, or even a serious illness that strikes at the best moment of your life... These are the three possible greatest misfortunes in the life of any young adult.
All my life, I've feared one of these three things happening to me.
However, I've always had just an ordinary, stable job. I've never been seriously ill. I haven't lost any important members of my family.
Despite this, the constant anxiety that something bad could happen pulled me deeper and deeper into a hole.
I didn't become a recluse, or even homeless as you might imagine, but I committed the crime of not living my own life.
At twenty-five, most people have dated, gone to college, or traveled to make meaningful memories.
I, however, even at that age, had not done either of those things or found anything or anyone that encouraged me to give my all to feel fulfilled.
Since I finished high school, I had worked at the same office. It was a monotonous bidding office. Although I hated it at first, over time I grew to like it.
Reading had always been good for me, and reading contracts all day was more fun than it sounded. I knew a lot of secrets about many people in my town.
It was because I read so much at work that I started to enjoy reading novels. I began with well-known, accessible novels, but soon I found myself searching for translations of niche Chinese genres.
It became an addiction.
Among the thousands of novels I had read, I had my favorite: The Journey to the Beyond.
It was a novel with a somewhat old-fashioned title, different from most novels, which were more literal. Maybe that's why the novel didn't attract much attention from other readers, but for me it was love at first read.
This novel told the story of how the protagonist was climbing a magical tower due to a rumor that whoever reached the top floor could make any wish come true. His goal was to revive his entire family, who had been slaughtered in front of him when he was just a child.
It was incredible to follow Hunter Ruse's journey through 5,300 chapters, where he had to die hundreds of times and go back in time to fix things.
After reading the last chapter released, chapter 5301, I found out through a message at the bottom of the page that the author would be taking an indefinite break.
I was confused, after all, the story seemed so close to ending that I was just waiting for an epilogue to tie up some loose ends.
I left a comment in support of the author and turned off my phone with a bitter taste in my mouth. After reading my favorite novel every day for years, the idea of life without it felt bittersweet and left an uncomfortable knot in my gut.
However, the moment I put my phone under my pillow and got ready to sleep, my phone vibrated. A message had arrived.
With a frown, because no one ever sent me messages, I turned on the screen and read the notification.
To my surprise, it was a reply to my comment on the last chapter of The Journey to the Beyond.
"Thank you for reading The Journey to the Beyond, reader-san! I've been writing this story for the past five years, and it's been a lot of fun, but I think I've gone down a path that I don't know how to end satisfactorily. Would you do something for me if I asked you?"
Receiving a response from the author nearly made me leap out of bed.
Since I had discovered this novel four years ago, I had thanked him for each chapter in the comments section. However, I had never received a response, either from the author or from another reader.
I was so used to it that I wasn't angry about not even getting a thank you or a like, but I was extremely happy with this first time.
If he wanted to ask me something, it could be some tips on how to finish it, since I was his only reader.
"Go ahead. I'll do whatever I can," I replied.
The author's response came quickly.
"Rewrite this story for me, please."
What? Rewrite it? No, I was a good reader, but a terrible writer. I had already tried to write original stories, but one was worse than the other.
"Rewrite it? I'm sorry, but I think my writing skills would disappoint you."
"It's not just rewriting with words. It's living."
Was the author trying to use some kind of philosophy and spirituality to encourage me to do his work? But, yes… There were many aspects of The Journey to the Beyond that I would change if I could.
"I didn't understand the idea. But if you're going to start rewriting, I can help, of course! I can give you my insights and ideas about this world."
Unfortunately, there was no further response from the author after that.
Since he didn't answer me, was he just playing around? What did he mean by 'Living'?"
I went to sleep with that conversation on my mind and couldn't stop thinking about it until I passed out from exhaustion.
...
When I woke up the next day, I felt an intense chill. My body was unusually damp, as though I had just stepped out of a swimming pool.
"Oh... What a strange feeling... Argh. I'm dizzy. And this sweat? Oh, damn. I must have caught the flu. How am I going to work today? What excuse am I going to give my boss?"
Fighting off nausea, I managed to sit up in bed, opting for small movements instead of standing abruptly.
My vision was a little blurry too.
After a few moments of sitting still, I started to lift my head to see if that would help the bad feeling go away.
It was when I raised my head that I saw a large, old wooden clock in front of my bed. It was one of those typical cuckoo clocks, where a strange bird pops out of a little door to make the noise that gives the clock its name.
"Has that clock always been there?"
Confused, I tried to look around the rest of my room. Surprisingly, the clock wasn't the only strange thing here. The once white walls were now unpainted, composed of red bricks. The ceiling, once plastered, was now wooden, as was the floor.
Looking to my left, I noticed the absence of my bedroom window; instead, there were metal pipes. Glancing to my right, I spotted an old wardrobe.
I could have wondered if I was dreaming, but the feeling of nausea and the severe headache I was experiencing were enough to tell me that this was real.
"... Where am I?"
When I asked myself that question, the answers came in the form of memories that tore their way to the deepest part of my brain.
For the other residents of 871 220th St. and Blackwood Ave. in Lovikalen, it was just another morning. For me, however, fragmented memories revealed that I was Brandon S. Oneal — an eighteen-year-old middle child in a family overwhelmed by debt.
