The Eden of Three Brothers - Chapter 1
1. Another World
"Have you ever thought about wanting to step into the pages of a book?"
Something straight out of a TV show was happening. A pink-haired woman appeared behind my lifeless body and waved at me.
"No?"
I didn't answer, but she made the judgment on her own.
"Then how about time travel?"
I was still dazed. Honestly, I didn't quite understand what she was saying. But whenever she asked a question, answers surfaced in my mind like ripples on a lakeshore.
"How boring! Don't you want to experience another world?"
No. No. I don't want to. That was my answer. She then made a troubled face. She was reading my thoughts.
"You're just accepting it? Ah. You think it doesn't matter, I see."
Even in death, her presence wasn't all that surprising. The fact that I had died was far more shocking.
"You're not dead yet."
She hummed. My head snapped around. Without realizing it, I walked over and stood before her.
She was quite tall. 180cm? No, maybe even 190cm. Perhaps because of her considerable height, I felt an intimidating pressure from her expressionless face. I cautiously asked,
"I'm not dead?"
"Finally showing some interest!"
She happily grabbed my hand. Though her hand was transparent, I could feel her body temperature. It was both cold and hot. Like Persephone who ate the pomegranate in the underworld, my stomach churned.
"Want to come with me?"
She asked enticingly. I should have shaken my head immediately.
"Please save me."
It wasn't that I had somewhere to return to. But I wasn't pessimistic enough to abandon life. I had my own life. Things like the time travel she mentioned sounded utterly absurd.
"Your body will be in a coma for the next month. You can make your choice then; it won't be too late. I'll just borrow your soul for a while. You won't die, and it won't hurt! It'll be fun!"
She didn't explain in detail what wouldn't be too late or where she intended to take me. Are divine beings usually this capricious?
"Right! Usually, they are."
The woman laughed brightly, like a young girl. She didn't refute being called a god. Was she really a deity? Or was she a demon trying to take my soul? With my soul separated from my bloodied, collapsed body, all sorts of thoughts crossed my mind.
"You're a good child."
"I'm not good."
I wanted to rebel against the god's words. If I acknowledged it, I felt like she would send me off to some unknown place.
She was mysterious. Beautiful. So nobly intimidating that I naturally accepted her divine existence. She possessed a certain power. If she wished, she could force me regardless of my answer.
"That's not it. I might just reward a good child, you know?"
The god looked at my corpse—or perhaps it wasn't a corpse since she said I wasn't dead? Paramedics from the ambulance lifted me onto a stretcher. The god pointed to a woman, restless as she held her child. It was the mother of the child I had pushed away.
A good child. Well. It wasn't that great. Before I could even think, my body had moved first. If the child wasn't hurt because I pushed them away, then it was somewhat fortunate. If both had been hurt despite my intervention, I would have regretted it.
"I saw it clearly. So come with me!"
The god—or rather, the woman claiming to be a god—slipped her arm around my shoulder. Her attitude was as cheeky as a delinquent asking if I had any money. She also seemed like a unscrupulous person luring an innocent child with candy.
It seemed useless to argue. She was set in her ways. No matter what I said, she would take me with her.
"My child is also quite clever."
The god laughed lightly and changed how she addressed me. Was it because humans are helpless creatures of god? I simply couldn't bring myself to hate her. A blind, itching affection filled my chest, like a child unable to turn away from their parents.
"How about being a hero who saves the world from destruction!"
After pondering for a while, the god slapped her palm with her fist.
"Do I have a choice?"
"No."
Then why were you thinking so hard? Seeing my bewildered expression, the god grinned mischievously.
"One month here is one year in my world. Think about it for a year. Whether you'll stay in my world or return to your life."
If I could return, and if my body would be in a coma for a month, maybe it wouldn't be so bad to go. Assuming, of course, that I were someone who enjoyed adventure.
"Wait a minute."
"What is it, child?"
"Don't play dumb. You've been reading my thoughts all along."
"Tch."
The god pouted like a sulking child and grumbled.
"You'll die."
"……"
If I died in the world she sent me to, I would die here too. Destruction, hero, unfamiliar world. Those words, already bothering me, felt like death flags.
"Eh. Would I really send you, raised in a peaceful world, to a battlefield? Your kind heart wouldn't be of any help there."
Her cold words fell like a radiant light. I'm saved. I thought so, perhaps too hastily.
"Take care of yourself, child."
I felt the muscles in my cheeks stiffen. Even if it wasn't as bad as a battlefield, an unfamiliar world was still dangerous.
No. I don't want to go. No!
Knowing it was useless, I strongly refused. As if feeling guilty, the god looked at me with a sad expression. Mercy and compassion. Warm emotions swirled in her eyes.
"Please help me."
"……"
"My poor children who could not reach completion."
What was I thinking at that moment? I'm certain it wasn't a hundred percent, absolute affirmation. Negative emotions were far stronger. The god, who had read my handful of thoughts, smiled brightly and pressed her fingertip against my forehead.
"Sleep well, my child."
This is a scam. I couldn't say it.
I collapsed into her embrace. My hair, now turned the same pink as hers, swayed like fully bloomed flowers. With the sweet scent of flowers as the last sensation, my heavy eyelids closed.
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