A soft, chiming resonance echoed through the emptiness, scattering tiny sparks of light across a void that felt neither cold nor warm, just infinitely patient.
At the center of that cosmic stillness hovered a platform of swirling starlight.
And on it lay Ren Arclight.
Face-down.Mouth half open.Snoring into the literal fabric of the universe.
A divine figure stood beside him, draped in white robes threaded with gold, radiating authority so overwhelming that the air seemed to bend around him.
He cleared his throat.
"Ren Arclight," the god announced. "You have been chosen from your world to be reborn. Rise and hear your..."
Ren shifted slightly, smacking his cheek against the floor and muttering something about wanting a pillow.
The god paused.
It had been a very long time since anyone slept through a celestial summoning.Even longer since someone snored through one.
He sighed, then raised his hand.
Light gathered, forming a magnificent wheel, taller than Ren by two heads, forged from constellations, glowing arcs, and runes that pulsed with ancient power.
The Wheel of Fates.The divine mechanism that granted blessings to new heroes, rotated only by chosen mortals or the god himself.
The god gestured grandly.
"This wheel grants the gift best suited to your soul. But only when touched by your own..."
Ren rolled over.
Not gracefully.Not heroically.
He flopped like a tranquilized walrus.
His elbow smacked the Wheel.
The Wheel shrieked to life.
A thunderous hum filled the void as it spun violently, brightly, shooting sparks, runes twisting, stars re-aligning themselves in panic. The god's eyes widened.
"Wait—WAIT—no, that's not how—Ren, stop—STOP—!"
Ren continued sleeping, now hugging the wheel like it was a giant, warm plush toy.
The Wheel spun faster, crackling with cosmic energy, its runes glowing an ominous red-gold. Echoes rippled across the void like distant thunderclaps.
The god grabbed Ren by the collar and yanked him back just as the wheel slowed…slowed…and then…
CLICK.
A symbol the god had never seen before glowed at the top.
The god froze.
"…That one?" he whispered, eyes widening enough to swallow a star. "But that's... no one has ever..."
He looked down at Ren.Still asleep.Drooling slightly.
The god lifted his gaze back to the Wheel, then back to Ren, then exhaled a long, defeated sigh.A tiny smile crept across his lips.
"Well, this will be interesting."
He snapped his fingers.
Light enveloped Ren's body, swallowing him in a vortex of shimmering gold.
"A truly lucky one," the god murmured. "The world won't be ready for you… and neither, I suspect, are you."
With a flick of the wrist, he sent Ren plummeting through dimensions still asleep, toward the distant, waiting forest of another world.