Close your eyes. Go to sleep... It will all be... so much... better... ... soon...

...

...

"Hello, Carrig Tallow! How was your life on my earth?"

... What. Everything is white. There's some black, human-shaped mass in front of me.

I can make out a face with a grin, but there's no eyes. Actually, you know what? I don't care. This guy looks like an asshole.

No idea why, but I really feel like I should hate him. A lot.

"... You... You're really asking?"

"Yes!"

He looks fucking ecstatic. Hm. Maybe I can say something to wipe that smug look off of his face.

"You made that place? Did you make it awful on purpose?"

"Yes! So, again, how was your life there?"

Oh, fuck this guy. I was right to hate him from the get-go.

"Wonderful. 10/10. So good, in fact, that you should absolutely live the same life I lived."

"..."

Wow. It's already cracking. He must hate sarcasm.

"I really liked the part where I got to eat eggs! That was super fun!"

"Liar. Tell me honestly, just how awful your life was. I want to hear it from your soul. Watching you suffer made me happy."

"How about you go down to your Eden instead? I'm sure it will make you even happier."

"Enough! I have little patience for ants such as you. Any last words, before I turn your soul into scattered dust?"

He says, growing in size, and positioning his fingers around me like he's about to pop a zit.

"Hah. Wiped that smile off your face."

I hear something similar to a bomb going off in each of my ears. The ringing. How is tinnitus a thing? I thought I had no ears.

You know, Soul. No face. A cloud.

The smoke clears, and I can see a man in some intense looking black steel plate armor. It's trimmed with gold, and has intricate yellow flower and vine patterns extending from his shoulders down to his gloves.

His chest plate has a sun pattern where I assume his heart would be, that radiates outward towards his arms and legs.

He's pointing his palm out towards me, and unfurls some amazing black and golden wings. They look like they're made of swords. So cool.

Hey. I'm not a chuunibyou. That actually looks cool to me. Those are good colors. I like bees. What?

"ATMAN! CEASE YOUR INTERFERENCE AT ONCE!"

Gah. Fucking loud.

There's a yellow, hexagonal plated shield surrounding me in a sphere. Is this magic or something? Maybe some cool future tech? Hm.

Well, there's two giant people here now. I like the cool yellow one a lot more than the sadistic red one.

The asshole has a long, white beard, and a robe with red skull and cross patterns on it. Wow. Edgy. THAT'S what a chuunibyou looks like.

"I don't even know your name and I'm already happy things are apparently not going your way."

You gotta match the edge, of course.

"YAHWEH. FORFEIT THAT SOUL, OR YOU WILL BE DEMOTED TO A LESSER GOD. PERMANENTLY."

"ABSURD! YOU BELIEVE ME TO COMPLY WITH EVERY DEMAND YOU, AND EVERY OTHER GOD MAKE?"

"Totally should."

"YES. EVIL GOD. THE RARE, PURE SOULS THAT REMAIN TAINTED BY YOUR ESSENCE ALONE ARE FORFEIT TO THOSE WHO SEE FIT."

"DENIED! I REFUSE! BY WHAT POWER COULD YOU STRIP ME, YAHWEH, OF WHAT IS RIGHTFULLY MINE?"

Color is dyeing this endless white abyss. Red and yellow, clashing at a line between the two gods.

Oh shit. An invasion of pink. A third god has joined the fray. I'm popular! Ahah. Pretty happy right now, not gonna lie.

Looks like a girl. Oh. Of course its a black and pink kimono. Why wouldn't it be. It looks exactly like you would expect. Sakura trees.

... Pretty.

"MINE~"

"LAHG! YOU AS WELL? WHY WON'T YOU PESTS LEAVE ME BE!"

"SIMPLE. THE SOULS OF YOUR CREATION MENACE OUR WORLDS AFTER REINCARNATION."

"SIMPLE~! WE DISLIKE YOU, YAHWEH. YOU, WHO GAVE THE MOST BASIC OF LIFE THE ABILITY TO ENJOY THE ANGUISH OF OTHERS~"

Whoa. Lore dump. Is he actually why everything is wrong in the world?

