In a flash of painful light, my world forever changed.

Usually, with these types of explosions, the blinding light and deafening noise fade over time. The human body adapts to the new surroundings to the best of its abilities. Most wounds heal.

This one, this piercing ray of pure white light remained as everything else faded from view. Moments passed, minutes might have well been several hours; I couldn't tell you how long if I tried to. It is the sole remaining gap of unexplainable information from my previous life that I still have no answers to.

After some indescribable amount of time, what I can only describe as a player scoreboard appeared before me. It was massive compared to my scope of view, maybe nine feet tall by twelve feet wide; and after but a moment more, many of what I can only assume to be my previous life's achievements began to toll on the screen.

PLAYER IDENTITY: Jaune Arc

CLASS: Paladin

TITLE: Carefree Idiot Savant

Below this title card, my life was laid before me in harsh numbers and precise measurements. One hundred points for being born with no complications, twenty points being the lovable idiot, two thousand points for surviving my childhood with seven older sisters. The list went on and on, and in scarier detail, than I particularly enjoyed.

"Ten thousand points for dying a virgin?!" Who wrote this?! Also, whoever had written it had access to a fantastic amount of very private data, going all the way down to how many times I neglected to brush my teeth. More and more information scrolled across the screen in lazy form, and I was becoming very uncomfortable with the amount of detail it was displaying.

"You will find," a new voice, soft and feminine, echoed into the void around me. My head swiveled in such a way that I am genuinely surprised that my neck didn't snap. The figure before me was mostly non-descript. An androgynous human looking person stepped away from the nothing behind them. Their form faded into view swiftly after gaining a basic outline. A moment passed before they spoke again, "You will find that it is quite a bit simpler to resurrect a completely pure soul, Mr. Arc." A wry smile graced their soft pink lips, the smile beaming from a smooth face with green eyes and chestnut brown hair. "And keeping up with your dental hygiene is important as well."

As they approached me, they fixed the connections on a smooth copper breast pin that read "#1 Dad" before holding out a firm looking handshake. "Also, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance." Years of formal politeness training with the three eldest sisters kicked into high gear as I professionally took up the strangers hand and gave it a firm, but not too firm shake. "Jaune Arc, a pleasure to meet you as well. And who, may I ask, are you?"

The person dropped the handshake after a few more moments and cleared their throat. "Well, over the years I have been known by many names. The Originator, The Alpha, God, Christ, Buddha, Brahma, etc. etc. Quite frankly they are all just titles the masses have assigned me, or that I gave for them. For now, you may call me curious, as you are not supposed to be here."

My eyebrows rocketed high to my forehead as I recognized at least one of those names. The eerie nothingness of it all began to set in, a gasp escaping my throat as the realization hit.

"Wait, am I dead? Is this limbo?!" My voice may have cracked with these questions, my thought process derailed by the small stone named 'Death.' I had so much that I still needed to accomplish back wherever I ... wherever I ... ... where was I from?

My brain went into overdrive as I attempted to recall just who I was.

And it came up astonishingly short. I could look at the scoreboard in front of me, as it referenced a few names or places that I vaguely remembered. But I couldn't remember my parents' names, or if I had any or any family at all. I could recall remembering them just a moment ago, but all of those memories vanished from my mind.

I must have gone out of it for a moment, as the figure in front of me was asleep in a white wicker armchair with a snot bubble expanding and contracting from their left nostril.

My patience was wearing thin, I asked the obvious question on my mind, "Why can't I remember who I was, or am? That is important, right?" My statement became a genuine question at the end, as I could feel the sense of morality, social constructs and meanings begin to fade away from me.

The person now awoke from their power nap, as they rose from their chair.

"That would be the fault of where we currently are, I am afraid. We are standing in the pure light of creation." Their chest puffed out a small fracture as they took a deep inhale, "'And God said, let there be light!' And all that. This place," they said gesturing around them, "is the capital 'L' Light. No being, and indeed not even I can stand its glow for long and remain whole."

The person standing mere feet across from me said this with a very nonchalant attitude despite the context of the meaning. "And if you are curious about it, there is more of me then you to purify and transform than you. I can stay here longer and feel less of the effects."

That made sense we guess. We had wondered about these kinds of ideas before the now. Now we had a better understanding.

"Look, you are already losing your sense of self, and if you are already that far gone then this process will be more difficult the longer we wait here. Let's cut to the chase shall we?"

We nodded.

