I woke up…gray, a lot of gray around me, like a thick morning mist on a cloudy day after a rainy night, yet there is no ground to stand on, like I am floating in space but without any point of reference I am unable to tell if I am in motion or if I am static.

- But where the hell am I?!

I panic and start to get upset. I turn around in fear of what is beyond my sight, the seconds pass but only silence accompanies me in my question. I have no reference to anything in this place and my memory is not clear, I immediately speak out loud to chase away the desolate silence that surrounds me.

- Anyone there?!

Nothing… as soon as I close my lips the overwhelming silence falls back, my breath hitches and I become alert to my surroundings, then I realize something terrifying, there is no air. I breathe and I don't feel the sensation of oxygen entering through my nostrils, and yet I don't feel like I'm suffocating. I put my hand under my nose and try to exhale the air inside me.

Nothing, there is no air and even so I make the natural movements to breathe, I shake abruptly and my hands begin to shake in front of my eyes, the more and more time passes the more I get upset when then, a thought from my subconscious grows inside me head. I immediately place my right palm over my chest where my heart should be.

-I'm dead… Why, why my heart doesn't beat? What happened? What was the last thing I was doing before I got here? My name, my name is… Marco, Marco what?

I don't remember, I search through my memories and I realize that everything is blurred, the faces, the names, my family, my friends, my house, everything...

[Name: Marco Rivers]

- But what was that?

A voice came from the void and mentioned my name... I immediately remember it, that's my full name, the one I've had since the day I was born, the name by which my parents called me. It sounded like the deep voice of an adult male, but without any hint of the emotions that are conveyed by a person.

[Soul State: Aware, confused, disoriented, curious, fearful]

[Verifying authority]

[Verified]

[Establishing link with Higher Authority]

[Link successful, starting]

Out of nowhere I feel a force that pulls me in a particular direction, I don't have time to think I can only see how the small particles of mist accelerate in my field of vision, soon I stop. In front of me is a luminous orb, perhaps the size of a soccer ball, it emanates a warm and dim light, but against the gray fog that surrounds me, the orb stands out and shines enough to catch my attention.

[Creating line of communication, Establish contact with the receiver and maintain continuous contact with it]

The mysterious and emotionless voice gives me an order, I am undecided. What will happen when I touch that orb? What is it trying to communicate with in the first place? A few seconds pass, I'm not sure, in fact I'm scared but if I do nothing, I will not know what situation I am in and apparently this could be my ticket to get out of this place, with a little doubt in my mind I take the orb with my hands.

- Greetings, Marco.

Instantly, a sweet and soft voice is transmitted from the orb of light between my hands, it sounds like a woman's voice, completely contrary to the cold and emotionless male voice from a few moments ago. I don't answer her immediately, apparently she or it realizes it and continues.

- I see that you are cautious about your situation, it is to be expected, but I am glad that you have woken up and without any problem. But let me confirm properly if there is no cognitive problem in your state, tell me your full name and the last thing you remember.

- Marco Rivers, I have no memory of what happened to me before "waking up" in this place

I emphasize the word awakening because I still have doubts about my current condition, while keeping my memories secret before coming here.

- Wonderful, it seems that you preserve your cognitive capacity and language with impressive results, it's a pity that you don't "remember"... but it would be expected taking "that" into account.

"That"? It is hiding something from me on purpose? I can't do anything unfortunately, in this situation that entity has all the information I may need to understand my current paradigm.

- You will not say anything? You are being quite cautious, it seems that you know the value that the information can contain and that is fine, I even like it. Go ahead and ask what you have to say.

That remains silent, I wait a few seconds and does not say anything, it seems that it'll remain silent until I ask or say something. Knowing what or who I am dealing with is important, but the other party could easily lie about their entity, knowing where I am could help me understand what happened to me or what will happen, but seeing how I am actually unable to even move from my place beyond being able to rotate a little with the movement of my arms doesn't help me at all. I can only…

- Am I, just to confirm, dead?

A few seconds pass before the entity answers.

- Yes, Marco, I can absolutely confirm that at this moment you are dead, and the current state of your being is that of a wandering soul that awoke from the great flow of souls.

- So am I a ghost?

- No, at this moment you are a soul and you will remain so, unless you receive help from someone who can help you.

