A voice woke me.
Soft. Feminine. It sounded quite familiar, like someone I'd known my whole life but couldn't quite place.
I felt a bit disoriented. I was lying somewhere but it wasn't solid ground. No, I wasn't lying. I was floating. On my back. In water.
Had I survived the crash and was floating in the river? But… how? Didn't I drown?
I opened my eyes, expecting to see open sky above me but I found myself not in the river where I had drowned, but somewhere else, somewhere quite alien.
And I wasn't floating in water, I was drifting in something that looked like liquid gold but quite smooth, thick, like molten sunlight. It rippled around me as I shifted, yet it wasn't wet. I didn't feel cold. Or heavy. Or I felt like I would drown in it.
The last thing I remembered was gasping for air, choking, my lungs burning as I sank deeper into the river. The cold water had swallowed me. My car had been sent flying, spinning through the air, before plummeting off the cliff, crashing into the water below.
Then… nothing.
The voice echoed again.
"Your soul is compatible. You have been chosen."
I tried to speak and look around to make sense of my whereabouts but I couldn't even move my fingers let alone rest of my body, "What… what is this?"
"A second chance."
I could only look up and ahead.
It seemed like a room but there were no walls. No ceiling. No horizon. Just an endless white void stretching in every direction. There was no sun. No source of light, nor any shadows. And yet, it still felt like daytime.
The voice spoke again, this time more friendlier than before.
"Okay, let's get the obvious out of the way, you died."
I tried to turn my head again, searching for the source, but there was no one there. Just the vast, empty white.
"Really?" I asked.
"I know, I know. It's a lot to take in," the voice said lightly. "So, here we are! Welcome to the space between."
"The what?"
"The space between," it repeated, like it was the most normal thing in the world. "Not quite the afterlife, not quite the mortal world. It's where souls go before they move on. Think of it like a waiting room for the next step." She paused. "And I'm your soul guide. I help souls move from life to the afterlife. Or to a new life."
I looked up as that's where the sound seemed to be coming from. "So, what happens now?"
"Well, that depends on you," she said. "First, I need to ask, was your life fulfilling?"
That question hit harder than I expected. I didn't answer right away. Because I already knew. "No. Not even close."
The voice hummed, like she wasn't surprised. "Yeah. I had a feeling."
I stayed quiet.
"Wanna talk about it?" she asked.
I hesitated, but what was the point of holding back now? I was dead. What did I have to lose?
"I… didn't get to experience a lot of things I wanted," I admitted. "I was bullied for being different. Made fun of by my own family when they caught me, uh… experimenting." I continued. "I always felt a little feminine, but it wasn't something I could ever express openly. I never experience stuff like love and romance either. I died a virgin, never even kissed anyone. It just never happened."
The voice was quiet for a moment. Not awkwardly quiet, just listening.
"That's painful," she said eventually. "I'm sorry."
"It's okay, nothing can be anymore anyway, right?." I asked.
"Actually there is something that can be done," she continued, her tone more cheerful now, "you actually racked up a lot of good karma in your life."
I frowned. "I did?"
"Mhm! Not just in this life, either, your past life, too."
My past life? That was new information. "Wait, I had a past life?"
"Yup! You just don't remember it. That's normal."
"Huh." I wasn't sure how to feel about that, but it didn't seem important right now. "So… what does that mean?"
"Well," she said, "it means you have a choice."
"A choice?"
"Yes! You can either move on, dissolve into the infinite, become part of the grand cosmic everything, or," she continued, "you can live again."
That made me stop. "Wait. Like… reincarnation?"
"Exactly! But this time, you'd get to choose your next life."
I barely processed the words. A second chance. A life where I could actually be myself. Where I wouldn't have to hide or pretend to be what I felt like from inside.
"If it's really possible and I'm not hallucinating all of this then I want that," I said quietly. "I'd like to have a second go at life."
"I figured," she said, a smile in her voice. "So, tell me, If you could have anything in your next life, what would it be?"
It took me barely a few seconds to voice out my desires.
"I want to experience love, respect and a whole lot of attention," I admitted. "I want to be desired."
I continued "And I want to be myself, not what others expect me to be. I've always felt feminine and felt like I didn't belong in my body, but there was one thing about my body I liked, my cock. It was one thing that felt right. So, if it's possible for me to be born as a woman but still have a cock, then I'd like to be reincarnated like that. There's something called futanari that I saw in manga and anime, they were the closest thing to what I wanted to be. When I died, my age was 23, I would like to be reincarnated at the same age; I don't want to experience the childhood to adulthood phase again."
I exhaled. "And, uh… like I said I died a virgin, so if I get another shot, I really don't want to waste it. I think I might be sounding too greedy."
She laughed, not in a mocking way. More like amused by my statements. "You're not greedy at all. You're just asking for something you never got the chance to have. I respect that. You'd be surprised how greedy some souls can be. But you? You're not asking for power or riches, you're asking for something more meaningful." she continued, "and you're in luck. There's a world that needs someone just like you. A place where your body, your desires, and your ambitions will not only be accepted but celebrated. A place where you can be known and loved by many."
I stared at the white void. "Are you serious?"
"Yes."
"And what kind of world is this? Is this like earth?"
"It's not like your old one. It's a land of kingdoms, dungeons, magic, and monsters. Elves, Orcs, Nagas, Vishar, Avani… and many more races you've never even heard of. And one more thing. You're going to be important. I mean, really important. You're going to change history. Your name will be known in every kingdom, your actions will reshape the world, and you'll have power, wealth, and more lovers than you know what to do with."
Holy shit! That was a lot.
But it was exactly what I wanted.
"Do you want to claim that life?"
I grinned. "Yeah. I want that life. Even if I only got to live one day of what you just described, I'd be grateful."
"Your gratitude is noted," the voice said. "But your journey is just beginning. As a reward for your good karma, I bestow upon you the ability to read and speak any language. You will also retain all your memories from the life you left behind, so you can experience everything as the person you are inside. There are other gifts too, but you must uncover them yourself."
A thrill ran through me. This was real. It was happening.
"The next time we meet," the voice continued, "it should be after you've lived the life you always dreamed of."
I smiled so hard that my jaw hurt. "I promise to make the most of it."
The void shimmered. The golden liquid rose around me again, covering my body, and swallowing my body. I felt a pleasant warmth inside me, I let the warmth claim me.
My vision blurred as I was pulled into the golden liquid.
And then, everything went dark.