System's POV

Thirteen found himself standing by the river.

Seeing the familiar haunted surroundings and sensing the gloomy atmosphere, he didn’t need to think before realizing where he was.

‘Am I dead?’ Thirteen thought.

This wasn’t the first time he had seen the river where the souls of the dead go when they die.

Humans had given this place many names.

The River of Styx, Acheron, Lethe, Phlegethon, Cocytus, and many more names that had been passed down from generation to generation.

Thirteen looked at the other side of the river, hoping to see some familiar faces.

But he saw no one.

It was probably for the best.

But after looking around for a while, he sighted a small boat being rowed by a ferryman.

Seeing the color of the boat and the clothes the ferryman was wearing, Thirteen thought that he might have been sent to a different place.

Why?

Their colors were completely out of place.

The ferryman he knew donned a black cloak, but the one before him had a rather… unique sense of fashion. He wore a vividly colored jacket with an “I Love Kazo!” emblem written in bold letters, and on his head was a white bandana with a heart in the middle of it.

Also, the boat, which was supposed to be pitch black, was pink for some reason.

That said, Thirteen believed that he might be in a different multiverse from the one he knew.

The ferryman finally noticed him and stopped rowing the boat. However, he didn’t move the boat closer to the riverside and simply stared at the teenage boy with an amused smile on his face.

“Child, what are you doing here?” the Ferryman asked. “This is not yet your time to be here. Did your soul perhaps wander too far from your body? Or have you entered a state of deep sleep that caused your soul to leave your body for a while?”

“Maybe both?” Thirteen asked. “I’m not really sure. This is the first time this happened to me.”

The Ferryman nodded in understanding because this wasn’t the first time that he had seen something like this.

“Then allow me to give you some advice,” the Ferryman said. “Find the exit, and leave this place as soon as you can.”

“And how do I do that?” Thirteen blinked.

“Well, just follow those signs behind you,” the Ferryman pointed behind Zion’s back. “Can’t you see them?”

The teenager looked behind him, and saw flashing neon signs that said “exit is over here.”

There were even arrows indicating the direction he needed to go.

Bu, what caught his attention was the billboard of a rainbow-colored Anteater drinking a can of soda. Right below the picture were the words “Livin’ Da Vida Cola! Zero Sugar Added!”

The corner of Thirteen’s lips twitch. He had not visited this place for about five centuries, but he never expected that it would change so drastically.

“Well, then. I don’t know what’s troubling you, but do your best,” the Ferryman said before giving Thirteen a wink. “Remember, live a great life, and die a great Death.”

After parting those words of wisdom, the Ferryman continued to row his boat and disappeared not long after.

Thirteen thanked him in his heart before following the neon signs that led to the “Fire Exit,” which would allow the wandering souls to return to the real world.

The moment Thirteen opened the Fire Exit door, he saw someone leaning against the wall, as if waiting for him.

“Do you have some time?” asked that person with a smile.

It was Thirteen’s first Host, Sun Wukong, also known as the Monkey King.

“I’ll always have time for you, Wukong,” Thirteen replied.

“Great.” Sun Wukong chuckled before giving the teenage boy a hug. “You’ve grown a bit, Thirteen.”

“Grown a bit?” Thirteen blinked. “Did you forget? I’m older than you.”

“By only a few days,” Sun Wukong smirked. “Now, let’s get out of here.”

The Monkey King grabbed the young man and somersaulted all the way to the Celestial Realm.

Sun Wukong took Thirteen in a sea of clouds and landed on one of the islands in that place.

There, Thirteen saw three familiar Gods, which he had interacted with in the past. One of them was even his current Patron God, who was none other than the Skip God.

“Thirteen!” a young lady wearing a red-riding hood costume jumped toward the teenage boy with her arms spread wide.

Unfortunately, instead of catching her, Thirteen dodged to his right side, making the Goddess, Lily, fall into the sea of clouds with a Poof!

“Hahaha!” a little angel with a bow in hand chuckled at the sight of his friend getting snubbed by the teenage boy. “You’re still the same, Thirteen. And here I thought, you’ve become more human as of late.”

Cupid flew toward the teenage boy with a smirk on his angelic face.

“It’s also good to see you again, Cupid,” Thirteen replied before reluctantly picking up the little Goddess, who was still lying face down beside his feet. “You too, Lily. It’s good to see that you’re still as lively as ever.”

“Hehehe!” Lily giggled before hugging Thirteen, whom she had been watching ever since he became a human in Pangea. “I saw everything Thirteen. You are so cool!”

“Indeed.” Cupid nodded. “That was really amazing. Even other Gods are now paying attention to you.”

Thirteen knew that the two were talking about his recent battle with Lucan.

Originally, he planned to keep Fers Du Celestia a secret. But it was impossible to defeat the High Archon if he didn’t use his Divine Weapon.

A weapon that had the power to bind Gods.

Thirteen glanced at the Skip God, who looked like an ordinary middle-aged man one could see anywhere.

He looked pretty harmless, but his power was the real deal.

With a single word, “skip,” things could end in a heartbeat.

Thirteen had used this power to defeat the System God in the Temple of Courage by instantly skipping to the ending of his attack, preventing the System God from reacting.

It was an overpowered ability, and in Thirteen’s hands, it was a weapon that could be used to create miracles.

But there was a price for it.

Every time Thirteen used it, his lifespan would decrease.

Of course, it wouldn’t shave off years of his life.

At the bare minimum, an hour.

At the maximum, a month.

But when the Skip God granted Thirteen his powers, he also gave him a warning.

“To skip is to steal time from the world. And time, like all debts, must be paid.”

And Thirteen had kept that advice close to his heart.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!