************

Gaius came down and was carefully reading the file. Floating near Hedona was a man who looked to be someone around 40 years of age. Unlike Hedona he didn’t have a throne to sit on, instead, he was standing on what appeared to be a cloud.

Wearing a suit, red coat, and pants, a black tie, and a white shirt. Just like Hedona, his clothing matched perfectly with the color of his eyes and hair: Red hair, one black, and one white eye.

The more he read the file the more ashamed he felt, his face which was calm when he opened the file was slowly enveloped in regret and embarrassment.

‘’Please, don’t tell other gods about this… my reputation is already bad because Glorus is my world.’’ A strong man in both body and looks was pleading like a helpless little girl.

‘’If this gets out, I don’t think I will even be able to raise my head in front of them.’’

‘’Don’t worry, as long as you do as I say, this stays a secret,’’ Hedona smirked.

Gaius stared at her with sad and defeated eyes, ‘’so you gonna blackmail me just like Sekhmet?’’

‘’Wha… it’s called helping a friend out who has your secrets and if you don’t that friend might reveal them, not blackmailing.’’

Defeated, Gaius moved his eyes away, ‘’well, you have me in the palm of your hand, I will dance whenever and wherever instructed.’’

‘’That’s the spirit,’’ Hedona smiled.

While Gaius was looking away he noticed Luca on the ground. All this time, Luca wasn’t paying any attention to them just like they weren’t paying attention to him, although the reasons were different.

The gods were busy on his file while Luca was crying rivers, the images that popped into his head left a toll on his soul. It was like a trauma for him that resurfaced again after years of work to conceal it.

‘Demons, all of them are demons.’

‘’Is that the guy?’’ Gaius pointed towards Luca.

‘’Completely forgot he was still here.’’

Hedona waved her hand and the chair along with Luca moved and stood straight. Even with the change in position Luca was still crying and remembering the hall of Glorus.

‘’Yooo hooo, Luca Rosewood.’’ Hedona’s calling was showing no effect as Luca didn’t respond at all.

Seeing this, Hedona waved her hand again, and a sound of a slap echoed in that space.

‘’Mmmmm…’’

‘’Why didn’t you respond to me?’’ Hedona glared at him in anger.

Luca raised his left eyebrow looking at her in pain, ‘how the fuck do you want me to answer with my mouth all covered with tape?’ ... ‘’Mmmm… Mmmm… Mm… Mmm… Mmmmmm….’’

‘’Uh… Hedona…’’ Gaius spoke in a soft voice, trying to seek her attention.

‘’What?’’ Hedona responded in anger as she moved her head towards Gaius.

‘’His mouth,’’ Gaius pointed towards Luca with his shaky hands, ‘’he can’t speak like that.’’

Hedona glanced towards Luca, as she noticed her mistake, she smiled, ‘’oh… also forgot about that, hehe’’

She snapped her fingers once again, and the chains, chair, and tape all vanished, dropping Luca on the ground, which he quickly recovered from as he stood up.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

‘’Wanna continue your afterlife process?’’

‘’Before that, are all of the gods just like you, I know I’m dead but what’s up with chaining me, then stopping me from talking, making fun of how I died, and not to mention, you disappearing for hours, then torturing my feeling… I… I… just had enough with this dying stuff, finish what you need to do with me before going MIA again and doing what you gonna do.’’

*huff huff* Luca was out of breath after he raged at Hedona. He kept staring at her in anger waiting for her to finish his trial. But all that glaring didn’t change Hedona’s attitude.

‘’Hey now, chill, I was going to do that, so you don’t have to point it out. You can choose one of 3 options,’’ Hedona pointed down, ‘’conversion as one of the tiles you see in this room,’’ Hedona pointed up, ‘’go to heaven in the shape of an animal,’’ Hedona pointed toward Luca ‘’or go to a fantasy world, with your memories and the same body to do some tasks for us.’’

‘’What kind of tasks?’’ Luca ground his teeth. Even with anger taking over him, the overthinking nature of Luca came out, he didn’t want to choose an option he would regret or…

‘The only option that keeps me alive or like a human is a fantasy world.’

Hedona opened her hand and a projection appeared. The projection showed different isekai anime and manga. It was mainly focused on the scenes where it had an interaction between gods and the dead people from the earth.

‘’I believe you are somewhat familiar with the concept, seeing how the media on earth has already explained it many times.’’

Luca counted the points on his fingertips as he explained, ‘’ah, like, being a hero, defeating a demon king, saving the other world from something?’’

He was acting like he forgot bashing out moments ago and dying in Glorus. He seemed like a new person standing there, carefully assessing his next move.

‘’Bingo,’’ Hedona clapped.

''Pss ptsss..''

Gaius seeing how Luca was interested in otherworldly quests went near Hedona and whispered, ‘’hey Hedona, do you think…’’

Hedona moved her eyes towards Gaius and spoke calmly, ‘’it can work, what’s in it for me?’’

Luca tilted his head, trying to understand what was going on between those two, ‘the fuck they doing now? Hurry up and send me somewhere other than this place.’

Gaius whispered again, to which Hedona replied, ‘’sure, but you better keep that promise.’’

Gaius nodded to her reply, showing that he agrees.

‘’Change of plans Luca.’’

‘’What?’’

‘’Gaius will be handling you instead of me, feel free to ask him anything you like,’’ saying this Hedona vanished again.

"Heh?"

************

What followed was an awkward silence between Luca and Gaius. Gaius started creating what seemed to be a teleportation spell while Luca kept staring at him.

After a few minutes, while picking his nose, Luca asked Gaius some questions about the world he was about to go into.

‘’So… which world am I going to?’’

‘’A fantasy one…’’ Gaius moved his eyes to the left, trying to avoid eye contact.

‘’Ohkay??’’

‘’The white-haired freak mentioned tasks, what kind of tasks will I be doing there?’’

‘’You will know your tasks when you reach that world.’’

Luca tighten his eyelids and started at Gaius in suspicion, ‘’Ohkay??’’

Gaius noticed that and started completing the spell fast.

‘This guy is fishy,’ Luca was getting on to something, ‘I should ask him more questions to know for certain.’

‘’What powers or starting bonus will I get?’’ During this whole questioning, Luca kept picking his nose. To any normal person that would 100% come off like a taunt.

‘’You will know them when you reach that world.’’

‘Same answer again!’ Luca’s eyelids tighten even more.

‘’What about rewards for completing the tasks?’’

Gaius glanced at Luca’s eyes that were ready to haunt his soul, ‘’you will know them…,’’ Gaius stopped talking and thought of something for a second, ‘’you will be reborn in a rich family and with a pretty face. Every woman will find you charming and fond all over you.’’

Luca’s nose-picking increased in speed when he heard that, his eyes were sparkling and his heart was full of joy.

‘Don’t know why I was suspecting this guy.’

‘’I’m sold.’’

Hearing about girls was all Luca needed, that's one of the downfalls of being single, you will do absolutely anything to have a girlfriend or even a girl around.

‘’Are you ready?’’ Gaius snapped his fingers and a dark hole appeared below Luca’s feet.

Luca glanced at the hole and nodded.

‘’When you reach there, say ‘’hero log.’’ and you will be able to see all the current tasks and powers you have on a floating screen. Remember though, if you die before completing those tasks you will be converted into one of the tiles in this room.’’

Luca’s legs were halfway in that hole, ‘’wait what?’’

‘’Bye now,’’ Gaius smiled as he waved towards Luca, ‘’make Glorus great.’’

Only Luca’s head was outside of that hole, ‘’wait what the fuck…’’