Chapter 1 – What the Hell?!!
Roman Hernández walked calmly through the streets of his neighborhood, as if each step were part of a choreography he repeated day after day. The sunset bathed the facades in orange tones, and the cool December air brushed against his skin with a mix of calm and melancholy. At first glance, anyone would have mistaken him for an ordinary young man: backpack slung over his shoulder, headphones hanging around his neck, eyes lost in thought. But behind that everyday appearance lay a story marked by absence.
Roman was the only child of a middle-class family. His life had been simple, without luxuries, but full of affection. His parents had been his world: his mother, with her contagious laughter and improvised recipes; his father, with his endless patience and love for classic films. Everything changed five years ago, when an accident took them from his life. Since then, Roman had learned to live with silence—the silence that settled into every corner of the house and seemed to grow with time.
When he arrived home, he opened the door with the key he always carried in his right pocket. The metallic sound of the lock was the only thing that broke the stillness. Inside, silence greeted him. A silence that was no longer strange, but still weighed like a slab. He turned on the hallway light and hung his backpack on the rack. The echo of his footsteps reminded him that he was alone, as he was every night.
Tomorrow would be his 26th birthday. Another year celebrating without his parents. He remembered how they used to turn that day into an intimate party: his mother cooked his favorite dish, his father played cheerful music, and he himself took care of the desserts. They were simple moments, but full of meaning. Now, instead, his birthday had become a reminder of what he had lost. It wasn't that he didn't have friends—he had several. But sharing that day without his parents felt incomplete, as if the central piece of the puzzle were missing.
Roman sighed and dropped onto the couch. The routine was clear: on his birthday, he took refuge in his favorite hobby. Watching television. More specifically, watching The Big Bang Theory. That series had been his companion since adolescence. He had watched it so many times he had lost count. It wasn't just entertainment: it was a refuge, a mirror in which he recognized himself. The geek characters, with their quirks and hobbies, reminded him of himself. In his childhood, marked by bullying and misunderstanding, the series had been a lifeline.
Roman had grown up in a tough time. As a Latino in a disrespectful environment, he had faced mockery, aggression, and attacks. His robust, athletic physique had protected him from the worst, but the emotional scars remained. The Big Bang Theory offered him something different: a world where being a geek wasn't a reason for ridicule, but for belonging. Sheldon, Leonard, Howard, Raj… each with their quirks, but united by friendship. Roman had clung to that idea.
He turned on the television. The glow of the screen lit up the room. He navigated through the menu until he found the series. It was almost a ritual: start from the pilot, go through each season, relive every joke and every moment. He smiled with melancholy. "Another year," he murmured. He picked up the remote and pressed play.
Suddenly, everything went dark.
The screen shut off—but not just that. The hallway light disappeared. The digital clock stopped marking the time. Even the hum of the refrigerator ceased. Roman blinked, confused. The silence became absolute, deeper than ever. It was as if the entire world had ceased to exist.
He stood up from the couch, fumbling in the darkness. "A blackout?" he thought. But something didn't add up. The air felt different, denser. The silence wasn't that of a power outage, but of a void. Roman felt a shiver run down his back. He took a step toward the television, but the floor seemed to vibrate beneath his feet. A faint vibration, like the heartbeat of a giant.
The remote slipped from his hand. The thud against the floor echoed too loudly, as if the sound multiplied. Roman bent down to pick it up, but when he touched it, he felt a strange warmth, almost as if it were alive. He instinctively recoiled. "This isn't normal," he muttered.
The silence broke with an unexpected sound: a voice. It wasn't clear, more like a murmur, as if it came from everywhere and nowhere. Roman froze, trying to decipher it. The voice repeated something, a word he barely managed to understand: Bazinga.
Roman swallowed hard. Impossible. That word belonged to Sheldon Cooper, the character from the series. What was happening? He looked at the dark screen, waiting for some sign. And then, a flash lit up the room. It wasn't electric light, but a bluish glow emanating from the television. The flash grew, enveloping everything around him. Roman tried to shield his eyes, but the light pierced through him.
He felt himself falling. Not downward, but inward. As if the room had turned into an infinite tunnel. The air vanished, replaced by a void that sucked him in. Roman tried to scream, but no sound came out. Only the echo of Bazinga resonated in his mind.
