Out of nowhere, that was how she felt she came to be. She suddenly just began to exist, but she didn’t question that since, at that time, she couldn’t think clearly. She felt like a newborn baby that had some level of awareness and didn’t need to be protected by anyone or anything… it was an odd feeling since she felt that things shouldn’t have started that way.

Many years passed, and then she finally began to think about her current situation. She felt that she had grown a bit, but since she didn’t have anyone to compare to, her growth didn’t mean anything. Around the same time, she began to feel aware of her surroundings… it was a dark place covered by stars. Once she realized that, she felt that her knowledge began to grow naturally as if it was within her from the very beginning, and she just had to learn it naturally. At the same time, everything she learned she could easily recall.

The notion of time began to occur to her as well, while she didn’t have to eat, drink, sleep, or go to the toilet for that matter, she began to be wary of time. There was no sun close to her, but she could see some stars glowing in the distance that looked like suns and they were moving as well for some reason, she soon understood why… they were too far away, though. Still, as if she had a precise biological clock, she began to notice the passage of days. At first, it didn’t matter much, but then thousands of days passed, and she noticed that something was wrong with that… it all started when she noticed that she stopped growing and aging at all.

“Who am I? Why am I here? Where am I going to?”

She began to think of those things when she noticed that it was unnatural that she was alone… the scenario around her changed pretty often, and she began to see some planets up close, and she noticed that in those places, all sorts of living things existed. Beings that looked like her, beings that didn’t look like her at all… they were never alone, even though they sometimes had to fight each other to survive. She compared her own growth with them and soon confirmed that her existence and growth process were very different.

She began to grow curious about such worlds, and thanks to her curiosity, she noticed that she could control the place where she was. She could make it stop moving and let her observe some of those worlds if she wanted to. She couldn’t understand how that was possible, but it was a convenience that she welcomed. It felt like her mind was controlling the whole place, somehow.

Before long, she noticed that most of those life forms lived pretty interesting lives. While she didn’t have to do anything and she didn’t have a purpose, those life forms had their own purposes. Be it survive, multiply, and propagate, they acted with one of those things in mind… they were strangely eager to do all that, then she noticed why. Their times were limited… most of them died after a few decades of living without achieving their goals.

She saw that happening hundreds, thousands of times… at that point, she began to wonder if she had no purpose. She felt that all life forms had a purpose, but not hers… she noticed a long time ago that she was different from all life forms that she had watched. She obtained knowledge and became aware in a non-natural way, but she couldn’t understand why. After watching dozens of people being born and then being raised by their parents, she imagined that someone had prepared and designed the way she would come to be and grow. Still, she didn’t find any traces of that. She could find answers to many things, but her situation was completely impossible to understand.

She began to question her own existence once again. Without a name, alone, without knowing what was the purpose of her existence, without having to worry about common things like food and water and even death… was she supposed to exist like that forever? What was the point of it? She felt that all living things had some sort of purpose, she was alive too…

Thousands of years passed without her finding an answer to those questions… eventually, she started to grow tired and weary of the situation and the lack of answers. Although she didn’t have to, she began to copy other creatures, and to get rid of that boredom, she began to sleep… at first, she only slept for a few days and waited for things to change. Still, the only things that changed were the places that she observed. After a few weeks, things tended to change drastically due to conflicts, but things remained the same in her place even though she began to sleep for years. She would always open her eyes expecting changes, but soon she would only find disappointment.

Her tiredness and weariness only grew larger once she began to sleep for decades… at some point, her feelings began to affect her place. When her mentality began to reach its limits, the space where she lived began to tremble and almost collapsed. At that point in time, she noticed that there was a lot more than she could do… making her space travel through the cosmos in a few seconds was one of them. She couldn’t find the limits of her space, and she felt that she would stop existing if the space collapsed, but at least that made her more curious about what she could do. There was something that she could do now, perhaps that would open more doors for her.

“If I don’t have one, I just have to think of a purpose for myself… this is a good start.”

It was a logical answer. After thinking of that, she began to wonder how she could find some answers about her own origin… she couldn’t test her space or try to leave it, those would put her at risk, and she knew that instinctively. However, soon she came to learn that she could control everything in there… after watching some civilizations, she learned how they operated and obtained their knowledge. Most of the knowledge was useless to her, but when she saw magic, she confirmed that she could use it clearly in that place. It operated in a similar way to that place, she couldn’t tell how, though. So, she had to study more.

