"Yomite Hissha, welcome to the afterlife. Your story has sadly come to an end, as you've... died. It might've been short, but your life's now over. You've died at an age of 25 in an elevator accident."

Someone suddenly spoke to him.

"Elevator accidents are very uncommon, although they do occur. Your employer hadn't conducted a repair check in years, so it was inevitable that this would happen sooner or later."

Yomite wasn't even able to register what was happening.

He had no perception of reality and appeared to be drifting in a dream.

Everything was hazy and unclear. It was as if you were drunk and on the verge of puking up, but at the same time, you felt entirely at ease.

Out of nowhere, he found himself in this pure white room, feeling nothing but peace and comfort, as if the weight of his sins from the previous twenty-five years had been lifted from his shoulders and dumped onto the ground.

In truth, it was his body that vanished, which explained why he felt so light. Only his soul, the remains of his essence, remained.

Nonetheless, he could still see and feel, which was convenient.

The unexpected turn of events continued to perplex him. Why was he here? Would he enter hell or heaven after his passing? Did purgatory exist?

Trying to ignore the frightening thoughts, he glanced around the spatial astral place he was in.

The ceiling was made out of what resembled a galaxy, yet it was not the Milky Way. He didn't know why, but he was sure it wasn't.

The galaxy was coated in white, fluffy clouds, and he couldn't deny that it looked quite silly to have a ceiling full of stars, and put clouds over it...

In the expansive white chamber stood a desk and a throne covered in ruby jewels. The individual who declared his life to be over sat on the throne in question.

He observed that the young woman seated on the majestic throne was holding something in her hands. There was a book present. The book's cover suggested that it was a fantasy fiction. One of Yomite's many preferred genres.

It was difficult to disregard her looks. If a goddess existed, she had to be it.

She had long, silky smooth black hair.

She appeared to be a teenager, but as a divine entity, her age could not be determined. Her chest was flat, but flat breasts also deserved affection.

She was more beautiful than the television stars; she possessed a radiance that transcended humanity. He had dated quite a few women in his lifetime, but none were even quite as attractive as she was.

"I'm only an astral being. I am genderless, thus there is no need for excitement." The entitytalked as though she could read his mind.

"...I see...shame." Yomite attempted to remain composed, but the realization that she could likely read his thoughts was disconcerting, yet also slightly exciting.

As he attempted to fully understand what was happening, the beauty blinked her eyes, which were the same color as her hair, and peered at him.

Mysteriously calm, he asked the beauty before him:

"...May I ask a question?"

The gorgeous 'woman' nodded in response to his query. He would refer to her as a woman as it seemed much easier in his mind.

"Please proceed." While maintaining uninterrupted line of sight with the book she was reading.

He opened his mouth and asked, "What you said just now...that I've died...is that true? I only faintly remember it, but it feels as if those memories weren't even mine..."

"I have no reason to lie. You did in fact, die. It was an impressive spectacle, I must admit. Your whole body was crushed. Just try to remember. Sometimes, after death, it takes a while for the soul to recover its memories." She flipped to another page of her book and resumed reading.

Yomite put his hands on his head, but they slipped through, catching nothing. Left with nothing but the soul, he delved deeper into his memories and thought about what happened a few moments ago...

He worked as an editor and the reviewer for a publishing company.

The area of his expertise were books and novels. Some fanfictions as well, albeit that was uncommon, as it was nearly impossible for a fanfiction to outshine an original story. However, there were cases in which few fanfictions were awarded contracts, despite the fact that they had to be of sufficient quality.

He was about to bring his boss a new outlet of original stories that arrived from new promising authors such as Mad Snail and Xin Feng.

In his bones, he could feel their potential. Despite the fact that their novels featured overpowered protagonists, he believed they had potential because the comedy, action sequences, and overall accomplishment of these characters were perfectly balanced.

There were many fans of genres such as Overpowered protagonist, harem, comedy, and weak to strong. Face-slapping was also extremely popular, so he was sure they would shine.

