"You're joking, right?" A young man said, his eyes shaking with confusion and pain at the words he had just heard.
"I assure you, I wouldn't joke about this. You're dead, Orion."
Orion, the young man, stared at the withered old man who stood before him, his eyes scanning him from top to bottom. A wrinkly and bald head, soft purple eyes with a hooked nose and a large beard that extended down to the floor. His body was skinny, almost malnourished, but hidden underneath was a type of strength that Orion couldn't understand.
"And who are you?" He asked, already piecing the image together in his mind.
"You know who I am. Though I have many names: God, The Creator, The One Above All, The Presence, or The Author. You can just call me God, though, it rolls off the tongue a little easier." God said, his voice sounded weak, but Orion didn't intend to underestimate him.
God waved his hand slightly, and the white opulent room they stood in shifted and warped, turning into a warm office. Orion's head snapped around in amazement at what he had witnessed before realizing he was seated on a couch directly across from God.
"Uh, then what am I doing here? I don't think I've done anything to warrant being in the same... dimension as yourself."
God chuckled as he crossed his legs and leaned back in his seat. "Ah, that would be my doing. Though I would say you would have ended up here at some point, I did expedite the process a couple million lifetimes in advance."
"Sorry, why would I be coming here at some point?"
"Because you're my replacement?" God muttered as he scratched his chin through the beard.
Choking mid-swallow, Orion had to slam his hand against his chest and take deep gulps of air as his mind ran through the words that were just uttered.
"I must have misheard you, oh benevolent one. What the fuck do you mean I'm your replacement?" Orion shouted, his eyes bulging slightly.
"Hoh, isn't that just a natural situation? One person retires and someone takes their place?" God said, his eyes sparkling with amusement as he watched Orion's mouth gape open and close.
Taking a couple of seconds to shake the sheer terror and confusion in his body, Orion stood up and began pacing around the room.
"Why would you, GOD, the literal creator of everything, choose ME, a guy whose biggest achievement this year was finally getting laid?" Orion mumbled, his steps quick but shaky as he looked from the floor to God and then back down again, repeating the cycle as the room fell silent.
"Well, obviously it's because you're the most qualified. You didn't think I'd pick someone without doing my research, right?" God said, mid-sip of a beverage he had conjured at some point in Orion's internal breakdown.
"Most qualified my ass, have you seen my yearly performance review? They said, and I quote, 'Orion does incredible work for someone who just joined the company; unfortunately, he's been working here for five years.'"
God snorted out loud at Orion's words, before he shakily placed his drink down, trying to muffle his laughter.
"Orion, please sit." God said, before snapping his finger and magicking Orion back to his chair.
"Hey!"
"There are reasons I have chosen you, reasons I won't explain right now, but rest assured, you are the one. I need a replacement, and this doesn't mean I'm leaving you right now, more like... a couple trillion years from now. But you need training, and I'm bored out of my mind here."
Pausing his monologue, God peered at Orion as he watched the boy's face twist through a range of emotions. His jaw clenched, eyes darting, and he tried to wiggle out of the chair, a vein throbbing faintly at his temple. All his frustration culminated in one long, defeated sigh, and his body slumped.
"Fine, whatever." Orion muttered. "It's not like I have anything else to do; I'm dead, right?" He asked.
"Unfortunately, yes. Who knew you would die in the theatre watching Final Destination? Pretty ironic that a light fell on your head as well. It was like a second act for the people watching." God whispered quietly, covering another chuckle, though his gaze seemed to linger on Orion's face a moment too long.
Orion grunted in annoyance, before something in his eyes hardened as he stared at God. "Yes... how odd I died in such a comedic way. Almost like it was orchestrated." God's slight smile flickered, and he cleared his throat, waving a dismissive hand in the air.
"Anyway, moving on! Seeing as I'll still be around for a while, I thought we could send you on a journey across the multiverse. You know how those books go: gain unfathomable powers, visit different worlds, save some people, kill some others, find a girlfriend. It'll be a little project for you to understand your position in creation and gain some experience."
Shaking his head, Orion closed his eyes as a dull ache began behind them, a migraine building from the sheer incomprehensibility of his situation. He knew this was something no other person in existence would ever experience, or be offered, yet deep inside, he felt a pang of concern.
Would he make mistakes that could lead to an irreversible problem? Was he truly fit for the position? What would his life turn into now? Questions piled up in his mind, though he had an inkling that God wouldn't answer them. The crushing weight of this situation, coupled with the raw shock of his recent, abrupt death, was what fueled his current annoyance.
He opened his eyes, meeting God's expectant gaze. "Okay, I'll do it. It's not like I had much else going on in my life anyway, being dead and all."
God, hearing this, clapped his hands in excitement and hopped off the chair. He then waved his hand, releasing Orion from his frozen position.
"Lovely! I went through some of your memories and decided to do something often used in those fan-fictions you read late at night. Though this will be more of a simplified version of it."
Intrigued by God's words, Orion followed him towards a wooden table where a bright gold orb sat pulsing with an almost palpable hum of power.
"This is your power! Now, obviously it's not at my level, but no one is at my level, and you're essentially my protégé now!" God said, picking up the orb and tossing it to Orion with a casual flick of his wrist.
Jumping forward, Orion threw both of his hands out, fumbling the orb for a moment as it radiated an intense warmth. He gripped it tightly, the golden light almost blinding.
Staring at it unblinkingly, a new wave of questions began to form in Orion's mind, but before he could voice them, the orb in his hands shook violently. A soft chime echoed through the room as it began to crackle and dissolve into thousands of shimmering motes of golden light that fluttered around him, slowly entering his body through his skin. A profound power surged through him, an almost painful expansion of his very being.
[Ding!]
[Congratulations for absorbing Anos Voldigoad's (Peak LN) essence.]