By the time he returned to his senses, he was already lying underneath the gloomy, gray skies. Thick, fluffy dark clouds floated high above, pushed by the winds. Remy noticed most of his senses returning to him. The feeling of dirt underneath his body, the wind blowing against his skin. It all felt real as if he was once again alive.

He tried to pull himself up, his stomach feeling heavy. Something was on it. He thought it was an effect of the magic or whatever Atilia did to him. Judging from the sights above, she had sent him to this other world. He didn’t remember saying the cheat he wanted, which meant he came here at a severe disadvantage-

All of a sudden, something moved. Something on his stomach. Finally, he looked down at his body.

"Hmm… you're awake? About time."

The angel, Atilia herself, rose and stretched her hands. She got off and sat cross-legged facing him, while Remy sat upright. He stared at her, speechless. She looked almost exactly like how she looked when they were in the afterlife. The only difference he could spot came from the small brown leather bag swung over her shoulders.

“Took you a while,” she said, as if ignoring Remy’s surprise.

Remy's body didn’t have any of the blood or wounds he suffered from when he slammed onto the road. His body wore the same clothes he wore when he went out. He felt grateful that he chose some decent outdoor wear, a black jacket with brown long pants. It would have been much more embarrassing had he come with the simple house clothing he usually had.

He checked his pockets, looking for anything else he might have carried over with him, but he found none. His wallet, his smartphone, and his stuff were nowhere to be found. Not even the pineapple pizza he bought survived the trip.

“Remy?” Seeing Remy frozen, Atilia began poking on his sides.

“... No way…”

“... Yes?”

“Where am I?” he forced the words out of his mouth. Atilia looked at him with mild disbelief.

“Did you forget about literally everything you just went through? It hadn’t even been an hour,” she complained, bringing herself closer. Remy looked around. He sat in a large, empty plain with several trees scattered about. A long line of mountains expanded throughout the horizon far in the distance.

“I’m… in another world…”

“Yeah.”

Remy looked toward Atilia. “And since you’re here, does that mean…” Remy trailed off as Atilia pulled closer. She closed her eyes and kissed him on his cheeks.

“... Yeah,” she said, her face red, looking away. Remy could feel the embarrassment taking over him, yet Atilia was so adorable that he didn’t want to look away. He fought his embarrassment just so he could stare at his embarrassed wife.

“Don’t look!” Atilia said, turning her head away.

“I… thank you.”

Atilia snorted in response and stood up. After a bit of stretching, she extended her hand and pulled Remy up. He was about to ask about their destination when the ground shook. A black steam locomotive raced down the tracks, passing by the two.

“Way to ruin the mood.” Atilia chuckled, watching the train pass. The locomotive's sound faded into the air as it traveled farther and farther away.

“Let’s go,” Atilia said after the train was far enough. They approached the tracks and walked next to it.

“To think I’m actually in a different world, with a wife no less.”

“I’ll be in your care.” She chirped, extending her hands to the side as she walked above the tracks. She didn’t have angel wings, Remy thought, but he didn’t see it either when they were in that void.

“I hope you take care of me as well. Still, I’m surprised there are trains here. What era is this world in?”

“It’s utter chaos here, thanks to humans from Earth bringing their knowledge into this world. Before the demon invasion, if I could describe it, it would probably be in the medieval era.”

“Which part of the medieval era, though? The medieval era spanned like, umm… a thousand years?”

“That’s the thing. This world has magic, so you can’t expect a similar progression to Earth.”

“You have a point.”

Far in front of them, the train had turned into a little dot. It disappeared behind what looked to be a walled area, surrounded by dense forests. The walls rose above the treetops, although not by much. It was too far for Remy to tell, and the trees that surrounded it didn’t help. He hoped they landed in a settlement that was open to outside visitors. He wouldn’t want to spend his first day in this world explaining himself to some military general.

“Can we fly there? With magic maybe?”

"From what I know, you can using magic. It’s pretty tough, though. Or, you can ask for an ability like that, had you not asked for a wife."

"That’s pretty neat."

"Only if you ask for it. But since you didn’t, you’ll be stuck walking with me all the way there,” Atilia said before looking toward the distant mountains. “It’s beautiful.”

Remy, meanwhile, thought about the things he could have had if he asked for something else. A powerful weapon, a gift for utilizing magic, maybe a unique ability. In the end, though, his mind reached one simple conclusion.

"Not worth it."

"Not what?"

"Ah, sorry. I was just thinking that cheat abilities won't be worth as much as you."

Atilia began sending light punches toward him.

