(3) What exactly is this about?

Three separate spots in the meeting room vibrated where three different styles of doorways materialized. The doors themselves were more of a form of courtesy, like an announcement of one's presence during an important party. The observers who filled the roles of Gods and patrons informed their respective champions of this grand entrance beforehand so they were somewhat prepared for the fantastical sight. As for the doorways: A radiant beam of light descended near the westernmost location in reference to the grand circular table at the center of the room. A pile of boney arms tore an abyssal hole out of the ground to the right of this beam, so by that logic, it was at a south- south western position. The third doorway resembled a sphere of watery ripples, or the clear film of a soap bubble. Space-time itself folded and filled that circular space with a shadow that simultaneously mirrored its surroundings. Honestly, it was the only way the poor little souls could rationalize what they saw as the entire area near the north- north western most position reflected the room.

Regardless, the beam of light lessened and gradually vanished as Life and the brawny soul stepped out of its radius near a pair of seats. Death and the faded soul lifted out of the ink on the ground and ended up near another pair of chairs. The ripples of the third portal settled into a smooth sheet of glass, followed by a series of disturbances.

A group of four walked through the shimmer of glass in disharmony near a single pair of seats.

"You old coot, stop following me everywhere. I could have gotten here by myself", A voice yelled out.

"I cannot and you would have ripped the very fabric of space-time forcing your way here in your current state," A mature voice said without any anger.

"You are a damned asshole, you know that right? I Damn you.. You're gonna go to hell," The first voice spoke even louder as it rushed away from Reality.

"Please calm down my God. You are giving that poor old man unnecessary trouble," The chaotic soul chased after and cautioned the devilish creature with an oddly gentle and concerned smile.

The little devil, on the other hand, ignored the soul, turned around, and said, "You hear that? Even this kid knows that you are an old bastard! You should stop interfering with me since you won't be able to keep up sooner or later," between bouts of hearty laughter. The short Devil, more than a God, didn't wait for a response and walked away triumphantly. It pretended not to notice when the chaotic soul turned to Reality, bowed, and mouthed, 'Sorry for the trouble'.

"-That was the first time any mortal has understood the hardships that I face -", Reality thought.

"Are you okay?", The stable soul spoke out of concern when Reality stopped moving.

"My child...", Lights, petals, and a beautiful backdrop focused on, fell around, and appeared behind Reality as It spoke.

"I have made and will continue to make everything in the universe unfair and unforgiving to toughen up the young ones and prepare them for the cruelty they will face when interacting with their elders. You will also need to remember this as you proceed in the future," Reality wiped the single tear that pooled at the corner of its eye and turned to the stable soul behind it. The lights, petals, and ridiculous backdrop vanished.

"Do you understand?", The odd being that resembled a stone faced old man asked with a happy curve at the corners of its lips.

"Not fully but I think I get it," The stable soul furrowed its brows in thought.

"You will get it", The God said as it guided the two of them to their seats.

The Patron of the chaotic outline and the turbulent soul itself walked around the entire table to get to their seats on the other side of Death and their soul. It went without saying that such a distance would be a source of potential issues (drama).

"Do you need to be so harsh, my God?", The soul caught up and whispered into the devilish God's ear.

"Harsh? Compared to what I usually say to that old looking fellow, what I just said was a passive greeting. I'm being respectful since there's a certain bastard here," The Demon turned its head away from the soul. They were near the next victims after all.

"Life. I see that you still like to assume the appearance of a beautiful Goddess," The Demon said with a playful smile.

"Beautiful? Oh! You're totally right, kid. I would even say that my God is a little bit too pretty," The large soul spoke out, stood up, and walked over. It reached out to shake hands and wore an infectious smile while doing so.

Life smiled and said , "I am not in the mood for your games," with a bit of hesitation while remaining seated.

"Ah well. If that's the case, I see you still like idiots. Very smart. None of them would be able to see how much of a bitch you can be," The Demon sidestepped the large soul and continued walking onward. The chaotic soul took the time to shake the large souls hand and apologize, as though this was their first meeting. It also paid respect to Life with a bow and a similar apology, then caught up to its deity once again.

"What was that about?", The large soul said with a large amount of confusion and a slightly overwhelmed expression.

"That was youth. It makes you carefree, willful, and courageous. That one has been in a material form for as long as I can remember so it's only right that the mind is influenced by the body," Life shrugged its shoulders and pulled its champion back to its seat.

