While I lay sprawled across my bed, eyes still burning with the memory of my Divine status screen, my mind drifted wildly into the possibilities of the future. Images painted themselves in my imagination—towering battles, kingdoms trembling at my power, lightning splitting the sky as I stood at its center. A grin tugged at my lips.
But then, a voice broke into my thoughts.
"Boy, check the description about your personal status."
The words were old, worn by age, yet heavy with authority.
My entire body froze. My face drained of color as chills crawled down my spine. That wasn't my father. It wasn't my mother. There was no one else in this room.
I sat bolt upright, eyes darting around the empty corners of my chamber, heart thundering in my chest.
And then the worst possible thought struck me.
Oh no. Oh, no no no. This was it—some creepy old pervert who had found a way into my body, just like those ridiculous cultivation novels I used to read. He'd pretend to be a mentor, but in the end, he'd try to steal my body, my strength, my youth!
"N-N-NO! Stay away from me!" I screamed, voice cracking in sheer panic. "Who the hell are you?!"
As though anticipating my fear, the voice chuckled faintly in my mind.
"Boy, don't let your imagination run wild. I am not some old pervert. Nor do I have the ability to possess your body even if I wanted to. I lack both strength and essence for such things."
The reassurance eased a fraction of the tension gripping me, but not enough to lower my guard. My hands still clenched the bedsheets, knuckles white, as I hissed back, "Then who are you? And why are you talking inside my head? Are you some parasite inside my body?"
There was a pause. Then the voice came again, calmer, patient—as if it expected my questions.
"I am the god of thunder—Zeus. Once, I was a God King in the Divine Realm, ruler of lightning and storm. But I perished in a great war against the abyss dwellers. What you hear now… is only a remnant thought of mine, fused into the system you call personal status."
My mind blanked. For a moment, I wasn't sure if I should laugh, cry, or faint outright.
God of thunder? Zeus? Like, the Zeus? Had I seriously been isekai'd and then hand-delivered the actual god of lightning in my head?
Before I could speak, the voice pressed on, sensing my doubt.
"When I fell, I gathered the last of my thought and soul into an ancient space-time artifact. With it, I detonated myself upon the enemy, dragging countless abyss dwellers into ruin. That explosion hurled what was left of me across dimensions… into your world."
I swallowed hard, every word shaking me to the core.
He continued, slow and deliberate, as though explaining to a frightened child.
"My soul was fractured, my essence nearly gone. But with what remained, I bound myself to the artifact and released one last strike of lightning, imbued with my divinity, the artifact's power, and the dregs of my soul. I hurled it into this world, seeking… a successor. A soul worthy of inheriting my legacy."
I stopped breathing.
Lightning.
The memory returned in an instant—the day my first life ended. The deafening roar, the blinding flash, and then the searing pain that snuffed everything into darkness.
That was no accident. That was no random strike of nature.
It was him.
It was Zeus.
A strange cocktail of emotions churned inside me—fear, awe, disbelief, and, most of all, an overwhelming sense of ridiculous luck. Out of all the billions of people on Earth, I was the one who had been struck. Me. A thirty-year-old office worker with no ambitions, no glory, no name worth remembering.
And that bolt of divine lightning hadn't killed me. It had saved me.
I sat there trembling, gripping the sheets tighter, my mind a storm of possibilities.
"So… you're saying…" My voice shook as I struggled to form the words. "The lightning that killed me… it wasn't an accident. It was you."
"Yes," Zeus answered simply, his tone neither proud nor apologetic. "That strike carried all of me—my divinity, my essence, my will. And you, boy, were the one soul who survived it. That makes you my successor."
I couldn't stop the wild laugh that burst out of me. It was too absurd, too insane. A god's successor? Me?
But deep down, I knew it was true. The status screen had already proven it. Lightning affinity at the level of Divine. A Divine potential. A Divine skill. There was no denying it.
I slumped back against my bed, staring at the ceiling in silence, a hollow smile tugging at my lips.
"Damn," I muttered. "I really am that lucky bastard."
The voice rumbled in amusement within my head, not denying it.
And in that moment, I understood. My life was no longer ordinary—not anymore.
I had been chosen by thunder itself.