'Where am I?'
Nathan, whose physical body had lost its functions, found his soul dragged from planet Earthiania to an interdimensional space, filled with woven star lights and the beauty of the cosmos.
'Beautiful'
'Where am I'
'I just died and heard a mysterious voice calling out to me. What's that supposed to mean, and it mentioned the pleasure world and hosts.'
'Is this some afterlife shit? Not that I believed any of that nonsense back at home.'
'Also, what's that nonsense of the hosts?'
'I sure as hell don't identify as hosts?'
As if the mysterious entity heard his inner mumblings, another soul shot from the deep cosmos and stopped next to him. Nathan, surprised by this turn of development, kept on staring.
'Who's this woman? Is she a dead bastard like me?'
'Although I can't see her facial features, due to some blurry effect, from the outline of her body, she does have a nice figure... mhhh.'
'What am I thinking. I'm dead and still concerned about some stupid woman,' Nathan lamented as he smacked his soul projection's head to get rid of weird ideas.
'Strange... my hand just passed through my body.'
'Am I really in soul form?... Crap, if I knew this shit would have happened, I could have been more religious in my previous life and believed in God.'
'Is this the highway to hell?'
Warily, Nathan looked around to see if there were any signs of scorching fire or ugly creatures with black wings.
"..."
"..."
"..."
Silence...
Not seeing any signs of hell, or at least what he believed to be hell, Nathan exhaled deeply.
'Is this some judgment stop, before going to heaven or hell?'
'Why are just the two of us here?' Nathan looked at the blurry woman again, trying to make sense of the situation.
'She does seem unconscious, though?'
'Why am I awake then? Anyhow, it doesn't matter; if this is my judgment day, then I need to plead my case before God carefully.'
Nathan started thinking back to all the deeds that might make him look worthy of heaven.
He looked around again to see if there were any signs of other people or entities around and found none.
'Perhaps I just can't see them... mhh... Besides, there was that mysterious voice earlier.'
'Here goes nothing,' Nathan cleared his throat and started listing his crimes and good deeds in a loud voice for the mysterious entity out there to judge.
"Am judgment Angel... God... am worthy of heaven because..."
"In my life, I was no thief; I didn't commit any adultery, nor did I sleep with any woman."
"The best I ever did was get a blowjob... Once... No wait... maybe more than once... but that's it. That slut's offer... I'm sorry... that little girl's offer (Veronica) to sleep with me, I was not going to accept it... You-You have to believe me."
"..."
"..."
"..."
If souls could cry, Nathan's soul projection could be filled with streams of tears from his pleading innocent face. He then kept on, mentioning all the things he could remember, some more straightforward, some more humiliating than the last.
After about 10 minutes of him pleading his case, he was once again met with silence.
"..."
But this time it didn't last long, and finally, a majestic female voice could be heard across the cosmos.
"I hear you."
Nathan, excited by the response, believed that now he was doing something right.
But surprisingly, this voice seemed different from the one he heard when he died.
Somewhat more authoritative... more majestic... more domineering and deadly.
He felt smaller than an ant, as his soul projection felt like it was going to collapse from the might of this majestic voice.
But the only thing he could do was wait, for he had no right to speak before such a presence without permission.
The mysterious entity observed him for a moment before continuing.
"The girl next to you is called Aiko."
Nathan raised an eyebrow and gave a glance at the unconscious woman.
'So, she is Aiko. But why is she telling me this?'
"Both of you are dead and should have stayed that way," the hidden entity solemnly said.
Nathan's heartbeat quickened, or at least that was the subconscious response of his soul projection, as his chest underwent a series of fast contractions and relaxations.
'Am I going to die again?... ahh... wait... should've stayed dead, but we are not... so there's a catch or reason we are here."
"Good, it seems you have some common sense. I initially worried when I revived you," the entity responded this time, devoid of any emotion.
'Did she just call me stupid?' Nathan was stumped, although he didn't have an excellent educational background, having dropped out in the middle of his high school years.
But that was due to their family situation at the time, and since then, he became the breadwinner of his family, doing part-time jobs one after another.
It was one thing to be looked down upon by other people who didn't know his background, but this mysterious entity, who seemed to know, still belittled him.
It left a bad taste in his mouth.
Nathan continued his bowing posture; the only difference now was that his fingers were tightly cupped into fists.
"Anyhow, the two of you have a unique fate entanglement with matters I pay great importance to."
"Enough to make me go against the way of heaven. You need to understand that I paid a great price to give you a chance at a new life."
"Don't make me regret it... But I also won't be babysitting the two of you."
"You have access to the favourite hole system, which will guide you, albeit only when necessary."
"You can access it by willing it to appear; it will materialize as a holographic screen in front of you, which no one else can see."
"Your previous world had descent technology, so you'll figure it out yourself; there's no starter guide."
"The new world I am sending the two of you to is known as the Pleasure world."
"You can gain access to supernatural powers through dual cultivation... The exact details you'll figure out as you go."
"Both of you will share one body and have different time allocations to control it. I have broken a lot of heavenly rules; granting it to you and one body is my current limit."
"Human, do you have any questions?"
"..."
Nathan was at a loss for words, trying to comprehend all of it. After a moment of silence, he politely asked.
"My first question is, how should I address you? And my last question would be, what is wrong with her? Why is she unconscious?"
The entity remained silent for a moment before revealing a deep sigh.
It was so mysterious that all the stars around them seemed to shake violently.
For a moment, Nathan was truly afraid that he could die from the cosmic turbulence, but a mysterious force kept the two human souls in place.
Initially, Nathan had thought that she was not an omnipotent being, for she only had the strength to grant them one body to share.
But to his surprise, the cosmic turbulence from her sigh made him reevaluate her strength.
'How terrifying, just what kind of strength is needed to limit such a being?'
"I am the Goddess of life and creation, that is my honorary title, and as far as my real name goes, the current you isn't worthy knowing such secrets; otherwise, death will be your inevitable end."
"As for her, she had deep resentment before her death, which threatened to crush her soul. Only in such an unconscious state can she cross the border to the pleasure world."
"Alright then, time to send you off."
She waved her hand, and the two souls started merging.
It was quite an excruciating process for Nathan, who was conscious as he felt like his soul was being shattered and remolded over and over again for a lifetime.
In contrast, the soul body of Aiko kept having a pained expression throughout the whole process, but no shrieks could be heard coming from her.
After the merging process was completed, a gateway opened, and the new soul body got sucked in.
Within the depths of the cosmos, a different voice was heard this time, addressing the Goddess of life and creation.
"Lilian, was it worth it to offend the heavens for them?"
...
...
"Let's hope so. I hope you won't break your promise and protect my kingdom as I go to serve my punishments," Lilian replied as she materialized her body.
She removed her crown and majestic outer garment, then floated them in the direction of the mysterious entity.
She now remained with a simple one-piece cloth covering her body before exhaling and calling out loud, "I'm ready."
Within the depths of the cosmos, golden clouds started swirling and churning as they moved towards the goddess.
They then started clumping together as a majestic golden staircase with cosmic shattering oppression manifested one step at a time.
Goddess Lilian, with an unwavering resolve, lifted her left leg and took her first step.
The mysterious man in the background sighed deeply, resulting in a similar cosmic phenomenon as Goddess Lilian had earlier.
****
In a palace, a 20-year-old handsome man was surrounded by imperial guards and many physicians.
When he opened his eyes for the first time in 3 days, a nearby maid noticed this new change and hurriedly shouted out.
"Crown Prince Tsunami has awoken."