In a large, luxurious room with a king-sized bed lying at the center and a fancy drawer with intricate inscriptions all over it right beside it, sat a boy who looked no older than 16 years.
His features are cute yet sharp at the same time.
His electric blue eyes filled with disbelief as he stared at a blue-colored screen that floated right in front of him, his palm clutching his forehead along with some of his snow-white, disheveled hair.
There was a chandelier hanging down from the ceiling, lighting up the room with a dim, cool, aqua color, turning the atmosphere relaxing and cool.
The boy with strikingly captivating looks, however, was far from being calm.
His life was giving him a lot of shocks today, so much so that it was hard for him to stay calm.
"So, you're saying that you met a goddess? Like, a real goddess?"
The boy sighed in exasperation as he asked that question to someone only he could talk to.
[Yes! Just how many times are you going to ask the same thing?!]
The boy received a reply, but the voice was heard in his head, along with the same words getting typed on the blue-colored translucent screen in front of his eyes.
The voice sounded clearly annoyed, but the boy just frowned.
"You do know that your words sound absurd, right?"
The boy questioned with a slightly serious tone, only to get his mouth shut by the question asked by the voice within his head.
[Alex, just look around, look at me, look at yourself, and look at the memories inside of your head. After all of this, do you still think that the most absurd thing you heard about is the goddess?]
The voice in the boy, who was called Alex by the voice, sighed in defeat as it just pointed things out.
Alex kept his mouth shut for a while before he spoke.
"I just can't believe that there is someone way more beautiful and enchanting than you."
The boy muttered as he fell back on the soft mattress with his hands spread wide.
His words stunned the voice for a second before the blue illusionary screen in the boy's vision got tinged with pink.
[W-Wh-What the hell? Was that the only thing you couldn't believe among every other thing I told you about??]
The voice in the boy's head grew a pitch higher. Embarrassed yet incredulous.
*Chuckle*
The boy, however, just chuckled as he lifted his palm up and stared at the ceiling from the gaps within his fingers.
"So, this is a novel world, huh? Not exactly something I thought I would hear about this world, but oh well."
He muttered as he clenched his fists hard, determined to not let this life end the same as the previous one.
[Y-You don't have any doubt about anything?]
Sophie, on the other hand, still couldn't believe how quickly Alex accepted the situation.
She had been living within his body for around 16 years already, and that was more than enough to make her believe in everything that was happening, but Alex just got his memories, yet he didn't seem to be that affected.
{Ah...}
But as soon as she recalled who she was talking about and who she was trying to generalize, she just sighed in resignation.
This was not just anyone; he was Alex Matthew, a person whose name alone was enough to shake the highest of authorities in the world they used to live in.
No matter how many times he lives, no matter what kind of world he lives in, and no matter what kind of situation he finds himself in, he will always be the same guy.
{Well, he did turn flirty, but that is to be expected as he had different circumstances...}
Sophie thought inwardly as she stared at Alex before she lowered her head with a rosy tint on her cheeks.
{And I somehow like the flirty side of his...}
Sophie knew what Alex had been through and what he had to do in order to survive in this world, but no matter what Alex became and how he became, her love for him was never going to change.
He was her Alex, the only one that could ever be.
"Your words alone are enough to make me believe in anything—things that no one would ever want to believe—my dear Sophie."
Alex, who had finally regained his memories of his previous life, had the same love for Sophie as he used to do before, as she was his and only his; it was just that he was able to express them better than before.
[B-But still...]
Sophie, although feeling elated the more she talked with Alex, was still a bit dissatisfied by the lack of questions, as she had prepared a lot of answers for a lot of questions in these past 16 years.
"Yes, my dear Sophie; I do have some questions."
Alex, who, for some reason, was able to sense Sophie's emotions, didn't reveal it to her, but he still nodded his head, giving her what she wanted.
[Really?!]
The sheer amount of happiness he heard from her voice was enough to make him chuckle.
"Yes, yes, so tell me, why was I not the one to get summoned by this oh-so-beautiful goddess—who I don't believe is better than you—instead of you?"
Alex asked a question that he had been curious about for a while—he wasn't dubious or something like that; he was just curious.
[W-Well, as I said before, I died before you, and during that short interval, I met the goddess, who is responsible for all of this.]
Sophie, who was still trying to calm down as she was way too excited to get to talk to her Alex after 16 fucking years that she just couldn't stay cool, answered Alex.
Alex, however, just shook his head with a light smile, still lying on the bed.
"I know that love, but you still remember that the goddess gave you two options, right?
One where you will get a supporting role while I get the main role, and the other where only—"
Alex paused here with a sudden break in his speech, and Sophie...
[—I will get to have a main role while you go through the cycle of reincarnation.]
As if in a tendon, continued his line; it was as if she knew that he was going to pause there, but in reality, it was just that she knew Alex so much to know what he might do next.
Alex just chuckled, as he had expected her to do that before he nodded his head.
"Yes, and although you selected the first option, thanks to which I'm still here; if you were to select the second option, then I wouldn't even be here.
This means that you are the one who was supposed to make the decision, and you were the only one who was supposed to be summoned."
His words send Sophie into a deep contemplation.
She had never actually thought about it so deeply, but now that she did, it did seem that way.
The goddess's explanation about her being summoned did seem filled with plot holes now.
"Now, don't think too much about it; it was just a curious inquiry as it seemed like that goddess was hiding something from you, but oh well, we can't actually do anything about it, can we?"
Alex, however, waved it off, seemingly not interested in this topic as he could feel Sophie getting depressed thinking about not being able to find this fault before.
[... I'm sorry.]
Sophie, on the other hand, knew her mistake, so she apologized to Alex, causing him to sigh as he jumped out of bed.
"Sophie, you don't have to be sorry about anything; you did nothing wrong, you did the right thing instead.
After all, I'm still alive and with you just because of your decisions."
Alex uttered as he moved closer to the window in the room, his tone as gentle as it could be, causing Sophie's mood to lighten a bit.
*Knock**Knock*
But before she could say something, a knock on the room's door was heard, causing a sharp light to pass through Alex's eyes before he rushed toward the bed.