"Where am I?"

  A whisper, barely audible: "In the Void."

  My brow furrowed. "What does that even mean?"

  I tried to open my eyes, to feel my body, but found only nothingness. Suffocating, absolute darkness.

  "It's so dark," I choked out, my voice thin and reedy. "Could you... turn on a light?"

  Then, impossibly, a sphere of light bloomed—an incandescent sun in the inky blackness. Its brilliance was unbearable, a searing white that forced my eyes shut, a physical pain.

  Light. Created.

  A miniature sun,palm-sized... if I even had a palm. I was utterly invisible.

  "One void energy unit deducted. Ninety-nine remaining." A robotic, feminine voice echoed in the void.

  "Is this some kind of game?" I muttered, disbelief battling dawning terror. "Because this is extremely realistic." I'd never experienced anything like it.

  Fear erupted. Negative thoughts flooded my nonexistent head.

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  "Is this alien technology?" I demanded, my voice shaking. "Because this is impossible! Am I dead? Is this heaven? Hell? Where am I?!"

  "You are indeed correct." The voice again. Fury, hot and sharp, flared in the darkness.

  "Who are you? And what is this place?" I asked cautiously.

  "I am Nova. I was born from your magic. I exist solely to guide you." She paused. "This is the Void. The beginning and the end of everything."

  "I don't believe you! How is this possible? How did I get here?"

  A memory flickered: night, walking to my room, sleepy... then blackness.

  "As I said, you've passed from your world. The System has chosen you... to become a God."

  God? System? Ha! Hahahahaha!

  "That is correct."

  "ahahaha! A God? Me?" The absurdity was overwhelming.

  "The System chooses random souls across infinite universes."

  I was just a normal person a second ago! Working, earning money, dreaming of retirement... and now this? A God? Omniscient, omnipotent? All-creating, all-destroying?

  "Yes."

  "Well then, if I'm all-creating and all-destroying, let me go back to my world!" I declared, feeling a surge of smugness.

  "That—is not possible."

  "What?!" I was flabbergasted. "Why?"

  "Every universe has boundaries that cannot be crossed. That's one of the System's ultimate rules."

  A new idea sparked. "If that's impossible, can I just recreate my world?"

  "Hmm, recreating your world is possible. But it requires tremendous energy, which you currently lack."

  "Wait!" I pressed on, "You said no one can cross the boundaries of universes. Then how am I even here?"

  "The System chose you to become a god. That's another ultimate rule. The System chooses random souls so the Void is forever expanding and forever growing.”

  "Why does the System keep getting in my way? Doesn't it want me to be happy?" Hopelessness washed over me.

  "Even if you could go back to your world, would you really want to?" Nova's question hung in the void.

  "Huh? Of course I—" The words died in my throat. Suddenly, I was acutely aware of my profound loneliness.

  I grew up in an orphanage. I watched everyone I cared for—my brothers and sisters—leave, one by one, until I was utterly alone. No one wanted to adopt me. I never understood why. I was bright, smart, yet unwanted. I worked to survive, attending school on little sleep and an aching body.

  The harsh reality hit me: I had nothing to go back to.

  "What should I do now?" My voice was barely a whisper.

  "You're a god now, aren't you? Then start creating.”