However, this did not directly conflict with my memories of my past life. I felt as if I were both.
This abrupt change in perspective on everything around me, mixed with the excruciating pain of Brandon's memories entering my mind, made the concentration I had to hold back the nausea disappear. Last night's dinner rose up my throat.
I moved quickly to the corner of the bed, put a hand over my throat, and was about to vomit when something bright appeared in front of me.
[System Initializing!]
[Player Number 2 Identified!]
[Welcome, Brandon S. Oneal, to the Player System!]
[First step: Choose your Class.]
What was in front of me was a semi-translucent golden rectangle. Even though I had never seen anything like it before, I knew immediately that it was a system screen.
Having read countless stories featuring systems, I recognized this immediately.
The shock was so great that I swallowed my dinner again.
I had read hundreds of stories with systems, but I never imagined I would be in one. So, I stared at that last notification for over a minute before finally extending my index finger and touching it.
The screen flashed and refreshed.
[Available Classes:
1 - Warrior
Future Specializations: Knight, Gladiator, Berserker.
2 - Mage
Future Specializations: Archmage, Dark Wizard, Elementalist.
3 - Rogue
Future Specializations: Ninja, Mercenary, Phantom Swordsman.
4 - Archer
Future Specializations: Phantom Marksman, Ranger, Beast Hunter
5 - Paladin
Future Specializations: Crusader, Celestial Guardian, Knight of Light.
6 - Summoner
Future specializations: Beastmaster, Spirit Master, Necromancer.]
Still reeling from all this information, I backed up until I felt the cold wood of the headboard against my back.
I needed to collect myself and get my bearings in this world before making any decisions.
I knew it was July 18, 1618, the Age of Steam.
The story of The Journey Beyond was set in a world similar to Earth called Aland, but it differed significantly in its development.
Aland was a world that mixed the economic rise of the Victorian era with the customs of the Middle Ages. The Church of the Golden Halo was more powerful than most of the world's governments and wielded immense influence over the population.
There were feudal nobles, and slavery was still seen as normal in Aland.
Gold was the primary currency, and carts and carriages remained the most common means of transportation.
There were, however, cable cars and steam trains. In Aland, electricity hadn't been a novelty for over a century either — though it was far more primitive and inaccessible than on 21st-century Earth.
The streets of big cities like Lovikalen were brightly illuminated by streetlamps, and households no longer relied on oil lamps.
With that, anyone would imagine that the people of this world were doing very well. After all, this level of advancement suggested early civility, right?
Well... it was partly true. The barbarians were practically extinct, and there were even large factories where steam engines did most of the heavy lifting. Slavery had shifted to resemble more of a domestic servant role for the wealthy than grueling manual labor.
However, social and technological development came to a standstill twenty years ago, when tremors shook everything in every corner of the world.
After that day, mysterious towers appeared all over Aland. Each of these towers had the circumference of a small town and rose so high that migrating flocks of ducks had to veer off course to avoid collisions.
These towers had no windows or balconies. They were completely enclosed and armored by a material that looked like stone, but wasn't. The gigantic double doors in these towers were the only known way in and out.
No one knew what these towers were, so it was natural to have questions such as: What was their purpose? Who built them? And how did they appear so quickly?
It was clear that no one would have the answers to these questions unless someone entered one of these towers through the front door. And as I said, the Church of the Golden Halo had a lot of power in Aland and wanted to be the first to give answers to the desperate population.
"It's a divine work of God! It can only be! The Tower of Babel! God has returned it to us!"
The Church's faithful exclaimed to the four winds, spreading the news. "God wants to test us! He wants us to climb to the top of those Towers so that we can finally see him."
Little did they know what a mistake they were making. Although the interior of these towers was identical — meaning all the towers scattered across the world connected to the same place — the Tower of Babel was not a path to paradise but a gateway to true hell.
The first expedition of explorers was almost completely wiped out by monsters straight out of a nightmare.
Goblins, trolls, liches, and many more creatures that had previously only existed in popular imagination became real.
However, among the humans in Aland, those with special powers—Blessings, as the Church called them — began to emerge.
From creating spears of light to releasing fire from their hands or thickening their skin to make it hard as steel, Blessings were not abilities that could be learned but appeared in anyone over the age of eighteen.
This gave rise to the title of the Blessed and also to the Climbers—those responsible for using these Blessings to explore the Tower of Babel and seize the chance to meet God and make a request of Him.
And according to my memories, I, Brandon S. Oneal, would have turned eighteen that very day I was suddenly thrown into this world. July 18, 1618 — my birthday and the day I would earn my Blessing to become a Climber, which I always declared to be my dream.
Everyone I knew in my high school class had already received a Blessing, so I eagerly awaited my turn.
However, I just didn't expect that I would receive memories of a past life and the opportunity to choose my own Class.
Warrior, Mage, Rogue, Archer, Paladin, or Summoner.
As far as I could remember, most of the Blessed only received one power and had to discover its utility on their own.
It wasn't a choice. They were just given it. But I, uniquely, could choose. The question was: which of the available Classes would be the best?