When Alden opened his eyes, he was sinking.
His first instinct was to swim, to resist the pull dragging him downward. But the attempt was futile. He couldn't move—not his limbs, not even his chest to breathe. The absence of air entering his lungs, the numbness overtaking his senses, all felt alien. Yet he wasn't dying. At least, not in any way he could understand.
Resigned, he let himself drift deeper into the abyss.
The world around him was dark—an endless void, devoid of light or substance. The kind of dark that makes you question whether you are awake or still very much asleep. Strangely, just like in a deep slumber, this current state wasn't frightening. Rather, Alden felt strangely comfortable. Like being snug in a warm, perfectly weighted blanket protected from the light of day.
Whatever this was, it wasn't unpleasant.
'So this is death.' Alden thought to himself, feeling more foreign and curious than terrified.
Yes, he swiftly acknowledged his death. Years of training had taught him to expect the worst in any situation, and the fresh memory of being crushed by a truck left no doubt. He remembered the excruciating pain, his bones snapping one by one, and the agonizing clarity as adrenaline stretched each second into eternity. If he were to somehow survive the accident and is currently in some state of comatose, it would be a nice surprise.
What happened to Jon and the driver in the accident with him? What happened to the partner Alden was supposed to meet? Will he feel disrespected because of Alden's late arrival? What expression will he make when he hears news that Alden will never arrive, then? Alden could only assume it would be hilarious.
However, what will happen to his family? Will Mom be able to get over this, or will she break down? Will Dad drown himself in work even more than he is now? Will the Vaughn's family survive his death?
He can't die.
Alden started to swim. He tried resisting gravity, albeit with no result.
Eventually, he felt himself gently touching down onto something solid. The ground beneath him was smooth and inviting, as if designed to lull him further into stillness. Still, his mind was awake with the matters of the living.
"...Hello?" Alden spoke, the sound of his words seemed foreign to the stillness of the world. But as expected, there were no answers.
He had stopped trying to swim up pointlessly, but it doesn't mean he gave up. So Alden walks. He can't see anything in this pitch-black space, so he just walks straight. There wasn't a destination, but as long as he kept walking, he was bound to find something.
There was a lot to think about, but unfortunately, or maybe luckily, the cozy space came with a built-in sense of stillness that lulled Alden's mind in a hazy and groggy state, so his thoughts weren't coherent. He just needs to keep walking, resisting the sleepiness. Until he sees his family again.
But before Alden could even start his endless journey, a change in the environment occurred.
As if a sun had suddenly manifested, the never-ending darkness was abruptly replaced by blinding, perpetual light that caught Alden by surprise. He flinched and fell, momentarily shutting his eyes and almost drifting right off to sleep.
"Fuck!" Alden screamed. He normally doesn't swear, but this was a special occasion. He was frustrated enough with the current state of things, but now he was flashbanged in the underworld? What bullshit is this?
Soon, he was able to open his eyes again.
Just as abruptly as it appeared, the light quickly receded until it dimmed to the softness of a night lamp, once again making the environment cozy. Soon, the light moved closer toward him, until 'it' came within his view.
"What did you just say?" An authoritative voice rang clear. Floating midair, looking down at Alden is a strange 'boy'.
From Alden's point of view, the boy wore crude, old-fashioned leather armor, the kind one might see in depictions of the Middle Ages. Beneath it was an ocean-blue long-sleeved shirt, oversized enough to extend slightly past his wrists, clearly a size too large. Then there was his face. The boy had a playful smirk, yellow hair that shone like pure gold, and a lean, sharp face, but the fullness of his cheeks and the smoothness of his skin gave away his age. Strangest of all was the thick white cloth wrapped around his eyes, entirely obscuring them. And yet, Alden felt as though there was a piercing gaze beneath it, sharp and mischievous, making him a bit uneasy.
"...I'm sorry." Alden subconsciously apologized for his crude usage of words.
All in all, the boy was rather cute, like a child model in cosplay. If this were in the normal setting, he might have patted his head and squished his cheek a little. But given that this cosplayer was floating and radiating light, it might not have been a wise choice.
"You're making me blush," the boy laughed heartily in a way a bit too mature for his look, clearly not blushing in the slightest. "You have a very interesting way of describing a god."
The boy's absurd words disrupted Alden's thoughts, but it was just for a brief moment before Alden swiftly accepted the words as facts.
"I see." Alden nodded. "May I ask how I should address you, God?"
"It's good that you are quick to understand," the boy smirked, raising an eyebrow. "The name is Asta, God of Adventure."