"Okay?", The large soul sat down next to Life and somehow ignored the teasing that came along with being seated so close.

"Can you not agitate all of the other Gods please?", The chaotic soul begged.

"If they can't handle a few hurtful words, they shouldn't have the right to keep what's mine," The Demon sneered.

"How about this, if you don't have anything nice to say don't say anything at all. I guarantee an interesting response", The soul advised.

"Why should I?"

"...Just do it", The soul whispered while feigning a pitiful expression. The Demon hummed a short and curt tone that set its champion's heart a flutter. It took everything the soul had to not hum along even though it knew the song.

Death fixed its collar with an expressionless mask and stood up from its seat. The faded soul followed its God and also stood up to pay the crazy devil some respect so it bowed. As expected, the soul was completely ignored. The chaotic soul also bowed but aim its lowered head toward Death, which unexpectedly earned the flickering soul an emotionless nod in response. All of the Gods and souls waited for the Demon to say something to Death so nearly all of them were caught off guard when the two looked at each other in complete silence. The Demon suddenly frowned like it knew a secret and was unwilling to say and walked past Death without saying so much as a word.

"Hey!", Death said in frustration.

"What do you want?", the Demon frowned.

"Nothing. It's just great to see you after what happened last time…", Death backed off instantly and found itself surprised for the second time in a short amount of time.

"I am a delight so it's natural to be excited to see me. As you clearly remember," the Demon held back a full on meltdown of laughter. Luckily, only its back was shown to Death so its wicked smile went unnoticed. The chaotic soul caught up with its God for the last time

"D's face was priceless. L too. And Rea. It's too good… That was worth it. You have a good eye kid," The Demon really struggled not to laugh out loud.

"You're welcome," The outline whispered. The devilish God stared at the souls hidden smile and frowned. For some reason, an unpleasant feeling flooded in from who knows where. The Demon punched this playful and cheeky soul in its arm without letting anyone see to dispel that awkward tight feeling in its chest. The chaotic soul, whose outline flickered wildly, gave off a buzzing and wry chuckle. It painfully stared at the side of its God's face with longing that would make anyone pause. Luckily, only one "person" and an observant soul saw that expression, and it wasn't the patrons.

Everyone then sat down in silence.

Big G, who was both already in the room and not, said, "Is everyone done. Of course you are all done. Since everyone is done and understands their positions, I will say that I agree to this game. Since I agree, I will be the impartial judge of this cosmic event to ensure that my two top concerns, fairness and fun, are met. So, for the sake of evening the playing field, the four of you will all tell these souls exactly what they are entering and what you are going to be doing for them behind the scenes."

"For, not so obvious, reasons. I'll be going first…", The Chaotic soul's patron stood up and spoke.

"What you four will experience is a 4 way game of ,what you understand as, chess or Kings-lay depending on your background. You four souls are our most important pieces and we are the players that will manage everything that happens to the four of you. You four exceptional souls have been awarded with the opportunity to be our chosen, our champions, hero's, or whatever else you want your position to be within the limits of what we would be willing to accept.

Furthermore, this game will continue until both the Gods and their chosen concede at the same time or the checkmate or conqueror conditions have been met. As for the game itself, the winning side will gain dominion over the losing side's authorities for one full cycle of eternity. The Gods, us, cannot interfere with the champions in any way not expressly permitted by the Judge. This limitation, however, only applies to the tutorial part of this game as the rules become more... free-form when the other pieces are added to the board. As for some specifics:

Each chosen will receive the same general starting point and overall power level to foster a controlled and fair environment. The champions, before the end of the tutorial and field testing phase, can receive up to a total of five test templates. Two of which will be given by another Sponsor of their choosing. For the first three templates, or blessings as they will show up for you, two will be decided by the God and the third will be decided by the chosen themself. As long as it is within our divine right to give, the chosen can ask for anything. These blessings will not be the skills the Gods, we, usually give out since we will only bring to bloom aspects that are within your capabilities. Overall, these blessings will be much simpler and weaker than normal but will have greater future potential than most chosen from the past as they are molded from your own core beliefs. In other words, your existence is going to be used as the material from which your gifts are shaped. A word of advice, don't think about what it is you want. Just feel it out as the blessings are aspects of yourself. The more detailed information should be processing in your little minds...right now...", the Demon pointed at four watering cans that poured over all four chosen, courtesy of Big g.