When he opened his eyes, he was no longer in his living room.
Roman opened his eyes and found himself in a completely dark place. No walls, no floor, no ceiling. An absolute void, a black space that seemed to stretch infinitely in all directions. The silence was so deep he could hear his own heartbeat, racing with confusion.
Suddenly, a flash broke the darkness. In front of him appeared a digital screen, floating in the air, made of pure light. Its edges glowed with a bluish radiance, and in the center luminous letters unfolded, as if written by an invisible hand:
"I'm sorry. You have been selected to live an adventure."
Roman frowned. What did that mean? Who had selected him? Why him? He looked around, searching for an explanation, but there was nothing except that screen suspended in the void. The message offered no alternatives. Only a button at the bottom: Next.
Roman hesitated. His instinct told him this wasn't normal, that he should resist. But at the same time, he saw no other way out. No doors, no paths, nothing. Just him and that screen. With a resigned sigh, he reached out and pressed the button.
The message changed. Now it read:
"Blessing selection. Press to spin the wheel."
A digital wheel appeared in the center of the screen, spinning slowly, with illuminated sections showing incomprehensible words. Roman swallowed hard. "Blessings?" he thought. It seemed straight out of a video game, as if he were inside a role-playing menu. Without thinking too much, he pressed the button.
The wheel spun with a metallic sound, like invisible gears. The echo of the spin resonated in the void, and Roman felt the air vibrate with each turn. Finally, the wheel stopped. On the screen appeared the first message:
"Enhanced body: a body brought to the peak of human physique, endowed with talent and special traits."
Before he could react, a light shot out from the screen and enveloped him. Roman felt warmth spread across his skin, penetrating his muscles, his bones. It was as if every cell in his body awakened from a long sleep. His hands tightened, his legs filled with energy, his breathing grew deeper. The weight of routine, of accumulated fatigue, vanished.
Roman looked at his hands, astonished. They hadn't changed shape, but they felt different: firmer, steadier. His back straightened on its own, as if it had been hunched his entire life and now, finally, was freed. Roman closed his eyes and surrendered to the sensation. It was as if his body had reached a perfect state, an absolute balance between strength, endurance, and agility.
The screen chimed again. A second message appeared:
"Refined wisdom: endows your mind with vast possibilities, overstimulation and development, taking you where you only dreamed."
Below, in smaller letters, specifications unfolded:
IQ 190 Eidetic memory Mental clarity Rapid comprehension Logical and creative thinking Preservation of normal human essence
Roman barely had time to read it before another light shot from the screen and pierced him. This time it wasn't warmth, but a torrent of clarity. His mind expanded like a horizon suddenly opening wide. Ideas, memories, connections… everything aligned with astonishing precision.
He recalled scenes from his childhood with breathtaking sharpness: the smell of the coffee his mother brewed, the texture of the wood on his father's desk, the exact sound of a friend's laughter in high school. Everything was there, fresh, as if it had happened yesterday.
But it wasn't just memory. Roman felt he could analyze anything with incredible speed. Thoughts that once took minutes now resolved in seconds. Problems that seemed complex reduced to simple patterns. His mind was an engine ignited, running with an efficiency he had never imagined.
"This… this is impossible," he murmured, though his voice was swallowed by the void.
The screen chimed again. A third message appeared, accompanied by a gentle glow:
"Deep empathy."
Below, a list unfolded:
Sharp emotional intuition Ability to read body language, tone, microexpressions Natural charisma, ease in connecting with all kinds of people Capacity to mediate, inspire, and form deep bonds
Roman barely managed to read it before the light enveloped him again. This time it wasn't heat or clarity, but a warm sensation in his chest. As if someone had lit a gentle flame in his heart. Suddenly, he began to perceive things that had always gone unnoticed: the rhythm of his breathing, the tension in his muscles, even the subtle vibration of the air around him.
But the most surprising was emotional awareness. Roman felt he could read his own inner state with surgical precision. Fear, confusion, hope… all were there, and he could distinguish them clearly. It was as if he had acquired a sixth sense, able to detect emotions in others even before they were expressed.
He placed a hand on his chest, overwhelmed. "What's happening to me?" he thought.
