{Hello all, I was trying not to have to put a note in the first chapter, but it seems necessary. This is my second book, and yes, there are some mistakes and too many status updates in the beginning, but I implore you to read further into the book. It gets better as it goes on, as I am learning this entire time. I hope you enjoy it! Have a great day!}

I am a good man; my name is Axel Wolf. I have lived a good life, always doing what I felt was the right thing to do. That's how I ended up in the situation that I am in right now.

I was lying broken on the ground with multiple fatal injuries all over my body. My blood pooled around my body in a macabre scene. I couldn't help but lament over my circumstances a bit.

All I did was try to help a young woman who seemed to be harassed by some thugs. I remember her face twisting from terror to sneering in contempt.

It was at that point I understood this was all a setup. Before I could do anything, I remember being hit over the head with something that put me in a daze. I tried to reorient myself and defend myself, but they came at me too fast and hard.

I could do nothing to defend myself as they stabbed, punched, kicked, and smashed my body with crude weapons made from junk. Now, I am here clinging to the last bits of my life. Right in front of me, the young woman was crouched down. I stared at her in disgust that a human being could be like this. So twisted and demented.

It wasn't my first time dealing with the scum of society. It was the first time, however, I had been put into a situation like this, and now it seemed to be my last.

"You are a dumb piece of shit, you know that? We have been watching you for months, trying to figure out who has been stopping our guys from bringing in the new merchandise. It turns out you just have some sort of hero complex when, in reality, you're just trash. Tell you what, dumb ass, live with more distrust in your next life. The world will always chew up people like you and spit them out into the trash heap, just like where I am going to leave your body after this. But first, I think that..."

Her voice started to fade as my vision started to turn black. I am dying, and I know that. The only thing I can think about right now is how dumb I was to try and help this girl. Now, I am dying because, just like she said, I had a bit of a hero complex.

When I saw someone needing help, I generally would help without a second thought. And now it is killing me to do so, literally. I thought to myself just as everything completely faded,' I don't want to die. I want to live and learn from this mistake. Please...anyone...anything... I don't want to die...'

***

When I arrived, I was disoriented. Slowly looking around, I found that I was in a white expanse that seemed to have no end. I was sitting at a circular table with three other people.

As I looked at the three of them, they, too, were staring back at me. There was one other guy besides myself; the last two were women. I realized something while looking at all of them. Their figures were indistinct, almost fuzzy. The more I concentrated on them, the less I could see them.

"Don't concentrate too hard; you will get a headache, buddy." The guy said in a plain tone. He continued without waiting for me to respond, "For some reason, I believe we are all dead. Everyone can agree to that, right?"

Seeing everyone nod their indistinct heads, the guy continued. "So I feel that some being has brought our souls here for some reason."

"Oh, like those fantasy novels where some goddess will pull the worthy souls and send them to save a world?" Asked one of the ladies. You could sense her excitement about the prospect.

"Yes, that is exca-"

"That's not entirely right. I summoned you for a reason, but it isn't to save any world. I can tell you that right now."

While listening to the guy talk to the lady, I suddenly saw the most beautiful woman ever silently appear in the empty chair next to mine and give me a wink before she cut off the guy's words with her own. This startled the guy and girl who were conversing. The other lady and I were the only ones who noticed her appearance.

"Whaaaa..." The lady screamed at being startled by the new voice, which brought a chuckle out of the rest of us.

The newcomer smiled when she realized she finally had everyone's attention. When she saw everyone waiting for her to speak, she did not disappoint.

"Yes, I summoned you for a reason, but before I explain, I ask that you all keep quiet and listen to me while I explain everything because there is a lot to get through and not much time."

After speaking, she scanned the four of us, and we all nodded, knowing that what this beautiful woman had to say was probably extremely important to us.