I quickly understand what it means by those words, essentially my faith is in its hands.

- And that someone would be you, wouldn't it?

- Right… tell me Marco, to speed things up, if you could do something right now, what would it be?

As if it were a devil, it asks me what I want, then it will grant me what I want only to end up stealing my soul or existence or whatever she needs from me. I refuse to answer.

- …

- Let's see, I understand your predicament and how unfriendly I've been to you, let me introduce myself. I'm the deity of hope and life, let me help you with your situation, so tell me, if there's anything you want, tell me.

"Is it a deity? Wait… did she introduce herself as a deity and not a goddess? There must be a difference somewhere but I don't know what the difference is between one and the other... whether it's a devil, a demon, a deity or God, the truth of the matter is that no matter what it is, if I refuse any treatment with "that" it is very possible that I will end up wandering for eternity until I vanish or be abandoned in this place until I finally give in to the temptation to accept his offer but under his terms, which would be terribly disadvantageous for me. The only way left is to feign goodwill and negotiate to get more information about it."

- I want to return to the moment of my birth and live my life again, be successful in everything I do, become a multimillionaire before 30, marry a perfect woman and have so many women behind me and end up with so many descendants, people will worship me as the reincarnation of Genghis Khan!

I raise a fist high, in the pose of a man who has conquered the highest of mountains.

- haha, hahahahaha, you really went and wished for the greatest, didn't you?

- Of course, if one is a man, you have to aim for the highest in the world.

- I'm sorry, but that is not in my power.

Of course, when I made a wish of that magnitude, I was already expecting such a result. This is where the negotiation begins.

- Then tell me, what can you do that compares to what I asked before?

- It is true that I cannot fulfill your wish, but it is more for certain parts than for the whole of it...

- And that would be?

- I cannot give you back your previous life, I cannot reincarnate you in your body before you are born or after it, because this would break the laws of causality, nor can I assure you that you will be successful in everything you do, that depends on you, and not I know who this Genghis Khan is, but I can assure you that by the end of your journey you will be so famous and rich that all the beautiful women in this world will want to have you with them. Leaving the above aside I can give you everything else. How about it? They are not bad conditions, don't you think?

The voice coming from the luminous orb makes its declarations, apart from essentially giving me a life rich in pleasures and without "conflicts", the problem lies in the fact that it is not asking me for anything in return. Also there are two things in what she just said that makes me suspicious of her, the first is that she doesn't know one of the historical figures of one of the greatest empires that ever existed, and the second is the word "journey", the possibility that the price to pay is behind this "trip" makes me doubt a little.

-They are not bad conditions, I would accept your offer but there is something that makes me doubt this whole thing a little, is this really fulfilling the desire of a wandering soul or a deal?

-oh, it's nothing, it really has no price, you just have to let me fulfill your wish and live your life full of success, you will have glory, adventures, fame, women, money and everything you want.

-There is nothing in this world that is without a price, everything demands an equal exchange, where the sum of both parts is zero.

Immediately at the end of my sentence a mocking snort from the nose is transmitted from the other side of the orb, like that of a parent being caught by his child in his attempt to deceive him, if I had the entity in front of me, I could probably see a smile framed in its face.

-Well, it's true, there is a cost to fulfill your wish, so tell me, what can you pay with?

"Damn, it pains me to admit it but, I really have nothing to give. I'm a wandering soul, maybe because at first I wasn't aware enough but I realized while talking to the orb that I don't even have clothes... Curiously I lack the sexual human attributes in this form. I can offer nothing in return and yet the entity offers me my desire without question. The only thing left would obviously be to give my life on the other side in return."

-ahhhh… it's okay, I accept, I have nothing to offer you, I would certainly like to be alive again and if it comes accompanied by everything you told me then it's natural that I accept, but before you grant me my wish I would like to know something .

-Go ahead.

-What will be my mission once I'm alive?

-As I said before, nothing extraordinary, you will be reincarnated as a normal person, you will grow up, you will become the future hero of this world, you will save lives here, a damsel there. You will face hordes of enemies and monsters from time to time, finally you will reach the end of your journey where you will become the most renowned human in the world and live a life full of luxury and fame like no other. Of course, as long as...

its sentence is cut off with cold words contrary to the warm and soft voice from before.

-You are capable of murdering God.

-…

"B-but what!?"