NOVEL WEB Chapter 1: Riven, the God of Afterlife
A room so white that calling it sacred was justified. The windows showed numerous epics drawn on them like the end of the world by Midgard Serpent in Norse or legions of angels clashing against the devils. The burning of St. Joan D’Arc at the stake somehow made it there.
In this divine room, two people sat opposite to each other on bright wooden chairs, separated by an elegant table.
A young man with flowing black hair. His eyes shone like stars in the night sky. Yet his face pale and his figure frail as if his life could wither any moment.
His thin lips parted. "Who are you?"
“I am god,” the girl with short blonde hair introduced herself. “Zephyr Cyrus.”
Zephyr ignored the girl and scanned the epics. ‘If she drew these, I must say she is an artist brimming with potential.’
The girl scrunched her nose as if she could hear Zephyr’s thoughts. “Stop calling me a girl in your head. I’m Riven, the God of Afterlife. And you, my boy, are as dead as a vampire thrown in a scorching desert.”
Zephyr narrowed his eyes on the “girl” who wore white robes like that of a paladin. Except for the flat chest, there was hardly any difference between Riven and a cute girl. A type of beauty that transcended gender.
‘I don’t like him.’
Only one trap lived in his heart. The “best girl” with pink hair. The rider of a hippogriff. No one else came close to “her” charm or “her” cheery smile.
“If you do not want to end up in the depths of hell, stop this nonsense!” Riven shouted, losing his calm before the man who kept belittling him. “I’m angry!”
Even Riven, a god, felt the force of Zephyr’s ability to piss people off. “I assume I didn't make it out of the surgery.”
Riven acknowledged with a silent nod. Zephyr could imagine the wailing screams of his mother and his father trying to console her despite being a teary-eyed mess himself. He couldn’t ever repay them for their affection. After all, he was dead on the planet named Earth. A cold corpse waiting in the morgue or buried six feet under the serene ground of a graveyard.
“You have a purpose in bringing me here. Otherwise, you would’ve directly sent me to hell or heaven.”
“To give your meaningless life a meaning.”
Zephyr wasn't the least bit mad at Riven’s insults. As Riven said, his life was meaningless. Being born with multiple weak heart muscles, he spent most of his day in his bed. Even walking around the room made him dizzy and sometimes he passed out during conversations. Thankfully, his family was rich and his parents extremely kind. He wouldn’t have made it past his tenth birthday without their support, much less seeing his eighteenth birthday.
The symptoms weren’t present in this room. He felt like he was living and breathing. He wanted to relish this feeling even if all of this turned out to be a weird dream before his demise.
Zephyr took a deep sigh, feeling the fresh air expanding his lungs. “Explain.”
"I want you to represent my daughter as her champion in the Game of Multiverse. If you agree, I'll not send you to the cycle of reincarnation and give you a new life with a healthy body. You might even ascend to godhood if you work hard."
Zephyr folded his arms and leaned back on the chair. It was an opportunity to escape his bedridden life and enjoy a genuine life.
The offer was irresistible even though he gave zero fucks about the godhood part.
But he had to cooperate with this shitty human being named Riven.
‘This trap has a daughter?’
Riven’s brow twitched as Zephyr’s thoughts grew more condescending. He cursed the bastard inwardly for this arrogant behavior. Cursing was the only thing he could do in this dire situation.
Zephyr flashed a friendly grin. “Why is a mortal like me chosen by the great god Riven?”
“I’m out of options,” Riven said, his shoulders dropping in dejection. “I cannot find a soul who is compatible with my divinity. You were my last option. Those assholes in the Council of the Divine announced it a decade earlier… Now you’re my only option.”
Zephyr had seen his parents make the same face as Riven when they begged the doctors to cure him. That look of desperation was genuine.
“I understand. Will you explain what this Game of Multiverse is? What exactly is a guardian?”
“It’s a little complicated.” Riven sighed and gazed into Zephyr’s eyes. “Every five or six decades, the gods of the Divine Council arrange a competition. My daughter wants to participate in it… but she doesn’t have a champion to represent her in the games.”
“What kind of competition?” Zephyr narrowed his eyes. “You gotta explain that, man.”
“It’s… a fighting tournament…”
“...So, it’s like a big cultivation tournament with one champion representing a sect.”
“Strange way to put it but yes.”
Zephyr’s gaze turned cold as steel. “Aren’t you ashamed to ask a heart patient to fight for a goddess? I can’t beat a middle school kid… for fuck's sake.”
Physical activity wasn’t the forte for the young man who spent most of his time on his phone. How could he beat those veteran fighters?
“You will get hurt but you won’t die. I promise!” Riven took another sigh as he closed his eyes. “We have twenty years to prepare. I’ll give you the best resources and send you to the most optimal worlds to make you strong. I’ll even give you a part of my divinity. You’ll be a demigod in no time.”
Riven was going all out in enticing this young man to his side. He could have brainwashed Zephyr. Alas, his daughter had set some conditions for her champion.
“You’ll send me to different worlds?”
Zephyr’s black eyes shone. He had twenty years to prepare—two more years than his entire life. He deemed the timeframe more than enough. Even if he lost in the end, he won’t lose his life. Honesty, he just wanted to live like a normal human being.
“Since you insist so much, I’ll agree.”
Riven let loose a smile as the anxiety disappeared from his small shoulders. “I’ll take you to my daughter. Behave accordingly or…”
His cold voice was accompanied by a burst of pressure that almost suffocated Zephyr. He felt dizzy as if he was back to earth in his frail body. Under the divine pressure, Zephyr remained calm. One could notice a slight smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.
“I have lived like this for eighteen years. Try something else, God.”
Riven took back his pressure and nodded as if he admired Zephyr’s courage. “It was only a fraction of my power, but you withstood it just fine.”
“It was a test?” Zephyr frowned. “Ask me before you pull something like that? Or I’ll slap your little ass.”
“...”