My name is Kaden and today I turned twenty-six years old... and I just died. Literally a moment ago.

Growing up in a rather poor-off family in the age of the internet has been tough; not because it was hard but because of how many commitments I have! Getting a job, finding a girlfriend, and dealing with student debt are just the tips of the iceberg when it comes to responsibility!

But allow me to start with who I am. I'm the oldest brother of three, the oldest grandson of fourteen, and the only one who had an education beyond "schoolwork". Not only that, but I was raised by my grandparents! Sports never were too big in my family - whom all have strict military and law enforcement backgrounds or plush doctorial programs - so I studied music and writing. Everyone always asked why I didn't play sports due to my size and strength, yet how could I explain I preferred the more gentle things? My competitive spirit wasn't reliant on physical contact. It was reliant on the social and mental stimulation I felt when I won! It's why I loved marching contests, solo and small band festivals, and writing competitions!

That is, of course, when I wasn't playing video games.

As one might have guessed, the age of the internet changed mankind considerably; video games of all shapes and sizes were my lifeblood! It led me to grow fascinated with technology, encouraged me to study, and made me hopeful for the future. Fiction becoming real beyond the pages of the book! It was always hard whenever I watched Shield Slam Offline or Crack.Hax0r and their full-world immersion, being able to truly experience different worlds! Manga worlds spurred the evolution of the Eastern market and in-turn the Western, pushing toward games for VR and system depths the like no one had ever seen!

But my fascination with games, as one might guess, interrupted everything for me.

I studied the way of isekai manga and played their games, leaving behind my education and musical fascination all for the sake of pursuing that outer world. As great as humanity and life are, why can't I dream to enjoy more!? That's the pursuit of happiness, isn't it!? Little did I know, this would all lead up to horrible decisions.

I never really had an interest in romance, yet everyone I knew or thought maybe they could be the one was getting married. My friends left to pursue their happiness. My grandparents sold my instruments and books while taking care of the things I thought so trivial. My health deteriorated and all I could think about was the satisfaction I felt when I accomplished things in my games rather than in the real world. This reality wasn't my reality but I never saw that.

Not even when my grandmother passed away.

She died so quickly but there had been warnings for years. But I didn't care; I didn't see her bad health or how everyone - myself included - treated her in my family. I didn't notice my grandfather slipping further into a drunken slide while she worked to care for me and my brothers, working hard well beyond she should have. I had no idea it was happening until I was in the hospital and my whole world was frozen. I watched her die and get buried before it sank in that there wasn't anyone for me. I had little to no work experience and at my age in the internet era, there was no way to lie or cover-up how bad my drive was. The only jobs I could get wouldn't cover my cost of living beyond scraps and a mangey apartment.

I guess you could say it wasn't a surprise that I resolved myself to finding out what there'd be after the end. My home was sold and I had nowhere to go; no way to preserve any of the few things I'd kept for reading and escaping reality, either.

It wasn't hard to bite back my fear and throw myself in front of a truck. I'd known enough to know that the isekai trucks weren't a steadfast way to do it - I chose a big freighter truck. I feel bad for the pain it must have caused him but I had selfishly chosen a way out instead of a way forward. Little did I know, though, that this wouldn't be my end. Just like all the manga and games that had spurred me to persevere, I found out there is a "next" beyond the grave.

"Is this one truly worthy?"

My soul shimmered beneath the attention of three powerful deities. The streets of my hometown were long-gone and now replaced with a vast void of white. The one speaking was to the right; a tall woman cast in red light with a gruff voice. Her features were ever-changing yet she wore no clothes. Instead, her flame-like hair rolled around her form, hugging her form as natural garb. The figure before me, a grey stickman-like kids might draw, spoke in a whisper that sounded far louder than his compatriot.

"I pity... mortals; not all must be chosen by fate. Why not this... one?"

The woman's visage affixed and the features solidified with that of an elderly man. Yet her voice didn't change even in pitch.

"You believe time could be so old that I'd fall for this trick?" Her face melded to one of a little girl, pouting and pursing her lips. "Or do you baby me, my younger?"

The third figure - a brilliant tower of light that stretched farther both up and down than my senses could trace - interjected with a shimmer.

"My olders, this mortal will do; this life is not one for a hero anyhow. Must we bicker?"

The female groaned yet the stickman waved an arm dismissively at her. The grey god's two-dimensional figure stuttered... and an immense weight rolled over me as his attention fully shifted. It was he was looking at me.

"Mortal - I know you may find this hard to comprehend... but you have passed. You - as you are now - are no more than a spirit passing beyond your earthly foil. I ask you only this; will you protect... your new life?"

The question fell on my... er... consciousness and it was an easy answer. Or at least, I felt it was; why would they give me a new life if I didn't protect it?

I never did get to speak my answer, though. The blue tower and the woman vanished before the grey one spoke in some strange tongue. I guess it's the language of the gods or something. But before I knew it, that vast void vanished.

Little did I know, there wasn't a pause in his question. He had hesitated mid-speech more than once so it hadn't occurred to me that his whisper might have made me mistake his hushed tone for breathing. He hadn't asked me if I'd protect my new life.

He asked if I'd protect in my new life.

I guess what happened next is only karma for my failures as a human. I was reborn like all the isekai heroes and reincarnation manhua. There was only one problem.

I was reincarnated as a barrier of tall, spiny grass. But um... is this big field really going to be okay?