Arthur Jones was a loner throughout his life. Not because he chose to, or disliked others. He was simply stuck in his own head all the time.

He never made any effort to socialize with others and as a result never had any friends, Not that it bothered Arthur much. If people were asked what Arthur was like, they would describe him as quiet and bland. He had average grades, a modest lifestyle, and one hobby. Dungeons and Dragons. Arthur liked D&D because it was about imagination, which he certainly had enough to spare. Possibilities were endless.

His single father first introduced him to it when he was young. It consumed his life thereafter. he inhaled the lore and played with random groups all the way until he graduated high school. Until the day arrived, his death of course.

Arthur unlocked the front door to his and his father's apartment, shutting it and locking it back after he headed inside. He let out a deep sigh of exhaustion. It was a long day of work at the minimart, with many troublesome customers he didn't have the social skills to deal with. He was glad to be home so he could get back to reading, and possibly make another story on D&D. He turned around after staring at the closed door for a few moments, deep in thought once more.

He absentmindedly kicked off his shoes and walked towards his room. He bumped into his dad on the way. "Sorry" Arthur mumbled, moving to go past them, but instead was violently shoved backwards, ripping Arthur from his fantasies. He snapped his head up to see the barrel of a pistol meet him. He numbly remembered his dad wasn't supposed to be at the apartment this early.

A man he did not recognize was standing there, with an expression of confusion and anger. "Didja jus say sorry? Are you an idiot? How didya not see me?! " He practically shouted, advancing on Arthur with the gun still aimed at his head.

Arthur stood there, not knowing what to do. Should he fight, or-"Are ya listenin? I'm gonna put a bullet in yer ass, Don't you ignore me!" The man roughly pushed Arthur backward with his free hand, causing him to trip and fall. He looked up to see the man cock his pistol and aim it at his head.

"Ya saw my face, and there wasn't even any good shit here. Your dead-"

Arthur zoned out his voice as he usually does to others when he's stressed, and retreated into his mind. How did this man get inside? He looked around frantically and spotted a cheap plastic mask on the kitchen counter and the fridge door wide open. He continued to look around and spotted a broken window he didn't notice outside, as he was contemplating about his day, and how he could have handled certain situations better. That's how he got inside then. Why had he taken the mask off?

He theorized the man was going to help himself to the fridge and took off his mask, and that's when Arthur happened to enter the apartment. A shame, Maybe he would have been spared if he walked in earlier. He didn't think he would come out of this alive. The man's breath smelled of liquor and his eyes screamed crazy person. He turned back to the would-be robber. He decided to struggle to the end. If Arthur would die to some random junkie, he would go out fighting.

In the middle of the robber's nonsensical ramblings about how his place didn't have any "good shit", Arthur gathered his courage and let out a cry, tackling his legs rather clumsily. Not expecting this, the robber stumbled to get away and fell, and Arthur tried to grab the man's gun. He wasn't fast enough. BANG BANG.

Two shots rang out, and Arthur went limp on top of his murderer, who pushed him off and stood up in a panic. The man shuffled back and grabbed his plastic mask and ran towards the apartment door, cursing all the way. Arthur faintly heard the door open and slam shut.

He couldn't move without hurting even more, and he started to feel a bone-chilling cold creep throughout his body. Arthur felt his breathing become shallow, the searing pain of the bullet wounds throbbing near his shoulder and the other around his chest. "Damn it." he gasped out, before losing consciousness.

Darkness was all Arthur could see around him. I think I bled out, he thought. His eyes were closed, he realized. It was as if one moment he was softly floating, the next he regained sensations. He did not remember closing his eyes. He opened them and peered around.

Surrounded by darkness that stretched on forever, in front of him was a woman in a simple white dress, standing behind a simple raised pedestal. She had long straight black hair, kind blue eyes, and a faint glow surrounding her. "Welcome." She said in a melodious and soothing voice, "to the afterlife." She smiled faintly.

Arthur looked around dumbly for a few moments, before realizing she was waiting for him to say something. "What..is this exactly?" he says, uncertain and a little confused. Arthur found himself examining this mysterious person further, and found she was beautiful, and faintly reminded him of an angel, although she had no wings. Her smile grew a fraction.

