[Location: Unknown]
The young man's eyes snapped open like something had just dropkicked his soul out of a nightmare.
He was drenched, face, neck, everything, slick with cold sweat, even though he didn't feel hot. If anything, it felt like he'd been dumped into freezing water and left there to marinate.
"Oh, for fuck's sake… not this again," Samuel groaned, dragging a hand down his face. "I feel like this is going to be my life from now on, me waking up in random places like I'm respawning with some broken-ass game mechanic."
He glanced around, half expecting some overpowered god, demon, or cosmic weirdo to be staring at him again.
Nothing.
No divine audience. No creepy presence. Just him.
"…Huh."
He was standing in what looked like an endless stretch of sky and water mashed together into one, his worst nightmare or maybe his greatest dream. Blue everywhere. Calm. Too calm. Like the world itself had hit pause.
No sun. No moon. Nothing except white clouds barely scattered across the sky.
And yet, somehow, it was bright. Like morning had decided to exist without permission.
Out of curiosity, he took a few steps.
Ripples spread beneath his feet, soft and gentle, but the surface didn't give way.
It was solid. Completely solid.
"…Okay. Sure. Water floor…" He stared down for a moment, then sighed. "Yeah… this looks exactly like Tanjiro Kamado's soul…"
At that moment, a gentle breeze brushed against his back. He turned, and there she was…
A girl.
No, a very specific kind of girl.
Late teens. About his age. Eighteen-ish.
The same age he was when he got absolutely obliterated by a goddamn lightning bolt straight to the skull.
'Yeah. Still not over that,' He muttered under his breath.
The young woman's long, light blue hair fell gracefully around her, so pure and immaculate that Samuel could almost sense a vibrant energy radiating from it.
Her eyes, a striking shade of silver, rested within a flawless, pale face, her features soft, delicate, and perfectly sculpted.
She wore an elegant white dress that only enhanced her already captivating beauty.
[Master]
She spoke, her eyes locked onto Samuel a second too long, just enough to feel intentional.
"Master? Let me guess… you're the system, aren't you?" Samuel asked, studying her face as if trying to peel something hidden beneath it.
[Well… I'm more of a spirit. But if calling me a system makes it easier for you, then… yes. And forgive me, I don't have a name to give you.]
"Is that so?" Samuel tilted his head. "Then do you want me to give you one?"
There was a pause. A strange, trembling pause.
[Y-You would… give me a name?]
Her voice faltered.
[Are you certain… M-Master?]
The reaction was immediate and overwhelming. Color rushed to her face like a sudden fever, blooming violently from her neck to her ears. It was not just embarrassment. It looked closer to panic, or reverence twisted into something far too intense. As if he had crossed a line no one was ever supposed to cross.
She looked like someone who had just been handed something sacred, or dangerous.
"It's just a name," Samuel said, almost frowning. "You're overreacting. Do you want one or not?"
[Y-Yes, yes, please!]
She nodded too quickly, far too quickly, like something afraid the offer might vanish if she hesitated. Her eyes gleamed with a fragile, desperate excitement, like she had been waiting for this moment without even knowing it.
Or worse, like she had been made for it.
She leaned forward ever so slightly, anticipation trembling through her.
Samuel exhaled. "Alright… how about Aylin?"
For a heartbeat, she froze.
Then,
[Yes! I love it, Master!]
Her voice cracked under the weight of her own excitement.
[It's beautiful… you gave it to me… I-I… thank you.]
She pressed her lips together as if trying to contain something spilling out from within.
Joy, obsession, something sharper.
But it did not quite work.
Samuel could see it anyway.
There was no hiding it.
She was not just happy.
No, she was thrumming with it.
As if that single word, Aylin, had anchored her existence to him in a way that could not be undone.
And she knew it.
"Anyway… where are we, Aylin?" Samuel asked with a small smile, quietly savoring the way she reacted to her new name, like he had just handed her something precious.
She lit up far too much for something so small.
Like a child given candy.
Like a girl whose crush had finally, finally noticed her.
It was almost embarrassing.
Almost, for him, that is.
[We are standing in your inner world, or the sea of your consciousness, if you prefer. It's all you, every part of it. Isn't that wonderful?]
She said it so casually, already moving closer, as if distance itself offended her.
In the next moment, she was there, clinging to his arm, wrapping around it like she belonged there, like she had always belonged there.
[There are a few things we need to take care of before you complete your reincarnation, my master.]
Samuel paused for a second.
The closeness. The warmth. The way she just… attached herself.
It should have been strange.
It was strange. But he let her.
"Tell me."
[First, Master, I am a spirit. I am tied to your soul, completely and utterly. I exist for you.]
Her voice softened, but her grip tightened just a little.
[Those blessings you received from the gods? There are too many. Far too many. They would tear your mortal body apart, rip it open from the inside if left unchecked.]
