Chapter 01
The original plan was simple.
Capture the prince of the enemy nation just before the war.
Treat him decently, feed him well, make sure he’s comfortable—while secretly gathering intel on their movements.
It was supposed to be a win-win situation for both sides…
“I only have you, Sid.”
“……”
“Don’t leave me.”
Yeah. To be honest, this was not part of the plan.
This was a big problem.
I had tamed the enemy prince.
And I did it way too well.
“Congratulations! You’re dead.”
“……”
Right. This is where it all began.
One day, a so-called “god” appeared in front of me and said:
“Hey, did you not hear me? You’ve already died—”
“I heard you. Can you be quiet for a second? I’m trying to think.”
I asked for some peace and quiet to gather my thoughts, and the “god” frowned at me.
He looked at me like he couldn’t believe such a human existed—but that wasn’t the issue right now.
Let me think for a second.
‘I was definitely just on the battlefield.’
The country I live in—Calyx—has been at war with the enemy nation, Dorzhen, for five years.
Our nations never got along, but things really went downhill because of one pivotal event:
Five years ago, on the day of their political wedding to promote unity, the emperor of Dorzhen and the princess of Calyx were assassinated.
Both sides accused the other of the assassination, and eventually, that led to war.
And me—Theodore Lil Calyx, younger sister of the late Princess Cassandra of Calyx—
“Damn Dorzhen bastards. Today, I’ll end this war!”
As usual, I was charging through the battlefield with full force.
“Your Highness, over there! The emperor of Dorzhen has appeared!”
“He finally shows himself.”
I looked up at the soldier’s cry and saw a man atop a massive warhorse in the distance.
Jet-black hair like obsidian and blood-red eyes.
That was Theodore Dorzhen, my long-time nemesis and my sister’s murderer.
“Theodore Dorzhen! Today, I take your head!”
I charged straight at him.
And then—
BOOM!
A dazzling light flashed in the sky and a massive beam of light crashed down in front of me.
It exploded into countless shards, followed by a deafening roar and a giant vortex.
“Theodore-nim!”
“Your Highness!”
My knights rushed toward me in panic—but it was useless.
The light rapidly expanded, engulfing everything around me.
And just like that, I was swallowed into it.
And now…
“I am one of the three gods who support this world. Specifically, the god of life and death—Valrua.”
“……”
“It may be hard to believe, but you just died.”
For some reason, this supposed god was telling me I had died.
Wait—hold on. What?
“Excuse me, but I think there’s been a mistake.”
“Mistake? Gods don’t make mistakes.”
“Yeah, but clearly you just made one, didn’t you?”
Me? Dead? No way.
I protested, insisting something was wrong. The man, annoyed, sighed and pulled out a book from somewhere.
“Look here. Maerin Bell. You were struck in the heart by a spear thrown by an enemy soldier. Instant death. It’s written right here.”
…It was.
It really was.
But here’s the thing—
“My name is Theodore Calyx.”
“Yes, Maerin Bell.”
“No, I said Theodore Calyx.”
“Maerin…”
“Theodore.”
The repetitive argument made the so-called god pause.
His golden eyes began to shake as if he’d realized something was seriously wrong.
After a long silence—
“…Hmm. It seems I may have brought the wrong person.”
Knew it.
So much for “gods don’t make mistakes”!
“Send me back! Right now!”
Frustrated, I jumped up on the desk and yelled at him.
That didn’t satisfy me, so I grabbed his collar—he flailed in panic.
It didn’t do much, but still.
“Hurry up and send me back! I’m a commander in the middle of a war! It’s chaos without me right now!”
How could this happen at such a crucial time?
I kept demanding he fix it before it got worse, and the panicked god finally shouted:
“Sorry, but I can’t!”
“Why not?!”
“Once a human steps foot in this world, they can’t return to their original one. I’m sorry, but you’ll have to stay.”
“What are you talking about?!”
Was this god serious?
As I shouted, the god quickly raised his hands in surrender.
