It was a calm evening in Osaka, Japan. John Hayashi, a nineteen-year-old Japanese-American man with short, dark brown hair and hazel eyes. He wore blue jeans and a black long sleeve shirt, hurried down the city sidewalk. As he arrived at a small, blue two-story house, his excitement about something was palpable. He quickly entered through the front door, wiping the sweat from his face, “I’m gonna finally gonna do it, I’m gonna ask Yuki out!” he proudly declared to himself, having reached the height of his confidence. Removing his watch, he gently placed it inside a small drawer of the table, where a laptop sat alongside a game disc cover labeled ‘Guns Online’, while a portrait of a much younger John holding a violin, positioned between his parents, hung above the workplace.

  He looked at the picture for a moment, “A pretty good memory. Best and Last performance I ever had.” he reminisced. “One of the few times I got to see my… oh no, I forgot I can’t be late or I’ll miss her!”. John rushed up the stairs in a sense of urgency, entering his room. He promptly undressed and took a brief shower. He finished and applied deodorant before changing into a white T-shirt and a new pair of jeans, and then exited. As he hastened down the stairs, he reminded himself, “Gotta hurry!”, before arriving at the final set of stairs.

  He exited the house, running as fast as he could. After running for what seemed like an eternity, he finally arrived at a small café at the end of a city block. “Damn it,” he said to himself. “I’m just a few minutes late, I hope she didn’t already leave.”

  He then saw a beautiful, young, Japanese woman (around the same age as him) exiting the café. It was Yuki!.

  “Hey, Yuki!” John called out to her.

  “Oh, hi, John.” she replied warmly.

  Panting from running, John took a few seconds to collect his thoughts and catch his breath. “Yuki listen, I have to tell you something.”. He had his hands on his legs, his grip on his jeans tightened as he formed his thoughts into words.

  “Yes, and what is that?”

  John took a deep breath and asked, “Yuki, for the years I’ve known you, I have never felt so comfortable around a person before.”

  “What are you saying?”

  “I like you. Would you like to go out with me sometime?”

  “Sorry,” she said. “No, I’m not ready for a boyfriend just yet. And besides, I’m busy packing for a trip to see my parents in Nara in a few days.”

  John was frozen for a few seconds before responding with, “Oh.”

  “I better go now, bye, John, see you tomorrow.” Yuki said as she walked away, leaving John still standing, staring ahead and watching her walking away.

  After standing there in front of the café for awhile, John slowly walked back to his house. The sun setting as he walked, strangely, he didn’t feel all that let down by this. He was mostly impressed by how he finally built up the courage to talk to a girl. “Well, at least I tried.” he said to himself. “That’s fine, I’ll just remain her friend and be there for her, it’s the least I could do for all she’s done for me.”

  He arrived at his home and inspected his mailbox, finding an envelope from a college. Following a brief pause to open the door, during which he felt a sudden degree of tiredness resulting from his physical activity, John climbed the stairs, stumbling slightly on one of the uppermost steps. He regained his composure and proceeded to his room, “I’ll attend to this tomorrow after work. Hopefully, it’s good news,” he muttered as he placed the envelope on a desk and proceeded to his bathroom. Following another short shower and brushing his teeth, John collapsed onto his bed.

  As morning broke, John arose from his slumber. Having eaten breakfast and obtained a cup of coffee, he began his walk to work, making his way along the sidewalk before passing the café where Yuki was employed. As John walked by the café, he spotted Yuki through one of the windows. He saw her laughing at a co-worker’s joke as she filled a cup of coffee, her face radiant with elegance in the sunlight that poured through the window. “She’s so utterly captivating!” John reflected to himself, her smile and flowing hair mad her irresistibly charming. John then remembered the importance of being on time for work. He walked away from the café and proceeded to the next block, approaching a street crossing shortly after reaching the block’s end.

