When I first regained awareness, everything around me was complete darkness. Deep, dark grey void stretched endlessly in every direction. I had no body anymore. I could only see without eyes, hear without ears, and feel without skin. I was nothing more than pure consciousness, floating alone in this empty black space.
As I began to wonder what had happened to me, the memories rushed in. I remembered the accident—the truck smashing into me with brutal force. I must be dead now. Was this hell? Was I waiting for judgment or some kind of trial? I didn't know.
My thoughts wandered freely, jumping from one thing to another: my university, my two close friends, the games I used to play, the novels and manga stacked on my shelf, my favorite anime, my fluffy white cat, the neighbors from my apartment, and a few other significant people from my life.
The last ones that surfaced were my birth mother and father—the ones who had abandoned me long ago to live their own lives.
While I was quietly musing over all these scattered memories, a tiny source of light suddenly appeared in the darkness. It pierced straight into me, then slowly began to grow bigger and brighter, as if it was moving closer. The entire dark world of deep grey suddenly exploded into radiant golden light, so intense that I couldn't look away even if I wanted to. There were no eyelids to close anymore.
When the blinding brilliance finally subsided, I was left completely stunned. If I still had a body, I would have been petrified, turned into a statue on the spot. A girl of devastating beauty floated before me in the void.
She had bright golden hair that drifted gracefully around her, deep ocean-blue eyes, and a face so perfect that she could win Miss Universe without even trying. Every famous actress and model on Earth would look like plain pebbles next to her.
She appeared to be around sixteen years old, with moderate breasts and wearing a beautiful one-piece dress in shimmering gold and light blue that made her look exactly like a goddess.
Perhaps she really was one.
Her clear ocean-blue eyes gazed at me silently for a long time. I tried to speak, but no sound came out.
She simply kept staring at me, and strangely, her intense gaze only made me more curious about her.
When she finally spoke, her sweet, melodious voice echoed beautifully through the dark void, sounding utterly enchanting.
"Are you Shin?"
'Wait, she knows my name? Can she read my mind? Is she really a goddess here to pass judgment on this pitiful soul? Should I confirm it or deny it? I don't remember doing anything bad enough to deserve a trip to hell…
Well, it's not like I can hide anything from a goddess anyway.'
'Y-yes, I'm Shin,' I stuttered nervously. I still couldn't speak so, just nodded to her words. Though, her unwavering gaze was making me incredibly anxious.
She still didn't look away. Her eyes remained locked onto me—or perhaps directly onto my soul. I couldn't tell which.
'Hmm… Is this really Shin Silverheart?' she thought to herself. 'His soul looks surprisingly mature, and there's only a minuscule amount of darkness within it. That's extremely rare in this world. Could it be because he's still a child right now? No, that shouldn't be it… His soul is unusually… beautiful.'
To her, the soul floating before her was breathtaking, like staring at the moon. Even with a few dark spots, it was still incredibly beautiful.
The girl that Shin believed to be a goddess quietly mused to herself, wondering if this was truly the person she had come for.
"You are currently dying, or perhaps already dead," she said gently. "Your soul is still barely attached to your body. However, if you wish to revive, you must agree to my request and allow me to help you."
'What…? I could actually come back to life? The news was astonishing. Yet, for some reason, I felt deeply reluctant. I didn't want to return to that world. There was no one waiting for me there, no one who would truly mourn my death—maybe except some of my few friends.'
I wanted to tell her to reincarnate me into some kind of fantasy world instead, but I still couldn't speak.
Noticing my silence, she quickly realized the issue. The vast difference in power between us was preventing my soul from communicating with her.
She smiled softly and said, "If you agree, move to the left. If you disagree, move to the right. Okay?"
I was about to drift to the right and refuse—I didn't want to go back to Earth. But what she said next left me completely stunned and dumbfounded. Before I could even process it, my consciousness subconsciously drifted to the left…
"My request to you is…"
She looked straight into me with those deep ocean-blue eyes.
"Would you marry me?"
''Huh…?'
'W-what? Wait a minute, what is she talking about? A beautiful goddess just asked me to marry her… Am I dreaming? Or did I hear her wrong?'
While I was still frozen in shock and disbelief, she noticed me drifting to the left. A bright, radiant smile lit up her stunning face as she spoke.
"Perfect. With this, we can begin the Soulmate Ritual between us. Are you ready?"
'I wanted to ask so many things. Is this some kind of scam—for which I was desperately praying it wasn't—or is there a catch? Does she want me to do something for her in that world, like killing the Demon King or some other typical fantasy quest?'
'But no matter how hard I tried, I still couldn't speak!'
So she simply began reciting the words of the ritual.
"By the crimson threads that defy all fate,
Let two souls entwine in eternal embrace.
No other heart shall ever claim their gaze,
Their love a fire that burns and never fades.
Through every breath, through every shadowed night,
Let love bloom, fierce and pure and bright.
Where one aches, the other shall bleed the same,
Where one calls, the other answers without shame.
Let affection be the sweetest chain they wear,
Let every thought, every dream, be only theirs.
No distance, no time, no force shall ever sever,
Two souls now one, bound in eternal fever.
What one desires, the other shall crave forever,
In madness and bliss, in storm and in calm weather.
Possess each other wholly, body, mind, and core —
Until the end of time, and then once more."
After she finished the chant, the intense gaze she had kept fixed on me from the very beginning started to soften. It had grown brighter during the ritual, but now it gently dimmed. She closed her eyes for a brief moment, then opened them again and looked at me with an expression I couldn't quite understand.
"Now we are husband and wife," she declared softly. "One united soul, soul-bonded partners… and true Soulmates."
"Although you will forget this conversation once you wake up, I will be there when you open your eyes in the new world. I will tell you everything and guide you through your journey… as your wife."
I could only watch her in silence, letting fate take its course and quietly praying that I wouldn't come to regret my decision.
Still… deep down, I felt incredibly happy, excited, and strangely eager to claim this breathtaking goddess as my wife.
"I'll see you in the living world."
With those final gentle words, she disappeared.
The deep, dark gray void returned around me once again. But this time, something was different. Now, a warm and brilliant light glowed steadily inside me.
After some time, my consciousness began to drift and fade away. When I finally regained my senses…
I was in another world.
~~~~~~
A/N: Remember that Shin was the one who misunderstood her as a goddess she didn't claim to be a goddess herself and really she isn't.