Might as well try to piss him off even more. Anything to make me feel like I've gotten back at him.

"Simple."

"ENOUGH! MOSQUITO! YOU SHALL ANNOY ME NO LONGER! AWAY WITH YOU!"

The whining baby throws me over to the far more mature gods. The pretty one... Lahg, picks me up, and holds her palm out so I can get a better look at everything going on. Thoughtful. I like you.

"ATMAN~ THIS ONE AMUSES ME~"

"AGREEMENT."

"CONTEMPT! I WILL NEVER UNDERSTAND HOW THE SUFFERING OF THOSE LESSER BEINGS IS NOT ENJOYABLE TO YOU FOOLS! WHAT MORE IS THERE TO WANT?"

"SCORN. ANYTHING ELSE."

"Personally, seeing Yahweh being demoted is something I want."

If I had a face, I would be smiling.

"WRATH! MAGGOT! SPECK! KNOW YOUR PLACE! YOU KNOW NOTHING OF OUR MATTERS! YOUR REMAINING KIN WILL BE KIDNAPPED AND TORTURED!"

"I think I know where I am. It's over here, happy as high heaven I get to watch you whine like a toddler."

"RAGE! FUCK YOU, YOU LITTLE TURD!"

He says, storming off. The red dyeing this colored abyss fades, and all that remains is pastel pink, and pastel yellow.

... Pfft.

Oh my god, he is SO FUN to make mad. Something about people like that being bullied just makes my day.

A literal god using "you little turd" unironically. Hilarious.

"SURPRISED. A SOUL SHOULD NOT BE ABLE TO SPEAK DIRECTLY TO GODS IN OUR TRUE FORMS,
YET THIS ONE HAS EVEN DRIVEN OFF A GOD WITH WORDS ALONE."

"MUTUAL~ EVEN WITH YOUR PROTECTION, IT WOULD STILL BE INCREDIBLY RARE FOR A SOUL TO BE ABLE WITHOUT TRAINING~"

"Well, It IS Yahweh. Seems pretty easy to make him fuck off. This is the happiest day of my life, by the way. Thank you."

"Hah! We should take more suitable forms to communicate with him."

"Agreed~"

Oh. They shrunk. They're about eye level with me now. When did Lahg put me down? I wonder what happens next?

"So... Is this when I die for real?"

... Psycho mantis?

"Shocked~! Of course not~! Atman wishes to send you to his world~"

Oh my god! My saviors world!

"Deal."

"What? ... Ah. I can make a guess as to why you are so willing."

"Confused~ What is it~?"

Uh. Lahg. You were there.

"So how will it work? Do I get my memories erased and born as a baby?"

"No. You will... Ah, Let us start this process over."

"Atman~! What was it~! Tell me~!"

She's pouting. Oh my god. That's the cutest fucking thing I've ever seen in my entire life. Atman ignores her,
and removes the shield surrounding me.

"Atmaaaan~~~!"

Shes lightly hitting his chest over and over again.

Car alarm.

"Lahg. Go review his memories."

"Boo~, No fun~"

She vanished. No real input, just poof. without the poof.

"Ahem. Carrig Tallow. You have died. However, since your justice is similar to mine, I have chosen to send you to my world."

... A new world, huh. I'm already grateful. Anything is better than what I had.

"Thank you very much. But... How did you find me, anyway? Isn't there an absurd amount of deaths on earth every second?"

"Simple. You are a pure soul. Something born completely of their respective world, with no trace of reincarnation.
Pure souls are capable of immense growth. We monitor all of these births, from life to death.
We must prevent Yahweh from having any, whatsoever. He must not be allowed to have any more subordinate gods."

Hah. Get fucked, Yahweh. Hm...

"But didn't you say I was tainted? What happens to regular peopl-... souls, who die?"

