Bar?? opened his eyes again and let out a curse. God knows how many times this had happened—he had woken up and died hundreds, if not thousands, of times by now. Every time he opened his eyes, he found himself in a different pce, and each time, death found him.

  He had died so many times, in so many different ways, that he turned it into a game for himself. "What's going to kill me this time, I wonder?" he thought. So far, he had perished to monsters, suffocated in water, been buried alive, frozen to death in an icy biome and in space. He had fallen into a star, been stabbed in wars and by bandits that shouldn’t have existed in the same time frame as him, died in a nuclear fallout, and met countless other ends.

  Yet this time, when he opened his eyes, the death he was expecting didn’t come. Instead, two very surprised people were staring at him, trying to make sense of what was happening.

  Bar?? examined them before doing anything—his past experiences had made him far too cautious. One of them was almost unnaturally beautiful. She had an inhuman height and presence, glowing white eyes widened in shock, and silver hair that floated as if submerged in water. A simple, long white dress draped over her, complementing the divine aura she exuded. The other person was a young man with bck, snted eyes and matching dark hair, still wearing pajamas as if he had just rolled out of bed—equally surprised by the encounter.

  The divine woman was the first to speak.

  "You shouldn't be here. I only invited one person to my domain. Get out before I make you."

  Her voice wasn’t angry, but her serious, commanding tone was enough to make most people obey without question. However, for someone who had died over a thousand times, this was simply a request he had no idea how to fulfill.

  "Sure," Bar?? said, his voice carrying a clear exhaustion. "But you'll have to tell me how to do that first."

  The divine woman narrowed her eyes, scrutinizing him more carefully. "Go away the way you came in." This time, she sounded more skeptical.

  "I'd rather not... Dying really hurts, you know, no matter how many times it happens," Bar?? muttered, reminiscing about all the painful moments.

  For the first time, the divine woman moved from her spot. She stepped closer to the still-lying Bar??, leaning down to get a better look at him.

  "Interesting..." she mumbled before straightening up. "Very well. Wait here, then. I will deal with you ter." With that, she turned and walked away.

  "Aye aye, Captain," Bar?? muttered before finally surrendering to his exhaustion, drifting into the first real sleep he had experienced in what felt like an eternity.