David found it hard to accept his current situation.

He had opened his eyes to find himself sitting at a large table in a marble hall, pressed into an ornate chair by unseen restraints. Nine of the ten other chairs surrounding the table had naked ghosts sitting in them. Their panicked expressions and limited movements told David they were likely sharing his predicament.

But that was not the only problem he had in common with them. A transparent pair of legs greeted him once he turned his eyes downwards.

“…!”

Muteness could also be added to the growing list of disturbing changes that affected him.

His only solace was that the other ghosts acted as confused and panicked as he was. Initially, David joined them in frantically trying to get out of his chair, but this eventually proved to be a fruitless endeavor. Oddly enough his immobility made it easier for him to calm down as there was nothing left to do but calm down and analyze the situation.

Once his heart rate had come down to the low hundreds, David skimmed his field of view for any clues to where or what this place was. The room he found himself in was twice as long as it was wide and tall, comprised of massive marble slabs that had to be larger than most houses he had seen. The only entrance was a massive, ten-meter-tall double door consisting of two marble blocks and decorated with scenes David found hard to make out at this distance. Considering the only empty chair at the table was the one closest to the door he guessed the person who brought him here was going to come through that door at some point.

Nevertheless, before that happened David wanted to find out anything of note. Even if the room itself was devoid of any details that would allow him to learn something besides its owner being ridiculously wealthy, he was still able to turn towards the wooden table for answers.

As his grandparents used to run a small antique shop, a single glance told David that the carpenter who made it was a master of his craft. Although most of it was left unadorned the tabletop had a golden motif skirting its edges. The fine golden lines depicted a lifelike thorny vine skirting the edge of the table until it reached the corners where it wrapped around golden cobras with two clawed hands protruding from them.

While admiring the crisp linework, something that caused him to forget to breathe caught his eyes. One of the serpents at the far end of the table bit at the vines. This caused the long golden thread to inch away from it before expanding and trying to envelop the creature. It took minutes for him to realize he had more pressing matters to solve than observing a game of cat and mouse playing in a perpetual loop, even if the game went against his common sense.

Sitting at the table aside from himself were five men and four women, all either in a state of panic, confusion, contemplation, or embarrassment. Their ages fell between the late twenties to early forties with differing ethnicities. If David had to describe the group, it would be with a few adults, as they had too little in common to easily describe in greater detail. If he were forced to name one uniting factor, it would be that no one was especially fit.

As he turned his attention to the others in the room, he made eye contact with his compatriots. Some tried to communicate by moving their eyes. But since doing so in a room devoid of anything but a table and a door would not go anywhere these fleeting attempts were quick to stop. The lack of options made his panic slowly turn into alertness which in turn became boredom.

Just as David was considering whether to take a nap the two engraved marble slabs were pushed open. His gaze wandered towards the width of the slabs; their sheer size made him swallow hard. They must have been at least half a meter thick; meaning the man in front of him just moved fifty cubic meters of marble with his bare hands.

A voice entering his mind quickly brought David out of his awe.

“Since everyone has calmed down somewhat, we can begin.”

To the ghosts’ surprise a young, brown-haired, East Asian man walked into the room. His long hair tied in a ponytail that reached to his butt contrasted heavily with his white robe.

There was something about the man’s visage that caused the hairs on the back of David’s neck to rise. He was too perfect. Every step the man took was a dance, while every glance of his bright green eyes went right through him, landing on his deepest secrets.

“Here are the ground rules: no matter what you do or say, you will be returned safe and sound at the end of this meeting. After hearing my proposal everyone will get to ask three questions, I recommend you use them wisely. And lastly, you must answer whether you accept or not before I send you away from here. I will not hold your choice against you, but neither am I in the business of giving second chances.”

As the voice that came from everywhere and nowhere continued the man took a seat at the head of the table. His gesturing in line with what was being said all but admitted to being the origin of the words.