"Each champion will also receive an appropriate skill or piece of equipment from a chart that Life and Death will provide during their talk. The judge has the right to override, delete, and add rules or settings to this game only to balance out inconsistencies and make it fairer for the champions.

Finally, regardless of the ending of this game or the outcome of each individual chosen, each of you will be unharmed and receive the normal benefits of other first timers. A personalized paradise awaits each of you even if you fail or lose your status as a chosen. Those are the end of the base rules.

As part of my role, I will provide the basic System as I have always done," the Demon sat back down with an expectant expression.

"So you can actually look presentable and mature. As expected of my God," The chaotic outline said in faux worship.

"I'm ignoring you," Demon rolled its eyes but the tug at the corner of its lips showed that it was happy.

Big G spotted Reality's muted anger (There was zero hint that Reality was angry) and said, "There are many issues with the rules and rewards of this game. As such, I will give each of you patrons, three chances to pick at the rules and mechanics of the game before it actually starts. Hence, field testing the chosen each of you has chosen. That is final," Reality stood up after understanding the meaning behind Big G's words.

"The most appropriate tutorial, from what I have gathered from Life and Death, is an open world that is a variation of the earth each champion came from...", Reality looked at Big g knowingly and blinked its ruby red eyes.

"As part of my duties, I will stabilize the laws of the universe in which this game will take place so that it does not collapse under the influence of the chosen or destabilize due to the introduction of other influences outside of the normal environment or setting's base limitation. That is all for now," Reality sat back down and watched as Big G waved its hand to refill the watering cans. This time, a planet earth emoji with a universal bubble imprint surrounding it showed up on the side of each can.

"This is a lot of stuff to do for a game. How do you keep track of it all?", The stable soul directed its question to Reality as an overflowing interest took hold of its thoughts. Every champion gained an additional understanding of the world they were going to to based on the information they knew about their world, essentially meaning if they understood physics in their world, there would be a in depth explanation of the physics in the world they were going to. If they played a game with the title, "Worlds Thunder", and a similar game with the title of "Heart of Yore" showed up, the champion would instantly understand that they were the same game with only a slight difference in plot and name. Additionally, the knowledge that each champion had about the world would be shared with each other so they all understood and had access to the same knowledge. Nothing new was added to the spread and nothing completely specific like how they individually lived was added to the mix so they still had privacy. Regardless, Reality felt some sort of pride as the stable soul finished adapting all of the information first.

"I have an unlimited amount of time as I work outside of it. You will learn that such a small universe is irrelevant in the grand design of everything," Reality waved its hand in dismissal at the soul's interest, but smiled at the child's wonder. Everyone else, besides Big g, didn't realize that the stable soul spoke or that Reality responded.

Life and Death stood up after Reality sat down and took turns speaking.

"We have come to the conclusion that there are three appropriate power systems that can be used and managed properly during the tutorial stage as it currently is. In other words...", Death said.

"You all know easy to understand counterparts of these powers as each of you had similar stories in your previous worlds. That said, you should all understand what is available once you see them in the cute little video boxes I added...", Life said.

"You may have a different name for any of these stories or the skills so we will adjust the store to account for that...", Death finished saying.

"As per usual, we will maintain a balance between the mortals and the available resources so each chosen or being in this universe can learn or utilize these powers at appropriately adjusted rates," The Gods said together.

Big G waited until the two sat down and said, "Any questions?"

The Faded soul was the first to raise its hand and be called upon.

"How do we beat each other exactly? I am not going to accept that the condition is not as simple as capturing or killing the other so called champions," The faded outline asked after big g nodded.

"You force the other Champions to admit their defeat or kill them so thoroughly that they can no longer claim the right to be chosen. Of course that only applies to after the tutorial. It's an extremely fair game in the field test so each of you can get a feel for who's ahead of the pack without worry. As for after that, it'll be a free for all that you will need to navigate without our input," Big G said with a smile.

"So the entire universe with these chess-like rules, it is only a place for us to get adjusted to our blessings and powers so we can eventually reach the playing board. Okay. But after that, our goal is to maintain our positions, get each other, then force the Patron of another party to concede," The faded outline continued to reiterate and ask questions to affirm the truth.