Never heard of him.
While Alden hadn't exactly woken up this morning expecting the divine, the boy's claim made sense in the current abnormal setting. Flight, mind-reading, light radiating out, all abnormal things that Alden could not imagine doing. Whatever the entity in front of him was, he was clearly in a superior position than the current Alden. So if the boy in front of him declared himself a god, Alden would simply accept it. If he'd declared himself a dog or a decorative lamp, Alden would've nodded just the same
The boy god's smirk twitched before he let out a chuckle. "I think I should smite you a bit to prove I'm a god. Don't you think so?"
"I apologize for being rude. Just reacting to my thoughts confirms the fact, god Asta. Smiting is not necessary." Alden bowed. He didn't really know how one was supposed to approach a god. This kind of protocol wasn't in his training, so he subconsciously tried to test and read the entity in front of him.
"What an annoying person," the boy's chuckles widened. "You are dead, and I'm here to enact your judgment."
Alden internally sighed at the confirmation of his death but showed no further reaction. He nodded as a confirmation, waiting for Asta's next words. If the god is here to deliver 'judgment', it would be unwise to interrupt his work with Alden's questions.
"I did a bit of reading on your life on my way here. Let us make this quick."
In Asta's hand, a scroll materialized, and with a casual motion, he unfurled it. His voice rang clear as he read its contents.
"Alden Vaughn, 23 years old. The only child of Hila and Alex Vaughn. First walked at age 1, read at age 5, rode a bicycle at age 6, oh! Master unicycled at 10? Top of the class, valedictorian. Bla bla bla. Where's the summary?"
Alden was amused. Other than the fact that the supposed 'god' was lazily looking for the summary, the heavens actually use such a primitive system as written records? The logistics must be a nightmare. Have they heard of technology integration?
"Tsk, what's wrong this way? Why are you the one complaining?" Asta swiftly reacted, casually skipping over any mention of his laziness. "Your thoughts are insufferably loud. If you have something to say, use your voice."
"...Yes, sir, I'm sorry." He was apologizing a lot. Alden was a bit amused with the unfamiliar significant gap in authority and status he had never experienced before.
"Ah, here it is," Asta said, ignoring Alden as he continued. "Overall, born. Cried. Tried stuff. Hurt people. Loved some. Got tired. Died. You lived boringly."
Alden doesn't like how he was summarised.
"There's nothing remarkable about your life at all. I'd even say you're even less than others. At least they have a semblance of personality. I read through everything and I still don't have a clue of who you are." Asta spoke indifferently. "The worst thing is, you could have been a 'Spark'. Utterly wasted."
Alden frowned. He was in disbelief at how this lazy god that skipped over his entire life suddenly is so hard working at criticizing him now. However, he was in no position to rebut a god.
"No rebuttal?" Asta looks down at the frowning Alden, the annoying smirk returns on his face.
As if on cue, the scroll in Asta's hand ignited with an ethereal golden flame at the end of his sentence, disintegrating into nothingness after fulfilling its purpose of recounting Alden's life. Unfazed by the phenomenon, Asta observes the silent Alden.
"Let me ask you this, child. What is your goal in that life?"
"... I live for my family." Alden answers. However, he already knew it was the wrong answer.
It had always been his answer. Everyone close to Alden believed his driving force was his family. They believed he endured the autonomy, the expectations, and the pressure because of his love and commitment to his family.
But Alden knew that wasn't true.
Deep down, he was a selfish child. The sole heir of a giant presence, Alden was born with everything, a triple diamond spoon. He experienced things others would not dream of, and he settled for no less. He did the unthinkable and exceeded expectations just because he could. He was on track to outshine even his father. And yet, the Alden prior to his death has been stagnant. He was lofty and indifferent, bored of life. It was despite having everything a person could ever have, he was still greedy—for control.
He had freedom, maybe more than anyone else on Earth. Yet he remembered the strange, bitter sensation of being controlled. That strange creeping feeling whenever he is thinking of doing something that he wasn't sure was him. He remembered being unhappy, even disgusted and repulsed, by the thought of walking a path predestined for him, no matter how golden, no matter how guaranteed. So he rebelled by doing nothing, yet he was still slowly pushed forward in his path. He was unhappy, angry even. Despite the end of the road promising happiness to his family, he was hesitant to move. He was selfish and hungry for something that he didn't even fully comprehend.
"I see you already know that is not the correct answer." Asta chuckled.
