I loved stories.
Not the kind about kings and politics, though those appeared often enough in the books I read. What fascinated me more were the people inside them—their pasts, their struggles, the quiet moments that shaped who they became.
Perhaps that was why I spent most of my life reading.
My body had never been particularly strong. For as long as I could remember, my world had mostly been quiet rooms and white ceilings. While other people walked across cities and explored distant places, I traveled through the pages of books instead.
And my favorite kind of story was always the same.
The hero's journey.
A hero leaving home to defeat the Demon King. Along the way, companions would gather around them—warriors, mages, priests—each with their own past and their own reasons for fighting. They would travel together, laugh together, struggle together.
And in the end, they would defeat the Demon King and return home.
A simple story.
But I loved it.
If I had one wish, it would be to experience a story like that myself.
Not as the hero.
Just… someone who could be there.
Someone who could watch the story unfold.
But wishes didn't matter much to someone like me.
At least, that's what I thought.
When I died at the age of twenty-three, someone was waiting for me.
A man stood in the middle of a vast white space, smiling as if he had been expecting me.
"Welcome to the afterlife."
His voice was calm and pleasant.
"You have been brought here to decide where your soul will go next."
I stared at him, still trying to process what had happened.
"But," he continued casually, "I've decided to give you a special offer."
"A special offer?"
"You lived your entire life with a weak body," he said. "So as compensation, I will grant you a wish."
Anything I wanted.
I didn't even need to think.
"I want to experience stories," I said.
He tilted his head slightly.
"Stories?"
"Hero stories," I explained. "Heroes traveling with their party, fighting monsters, defeating the Demon King. I want to experience those journeys myself."
The man watched me quietly for a moment before letting out a soft chuckle.
"That would require giving you more than one life," he said. "Normally, that's not something I would allow."
"I don't need to be the hero," I said quickly. "I can just be someone in the hero's party. A side character is fine."
"I just want to travel with them and experience the story."
The man studied me for a moment.
Then he smiled.
"Very well. I'll grant your wish."
He raised a finger.
"As a small bonus, I'll give you a blessing."
"A blessing?"
"One that ties your strength to the hero," he said simply. "As the hero grows stronger, you will grow stronger as well."
Then his smile sharpened slightly.
"Of course… there will also be a curse."
"A curse?"
"Yes."
"I'll give you the thing you hate the most."
He handed me a long scroll.
"Sign this contract."
I looked down at the parchment.
A curse.
What kind of curse could it be?
For a moment, I hesitated.
But then I imagined it again.
Traveling with the hero's party.
Listening to their stories.
Watching their journey from beginning to end.
If a curse was the price for that…
Then it was worth it.
I signed the contract.
The scroll vanished from his hand.
"Excellent."
The empty white space around us suddenly trembled.
Something massive began to form behind him.
A giant white gate slowly rose from the ground.
It towered above us, its surface smooth like polished marble. Light poured from within the gate, so bright that I couldn't see what lay beyond it.
Then I noticed something on the right side of the gate.
A small metal panel.
Three glowing digits were embedded into it.
001
"What's that number?" I asked.
"That marks the story you're about to enter," the man replied.
"Each time you pass through one of these gates, you begin a new life."
"A new story."
He gestured toward the digits.
"This one is 001."
"The next will be 002."
"And so on."
"You said you wanted to experience many hero stories."
"This is how we'll count them."
Something about that explanation made me uneasy.
A thought suddenly crossed my mind.
"Wait," I said.
"What about the curse I'll get—"
Before I could finish—
His hand suddenly slammed against my chest.
The force pushed me backward.
My body stumbled through the shining gate as the light swallowed my vision.
I began to fall.
Slowly drifting deeper into the endless white.
Above me, the man stood at the entrance of the gate.
And that was when I saw it.
His smile had changed.
Sharp teeth.
And from his head, black thorns slowly twisted outward like a crown.
"Oh, right," he said.
"I forgot to explain your curse."
His voice echoed as I continued falling.
"The moment the hero defeats the Demon King…"
My heart skipped.
"You will die within five minutes."
My eyes widened.
"And when that happens…"
"Your heart will explode."
Wait.
That wasn't a god.
That was—
A demon.
The light vanished.
Everything turned pitch black.
For a moment, there was nothing.
No sound.
No feeling.
Then—
My eyes slowly opened.
A cold wind brushed across my face.
Above me stretched a sky I had never seen before.
001
And thus,
my first story began.