"You dummy. Where do you learn to be that smooth? How come you never knew a girl before?"

"Isn't that something you should tell me? You checked my life, didn't you?"

“I did, yeah, but there’s nothing but pain in there.” Atilia shrugged.

“Wow, thanks for telling me,” Remy responded. Atilia giggled.

“Speaking of painful past, how about trying that on me?”

“That?”

Atilia pointed toward a tree. Remy, not understanding what she meant, followed after her. The tree cover grew denser the closer they got to the city. He didn’t know what kind of trees occupied the space, just that the trees were large, but not tall. They had wide and chubby branches with a lot of leaves hanging from them.

“So, what are you-”

Atilia turned around and rested back on the tree’s trunk. Remy finally realized what she meant.

“No way…”

A confession?

Things had happened so fast back in the afterlife. He didn't have the chance to give her a proper confession.

“Come on. I’m your wife, no need to be shy.” Atilia smiled. Remy’s heart began wavering under her adorable smile.

“I won’t slap you like that girl.” She reassured him. It set off a painful memory in his mind.

“Please don’t mention that.”

Yet, the girl standing before him was someone different. Someone who came into this world with him, agreeing to be his wife and accompanying him on his journey. Remy steeled himself and stepped closer. He rested his hand on the tree branch and slid himself closer, his face a few centimeters away from hers. He thought about words he should say.

"Umm…” He took a pause, but he didn’t want to waver in front of her. He asked for her. He took her here. He must take responsibility.

“I love you, will you go out with me?" he whispered. It came out much more silent compared to what he expected. His cheeks red, his mind couldn’t get off the experience he had before. It was painful. He knew Atilia was a different person. He knew Atilia wouldn’t treat him the same way she did. He knew that this was her request in the first place, Atilia had no reason to hurt him.

Yet his mind refused to forget. He regretted doing it to that girl that day. He wanted to go back in time and dragged past him away. The embarrassment made him turn away. Atilia looked up at him and pulled herself up. Giving him another kiss on the cheeks. The surprise attack caught Remy off-guard, he didn’t expect two in a row.

“We’re married, remember?” Atilia said while averting her gaze. “Come on, do it again.”

Remy felt embarrassed, really embarrassed, but he needed to owe it to her. He asked her, an angel, to come down to this world with him. If he couldn’t make her happy, then he didn’t deserve her. He steeled his nerves, and with a voice as calm as possible, he said,

“I love you.”

“I… I love you too…” Atilia shyly returned the message. Remy, squeezing the last of his boldness out of him, extended his hands, holding her face. She looked up at him, her cheeks red, her eyes full of expectation. He moved in and kissed Atilia on the cheeks. After he pulled his lips away, Atilia looked down and ran away. Remy quickly caught up to her, resuming their trip next to the train tracks.

“Umm… anyway… let’s make some ground rules.”

“Ground rules?”

Atilia nodded. “What we can do and we can’t do. For example, I’m no longer an angel. As an ex-angel, I kept some of my powers, but not a lot. You can’t expect me to have the same powers as when I was an angel. Although we guide angels aren’t that strong to begin with...”

“I’m fine with that.”

“... You are?”

“Yeah. If I want something powerful, I’ll pick up a sword instead.” Remy did some swinging motions with an imaginary sword, Atilia laughing next to him.

“Yeah, you have a point. Still… you’re taking a huge risk, here. I read about your life, so I knew some things about you, but you know nothing about me.”

“Yet you’re willing to go with me even after knowing the kind of person I am.”

“I…” Atilia averted her gaze. “You’re not bad.”

“Anything else?” Remy asked.

"As an ex-angel, I don't have much of a personality,” Atilia admitted. Remy looked at her, confused.

"You're cute?"

"Being cute is not a personality."

"You're cheerful."

"Well, that is… but not much. I'm not that cheerful. You just haven’t met some of my colleagues yet."

"You're awesome."

"Thank you."

"No problem."

Atilia went silent for a while, as if her processor needed time to process the weird conversation they just had.

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"What I mean is, while I don't have much personality, I still have some lines I won't cross. Respect me and I'll respect you."

"Lines like?"

"... Umm… ugh… pineapple pizza?” It didn’t seem like a serious answer, so Atilia thought about it some more. Remy waited. Eventually, she shrugged. “I'll tell you when we get to it. Based on your past life, though, we wouldn't need to fight much."

"I would rather not."

"No couple got through without a fight.” She chuckled. “Knowing about it should prepare you mentally for when that happens."

"Are you scary when you're angry?"

"I'll bite."

