Nathan, whose physical body had lost its functions, found his soul dragged from planet Earth to an interdimensional space. It was filled with woven star lights and the beauty of the cosmos.
'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 about the 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, hurriedly took a few steps back and held a defensive position.
Not that he knew any martial arts.
Just instincts and lessons learnt from that stupid bullet
'Who's this woman? Is she a dead bastard like me?'
' I can't see her facial features, due to some blurry effect, but from the outline of her body, she does have a nice figure...'
'What am I thinking?' Nathan lamented as he smacked his soul projection's head to get rid of weird ideas.
'Strange...'
'My hand just passed through my body.'
'I'm really in soul form... Crap!'
'If I knew this shit about the afterlife was real, I could have been more religious.'
Warily, Nathan looked around to see if there were any signs of scorching fire or ugly creatures with black wings.
Nothing.
Frankly, he was no saint, so a direct ticket to heaven was a dream.
But he felt that other people were worse than him; at the very least, purgatory should become his new residence for the next thousand years... or so he thought.
'This is not Hell's highway, right?'
"..."
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 then?'
'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... that is, after purgatory.
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... Besides, there was that mysterious voice earlier.' 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... Yo-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.
"..."
This time, though, it didn't last long, and finally, a majestic female voice could be heard across the cosmos.
"I hear you."
Startled but excited by the response, Nathan believed that finally he was doing something right.
Surprisingly, this voice was different from the one he heard when he died.
Somewhat more authoritative... more majestic... more domineering and deadly.
He felt smaller than an ant; his soul projection threatening to collapse from the might of this majestic voice.
The mysterious entity observed him for a moment before continuing.
"The girl next to you is named 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 that his soul projection showcased 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 caveat to this situation.'
"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.
That was due to their family situation at the time, and since then, he has become the breadwinner of his family, taking on 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 him and was also capable of reading his thoughts.
It really left a bad taste in his mouth.
...
Nathan continued his bowing posture; the only difference was that his fingers were tightly cupped into fists.
"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 for a new life."
"Don't make me regret it..."
"Also, I won't be babysitting the two of you."
"You have access to the favourite hole system. It 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, that no one else can see."
"Your previous world has 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 and... The exact details you'll figure out as you go."
"That is, if you live up to my expectations," she paused for a moment, letting that critical piece of information sink in.
"Both of you will share one body and have different time allocations to control it."
"I have broken many heavenly rules to accommodate you so far."
"Granting one body is my limit."
"Human, do you have any questions?"
"..."
Nathan was at a loss for words, trying to comprehend it all. 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? Her state won't affect me, will it?"
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 afraid that he could die from the cosmic turbulence. His soul had collapsed and reformed over ten times in that short breath of time.
Fortunately, a mysterious force kept the two human souls in place and protected them from the laws of the cosmos.
Initially, Nathan had thought that she was not an omnipotent being. After all, she only had the strength to grant them one body to share.
Maybe she was not even a god.
But to his surprise, the cosmic turbulence from her sigh alone made him reevaluate her strength. He truly underestimated her might.
'How terrifying'
'Just what kind of strength is needed to limit such a being?'
Bringing him back to the matters at hand, the entity introduced herself.
"I am the Goddess of life and creation, that is my honorary title."
"As far as my real name goes, only Angels are worthy of knowing such secrets."
"Otherwise, death will be your inevitable end," she paused, taking a good look at the man and woman that the prophecy revealed.
'No wonder other gods call me crazy,' she slowly shook her head, deep worries of cosmic scale weighing her failing body.
"As for her, she had deep resentment before her death. This threatened the integrity of her soul."
"Only in such a state can she cross the border between worlds."
'So that's it,' Nathan gave the woman another look, trying to see if he could make out the appearance of his soul partner.
"Alright then, time to send you off."
She waved her hand, and Nathan's and Aiko's souls started merging.
It was quite an excruciating process for Nathan, who was conscious. His soul was being shattered and remolded over and over again, more than a million times.
Every ounce of detail relating to the old world in his soul body was being purged in the process; even his appearance was changing.
In contrast, Aiko's soul body kept having a pained expression throughout the whole process, but no shrieks could be heard coming from her.
Unlike Nathan.
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, male in nature, addressing the Goddess of life and creation.
" Was it worth it?"
A short moment of silence ensued, followed by a tired reply, while the goddess materialized her body.
"Let's hope so."
"I hope you won't break your promise and protect my Divine kingdom while I am serving my heavenly punishments."
She removed her crown, a symbol of authority over her divine kingdom, followed by her godly outer garment.
Then, they floated in the mysterious man's direction and stopped before his presence.
The goddess 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 danced towards the goddess.
They then began to clump together as a majestic golden staircase, with cosmic shattering oppression manifested one step at a time.
The Goddess, 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 when the goddess sighed earlier.
****
In a palace, a 20-year-old handsome man was surrounded by imperial guards and a team of physicians.
When his eyes opened for the first time in 3 days, a nearby short maid was the first to notice and, in an excited voice, hurriedly shouted.
"Crown Prince Tsunami has returned from the gates of the underworld."