  It was an extended and grueling day of work. John put in hours of his effort at his office desk, and much like his peers, felt like a zombie by the end of the shift. With barely any breaks, the phrase from his parents stressing the value of hard work that was permanently embedded in his mind kept him going. His primary objective was to attend college, and to achieve this goal, he strove to earn the maximum amount of money possible to pay for his tuition. As the hours passed, his eyes became dry and his body grew weary. Finally, the repetitive workday ended, and he departed after dark. As he departed with a few colleagues, a feeling of guilt washed over him; his peers motivated by familial obligations had a stronger motivation to work extended hours. John, with only his personal and educational ambitions to peruse, felt as if he had left more work for them. It felt disrespectful as he had nothing at home, no one there waiting for him.

  He felt a sense of loneliness, his parents were gone overseas, as they usually were, and his strong desire to be close with someone had been brewing for some time. He thought of Yuki, the girl he had spent a lot of time with in school but now rarely ever sees due to his time as a diligent office worker. He was usually shy around people, especially those of the opposite sex and had barely any friends growing up. He was the perfect example of a nobody: no friends, not many knew him, average class status and salary. Hell, even his own name was as generic as it came.

  Walking down the sidewalk and approaching a pedestrian crossing, John noticed that it was beginning to rain, “Just my luck.” John groaned. The crossing light turned green, prompting John to walk forwards, he kept his head facing the ground as he walked. “I should probably pick up some food for dinner tonight and some for tomorrow, I’m running out.” he reminded himself. As he walked, his phone started ringing. John pulled out his phone and saw that his mother was calling. His mother told him that she and his father were coming back to Japan from America. John told her that he couldn’t wait to see them since it’s been nearly two years since he’s seen them. “Oh yeah, I just remembered the letter the college sent. I should read it when I get back home.” John said.

  As he neared the end of the walkway, he observed lights shining on the road he was walking on, probably a car waiting for John to complete his crossing. Still, something about these lights did not seem right; they intensified and the area they lit up grew larger at a rapid pace. John then looked up and faced the direction the lights were coming from. But before he could discern the source, a truck struck him with incredible force, sending his body flying forwards. He landed on the ground, his head impacting on the asphalt street, causing a laceration to his forehead, which allowed blood to seep out and irritate his eyes as it flowed down his brow.

  John lay motionless on the ground, displaying clear signs of severe injury; blood from a large gash on his back poured out, and his chest appeared to have suffered brutal impact, as if struck by a sledgehammer. He gazed up at the sky, feeling raindrops on his face, and his ears detected the faint sound of approaching emergency vehicles. “I can’t feel my legs.” he said weakly, a pathetic wheeze followed as his mangled lungs desperately attempted to keep functioning despite the critical condition. “This is how I die?” he said to himself. “I was expecting something a little less painful, but whatever.”. His eyes then slowly started to close as his breathing and his heartbeat became slower. “Goodbye. Yuki, Mom, and Dad, I wish you all a long, happy life.” he said with his final breath.

  A loud, jarring sound, “BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP,” filled the air as the alarm clock rang. “Where am I?” John questioned, his voice filled with a sense of disorientation as he slowly opened his eyes to discover himself waking up in his bedroom. John sat up, overcome with panic, and inspected his body for injuries, but discovered none. Relived, thinking it was all a dream, he rose to his feet and opened the bedroom, revealing not the interior of his house, but instead an infinite white void as far as the eye could see. There were no buildings, no soil or grass, and no sky. Only white.

  John was speechless and confused, he looked to his sides and then behind him, noticing that the door he had come from had disappeared, “What is this place?” he whispered.

  “You my friend, are in the void.” said a male voice from a distance.

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  John jumped and quickly looked around to see where the voice came from but saw nothing, “Who was that?” he called out.

  “Hey, newbie, I’m over here.” the voice replied, seemingly closer than before.

  John glanced to his right and observed a large, white, four-story pyramid with a white, square-shaped throne positioned at its apex. Seated horizontally on the throne was a man attired in all black. His outfit was a form-fitting ensemble that made his muscular figure stand out, complete with black boots and Kevlar glove, as well two bandoliers worn vertically across his torso and a belt securing two gun holsters at his waist. He was equipped with ammunition and kukris on both his bandoliers and belt, supplemented by knives secured on his upper arms and lower legs. Additionally, his face was shrouded by a dark gray mask, which had no visible openings for his eyes, nose, or mouth.

