Arise, Reed.
The words slithered into his skull before he even knew he was awake.
Darkness hung around him for what felt like forever, pressing against him like a soggy blanket that had been left in the washer too long.
And then—
COUGH! COUGH!
Reed jolted up like someone had hit him with a car battery. He hacked and wheezed, each cough feeling like it was sandpapering his lungs. His hand thumped against his chest as he sucked in air like he'd just come out of a deep dive.
His eyes were wide, darting around like a cornered animal.
What the hell happened? Where the hell am I?
Before he could answer himself, the voice came again—deep, resonant, and laced with a weight that crushed into his bones.
"You are dead, Reed Williams."
The chill wasn't just from the words. It was in the way they were said—like the voice had been dipped in thunder and marinated in apocalypse.
Reed's gaze flicked toward the source.
A figure loomed there—massive, white, and glowing with the kind of light that burned itself into your retinas. No face. No eyes. No mouth. Just a vaguely human shape made of pure radiance, standing like it owned the concept of existing.
Reed froze for a moment, just staring. The being stared back—or at least he felt like it was staring back.
After a long pause, the figure tilted its head, just slightly. "You're… not going to scream?"
Reed raised an eyebrow. "Why the hell would I?"
The figure shifted. "Every human I've met has been… entirely terrified of me."
Reed gave him a slow once-over. "No offense, big guy, but you look like a saggy, overused condom. That's not scary—that's just sad."
Silence. The kind that could suffocate you.
"…Excuse me?"
Reed grinned. "I mean, no insult intended. I thought we were just being straight with each other here."
The being's glow pulsed faintly. "I have lived for thousands of years, and no mortal has ever dared throw an insult like that at me. You insolent human."
"Hey, I said it wasn't an insult." Reed shrugged. "Just calling it as I see it."
The being straightened. "You want me to be straight, then? Fine. You. Are. Dead."
Reed squinted. "…Yeah, I kinda figured."
The god—or whatever it was—froze. "…What?"
"Well," Reed said, counting on his fingers, "one, there's nobody here. Two, I distinctly remember getting hit by a truck. Three, my surroundings are giving off heavy afterlife vibes. So, yeah. Dead. Not exactly Sherlock-level deduction."
"This… does not upset you?" the being asked.
"Why would it?" Reed said. "Sure, Mom and Dad will probably be bummed, but honestly? They're kind of douches. I was broke, socially nonexistent, and my love life was basically a barren wasteland with occasional cacti of regret. It's not like I was living the dream."
"…So you have no regrets?"
"Oh, I have one." Reed's expression brightened. "I was halfway through my favorite harem story—The Taboo Triangle: God of Mischief. Paid for all 566 chapters. I need to know if the MC becomes the Taboo God. Priorities, you know?"
The being stared. No words. Just a pure, silent radiance of disbelief.
"That's… sick," it finally said.
Reed grinned lazily. "Sick in a bad way, or sick in a 'my sense of humor is an acquired taste' way?"
The being didn't answer right away, which gave Reed the perfect opening to sigh dramatically and lean back on his elbows. "So… what's going on here? Are you here to take me to hell? 'Cause, honestly, I'd be shocked if I got into heaven with this mind of mine. I mean, my search history alone would probably cause Saint Peter to vomit."
The being studied him for a few moments, the silence heavy but not hostile.
> "Hmm. You are quite the… lively character. My last client was a little like you. Funny, strange… overly confident for someone whose soul was freshly evicted from their body. He's living a good life now—though, incidentally, he's about to die. Again."
The way the being chuckled after that gave Reed the impression this was less of a tragedy and more of a sitcom rerun for him.
Then the being continued,
> "So… I'm going to give you a choice."
Reed's ears perked. "Choice? What kind of choice? Are we talking 'pick a door and hope it's not the one with a tiger,' or 'take the blue pill or red pill'?"
> "Neither. I'm going to send you into a world—a story world. Specifically, the one you were reading before your… accident. You will live there, and maybe by the time your life ends again, you'll see that your current mentality is… not exactly admirable."
Reed blinked, his grin widening into a smirk. "Hold up. Are you saying you can put me inside a novel? Like, any novel I want?"
The being tilted its head.
> "Yes. Any novel of your choice."
That was all Reed needed to hear. He bolted upright, practically vibrating with excitement. "YES. Yes, yes, YES! Put me in The Taboo Triangle: God of Mischief! Come on, beam me in! Inject me into the plot! I was BORN for this!"
The being stepped back slightly as if Reed's enthusiasm were physically repelling.
> "Calm yourself. You are making me sick. And I warn you—you will regret this by the end. By the time I'm done with you, you won't want to look at another taboo romance for the rest of your existence."
Reed clasped his hands together, eyes sparkling like a kid at a candy store. "Oh, absolutely, I'll be a good boy. I'm totally going there for… uh… personal discipline. Yep. No impure thoughts whatsoever. Just spiritual growth and moral enlightenment."
Of course, that was a bald-faced lie. Reed knew exactly what he was getting into—and exactly what he was going for.
Because The Taboo Triangle: God of Mischief wasn't just any story world. It was a shamelessly over-the-top, taboo-filled harem MILF saga where practically every female character was drawn like the artist had been bribed by a lingerie company.
And soon, Reed would be inside it.
The thought alone made him grin like a man who'd just been handed a winning lottery ticket.
And so, with a single snap of the god's fingers, the reed shimmered, flickered, and vanished into thin air—like a secret stolen by the wind. In that instant, the emblematic felt the gentle tug of fate, drawing him away from his world and into the waiting arms of an adventure yet untold.