"Pretty much, yes. Outside of the tutorial and field tests, other individuals playing in this game can find you and steal your position the same, or more devious, methods that you can use against each other. As the judge, I will protect you all from those that have been around for a while so you don't have to worry about being instantly defeated or killed. I do, however, suggest that you all prepare yourselves thoroughly. As for your other questions, figure it out," Big G explained with a nonchalant flip of its palm.

"Our skills, blessings, and backgrounds?", The soul asked with a tone of finality.

"You have all chosen what you wanted already," Big G said rather mysteriously.

"Oh...", Fade tapped its chin in thought and moved back in the seat.

"Anyone else have questions?", Big G asked.

The large soul, unexpectedly, put its hand up and waited.

"Yes?", Big g said.

"Does this mean that I will be an immortal berserker God with a spear and great sword when I'm reincarnated?", the large outline asked with the straightest face and most serious tone imaginable.

"Immortal huh?", Big g's eyebrows raised as it looked at Life and Death.

"You can be," Life said while patting the large souls head with a smile. It spoke in a promise-like whisper.

"That is, in no way, possible. All things must come to an end. That is the law," Life glared at Death for its remark and received a cold side glance in response.

"Maybe. That depends on you and your choices", Big g smiled, evaded answering and said, "Anyone else?", while looking at the last two souls.

"I'm okay. I am just going to go with the flow Mr. Judge," The stable soul gave a soft smile.

"I have no questions,", The chaotic soul nodded in agreement.

"Alright then. Off you all go. Enjoy your new lives," Big g said as it waved the souls goodbye. They scattered into sparkle confetti and were thrown into the tutorial.

"As for the four of you. I am annoyed by the whole description mess. We're all identified with 'IT' or 'THEY', so there is nothing really makeing us distinctly different from one another. So, from now on, Death, you can choose what you want since you find the idea of gender identity repulsive. Life, since you already have a preference, you can be that. Reality, the same. As for you...*Laughing squeak*... You have a bet in progress so I will not interfere with that. Also, cheat in moderation please. I'm talking to all of you. Don't make me get involved more than I already know I will," Big g left the Gods to their newfound bodies.

The Demon broke down in laughter, gasping before it could even form a word. Reality frowned at the little monster's obnoxious and slightly deranged laughter but smiled and heaved a sigh of relief. Fortunately, or as expected in Reality's eyes, there was a serious mishap.

"Looks like your choice is a little bit of an odd one. Just. Like. You," Reality smiled at the changes in the universe that he just finished.

"What are...", The Demon stopped laughing and looked in the same direction.

"...THIS MUT***UCKIN BASTARD PLAYED ME AGAIN," The Devil shattered everything around it in anger.

Life, Death, and Reality had never, in an infinite number of eternities, seen this companion of theirs have an outburst of this magnitude. Reality had to reinforce and personally protect the very concepts of perception and understanding against the overwhelming power this kindred being released. Unexpectedly, Reality coughing up a mouthful of blood, and Life and Death also lost a few shades of color in the cosmic blow to existence but without missing a beat, the little devil caught itself mid tantrum and pulled back in confusion after seeing the three of its companions get hurt due to its actions.

"...I'm sorry I didn't mean to, I just...", The devil panicked. At least, it looked panicked. Which would be the first time since it became self aware. A disgusting rip in the room appeared behind it, like an entirely different space existed underneath what they all saw.

Life then looked at Reality and asked a question that was also on Death's mind, "Did that problem generator just lose to a mortal in a game?".

Death spoke up and specified, "Not just once L, twice?"

"It would seem so. But now we have a bigger problem on our hands...", Old man Rea warned as he observed the blood that stained his fingers.

"What?", Death asked.

Life smiled and said, "Think about why we now have a gender, and factor in our appearances compared to our champions".

Life knew every living being anywhere, in the past, present, and future. It goes without saying that she knew exactly what was going to happen now that they all had a living, breathing, body.

"This game will not end well, will it?", Death asked the old man with a rising sense of dread. An emotion they didn't know they could feel up until that moment.

"I cannot see the end anymore so most likely," Rea said with feigned seriousness.

"It's for the balance of the game. We should take this as a warning from the Judge so we should be fair," Reality rubbed his eyes soon after. Only now did he realize he was losing his eyesight to old age.