After all was said and done, he signed a contract with them and was excited to tell his boss, but during the elevator ride, something went wrong with the engine, and the elevator car malfunctioned. It dropped from the eighth floor to the first floor, crushing him instantaneously.

The building had been cited for an elevator problem in May, and the employees said the elevators had previously malfunctioned, yet no one bothered to do anything about it.

Unfortunately, he wasn't aware of it.

According to insurance estimates, the chances of being killed by an elevator were approximately 1 in 10 million.

He was more likely to be killed by a bear. And it was nearly ten times more likely he would die in his bathtub....

Yet the poor man died the way he did.

"Yomite Hissha, your job was to review...books, is that correct?"

Yomite absentmindedly nodded and replied, "That's right. I've been doing it for over ten years at this point."

"Magnificent! Could I ask a favor of you? Would you please listen to the conclusion of my narrative and provide me with your expert feedback? I would appreciate that much."

The innocent gaze of the "lady" pierced into him, and he could not help but agree.

"...It's fine, I guess. I don't mind. It's not like I have anything else to do after dying anyway..."

"Great! That's the spirit!" The woman was overjoyed.

"....."

If he was in the mood for this, he would tell her the pun was nice, but it truly wasn't...

Well, there was also something in it for him. Perhaps if it was good and he gave her a positive rating, she would send him to heaven instead of hell.

That would be nice.

"That's great! Well then-" She settled into her seat and began. Her aura suddenly transformed from that of a playful child to that of a serious teacher.

Yomite couldn't help but appreciate the sight. He found it really charming when someone dedicated their attention to reading a book without regard for what other people thought.

The young "goddess" sat on her red throne, playing with the ends of her black hair while holding the book in her hands. Despite having no gender, her skin was as white as pearls, and it was difficult for him to believe that the being in front of him was not a woman.

She was holding a cyan-colored book that emanated some sort of divine light with every touch.

Her delicate fingers stroked across the book's frame as she turned the page carefully.

"---A boy and a girl, stood amidst the atmosphere, under an unfamiliar sky. They were a pair of traveling twins, passing through countless worlds during their journey. Descending upon a continent named Teyvat, they planned on moving away, but the scenery left them captivated. Out of all the worlds they have seen, none were this beautiful..."

"But as if on purpose, the scenery soon changed into that of blazing hell, as they saw the world turn into turmoil. A cataclysm was raging across the land, turning the beautiful scenery into a scene of carnage. Afraid they would get caught up in all of this, the twins wanted to quickly leave the world, but unfortunately for them, an unknown god crossed paths with them and confronted them. She took away one of the twins, filling his mind with nightmares and corrupting him, successfully turning him into her puppet, while she killed the other one. The world was ending, every resident dying, every insect suffering, every animal awaited its end in anguish. The end."

The goddess closed the book in her hands and regarded the individual who stood before her.

"A sad but satisfying end, wasn't it?"

"...Well...what to say...as a premise this would have piqued my interest as it shows plenty of potential in a lot of fields, and isekai genre is still very popular, but to call that an ending would be an insult..."

The goddess narrowed her eyes and smiled, "Is that so? Please elaborate."

"Well...first of all, you didn't let me immerse myself into the story. I barely know these characters, and you already ended it by killing them off? Who does that? Why should I care if some random character from some random novel dies? I have no emotional attachment towards those people or that particular book at all."

"Moreover, the conclusion was awful. There was no mention of an epic battle that could have occurred, its aftermath, or anything else...The phrase "The End" is insufficient to describe who the twins were, who the unknown god was, what their purpose was, why they traveled the worlds, literally nothing! There is so much space for improvement that the only way is up! It's making me go insane!"

The man was outraged and experienced in reviewing as he was doing it for years. He didn't hold his tongue despite being in front of a godlike entity that could end him with a simple thought.

"I see...So you are saying that in order for you to feel the flow of the story, the soul of the story itself has to be better interpreted, explained, and has to have a proper ending?"