"Great. The fact of the matter is, you died. Now given, it was way before your selected time, but here you are." The person stared up at the scoreboard across from me. "Thankfully, you did just enough in your otherwise boring life to earn an additional try." They pointed to the scoreboard where my total calculated score was one hundred thousand and three. The highlighted number was blinking, and small images of 'You win' and 'Congratulations' were flashing alongside it.

"I can use these 'Experience Points' and for the most part reforge your soul to its original state with ... well, a few catches." At this point, the being across from us held three fingers up.

"One, you won't be the same. The best example I have here is when a rose blooms. I can't force the petals back into the same configuration without tearing or removing some parts. While you will still be Jaune, you may be Jaune plus or even less of the person you once were; your mileage on this may vary."

The figure paced back and forth as their hair and eyes began to lose color.

"Two, you will remember your time here and of the concepts of dimensions and realities outside your own. While The Light will happily assimilate your energies, I can't directly alter your memories as that would be considered affecting Free Will; a big no-no in my circles."

We began to realize that it was not the figure that was losing color. The Light had entirely purified our body. It was comforting in the same way that losing consciousness made life's pains go away.

"Finally I need You to agree to this." and as the figure spoke, my form returned whole. My body regained physicality as they reached out and touched me; the actions made more by their will. "I understand that all of this is confusing, but trust me when I say that this is a good deal."

As the realization of the offer hit me, I saw that the person in front of me looked to be in physical pain. "I am guarding you against The Light for the moment, but please do hurry. I need you to stand on your own in the Light and declare that quote; you accept my offer."

It took me a moment.

And a moment more.

But I nodded, and God's or whoever's hand fell from my shoulder. I was back in The Light as it bore into my existence and my physical form disintegrated immediately. The consciousness of being was all that remained, and in those quick moments, I was finally at peace with myself.

But dammit I have work to do, and I am not going to let a second chance pass by me.

I screamed into the heavens, a laugh escaping my lips soon afterward as I realized that I was crying into the actual Heavens.

"I Accept your Offer!"

And the world blanked into white once more. This void held more comfort in it, and as the last dregs of consciousness left me, I heard a simple whisper in the nothingness:

"Sleep well my child, as when you awake the world will not be as you knew it." A chuckle followed. "I will leave you a parting gift, a new addition to your soul that you may find useful." With that said, the pure white light faded to black and consciousness soon left me.

*...*...*...*

Growing up as what many would consider being the punching bag of my three youngest sisters lead me to be well acquainted with the crisp smell of antiseptic. I would often find myself forced into long sessions of torture that my parents occasionally called training. These sessions usually ended with me in the hospital, or at least covered with bandages of various shapes and sizes.

My familiarity with the smell leads me back to the present, where that horrible stench permeated the entire room around me. The next thing I noticed was the gentle hum of the heart rate monitor beside me.

"Sharp, bright light, painful IV, and annoying monitors... great, I'm back in the hospital." I had yet to open my eyes, but even still the light filtered through with a bright red tint.

"Ugh, what hit me." And it was at this time that I elected to crack my tired eyelids open and take a look around.

I really shouldn't have.

The second my pupils touched light the migraine-like headache I was only now acknowledging reared its head like an angry bull.

"Dust, would someone please turn the lights down." my voice was dry and cracked under the new load. I sputtered and coughed for a moment, painful stabs of pure agony spiking along my chest and spine. A moment passed, and my coughing fit settled down. I blinked, once, twice ... three times before I noticed that the lights in my room were off.

No, it wasn't the lights, it was a ... notification box? It was hovering no more than three feet from my face and would track my eye movement as I looked around; always staying near dead center. It took me a moment to read what it said, as whatever was there was written in white lettering with a pale light blue background.

[ Alert! Through a series of special actions, The Gamer Semblance has been activated! ]

As I read through the sentence, my peripheral vision noticed a circle in the top right-hand corner began to fill in a circular pattern. Its size was tiny when compared to the rest of the box and was rimmed in a black outline, and using a pale green as its fill color.

'Is that a ... progress meter?' I thought. I gave it a test by stopping on the word 'semblance'; the circle stopped spirally filling at what I presumed to be the eighty percent mark.

'Huh, so it is.' as I finished reading the dialogue, the circle filled, glowed briefly, and then automagically closed the notification box.

"That's nifty," I said allowed, an old habit I could have sworn I got rid of long ago.

Another voice made its presence known in the room as the door at the far end of my bed opened.

"Jaune, is that you talking? Are you awake?" It was a familiar voice, it certainly sounded like Nora, but it was a like she was talking through a filter; very quiet.

It took her a moment, but Nora did turn around the corner and walk in my room. She had been sitting out there for awhile if the disheveled look had anything to say about it. Her clothes were in ruins, in one case held on by a literal thread; and I swore I saw burn marks on her abdomen.

