My life flashed before my eyes after the explosion killed me. Darkness enveloped my view as if not a single thing can be seen before my eyes.
I couldn't even feel my body in this nothingness and it felt like there is not even a single thing that I could touch.
"So this is death."
I always believed that after your life ends, you will go to the afterlife. But it seems to be that is not the case.
How childish of me to have that kind of belief. I even thought for a second before I died that reincarnation would be possible and that I would begin a new life in the world I lived for 24 years.
Some even said that after you die, an entity with great power will appear right before you.
"So gods aren't real after you die, huh?"
"Fufufu... Who said that gods don't exist?"
All of a sudden, I heard a woman with a mature voice that whispered in my ears.
The world of nothingness that I was in turned bright and my eyes widened as I witnessed a new world where I am. A world with a heliotrope Aurora Borealis with stars. I looked everywhere and no matter how far I checked my surroundings, nothing could be seen other than the bright white lights moving around me like fireflies.
"Welcome, Jin Nakajima."
The woman who called me by my name had a similar voice to the one who whispered to me a second ago. I looked at her and she sat flamboyantly while looking down at me on a throne built above a set of stairs built of pristine stones.
The woman has pale white skin and a tall slim stature that emits a rainbow aura around her. She is gorgeous and I know that even my male comrades will surely be allured by her appearance. She has gradient rosy hair with a heterochromatic set of eyes of yellow and red. The woman is wearing a peplos and a big faint rainbow-colored ribbon tied on her back.
"Who are you?"
"I didn't expect that you would ask for my identity first. Are you not concerned about where you are and what this place is?" The woman asked while hiding the smirk on her face with her hand.
"Knowing you is the first thing I should know because a human being like you might know something about this place and what is happening to me."
Besides, she looks like someone who is familiar with what is going on around here.
"Me? A human being? Are you insulting me?" The woman said with a distraught look on her face
She's not human?
"Then what are you?"
The woman stood up from her throne. When she raised her hand, the lights around me turned restless as they moved from every direction in a quick motion.
"My name is Hecate."
The woman named Hecate went down the stairs and she vanished from my sight.
I felt her presence behind my back even without me realizing it. Then the words she whispered in my ear surprised me.
"And I am a Goddess."
I quickly hid my panic state from the so-called Goddess and composed myself.
"A Goddess? Are you kidding me?"
"Is teleporting behind you not sufficient that I'm not human unlike you? I'm a bit mad about what you called me earlier. A mere human? Why would you call me as someone lowly as that?" Hecate insultingly said even when she is aware that I am a human.
It is true that vanishing from my sight instantly can't be done by a human being and it somehow convinced me that what Hecate is saying is true.
"A Goddess, huh? So those creatures are real."
"A creature? How funny of you to call me something horrid."
When I turned back to look at Hecate, the goddess was not there.
"I told you that I'm a Goddess. Where are your manners, Jin Nakajima?"
Hecate teleported again to her throne sitting in the same position earlier but now with an irritated look on her face.
It seems to be that this woman is insensitive to calling her by other things. I might as well acknowledge the fact that she is a Goddess.
"I assume that you are also the one who created this world then. A place where unexplainable things that even I couldn't comprehend are present here made me conclude that you could be the real thing. A Goddess."
"Fufufu... That's right, Jin Nakajima. Now you are starting to worship me."
Worship her? I didn't even say anything like that at all. But that's not important right now. What I need is information.
"Am I dead?"
"Yes, you are. Watching you die for the sake of your comrades was quite amusing to me."
So I really died back then. Learning that Hecate knows my name and that she also watched me when the enemies attacked us completely convinced me that she is a true goddess who can watch over anyone.
"So why did you transport me to this place? Is this the afterlife?"
Hecate bursts into laughter after she hears what I just said.
"The afterlife? What kind of book did you learn that from? There is no such thing as the afterlife."
Hearing that made me think of another concept that exists in our world on what happens to a person after they die.