She pressed her cheek against his arm, almost nuzzling, as if the thought didn't disturb her in the slightest.
[So I exist to hold them back. To contain them. To filter them. Think of me as a seal… or a leash.]
A pause.
[Without me… you would break.]
She smiled, unseen, content, as she rubbed against him again, slow and absentminded, like she had no intention of ever letting go.
[You currently possess divine blessings from 111 gods and goddesses, including those who clawed their way into godhood not long ago. All of them are sealed, locked and suffocating behind a barrier you cannot yet break. A few weaker blessings still leak through, their passive effects clinging to you like scraps, but their true power remains completely suppressed.]
"So let me guess… I have to get stronger if I want to actually use any of this?"
[Correct, Master.]
[In your current state, unsealing more than four blessings would result in the catastrophic collapse of your mortal body, as it would not survive the strain. For now, you should choose any four blessings to be unsealed.]
After a few brief moments, it appeared.
A system prompt window flickered into existence before his eyes, bleeding into reality like a wound, a translucent red screen, hovering, watching.
Only he and Aylin could see it.
-----
[Sealed Divine Blessings]
-Blessing of Animals
-Blessing of Beauty
-Blessing of War
-Blessing of Battle
-Blessing of Destruction
-Blessing of Life
-Blessing of Death
-Blessing of Dreams
-Blessing of Magic
-Blessing of Fire
-Blessing of Communication
+200
-----
"There are… hundreds of blessings in here? What is this? How am I supposed to even begin understanding this?" Samuel muttered, his eyes darting as he scrolled through the prompt like a man who had just opened a file far too large for his sanity to process.
[Most gods and goddesses possess dominion over more than two or three divine concepts. They granted all of their blessings to you. That is why you have acquired so many divine blessings.]
Aylin explained gently, as if this were the most normal thing in existence, all while clinging to his arm like she had no intention of ever letting go.
[There are ranks among divine blessings as well. Some are higher than others. The higher-ranked ones are often advanced versions of the same type, only far stronger. There are also special cases where several lower-ranked blessings merge to form a completely new one.]
"Right… ranks… merging… of course that's a thing," Samuel exhaled, already sounding defeated.
"Can you give me an example? Something simple. Preferably something my brain won't reject immediately."
[Of course, Master. You possess blessings such as Fire, Lightning, Ice, Darkness, and other elemental attributes. These are considered lower-ranked divine blessings. However, you also possess the divine blessing of Elements. It contains all of those individual aspects within a single blessing, which makes it a higher-ranked one.]
"…So I have the individual pieces and the complete set at the same time. That sounds illegal."
Aylin tilted her head, clearly not seeing the problem.
"I mean… I get it. I think. Maybe. Not really," Samuel admitted, rubbing his temple. "But how do these blessings actually work? What do they even do?"
[Think of divine blessings as tools, Master. Not physical tools like weapons, but ones that exist within you. They are spiritual entities. Each one strengthens your connection to the natural, supernatural, and spiritual aspects you come into contact with, both internally and externally.]
Samuel stared at the endless list again, his expression somewhere between awe and impending collapse.
"I don't fully understand it," he finally said, his voice quieter now. "But I get the gist of it."
[There is no need to worry, Master. Understanding will come with experience. For now, you only need to focus on unsealing your first four blessings.]
Only four.
Out of hundreds.
It was very hard to decide, considering there were so many of them.
Aylin, completely unbothered by his internal spiral, simply held onto his arm and waited patiently.
They had plenty of time.
"Do you have any suggestions, Aylin?"
The moment her master asked for her opinion, something in her lit up, no, sparked, and she made absolutely no effort to conceal it.
[Suggestions? Of course I have suggestions, Master. I've been waiting for you to ask.]
[Choose the Divine Blessings of War, Luck, and Beauty… and leave one slot untouched, for now. Trust me, you'll want that freedom later.]
[The Divine Blessing of War enhances your affinity with every aspect of war. It increases the experience you gain from training, accelerates your physical development, refines your mastery over weapons, sharpens your combat instincts, and strengthens your ability to evolve during battle, along with many other war-related attributes, all by countless times. This blessing is particularly effective because it hastens your overall growth. As you become stronger, you will also be able to unseal more blessings.'
[The Divine Blessing of Luck is pure, unfiltered fortune. With divine luck, the world practically bends around you. Opportunities just appear out of nowhere, disasters conveniently miss you, and even space and time seem to quietly conspire in your favor. Life wouldn't just get easier… it would feel rigged.]
[The Divine Blessing of Beauty… well, that one's my personal pick. Not exactly well thought out, I admit. But beauty is power. Real power. The kind that makes people lose their minds without realizing it. I'm certain it'll be… extremely useful. Especially when it comes to women.]
