The woman, Samsara, who claimed to be a goddess, introduced herself with a smile as she continued to stare at me.
I took a second to remove my attention on her and observed my surroundings again before returning my gaze to the 'goddess'.
After thinking about it for a while, I did not find myself doubting the words of the woman, or should I say, Goddess Samsara.
"Huh? Why are you so cool with all of this?!" the goddess exclaimed.
At this point, I already knew that the goddess had the ability to read my mind.
I had spoken fewer times than I had several thoughts in this place, and the goddess kept addressing them.
Just this alone was enough to show the goddess' ability to read my mind, but then again...
This much should be possible for a goddess, right?
In any case, I decided to reply to Goddess Samsara's question.
I could not be rude to a goddess after all.
At least I should address her by her name, I suppose.
"In truth, this is still all weird to me, but the fact that I know and I am sure I died remains. It's either this is all my imagination or it's the thing that naturally comes after death," I said, as the goddess opened her mouth slightly in response to my words.
'Well, I'll admit novels and anime are part of the reason I'm not freaking out now. There was also the fact that I'm dead, so what's there for me to panic about?' I thought.
"Haha," Goddess Samsara suddenly let out a hearty laugh, as if she had read my thoughts and found them amusing.
Who knows? Certainly not me.
"Okay, let's get down to business," the goddess stated after her laughter subsided, donning a slightly serious expression.
This made me instinctively stand straight.
Seeing my reaction, she nodded and continued, "Once again, I'll introduce myself. I'm Samsara, the goddess of reincarnation, and from my title and your memories... I don't think I need to explain what I do."
Once again, I couldn't help but blame web novels and anime for somehow preparing me for this moment. In fact, the whole Earth should be blamed for its fascination with such stories.
These thoughts were swirling in my head when I realised something.
"Seems like Goddess Samsara can read memories as well," I thought, intrigued by her ability to perceive my thoughts.
Why wasn't I annoyed that my memories were being read without my permission?
That was because I understood the status quo.
It was like how humans would destroy ant homes.
Why did they do it? I did not know, but it was exactly because the goddess could read my mind, she read it.
It was just like how you killed a rat without asking for its permission.
It was because you could.
Might be a weird comparison, but it works.
Then again, it seemed futile to resist the power of a being like Samsara, the goddess of reincarnation.
"Since you already know who I am and what I do," Samsara continued, her voice steady yet calm and a little authoritative. She continued, "Let's move on to your situation."
Goddess Samsara then paused, allowing her words to sink in.
I guess this is the part I'm judged.
"Well, normally, your soul should have automatically entered the reincarnation circle with you already living a new life, but your case is a little unique," Goddess Samsara stated.
"How unique?" I asked, feeling a sense of apprehension. I wondered if her explanation would be beyond my comprehension.
Being conscious after death was something I couldn't make sense of using logic alone. It defied the natural order I had come to understand.
Before my thoughts could drift too far, the goddess's voice brought me back to the present.
"The reincarnation circle is where most souls, your current form, pass through. I serve as the medium to guide them into a new life, devoid of memories from their past existence," she explained.
"Essentially, like being reborn as a newborn," I remarked, seeking confirmation. Goddess Samsara nodded, affirming my understanding, and continued.
"This should have been the case, but the universe decided to hold on to your soul for a while."
"The universe?" I questioned, feeling a growing sense of confusion.
As the conversation unfolded, it seemed like things were going to get increasingly complex.
"Yes, the universe. It's something that even gods like myself, and those more powerful than me, may never fully comprehend," she replied, her voice tinged with a hint of mystery.
Wow.
Even gods she says.
That's some serious word right there, but why did the 'universe' want my soul, I thought.
'Then again, it looks like web novels were wrong about souls being transparent in the afterlife,' I thought, looking at my body before the Goddess spoke again.
"Your soul has only just arrived in my domain, and from what I'm seeing, it's been 30 years already since you died."
30 years!
And here I thought it was just a few minutes ago!
No! It didn't even feel like a second passed before I arrived here.
Wonderful.
Strangely, the only thing I felt was awe towards this revelation.
Everything was just so new and novel to me.
"Weird human," I heard the Goddess mutter.
Well, I think that's what I heard when the goddess spoke again.
Her voice was just as attractive as she was.
"Although your time to reincarnate got delayed due to the universe's interference, it's not like it was a bad thing for you, especially," Goddess Samsara said to me with a smile.
What does she mean it's not a bad thing?
Perhaps the Goddess Samsara read my thoughts again because the next words she spoke were to address my confusion.
"After you arrived at my domain, I understood why the universe delayed your reincarnation," she said.
"And why is that?" I asked.
"It's because of the deed you did before you died."
What deed.
"This is confusing," I thought as I went through my memories in search of what deed I could have done in my life that looked at least extraordinary. The only one that came to mind was my act of sacrifice to save Emily's life.
"It's that one," Goddess Samsara suddenly stated when I thought of the incident that took my life.
I see.
But if it was something like this though, then does that mean everyone that saves a person with their life gets a delayed reincarnation?
Hmmm. I don't know how to feel about that.
"No, not everyone receives the opportunity the universe gave you because they save someone," Goddess Samsara stated, then added, "At most, they will just have better luck in their next life. The girl you saved was different, so your case is unique."
Opportunity? Different? Emily, different?
Perhaps sensing my confusion, the goddess addressed it with her next words.
"The reason why the girl is different is because of her future achievements. That girl alone is solely responsible for reducing your world population's death due to health issues by 20%. Unfortunately, she died in a car accident recently."
That... was a lot to take in.
I was truly shocked by Emily's achievement.
Twenty percent of the world's population was no small number, but hearing that she still died from a vehicle, in the end, was sad to hear.
I did not know how she became that big, though, and I was not in the mood to know.
The news of her death hurt me because if I calculate things according to when I died, which was 30 years ago when Emily was 15 years old, this means she died at age 45.
She was still quite young.
Strange to say since she technically lived longer than I did.
"Was she married?" I asked as I was concerned about something.
"Yes. With two boys, and she's reincarnated as well somewhere in the universe."
Hearing the goddess' words, a smile formed on my face.
Although she still died in the end, at least she was able to have something I could never have.
A family.
I could not even have friends because I did not, and no one wanted me to be a burden to them.
My parents had me late and died early leaving me alone at a young age.
I had no lover as well.
Apart from not wanting to hurt myself by loving someone due to obvious reasons, I did not think anyone would have wanted to date a dying man.
Well, a broke dying man.
I was truly alone, lonely.
I could not even have sex because of the thought of dying in the act.
Well, I'll admit I was more concerned about my performance than death in this case though.
Olay, I'm getting sidetracked.
Yeah, but there's something that's confusing me, though. What does Emily's achievement have to do with me?
"It has everything to do with you because, in a way, you're the root cause for why 20% of the world population is not dying from health issues. If you never gave your life for another, then there would have been no Emily. The universe must have taken your soul before you came under my control because it predicted this."
"Predicted?"
"Yes, predicted, and it also gave you rewards for this," Goddess Samsara stated.
"So, is this why you said the situation was not bad for me?" I asked, and the goddess gently nodded.
Wow.
This was so much to take in.
I guess I'm also lucky that Goddess Samsara is taking her time to explain to me.
Now then, what rewards is the goddess referring to?