Was I Raped?

In a plane where white stretches to infinity, there are two people.

One was a naked man. His looks were not that exceptional, but he wasn't that ugly either. His black hair was well kept, and his posture wasn't that straight.

The man, however, had a distinctive quality on him other than being a pervert... his body was translucent.

He was already dead.

The second was a woman with long black hair that touched the ground when seated. She was beautiful and tall; her eyes were gentle, her nails long. She wore an ordinary blue shirt covering her knees like a dress.

"The Afterlife looks pretty lifeless... heh," Payne, the man, joked, seeing the white that stretches for unknown kilometers.

Payne was in a place where there was no sign of existence. Everywhere he looked, only white existed. The sky, the ground, and the horizon were white without exception.

Saved for the spot, he and a beautiful woman with long stayed.

There, a table and a tv were present. The two were even sitting on cushions for absolute comfort.

"This is not the afterlife, you know?" such as the Lady's response to his joke.

"Is that so?" Payne didn't show too much reaction, "Anyway, are you god?"

"No, but something close...you're pretty accepting of your situation, aren't you?" the Lady added and poured herself tea.

"Well, I've been here for a week. I rather came into terms with it. Death came earlier than most. That's just how it goes. How old do you think I am? I'm already 24. I go through existential crises from time to time. I've already spent my earlier time wallowing in despair; I just realized doing that wouldn't help me."

Payne Marshe was a simple, albeit slightly detached, man.

He underwent his edgy and depressed phase in his early teens. He wrote suicide letters and Will for others to find. He went through it three times, only to fail every time.

One time, he cut his wrist but luckily survived. The next day he found the blood from his wrist had already crystallized. With a shoulder shrug, he decided to watch the latest updates of the show he was waiting for.

The current Payne touched his wrist and didn't see the scars of that time.

"Erm, to make sure, those kids were alive when they came here, so I'm pretty sure my fate is not the same as theirs. My body is white, and I'm not wearing anything. If I'm not wrong, I'm already dead, right? Those kids didn't notice my presence, so I reckon I was the only dead guy in this place."

Payne remembered the seventeen high school students that appeared with him in this world of white.

Those high school kids boarded the same bus on their way from school. They were relatively young, and those kids were sent to thwart a Demon King, or so he heard.

"Don't worry about them. I gifted them with the skills to survive. They'll be fine." The Lady answered, "You should be worrying about yourself. Those kids were summoned just before their death, but you died. Instead of going to the afterlife, your soul was dragged here by chance."

Payne had been in the world for some time. Initially, he was in a state of confusion.

But after a while, he calmed down. And after a week, he had already accepted his fate.

Now, he's only waiting for his judgment.

But his question stayed the same.

"Then, what will become of me? Am I trapped here forever with you?" Payne looked at her up and down, '...that doesn't sound that bad, though.'

The long-haired Lady, "Right now, I am still thinking. For now, what do you want?"

The Lady asked, and he answered, "Can I watch my Funeral?"

She found it weird, but she just shrugged her shoulders, "Weird, but okay."

The Lady handed him a tv remote.

"Click the power button. It'll show you what you want to see on TV."

He did what she said, and when the tv was turned on, Payne saw his friends crying over his death.

Payne showed a confused expression. He's happy to see them cry for him but watching one's Funeral felt weird.

But, that was not what he wanted to see.

The image on the TV changed to a man entering his room. The man was tall and had a sturdy build.

This man was Payne's best friend, Alex.

Entering the room, Alex looked around first before going for the PC.

He inputted the password, disabled hidden files, and found a folder aptly named [If I Die]; inside, there was a note.

"If you're reading this, that means I died... and won the bet! Woo! And that also means I died. Suck it! Told you I'll die first, hahaha!" that was the introduction to the letter.

Alex laughed; he continued reading, "Well, I just hope I didn't die the way I expected to. Either way, I'll leave my things to you, but you must first do something for me-

Payne's eyes glowed with delight.

"Good, that's good, Alex. Delete my history so that no one will see my shame; w-wait, hey, that's an invasion of privacy!" Payne's face was planted on the TV as his eyes glowed with despair and shame, "Wait, don't judge me. I only stumbled upon it by accident before I died. That's not my kink, I swear. How dare you cry and reminisce about our memories while looking at my browsing history!?"

It was hard seeing your best friend laugh and cry at your choice of porn. But, in the middle of Alex's laughter, tears escaped from his eyes.

Alex bit his lower lips, and under his breath, he spoke, "...Why... why did you die so early? Just when you said you were looking forward to graduating... you asshole... just why?" the man who trained his body to be strong... started crying.