[As for the fourth blessing, I'd strongly suggest leaving that little box unchecked for now, keep it dangling. That way, when the moment calls for something specific, you can just rip the seal off and use it on the spot.]
"I don't really have any doubts about the Blessings of War and Luck… but why, exactly, should I unseal the Blessing of Beauty?"
[So you can become an absolute menace to composure, a walking, breathing temptation. The kind that doesn't just get noticed, no, the kind that fractures attention spans, rewrites priorities. Women wouldn't just look at you, they'd come undone, completely, like gravity itself slipped up for a moment and forgot its job. Orbiting you, helplessly, desperately, starving for even the smallest flicker of your attention.]
[They shouldn't just like you. They should lose sense over you. Chase the idea of you like it's the last coherent thought left in their minds.]
[It's not complicated, Master. It's just… power, used properly. Though, to be fair, this is only my personal preference, not something I've deeply or rationally thought through. I just… want my Master to be the most beautiful being to ever walk this earth.]
Aylin said it so softly, so innocently, like she hadn't just dropped something completely unhinged into the air.
Samuel froze.
For a few seconds, his brain just… refused to cooperate.
That didn't line up.
That face, that voice, that pure, almost fragile presence, and yet those words?
Bold enough to make reality blink twice.
And yet… she meant every single one.
Aylin tilted her head slightly when she noticed the way he was looking at her, a hint of uncertainty slipping in.
[If you don't like it, Master, and would prefer something more objectively thought out, then instead of the Blessing of Beauty, you could choose the Blessing of Adaptation.]
Silence followed.
Not empty silence, but the kind that stretches, heavy and deliberate, like something important is being decided beneath the surface.
Samuel exhaled slowly.
"No…"
He shook his head, folding his arms like he was bracing himself against something invisible.
"This is my second life. I'm not here to play it safe. I want everything. I want to live it fully. No filters, no restraints, no pretending to care about rules that don't matter. I want my desires to run as far as they can go, and then further."
A pause.
A faint, dangerous sort of amusement curled at the edges of his lips.
"And I think I'll start by building myself a harem…"
That grin sharpened, calm but carrying just enough edge to feel like a warning.
"So no… don't change it. And besides, I want to know what it's like. Being devastatingly handsome. It sounds… entertaining."
[Sure thing, Master.]
Aylin let out a light laugh, like none of this was even remotely unusual, and casually unsealed three of the chosen divine blessings: War, Luck, and Beauty.
To her, this was simple.
Her Master wanted something, so of course he should have it.
No hesitation, no doubt, no questions.
Absolute, unwavering support, the kind that didn't bend or crack no matter what direction he chose.
Seeing her laugh like that, bright and effortless, something in Samuel shifted.
Before he could think it through, his hand moved on its own, settling gently on her light blue hair.
He patted her head.
Just like that.
No hesitation. No pause. No "should I?" moment.
As if his hand had always belonged there.
[Hehe~ Master, I love it. Can you do this often?]
Aylin melted.
No, melted wasn't enough.
She melted and clung, purring like a shameless little cat as she pushed her head harder into his palm, rubbing against him like she might disappear if he stopped.
Her entire being lit up from that single touch.
She absolutely, completely, irreversibly loved it.
It felt wrong.
It felt forbidden.
It felt perfect.
And now that she had tasted it, that soft, dangerous little reward from her beloved master, there was no going back.
She would chase it.
Crave it.
Earn it.
Again and again and again.
"Sure, I'll pat you… when you do something that deserves a reward," Samuel said, smiling like he had no idea what he'd just unleashed.
[Then I will make sure to work extra hard to earn more pats from you, Master.]
Her answer came too quickly. Too eagerly.
"What else do we have to deal with before my reincarnation?"
[Just one more thing, Master. You can choose the time of your reincarnation. In other words, when you wake up in your new world, you can choose to be a newborn baby, a 25-year-old adult, or any other age. But regardless of the age you choose, you will have the memories of living up to that age in this new world.]
"So if I choose to wake up as a 25-year-old… I would have the memories of living those 25 years?"
[Yes, Master. It would be as if you were a reincarnated person who simply didn't realize it until the age of 25.]
"Oh… interesting."
A pause.
Then, easy.
Decided.
"Anyway, that's simple. Eighteen. My life ended when I was 18, so I'll start there. Feels right. Like I'm just… continuing."
[Okay, Master. Shall I activate the final stage of reincarnation?]
"Go ahead."
And then—
White. Not light.
Not brightness. Just white.
It swallowed everything.
Exploded across his inner world like a million stars screaming into existence all at once, tearing through the dark, flooding every corner until there was nothing else.
No ground. No sky. No self.
Only that blinding, suffocating white.
And then—
He was pulled. Ripped.
Dragged out of his inner world like something had grabbed his very existence and yanked it upward, back toward the surface.
Toward something new. Toward something waiting.