"Ah. Mental illness. Most of those are of Yahweh's design. They're curses placed upon ones soul. As for your other question,
Mixed, as well as old souls, are rinsed of their memories and afflictions, and reincarnated.
They do have the options of keeping their memories, and having a body created for them, or even being born again.
Most souls from Yahweh's atrocity of a world choose to be rinsed, however.
And very rarely do older souls, from any world, keep their memories."

Yeah. No doubt there are much more people who had it even worse than me. They deserve that choice.

No wonder there's no reincarnation on earth. Nobody wants to go back to that hellhole.

... Uh. A thought occurs.

"So wait. If most mental illness is tied to your soul, why does medicine affect it?"

"Most drugs change the way a brain works for a while. Souls can not keep up with this rapid change compared to their lifespan,
and forget what they should be for the time. This is only temporary, however."

... Wot.

"That makes almost no sense to me, but alright."

"Understandable."

Hm.

"So what happens now?"

"Right. From this point onward, you will probably never suffer again."

Uh. Heaven? I got into heaven?

"Hah. Every world is heaven compared to Yahweh's mess."

"... So when do I get to punch Yahweh in the mouth?"

"Hah! Do not worry about such things for now. Very soon, you will be sent to my world, in an ideal body."

Damn I sure have a lot of questions. I hope I'm not pissing him off.

"Ideal? ... Metal gear?"

"Yes. Ideal. To most inhabitants of my world, as well as yourself. You will have no problems maintaining your beauty."

Aw. Went over his- WAIT WHAT.

"But... Why? That is so incredibly kind that I don't know how to feel about it."

"Be happy. As I have said, your suffering has ended. All I will have you do is clean my world of Yahweh's influence."

Oh my god. Hot body, AND I get to fuck with Yahweh?

"I will follow you for the literal rest of my existence."

"Well, I will not say no. There are a few more gifts I will give to you, however."

"There's more!? I'm feel like gonna melt!"

"Amused. I see you are grateful. That is good, considering you are the first soul that I, Atman, have chosen to enter my world.
Matters such as that are mostly handled by my subordinate, and trainee gods."

"What makes me so... worthy? Aren't I just some run-of-the-mill unfortunate guy?"

"Hm. As I have said before, you are a pure soul. Your justice is remarkably similar to mine, if not exactly the same, as well.
It baffles me as to why there are not more souls that share your thought process on crimes commit by sentient life."

"Well... Yeah. It should be pretty obvious. Right?"

"Of course. But there is much more to it than that. You will understand when you arrive at my world. There are a few things I will do now.
First, I will remove Yahweh's influence on your soul."

He walks over, and reaches out to me. I see some sort of light escape his palm, and latch onto multiple points of my form.

...

What is this? I feel so... Serene. So happy. So glad I did what I did, in that awful world. That doesn't sit right, though...

I killed myself. Sure, I was alone... But I still could have hurt someone. Traumatize someone, as they walk in on my corpse.

"Nonsense. It matters not how you escape from his world. Just that you did. Every soul there, who was kind to you, will forgive you."

"Ah. I'm so sad. Like I should have been feeling these things a long time ago. I'm going to cry."

"Indeed. You should have. Your jaded depression is just one of the things that have been removed. There are many things you can do now. You can love, and feel loved again. You can trust again. Learn again. Your misanthropy, however, was your own. A self-defense measure, so you would hurt far less. So many beings in his world suffer from this. It is cruel, yes, but it is over for you now."

I can't speak anymore. Feels like it would just come out as gibberish.

There's just so much that's happened today.

I died.

I was ready to sleep when I put my head through that noose, but I got something different.

An afterlife.

Gods are real. Earth is terrible. My suffering, and hate, was not because of me. Or the people around me.

Now that I think about it, I bet that wasn't normal. I adapted to all this too fast. I should have been a mess.

Yahweh would have enjoyed that. How many people has he done this to? Unacceptable. I don't think I'll stop with just a punch in the mouth.

After that, I'm saved by other gods. Gods who are so much kinder, and are willing to give just one soul so much.

Well... I think it's a lot.

It's finally over.

