- The Perfect Isekai Candidate
It is the middle of the night and while everyone is peacefully asleep, a man in his fifties just opened his eyes and is contemplating if he should answer the ringing phone on a table not far from his head. If it was his wife calling, it would be easy to grab and turn it off but judging from how many times it rang, he was positive it is work related.
The man let a long sigh before then turned on the lamp and answered the phone.
“What do we have?”
“Good evening, Dr. Miranda. A perfect candidate was brought in this evening and had a mild stroke. His body is predicted to collapse if he experiences another stroke so I think we need to encapsulate him now.”
“A perfect candidate? That’s the first time I’m hearing that from you. Tell me about him.”
“Forty two year old male, a Point-9 Nerve Gear Compatibility, MMORPG game addict, single, no known friends, detached from society, obese, the list goes and to summarize, he will volunteer to be reincarnated in an another world even without our invitations.”
Upon hearing the nerve gear compatibility, Dr. Miranda’s eyes squinted as he knew that it was indeed the perfect candidate he had been looking for.
“I’ll be there in an hour.” Dr. Miranda stretched his hand then hung up the phone.
As someone related to the creator of the game, he had been forced to study the world of Isekais. For as early as 1984, ideas of people being reincarnated or transported to another world started and further gain popularity between 2010 and 2030. And most of these stories starts with ordinary guys whose presence is only known by flies and cockroaches then suddenly got transported to another world by some weird miracle but mostly being hit by a truck and when they get to the other world, they become the sun at which the world revolves around.
But is that really the case when someone gets reborn or transported to another world?
For the past ninety years, experts across the globe had been studying the brain activity of every participant of Baru Rugee and not once did they come across a data suggesting that a subject has mystical powers which is completely different from the brain patterns of the first player.
While there are differences between the brain activities per subject, they all follow the same pattern.
They start as babies, then toddlers, going to school, adolescence, adulthood, then finally, the brain activity stops which indicates dying of old age. This all happens in a span of 3 to six years before their brain activity stops and die.
Except for the first player, he had a completely different and unique brain activity and everyone believes this is the key to MM-X. If only they could replicate this one more time.
More than ten thousand people had volunteered to participate in the experiment and two thirds had already been cremated but a third is still being kept for further experimentations.
All in the name of Mysterious Matter X, an item capable of healing all diseases and have the ability to rejuvenate one’s body.
But for almost nine decades, there had not been any progress in studying Baru Rugee Game until one day, someone pointed out that they have all been sending participants with low Nerve Gear Compatibility.
So when he heard Point 9 Nerve Gear Compatibility which is incredibly rare, it sparked his curiosity and excitement once more as the first player and the same compatibility level. Maybe this time they will get a different result.
After almost thirty minutes, Dr. Miranda arrived at the studio while wearing his pajamas. The security was tight but his secretary was already at the gate waiting for him.
“ Coffee?” A woman in glasses smiled while holding a cup of coffee and folder. Technology came a long way and instead of digital pads, nothing beats the security a paper has to offer.
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“Thank you. Where’s he?” Miranda took the cup and the folder her secretary was holding.
“Medical Compartment Three where a team of surgeons are on standby.”
Dr. Miranda and his secretary entered the building and after walking a few halls, they finally arrived at the room where the participant is resting.
Miranda ignored the group of doctors at the entrance and softly knocks then slowly entered the room.
“Is it true that my soul is really being transported to another world?”
As soon as Miranda closed the door behind him, he heard the participant spoke.
“Should I call you Reginald? Or Regs?”
“People just call me Reggie.”
Miranda looked at Reginald lying on a hospital bed with his hands behind his head.
“I heard you don’t want to call your mother or your brother. What about someone you hate? At least you could make their lives miserable one final time.”
“Ha ha ha” Reginald curled then lifted his huge body and sat on bed. “You’re very funny, doctor. I was watching your interview earlier and I can’t help but wish I have your ability to make people laugh. Do you think I’d be able to learn that skill on the world you are transferring me to?”
*Sips
Miranda took a sip from his coffee then looked at Reginald.
“Truth be told, I’m not at all being funny. It just so happens that the way I say things and the things I say sometimes fall under the category that make people laugh.”
Reginald forced a smiled and did not respond.
“You know, we won’t be officially starting until next week. There is no rush and if you wish to be able to see your mother or your little brother, we can have someone pick them up or we can arrange a confe…”
“There is no need to console a guy like me, doctor. If there is a person I’d like to speak with, then it would be my ex-girlfriend but pathetic I may be, I’m not that kind of guy. My only wish is to start the uplink tonight, now if that’s possible.”
In the past, Dr. Miranda would persist in consoling participants but after speaking to hundreds of them bravely accepting their fate, he had become indifferent but still tries to convince them and show compassion. This time he did not respond and prepared the wheelchair.
“Can you stand up?”
“I think I’ve embarrassed myself enough already. I can walk.”
Mirada smiled in response then said, “Alright. Follow me.”
“Prepare for uplink.” Upon opening the door, Miranda instructed his secretary then walked across the hall.
Meanwhile, Reginald followed silently. In truth, he wanted to take off his hospital gown and parade his monstrous and grotesque fats.
Initially, he was afraid but the more someone talks him into being transported to another world, the more he got excited to the point it caused him a mild stroke. He had always wished to be able to go back in time and correct his mistakes but hearing he will completely start a life in a new world, he felt it was a blessing he had been waiting for.
After a few minutes, they finally arrived at the room where the game capsules are located.
There are currently fifteen of them lying in one big room and had been perfectly preserved.
Upon entering the room, Reginald was surprised on the sizes of the game capsules lying on the floor like coffins for real pigs.
“You can choose one to your liking.”
Reginald did not respond and walked straight towards the center most capsule then pressed the black button to open it up.
“Do you need assistance positioning yourself?”
“I’m not a kid.”
Dr. Miranda watched as Reginald positions himself the capsule. This is his first time seeing someone actually excited to participate in the game knowing that they will die in the real world. For a person to be excited, Reginald must have gone through a lot.
“I think I’m ready.”
Miranda looked at Reginald one last time.
“Remember, we cannot communicate with you while you are in the game but we can read your thoughts. If you need to relay something, bite each of your ten fingers.”
“Got it.”
“Are you sure you don’t have any wishes?”
Reginald slowly inhaled and after deep breath, he sighed.
“Is anyone able to access my phone? There is…”
“You mean this?” Miranda interrupted and took a photo from the folder and slowly showed it in front of Reginald. Having done this more than a hundred times, he had seen all sort of people and while most of them wants to be able to hear their loved ones’ voice one final time, Reginald was slightly different but predictable.
As soon as Reginald saw the picture of his ex-girlfriend, his eyes began to form tears. It is not because he still loved her but he curse the day he chose to immerse himself into games to forget her.
He is just happy that he could truly finally have a clean start.
“Thank you.”
Miranda slowly closed the capsule then pressed the start button. There was slight electrical noise indicating the uplink had already started so he exhaled in relief.
The truth is, it is still unclear whether a new world really awaits Reginald. Data suggests there is life on the other side but having analyzed all results from more than ten thousand participants, there are currently 42 known patterns each one will experience.
But what does not make sense is for all participants falling under one pattern have exactly the same brain activity as if they have been pre-programmed. And the biggest problem is that none of them ever tried to bite their fingers like they have been instructed to.
While it leaves a bad taste in his mouth to have humans as test subjects, Miranda just hopes that this endeavor will bear result this time.