With a snap of the man’s fingers, three orbs of differing seize appeared above the table, the two smaller ones slowly orbiting the larger of the set. Their appearance shocked most of the people present, not because of the magical way they came to be but because of their familiarity. Or, more accurately, the three massive patches of green, white, and brown that stood out among the purple that covered most of the largest orb.

It was Andor, the world where Saving Andor took place. The host mercifully gave his guests some time to process this massive bombshell before continuing.

“In my younger days, I happened to have a bit of an argument with some friends about who hailed from the superior species. To settle it once and for all, we populated a world with our original races and equipped it with measuring tools. However, due to the poor planning and meddling, this world is nearing its demise and I’m… ill-suited to directly intervene.”

The voice paused for a bit, it was unclear to David whether it was to give its audience a breather or because he was thinking about how to better phrase the next part.

“So here is my offer, in half a year I will put your souls into the vacant bodies you have chosen on Andor. Twenty years before the apocalypse you are all so familiar with. You will use your knowledge of the local terrain and people to rapidly increase your strength and status and lessen the impact of the “divine disaster” as you have dubbed it. After that, you can use your power and wealth to live in endless luxury. Or you can become tyrants obsessed with world domination for all I care. So long as you don’t try to eradicate all life on Andor you are free to do whatever you want.”

David was staring blankly ahead as he digested the man’s offer. Although logically speaking his first act should have been doubting the validity of his host’s words, David did not. The man had pulled what he assumed to be his soul into wherever this was, so there hardly was a reason to lie.

Instead of worrying about the truth of the offer David went over all that had been said. If the locations of treasures and ruins in the game were accurate, he would have little trouble becoming a figure of note. It would be no different from knowing the winning lottery numbers in advance. Provided he could get to them without being killed by bandits or monsters.

But should he give up his life on earth for this opportunity?

On one side he had a job he hated, a couple of friends that had grown distant over the years, and his loving parents and siblings. On the other was a world of infinite possibilities with a chance at saving millions, not to mention his omniscience before the butterfly effect kicked in. As much as he hated saying it, the math wasn’t in earth’s favor.

Lucian Stokes’ sacrifice was still fresh in his memory. And if that was real, it was his responsibility to lend him his aid.

“Take some time to think things through. You have as much as you need.”

Already having made up his mind, David’s eyes went towards his host once more. Now that he wasn’t shell-shocked by the man’s strength, the lack of small movements caught his attention. His host’s blinking seemed to be done on purpose while his clothes showed no folding creases as he moved. Additionally, his chest lacked the regulated motions a living person should have. The revelation did as much to unnerve David as it did to assure him this was all real. A being that moved tons of marble without breaking a sweat should not be a regular human no matter how similar they were on the outside.

As he had already made up his mind, David raced through all the possible questions he wanted to ask. But there were too many.

Why couldn’t this godlike entity fix the disaster himself? At what exact date and time will he be put on Andor? How will his soul be placed in this vacant body, and what does that term even mean? And what would happen to his body on Earth once his soul was taken to Andor?

After much deliberation, David summarized the things he had to know to properly plan for the next six months. And just as he did so he locked gazes a pair of emerald eyes staring at him with a bemused expression.

“Ask away.”

“In what situation and state would I find myself once my soul inhabits the vacant body on Andor?”

Although the curing of his muteness intrigued David. He wasn’t stupid enough to risk blowing a question on it and expectantly waited for the response.

“You will find yourself in a small cabin on the outskirts of a village called Norwick, exactly sixteen years before the start of the game. In the next room over are your niece and nephew who have found you after you presumably hanged yourself and have cut down your now vegetative body. Naturally, you will be able to speak their language. Your status screen would show this:”

A small, palm-sized screen sprung into existence before David. It was the same screen he saw whenever he pressed the tab-key in Saving Andor; however, now it hovered in front of him. The way it was one with the air around it yet still distinct nauseated him the more he stared at it.