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After thousands of years of existence, my skin was finally becoming more wrinkled. Was this a sign that I was getting older with each passing century? 

Humph! In a way, it was heartwarming to know that even Gods die of old age at some point.

Yes, I was a God, or something like that, because all the other gods I had known in my very long life had gradually disappeared. Maybe I'm different from them in some way. As I had learned and practiced the art of Cultivation all my life, I never suffered from hunger, thirst or illness like ordinary people and I rose to spiritual greatness at a very young age. So I discovered that the more I cultivated, more powerful I became, and this turned into something so vicious that I exiled myself from any life. 

Surrounded only by stars, I cultivated in isolation for thousands of years and surpassed the Realm of the Saint and the Realm of the Immortal, something that most people wouldn't be able to achieve even if they tried for millions of years, until I finally reached the Realm of the Divine, the pinnacle of Cultivation according to my master. 

But that still wasn't enough for me. For this reason, I continued for more thousands of years trying to cultivate something beyond the Realm of the Divine, but all this effort was useless. I never got anywhere, I never went beyond the Realm of the Divine.

So, bored of seeing stellar events and nebulae forming, in an act of curiosity I decided to return to Earth, the world where I was born, and, to my surprise, it was all over. Humanity had naturally become extinct, just like so many other ephemeral species. 

Originally a human, I knew that this was something that would happen sooner or later, because Earth was a broken world, doomed to failure because of corruption.

I was so powerful that I could revive humanity, recreate it from scratch and mold it to my ways, but I didn't see any need for that, since even if I taught everything I know to all humans, possibly, just like me, they wouldn't be satisfied.

So I decided that to respect the place where I was born, I would live in this empty world, protecting and cultivating it. The breeze was chill and everything was very quiet - of course, not as quiet as the emptiness of space, but it was a different environment to what I had become used to. There was nothing to bother me and few things to distract me. This was the place where I could finally die happy and fulfilled for having reached the pinnacle of any living being. 

So I sat in the old wooden chair on the deck of that old hut from centuries ago and awaited my end while I cultivated.

However, I have to admit: waiting for death in an empty world exposed how monotonous my life was. 

All I did day after day was sigh louder and louder. 

The act of sighing didn't irritate me and since there was no one else in the world to complain about it, it became a vicious habit.

However, although it may seem like just another philosophical horror story, what does it mean when the last man on earth hears someone knocking on his door? Well, that day, I found out.

* Knock! Knock!

Two soft knocks on the creaky wooden door echoed through the cabin.

I was focused, so I didn't open my eyes, or even get up - after all, it wasn't unusual for me to hear sounds in such a wild world.

'Must just be the wind,' I thought.

But suddenly the ordinary sounds, like the rustling of tree leaves or distant buzzes of cicadas, disappeared. My body seemed to be enveloped by an unusual energy and, when I finally opened my eyes, I saw myself in a completely different world from the old hut with weeds growing between the floorboards that I was used to. 

I was in an alabaster world, where all I could see was an infinite shade of ice.

'What's going on?' I wondered, a little surprised for the first time in a long time, but my facial muscles were too stiff to show any reaction.

"How long are you going to stand there with that bored expression?" A thin voice captivated my ears.

Again, as fast as the blink of an eye or even quicker than that, a girl appeared in front of me - or had she been standing there the whole time? 

This girl had blue-green hair, parted in two high strands that fell in front of her small breasts and her naked body. She looked like a child, but her eyes were not childlike.

"Who are you?" I asked, bringing my right hand to my chin and scratching my long white beard. "Another part of my spirit?" I arrogantly continued.

"No, that's disgusting..." She replied, frowning and leaning forward. "I'm the Goddess of Destiny, of course!"

"The Goddess of Destiny? Um... I've met the God of Time, Chronos, and the God of Luck, Daikokuten, so I'm sure there's no such thing as a Goddess of Fate. Seriously, who are you? I thought all humans were dead."

The woman narrowed her eyes and a smile appeared on her face. "Hmm~ Looks like they've finally sent someone interesting here. It's really a shame to tell you that you're not even close to understanding what being a god means... Very well, I've decided! Instead of punishing you, as THEY ordered, I'm going to send you on your way."

"Send? My way…?" I asked.

"Yes, for a next life of course. Human souls live millions of lives, in different times and worlds, and my job is to manage these souls. My employees usually manage to do this tedious work for me, but sometimes heavenly problems arise, like you, that require a little of my attention... A human who has attained the same power as a universal entity. That's so unusual, hehehe!" She laughed like a child. "That explains how they couldn't find you even after killing billions in your world. Anyway, that's not something..."

The girl sounded like a machine gun of words, but at that moment I could partially understand what was going on. Above all, I had been wrong up until that moment, and it wasn't a dream. I wasn't what I thought I was, nor had I reached the pinnacle of anything, I was just incompetent and couldn't get to the next level, just as millions of others never made it to the Divine Realm. 

Even so, I put on a big smile and my heart began to race. 

The Goddess of Fate smiled back at me, seeming to understand my feeling, and said:

"You'll be reincarnated as a baby in a world of superheroes. It's an unusual society, but it will teach you great values, so try to use this new chance as if it were your last, because THEY definitely won't like what I'm doing. See you someday, Yuri Makoto."