The screen remained before him, glowing calmly, as if waiting for his reaction. Roman took a deep breath. His body was stronger, his mind sharper, his heart more sensitive. It was a complete transformation. And though he didn't understand why he had been chosen, a certainty began to grow inside him: this wasn't punishment, but preparation.
The void still surrounded him, but Roman no longer felt defenseless. For the first time in years, he sensed that something extraordinary was about to begin.
The screen before Roman shifted again. The bluish glow intensified, and new letters appeared with almost solemn clarity:
"This is the Bazinga adventure. Next is to select your origin. So choose."
Roman frowned. Origin? The word echoed strangely in his mind. He didn't know exactly what it meant in this context, but he sensed it was something decisive.
Suddenly, the screen transformed into a mosaic of images. Five portraits appeared, illuminated as if they were cards in a game:
Sheldon Cooper Leonard Hofstadter Howard Wolowitz Rajesh Koothrappali Penny Teller
Roman froze, staring at each image. He recognized them instantly. They were the characters who had accompanied him for years, the faces that had brought him laughter in moments of sadness, company in lonely nights, and a sense of belonging when the real world felt too hostile.
His heart pounded. Everything still seemed like a fantasy, an overly elaborate dream. But something in the message unsettled him: "Bazinga adventure." That word, Sheldon's trademark punchline, he had known for years. It was impossible not to recognize it. Bazinga was more than a joke; it was a seal, a reminder that life could be absurd and fun at the same time.
Roman swallowed hard. "What does it mean to select an origin?" he wondered. Was he going to become one of them? Or simply live his life inside their world? The uncertainty paralyzed him for a few seconds.
He looked at Sheldon Cooper's image. The eccentric, arrogant, brilliant genius. Roman knew choosing him would mean facing a prodigious mind, but also a crushing loneliness. Sheldon was fascinating, but far too extreme.
Then he observed Howard Wolowitz. The flashy engineer, always trying to impress. Roman smirked ironically. "No, definitely not the guy with ridiculous belt buckles."
Rajesh Koothrappali appeared next. Roman remembered him as the sweet, shy one, unable to speak to women without alcohol. There was tenderness in him, but also fragility. Roman hesitated. "Not a bad path… but I don't feel connected."
Finally, his eyes landed on Penny Teller. The charismatic neighbor, the spark that ignited the group's dynamic. Roman admired her, but knew her story was marked by the constant struggle between dreams and reality. "No… I don't see myself in her skin."
And then, Leonard Hofstadter. The moderate one, the bridge between them all. Brilliant yet human, the one who endured Sheldon's eccentricities, who sought love and stability, who always tried to keep the peace. Roman felt a strange relief as he looked at him. Leonard wasn't perfect, but he was balanced. The midpoint between genius and vulnerability.
"If I have to choose… it'll be Leonard," he murmured.
He reached out and touched the image. The screen vibrated with a metallic sound, as if an invisible gear had been set in motion. Leonard's portrait glowed with a golden radiance, and the message changed:
"Thank you. Enjoy your adventure."
Roman barely had time to react. Everything went dark. The screen vanished, the glow extinguished, and the void wrapped around him again. But this time it wasn't static silence. Beneath his feet, the nonexistent ground opened like an abyss. A tunnel appeared, dark and deep, swirling like a vortex.
Roman felt an invisible force pulling him in. He had no chance to resist. His body was dragged downward, as if gravity had shifted direction. The tunnel engulfed him, and the sensation was indescribable: not falling, not flying, but being transported.
The air vibrated around him, and fleeting lights appeared on the tunnel walls. They were flashes of memories, images passing too quickly to grasp. Roman thought he saw scenes from the series: Sheldon knocking on Penny's door, Howard in his spacesuit, Raj laughing shyly, Leonard adjusting his glasses. Everything blended into a whirlwind of colors and sounds.
"What… what's happening?" he thought, though his voice was lost in the void.
The tunnel narrowed, and the speed increased. Roman felt his body disintegrating into particles of light, as if being reconstructed. The warmth of the first gift, the clarity of the second, the empathy of the third… all fused within him, preparing him for what was to come.
Suddenly, a final flash blinded him. The tunnel vanished. Roman landed abruptly, but not into emptiness—onto something solid.
He opened his eyes.
He was no longer in the darkness.