[You have been slain] 

Ku Lo, in a fit of rage, slammed a fist against his cheap computer desk. Its plastic legs wobbled from the force, causing a bottle of an off-brand Mountain Dew to spill its nectar and a bowl of chips to fall on the floor.

“That fight is way too hard!” Ku Lo shouted. “But I need to clear it to reach rank one!” He was at the end of his rope after dying to the same boss for the umpteenth time.  

Soon the ‘You have been slain’ notification faded off the screen, and to replace it appeared [Respawn].

“Respawn! Respawn! Respawn!” Ku Lo’s index finger spammed right click on his mouse.

[Respawning in] 

[15]

[14]

“And why is the respawn timer so goddamn long? I might as well look out the window and see a shooting star with these times!” As Ku Lo said so, he indeed peered out from an opening in his porch window’s curtains.

“Huh.” Ku Lo frowned, beads forming on his forehead. “What the hell is that?”

Flying in the air was a wooden river barge with small, fluttering red sails. Of course, how it looked was out-shadowed by it coming straight at him!

[1]

The ‘nose’ of said nautical-vessel-turned-aerial dived into his apartment, crashing through the window and the wall. It knocked him off the chair and dragged him across the room for a second before everything went black.

[Respawning] 

…

Ku Xie spasmed and cried herself awake as someone tended to her, lying on the straw bed. 

Thanks to the sunlight coming through holes in the shack, Ku Xie’s white eyes saw her mother. "any news-” Cough.  “older brother?" Ku Xie asked in a fleeting voice.

Lin continued to change the washcloth on Ku Xie's forehead. “Last thing heard was how he passed the Yin and Yang Sect entrance trials yesterday. Don't worry, he'll help you,” she said with a warm smile. “Ku Lo will save you.”

Ku Xie hummed. She had no strength to speak more. big brother… The pain building in her was too much for her frail, young body to endure.

She would fall unconscious again soon. Already, her eyelids began to hide her white irises separated from the sclera by a thin, black line.

… 

Ku Lo blinked. 

Curled his fingers a few times.

Took a deep breath. 

Heaven? The word came into mind from the wondrous garden around him. From the patterned marble tiles under his feet to the clear cut hedges, all indicated this notion to be true. As the biggest confirmation still remained, the fact that the flying river barge had, most likely, ended his life. 

Well, at least I made it here. He shrugged. 

With that out of the way, his mind focussed on other important matters. 

So the 'right' heaven was the one where girls are bountiful and hot? Being a red-blooded man, he couldn’t help his wandering light-blue eyes. The women around him started from a low 8 and only rose in grade. Buxom blondes, redheads with piercings, and skinny ones with long, raven hair.

Wait… The population of earth is 50.2% males and 49.8% females, so heaven can’t be this skewed… Remembering some random statistic he had seen in an OTube video made the scene more confusing.

“Heyy~” 

“Hmm?” Ku Lo spun his head towards the voice. 

When turned, he needed to blink again, for the girl caused a skip in his heartbeat. She’s like Qiyana from that game. The same white hair, tanned skin, out of the world proportions, he thought, ogling at her. 

“Ugh…” 

However, due to him somewhat dropping his spaghetti and meatballs there, the woman who had approached him left with disdain printed all over her face.

T-that was to be expected, Ku Lo sighed, not taking this to heart since he must have appeared awful. The opportunity was lost, and so he focussed on the future without worrying about what he couldn’t undo. But what was her intention? 

To find understanding, Ku Lo studied his surroundings, though this time focussing on the interactions of the people. 

“Maybe we could take this to my place?” Some smug-looking guy was inviting a beauty. “Hey, would you like to share a drink? We could talk about—whatever you would like.” A thin man approached a giant of a man who had a cocktail glass in his black hand. “Sister, what do you think? Who's the most handsome guy here?” Two sisters were whispering next to Ku Lo. 

This seems more like a high-class mixer than a lobby to heaven, Ku Lo considered after a minute. Everyone here is young, certainly not older than 20. They’re all here with a certain openness in their actions and clothing.’

“Someone seems lost in thought.” Another woman approached Ku Lo, who had withdrawn himself from the centre of this mixer. 

“No-no. Just a headache,” Ku Lo answered before focussing on the person. 

It was the right call, or he might have lost again. Kasumi? Though never big into fighting games, he knew the big names from... other sources. No, not exactly, but there are similarities.

“Were you injured during the trials?” With her orange hair tied in a ponytail, she tip-toed to see better. 