“L-Look! Don’t worry! As compensation, I’ll send you to heaven! Just calm down…”
“Why would I care about heaven?! Someone alive is about to die!”
“Ahem. Sorry about that. Delivery mistakes happen from time to time… Anyway, that’s final. Theodore Calyx, I hereby declare your entry into heaven!”
Just like that, a white soul appeared and started to surround me.
Then it began to drag me away somewhere.
Wait. No. I can’t die like this!
“You con artist! If I go to heaven, I’ll tell all the other gods you murdered an innocent person!”
“W-Wait. STOP! STOP!!”
Panicked, the god who had been ignoring me suddenly shouted.
Now’s my chance. I shook off the soul and jumped back on the desk.
“Death is a restful eternity… Sometimes death is better than life—”
“Oh yeah? Want to try it yourself?”
“…What an insolent mortal.”
I asked him how he liked the sound of death. His face twisted, but only for a moment.
Then, holding his head, he sighed deeply.
“Ugh. Bringing someone back to life is complicated. There’s hundreds of forms to fill out…”
“Guess I will report you to the other gods…”
“FINE! I’LL SEND YOU BACK!”
SLAM! He pounded the desk and shouted.
Anyone listening might’ve thought I was the one throwing a tantrum to be brought back to life.
“Alright, listen. Like I said, once a human enters this world, sending them back is a huge hassle. So… here’s what we’ll do.”
The god took a deep breath and said cautiously:
“You never entered this world in the first place. I never saw you. You never saw me. And you must never tell anyone what happened here. Got it?”
“Got it.”
No hesitation—I nodded.
If I could just go back, I’d agree to anything.
As I urged him to hurry up, the god wiped his face and raised a hand.
In a weak voice, he said:
“…Go out through the left door.”
Huh? Left door?
As he spoke, two doors appeared behind him.
‘Wait. That’s it? I just walk out? What was all that fuss for, then?’
I had plenty to say—but I’d save it for the next time I visited.
Right now, the war came first.
‘Left door. He said the left door.’
I opened the left door, and pure white light spilled out.
Clenching my fists, I dove into it bravely.
“Just wait, Theodore Dorzhen. I’m coming!”
This time, I would end him for good.
BANG!
The door slammed shut with a deafening boom.
“Phew… Finally. The noisy one is gone.”
God Valrua let out a sigh and collapsed onto the desk.
His long white hair draped over his shoulder and fell to the floor.
“I should be fine without reporting this upstairs, right? They’ve been on my case lately… If they find out about this—huh?”
He froze mid-mumble.
Something felt off.
“Hey, which door did that woman just go through?”
“Didn’t you tell her to go through the left one, Lord Valrua?”
The nearby white soul replied politely, even pointing at one of the doors.
The one located on Valrua’s right side.
“You idiot! That’s the RIGHT door!”
“But from our side, that’s the left one.”
“I meant my left!”
“Well, you should’ve said so.”
“…!”
Valrua’s face turned pale at the soul’s indifferent response.
He stared at the door—what should have been the right one—and sighed.
“…This is bad!”
“Ugh…”
God, this sucks.
This was already the second time today I’d been knocked unconscious and woken up again.
What? Yeah. That’s the shocking part.
The only good news was that I wasn’t dead this time—just sent back.
‘Haha. Who gets abducted by a god in the middle of a battlefield? The knights will love this story.’
But I’d made a deal with that damned god, so I sighed and opened my eyes.
“…Huh?”
At least I wasn’t staring at a blank white world again.
The problem? This wasn’t a battlefield either.
So what was I looking at?
“…A bare… chest?”
For some reason, right in front of my face was a firm, naked chest.
Wait—what now?
I blinked at it for a moment, then slowly sat up.
That’s when I noticed: a completely unfamiliar room.
And me, sitting on a huge bed… with a man lying next to me.
And that man’s face looked very familiar.
“…Theodore Dorzhen?”
Wait. What the hell?!
Why the hell was I in the same bed as that bastard?!