"I'll explain as much as I can. You are going to be reincarnated. I and countless other beings are the embodiment of human creativity. You humans are quite powerful, more than you know." She says wryly, "Your species combined emotions and intelligence were enough for universal forces to come together, and create fantasy and beliefs into reality. The more your numbers and creativity grow, the more things spring into existence."

Arthur slowly processed this info dump. "So things like fantasy and religion are real because humans..imagine them?" He finally said, curious despite the situation.

"Yes, every human 'soul' gets sent to what they believed in most. Although for humans like you, who do not believe in a religion with an afterlife, instead are reincarnated into a fantasy you believe in the most." Her smile brightened.

Arthurs mind raced, is this going where he thought this was going? "Yes, it is." She replied wryly, just as he thought that. "You can read my mind? Nevermind. Of course you can." he said, slightly out of breath. Was he going to be reincarnated into the world of D&D? Arthur was shaken from his ramblings when the woman gestured to her right and a huge wheel with many, many names of different species Arthur recognized from D&D appeared.

"However, in the spirit of fairness, and 'fun', you will have to spin this wheel and become a random race of your world."

Arthur thought for a moment, "What do you mean by fair?" He didn't get it. Why couldn't he choose what he wanted to become?

"We send many humans from earth to many worlds like this one. We made this so it would be more 'interesting', as humans would put it. It wouldn't be fun or fair if every human chose the strongest races." She let out a light, tinkling laughter. Arthur decided that made sense after pondering on it.

"It would be chaos in short. So, this system was made." She gestures to the wheel, which was as large as two minivans stacked on top of each other, and held countless monster and humanoid names that Arthur recognized from D&D.

He spied Elf and Dwarf among many other 'regular' humanoids and countless monster races. There was a metal handle on the left of the wheel, which he assumed was how you spun it. So this wheel would decide his fate? A relaxing yet exciting life would fit him best, he thought, so he hoped for something that would fit that bill.

Arthur again took a minute to gather and compose himself, and he found himself reminiscing his entire life up until this point and all the information he was told in these short minutes. He felt a pang of sadness when he thought about his father, the only one who really understood him. He would get over his death in time, he was tough. And he hoped his father knew he wouldn't want him brooding about it for the rest of his life. He was about to start a new life, in a world he loved all his life. This was a dream come true for Arthur.

He felt his spirits rise once more and he said, "I think I'm ready to do this." The woman, who was patiently waiting for Arthur, smiled gently once again.

"Go ahead and spin it then, Arthur." She gestured to the handle on the left side of the wheel.

Arthur approached slowly, and with all his strength grasped the handle and spun it. He took a step back and both beings watch the wheel spin with apprehensive and curious eyes respectively. The wheel starts to slow and Arthur sucks in a breath as he waits to see what it will land on. Slower, slower the wheel goes until it finally stops. There is a moment of silence, and the woman leans in to see what it landed on. "You will become an ancient red..dragon." She briefly raises her eyebrows in surprise, before looking back to Arthur to see his reaction, who is stock still and staring mouth slightly agape at the wheel.

"A dragon." He says simply. "Nice." He briefly pumped a fist in the air at his luck.

"Congratulations. You happen to be the first human to be reincarnated as a red dragon, and an ancient one at that. Your body will be created from scratch based on your preferences. I will send you now." She said in a slightly amused tone.

With a flourish of her hand, Arthur is suddenly picked up from the ground, and with a wave and smile the woman says "Goodbye, Arthur."

"Wait, what's your name!" He shouts suddenly, looking at the woman. After a pause, she says "I am Elise." She sounds surprised he asked.

Arthur feels a sudden jolt as if he was in a moving car that floored the brakes, and darkness once again. That was sudden, he thought. Oh well. He was about to become a dragon! This hardly felt real. What adventures awaited him? Elise said he was going to be an ancient one, which means he would be the biggest he could get, and very old as well. Arthur was excited and nerding out, which he didn't feel all too often and do in his old life. Arthur felt his senses returning to him and realized his eyes were closed.

{Elise POV}

She watched the curious human leave to his fantasy world. She didn't remember that particular world's name, as there were hundreds just like it. Her cosmic job required her to reincarnate humans into the world they believed in most, not remember the names. "Arthur, a curious one. Maybe I'll watch them, it does get boring here sometimes." She smiled to herself, preparing for the next dead human to be reincarnated.