"Good. Now, where do I begin? Ah, yes, I summoned you all here because you have all made an impression on me. I am Supreme Goddess Ayla, and my main powers are over life and death. The pantheon of gods I rule over has been trying to ensure that worthy souls are given good reincarnations into one of the higher worlds I govern. You four have all come from different lower worlds that are inside of the domain that my Pantheon governs over. You have all made an impact on your world. Whether large or small, good or evil, you all made an impact. I will send you all to a higher world that has already awakened. The choices you make in the new world I will send the four of you to will be completely up to you, no matter the route you choose to take. I will not interfere at all. Now, I will also give you each a total of three blessings of your choice. You need to remember that the blessing I will give you has all come from the gods and goddesses in my pantheon. Now, please take this time to search through the blessings you each want. You should be able to see them all now in front of you."

As she said, we could see the blessings on a list that appeared on a floating screen that materialized before us. Looking through the blessings, I could see hundreds, if not thousands, of choices.

I could hear the other three people muttering to themselves, but their voices seemed static, so I couldn't hear what they were saying. Sighing internally, I started to look through the blessings we could choose from.

[Available Blessings.

*Notice all blessing choices are final; please choose wisely, as your choice cannot be altered after being chosen.*

Blessing of Battle

Blessing of Love

Blessing of Apples

Blessing of Astral 

Blessing of Void

Blessing of Contracts

Blessing of Shapeshifting

Blessing of Justice

Blessing of...]

As I looked through the blessings, some seemed skewed away from what one would think could be a blessing. 'But I am no god; I can't judge something I have no concept of.'

While thinking to myself, I was startled by Ayla's voice as she spoke again.

"By the way, the number of blessings you can see on your screen has been directly affected by your choices in your last world. If you made an impression on a god, they would be the ones to activate the possibility of you gaining their blessing. The blessings you can see are options given to you by the different gods in my Pantheon for which you have gained approval. The more blessings you can see, the more gods will take notice of you."

Startled by what she implied with her words, I looked again to see the number of blessings I could receive, and what I saw left me astounded.

[Total number of possible blessings:999,999,999]

Literal millions upon millions of blessings. Honestly, I was taken aback by the sheer number of gods who noticed me. I looked over to the goddess and saw her looking at me with a smile so beautiful that I fell into a slight daze for a second. I woke up when I heard her voice, but only I could listen to her this time.

"Axel Wolf, don't make a choice yet. You are a bit special, so we must talk after the other three have chosen."

With a nod, I indicated that I understood what she had said, to which she sent me another brilliant smile. After what seemed like thirty minutes, the other three seemed to have chosen their blessings as the screens disappeared from in front of them. 

To make it seem like I was still choosing, I continued browsing through all my options. After waiting a few minutes, the guy seemed to have lost his patience.

"Dude, just fucking pick already; you couldn't have more blessings to choose from than I did. We are trying to get this show on the road already. I mean fuck man, I had over one thousand to go through, and I am done. So what is your excuse?"

Before I could say anything, the bubbly girls spoke up.

"Wow, over one thousand. I only had seven hundred. Huh, how many did you have?"

She quickly praised the man and then turned to the other girl to ask her how many blessings she had to go through. The other girl hesitated momentarily before saying the number she had to choose from.

"I had one thousand to go through as well."

The bubbly girl started bouncing in her seat while the guy seemed visibly astonished. His body shuddered before he quickly changed his focus to me.

"Come on and choose already; I don't care if you have trash blessings. Just choose some so we can go." Turning towards the two ladies, he spoke up with smug confidence. "Ladies, why don't we plan to meet up in the world? It would be a great opportunity to get to know each other better."

His arrogance grates on my nerves, but I keep myself from commenting on his disgusting behavior. The goddess speaks just as the guy continues talking again, leaving them stunned.

"You three can be moved to the same area if you choose. Axel Wolf, on the other hand, will not be transported with you."

When the guy spoke again, you could hear his contempt for me and his joy at transporting the two women with him.

"Good, I don't need trash around me anyway. I mean, look at him—so indecisive and slow at everything. This guy will probably be dead in a matter of minutes. But ladies, what do you say? Shall we support each other on this crazy journey called our second lives?"

