He pedaled harder, the rusted bicycle creaking under him like an old complaint that never quite quit.
The afternoon sun beat down on Neo's back, turning the cheap delivery uniform into a second, sweat-soaked skin.
At seventeen, he was still called a "delivery boy" by the restaurant owners, even though most of his classmates were already buried in university lectures or scrolling job boards.
Neo had traded textbooks for handlebars years ago.
Tips were food on the table.
Tips were his little sister's school fees.
A sharp ache twisted in his chest as he thought of her last message, When are you coming home, brother?, but he shook his head, forcing a crooked smile into the wind.
'Not today,' he told himself.
'Bad thoughts stay in the past.'
His mother's voice echoed in his mind, warm and steady even after all these years: Never think of bad thoughts, my boy. Always look at things positively.
That simple line had kept him going after she passed, through empty cupboards, through their father's quiet breakdowns, through nights when exhaustion made him want to curl up and disappear.
He pushed forward for his sister.
For the family she'd left behind.
Life hadn't broken him yet.
Not completely.
The street blurred with the usual chaos: honking cars, pedestrians weaving between traffic, the distant smell of street food mixing with exhaust.
Neo's focus narrowed on the next delivery address glowing on his cracked phone screen.
Just a few more stops and he could head home.
Then he saw her.
A little girl, no older than six, stepped off the curb without looking, her small hand clutching a bright red balloon.
A heavy truck barreled around the corner, horn blaring too late.
Neo's heart slammed against his ribs.
Time stretched, then snapped.
He jammed the pedals, tires skidding as he surged forward.
"Move!" he shouted, voice raw.
At the last second he reached out, snatching the girl around the waist and shoving her toward the sidewalk with every ounce of strength he had.
She tumbled safely onto the grass, balloon still bobbing above her.
The truck didn't stop.
Metal screamed.
Pain exploded through Neo's body as the impact hurled him sideways.
The world spun, sky, pavement, blood.
He hit the ground hard, breath punched out of him, tasting copper on his tongue.
At least she's safe, he thought dimly, staring at the sky as it darkened at the edges.
'Worth it.'
His phone lay a few feet away, screen miraculously intact.
A new message notification glowed: his sister again.
Fingers trembling, he dragged himself close enough to type with blood-slicked thumbs.
Sorry sis, not this time.
I'll be with Mom.
The words blurred.
His chest burned.
A weak, bitter laugh escaped him as he remembered the half-joke he'd made with friends once, If only I'd bought life insurance.
Too late now.
The phone slipped from his grasp.
Darkness closed in, heavy and final.
His last thought was of his sister's smile and his mother's gentle voice.
Then nothing.
---
Neo opened his eyes to soft, golden light.
He lay on what felt like warm grass that shimmered faintly, as if woven from starlight.
The air smelled sweet, like rain on blooming flowers.
Confusion warred with a strange calm in his chest.
This wasn't the street.
This wasn't pain.
A woman stood a few paces away, watching him with quiet amusement.
She wore a flowing white dress that hugged generous curves yet moved with ethereal grace, the fabric catching light in ways that made her seem both solid and dreamlike.
Her face, though, Neo's gaze lingered there instead.
Striking, timeless features framed by hair that glowed like captured sunlight.
A divine aura clung to her, the kind that commanded respect without words.
He was still a teenager.
Desires stirred, natural and sharp, but he shoved them down.
Principles first.
Logic first.
Staring like that at someone who radiated power felt like asking for trouble.
The woman burst into bright, musical laughter.
"Reading your thoughts has truly entertained me," she said, voice warm and melodic.
"Martha was right about you.
Such a good child."
Neo's eyes widened.
"Martha?"
That was his mother's name.
"You… knew her?"
She nodded gently.
"Yes.
I did."
He pushed himself up, legs unsteady on the strange grass.
Questions tumbled through his mind, but he spoke them plainly rather than hiding behind politeness.
"Where am I?
How do you know my mother?"
The goddess lifted a graceful hand.
The air around them shimmered, revealing glimpses of vast, luminous halls beyond the meadow.
"You are in my divine domain.
As for your mother… I oversee the reincarnation department.
She earned the right to return, but she gave it up, for you.
Her son."
A soft smile touched her lips.
"It was the first time I saw a soul choose her child even after death.
I've watched over you since you were small, Neo.
Your selflessness.
Your courage in that final moment."
Tears burned behind his eyes, hot and sudden.
He hadn't cried in years, not like this.
The weight of everything he'd carried crashed over him: the deliveries, the empty fridge, his sister's worried messages, the truck's impact.
His mother's sacrifice.
The woman stepped forward and pulled him into a gentle embrace.
She smelled like sunlight and safety.
Neo's shoulders shook as he whispered,
"Thank you… for helping her.
Where is she now?"
"As expected," she murmured, stroking his hair like his mother once had.
"Even now you think of others first.
She is at peace in heaven.
You don't need to worry anymore."
He pulled back slightly, wiping his face.
Relief flooded him, lighter than air.
"My name is Luna," she continued,
"Goddess of Light.
Because of the good you did in life, I will reincarnate you.
And I will give you a system as my gift."
Neo's breath caught.
"A… system?"
The word felt strange on his tongue, like something from the stories he used to read between shifts.
Luna's eyes sparkled with kindness and something like mischief.
She twisted her hand, and a swirling portal of silver light bloomed before them.
"Step through, and you will awaken in the body of a resident of another world.
The system will come with you."
He opened his mouth to ask for details, What kind of world?
What does the system do?, but Luna placed a hand on his back and gave him a firm, affectionate push.
As he stumbled forward, she leaned close, her whisper brushing his ear like a promise.
"Don't worry, my dear Neo.
For your mother's sake, I have chosen the best system and the best body for you."
The portal swallowed him.
---
Darkness again.
Then a flash of blinding light.
Neo forced his eyes open, gasping.
His heart hammered against new ribs.
He sat up slowly, vision clearing.
The sight before him stole the breath from his lungs.