"Exactly! I mean, what you were reading had no conclusion. It felt more like a summary or description! It was too brief to qualify as one... And the conclusion was not at all satisfying! I felt as if I were reading Domestic no Kanojo for the second time! It doesn't have to be a happy ending. It can be tragic, but at least give it some depth and explanations! That's all I am asking for!"

The goddess laughed at his remarks, "Thank you very much for the feedback...You are very funny. I can work with that. In that case, I will use you."

"Huh? What was that?"

"If it's you...then perhaps you'd be better off traveling there instead of to Gridania..."

"Excuse me, what are you exactly murmuring under your breath, dear Goddess? Gridania? Did I hear you correctly? But that's..."

"Oh, nothing, and don't call me a goddess since I'm no longer one. I am merely a residue of a fallen entity." She gracefully reopened the book on the last page. She shuffled around her pockets and pulled out an eraser.

She then placed the eraser on the paper, and the moment she did, the text on the page was magically erased, as if none of that ever happened.

"Then...What about this..."

She giggled, brimming with delight.

"Hm?"

"The unknown god took away one of the twins and didn't manage to kill the second one due to the fallen entity's intervention, sealing her away into a deep slumber, and once she awoke, the world has changed. The flames of war raged no longer, and nothing was left that looked familiar. Now, the story is just beginning, the journey to find her brother and to defeat the unknown god. The story inside of Teyvat."

She descended from her throne and strode towards Yomite while carrying the book.

"How does it sound? The ending was altered."

Yomite pondered for some time before responding "Well, it was handled significantly better than previously, but I'd have to read the full story or at least half of it, before I could give you a good evaluation. So far, it has been at best mediocre, perhaps less than an ordinary fantasy novel."

The goddess stared at him blankly, "You are genuinely...interesting. You have no fear of the consequences of your actions...Humans sure are free-spirited."

"I sure am afraid of stuff. I was just a poor victim of you think about it. If they fixed the elevator, then I would be still reviewing books. I am still afraid of pain, and I am nowhere near immune to it. However, now that I have experienced death, I feel calmer than ever before. Maybe it's because I no longer need to crush or dictate someone's life when it comes to writing. I am free. You know, maybe it was better to die in that elevator, rather than to get attacked by someone one day because I canceled the publication of their novel." Yomite's soul sighed as he fell silent.

"Your intestines and bones were crushed inside of the falling elevator. What a beautiful and gory way to go out..." The goddess giggled.

"...That's really morbid and not nice...But forget it...It's probably impossible for me to understand an entity like you. Am I destined for paradise or hell? Since I've been so impolite, I'm definitely imagining hell..." He sighed.

This was one of his problems. He was too honest and upfront, especially when it came to something he loved. Maybe he would have gone to heaven if he had laughed and told her that her story was incredible, but now he was destined for damnation.

'Yomite...you are such an idiot...' He cursed himself in his mind.

The woman pondered over his words like a scholar.

"...I shall take that as a compliment. And no, you don't need to worry. There is no heaven nor hell. Humans who die typically continue to exist as souls until the end of time. Which I find somewhat monotonous. I like to read a nice book, don't you think? However, I can give you a choice. The most interesting bunch of individuals gets to experience what's it like to be transported to a random world of my choosing. For my own entertainment, of course."

"Transported to a... world?" Yomite was initially bewildered, but his expression soon brightened. 'Is this what I think it is!? The fantasy novel turning into an isekai?'

"Yes, just like I've stated. If I find them entertaining enough, they receive a second chance at life. This is our first encounter, Yomite Hissha. My name's Sia. I am a fallen being of creation who leads humans to the afterlife. Now, ignoring my interest in entertainment and pleasure, you have two choices."

She laughed when she saw that Yomite was attentive and continued, "The first option available to you is to release all of your regrets, memories, and everything else in order to enter the soul stream and wander aimlessly for all of eternity. The second option is to have your soul transferred into a new body and be "Reborn" with all of your memories intact. You'd start a new life. A fresh tale. Obviously, with a new body, as your old one was pretty much destroyed."

