Shunya was smart. No, that was an understatement.

Shunya was a Genius.

When I say genius, dear reader, I mean it in a literal sense. Shunya learnt how to read at the age of 2. He was speaking three languages when he hit 3. He had mastered middle school mathematics at 5 and high school math when he hit 10. Calling him anything less than a prodigy would be just plain wrong.

Being a genius comes at a cost, though. For one thing, he wasn't the most attractive child. He was dangerously skinny. People joked that a gentle breeze would send him flying away like a kite. He watched a lot of anime and often used phrases from them in the rare moments he spoke to other people, which made him a great target for bullies.

He was also a sociopath.

Shunya's parents did note that he preferred to keep to himself, but they chalked it up to him just being shy. However, when they came home one day to see a 13-year-old Shunya sticking needles in a hamster, they became rather worried. After taking him to a therapist and taking some extensive tests, Shunya was diagnosed with Antisocial Personality Disorder.

Shunya didn't really mind, though. It actually helped him more than it hindered him, as the bullies who accosted him now just left him alone.

Being a genius and all, Shunya homeschooled after finishing middle school. He especially liked chemistry. His old chemistry teacher from his middle school, Mr Hiroshi, was one of the few people he treated with respect, as he let him use his home lab for experiments from time to time.

One day, Shunya was on his usual trek to his chemistry teacher's house. He was wearing a hoodie, which covered most of his face and had a scarf wrapped around him for extra warmth. After walking for a few minutes, he reached the makeshift lab. The lab was an extension of Mr Hiroshi's house and was well stocked with equipment and chemicals. "Mr Hiroshi!" Shunya called out in as he knocked softly on the door. The door opened to reveal a man of average height, who looked to be in his late sixties."Ah Shunya! come in, come in!" He said, smiling, "What are you planning to do today?" "Nitration" Shunya said as he walked up to the shelf "Do you know where the nitric acid is kept?" "Top shelf, third column" Mr Hiroshi said as he hobbled back to his chair "I have a few utensils washed for you, feel free to use them". "Thank you, Sir," Shunya said as he bowed and entered the lab.

Shunya measured out 150 millilitres of nitric acid and poured it into a seemingly clean beaker with a little water on the bottom. He covered it up and unlocked his phone to check the steps for the experiment. After a while, he heard a whistling sound. Shunya looked up from his phone to see brown gas billowing out of the flask. *Shit, was there ethanol in that flask?* Shunya thought to himself as he rushed to the door to escape. To his shock, it was locked!

"Mr Hiroshi open the door!" Shunya yelled, banging on the door "The flask is going to ex-" his words were interrupted by a loud explosion. Shunya screamed as he felt glass shards penetrate his skin and nitric acid splash on him. *Well, that was an underwhelming life* he thought to himself as he close his eyes and felt his soul leave his body.

.........

Estelle sipped her Oreo Frappuccino and smacked her lips. Earth was definitely the best realm for drinks. A formally dressed server approached her "Would that be all for you ma'am?" he asked politely with a vacant smile. "Oh, actually I think this one is on the house" The server frowned a bit and lost his smile "On the house?" he asked, perplexed. "Yes, the fifty-fourth to be exact" Estelle said as she tapped the coffee table impatiently "Oh." the server said, as his expression returned to a relatively pleasant one "Would you kindly follow me then?". Estelle grabbed her phone and walked behind him. They entered a room obscured by curtains. "What is the code?" Estelle asked as she unlocked her phone, "3221" replied the server "Oh and a review from your end would be greatly appreciated, goddess" Estelle entered the code and saw a green portal appear in front of her "I'll be sure to leave one, goodbye!" Estelle said.

She entered the portal, finding herself in a familiar dark room with a computer and a furious god waiting for her. "Welcome Back, Estelle." The god said in a dangerously calm tone. Estelle's already pale skin turned even whiter "Oh D-Darius, hey" she stuttered as she attempted to hide the empty plastic cup behind her back. "Dont 'Hey' me Estelle, you know you can't leave this realm when you're on probation," Darius scowled at her. "Oh, come on, it was only for a few hours! I even cleared my backlog, I though it would be cool." Estelle grumbled, still afraid. "Even then, you didn't ask me or Aria for permission, if you were literally anyone else, you would have been banished to the front lines by now!" he spat, angrily. "You know you can't find a better analyst than me, right? Quit bluffing!" she replied, finally looking him in the eye. Darius made a motion towards her, but stopped midway. "You're lucky Aria banned violence here or you would have felt immense pain just now," Darius seethed. He heard a beep and checked his phone "The new batch is here, check it for any problems and leave" "What? I don't want to work overtime! I have plans!" Estelle protested. "Oh really? Maybe I would have let you go if you weren't this problematic," Darius said as he slammed the door behind him.

Estelle kicked over her potted giant mushroom in anger. "Who does that jerk think he IS!" she said to herself, seething. She sighed and opened her door, and headed to the inspection room.

The inspection room was about as large as a basketball court, covered all over with blinding white tiles. There were fifty or so glass caskets, each containing a dead body submerged in a viscous blue liquid. Estelle summoned a blue tablet and examined the scene. "Appraisal!" she shouted. Pink status boxes popped up for every casket. She went up to the first casket from the entrance and read out the text under 'Cause of Death'. "Stabbed himself in the head while juggling knives," Estelle read out loud, suppressing a smile. She scribbled a grade 'C' and swiped, causing the casket to disappear. "Killed himself after failing university exam" read another one. *That's more depressing than unusual* she thought to herself as she scribbled 'D' on her pad and swiped. She continued to grade the bodies when she heard a ringing sound and froze. "Darius?" she called out, confused as Darius normally never stayed over time, "I'm doing the work as you told me to, you can go now-" she was interrupted by the sound of glass crashing to the floor and yelped.

A blue, slimy figure emerged from the wreckage, "Bind!" Estelle yelled, suspending the offender in mid air as blue liquid and glass shards dropped from his body on to the floor, despite hating combat magic, Estelle was one of the most capable goddesses when it came to defensive magic.

"Identify yourself!" Estelle yelled at the figure who she recognised to be a boy. The boy raised his hands up "Please spare me! I just woke up in a puddle of blue goo and tried to get out!" he said, not showing any fear. "You mean to tell me you're human?" Estelle scoffed "Humans can't stay conscious in this realm, let alone in the Soporific fluid!" Estelle twirled her pencil, transforming it into a staff. "Great appraisal!" she yelled, pointing the staff at him.

A pink status box appeared in front of her. Estelle checked the column under species and was shocked to see that it was indeed, human. She waved her hand, and the boy dropped to the ground.

"Where am I?" the boy asked "I thought I die-" "Shush, I'm checking your stats", Estelle said as she scrolled through the boys stats, trying to find out how he could stay conscious. *His strength is pretty below average, his mana is nearly zero, being an earthling. So how was he able to wake up?* She thought to herself, puzzled.

She kept scrolling until she reached his intelligence stat. *W-What? How?* she thought to herself. "Hey did you find anything?" the boy asked in a low, calming tone. "You're intelligence stat is the highest I've ever seen" she remarked shocked. "Its nearly on par with mine." "That's great and all, but could you tell me where I am?" the boy asked "The last thing I remember I was doing a chemistry experiment and the flask exploded.".

"Sit down," she ordered. Not wanting to die, the boy complied. "I will ask you a few questions. If you answer even one of them untruthfully, you will suffer a fate worse than death," she said, coldly staring him down. "Fine by me" the boy stared back at her, unabashed. "First, what's your name" she asked, moving closer to him , trying to establish dominance.

"Well, you could call me Shunya"

.........