I... Get to be happy now, right? For longer than a few minutes?

...

Atman lowers his hand, and sits on nothing. I've started calming down.

"There. Your soul has been cleansed of Yahweh's essence, and imprinted with my own."

"I don't know why, but that sounds kind of dirty."

... What?

"Damn. Thought I had time."

... What? Again?

"Right. Let us move along quickly, before you embarrass yourself.

So much confusion.

"Continuing. Body, Soul, now two things are left."

"Just how much are you going to give me today?"

Why does that sound dirty to me? What the fuck.

"Quickly. Tell me of a power you want."

"Uhh... Time control."

Literally the first thing that came to mind. I really doubt that I'll get such a game changing power.

"Good. I would expect no less. Very well, I will give you permission to control my worlds time."

Well, there's no real way that could- WH-

"You trust me with that?!"

"Of course. I know you will refuse to do any wrong with it. You are the one I have picked."

"But... How will it work?"

If I can control time... Wouldn't I be able to break so many things? Would multiverse theory exist?

"Hm. Time is much simpler than you think. Outside of a world, time does not exist. Inside of a world, Time only flows in one direction. There are no multiverses, or anything of the such that you are thinking of. Only one timeline. You can change the future by traveling backwards, But most events remain the same. That is, unless you desperately wish to change them."

"So if... Someone is murdered before I could save them?"

"Yes. You could still save them. We will give back their soul."

"But wouldn't they still carry those memories? Wouldn't it still have happened?"

"Worry not. Memories of a false future are erased before a soul returns. Only gods can choose to remember those things forever. Most of the time we choose not to, for the ones we do give control of time to be comforted by their actions. You would have only a vague feeling of changing something. It will become fact that whatever happened, did not happen.  That is the only part that is somewhat difficult to explain... I hope you understand, because I may have misspoke there."

...

"So... It just... Works? No questions asked? Moving during stopped time wont cause a ton of physics issues?"

"Correct. Time will do as you please. No questions asked, as you say."

... And I still...

"I still get more things after this? It's like you're giving me just... Everything. Everything ever."

"Naturally. Some necessities of my world. A status system, item box, inspection abilities, interpretation."

"Sta... STATUS SYSTEM!? LIKE THE NOVELS I WOULD READ!? Ah. I yelled, I'm sorry."

"Yes. Levels, skills, and titles. You will receive a personalized title of my creation. You will enjoy it. I understand why you would be exited."

"I believe everything you say, ever. Forever."

"... Right. When you end those who you find to be evil, pray to me. I am an incredibly active god, but not omniscient.
A small prayer to me after you do good, is like a text message that alerts me to punish, rinse, and cleanse souls you deliver to me."

"Atman is love. Atman is life."

What is going on with my head? Why are these thoughts allowed to be spoken? I like it.

"I... Sigh. Yes. Seems like your true self will come out soon. Please be careful. I don't know what your body could do to my inhabitants."

Again. So much confusion. Just what kind of body has he made for me? I hope I'm not some uncontrollable beast.

"I will be careful. But I'm not going to end up... Um...-"

"No. You will not give into your lust. Others, however..."

"Oooh. That's what you meant."

"Yes. Please. Spare my inhabitants."

At this point I think he's just joking with me. I really can't tell.

"Hm. I will give you clothes. When you arrive, put them on quickly."

"I will."

"Well then, off you go. To greener pastures."

As he waves goodbye, It feels like I'm starting to fall. Backwards... Forwards? Falling. Every direction. So weird.

"Thank you... Thank you. Thank you so very much."

... I've said "Thank" a lot today. It better not lose its meaning, cause I'm gonna be using it a lot more.

Ah. Everything is white now... Hm. Something smells... good? What am I feeling on my back? Oh. Grass. It's really soft.

I can hear gentle wind, and trees. It's so calming. So quiet. The air feels so nice, and it's a comfortable temperature.

It's so easy to breathe now... And my eyes...

Everything is still black. Oh shit. I'm blind.

...

... Oh. My eyes are closed.

Derp.