Atilia pulled Remy’s shoulder down and began munching on his neck. It felt more like kisses than actual biting, though, as she used her lips instead of her teeth.

"Nom nom. It will hurt much more if you piss me off."

"I'll be your pineapple pizza then," Remy joked, but Atilia quickly let go.

"Don't you dare. Pineapple pizza deserves to be in the trash bin."

For someone with no personality, she sure hates that pizza.

"So I'm not allowed to eat them?"

"... As long as I'm around."

"Fine, smuggling it is."

"Don't sound like you're going to cheat on me!" Atilia tugged on the ends of his shirt.

"No way I'm doing it on the first day."

"Don't do it for the rest of your life!" She complained, hugging his arm and pouting.

She’s adorable. She really is adorable.

Remy reached out and patted her head, his fingers ran through Atilia’s delicate silver hair.

“Nyaa~~” She let out some cute little noises.

“Do you dislike it?”

“... No.” Atilia closed her eyes, enjoying the little pats.

“I’m not a cat…” she murmured, yet her hands held Remy’s when he lifted it away, practically asking for more. Remy did as ordered, returning her hand to her head. He caressed them, marveling at just how silky and smooth Atilia’s hair was.

“Ah, we’re here,” Atilia said as they approached the walls. Their walk had taken a while, but the atmosphere here felt cooler to Remy compared to his home back on Earth. He didn’t sweat as much, nor was he particularly tired, unlike the short walk before he died which took quite a toll on him. Saying that he was on the verge of dying from the action of walking itself was an overstatement. The difference in physical ability was noticeable enough. It made sense. The people here needed heroes to fight off the demons, not people who would get tired from a simple walk.

Remy let go of Atilia’s hand. She pouted but said nothing, and the two approached the gate. Two people guard the large door that provided entrance into the city or settlement. One of them noticed Remy. Remy stood in place, while Atilia continued walking, unaware of her husband's doing.

“Umm…” Remy pointed toward the guard. Atilia finally noticed and looked back. “What?”

The guards wore leather armor, a simple sword hung on their hips. While they didn’t look scary, Remy felt lost at what he should do. Atilia returned to him and grabbed his hand, pulling him closer to the city.

“Good day, Madam, Sir. Welcome to Purwa.” One of the guards took the initiative. He brought his left arm horizontally across his chest.

“Hello. We just arrived here,” Atilia greeted.

“Are you two outworlders, by any chance?”

“... Maybe?”

Atilia and the guard spoke in the local language. A language Remy somehow understood. He assumed it was a perk of his transfer into this world, as learning a new language would waste the time someone could use to fight demons. The word ‘outworlder’ carried a meaning he had a vague idea of, in the context of this language, at least. It meant people that came from outside the world.

“The Outworlders’ Guild would assist you in getting up to speed. Please follow this road, the building is across the train station. You can’t miss it.” The guard pointed toward the center of the city.

“Thank you.” Atilia took Remy’s hand and headed deeper. They walked past the bustling streets of the city the guards called Purwa. Wooden buildings two to three stories high occupied both sides of the large road. A lot of people wearing all kinds of clothing could be seen chatting on the streets, going about their day.

As he looked at this new world in wonder, he failed to notice the sound of a carriage rolling down the road behind him. Atilia gripped his hand and pulled him to the side, the vehicle letting out a honk as it passed through. The white vehicle looked like a normal carriage. It had a boxy shape and four wheels but with a rather large sail above its roof. A strong gust of wind pushed the carriage’s sail, the carriage moving slowly down the paved road.

"It's like someone decided to install a mod to the game," Remy murmured, astonished.

"You can think of the demons as a bug in the system, and this is the only patch we can apply that won't break the game."

He looked toward her, not expecting an angel to be using such terms.

"You're quite knowledgeable."

"You're not the first gamer I handled."

It made sense. More than a hundred thousand people die every day. Since heaven and hell exist, not all of them get a chance to come here. Assuming half of them get a chance, that would mean fifty thousand. If half of those people chose heaven, that would leave twenty-five thousand a day. A whole lot.

“How strong are the demons, anyway?”

Did the attack happen recently? How could twenty-five thousand people with cheat abilities not fight demons? And that was the people they sent in a day.

“... Why?”

“It’s just… there should be a lot of people transported here, right? I mean, looking at the variety in this world.”

It might just be people who were born here, but the different styles and looks meshing into one made him think that Earth should have a great influence on this place.

“... I don’t know what number you’re thinking in your head, but the number of people transported isn’t as high.”

“Twenty-five thousand?”

