Chapter 2: A New Opportunity

"Of course! But why do you want to send me there?" Why would he even say no to that request?

"Because I need someone who doesn’t belong there."

"What am I supposed to do there?" That answer only made Caelan more confused.

"Survive."

"That’s it?"

"For now."

A strange golden window suddenly appeared in front of Caelan.

[Soul Transfer Ready.]

Caelan stared at the glowing words.

"What is that?"

"Your new beginning."

Another message appeared beneath it.

[Choose your blessing.]

"Blessing?" Caelan looked at Elara, who simply nodded.

"You are going to need something if you want to survive in that world."

"What kind of blessing can I choose?" Somehow, Caelan felt both excited and nervous at the same time.

"Anything." Elara smiled as she answered. "Take it as my gift for you."

Caelan stared at the glowing words floating in front of him. For the first time since he had died, he felt genuinely excited.

"Uhhh... Can you choose for me?" The possibilities were limitless in his mind that he couldn’t choose anything.

And for him, if there was one person who knew what would be useful in this world, it would probably be a goddess who had been watching it.

Elara seemed surprised at his answer. She chuckled a little and shook her head. That was something new to her. Her eyes brightened, and a big smile appeared on her face.

"I shall give you something I think would suit you the best, then!" She quickly swayed her hand in a circular motion. She looked excited somehow.

Another golden symbol appeared above her palm. It hovered in the air for a moment before slowly floating toward Caelan.

"What kind of blessing did you give me?" Caelan turned his hand over and examined it.

"Does this mean I will have magic?" The symbol landed on his palm, but he didn’t feel anything. He didn’t feel any different either.

He looked at Elara with a confused expression, but instead of answering him, she simply smiled.

"You’ll know soon."

That answer made Caelan nervous for some reason. Still, it was hard to believe everything that had happened.

"Wait." Caelan looked at the golden window again.

"If I’m going to another world, does that mean I can become some kind of powerful mage?"

"Maybe."

"Can I become a noble?"

"Maybe."

"A prince?"

"Definitely not."

"Why not?" Caelan frowned.

"Because you don’t have the face for it."

"Hey! What kind of answer is that?"

"You will understand soon enough." Elara laughed.

Just then, she waved her hand, and the golden symbol disappeared.

Caelan was about to ask another question when Elara’s expression suddenly became serious.

"There is something else you need to know."

"That doesn’t sound good."

"It isn’t." She looked toward the enormous world floating in the darkness.

"There are other beings like me watching that world."

"Other gods?"

"Something close to that."

"Are they all good?"

"No." Elara shook her head.

"Then how many are there?"

"Too many." She sighed. "Some want to protect the world. Some want to rule it. Others simply want to watch it burn."

"That sounds like a problem."

"It is."

"Then why don’t you stop them?" Caelan stared at her.

"Because we aren’t allowed to interfere directly."

"Then why are you interfering by sending me there?" Caelan couldn’t help but ask.

Wasn’t this some kind of interfering too?

"Because there are ways around the rules." Elara smiled as if she had just given him the simplest answer in the world.

Caelan had a bad feeling about this. Getting sent to a new world and being given a second life sounded amazing. But the more he thought about it, the more obvious it became. There had to be a catch.

"So I’m basically being used to fight for you?"

"That is one way to put it."

"Great." Caelan rubbed his forehead. "I knew there had to be a catch."

"There is. But don’t worry, you don’t need to be some kind of hero."

"Huh? Then what am I supposed to do?" Caelan blinked.

"Just survive and eventually, decide what kind of person you want to become."

"That’s it?" Caelan stared at her. What kind of consequence was that?

"For now." Elara smiled.

"Don’t worry. You’ll have your own choices. I won’t control your actions."

That actually made Caelan feel a little better. At least he wouldn’t be some puppet being forced to do whatever a goddess wanted.

"But there is one small problem." Elara’s smile faded slightly.

"Of course there is." Caelan sighed.

How could he expect that to be all there was?

"You are arriving at the worst possible time."

"What does that mean?"

"You’ll find out."

Before Caelan could ask anything else, the darkness beneath his feet suddenly disappeared. His eyes widened.

"Wait!" He shouted when his body began falling. He instinctively reached out, but there was nothing to grab onto. He wasn’t ready for this.

As he fell deeper into the darkness, he looked up and saw Elara standing above him. She simply waved.

"Good luck, Caelan!"

"That’s all you’re going to say?!"

"Try not to die again!"

"I JUST DIED!"

His voice echoed through the darkness before everything went black once again.