"When we were sparring, I never got to hurt you," Payne remembered when Alex dragged him to the gym. There, he was taught how to fight to protect himself when needed, and from time to time, they would spar but not even once did Isaac get to punch Alex.

Payne's punch never landed, "I wanted to get back at you for all those leg sweeps, but... I never wanted to hurt you this way."

Even he who thought he was detached from affection and emotions could not hold back his tears. This was Payne's first show of emotion outside of confusion and boredom in that world of light.

For some time, Payne just let his tears flow and turned off the TV when Alex decided to leave.

The Lady passed him the tissue, "Are you okay?"

Payne nodded as he wiped his tears away, "...so what will to me now?"

"Well, let's get to the point. As you said, you are here as a dead person, which had never happened before.

"I can't send you to the other world because you have no physical body. You can't reincarnate to your previous world because your soul drifted here, and because of certain conditions, neither are you suited to become human in the other world."

She was honestly confused, then her eyes lit up, "That's it!"

The Lady stood up and brought out a dice with more than twenty sides.

The dice had different runes etched on them. Runes Payne could not understand.

She was just about to throw the said dice when she asked Payne, "You essentially ended up dying because of the Hero Summoning Process, so in a way, I can send you out as well. Do you have a wish you want to be granted? Remember that you can't wish for a skill, like a fireball or super strength. You can wish for handsomeness or bravery, something close to that."

Payne was made to think carefully.

"Question, I don't know what you're doing, but it's not the same with the kids just now, right? So, what am I going to undergo again?"

"Indeed, it is not the same. What I did was "Send" them to another world, but you, you're going to be "revived-ish" in that world."

"Revived-ish? That doesn't really scream confidence." Payne was hesitant. He was already dead, but he did not know if double death was possible.

"Don't worry, I'll send you to another body whose life is about to end. It won't be yours, but you'll basically be revived with this." the Lady explained.

"Is that so. Question; will I retain my memories?"

"Nope, all will be wiped clean. But do not worry, your reincarnated self will still be you."

With this, Payne already knew what he wanted.

"My only wish is to keep my memories intact. I'll sacrifice anything if I can remember who I am. It's far scarier being yourself while not being yourself simultaneously."

Payne's biggest fear was getting amnesia. For him, amnesia was like being born again in a foreign body while possessing their identity.

'To become dead is to be unaware of your existence. If I reincarnate without my memories, isn't it the same as dying?'

His thoughts became scattered.

"Such a wish has consequences. It may seem simple, but you will have to pay the price to get what you want."

Payne nodded without hesitation.

"It's all right. I know what I want."

"If you're going to be like that, I'll cut you a deal. If you're prepared to face the consequences, I'll gift you something useful."

Payne grew ecstatic upon hearing her words, "Really? What is it? Unlimited Mystical Powers or something?"

"It's nothing crazy. You'll know when you get it."

As the dice were thrown into the air. The ordinary-sized dice suddenly grew bigger, and the more than twenty sides it had turned to ten, then six —

Thud!

It bounced a couple of times before landing in front of them.

The now aircon-sized dice showed him what seemed to be a splatter of some kind.

When he saw this, the light turned red, and it shot up to his forehead.

His line of sight turned blood red. His vision drowned, and his ethereal body felt like being dragged away.

The Lady waved at him with a broad smile, "Good luck... I'll se...ter

After some time, he began feeling odd. He regained the sensation of having limbs.

'Wait, I have physical limbs?'

He knew the feeling of physical and ethereal limbs. He quickly opened his eyes. What greeted him was the beautiful light of two moons.

'Is this the new world?'

The first thing he did was raise his hand to check his hands and feet. All four limbs were abnormally pale.

"Do I not have blood or something?" he jokingly asked himself, "Well, living under the sun will be hell."

Then, it was time to address the most significant issue.

'Why am I naked?'

He wasn't brought to this world but was revived-ish. So, how come his body was still naked. The Lady said he'd be revived in another person's body, so how come he was still naked?

As if responding to his question, something appeared in front of him. A floating touchscreen with foreign scribbles, he shouldn't have understood it, but he somehow could.

New Quest: [Life Under the Moon]

You have been revived with the help of Lucrecia. But to grant your wish of keeping your memory, you have been revived in the body of the newly deceased Ashe Reis. You are now an Undead.

Caution: Enlightenment Status is damaged.

After reading the "hologram," he got up and looked down at his hanging package, but it didn't answer the question of why he was naked.

"Hmm.... was I raped?"