Chen Lu was having a very terrible day.
Actually, terrible was being generous.
It was one of those days when the universe seemed to have personally decided that he wasn’t allowed to enjoy himself.
His alarm had failed to ring that morning.
His breakfast had burned, the bus had left without him, and when he finally reached work, his boss spent twenty minutes complaining about a mistake Chen hadn’t even made.
By noon, he had already decided that life was super ridiculous.
By evening, he had reached a stronger conclusion.
Life was fucking ridiculous.
Chen dragged himself home through the rain, his shoes soaked and his mood even worse.
His apartment was small enough to cross in a few steps.
The paint on the walls had started peeling months ago, and the single window beside his bed had a crack running across one corner.
He had been meaning to fix it.
He had also been meaning to clean his room, do his laundry, buy actual food, and probably find a better job.
But all those things belonged to a more motivated version of Chen Lu.
Tonight, he had none.
He kicked the door shut behind him and dropped into his chair.
For the first time all day, he could finally relax.
There were no coworkers, no boss, no traffic, and nobody demanding anything from him.
Chen picked up his phone and opened his favorite manga app.
A few minutes later, he was completely absorbed in the story.
Then thunder shook the building.
BOOM!
Chen glanced toward the window.
Rain hammered against the glass.
Another flash of lightning illuminated the room, and a drop of water landed on the floor.
Then another.
Chen stared at it.
“Great.”
He grabbed a towel and pressed it against the crack, but the wind forced cold rain through the damaged frame.
“Come on.”
He tried closing the window.
It wouldn’t move.
Chen pulled harder.
Nothing.
“Move damnit!”
Still nothing.
He planted one foot against the wall and yanked with both hands.
The window suddenly shifted.
Chen stumbled backward and landed on the floor.
For several seconds, he simply sat there while rainwater spread across the floor.
His manga was still open on his phone.
On the screen, the protagonist stood triumphantly on top of a mountain after becoming some absurdly powerful immortal.
Chen looked at the screen, then at his leaking apartment.
“Must be nice.”
That protagonist had power, money, friends, enemies, adventures, and some legendary destiny waiting for him.
Chen had a leaking window.
He sighed and rubbed his face.
“What am I even doing?”
He looked through the broken window at the dark sky.
People were always talking about destiny, gods, miracles, and how life could suddenly change.
Chen had stopped believing in any of that a long time ago.
Nothing ever happened to him.
No miracle.
No adventure.
No dramatic twist.
Just work, sleep, bills, and the same routine all over again.
He stood in the middle of the room while rain soaked his sleeve.
Something inside him finally snapped.
Chen looked directly into the storm.
“Fuck you, Heaven!”
Thunder rolled across the sky.
Chen pointed upward.
“You hear me?”
His voice echoed through the apartment.
“Why can’t you just make life a little interesting?”
For a moment, the storm was the only thing answering him.
Chen let out a bitter laugh.
“Yeah. That’s what I thought.”
He turned away.
Then the sky exploded with light.
A bolt of lightning tore downward.
Chen barely had time to look up before the world became white.
The thunder arrived a heartbeat later.
Then everything disappeared.
Chen opened his eyes.
He was standing.
That was the first thing he noticed.
He looked down at himself.
His clothes were still there, his arms and legs looked normal, and there wasn’t a single injury on his body.
His apartment was gone.
So was the rain.
Chen slowly turned around.
The place was enormous, yet there was no obvious floor, ceiling, or wall.
A pale, endless space stretched in every direction, giving him no sense of distance or direction.
“What the…”
He took a cautious step.
His footsteps echoed despite the absence of visible walls.
“Am I dreaming?”
Chen pinched his arm.
“Ouch.”
He frowned.
“Okay. Not dreaming.”
A woman’s voice came from behind him.
“Little punk.”
Chen froze.
He turned around.
A woman stood several meters away.
For a moment, Chen forgot what he was about to say.
She was beautiful in a way that didn’t seem entirely human.
Long silver-white hair flowed down her back, her golden eyes carried an almost unnatural brilliance, and behind her swayed nine enormous fox tails.
Chen stared at her.
She smiled.
“You’re finally awake.”
Chen pointed at her.
“Who are you?”
She tilted her head.
“I think the better question is whether you enjoyed the lightning.”
Chen’s expression changed.
The memory came rushing back.
The storm.
The window.
His shouting.
The lightning.
His final thought.
He looked at the woman again.
“You.”
Her smile widened.
“Correct.”
“You killed me!”
The woman simply shrugged.
“You did insult Heaven.”
“I didn’t think Heaven would actually answer!” Chen threw his hands up.
“Mortals usually don’t get replies.”
Chen clenched his fists.
“Then why am I here?”
The woman stepped closer.
“Because I have something to offer you.”
Chen narrowed his eyes.
“Let me guess. Reincarnation.”
Her expression brightened.
“Very good.”
“Then send me.”
“Of course.”
Chen blinked.
“Seriously?”
“Of course.”
For the first time since waking up, Chen felt a little hopeful.
Maybe this was actually a second chance.
A new world.
A new life.
Maybe something had finally gone right for him.
The woman raised one finger.
“There’s just one condition.”
Chen’s hope immediately disappeared.
“…What condition?”
“You work for me.”
Chen stared at her.
“What?”
“For me.”
“Doing what?”
“Whatever I tell you.”
Chen folded his arms.
“How long?”
The woman smiled.
“Four thousand years.”
Chen stared at her, waiting for the punchline.
It never came.
“You’re joking.”
“No.”
“Four thousand?”
“Yes.”
“Years?”
“Yes.”
Chen looked around the strange white space before turning back toward her.
“I have to work for you for four thousand years because you killed me?”
She smiled brightly.
“Now you’re understanding.”
Chen stared at the goddess standing in front of him.
His life had finally become interesting.
Unfortunately, he was beginning to suspect that he had made a terrible mistake.
One thought kept repeating itself in his head.
I should have kept my mouth shut.
Finally people, I did it my first good novel, pls tell me if it’s good in the comments.