Yomite immediately chose the second option.

There was no point in losing everything when it was possible to start over. What sort of moron would select that? It was a wonderful opportunity. In addition, he thought that his life had been extremely brief and that he had yet to do many things. He was confident in his decision and pressed the matter, "I chose option number two. What do I do now?"

"You are quite the impatient man, aren't you? Well then..."

The moment she waved her hand, a ray of light entered his spirit. Yomite was startled and thought it might hurt as it directly penetrated his ghost-like body, but it was just warm and didn't harm him in any way.

What exactly was that?

She winked at him and smiled, "Oh, just a small gift from me. The world I'm sending you to seems a bit dangerous, and it's only natural for me to give you something in return for your professional review. Also, I dislike weak protagonists, so that's that. You may not be the strongest from the beginning, but you will eventually learn the way."

"...I see..."

"You will be the story's new protagonist. You alone determine how the plot will continue to develop. Whether the main heroine dies or finds her sibling, you will have a significant impact on the outcome, so keep that in mind. I have granted you three powers. The Tempus of the Narrative, the Tempus of the Heart, and the Tempus of the Particles."

"The Tempus of The Narrative let's you choose the optimal way to progress the story and dialogues, and once activated, you cannot disable it and have to choose one of the options provided. There is always one good option, one alright option, and one that is very bad and usually leads to a disaster scenario. So do be cautious when using it. There is also a two day cooldown for it."

"The Tempus of The Heart let's you peek into the desires of any person or even an animal. You will see what they like and dislike, it even has a relationship meter of how the targets feel about you. Whether its men or women. It can also give you a small portion of the target's information like name, age, race, and so on. Its essentially the 'Observe' ability you people love so much...Definitely use this to your advantage if you wish to learn about someone. It might also work on some of the special items, like artifacts or materials."

"The Tempus of The Particles is an offensive ability that will aid you in defeating the majority of your foes. It is really difficult to maintain, but you should get the hang of it after a few attempts. The ability conjures a cube of particles that can erase the nearby structures or enemies from existence, so be sure to keep it in check and not to use it around other people. It takes a bit for you to charge it before you can use it, so it's a pretty big downsid. Don't completely rely on that."

"The last thing I am going to mention is related to magic as we are running out of time. All of the spells, abilities, and magic are projected through a thing called Vision. Vision is usually an amulet and is a gift from gods to the residents. Now, just so you know, I don't have the right to give away a Vision to you, so I am just giving you a bunch of abilities instead. You will be awarded a Tattoo of The Fallen from me, which will be acting as a catalyst for your abilities instead of the VIsion, but people may find it suspicious if you use The Tempus of The Particles without Vision, so bear it in mind."

Yomite nodded. Although he had some questions, he preferred to experiment on his own, rather than listening to a tutorial guide. It was more fun to explore stuff on his own.

Who liked to read through a tutorial? It was like reading through the terms of services. Nobody did that...

Then again, she seemed to be in a hurry as well, so he wouldn't have much time to ask anything anyway...

It was now time to enjoy the new isekai life.

After she was finished, she put the book she was holding on top of his ghost-like shoulder and asked him, "Are you ready, for your adventure?"

"Yes." Yomite nodded without hesitation.

"Then, without further ado, I would like to welcome you to the world of Teyvat." With a quick motion, she swung the book through his soul, making him disappear.

"Before you enter, a new body will be formed for you. It will be randomly generated, but worry not, your strength, stamina and so on will be enchanced or else you may just die in a few seconds. You will be essentially a higher human in training to become a god, but there will still be tons of threats capable of killing you." Was the last thing Yomite heard before the light in front of him faded away.

The fluffy clouds in the background slowly began to spread around the galaxy ceiling.

They spread everywhere like a rug with no end, encircling a certain planet.

"Show me the genre. Show me the choices you make. Show me what you consider to be...an interesting story worthy of a 5-star review. You will either destroy the world, or save it."