Where is this?
This place is really strange.
Below or above – it's all sky filled with white clouds, with golden light shining through the gaps. Weird, yet somehow beautiful.
But I don't remember why I'm here.
This afternoon, I spent my time in boring school.
At night, I spent my quality time watching anime, reading webnovels, checking manhwa, and doing other productive stuff.
But at midnight, I stepped outside for a moment to get some fresh air. At that moment, I saw a falling meteor.
I thought I was super lucky. Turns out I wasn't.
The meteor fell right onto my head and killed me.
A spectacular death!
It's extremely rare, you know?
I might even go down in history.
So that means this place must be heaven.
Looking more closely, there are many other people here who have also died. Their bodies are transparent like mine.
Some are crying – probably because of their premature deaths; others look calm – maybe they died normally.
We're all floating above a golden river, being peacefully dragged along by an irresistible current, without knowing where this river ends or what its purpose is.
Other than that, it's really boring here. All I can do is wait. I can't even play with my smartphone to kill time.
Out of boredom, I tried diving into the river.
Turns out the river is really deep. Technically, it's a river floating in the air. Strange and scientifically impossible. But hey, it's heaven.
Seeing me dive, others followed.
Maybe they were bored too.
But they quickly gave up and resurfaced.
I know why. They probably wanted to breathe again.
Idiots. Even without breathing, we won't die – we're already dead. Though the pain in your chest from not breathing still exists.
Enduring that pain, I kept diving.
After a while, I reached the bottom.
It was full of golden stones.
Why gold again?
Whatever, not important.
I tried picking one up. But when my fingers touched it, it felt squishy – turns out it wasn't a stone but some kind of jelly that looked like a river rock.
Curious, I put it in my mouth.
My eyes widened. It tasted sweet like honey.
Because it tasted good, I ate a lot of it.
And since I was curious, I also drank the river water – instant regret. It wasn't sweet like the jelly at all; it was horribly bitter, even more bitter than coffee. I spit it out immediately.
To cure the bitterness on my tongue, I ate more of those golden jellies until my stomach was full and bulging like a pregnant woman.
When I resurfaced, I could see the end of the river.
It was a giant gate… also golden.
Ughhh, I'm getting tired of all this gold.
I want something edgy, like black.
As I entered the golden gate, I suddenly found myself alone. I didn't know where the others went. And frankly, I didn't care.
Then, I ended up inside a golden room.
Gah! Gold again! Why is everything here gold!?
A golden panel with golden text appeared in front of my eyes.
Seriously, why gold? Why does it all have to be gold?
The panel read:
[Reincarnation process begins]
[Starting stage one: Memory Erasure]
Ehhh? My memories are being erased?
But that's not too surprising.
After all, no baby is born with memories of their previous life. Even if there are, that only happens in fiction – like the webnovels I read: Darkness Awakening.
[Error: Failed to erase memories]
Eh?! What happened?
Did I do something wrong?
[Analyzing cause of memory erasure failure]
[Detected: Soul contaminated with Primordial Energy]
What is Primordial Energy?! Could it be the river water?
No, I spat the golden water out immediately.
So maybe the Primordial Energy was in the jelly I ate.
But that's fine, right?
This is okay, right?
Don't tell me I'm going to hell.
Please! Let me reincarnate!
[Searching for solution]
Yes! That's it!
Find a solution for me!
Don't torture me in hell!
[Failed to find solution]
What?! Come on! Work harder!
You can do it! I believe in you!
[Trying again]
Yes! Good job, boy!
[Stopped searching for solution]
Why?!!! Is it because I called you "kid"!?
Okay! I'm sorry!
I'll call you Master now!
So, Master, please find me a solution!
I'm begging you, Master!
[Searching for solution once more]
That's right, Master!
You're the best.
[Solution found]
You really are the best!
I love you, Master!
[Solution: Reincarnate the soul with intact memories, but not into a fetus – into the body of an already lifeless teenager]
What do you mean by "lifeless"?
Is that a corpse? Am I becoming an undead?
An undead skeleton with no penis? No thanks!
I still want to enjoy the pleasures of a woman's body!
[Reincarnation begins]
Wait! Am I really becoming an undead?!
But the golden panel didn't answer me.
Instead, my vision turned dark and I lost consciousness.
When I opened my eyes again, I was no longer in heaven.
I was in a very messy and filthy room.
Trash everywhere, dust all over, cobwebs in the corners. A rotten smell stabbed my nose. The window was shut, making the room gloomy.
This room was like my palace in my previous life.
The first thing I did was pull down my pants.
Phew! Thank goodness! My manhood was still there.
[Congratulations! You are the first human with Primordial Energy!]