Ku Lo almost lost control right there but kept it together. “Hurt? By those trials?” He shook his head. “Did you have a different track or something? What obstacles did you face?” 

“Aren’t you going to ask for my name?” 

Ku Lo chuckled. “How inconsiderate of me. Who is the person I, Ku Lo, have the chance to entertain?” 

In dating sims, you have much more time to think about your choices, Ku Lo murmured to himself. He was no ladies’ man, and it was showing in how the woman, whose name he was hoping to hear, acted. I’m losing points here!

“Rin Tin Tin.” Saying so, she performed a slight curtsey for Ku Lo.

He used the opportunity the curtsey presented to have a peek at her cleavage that came even more showy from this angle. Okay, this might be hell, but fuck it. I’ll do anything to get it on with her, Ku Lo decided. His conviction meant he put all other things to the backside, for now, and focussed on buttering up Rin Tin Tin. 

“Really? My great-grandmother was also named Rin Tin Tin,” he lied. “Excellent name, so elegant and so noble.” Ku Lo made a strong nod, arms crossed. 

“Your great-grandmother had the same name? I knew the stars were right!” Rin Tin Tin raised her voice a level or two too high. “The stars don’t lie. How could they? You must be the one I’m looking for.” Her amber eyes blazed with excitement as she explained.

However, her overt, open enthusiasm for astrology made Ku Lo shudder. To stick or not to stick dick in crazy?

“Rin Tin Tin, do you practice astrology, too?” For the current Ku Lo, the answer wasn’t hard. “Shame, I didn’t finish my rituals today, so I don’t know what today will bring me…”

Rin Tin Tin became even more pumped up. “Ah!” She glanced around with her cute amber eyes. “That can be fixed in a minute. Follow me.” 

Ku Lo wasn’t left with much of an option as she grabbed his hand with hers, pulling him towards what to him seemed a random path out of the garden. 

Dragged like this left him a lot to think. This was a good thing since arranging his emotions was much harder than he thought it would be. Should he be excited? suspicious? offended? 

He had gone with the flow of everyone searching for a partner of some sort, and it was not like he was in any way dissatisfied by this beauty being interested in him, but things were happening too fast for him to make sense of them.

 

…

“You didn’t answer my question from earlier,” Ku Lo questioned her again as Rin Tin Tin led him through gardens and corridors. “About the trials.” 

Excitement under her steps and in her tone, she answered, “Of course, the trials were sorted by gender. Us girls needed to pass a stealth test and score well on a written exam.” Her tone changed to somewhat of a loathing one. “While you boys needed to hit a training dummy hard and show good mental fortitude.” 

“Life’s not fair, but what can you do…” she complained.

Interesting, Ku Lo noted her every word. After those words, this place doesn’t seem to be heaven. 

This didn’t change his plan, of course. 

I should tease her. Take command. In search of such an opportunity, his light-blue eyes went over her and found her hand. Someone’s a bit too uneasy. He hadn’t noticed before, but now he saw her hand and how much it was sweating and how hard it was gripping his. 

“Well, it seems that the girls didn’t have a mental fortitude test.”

Rin Tin Tin didn’t answer, though she changed the hand dragging him to the one not sweating so profusely. Also, there was a slight blush on her face, one which even Ku Lo could notice from behind. 

I’ll take that as a success.

“We’re here.” While Ku Lo had his own thought, Rin Tin Tin paused to open a door into a modest, two-story house with a balcony overcrowded with plants. 

“Nice place-” Ku Lo entered behind her. “I like the candles.” 

“Thanks.” Rin Tin Tin said as she rushed upstairs. “Wait there for a second, I’ll get my stuff.”

Ku Lo didn’t respond. 

Anyway, he had become fixated on the matter of there being nothing electrical in this room, no light bulbs or wires, not even a socket. Where am I? He began inspecting the room while listening to rustling from the second floor. This house has a strong medieval feel to it.

A spear? The first item attaining his interest was a spear placed on a weapons rack. Why would an astrologist collect spears?

He continued his tour of the room. 

Scrolls? There was a wall shelf with two scrolls on top of it. 

Ku Lo took one of them and opened it. The Floating Leaf? The scroll contained lengthy instructions and few sketches of a person twisting and directing her hands. Is this supposed to be fantasy merchandise? He set the scroll back in its place. 

Herbs? There was a garden bed next to a window. Weird. His hand touched one of the herbs. There’s something off with these flowers. No matter what, he couldn’t put his mind around them.

Ku Lo scratched the nape of his neck through his medium-length, coal-black hair. Reincarnated in Another World? He remembered a popular tag for novels. It sure would explain a lot.