Another job…
A boy who looked to be in his late teens walked through the rain, no umbrella, his clothes drenched and clinging to his skin. His name was Lioren. His hair, once neatly kept, now hung over his eyes, rainwater dripping from his bangs as he trudged down the slick sidewalk. The city lights reflected off puddles, the night air thick with the hum of passing cars.
He kept walking, lost in thought — or rather, trapped in it.
His parents' voices echoed in his head like a loop he couldn't pause.
"Lioren, again and again, we do our best to help you, but you don't even try to talk to others! You just go from school to home and home to school, and we've had enough of it. You're eighteen now — too old to be hiding from the world."
"Wait, what? You're kicking me out because I don't want to talk to anyone?"
"It's not just that!" his mother had snapped. "You don't even try to make friends or find yourself a girlfriend. Your father and I think we failed you by not pushing you harder. We already paid for an apartment — one month — and got you an interview for a job. Go to it, make some progress, and don't come back until you've changed."
That was months ago.
Now he was alone, broke, and jobless again.
He'd been fired earlier that day. Not for being lazy. Not for being rude. But for thinking too much.
He could still hear his manager's voice:
"Lioren, I told you to stock the shelves, not redesign the whole damn store."
He wasn't trying to cause problems. He just couldn't stop wondering if there was a better, more efficient way to do things. His brain refused to shut up, and people didn't like that.
He sighed, tightening his soaked jacket around himself."Maybe they're right. Maybe I just can't do anything right," he muttered under his breath.
Rain poured harder, blurring the glow of the streetlights. Ahead, through the haze, a figure appeared — a girl, umbrella in one hand, phone in the other, headphones in her ears. She was crossing the street, eyes glued to her screen, oblivious.
Lioren frowned."Is she—? No, no, no, don't tell me—"
From the corner of his eye, he saw a truck rolling forward, its driver distracted. The rain muffled everything. The girl didn't even notice.
"Hey! HEY!" Lioren shouted, but she couldn't hear him.
Instinct took over. He sprinted. His shoes splashed through the puddles as he lunged forward, shoving the girl out of the way just in time—
The truck's horn blared.
He tried to dodge, but it was too late.
Impact.
The world spun. The sound of metal and bone cracked through the storm. He hit the ground hard, pain tearing through every inch of his body. Blood mixed with rainwater, pooling beneath him as his vision blurred.
His last thought was almost laughable.
"Figures… even dying, I overthink."
When he opened his eyes, everything was white.
There was no pain. No ground. No sky. Just… endless blankness.
And a face — way too close to his.
A young man with golden-blond hair and ocean-blue eyes was leaning an inch from his face, smiling like this was perfectly normal.
"Ah, you're awake!"
Lioren yelped and flinched back — hard. His forehead slammed into the stranger's.
"OW! Why'd you react like that!?" the blond boy groaned, clutching his head.
Lioren rubbed his own forehead, scowling. "Why were you in my face like that!?"
The two glared at each other before Lioren finally looked around.All he could see was white — stretching endlessly in every direction.
"…Where am I?" he muttered. "Am I dead? Is this heaven? No, wait—none of the religious books I've read ever described heaven like this. It's just… white. Empty. Kinda disappointing, honestly."
The blond stranger blinked at him, then sighed. "This isn't heaven. And yes, you did die. Now sit down so I can explain."
"Sit—where?"
A chair appeared behind Lioren. He stared at it for a long moment before sitting down cautiously, still overthinking a thousand possibilities.
"Alright," the blond said. "My name is Vareth, Lord who governs the Laws of the Future. And I have a favor to ask of you."
Lioren tilted his head. "...And that would be?"
Vareth scratched his cheek awkwardly. "Would you be willing to be sent to a different world?"
Lioren blinked. "Is this some shitty cliché? I get hit by a truck, wake up in another world, and let me guess—fight a demon king to return home?"
"Uh, no. None of that." Vareth coughed. "I… may have made a small mistake."
"Like?"
"Well, I was supposed to send a prophecy to a village to warn them about a monster invasion. But I… kinda forgot. So the monsters attacked, a bunch of people died, and—uh—turns out some of them were supposed to fall in love and have kids. Since they didn't, their descendants now don't have any destined partners. The Lord of Love is furious with me, so I'm being forced to fix it. You're… the fix."
Lioren just stared."So your one job was to deliver a prophecy. You didn't. People died. And now, to clean up your mess, you want me to go romance random women in another world?"
"Yes."
"…Do you even know who I am?"
"No?"
"I've never even been with a woman a day in my life."
"Oh."
"Don't 'oh' me!"
Vareth flinched as Lioren stood up. "What happens if I say no?"
"You die forever."
"And if I say yes?"
"You get a new life. You just have to, uh… you know, try. At least a little."
Lioren pinched the bridge of his nose. "So basically, die forever or become some cosmic dating experiment."
"Pretty much."
"...Give me some time to think."
One hour passed. Then two. Then six. Then eight.
"HOW LONG ARE YOU GOING TO THINK THIS OVER!?" Vareth screamed.
Lioren looked up. "Sorry. I tend to overthink things."
"BUT EIGHT HOURS!?"
"WELL, I'M SORRY, DID YOU DIE AND WAKE UP TO SOME GUY TELLING YOU TO GO FALL IN LOVE FOR THE SAKE OF THE UNIVERSE!?"
"...No."
"THAT'S WHAT I THOUGHT! Now give me one more minute."
Vareth groaned, counting each second aloud until he reached sixty.
Finally, Lioren stood up. "Okay. I'm getting close to an answer. But first — is there some great demon lord in this world?"
"No, the hero killed him a hundred years ago."
"So no big monster war or chosen-one nonsense?"
"Nope."
"Alright. What abilities do I get?"
Vareth perked up, excited again. "First, super regeneration — even if your hand gets cut off, it'll grow back. If your head gets cut off, just put it back on quick enough and you'll live. Second, you'll have a double core — that means you can use both magic and aura, something almost no one can do. And third, a status system like in your world's games — you can level up, grow stronger, and assign points to your attributes."
Lioren nodded slowly. "...Alright. I'll take the offer."
Vareth jumped with joy. "FINALLY! Let's go right now!"
"Wait, right now—!?"
Before Lioren could finish, Vareth grabbed him by the collar and slashed the air. The white void split open, revealing a view of a medieval city below.
Lioren's eyes widened. "WAIT, WAIT! You're not actually gonna make us jump through that, are you!? That's at least a hundred feet—!"
"No more thinking!" Vareth shouted with a grin. "Let's gooooo!"
"AHHHHHH—NOOOOOOO!"
And with that, both figures fell into the tear, disappearing from the white void entirely.