James Carter was jolted awake suddenly and when he opened his eyes, it was a familiar ceiling.(An:- 😁)
The room looked exactly like James Carter’s apartment down to the half-empty mug of coffee on the nightstand.
There was only one glaring difference: the front door was wide open, and instead of the dingy hallway of his complex, it revealed the swirling, unfathomable expanse of the infinite cosmos.
James tried to speak, to ask what kind of lucid dream this was, but his vocal cords refused to work.
He was completely mute.
“Do not bother trying to speak, mortal,” a voice boomed.
It didn’t come from the doorway; it echoed from the walls, the floor, and the ceiling simultaneously.
The voice of a Random Omnipotent Being—a ROB.
“Your situation is highly unusual, but quite simple.
A great hero from another universe, having saved his world countless times, grew weary of magic, gods, and constant battles.
He requested reincarnation into a perfectly mundane, normal world.”
The cosmos outside shifted, flashing with brief colors.
“However,” the ROB continued, “this hero adamantly refused to go through the indignity of being a helpless infant again.
He needed a mature, adult body in a mundane world.
Thus, your body was selected.”
Silence hung in the room.
James couldn’t talk, but his mind raced.
Having read his fair share of webnovels, he instantly recognized the trope.
Usually, it was the other way around—an Earthling taking over a fantasy native’s body.
He supposed it was only fair that the universe doled out some justice for the displaced souls on the other end.
Honestly?
He didn’t feel angry.
He had no real attachments, no burning ambitions left unfinished in his old life.
He accepted his fate with a mental shrug.
“You…you accept this?” The omnipresent voice paused, losing a fraction of its booming omnipotence, replaced by genuine surprise.
“No raging against the heavens?
No demands for your life back?
I must admit, I pity you, James Carter.
Your detachment is a tragedy in its own right.
As a concession, I will allow you one small artifact to take with you, provided it has no offensive capabilities.”
The invisible gag vanished.
James cleared his throat, testing his voice.
“I’ll take an unlimited food summoning tablecloth.”
“A tablecloth?
A rather mundane choice for the cosmos.”
“I don’t know where you’re sending me,” James reasoned logically.
“If I end up in a prehistoric era, a post-apocalyptic wasteland, or a world without agriculture, I don’t want to starve to death on day one.”
“Pragmatic.
Very well.
The artifact is yours,” the ROB agreed.
“However, there is a caveat.
The containers and packaging the food appears in will naturally degrade into dust within two days of being opened.
If left unopened, the package will remain perfectly preserved indefinitely.”
“Deal,” James nodded.
“Now, onto your compensation.
The great hero wished to leave his past entirely behind, which included a mountain of accumulated Karma.
You cannot absorb this Karma directly, but you may use it to draw powers for your next life”
With a burst of ethereal light, a massive spinning wheel materialized in the center of the apartment.
It was divided into countless, microscopic grids.
James leaned in close, noticing the colors: Blue, Purple, Gold,and Rainbow.
There was no White.
No common, trash-tier abilities.
The hero’s Karma was so potent that even the lowest prize was exceptional.
“Spin,” the ROB commanded.
James grabbed the edge of the wheel and pulled down hard.
The colors blurred into a chaotic spectrum before clicking to a halt five separate times.
Gold Grid:Degraded Gamer’s Body.
Purple Grid: Shadowkhan Summoning.(The ninja summoning powers from Jackie Chan Adventures).
Rainbow Grid: God- Tier Healing.
(Absolute restorative magic, including Mass Resurrection—though a mental prompt informed him that resurrection would require a massive expenditure of accumulated Karma).
Rainbow Grid: Master of Shadows.
(The shadow magic and bodily augmentation and other powers from The Eminence in Shadow).
Blue Grid: The Utility Tome.
(A comprehensive collection of utility,household and attack spells from the ‘Harry Potter’ universe).
James blinked at the floating golden text.
“Wait, I landed on a Gold grid, but it gave me a degraded Gamer’s Body?
Why?”
“A complete Gamer’s Body, with infinite stat scaling and absolute emotional suppression, breaks the fundamental reality of most universes,” the ROB explained dryly.
“It is far too overpowered for a mere Gold tier.
The degraded version grants you immunity to physical scarring, mild physical adaptations, mental shield and basic numerical feedback, but you will still feel pain and emotional fatigue.”
James couldn’t even be mad.
He was utterly satisfied.
Healing, utility magic, an army of loyal shadow ninjas, and the overwhelming, edge-lord shadow magic and powers of Cid Kagenou?
He was a one-man army.
He couldn’t help but wonder who that great hero was to have accumulated enough Karma to fund all of this, and why he would ever want to give it up to live a boring life on Earth.
“It is time to determine your destination,” the ROB announced.
A second later, slightly smaller wheel appeared.
This one was covered in text rather than colors.
They are many of his favourite works.
James gave it a swift spin.
It ticked rapidly, slowing down until the flapper stopped squarely on a red grid.
Destination: Marvel Cinematic Universe (Alternate)
James felt his heart drop into his stomach.
He was flabbergasted.
With his new power set, he had fully expected to drop into a standard fantasy world and lord over a kingdom in absolute comfort.
But the MCU?
That place was a magnet for cosmic disasters, alien invasions, and universe-erasing jewelry.
‘I need to keep a low profile,’ James thought frantically.
‘Stay in the shadows, literally.
Build up my Karma, figure out my magic, and stay hidden from all the overpowered beings Radar—’
“Good luck, James Carter,” the ROB interrupted cheerfully.
Before James could even brace himself, an invisible, unstoppable force slammed into his chest and yeeted him backward, right out the open apartment door and into the swirling abyss of the infinite cosmos.