"Nora, is that you? Where's Ren? Where's ..." and it punched me square in the face. "Where's Pyrrha!?"

Nora just stood at the door her body trembling; Ren stepped behind her at this point, his hair covering his eyes. I saw a river of tears stream down both of their faces.

"Jaune... I'm. I'm so sorry."

If I could have jumped in surprise, I would have as the same blue notification screen popped into existence in front of me. It read one straightforward thing:

[ Alert! A previously accepted Quest has been updated! ]

[ Quest: Defend Beacon Academy has been completed, but was not completed fully, displaying quest logs for the previous 24 hours]

I read through both pop-ups, fear wracking my body.

[ Alert! Party Member Pyrrha Nikos has fallen in battle! Revive her to restore half health!]
[Alert! Party Member Pyrrha Nikos has fallen unconscious! ]

[ Alert! Party Member Pyrrha Nikos has failed [1/3]Constitution Death Saving Throws! Revive her quickly! ]

I should not be reading these.

[ Alert! Party Member Pyrrha Nikos has failed [2/3]Constitution Death Saving Throws! Revive her quickly! ]

I should not be reading these.

[ Alert! Party Member Pyrrha Nikos has failed [3/3]Constitution Death Saving Throws and has passed into the after-life. ]

By this point I was almost vibrating in my bed, sheer anger and confusion paralyzing my movement.

[ Alert! Party Member Pyrrha Nikos' soul still remains! You have 24 Hrs to collect it before it perishes forever! ]

[ Alert! Party Member Pyrrha Nikos' soul still remains! You have 12 Hrs to collect it before it perishes forever! ]

6 Hrs

3 Hrs

[ Alert! Party Member Pyrrha Nikos' soul still remains! You have 1 Hr to collect it before it perishes forever! ]

That was the last notification. THAT WAS THE LAST NOTIFICATION!

"Ren! Nora! Do you know where Pyrrha died!?" My mind was in full overdrive at this point, and I had already gathered my things as I read through the last four dialogues.

"What?" I could see that Nora was hurt and very confused by my question "Jaune, I don't ..."

"I might be able to save her if you know where she is at!" I almost yelled at her. I didn't know how long it had been since that last notification had posted, but time was of the essence here. My mind was still hazy from whatever had happened to me; the farthest back I could remember was the rocket... and ...the tower. Something was helping to clear my mind.

"The tower!" I screamed. I grabbed my sword and shield, running out the door.

It took a moment before I could hear their footsteps behind me, but Ren and Nora soon caught up with me.

[ Alert! A new skill has been created! ]

[Skill: Run - A natural ability to get you places faster. Passive: Increase base walking speed by 10% per level, increasing 10% per level up. Active: Double your base movement speed. Cost: 10 MP per minute or per mile, whichever occurs first.]

"Jaune what do you mean you can save her, what are you talking about?" Ren shouted as he ran beside me. It looked like I was placed on the trauma level for patients on the first floor, so we made it out of the hospital quickly. Thank dust for small miracles. An orderly tried to stop me along the way asking me to go back to my room, but I just rushed straight through them.

It was Nora, after knocking away a second orderly who took chase that asked the next obvious question, "Jaune, what are you doing? How can you save Pyrrha she's already..." her question trailed off as he continued our run through the city. They put me in a hospital on campus, and the medical ward was only half a block through scenic routes away from the primary tower.

These scenic routes were currently covered in Grimm.

"Crap." I came to a screeching halt. None of them had seen us yet, but that would change as the wind direction did. As I stood there, another pop up appeared.

[ Alert! A new Quest has been created!]

[ Quest: Saving the Remnants ]

[ Pyrrha Nikos has fallen in battle. It is now up to you to save what remains. Find her wandering soul before time runs out!]

[ Reward: ?, Pyrrha Nikos' Soul Failure: Pyrrha's soul fades into the Void, remaining unretrievable forever, ?]

As the progress meter filled, I answered my teammates' questions.

"Guys, I know this sounds crazy, but while I was out, I think I unlocked my semblance. Right now, it's' telling me that If I can reach wherever Pyrrha died that I can use it to save her."

I turned away from the horde in front of me, a look of hope sparking across their faces. They looked at each other and back to me. Brandishing their weapons, a steely resolve set into their eyes as they trusted my words.

"Lead the way." They chimed. I nodded in response before taking out my weapons. Crocea Mors glistened in the pale moonlight, absorbing the rays with spiritual thirst.

"Alright then. Let's do this."