Elemental magic was particularly easy for her, but she couldn’t imagine how that alone would make her find the answers that she wanted… She began to travel the cosmos until she found other civilizations that also used magic and began to learn from them as well. She took a particular interest in summoning magic when she finally found it… maybe she didn't have to be alone anymore.

“This might change things forever… that is right, most of those creatures decided their own purpose.”

Unfortunately, things weren't so simple for her. Her first summoning let her bring a slime to that space that she lived in… she showed for the first time a smile of success. Still, then the creature began to disintegrate like sand in front of her, and the smile gave room for a shocked expression. It felt like the creature suddenly aged until nothing was left behind.

After hundreds of tests, she confirmed it… she lived somewhere where living beings couldn't exist. She had never noticed it before since all the energy there was under her control, but there was so much of it that it crushed all creatures that she tried to summon. Even dragons couldn't resist it… and they were the strongest life forms that she had found. In theory, she had all the power that she wanted, but not the power that she wanted, the power not to be alone.

She felt the first big setback after finally doing something in her life that had some meaning, and thanks to it, she felt really depressed and stopped working for hundreds of years… until she had an idea. If she couldn't bring living things there, what about ghosts and spirits? She knew about their existence, but summoning them wasn't something that she knew or that someone ever did in the physical realm.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

After many years of searching without any success… she decided to do something drastic. It didn't look like she could learn that from someone, so she decided to bring some souls that had lost their lives on some planets… it was a bit risky. Still, she felt that it would be fine since those souls would disappear if they were left alone, anyway. They didn't have anything to lose… In the end, her first option was a certain soul of a certain small, blue planet… she felt that it was a pure soul that would help her. She was wrong

--- ---

Paris, France. Present day, 13:45 PM

Pi… piii… piii… piii… piiiiiii…….

"How the hell did this happen?" A young man in his late teens covered in blood thought while he heard that annoying sound fading away.

His eyes were being taken by the darkness, but the young man could only show confusion instead of fear. That annoying sound of the machine that was checking his heartbeat was so important, and yet, he didn't care that much that it was signaling the end of his life. His willpower was vanishing alongside his life.

"At least I did something good in my last moments," The young man covered in blood thought while he watched some shadows moving around him nervously. "Still, it is a pity… it was a taxi that hit me, not a truck. A truck would have killed me instantly instead of letting me agonize like this… there was also the possibility of reincarnation. Everyone knows that trucks are the harbingers of reincarnation. I am dying, but weird sense of humor lives strong, I see."

Once he thought that, the sound of the machine stopped, and the light vanished from his eyes. The doctors around tried to revive him, but it didn't work, and after two minutes, they announced his death.

Ten minutes ago, the young man was alive and well, fiddling with his smartphone while waiting for his friend at the entrance of a shopping mall.

"Argh! Damn you, Chu Cullain… why didn't you come this time?!" The young man asked in exasperation when he didn't get the champion that he wanted in the gacha game. "Do you know how broke I am this month? I am broke enough that some companies might start to measure the inflation on my wallet!"

His name was Andrew, a nineteen-year-old young man who was a college student. He had light brown hair and eyes. Average height and weight. There was nothing particularly special about him aside from how his life ended. He was wearing a full set of brown sweatpants and a shirt alongside some blue sneakers. It seemed like something one would wear early in the morning to jog instead of a Sunday afternoon. Regardless, he was just helping a friend, so he felt satisfied by just wearing some comfortable clothes.

"Sorry for the wait, Andrew," A black haired tall guy carrying a lot of bags said.

"Don't say something like that… you aren't my girlfriend," Andrew said and then sighed. "Geez, why do I have to help carry the luggage of a guy?"

That was Andrew's friend, his name was Frank, and he was four years older. He was also his future brother-in-law, who was going to marry his older sister.

"My bad, the great day is tomorrow, and everyone is busy, so I can only count on you," Frank forced a smile while passing some bags to Andrew.

"Don't say my bad, dumbass," Andrew said and then kicked Frank's legs to make him trip a little. "Actions speak louder than words, so you need to introduce me to some chicks. I am not particularly picky, so you shouldn't have a hard time doing that. Anyone who doesn’t have a hobby of sharpening knives will do."

"Ah, your sister will kill me if I introduce you to the bad companies that I know of," Frank shrugged his shoulders. “Anyway, you are too young to be getting that desperate.”

