Hi, my name is Michael Bianco, I'm 21 years old. Circumstances have brought us to this very moment, the moment I realize I am standing in a completely white room, where no end seems to appear in the distance.
If my memory is correct, I was just reading a book in my room a moment ago, so I'd like to think I'm not dead—unless I got a cardiac arrest without knowing. Who knows? Life is a bitch sometimes.
Anyways, it was painless nonetheless, so I guess there are worse forms to go. What I'm intrigued by is why I'm in this so heavenly place? I thought hell was waiting for me already.
"Don't fear, Michael."
A strange voice invades the room, like an echo in the distance, but also very close. Creepy. The thing that appears in front of me confirms I am probably going to be judged for my crimes.
A tall, white figure, faceless and vibrant to the human eye, stands a few meters in front of me. Naked maybe? With the hands behind his back. It should be impossible to see it considering how the whole room blinds my sight by the glow of light coming from everything at the same time, but the body contour of this thing makes it easy for me to distinguish where he is.
"So, who are you again? Are you an Angel? Look, I didn't have time to repent of my sins so I think it's an injustice for me to go like that."
"I'm not an Angel, Michael. You are not dead in the first place. You are suspended in time. In this plane, a year is equivalent to a second of your world."
"Hmm, so you are saying I'm not dreaming?"
"You are not. I took you from your body and put you in this place for a purpose—a deal, if you want to call it like that."
This is clearly a consequence of eating the brownies my roommate gave me 2 days ago. Wait, am I hallucinating I'm getting a job? Lame.
"A deal? What kind of deal? Look, I am not practicing my career right now, ok? I'm looking at new experiences."
"That's for sure. I know about your passion for writing books, Michael. I'm quite interested in them."
Yeah so, what the fuck—how does this Lovecraft's shiny entity know about that? I mean, I gotta say I'm quite good, but it's quite embarrassing. It's a secret not even my family knows.
"Mmhm, yeah I don't do commission, pal, and if I did, I don't think you can pay for them. I mean no offense, but you look like you pay in souls and I really need dollars right now."
As I try to explain to that thing my point, he pulls from God knows where a manga—the first volume of a series. It's quite hard to see thanks to all the light.
"Are you familiar with My Hero Academia?"
Asks the thing, handing me the copy. I doubt for a second but end up opening it. To my surprise, it's completely empty.
"Let me introduce myself first, and then we will talk accordingly."
He takes a moment for me to take my eyes off the empty pages and look at him again.
"My name is He Who Wanders, but for short you can call me The Wanderer. I can travel dimensions, looking for people like you, with enough imagination to change the end of a history—for my own entertainment, of course. In exchange, I offer them a deal they can't say no to."
He says, extending his arms to each side. A golden aura seems to appear behind him, and in his faceless head I can sense him... smiling?
"Right, so you want me to change the end of My Hero Academia? Like, writing a fanfic is not my best field, but aight, I can give it a shot."
The so-called Wanderer laughs at me, softly but in a friendly manner, shaking his head in a negative way.
"You don't seem to understand. It's okay—not all days you get this chance. When I mean changing the history of a world, I mean literally. You will be reborn in a new body inside of the history. Outside of it, of course, you will have to find a way to interfere in the main events, to save the characters that perish inside of it."
"Mmhm, so, if I accept this deal, if I live inside of that world, and if I end up saving and changing the history as you like—"
I say, taking a moment to catch my breath and make clear my interest in the proposal before looking at him with a serious expression.
"What do I get?"
"You, Michael Bianco, get not only the experience of your life, but half of the money you make inside that world."
My head turned upside down in a moment. He got me, was the only thing I got to think. He knew I was having trouble finding a job, considering I wanted to live from my books but also had to pay rent, and food, and my college debt and...
Let's not think about that right now.
When you look briefly at the deal it's impossible to think anything is bad about it. A new life, in another world, clearly less boring than the one I'm living in, and half of the money I get inside of it... but something feels off.
"So what do you say?"
He asks, extending a hand to me. Seal the deal, huh? Well, even if this is a dream, even if this is just a product of those brownies, hell, even if this is a trap of some sort, I really don't have anything to lose. Maybe that's why he chose me in the first place.
So yeah, fuck it, let's give it a try.
"Please, make it fun for me too."
I shake his hand with a smile. He trembles in what I think is excitement as a hole appears in that shiny world. Before I knew it, I'm already falling in that pit.
Darkness invades my vision, as I look around. An echo in the distance tells me I'm trapped.
The fall didn't last long before I distinguish a light below me, an exit to this place. I let myself fall, and after some moments...
A cry came from an unknown direction.