Zane slowly opened his eyes but blinked them quickly as bright, white light assaulted him. As he got used to the brightness, he felt very confused. He looked down at himself, surprised to see that he was in a white robe. He didn't even own a white robe or any robe for that matter. He felt no pain even though he knew he had just been hit by a truck. I must be dead.
The blurriness cleared from his eyesight, and he was surprised to see that he was in the middle of some kind of pavilion or park. There were tables and chairs with people conversing and eating at them. There was even what looked like vendor stalls periodically. "Is this heaven?" Zane said out loud.
"No, this isn't heaven," a voice beside him said.
Zane looked toward the voice and found a trucker next to him. Baseball cap, sunglasses, five-a-clock shadow, a cigarette hanging from his mouth, and a flannel, stiped button up shirt. He was amazed at the stereotype standing next to him. After a few second, he finally spoke, "Where am I then?"
"You're in the Conclave of the Chosen."
"Who are the Chosen?"
The trucker smiled, "Mortal souls that have be chosen to reincarnate or transmigrate to other worlds. This is where the Gods come to shop for heroes."
Zane now noticed flashes of light beyond the tables and stalls around him. He saw more areas like the one he was standing in. Tiles set in a large circle with intricate design embedded in them. He was standing in the center of the tiles, as were the other people brought by the light. However, groups of people crowded around the others that were standing in the middle.
"Why is there no one around me?" Zane asked.
"Because they are mad at you," the trucker said.
"Why would they be mad at me?"
"Because you were distracting me."
Zane looked at him, confused. "Who are you?"
"I am the God of Reincarnation and Transmigration," the Trucker said. "At least, as it has to do with heroes. I don't bother with normal people. I believe your friend told you about me. On your world I'm known as Truck-Kun."
Zane grunted. "So, you're the one I've been dodging for the last six months."
Truck-Kun nodded. "I've never had anyone dodge me for that long. I was getting very frustrated."
"Why were you so set to get me? Why didn't you just move on?"
Truck-Kun chuckled. "That would've been the easiest thing to do, but I've got a reputation to uphold. I've never not gotten whoever I chose. It would have made me look bad. Of course, I could have just let you die the way you were supposed to, but that's boring."
Zane looked at him, "What do you mean, how I was supposed to die?"
"Do you think I go around choosing random people to kill?" Truck-Kun said. "I only take people who will die soon. You had an aggressive form of cancer that was going to kill you within a month."
"I didn't feel anything."
"That's because the symptoms hadn't started yet. They would have manifested in the next couple of days after my first attempt to claim you."
"Why didn't they then?"
"Because I was going to claim you," Truck-Kun said. "If you died a normal death, I would have missed my chance to snatch you. I couldn't have that happen." Truck-Kun started to laugh as he shook his head. "Then it took six months to corner you so that I could claim you. You got five more months of life on Earth because of your skills. I can't imagine how much you messed up the timeline. By the end, I was as impressed as I was annoyed."
"I am good," Zane said with a smirk. "So, you go around killing people and bring their souls here to make them heroes in other worlds?"
"Pretty much."
"What do you get out of this?" Zane asked. "Surely you don't do this for nothing."
Truck-Kun shook his head. "I receive energy every time they receive a soul from here. Also, they must agree to allow me to take souls from their worlds."
"Why would these gods need souls from other worlds," Zane said. "Can't they bless and empower their own people?"
"Not to the extent they need to. Souls that come through my realm are blessed with a greater capacity for power and, because they are from a different world, the universal rules of non-interference are looser and allow the gods to give greater blessings."
Zane nodded. "So, if souls here are so valuable, surely one of these gods would want to choose me."
"Your right, they did want to choose you, but you were already chosen."
"By who?"
Truck-Kun gave him a smirk. "By me. You're going to help gain access to worlds I can't right now."
Zane groaned. "Do I not get a choice in this?"
"Of course you get a choice. We don't force souls."
Zane looked up, thinking. "So, what do I get out of this?"
"One, you get to go to new worlds. Experience their cultures and differences. Two, you'll gain access to powers and abilities that you never thought possible. Three, you get to help people. You get to be the hero."
Zane chuckled. "That means I'll have to fight the evil in these worlds. Battles, fighting, war, and death. Possibly death in horrible ways. Am I wrong?"
Truck-Kun shook his head. "There's always an up and down to everything."
"What happens if I refuse?"
"Your soul is returned to the God of your world and he does with it as he wills. Whether that's moving you into another realm or reincarnating you, I don't know. I don't pay that much attention to what gods do on their worlds."
"Are those my only options?" Zane said.
"Yep. If I hadn't of chosen you, you'd be with the God of your world and be doing whatever it is he would have you do."
"Well, that sounds boring," Zane said. "I think I'll take my chances with you."
"Excellent."
"So, what exactly do you need my help with?"
Truck-Kun smiled. "You are going to be my demo."
"Your demo? What am I demonstrating?"
"You will show the stubborn gods of these other worlds how valuable a hero can be."
Zane rubbed his eyes. "I'm product placement?"
"Well, I don't know if I would…not really…that a bit…" Truck-Kun sighed. "Yeah, pretty much."
Zane started laughing. "Whatever. So, do I receive my blessings from you or from the gods of wherever you send me."
"Both. The blessings you receive from each of us will help you with the different things we need you to do."
Zane looked around. "I don't see any other gods near us. When will they get here?"