What looked like an ancient palace, exactly like something from old Greece, stood in the void. Darkness stretched endlessly in every direction, and the only source of light was the grand structure itself, glowing softly as if it existed outside of reality.
And inside it… stood me.
Or something that looked like me.
I looked down at my hands. Transparent. Faint. Like a projection rather than a real body.
"What the…"
My voice echoed strangely, as if the space itself wasn't meant for sound. I looked around again, trying to understand where I was, then a thought suddenly struck me.
No way… is this my soul?
Am I getting reincarnated?
Strangely, I wasn't completely surprised. Come on—who hasn't read a few novels in this day and age? Truck-kun, reincarnation, systems… it was practically a genre of its own.
But really… me?
I was just a university student. Nothing extraordinary. No tragic past, no grand achievements. Just… normal.
Still, if this really was a second chance, then I had to take it.
Humans are strange creatures. We live for decades thinking we can change ourselves, become better, become something more—but even at the end of our lives, most of us barely change at all. A full transformation… that probably only happens to a very small percentage of people.
I was still thinking about that when suddenly, two gigantic wheels appeared in front of me.
I stared at them for a few seconds, then walked closer.
On the first wheel, written in golden letters, were the words: Golden fingers
On the second wheel, different names began to appear—familiar names. Movies, shows, worlds.
I approached carefully. Seeing no danger, I grabbed the first wheel.
"Oh God… my gambling luck has always been average, but just this once, please give me something good."
I spun the wheel.
As it rotated, familiar terms appeared under the pointer:
Harem System.
Love System.
OG System.
Twelve Talismans.
Infinity Stones.
Dragon Bloodline.
Phoenix Bloodline.
It looked like every overpowered cheat ability had been thrown into this wheel.
One minute.
That's how long it took for the wheel to finally slow down, but it felt much longer as I watched the pointer tick past each ridiculous option.
Finally, it stopped.
Template System.
I let out a long breath.
"Phew… good, good. Definitely overpowered… but why is it still connected to luck? Damn it…"
I calmed myself down and walked toward the second wheel with slightly nervous steps.
"Please no DC, no Warhammer 40k or something insane… give me something easier. The Rookie, Limitless… something not too dangerous…"
I steadied myself and spun the second wheel—the wheel that would decide where I would live from now on.
As it spun, memories of my previous life flashed through my mind.
University had been good. Honestly, most of my life had been smooth. I never really suffered like most main characters in novels. No bullying, no dramatic revenge stories, no face-slapping plots. Just a normal life.
If there was something different about me, though, it was probably my empathy—or rather, the lack of it.
I wasn't a psychopath. I understood emotions. I could feel happiness, sadness, excitement, anger. I laughed, I enjoyed things, I had dreams and preferences like anyone else.
But when it came to other people… there was always a distance.
If something bad happened, I would recognize that it was bad. I would even feel sad about it. But I rarely felt the urge to step in, to help, to involve myself. It was like watching a movie—you understand what the characters feel, but you're still sitting safely in your seat, just observing.
Even if I saw something terrible happening right in front of me, I knew I should feel more than I did. I knew what the "correct" emotional response was. But that urge to act, to interfere, to sacrifice for a stranger… it rarely appeared.
I observed more than I participated.
Still, there were moments when something did reach me.
My mother smiling at my graduation.
Opening my university acceptance letter.
Watching something completely unexpected happen in front of me—those rare moments when reality didn't follow the pattern I expected.
Those moments felt… different. Stronger. Almost foreign, like emotions I wasn't used to feeling.
The wheel suddenly began to slow, and my thoughts snapped back to the present. My eyes focused on the pointer as it stopped on a single title:
The Vampire Diaries (Variant)
"The TVD… variant? What does that mean?"
"System? Are you there?" I called out into the empty space. "If someone can answer my questions, it should be you."
Ding.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
System initializing.
Please wait, Host.
Any questions can be brought to my Avatar.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
"Avatar? What ava—"
A hand suddenly landed on my shoulder.
I flinched and turned around instantly.
"Who—"
The rest of my words got stuck in my throat.
Standing behind me was a woman who looked exactly like Megan Fox from Transformers, wearing rather revealing clothes and looking straight at me.
For a moment, my brain completely stopped working.
Okay… wow.
"Uh… hello," I said after a few seconds. "I'm guessing you're the system avatar. Why do you look like this?"
She smiled slightly.
"Hello, Host. To answer your question, this form was chosen because your preference for this appearance is stronger than for any other. Please ask any questions you want. I will try to answer to the best of my ability. However, be aware—after this meeting, we will not see each other again for a very long time. Most of the time, the system will appear only as an emotionless panel."
"W-wait," I said, still a bit thrown off. "You're saying I chose this form? And what do you mean we won't meet again in the future?"
"Yes, Host. This is related to the type of system I am. As a Template System, there is generally no need for me to remain active. Also, before we proceed with your questions, please spin for your first template. This will affect the direction of our conversation."
I let out a breath and nodded.
"Alright…"
There were so many things I wanted to ask. What was a variant world? Why was it a template and not something like a multiverse template system? Did that mean what I could draw was limited? When exactly would I be reincarnated? When would we meet again?
But I forced myself to calm down and focus.
Clearly, my thoughts weren't completely hidden, because the avatar smiled and explained:
"Don't worry, Host. The reason it is called a Template System is simply naming preference. What you draw will influence the world you are about to enter because of the variant world you selected. I will explain more after you complete this step. And don't worry—you will draw from an infinite number of templates."
I took a deep breath and looked at the syetm, in the time it took me to converse with the avatar, it had finished installing. Now there was no longer wheel as I imagined instead it was a one line that looked like a lot machine with a read button.
I touched it lightly.
It took less than a few second to slow down and stopped onto the image of white wings.
"Contratulations Host for drawing Archangel Micheal Template"