  “I see Truck-kun got ya,” the man said, getting off of the throne and walking down the pyramid. “I swear, you leave em’ alone for two minutes and he’s already killed someone.”

  The man then walked up to John and extended his hand to him, “Hi, I’m DeathKill: capitol D, capitol K. Don’t you dare call me DK, I don’t want to get sued by that Japanese company, which will not be named.” DeathKill started circling around John. “Now, I know you were probably expecting a hot chick with blue hair or God. And I don’t mean to brag, but I’m a much better choice.”

  “I’m sorry, but where am I, Heaven?” John said, stepping back from DeathKill.

  “To be honest, I really don’t know, but this is far from Heaven. It is called many things, but you can just call it ‘The Void’.” DeathKill answered.

  “The void?” John said confused. “So you’re saying I’m dead?”

  “Well, of course, if you weren’t dead, we wouldn’t be talking, now would we?”

  “So what happens to me now?”

  “You are going to be reincarnated!” DeathKill said enthusiastically.

  “What do you mean by that?” John asked.

  “Jeez, haven’t you ever heard of isekai?”

  “Not really.”

  “What!?” DeathKill exclaimed in disbelief. “You mean you’ve never heard of isekai?”

  John couldn’t answer, he was too overwhelmed with confusion to properly form a response.

  “No matters, Buster bear.” DeathKill said, walking away from John. “You’ll know what an isekai is soon enough.”

  DeathKill walked towards a huge computer monitor with a keyboard. He sat on a small chair in front of the monitor and started typing. “Now let’s see what world would be good for you.” he said as typed away, muttering to himself as he shuffled through each world.

  “Wait, why am I here, what is this ‘void’?” John asked.

  “Well you see, when someone dies, they don’t go to the afterlife right away. Instead, they come here to the void, and get one last chance at another life.”

  “Then what does that make you?”

  “I’m here as the guy that chooses where the people that come here go to. It’s a boring job, but it’s not the worst thing ever.”

  “A job,” John asked. “Who are your higher ups then?”

  “That would be the isekai gods.”

  “Isekai gods?”

  “I know, lame name, but it’s what they’re called, so if you don’t like that name then take it up with the author.” DeathKill replied.

  “What author?” John asked, even more confused than before.

  The monitor then bleeped, “Yes! I got a world that hasn’t been taken yet.” DeathKill said excitedly. He then got up from his chair and walked over to a large, square shaped metal door. He then typed on a small keyboard next to the door.

  “Alright, let’s get you out of here before someone else shows up.” DeathKill said as he finished typing and opened the door, revealing a dark room.

  “Wait, wait, this is all happening so fast, I just died and now you’re saying that I can live another life. Why can’t I just go back to my first life?”

  “Buddy, that is not how isekai works, now get in so I can finish watching Frozen.” DeathKill said, pushing John into the room. “And don’t worry; you’ll still have all of your original memories from your previous life. I don’t know why, that sounds really traumatizing to have. But I don’t make the rules!”

  John quickly exited the room, only to be instructed by DeathKill to re-enter. John refused and fell to his knees. Overcome with desperation, he pleaded with DeathKill to restore his former state, even if it meant living with disabilities caused by the accident that took his life.

  DeathKill, annoyed y the spectacle of an adult man begging at his feet, knelt down and awkwardly put his hand on John’s shoulder. “Look man, I’m sorry you died and didn’t get to experience life. I really am.” he said. “But, take my advice: you didn’t get to live your life. So what? But you know, you have got another chance to live, that’s good. Now, you get in that room and live your new life, alright?”

  John stood up, wiping a few tears from his face, and agreed to be reincarnated.

  “Wonderful!” DeathKill exclaimed, getting behind John and started pushing him towards the room.

