The Prince Wants to Retire

And with the final farewell from the commander, he let go of the rope he had been barely holding onto.

He thought he was finally ending his difficult life and entering eternal rest.

But as his consciousness faded away, he was enveloped in a bright light and transported to a white space.

“Where am I…?”

— Hello?

A mischievous boy waved at him.

The emperor asked him, “Who are you?”

— I am a god.

He pointed to himself as he spoke.

The emperor raised both hands and said to the boy with a smile, “Well, nice to meet you, kid.”

The emperor had vowed to strike down any god he met, but now he was rushing towards the boy, shouting.

Seeing the emperor charge towards him, the boy-god spoke with a mischievous grin.

“Your title is ‘god,’ isn’t that going too far?”

He calmly dodged the emperor’s attack.

The god had enjoyed watching the emperor’s suffering for a long time.

Even the emperor’s rude attacks were entertaining to him.

“Huff…huff…”

The exhausted emperor collapsed to the ground.

The mischievous god approached him.

“Don’t you feel wronged? You worked yourself to the bone, but your evaluation was the worst.”

The god’s mockery made the emperor’s veins bulge.

As the emperor glared at him, the god made a subtle proposal.

“Want to try it again? I’ll send you back in time.”

The emperor’s eyes, which had been filled with anger, calmed down.

He looked at the god and replied firmly, “No.”

“…Huh?”

The god was surprised by the unexpected answer.

“Aren’t you feeling wronged?”

“Yes, I am.”

The emperor knew better than anyone how much he had suffered.

Even the mischievous god, who had enjoyed watching him suffer, couldn’t say anything.

“But if I were you, would I want to go through all that suffering again?”

The emperor looked at the god.

“Are you curious about your family on Earth?”

“What…?”

As the emperor looked at him in confusion, his family appeared before him.

His mother, who had raised his children alone after his father died.

His younger sister, who had given up on her dream of becoming a doctor because of their family’s financial situation.

His younger brother, who had tried to work at a factory as soon as he turned 20 because of their family’s financial situation.

They were all leading completely different lives from what he knew.

“Uh…”

The emperor looked at his unfamiliar family in surprise.

His mother was wearing luxury clothes, and his sister had a large private hospital.

His brother drove a sports car and was a famous YouTuber.

They were all living happy lives.

“This was your dying wish.
How do you feel?”

The sight of his happy family was very unfamiliar to him.

But it was what he had longed for just before he died, so he nodded without thinking.

“The god of Earth who lost the bet with me granted your wish as a reward.”

“A bet?”

“Yes, the god of that planet said you couldn’t maintain your empire.
I bet against that, and sure enough, life is full of surprises, right? I bet on the long shot and hit the jackpot!”

The god laughed heartily, as if a bet he made had just come through, while the emperor clenched his fists and trembled.

“Are you angry? Huh? I’m sorry.
Hehe! But I granted your wish, didn’t I? Let go of your anger!”

Twack!

The emperor punched the god’s teasing smile and then sat back down, acting tough.

The god, who deliberately took the hit, chuckled and said, “Thanks to you, I got a lot out of it.
So, I’ll give you an additional reward.”

“Additional reward?”

“Yes, but there’s a condition.”

“…What is it?”

The emperor asked, and the god smiled and said, “You’ll have to regress.”

At the god’s words, the emperor held up one hand as if there was nothing more to see.

“Great!”

Seeing the god acting cute, he raised the other hand, and said with a smirk.

“Aren’t you disappointed?”

“What?”

“If your body were in good shape, you could do much more than you can now.”

The emperor grimaced at the god’s words.

If his body had been in good condition, he would have conquered the empire much more easily, and the outcome might have been very different.

“I’ll tell you how to recover your body.”

“I won’t do it.”

“On top of that, I’ll give you one more special ability as a bonus!”

“Get lost!”

The emperor waved his hand as if it was out of the question, feeling like he had made some kind of bet by regressing.

He had no intention of playing with the god again and firmly put his hand down.

Then the god cautiously approached and whispered, “Just regress.
You’ll get a special ability as a bonus, you know?”

“….”

“There are no conditions.
You just have to regress.
Aren’t you curious about what you can do with a normal body?”

“Well….”

“Honestly, you’re also disappointed, aren’t you? It’s not a bad idea to go back and enjoy a YOLO life, right?”

At the god’s subtle provocation, the emperor briefly imagined himself enjoying a YOLO life, thinking, “Wouldn’t it be okay?”

And at that moment, the god’s lips curled into a deep smile, and he snapped his fingers.

“Application complete!”

“What?”

The emperor was surprised at the god’s words, and as he looked back at him, a black hole appeared behind him and began to suck him in.

“You’ve been through a lot.
Live well this time.
I don’t know if it’ll work out, but…”

The god chuckled and spoke, and the emperor’s consciousness was cut off with those words.