Destiny Maker

3. The Choice

A recount of how Su Qing met system 777 and became a destiny maker.

...

Su Qing remembered that she was in great pain but suddenly, she no longer felt pain and she found herself at a corner of the ward.

She was looking on emotionlessly at her own lifeless body as her parents heaved a sigh of relief when the doctor declared that she was dead.

It was of no surprise to her, as her medical bills are starting to become a big burden on her aging parents.

Her parents came to visit her after the nurse called them up that she might kick the bucket anytime. Just as they arrived, she started having spasms and the doctor was actually resuscitating her.

When she was born, her parents chose the character 'Qing' that represented clarity and freshness, hoping her life to be free of troubles, illness and so forth. This was because she was born sickly.

Father and Mother Su doted on her but their love gradually declined as her condition deteriorated, as well as the birth of her younger brother, Su Xing, who was ten years younger.

It was no doubt they shifted their attention to a healthy and sunny child rather than a sickly, skinny and quiet child like her.

Su Qing never blamed her parents. She loved her baby brother as well. He was a good kid. He was the one who would insist their parents to visit her every week, if not twice, when he knew how to walk and talk.

Su Qing recalled that when he was five, he would ask if she was hurting anywhere and would try to relieve her pain and attempt to give her massage with his two tiny hands. He would also bring his favorite storybooks and read to her.

Su Qing never appeared interested in her baby brother before their parents. But she never brushed him away either. She behaved this way as she did not want to let her parents know that she favored her baby brother as well.

Well, she was being awkward and she knew it. She was jealous but that never affected her liking for her baby brother.

Being a sickly child, visits to the hospital were frequent and sometimes she had to be admitted for a period of time. She saw many children and young people like her, younger or older and their passing before her very eyes.

Hence, death was not as scary as it seemed for her. She felt that it was a relief instead, as they had suffered tremendous pain while alive.
She felt as though she had seen through life and death. That contributed to her gradually reticent character.

Buzzzzt... Bzzzzt... zzzzt
A sound as though one was tuning in to a radio station, was heard.

What was that? Thought Su Qing.
That woke her from her daze.

"Is that how a ghost is supposed to be?"she murmured to herself.

She just realized that she felt very light and thought that she was now a ghost as she watched the doctor covering her face with the white cloth.

Bzzzt Bzzzzzt!
"Tuning in successful, now scanning..."
An emotionless, robot-like voice was heard.

"Who's talking?" Su Qing asked herself, confused. She looked around and she was the only one who heard this.

The doctor, nurses, as well as her parents, did not hear that voice at all.

"Scan completed... "
The same emotionless voice was heard again, it was too mechanical and the pitch was high enough that one was unable to determine if it was a male or female voice.

"Hello Su Qing, this is system number 564,777. You are selected to become one of our Destiny Makers. This job is basically about helping lost souls fulfill their wishes, as well as to show them how to live their lives positively. There are also special missions that protect certain characters in a world and many more. So, are you interested to become a destiny maker?"

Su Qing thought she might be hallucinating. Life after death... is like this? Is this normal? She thought to herself.

"Of course not," the robot-like voice replied.

"You are whom I have chosen," said the robot-like voice that suddenly seemed to gain emotion.

"Mind you, it's not easy to get picked. You gotta grab this chance, earn lots of good karma, enjoy your afterlife or even break off from the cycle of reincarnation and go anywhere you want!"

"I'm sorry but you sound like a scammer."

Su Qing was amazed by the sudden change in tone but soon frowned. She read many scam stories and this manner of speech felt like a scam to her.

"No, no, no, I'm not a scammer. I gave too much information, I guess. There are too much sales pitch fed to us systems that my speech got affected."

Su Qing felt curious.

Sales pitch huh? thought Su Qing.

"But what I've said is true," the system continued.

"Normally, souls go into the reincarnation cycle but for you, well you're not the only one. You are one of the selected souls who are offered the chance of being a Destiny Maker. Your basic role is to take over the life of those souls who failed to achieve what they want and fulfill their wishes."

"So not everyone gets to become a Destiny maker?" Asked Su Qing.

"Yes, not everyone gets to be one," agreed the system.

"You have a lot of potential, you'll definitely become one of the best Destiny makers around!"

This time, Su Qing could feel the voice sounded rather sincere and confident.

The next moment, Su Qing felt giddy. She had to close her eyes for a while and when she opened her eyes again, she found herself in a really dark environment that she could not even see her fingers before her. However, there was a tiny glimpse of light when she looked around, and she started to walk slowly toward the light.

"There's not much time left before I get purged when you reached the end of the tunnel," warned the system.

The system was now back to speaking emotionlessly.

"Give yourself a chance, and me, a chance to help you. You could have a very different life experience if you agree."

"But being a Destiny maker ain't too different from being in the reincarnation cycle, isn't it?" Questioned Su Qing.

"In a way, you are right," replied the system.

"But there are a lot of differences too. The biggest one is that you get to retain your memory or when you want to erase them, you can do that too.

"That means you'll remember all that you've learnt in all of the lifetimes as a destiny maker, consciously," stressed the system.

Su Qing pondered for a moment.

"Alright, my question now, why me?"

...