Both ladies answered in the affirmative. They asked the goddess to send them now, and she agreed. With a wave of her hand, she sent them all to the new world they would be living in. As the guy faded, he looked at Axel and flipped him off, saying," Later, trash. My name is Blaze Kleftman. Remember it because you will kneel before me before too long."

With those last words, the three wholly disappeared from the goddess's domain.

"Damn, that guy was insufferable. I feel bad for sending those two girls with him, but they requested so. Anyways, with the blessings those two chose, they should be safe."

"Excuse me, Goddess Ayla. Can you help me choose my blessings now? There are almost one billion choices, so I am a bit lost."

She placed her hand in front of her lips and giggled a bit before smiling at me again.

"Of course, it isn't often that the gods see someone with as much potential as you, Axel. You are different from the others. Your actions and decisions on your last world greatly affected the world and made it a better place."

She paused, letting her words sink into my head, but I asked something because I was confused.

"Goddess Ayla, I don't understand. I just helped the people I saw in need or needed a helping hand. I didn't do anything special. I am just a normal guy. How could I have made a big impact?"

"Axel, you did more than you realize. You saved 6,786 men, women, and children from falling into the hands of human traffickers. You saved 15,987 animals who needed help. You protected 976 women and helped them gain the courage to leave their abusive relationships. Through your charity work, you gave over 20,000 different families a home to live in; mind you, you may not have given it to them directly. The homes you spent your time and hard work building with those crews did help them. Lastly, the group of people that killed you found their downfall due to your death. You may not have realized it, but you were very loved and celebrated in your world as a real-life hero."

I was dumbstruck by her words. Hero? Me? I don't know about that.

"If you say so. You are the goddess here; I am just a normal mortal man."

She smiled at my words and just gestured to my screen.

"So here is what I am going to do for you, Axel. I will take and merge these 999,999,999 blessings into three super blessings. I will also give you another...hmmm....cheat, as you would say. Everyone in the world I am sending you to have systems. I will give you a special system. One that I think will make things easier for you. It is called the ____ system, and it will take the form of what it feels is best for you. I hope you truly enjoy your new life, Axel. By the way, when you wake up, don't freak out. Just take a deep breath. Before opening your eyes, wait for the system to come online and help you."

A little breathless by the generosity of the goddess in front of me, I couldn't help but look at her in reverence. Bowing my head in respect, I spoke the truth I felt in my heart.

"I may not understand all of this, but I appreciate your kindness and generosity toward me. I may not ever be able to repay this big of a favor, but in the future, if you need my help in something, as long as it doesn't break my morals, I will do my all to assist you."

Suddenly, she was in front of me. The table and chairs were gone, and the goddess was less than two inches away from touching my chest with her breast. She reached out and cupped my face, lifting it to look into my eyes. She spoke softly and slowly, making sure I heard each word.

"Axel Wolf, you are an amazing man. Please don't doubt that. I am giving these to you to show my gratitude for the things you have done. I know that life was hard for you, but I wanted you to know that I am always watching you."

Without giving me time to think, she leaned in and planted her lips on mine. The feeling was like nothing I had ever felt before—so heavenly, soft, and full of care and affection. It blew my mind, and I didn't understand where this was coming from, but I would be a fool not to accept the kiss of a literal goddess. After a few moments, she pulled back for a second before leaving three small pecks against my lips.

"Mmm, there we go. Now, you should understand you are special to me, and the other gods see you as someone special, too, but I care about you the most."

As she said this, my vision started to fade to black. Before I entirely faded away, I reached out with my hand and gently brushed against her cheek.

***

AYLA POV

As I watched Axels' soul fade into the next world, I felt a bit sad inside. That was my first kiss, and I just gave it to someone who would not become strong enough to see me for at least the next 10,000 years.

"Shit...I miss him already..."

***

Axel POV

After fading from Ayla's dimension, it felt like a second before I almost opened my eyes. Thankfully, at the last second, I remembered what Ayla had said and kept them closed. I waited for what seemed like forever, but in reality, it was probably about ten minutes before I finally heard it.

[DING]