A young man slowly opened his dark eyes, his head aching with intense pain, finding it difficult to fully open them.
"What is this place?" he asked weakly, his voice strained by the pain. His confusion didn't go away as he found himself floating in the darkness, with nothing on, even his clothes stripped away.
No matter how hard he moved and tried to figure out where he was, he found nothing. Only darkness surrounded him, a darkness with no beginning or end.
"Well, it's not like I was waiting for anything." For some reason, the young man seemed calm and accepting of his fate, unconcerned about being in a strange place. "At least there won't be any more discomfort or pain, just me and the darkness."
He lay in the empty space as if it were a comfortable bed, closing his cloudy eyes once more after the pain in his head had vanished.
"I can't take it anymore." Suddenly, a deep voice spoke, shaking the entire darkness.
The voice roused the young man from his slumber, disturbed by the disturbing noise that had awakened him. "What is this? Even in this strange place, they still bother me."
"I didn't bring you here, you idiot, to sleep. I did it for a higher purpose." The deep voice spoke again, sounding even more furious after seeing the young man's indifferent reaction.
"Ooh! When did the darkness start talking too?" A surprised expression appeared on his face after he couldn't find the source of the voice. "Well, it seems my mind hasn't yet grasped that I'm on rest and has started hallucinating."
After making sure no one was there, he went back to sleep, ignoring the angry voice.
"..."
A strange period of silence passed in the dark void for a while, and everything became calmer.
In front of the place where Shen had been sleeping, cracks began to appear everywhere until a black portal opened in the center, from which a terrifying aura emanated.
The young man also felt the aura and pressure escaping from the portal, pressing down on him, causing him to rise from his seat under the pressure and pain.
Suddenly, someone began to emerge from the portal. Not a person, but something.
His body was larger than the young man's, wearing a large black robe that covered his entire body. Under his hood, a purple light glowed in place of his face.
As he approached the young man, the gate closed and the cracks disappeared. Even the pressure on the young man disappeared, along with the pain.
"What happened to you? Where did your arrogance and indifference go?" He suddenly stopped mid-sentence after seeing Shen's indifferent expression and his calm demeanor amidst all the pressure he was experiencing.
He had initially expected that his aura and the pressure would make him fearful and desperate, but after seeing his calm demeanor, he was speechless.
"Who is this damn person you chose? Damn it..." he thought to himself, but nothing appeared to the young man.
"You're the one with that annoying voice and that strange pressure, right?" The young man stood up, sounding calm in his words, even though the pain from the pressure hadn't completely subsided.
"Yes, I am. Now we don't have much time. I have to explain your mission. My energy is about to run out." The stranger spoke quickly, sounding as if he was racing against time.
"Wait! What do you mean a mission? What are we running late for? And who the hell are you?" The young man was already annoyed by this inconvenience, and now there was a strange idiot talking nonsense in front of him.
"Listen, I'm sorry for the stress and also for making you wait. At first, I just wanted to scare you a little, just to facilitate our conversation." After realizing that he was the one losing his energy and wasting his effort for nothing, he decided to apologize and start over.
"You still haven't answered my question. Who are you? And what is this place?" Shin asked again calmly, his eyes fixed on the glowing light beneath his hood.
"It seems I've walked into something really annoying. I really hate this annoying thing that's haunting me..." the young man thought. "Well, I am the ruler of the void and dimensions, and this place is my domain." The ruler of the void began to speak and explain to the young man calmly. Surprisingly, he didn't interrupt or mock him, but simply remained silent, as if telling him to continue.
' Turns out he's the type who doesn't like being the weaker party. Why didn't I realize that before? I wouldn't have wasted all that time...' he thought.
'As for the reason I brought you here... it was for a special show. As you know, you died in your previous world, and I saved you...'
'Keep it short,' Shin interrupted, noticing that he was about to start talking about his heroic deeds to gain Shin's trust. But he wasn't going to let him. Because of his actions on Earth, he dealt with people like him every day.
'Well, I've chosen you to carry out a mission for me, but not for free. I'll reward you with a whole new life without the bastards you dealt with in your world.'' He spoke in his deep voice, but there was some respect in his final words to the young man. After seeing his past and what he'd done in his world, he recognized him and his true intelligence, which was the main reason he'd been brought to this place. But he hadn't expected him to be so calm even here. He'd thought he'd be scared like any other human, but he'd proven otherwise.
'I really hope he succeeds...' he thought, hoping for his success with all his heart.
'Who told you I wanted a new, damned life or your rewards?' This sentence was like a thunderbolt to the Void Lord.
He couldn't force him to complete his mission, because he was a dead soul, and he couldn't even threaten him. He currently had the right to die, and if he tried anything, he'd enter into a conflict with the Death Lord in charge.
It took him centuries to produce enough energy to briefly derail a single soul.
But he hadn't expected him to reject him like this. Others before him had quickly accepted, but they'd all failed.
'I have to somehow convince him that he's different from the others, so his results will definitely be different...' On the one hand, the Lord was happy that he was different and smarter, but on the other hand, he wasn't sure he could convince him. "Listen, I know this is an unreasonable request, but please, I beg you to help me with this mission. You are my last hope."
Shin stared at him calmly, deep in thought, carefully considering his decision.
'All my life, I've dreamed of freedom where no one controls my fate, but even after my death, they still toy with my damned soul...' The young man was furious at the people toying with his fate, but he couldn't find any evidence of who or where they were.
Now, he had a feeling that the person in front of him was evidence of the existence of Something greater than his previous world, something... that would help him free himself and control his destiny. However, if he accepted the mission, he would become the servant of the person before him, which would definitely make him reject it.
'But if his words are true, then I can do whatever I want after completing the mission, and he won't control my way of doing things...' The young man carefully considered his request.
After what seemed like an eternity for the Void Lord, the young man finally spoke.
"Tell me all the details, and I will consider your offer" He said calmly, ready to listen to this promised mission.