1 Transmigration (1/2)

It was one hell of a stormy night. A lone man stood dazed in an empty room. Sign of fatigue, accumulated over the past few days of sleepless nights, could be seen on his face. Grey streaks could be seen on his hair despite having fair smooth skin and a masculine figure; from which it could be seen that he was most likely in his early 40s.

He looked around the empty room and saw nothing there.

The man was dressed for sleep, wearing only a simple shirt and a pair of shorts, making it easy to his figure. Contrary to his tired face with dark shades under his eyes, his tempered, overflowing with muscles body was full for vigor.

”Huh…? Where is this? I was in my room a moment ago, how did I end up here?”

When he uttered those words suddenlythree people appeared in front him consisting of an old man, a boy and a woman.

”Have you come to?” [Old Man]

”Is your mind clear?” [Boy]

”You know it would be nice if said something?” [Woman]

”Umm… Yes. I'm alright now. You suddenly came out of nowhere, so I was taken back a bit. My apologies . Let me introduce myself. I am Astra Takeshi.”

”There is no need to be so formal. Let's talk over tea.” [Old man]

The old man waved his hand and all of a sudden, a tea table appeared, atop which were cups filled with tea and pillows to sit on along the sides.

”Come take a seat.” [Woman]

”Thank you!” [Astra]

The young woman smiled and implored Astra to take a seat, which Astra promptly took. The others took their seats as well; the woman sat on the right, while the boy sat on the left, and the old man sat opposite to Astra.

When they had all taken their seats, everyone, including Astra, took a sip of their tea.

”I hope you don't mind if I ask some questions.” [Astra]

”Of course not. That's exactly what we're here for. But I already have an idea what you want to ask, so how about listening to our story first?” [Old man]

”Well, alright.”[Astra]

After Astra noddedto show his agreement, the old man began.

”We are what you would call 'Gods'. I am Tsukuyomi, the God of Creation. The woman to your right is Aria, the God of Love, and the boy to your left is the God of Life, Ryouta. We are Gods of different world.

You might not know this, but you died. When your soul left your body, we took it and brought it here to the Divine Realm.” [Tsukuyomi]

”I see. So that's what happened.” [Astra]

Astra matter-of-factly accepted Tsukuyomi's explanation as he sipped his tea. The three gods were bewildered at his reaction, especially the youngest looking of them all, Ryouta.

”Umm…, wait, is that it!? Shouldn't you be panicking a bit more and going 'No way!' 'That can't be!' 'Why did I die?' or something?” [Ryouta]

”You know.. the others before you were all flustered when we talked to them.” [Tsukuyomi]

”Oh, don't get me wrong, I am surprised, though I do admit that none of this feels real to me right now. Besides, if all this is nothing more than a dream, then I would eventually wake up, but even if it's not, well… everyone will pass away anyway.

And I've already expected this to some extent. My work, you see, is really taxing so taxing that my co-workers have had to retire early because their body broke down. Because of that I've always believed that I would die an early death. Being able to live up to 39 or 40, depending which way you count, is more than plenty, all things considered.

Not to mention, as embarrassing as it is to admit considering my age, I'm a huge otaku of games, anime and manga, so I'm quite fond of stories like this. I've have been single my entire life and don't have any family or relatives anyway, so this turn of events is a lot better than just burning away.” [Astra]

Astra was really satisfied from the bottom of his heart, but that only caused the gods even more confusion.

”R-Really? Do humans really think like that? Hasn't anyone ever told you your way of thinking is very odd?” [Ryouta]

”I don't think it's got anything to do with your hobbies either. There were plenty of people with similar hobbies as you, and they were all flustered. So flustered, they wouldn't even listen. Just meeting someone who wasn't gloomy was a feat in itself.” [Aria]

”Well, in any case, this makes things easier for us. Though this also leaves us with too much time on hand. Is there anything else you want to know?” [Tsukuyomi]

Astra become thoughtful for a moment before speaking.