It was an ordinary afternoon.
The kind people forget the moment it passes.
The traffic light turned green. Students crossed the street in small groups, laughing about homework and weekend plans. Among them walked a completely ordinary boy.
Not popular.Not special.Not someone destined for greatness.
Just… ordinary.
He adjusted the strap of his school bag and stepped forward with the others.
That was when he heard it.
A horn.
Long. Violent. Desperate.
He turned his head.
Bright headlights tore through his vision.
For a split second, the world slowed—not dramatically, not heroically—just enough for him to realize something simple and terrifying.
I'm not going to make it.
Then—
Impact.
Sound vanished.
Light shattered.
And everything went dark.
There was no pain.
No screaming.
No hospital ceiling.
Only silence.
When he opened his eyes, he was standing.
"…Huh?"
White.
That was the only word his mind could form.
White above him.White beneath him.White stretching endlessly in every direction.
There were no walls. No sky. No horizon.
Just nothing.
He looked down at himself. His uniform was untouched. No blood. No injuries. His body felt light—almost unreal.
"…Am I dead?"
"Yes."
The voice was soft.
Clear.
Undeniably feminine.
His body stiffened.
Slowly, he turned around.
She stood a few steps behind him.
A girl around his age, maybe slightly older. Long hair that shimmered like pale silver under invisible light. A simple white dress flowed gently, though there was no wind.
Her eyes were calm.
Too calm.
"Who are you?" he asked carefully.
She studied him for a moment before answering.
"I am the Goddess of Love."
Silence.
He blinked.
"…You're joking."
"I am not."
"You do realize I just got hit by a truck."
"Yes."
"And now I'm in a white void talking to a girl claiming she's a goddess."
"That is correct."
He pressed a hand to his forehead.
"Okay. Either I'm dead… or my brain is doing something very creative."
"You are dead," she replied gently. "The truck ended your life three minutes and forty-two seconds ago."
"…Why are you that specific?"
"I prefer accuracy."
He stared at her.
She didn't look like some overwhelming divine being. She looked almost human.
Almost.
"Why am I here?" he finally asked.
Her expression changed—just slightly.
"I brought you here."
"You what?"
"I summoned you."
He pointed at himself.
"Why me? I'm not a hero. I'm not talented. I'm not even interesting."
"That," she said calmly, "is precisely why."
"That's… not reassuring."
She took a small step closer.
The white space seemed to shift with her presence—not visibly, but he felt it.
"I understand love," she said. "I govern it. I bless unions. I witness confessions. I watch hearts break."
She paused.
"But I have never experienced it."
For the first time, there was something fragile in her voice.
"I do not understand why humans risk everything for it. Why they cry for it. Why they treasure it."
Her gaze locked onto his.
"I want to feel it."
He stared at her.
"You're the Goddess of Love."
"Yes."
"And you don't understand love."
"I understand it as a concept. Not as a heart."
That answer left him unexpectedly quiet.
She continued.
"You lived an ordinary life. You observed. You hesitated. You felt things you never confessed."
His breath caught slightly.
"How do you—"
"I watch all hearts."
Silence fell again.
Then she said the words that truly changed everything.
"Teach me."
"…What?"
"Stay by my side," she said softly. "Show me how humans fall in love. What makes their hearts race. What makes them afraid. What makes them brave."
He let out a short, disbelieving laugh.
"I just died."
"Yes."
"And instead of reincarnating me into some fantasy world with swords and magic…"
"You will assist me."
"That wasn't my sentence."
For the first time, the corner of her lips curved slightly upward.
"In return," she said, "I will grant you another life."
His heart skipped.
"A new world?"
"A new beginning."
He hesitated.
"…And if I refuse?"
The white space grew still.
"You will remain dead."
No threat.
No anger.
Just a simple truth.
He looked at his hands again.
Ordinary hands.
An ordinary life that ended in an ordinary accident.
Maybe this was insane.
Maybe this was divine manipulation.
Or maybe—
This was his second chance.
He looked up at her.
"…If I agree," he said slowly, "what happens next?"
Her eyes softened.
"Then your new life begins."
For the first time since waking up in this empty world, he felt something other than confusion.
Curiosity.
And maybe…
The faintest hint of destiny.