Franz, his mother, and his twin sister died in a car crash. Exploding out of the windshield into tarred roads, face scraping against the texture.
His family going up in smoke.
The last thing he saw was his sister's hand reaching toward him through the smoke.
Then white. Endless white.
What happened after that?
Who is Sol?
Yes, he was awake again in an infinitely stretching white room.
Two ghost-like—that was the first thing that came to mind—creatures stood surrounding him. They should have terrified him, but for some reason, they made him feel warm and relieved.
They somehow resembled his family.
Franz noticed that he also did not have a physical body.
He was also a soul-like entity.
So did I really die in that car crash?
But… why does his soul look blurrier than his family's?
[Welcome, Franz Claudia.]
Franz was taken aback.
Where did that voice come from?
Perhaps it was because he had just died, perhaps it was because he had already been shocked from the Sol part of his mind. He was incredibly calm.
And soon, he surmised the voice had come from his own head.
Probably god, or some sort of system or power.
The source of all anomalies.
Was he isekaied by a god? Were those two ghosts his family?
Was this some initiation ceremony?
The voice continued coldly, unconcerned about the listener.
[We are the soul guardians of the Ark. From now on, you and your companions are initiated into a game coordinated by the Ark. And in return, you will be given a new physical body and a chance to live a rich life.]
What?
The voice continued:
[There will be 9 Game Phases. And every time you win, your life status will evolve once. If you ultimately win all 9 Games, you can become an Arc Guardian like us and initiate games like this on multiple planets in Milky Way.]
[For your info, you cannot leave the game without dying. And there will be no further revival or soul guarding for a failed candidate. Currently your souls are all kept alive by us using advanced technology.]
[If you are willing to participate in the game, please click YES in your mind.]
Otherwise, die?
These Arc guardians sure are kind people.
But jokes aside, this didn't seem to be normal tech. Telepathy, infinitely stretching white space, giving others a new body, and even preservation of souls. If this weren't all a post-mortem dream, he was dealing with god level powers.
And they were saying he could become like them if he won 9 games.
Then what about my Sol situation? Do they not know about it?
He wanted to ask, but for some reason, he felt hesitant.
[Do you accept to enter the Game?]
"I say yes if my family gets to be with me!"
[Your family's life has already been linked to you. They will also be given new bodies of their choice and we will allow them to travel into Planet Wenzen along with you. That is, if you win our First Game.]
Planet Wenzen?
Sol's planet is not that planet.
"I agree!"
[Please choose a body for yourself.]
A holographic screen appeared in front of him, filled with character creation tabs. Height, skin color, eye color, masculinity index, genetic predispositions, etc.
All for him to choose from freely.
Without hesitation, Franz gave himself his previous life's body first. And then, he began to optimize that body. He gave it 6 '5 ft height when fully grown, he gave it thick healthy black hair, and added all the good genetic predispositions that were available. High IQ, athletic, flexible, strong, and more.This was his own past self but maximized in every way he could think of.
On Earth, he would already be an unprecedented genius.
But in the planet Wenzen the voice mentioned, who knows? Maybe I am just your average joe? Can't be, right?
In Sol's planet, he wouldn't even match up a royal. Those royals were born with Sculptic Gifts, after all. Not to mention how eccentrically strong those royal siblings of his were.
Still, Franz was done with character creation and this was the best he could do.
[Now please choose which dead Arc Guardian you would like to inherit the bloodline of. Choose wisely as this will become important in the later Game Phases.]
A new bar appeared.
[O+ Blood] [This will give you the power of self analysis]
[AB+ Blood][This will give you the power of Treasured Eye.]
[A+ Blood][This will give you the power of Mutation.]
Eh, it said to choose wisely but at the end of the day the details are minimal. But if mom and sis will also get to go through this, it's fine if we each choose one of these, I guess?
After asking the system and recieving no help, he chose to go with the A+ option as he associated A+ with good grades. Anyway, his family was O blood in his past life, and he guessed his mother or sister might want those for themselves.
Since he was satisfied with any, and since mutation sounded like an interesting power—A+ it was!
After all, all the other powers sounded like support powers while mutation had a more main character energy to it.
[Your Body is being developed by our best. Welcome to the Arc, potential Guardian No.9999999997, Franz Claudia. We hope the best for you.]
[The Games are brutal. Barely anyone survives past the 3rd Game. We hope you will be one of the rare few who do.]
[Beginning Bodily Integration and World Dropping preparations for you. Do not worry, your companions will be assigned to your proximity as you intended.]
[You will soon wake up on planet Wenzen. The First Game will begin one Earth year from now. Familiarize yourself with your body and your companions in the meantime.]
[Tip: Earth and Wenzen have similar time and physical properties. So Earth year is also the same as Wenzen year.]
[Good luck.]
His senses fell into darkness.