  DeathKill pushed John into the room. He then warned John that if he saw a blue, oval-shaped, diamond necklace with a dragon symbol on it, he was not to buy, wear, break, or go anywhere near it. John asked him why, but DeathKill didn’t give him a reason, only saying that it was because he said so.

  “Why are you doing all of this?” John asked.

  “Because, isekai never dies.” DeathKill said, closing the metal door. DeathKill sighed and said to himself, “It just reincarnates into another show.” before locking the door and heading towards the monitor.

  In the dark room, John looks around the room, seeing nothing but darkness. Then, lights from the room’s ceiling turned on, forming a path leading towards a small table with a laptop that looked a lot like his back in Japan, with red glowing keys on it. John walked to the table and saw that on the laptop screen was the word “Enter Password” in red colored letters in the middle of the screen. He then sat down on a small chair in front of the table. He saw a yellow piece of paper taped to the table with the numbers 33005 written on it. He typed in the numbers, causing the laptop to change the red colored “Enter Password” prompt to a green colored “Welcome, please press Enter”. John then pressed the enter key, causing the screen to go black and the lights on the ceiling to turn off.

  Suddenly, the part of the room in front of John started to glow in colors of white and red as a vortex made from pixels of all sizes appeared in the center of where John was facing. Shocked, John stood up, but before he could do anything else, he was sucked into the vortex. As he traveled down the white and red tunnel-like interior of the vortex, he started to hear a woman, moaning and screaming in pain in the distance. The sounds of pain continued, becoming louder and louder as John traveled closer to a bright white light at what seemed to be the end of the tunnel. John then started yelling as he headed closer to the light at incredible speed, and with a flash of bright light, exited the tunnel. Darkness and a brief silence was all that remained.

  The carriage’s wheel hit a piece of burning wood, jolting John awake. “What? Where am I?”. Disoriented ans his vision blurry from the flash of light, he looked around. The first thing he saw was the beautiful night sky, stars littered across the vast canvass of black. He tried to move but was unable to, feeling as if his body was tightly wrapped up in something. He turned his head to the right and saw a town engulfed in flames, with the fire raging intensely enough for John to feel the heat on his face even though he was a safe distance away from the town. The cacophony of screaming and combat filled his ears. As his vision finally cleared from its blurriness, he averted his gaze from the horrific scene. He looked up again to see two unfamiliar faces staring down at him.

  It was a young couple, consisting of a male and a female, both of whom appeared to be in their late teens. Their, physical characteristics, including skin tone and facial features, were typical of those found among people of European descent. The pair were attired in sleepwear, with the woman wearing a whitish grey night gown that exhibited heavy sweat stains, and the man clad in a white, charcoal-stained undershirt accompanied by brown suspender pants. The man’s sturdy build and dark brown hair were offset by his distinctive light orange eyes. The woman’s long, flowing light brown locks cascaded down, framing her bright blue eyes, which conveyed a mix of exhaustion and relief, suggesting she had endured a painful ordeal and emerged triumphant.

  “Where am I,” John said to himself. “Where did that guy send me?”. John could hear the man talking with four other people on the carriage, but unfortunately for John, they were speaking in a language he couldn’t understand. The only thing he could understand in the people’s voices was their emotions: a mix of fear, relief, sorrow, and anger. John felt sympathetic, “What happened to them?”, he tried to form some kind of audible response to get the people's attention but, quite strangely, the words coming from his mouth just sounded like the cries of an infant. Hearing the cries, the woman instinctively cradled John in her arms and tried to calm him down.

  John, being more confused than he had ever been in his life, looked down at his hands (which were the only part of his body that he could move) and saw that his hands were tiny like the size of an infant, “I’m a baby?” he said utterly bewildered. “Well, I guess it’s not the worst way to be reincarnated. From the looks of it, I’d have to guess that I was born very recently, that would explain why this woman looks so worn out.”

  The man, who John deduced was his father, gently put his hand on John’s cheek and said something to the woman. The woman replied in an agreeing tone and together said two words John understood: John Beru.