Ch 81: Far Back Or Jump Forward (I) (Hermes POV)
I watched in stunned silence as the car zoomed toward me, the green light above still glowing. It should have stopped. I knew it should have stopped. Then, abruptly, the light turned red— but it was already too late. My life didn’t flash before my eyes. Instead, it *faded*, slipping away like a forgotten dream.
“Mom, I—”
A chime echoed, startling me out of the void. It sounded like an elevator door opening. I blinked, trying to make sense of the sudden shift.
Wait. Where was I?
Everything around me was dark, except for a piercing, almost blinding light that cut through the shadows. It wasn’t peaceful, though. It felt harsh, like I was being interrogated under an intense spotlight. Was this heaven? Or maybe something else? I was dead. I knew I should have died.
But my body was here— floating? No, standing. It was disorienting, and worse, I was completely naked in a vast, featureless white void. This wasn’t a welcoming afterlife with pearly gates. It was something sterile, cold, and eerie. I wasn’t even sure I had a body until I looked down and saw myself— my pale, trembling form. I could feel the weight of my failures pressing down on me. If this was judgment, I already knew the outcome.
The space around me dimmed, and a booming voice filled the void, deep and ancient, echoing from all directions.
“CONGRATULATIONS, MORTAL!!”
I gasped, my throat dry. “God? Is that you?” My voice shook, more from confusion than reverence. I hadn’t exactly been a believer, but the situation made me reconsider. “Or wait… Am I getting reincarnated into some new world with superpowers? Is this one of those Isekai stories? That’d be awesome!”
The voice cut through my rambling with a force that rattled my bones, bringing me back to the reality of the situation.
“YOU HAVE BEEN RECOGNIZED BY THE UNIVERSE, AND YOU SHOULD FEEL HONORED.”
Recognized? Me? My mind could not grasp the absurdity of it. I had been a nobody, wasting away in front of screens, sinking into the abyss of countless video games. Surely, they had the wrong person.
“Hey, uh… cosmic administrator or whatever you are,” I stammered. “I think you’ve got the wrong guy. I mean, I might be a hardcore gamer, but I’m not exactly hero material. Allergies, no muscles— you know, the usual.”
The voice ignored my plea, as though it found my excuses irrelevant.
“YOU WILL BE REBORN IN OLYMPUS, AS THE GOD HERMES!”
Hermes? That name tugged at something in my memory, but I couldn’t quite place it. Greek mythology? Yeah, that was it. The messenger of the gods, the trickster. That didn’t sound so bad, except…
“YOU HAVE TEN SECONDS. PREPARE YOURSELF.”
“Wait, ten seconds? That’s not enough time! I have questions!” Panic surged through me. “Where exactly am I being reborn? Olympus, sure, but… how? And why me? You’ve definitely got the wrong guy! I’m not built for divine missions or flying sandals! I have allergies!”
My protests were useless. The void around me started to collapse, and a wave of strange energy slammed into me, forceful and final. The sensation of being pulled apart, molecule by molecule, left me breathless.
Then, the voice thundered once more, sealing my fate: “YOU ARE BEING REBORN. ENJOY YOUR NEW LIFE.”
Enjoy my ass—!
I gasped, jerking back to consciousness. The world around me was cold— ice cold— and I was suffocating. “What the hell?” I couldn’t breathe, my chest tightening as I realized I was trapped in a confined space. I could barely move my arms. Panic surged, and I kicked at the hard surface above me. Wood?
No, this couldn’t be happening. A coffin? My heart raced. The irony of being reborn, only to die again in a coffin, was almost laughable. Almost. I screamed for help, but my voice was hoarse, failing me as the air thinned. Desperation clawed at my throat, my mind spiraling. I thought I was being reborn, not buried alive. I pounded the wood, feeling my strength fade as the crushing weight of death came for me again.
KA-THUNK!
Suddenly, the top of the coffin slid open, scraping harshly against its frame. Light flooded my vision, and I gasped, gulping in the cold, fresh air. My eyes stung as I tried to adjust to the sudden brightness. A shadow loomed over me, casting a silhouette of a figure— tall, elegant, and undeniably otherworldly. My gaze met hers, and I felt my breath catch.
She was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. Her crystal- like eyes widened as she looked at me, startled.
“How the hell are you even alive?” she asked, her voice trembling, though she quickly regained composure. Her beauty didn’t distract from the sharp edge of disbelief in her words.
I didn’t have an answer. Instead, I coughed and crawled out of the coffin, feeling the ground beneath me— solid, cold stone. “Wahh… That was one crazy ride.” My body ached all over, but at least I was breathing again. I shook off the sensation of suffocation that still haunted my lungs.
She stepped back, watching me with an intensity that made me shiver. “Who are you?” I managed to ask between gasps, but as soon as the words left my mouth, everything shifted.
I blinked, and the scene dissolved into chaos.
Then there was that elevator sound again— !
The scent of burning wood and metal filled my lungs. My vision flickered as I found myself standing in the wreckage of a burning building, flames licking the air around me.
“Huh?” My voice cracked as I tried to make sense of it all. My clothes were torn, my skin cut and bruised, and I could feel blood trickling down my arms. My legs wobbled, barely able to hold my weight as I stumbled toward a crumbling wall. The heat from the fire was suffocating, but worse than the pain was the disorientation.
Where the hell am I?
I lost my balance and fell into the fire, the flames licking my skin. The searing pain tore through me, and a scream erupted from deep inside that stirred my soul. “KIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!!!”
Blood dripped down my face as I struggled to stand again, the fire scorching everything around me. The crackling flames mixed with the distant howls of destruction. This place looked familiar— almost like the workshop. The big scary guy— Hephestus workshop.
“Talos?!” I shouted, the desperation in my voice overwhelming. My vision blurred as I staggered forward. “Big scary guy? Where are you?” Silence answered me. Only the flames responded, crackling and snapping as they consumed everything around them.
I wasn’t alone, though. As I moved forward, the sound of ragged breathing caught my attention. I pushed through the wreckage, my feet dragging as I neared the source of the sound. Amidst the rubble, I saw him— a man with blue hair lying face down, motionless.
I stepped closer, the flames casting eerie shadows across the scene. And then, standing over him, I saw *her*. My heart lurched. The smoke obscured her face, but I could still make out her outline, the unmistakable presence of the woman who had opened the coffin when I had first arrived here.
She had killed him. There was no mistaking it.
I stumbled back, my mind reeling. “What… What have you done?”
I luv you guys…!
If I revive a magic castle I will mass release 10 chapters
