Tyler Reyes died eating Doritos.
Of all the ways to go, that was the one that claimed him—a chip. Not a car crash. Not a dramatic fall off a skyscraper. Not even a noble sacrifice saving a child from a fire.
Just a sharp, poorly chewed Dorito, and a split-second of not paying attention.
He remembered the moment with startling clarity: flopping onto his futon after a long, miserable shift. Fast food grease on his hoodie. Half a soda still flat on the desk. Arcane playing on his cracked laptop—Episode 7, again. Jinx was on-screen, crying. He reached for another chip, not looking.
Then… a stab in the throat.
He coughed. Choked. Tried to breathe—but nothing came. His hands flailed, useless. He hit the floor. Alone. The world went dark, not with peace… but with bitter regret.
> This is it?
Seriously? I die like this? Watching a show I've already seen, in a room that smells like takeout and loneliness?
He didn't even get to cry out.
Just the sound of the episode continuing without him. Just Jinx whispering, "He was my family..." as his vision collapsed inward.
---
Then—light.
Tyler's eyes snapped open.
He wasn't lying on the floor anymore. No pressure in his chest. No pain. Just… emptiness. He was floating in a blank space—soft white, like fog and silk. Weightless. Quiet.
"Welcome, my child."
The voice washed over him. It wasn't just heard—it was felt, as if the air itself spoke to his soul. Deep, calm, infinite.
A figure emerged, towering and radiant. Shifting constantly—angel, void, star-born titan. Wings that spanned galaxies. Eyes like collapsing suns. A shape too impossible to understand.
Tyler blinked. "Am I dead?"
"You are," the being said gently.
"And you're… God?"
"A name you may use."
Tyler stared. "This is insane. This is actually happening."
"You have died," God said. "But I have taken an interest in you. Your heart. Your mind. The way you watched the world from the edge of it. Would you like a second chance?"
A lump caught in Tyler's throat. He'd always joked about isekai and reincarnation, but now that it was real, he wasn't laughing.
"I don't want to be forgotten," he said quietly. "I don't want that to be it."
"It doesn't have to be."
With a sweeping gesture, three enormous wheels materialized before them—gargantuan rings spinning slowly, glowing with symbols in languages he didn't know but somehow understood.
"One for the world you will be sent to," God explained. "One for your form. And one for the gift you will carry."
Tyler gave a shaky laugh. "This is straight-up gacha. Divine edition."
"Indeed."
"Okay then," Tyler said. "Hit me. Spin all three."
God nodded once. The first wheel spun.
Worlds flashed by—each one a dream or nightmare. Teyvat. Hyrule. Westeros. Gotham. The worlds turned to a blur, slowed, then clacked to a stop.
ARCANE (League of Legends Universe)
Tyler gasped. "Arcane? No way. Piltover. Zaun. Magic and madness. That world is brutal."
"You'll fit right in," God said.
The second wheel spun.
Dozens of forms—warriors, monsters, beasts, gods. It spun faster, then stopped.
Tyler caught his reflection in a divine mirror.
Pink skin. Lean, muscular frame. An antenna curling from his head. Coal-black eyes with red irises.
"You've got to be kidding," he whispered. "I look like Kid Buu."
"A chaotic form for a chaotic world. Most won't understand you. Some will try to destroy you. But you will be... unforgettable."
Tyler's heart pounded. "Yeah… yeah, okay. I can work with this."
The final wheel spun.
This time, it didn't blur. It burned. Sparks of divine energy leapt from it, as if the choices themselves were dangerous.
Then it stopped.
Power: Reality Bending (Limited)
"You will be able to bend the laws of physics and space," God said, "but only in small areas, and for short durations. Think of it as subtle chaos. Controlled, for now."
Tyler took a deep breath.
He had no more questions. No more doubts.
Just the fire in his chest—the kind he'd always lacked in life. The fire that said: You were nothing before. But now... you are something else entirely.
God smiled. "Remember who you are, Tyler Reyes. And remember who you could become."
A flash of light swallowed him whole.
---
He woke up to the stench of rot and metal.
The ground beneath him was cold stone, wet from leaking pipes. The shadows pressed in on all sides, alive with whispers. The Zaun Undercity. He could feel it in the air—thick, chemical, pulsing with danger.
Tyler staggered to his feet.
He was barefoot. Shirtless. Thin but radiating strength. A small, pink-skinned creature with eyes that could unnerve grown men.
He passed a cracked mirror. Stared at himself. Grinned.
"I died pathetic," he muttered. "Not anymore."
Someone shouted nearby. Footsteps ran past.
Tyler looked up toward the ceiling—toward the glowing lights of Piltover above, and the churning city around him.
"This world's broken. Guess I'll break it a little more."
He walked forward, unafraid.