"Hello? Helloooo...?"
Leon called out into the void.
This has to be a coma. I've been here for so long. I haven't heard of any coma being like this but still! What else could it be?.....
One second he was waiting at the bus stop. The next, jumping in front of a truck to push a kid out of its path. Now he's here, endless black nothing. No pain, no fear, no time, just... waiting.
I haven't heard of any afterlife like this either...it must be a coma.
A voice came from behind him. Cold. Monotone. Ambivalent. No cruelty or kindness in the tone despite the words that it carried and the one who spoke them.
"You have my apologies for taking this long to find you."
Leon turned toward the voice, only to find himself face to face with death itself: a massive, 10 foot tall skeleton looming over him. Hellish fire burned inside its empty sockets. Wisps of black smoke carried screaming faces, swirling like a river that wove the fabric of its robes. In its left hand, it held a twisted scythe resting on its shoulder. The handle was a single, slender bone with a skull at the top. The scythe's blade was a long, curved obsidian edge that emerged from the mouth of the skull.
"I feel like I should be scared, but I'm not... either way, there goes the coma idea...."
"You are handling the news of your death well."
"The news may be grim, but after months in isolation it's strangely comforting… especially knowing death isn't the end."
"You have been here longer than that. Time flows differently in Limbo."
"Wait, how long?! Also are you like the Grim reaper? A Death Go-"
"I am not God. I am merely an Overseer. There are many fallen Overseers who in their hubris claim to be the One. Refrain from associating me with them. In your new life, I would also advise you to be weary of such beings."
"Sorry. I'll remember that... You said 'new life'? So I'm being reincarnated? In a different world?! Witches, Dragons, Princesses, the works?!"
"That is correct."
The Overseer turned around and began to walk as it spoke.
"Since you were hit by a truck, law dictates that you are to be sent to a new world and reincarnated rather than continuing forward."
"Hold up! You get reincarnated into another world if you get hit by a truck? That's not just an overplayed trope, but an actual cosmic law?"
"Art imitates life, as you mortals say."
"What about the kid I saved then?"
"I can not comment on her life, but know that you did save her that day. Had you not done what you did, she would have gotten reincarnated as a child. The world I oversee is much too cruel for a lone child."
"That's good then. I'm Leon by the way. I kinda forgot to introduce myself."
"A pleasure to make your acquaintance. I am the Overseer of Death for the world in which you are about to be reborn."
"Nice to meet you... So hey, in stories from my world, whenever someone gets reincarnated, they have overpowered abilities. What do I get? Do I have anything?"
"No. You are quite average. However, you did spend a large amount of time here. Souls rest in between lives. You becoming lost here seems to have slightly improved your Vitality."
"....so does that make me like super strong? Hard to kill?"
The Overseer turned around and leveled its scythe towards Leon. The hollow eyes of the skull set into the weapon locked onto his. From this angle, the black blade that protruded from its mouth looked almost like a tongue sticking out at him. It taunted outward in cruel mockery, reveling in the sadistic joy of harvested lives, laughing silently at any who dared defy death.
"Two strikes to kill you. The 2nd would be a mercy."
"Oh ok ..ummm... I'm not that great then..."
The Overseer turned back around and continued walking.
"Better than most. But all mortals come to meet death one day."
"...So not really much hope for me to become a hero?..."
"I do not know. That is not within my vision. What I do know is that you weren't supposed to die the day you did. Had someone not asked about you, I would not have come to find you."
"Wait really!? Then why did I die? Who asked about me?"
"I can not say, but in regards to being a hero, being average does not disqualify you from such a possibility."
"So you're saying there's a chance! Is there like an adventurers guild I could go to?!"
"When you arrive, you will find yourself in the forest east of the city Jeif'he. If you are keen on living a life different from the one you just lived, there is a Monster Hunting Guild. Find the Deadliest person there."
The Overseer finally stopped walking. Everything was still an endless void, but Leon had the feeling they had arrived.
"So this is where we part ways huh?. I wish you well..?.. either way, I owe you a great deal, Thank you!"
Leon held out his hand confidently, even though he was unsure whether or not it was okay to shake the Overseer's hand.
The Overseer looked back at him, as if unsure whether it liked the mortal standing before it.
With a sigh, the Overseer reached forward and shook Leon's hand. The bones were neither ice nor fire, but warmth. It was the gentler touch spoken of in tales, where Death was the compassionate guide. Three visages coming together. The indifferent speaker, the cruel scythe, and the comforting caretaker.
"Farewell, mortal. Do your best to avoid me, for I hope we do not speak again for some time."
In an instant, Leon felt the sun blinding him. Wind against his skin. He smelled flowers and the sounds of nature.
He had been reborn in a new world.