“I don’t know the exact number, but far, far, lower than that.”

“I see…”

“What’s wrong? Sad you’re not my first?”

“Ah, nothing like that, really. Just pure curiosity.”

“Gotcha.”

Remy wondered what these other gamers were like. Were they people with actual lives? Actual connections? What did they do? Did they play games all day like him, or did they spend time with their friends as well? Remy knew that their lives had nothing to do with him, but he was just the tiniest bit curious.

After not long, they arrived at the train station. The train that they saw earlier had finished loading and unloading. With a loud whistle, it chugged down the tracks, heading for its next destination. Across the station was the building that the guard mentioned. The guard described it as a place impossible to miss, and looking at it, Remy couldn’t agree more.

The Outworlders’ Guild building had been painted from top to bottom in one color. Pink. Yes, pink. It stood out like a sore thumb in the middle of the city. The buildings surrounding it were, indeed, painted in various colors. Red, yellow, blue, but they tend to be on the darker end of the color spectrum. Some were of different colors, of course, like light brown or gray. But no other building was even close to the guild's bright pink color. It had a written sign in the local language above the front entrance. Many other languages decorated the main door itself.

Remy approached the front door, recognizing the English, Japanese, and Indonesian words. Around those languages were many other texts that he didn’t know their origin. He assumed some of them must be Korean, Chinese, Spanish, or even French. The two approached the building and pushed its door open. The insides looked surprisingly normal, similar to what he expected out of a guild building. It had a round receptionist desk at the center, with several different staff members working behind it. The building’s tavern consisted of tables and chairs on the far back end, with a kitchen behind them.

On the left side of the entrance, before the receptionist, stood the quest board. Curious, Remy approached the board. Usually, a guild’s quest board would have multiple available quests people could take. This board only had a single one placed right in the center of the large board. A missing person poster, a picture of a man with the name ‘Barett Kariya’ written down underneath it. Remy couldn’t help but wonder if there really were no quests.

“Outworlders?” A voice came from behind them. It belonged to a young girl with short black hair and clear blue eyes. A thin scar ran diagonally across her neck, most of it hidden underneath her black and pink uniform. A shield and sword symbol hung on the right side of her chest. At first, her looks intimidated Remy. The way she looked so sleepy shooed her frightening aura away, though.

“Hello. We had just arrived here. Can you help us?”

“Mimiyat Pukrakra," she said, with a clear lack of interest.

They were taken aback by the greeting, or rather, lack of it. Atilia hid her dissatisfaction at the greeting, though. Remy wondered if Mimiyat had noticed it. Atilia instead gave her a gentle smile, extending her hand toward Mimiyat.

“I’m Atilia, and he’s Remy.”

Mimiyat looked at the extended hand, and after what seemed to be slight hesitation, shook it.

Is it not normal to shake hands here?

She didn’t seem to be too happy with it, at least that was how it looked in Remy’s eyes. He reminded himself that he was in a different world and that the things on Earth may or may not apply here. He could only hope that shaking hands wasn’t considered an insult in this world.

“Follow me.”

Mimiyat led them to the receptionist desks at the center of the guild. She navigated to behind the desks, and pulled out two pieces of paper, pushing them toward the two. The papers had a space for names and underneath it a space with the words ‘ability’. Mimiyat then gave them two pencils.

“Ability?”

“The cheat you received.”

Remy looked toward Atilia, before looking back toward Mimiyat.

“Her?” he asked, pointing toward Atilia, while Atilia pointed toward herself.

“What are you, then?” Mimiyat asked, mildly perplexed.

“A human,” Atilia replied.

“And you’re his ability?”

“Yes, he asked for a wife.”

Mimiyat stared back and forth between the two. She remained silent for a short moment, before letting out a sigh.

“Just write down each others’ name,” she proposed. The couple nodded in unison and wrote each other’s full name. The knowledge of the language’s letters was already there inside his head. He was in a different world, and the entity that sent him was an angel. Said angel acted under the orders of a Goddess. It shouldn’t be too surprising that this Goddess can add knowledge to human brains. Still, it was impressive nonetheless.

“Outworlders’ are so lucky, you get a wife and an ability,” Mimiyat murmured, barely audible. Remy caught a glimpse of her words, though. Mimiyat tidied up the papers, taking the pencils with her. She waltzed to a room at the rear of the building, next to the tavern, inviting the looks of the other staff. Remy and Atilia stood there, watching her go.

“So we’re waiting here?”

“I guess… Oh, by the way, about the thing she said...”