"... It doesn't matter. Living for my family is my answer." Alden stubbornly repeated his answer. If selfishness was the first driving force behind his action, then love for his family was the close second. It was contradictory, but so what? He was human, too. It's still a purpose that is true and important.
Asta laughed. Contrary to the heavy strong voice behind the laughter, the boy avatar unbefittingly was giggling from ear to ear so innocently and youthfully. It was quite a creepy sight.
It took a while for Asta to stop laughing.
"Lying twice in a row, now now, how am I supposed to judge this?" He smiled brightly, showing no sign of contemplation. "How do you think you should be sentenced, child?"
"I would like to continue living, please." There was no hesitation, it was his wish. "I haven't finished my purpose of living for my family yet."
"That's the third time, I am astounded." Asta's smile widened. "Well, living again? Sure. Souls are meant to enter reincarnation anyway. In your case, because you committed a crime, I just haven't decided for your next life to be a plant or a merged existence yet. As for 'continuing' your old life, out of the question. You could maybe ask that of Lirosa. But unlucky for you, today is my shift. So no."
"Wait, I committed a crime?" Alden eyebrows shot up. He was a rebel, sure. But he was a silent and background rebel type, he did no stupid thing like committing a crime. His every move will be reflected in the news, so Alden didn't even smoke and drink. On his 21st birthday, he tried both once, alone behind closed doors just to know what it was like, he didn't like it. "What crime did I ever commit?"
"Tsk, you haven't been listening to a word I've said, have you?" Asta shook his head disapprovingly. "Your crime is wasting potential. Your potential was determined to be a 'Spark', so it's a more serious crime than most. Now keep up and don't make me repeat myself."
"What!? How is that a crime!?" Alden was astounded, the gods are shameless. He even almost swears just now, but the threat of being smote is still very fresh in his mind.
"It is just so!" Asta declared, arms crossed confidently in front of his puffed chest. "You could have done great, but you chose not to, how is that not a crime?"
"But it is my life! Why can't I choose and do what I want!?"
Asta raises an eyebrow.
"But you didn't. You didn't choose. You didn't do anything." He answered flatly, making Alden choke on his words.
"... What even is a spark? How was I supposed to become it without knowing what it is?" After a momentary silence, Alden continued asking.
"Well, to put it in your mortal way of understanding, a 'Spark' is a core catalyst for change. You could make your world better or worse, you could make a unified religion that gives birth to a new god and your world's guardian. That is why the world determines potential 'Spark' to monitor and nurture."
"... That does not sound like something I would do, I am agnostic."
"That was just an example, a 'Spark' job is just to herald a change in accordance with the world's wishes. And you failed in doing so, dying so pathetically instead. It's practically a crime against the world."
"This is unfair." Alden grumbled.
"I'm the god here." Asta was slowly shifting throughout their conversation. He was still floating above Alden, but compared to the upright position he had in the beginning, he was now lying sideways comfortably in midair. Alden wasn't even sure Asta was still looking at him.
"... So, is there really no way to continue living as I am now? I'm sure the car model we have was somewhat resistant to crash, I might be in a coma right now, not dead. So if you allow it, I could just wake up and be that spar—"
"Ask Lirosa." Asta interrupted mid-sentence.
"...Where can I find this Lirosa?"
"I don't know, it's her day off."
Shameless. This god was too shameless.
"Blasphemous." Asta grinned.
Alden could only sigh. He was regretful but what could he do? It's a pain too large to think about his family and the aftermath right now when his hands are tied. He could only wish all the best for his mom and dad. His grandfather too. He probably won't understand what is happening, but Alden wishes his grandfather's remaining time on earth to be filled with arts and good chess opponents.
"... So what now? What can I do for you?"
"What do you mean?" Asta laughs and finally sits up straight, that is what Alden guesses anyway.
"If it was just deciding my judgment, you would have done it by now. So, please, how can I be of service?"
"As expected of a potential 'Spark', your life might be unremarkable but you sure are quick to catch on. I have high hopes."
Alden just wanted to be a plant. A plant won't have to endure these insults. Nowadays plants even get to listen to classical music.
"Of course, I could send you into the reincarnation circle, but I can't guarantee your next life will be a plant, it could just be a rock." Asta chuckled. "Or, you could accept my proposal."
"Become my Apostle, Alden Vaughn."
Asta's words rang out differently than it previous was, sharp and loud—like a bell cracking through silence.
For the first time since Alden arrived, the god touched the ground. He was now half Alden's height, yet somehow twice his size in presence.
The grin Asta wore was equal parts invitation and threat.