"Will I be reincarnated?"
"Yes, you will be." Hecate said while giving a faint grin.
"So what am I going to be reincarnated as? A boy that is born into a rich family? A poor one living in the slums? Or maybe... Are you going to turn me into a girl?"
Hecate laughed once again even louder than before as if she couldn't breathe at all.
"Don't be absurd, Jin Nakajima. Do you really want to be born again in a boring world like that? The world where you will be reincarnated is something more interesting than where you lived before."
"What do you mean?"
"Where all living things possess such things you can't imagine that is full of possibilities where anything can happen. That is the world where you will go to. Magia, the world of magic that I created."
"A world of magic?"
"You don't seem quite surprised at all?"
"After I got transported into this place and the things you did earlier, of course, I included that in one of my possibilities that could happen."
Magia, so that is the world that Hecate is offering me to be reincarnated in. But, if she is telling me about this offer...
"Did you also offer this to someone other than me?"
"Fufufu... Who knows?"
Hecate's playful attitude made me think that it is possible that I am not the only person from the real world who got reincarnated from that world of hers, but I still couldn't be sure about that since there is no guarantee.
I paused for a second because I was hesitant if I should ask this next question to Hecate.
"Why me then? There are a lot of people who died that left a bigger impact on the previous world where I lived."
"It's because I find you interesting."
"What do you mean by that?"
Hecate twirled her hair using her finger then she looked at me with a look in her eyes as if she was looking at a new toy to play with.
"You found your past life to be boring. Am I right, Jin Nakajima? A life where you don't know what your purpose is and what is your reason for being born in that boring world of yours."
The things Hecate said made me quite irritated because it stung me a little.
"It's true that some people left a bigger impact than you when they died. But I also consider the quality of the human beings who die every day."
"The quality of a human being?"
"You are a mercenary in your past life. People might think that you are just some righteous person who fights for something they think is right. But you are different from those generic human beings. You are a cold-blooded mercenary, some even consider you a ruthless person who is an expert with all kinds of firearms that can kill anyone with ease. A person feared by many. That's what makes you an interesting human being, Jin Nakajima."
"So what's your point then? You seem to know a lot about me including the problem of my existence in that world."
"That world does not deserve a person like you."
"You don't have the right to say that to me. I have been trying hard you know?"
Little by little, my annoyance started to turn into anger as I heard how much Hecate looked down on me.
"You don't need to be upset. Don't you want to try again? In a better world than where you live in? Who knows? Maybe in my world, you will know the reason for your existence, Jin Nakajima."
Hecate's words made me think. It is true that I hadn't realized the true purpose of my life before I died. But what if this second chance is what I need to find the thing I was looking for?
"A second chance at life in a more interesting world."
"So what do you say, Jin Nakajima?"
Hecate slowly walked down the stairs once more but unlike before, she slowly approached me instead of teleporting behind me with her tricks.
"Do you accept an offer from a Goddess?"
Hecate reached her hand in front of me while she was waiting for my answer.
I know that I have never lived my life to the fullest back then. But if this chance offered to me by a Goddess can change my perspective in life, then...
"I accept." I answered as I held Hecate's soft hands.
Hecate smiled. She stopped holding me then took a step back.
"Hecate, may I ask you one more question before you reincarnate me?"
"As you wish, Jin Nakajima?"
"What is the reason you are doing this?"
"Fufufu... It's all for my own entertainment."
Suddenly, my heart beat loudly and I started losing consciousness slowly as I collapsed on the ground with both my knees on the floor.
"I can't wait what you will do from now on. I have high expectations from you. The magic you will possess that I will give to you is something peculiar to the world I created. Your existence in my world will surely stir things up and it's something you will like. It's a magic that defines who you are in your previous life."
As I slowly closed my eyes while looking at Hecate, she said her last words to me before I passed out.
"I will be looking over you, Jin Nakajima. Be someone interesting like the person you are that I know in your previous life."