“The thing… Oh.” Atilia froze. She then let out a wry smile, scratching her cheeks. “Umm… about that…” she said while looking away from Remy’s eyes. “Umm… sorry?”

“It’s alright,” Remy replied in an instant, much to Atilia’s surprise.

“You’re not even going to ask?” She tilted her head.

“About?”

Atilia stared at him, dumbfounded. “I mean, you heard her, right? The others. Some of them get a partner and an ability.”

“Yeah.”

“... You’re not going to ask more? Aren’t you curious about it? Mad you didn’t get anything?”

“But… why? Is it bad? I mean, you deciding to come here with me is already a great blessing. I couldn’t possibly ask for more. Besides, I’m more curious about you rather than the abilities I could have gotten.”

“... You really are sweet.” Atilia turned her head, blushing. Atilia’s adorable reaction tugged on his heartstrings. His hand moved on its own, lightly patting her head. Mimiyat, who had just returned from the rear of the building, stood staring at them.

“Damn outworlders,” she hissed. She went behind the receptionist's table and gave them their new cards. The cards had a black and pink motif, similar to the ones on the uniform Mimiyat wore.

“What are-”

“Credit cards,” Mimiyat cut Atilia off.

“... Does that mean a debt collector would come after me?”

“Yes,” Mimiyat answered with a flat expression. Atilia took one of the cards and examined it, while Remy chuckled nervously next to her. While he never needed to deal with them, he did hear several less-than-favorable stories about them. He couldn’t blame them entirely, as they were doing their job, but it left a bitter taste in his mouth.

Atilia glanced at him, before returning the card to the table.

“I’m not sure-”

“It’s a joke. Please laugh," Mimiyat said with a dry tone.

“Haha… ha…” Remy found it hard to believe. Mimiyat said nothing else and began the explanation on the cards.

“These magic cards can track your kills, receive rewards, and pay for transactions. Not all shops accept them, though.”

“So we need cash as well?”

“Yes.” She flipped the card, showing a black bar on the rear. She tapped on it, bringing up a magic screen along with a keypad. She used the keypad to scroll through the magic screen. Remy watched in fascination as Mimiyat went through the settings.

“Here, type in a pin.” She handed the card over to Remy and then began work on Atilia's. Remy typed in a pin, choosing a familiar number combination. He died on the fifth of August, and that was also the day he chose Atilia as his wife. He inputted the number into the card. He hid it from Mimiyat while having no problem showing it to the curious Atilia.

Zero-five-zero-eight.

He repeated the numbers a second time, confirming the pin.

The numbers turned into little stars, similar to a normal card reader back on Earth. He then pressed the green circle underneath it. A little writing showing ‘saved!’ in the local language appeared and disappeared. The small hologram-like display returned to the settings menu. Remy saw a little ‘X’ on the top right corner and pressed it to turn off the card.

“If you wanted to pay at a store that accepted cards, just tap their reader with it,” Mimiyat explained. “We’re done,” she said, letting out a yawn. Remy and Mimiyat examined the individual cards on their hands. They looked very similar, the only difference being the line of numbers that formed the card’s ID.

“Those cards are called Outworlders’ Cards. For unlucky inworlders like me, it’s called adventurers’ card.”

Unlucky. That part of the sentence was very silent, yet Remy heard it. He doubted Atilia missed it as well.

“... So… what do we do now?”

“Grab a quest or something, I don’t know.” Mimiyat shrugged.

“There’s only one quest there?” Remy pointed back toward the board. Mimiyat stood up, headed to the table in the center of the receptionist circle, and picked up a piece of paper.

“Busy carpenter needed some extra logs. Chop down the trees and mark them with this key.” She gave the two the quest paper along with a silver key.

“Don’t we have any other options?”

“You can do your lovey-dovey stuff while you cut those logs. Or, do you prefer mixing cement?”

"We'll take the logs," Atilia answered. “No problem with that, right?” She looked toward Remy. Remy nodded in approval.

"Good… Off you go.” Mimiyat swung her hands at them, shooing them away. Construction work wasn’t something he expected when he came here, though, and that got him curious.

“If you don’t mind me asking… What does that mixing cement job look like?”

Mimiyat went to the center table and picked it up. She then put it on the table, letting him read the details. The quest asked for help in construction work in general. Mixing cement, cutting wood, building walls, and a large variety of jobs.

“Yeah… no.” Remy shook his head.

“Goodbye.” With those closing words, Mimiyat sat down behind the desk and immediately dozed off. Some of the other receptionists looked toward her and let out a heavy sigh. Confused, Remy looked to Atilia. Atilia shrugged and the two left.