Chapter 1: The Beginning of a Second Life

Qiu Nuoya have heard an urban legend that says, "If a man is still a virgin after turning thirty, he can become a wizard."

Of course, Qiu Nuoya knows full well that such an urban legend is just a lie meant to tease men who remain virgins for too long.

Still, what exactly is wrong with a man being a virgin if he is unmarried and has never had a girlfriend?

People often tell him that he should just get it over with and lose his virginity to a woman from the nightlife industry.

However, Qiu Nuoya is skeptical of businesses that treat women’s bodies like mere objects.

More honestly, after witnessing a coworker who kept visiting such establishments contract a sexually transmitted disease and pass it on to his wife, causing a huge crisis in their marriage, Qiu Nuoya has not completely given up on the possibility of marriage.

Because of that, he continues to keep himself clean and has maintained his virgin status day after day, until now standing on the verge of crossing the age barrier of forty.

If turning thirty means becoming a wizard, then what does one become at forty?

A sage, the advanced class above a wizard?

Qiu Nuoya wondered what abilities he would gain if he became a sage.

After finishing a private moment with his only "lover," his right hand, he entered his so-called sage time. He then crumpled up the tissue, tossed it into the trash can, and gave a wry smile.

He was an average built and average height middle aged man who had been unpopular enough to remain a virgin until this age.

However, it was not as though he had never had any opportunities throughout his life.

There were many reasons for it, but even if he explained them, it would not make for an interesting story, and he doubted anyone would want to listen.

So he had rarely talked about them with people around him. Yet society’s judgment could be harsh.

Once a person reached his age while remaining single, people began making assumptions and spreading rumors both true and false, and even questioning his character.

It had become rather exhausting for him.

It was not that Qiu Nuoya had given up on his life.

The average lifespan had been increasing in recent years and his life was still far from over.

That was what he believed.

However, no one could fight against the effects of aging.

Recently, there were times when he thought that perhaps it would be enough if he could simply continue living quietly and without much ambition.

The younger employees at his workplace would laugh and tell him that his way of thinking sounded like that of an old man who was about to retire.

It was difficult for him to deny that.

If he went to sleep now, he would wake up as a forty year old man.

His life had felt long, yet it had passed by in the blink of an eye.

Thinking about that, Qiu Nuoya drifted off to sleep and had a strange dream.

It was a completely white space.

Everything around him was white.

Whether he looked up, looked down, or turned in any direction, all he could see was a world of pure white.

There were no boundaries anywhere, making even the sensation of standing on something feel uncertain.

He immediately understood.

Ah, this must be a dream.

Without any particular reason, he took a step forward.

He could barely feel the sensation of stepping onto the floor.

Instead, a strange and gentle floating sensation spread through his body, making him feel lighter than usual.

What is this place...?

The moment Qiu Nuoya looked around once more and began to think, a loud fanfare suddenly rang out from above his head, causing him to flinch.

W, wait, wait, what?! What just happened?!

"Congratulations! You have been chosen!!"

The cheerful voice echoed through the space with words that sounded exactly like something from a scam email.

Qiu Nuoya looked around feeling confused, but as expected, the area was still a completely white space with nothing visible.

"Chosen for what? Where is this place?"

Since none of this made any sense, he cautiously spoke aloud.

In response, a lively voice answered.

"This is the divine realm!"

The divine realm...? A place where Gods exist...? Wait, what? Did he die?

"You are not dead!"

The energetic voice responded as if it had read his thoughts, making Qiu Nuoya flinch again.

"Ah, sorry. Did I startle you? Here, thoughts themselves are a form of language, so everything you think is completely visible to us."

What? Wait... us?

"Yes, us! We are, in simple terms, Gods!"

Gods...

"And you have been chosen by us!"

"Huh? Your reaction is kind of underwhelming. Isn’t this sort of thing popular where you come from?"

"Um... I don’t really know about any trend like that..."

"Ehhh? You’re behind the times. Are you someone who doesn’t really watch anime or read manga?"

"I don’t dislike them, but I tend to prefer works from a slightly older era rather than recent ones. A lot of newer works feel like they have similar stories, so no matter what I watch, they start to feel the same..."

"That’s just aging."

The words struck him right in the heart.

Qiu Nuoya instinctively grabbed his chest after receiving such an unexpected blow.

"Ah, sorry, sorry. This is a world of spiritual bodies, so emotional wounds directly affect your body here. I didn’t mean to hurt you."

"It’s fine..."

So this place called the divine realm was a world of the mind?

Somehow, that made a certain amount of sense to Qiu Nuoya.

He was not a particularly sociable person, so he supposed he was the type who enjoyed indoor hobbies like manga and anime.

Come to think of it, he had vaguely sensed that isekai-type stories had become popular lately.

He was not particularly interested in them, so he had not immediately made the connection, but was this also something of that sort...?