"You are getting married when you are just 23, dude. Technically, you already joined the graveyard of life," Andrew said while imagining what his sister would say if she heard that. "Anyway, I just started my college life, and then you came up with this idea of marriage at your age. My sister is crazy, you know, and you probably caught her madness when you accepted the proposal. You should delay this for a few more years and enjoy life. Bros before hoes, you know. Girls are hot, but bros are going to melt the ice, that kind of stuff."

"Calling your sister a hoe in front of me is a bit…" Frank frowned and then laughed.

"It is fine. We are always like that," Andrew said and then shrugged. "She barely uses my name these days. It is always drunkard, party pooper, or uggehh."

"Well, you do tend to throw up a lot after parties, so that nickname is rather appropriate," Frank said and then looked around.

Those two passed in front of a bank, and all of a sudden, they heard a gunshot. The entire area got silent aside from the sound of the vehicles on the streets. Andrew and Frank began to run since they knew that such a thing couldn't be a good sign near a bank.

Unfortunately, the number of gunshots increased and got closer. Neither of them dared to turn around and see what was going to happen, but they began to hear the sound of vehicles clashing. Among the sounds, Andrew heard the sound of a vehicle speeding up and getting close. When he looked above his shoulder, Andrew saw a taxi invading the sidewalk… Andrew gulped when he didn't have time to shout, nor did Frank have time to react.

Andrew used all the weight of his body to hit Frank's shoulder and then push him away. He didn't even have time to check if he had succeeded… The taxi hit his back and ran over him.

When Andrew woke up from the confusion, he noticed that the world had turned red, and Frank was by his side, crying like a little girl. Andrew chuckled a little in his confusion.

"Jokes… on… you," Andrew said and then coughed some blood. "It seems that I…"

Andrew lost consciousness there and was unable to finish his sentence… Even in the end, he wanted to joke around and say that he was going to the graveyard first. It was fine that way, he thought… he saved one life and, by default, prevented his sister from becoming a widow.

Andrew couldn't say that he didn't die without any regrets, but at least he didn't die a pointless death.

When Andrew woke up, he felt a bit weird… he didn't forget that he had died, so he shouldn't be able to wake up. Was that the afterlife? When he looked around, he saw nothing, only a room completely taken by the darkness. Somehow, he could tell where the walls, the floor, and the ceiling were even though they were made of darkness.

"Wait, where is my body?" Andrew thought about trying to move his hands, but he couldn't feel them.

It was weird since he could turn around, but he couldn't see his body… had he become a ghost? That seemed like the most obvious explanation. Still, he didn't feel that much different… he had lost his body, but nothing looked different with his mind.

All of a sudden, Andrew felt something enveloping him, and then he felt himself becoming full of life… even though he was a ghost. Around the same time, his eyes started to get better, and then he saw a silhouette in the distance. When he thought of approaching, Andrew actually began to approach, and then he eventually saw a woman with ridiculous long blond hair. She had blue eyes and a doll-like face that made Andrew think that she was an angel. Still, she was wearing a one-piece white dress that made her stand out quite a bit since she wasn't only pretty, but she was also quite hot, world-class hot. A large chest, a thin waist, and one heck pair of legs. It had to be AI, no woman could look like that.

“I am a goner… no wonder I creep out so many girls.”

Andrew felt a bit guilty about staring at her since it looked like she couldn't see him while showing a blank expression. Still, it couldn't be helped since the woman was more than a top-class world beauty, she was probably a cosmic-class top beauty. Her appearance could only be described as supernatural.

"Welcome, wanderer," the blond woman said.

"Oh, what a nice voice, dear goddess," Andrew said. "Let me offer praise in thine name in exchange for the chance to be reborn in a fantasy world with some cheats."

"What is thine? I didn't think that Earthlings used words like that anymore," the blonde woman said. "Also, I am not a goddess."

"Is that so… I guess it is only natural that I couldn't become the protagonist of another world adventure," Andrew said while he felt like he was shrugging. "Those only happen to Japanese black-haired boys that are denser than osmium."

"Err, I thought that I had studied your language well, but it seems that it wasn't enough," the blond woman said. "Regardless, it is an honor to meet you, Andrew."

"Hmm… you know me, but you aren't a goddess?" Andrew asked while he felt like he was frowning. "Are you an agent of the gods, then?"

"No, while I was the one who brought you here, I don't have any connections to any gods or goddess… probably," the blond woman said.

"Probably? What do you mean?" Andrew asked. "If you have the power to bring me here, doesn't it mean that you have some insane supernatural abilities? Also, what is your name?"