Orion suddenly felt weightless, as if he were drifting through an endless void.
There was no ground beneath his feet, no sky above him.
Only boundless darkness stretching in every direction… and an unsettling silence filling the space around him.
Then a faint ringing echoed in his ears.
At first, he thought it was nothing more than an illusion. But the sound grew clearer, and a soft blue panel slowly materialized before his eyes, glowing quietly in the darkness.
Lines of text began to appear.
[Name: Orion]
[Energy System: Divine Energy]
[Abilities: None]
[Number of Planets: 0]
Orion stared at the floating panel, confused.
"What… is this?"
He wasn't even sure if he had spoken aloud or if the thought had simply formed in his mind.
"And where am I?"
A moment later, an answer appeared.
Not as a voice, but as a clear message that seemed to surface directly within his consciousness.
[You are in Universe 0XXX.]
Orion froze for a second.
Then he asked the question that had been lingering in the back of his mind.
"Did I… die?"
The reply came instantly.
[Yes.]
Silence followed.
For a brief moment, Orion felt a tightness in his chest.
His thoughts drifted to his family… his old life… and his only friend, Hiram.
Yet the feeling quickly faded.
Strangely enough, the sadness wasn't overwhelming.
Perhaps because everything surrounding him now felt far greater than the world he had left behind.
He looked out into the endless darkness again.
"So if I'm dead… what happens now?"
A short pause passed before new text appeared on the panel.
[I am the Divine Shepherd System.]
Orion frowned slightly.
"Divine… Shepherd?"
[My purpose is to assist you.]
[You will create planets and guide life upon them.]
Orion blinked slowly.
Create planets?
Guide life?
He repeated the words in his mind, almost testing their meaning.
Then a smile slowly formed on his face.
In his previous life, Orion had always felt a little different from others.
Not superior… just different.
As if something inside him had been waiting for the right moment to awaken.
Maybe this was that moment.
A spark of excitement lit up his eyes.
If anyone could see him now, even from hundreds of meters away, they would still notice that unmistakable smile.
Orion looked into the vast emptiness and asked one final question.
"So… what do I do first?"
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then the panel flickered again.
A new message appeared.
[You have received a mission, Shepherd.]
A second later, the next line appeared beneath it.
[Create your first planet.]