“Is this it?”
In the middle of a dark room, with only the lights of his PC reflecting onto his face, Michael held onto his chest as if death had it in its clutches.
Most people feared dying alone, but for Michael, he was more than okay with this ending. He was satisfied.
For him, a life filled with playing games, watching anime, and eating delivery food was more than enough to live a happy life. As long as he had access to the internet, he could live in the confines of his home forever.
After 35 years, his body seemed to have given up on him. As it turned out, feeding his body with nothing but fast food coupled with no exercise was not a good combination for a long life.
“Kuuukk!”
His vision soon turned black, as if he was being forced asleep.
….
….
….
But something strange happened to him. He was still conscious! He couldn’t move his body, he couldn’t feel anything on his skin, and he couldn’t see his surroundings, but he could still think.
Is this the afterlife?
He never really believed in any religion, but as it turned out, they were right.
“Hello, Michael.”
An ethereal voice echoed through the darkness, startling him.
“Who are you? Where am I?”
“First of all, I would like to apologize. Because of a mistake on my part, you parted from your original world far too soon. You shouldn’t have died there.”
Michael rightly assumed that he was speaking to a Godlike being.
“You’re a God, right?”
“Yes. I am a God…aren’t you angry?”
Michael’s indifference to his death seemed to have made the God very curious.
“I’ll just assume that you can’t bring me back to life, right? If you could, then you wouldn’t have bothered to talk to me. You would have changed your mistake and revived me.”
“….”
Michael never bothered to care about things he couldn’t change.
If he shouted at the God, would he magically be able to bring him back to life? Probably not.
“You’re not going to even ask me why an Almighty God like me can’t revive people? That’s it? You’re okay with this?”
If he still had a body, Michael would have shrugged his shoulders.
“I’m just a chill guy,” he replied.
He seemed to have heard an exhausted sigh from the God, but it must have been his imagination.
“I was so ready to be the mysterious God who stays peaceful while you scream at me…whatever. Since this is my error, I am obliged to give you something in return.”
“Just take my soul, man. If I don’t have a consciousness, I won’t know that I’m missing out on the next anime releasing this season.”
“Ahem…since I can’t give you a life back in your original world, then I will just give you a new life in another one.”
If the God had a body, he would have tried to take a peek at Michael’s expression, fully expecting excitement to fill his face.
But Michael’s response was lackluster.
“Eh.”
The God, being the omniscient being that he is, knew about Michael’s love for anime. So, he thought that Michael would love the idea of being transported into another world.
“Why aren’t you excited?! Weebs like you love isekai, right?”
Of course, he wasn’t unfamiliar with the concept of being transported into another world. He was quite fond of it, given his love for anime and all fantasy entertainment.
But watching it was one thing, living in it was an entirely different concept.
Although he loved watching heroes fight against demon lords, Michael had no desire to waste his time fighting. He would rather sit on the TV and watch the hero fight the demon lord.
That was why he was so satisfied with his previous life. He didn’t have to fight for survival; he had everything he needed.
If he was hungry, he could have his food delivered to his doorstep. If he was bored, he could boot up his PC and play games. If he was bored with that, he could watch movies on his TV.
If he were to be transported to another life, he would have none of that.
He would rather just disappear than start over from the beginning.
“Just take my soul, man,” said Michael, feeling bored already and fighting the impulse to go on his phone and doomscroll for a good hour.
Of course, his attitude was very apparent to the God. It made him speechless.
An angry nonbeliever would have been easier to deal with than Michael.
“Sorry, not possible. I have to put your soul into another body in another world. That’s the rule. And no matter how much you complain—”
“Well, if you have no choice, then so be it.”
“That easy?! Hey! Don’t shrug your nonexistent shoulders!”
After dealing with Michael for only a few minutes, the God was already tired. He immediately cast a spell and sent Michael’s soul down into another world.
A strange warm feeling enveloped Michael’s entire being, as if he was submerged into a warm, viscous water.
Immersed in this ‘water’ Michael heard the fading voice of the annoyed God.
“P.S. I gave you abilities based on your desires. It’s unknown for now, but you’ll find out about it soon enough.
And since I took you away from your very comfortable life, I have decided to reincarnate you as the youngest son of the richest family in the entire world. So, live a life of luxury, Mr. Stoic.”
…
…
…
“$)(*@#)(%$)*&$#)*&@”
“)(*)% @)*(#@”
Atlan heard a bunch of muffled, strange new sounds and excited noises.
He felt his head getting pulled out from somewhere warm and slimy.
Then, a blinding light.
It took him a couple of seconds before his eyes were able to adjust to the light.
“$(&@(*&@)(*”
Where am I? What are they saying?
[They seem to be congratulating you on your birth.]
Huh?! Who are you?
[I am ChatJK1, your personal AI assistant]