Prologue: Tech Support
Adam just sorta… floated there.
Darkness. Existential limbo. A strange awareness of not existing but also maybe existing on the emotional level of a lost save file. Somewhere between "about to respawn" and "forgot to press X to continue."
No rice balls.
No pudding.
No side quests.
No random NPC grandma yelling, "You remind me of my dead grandson, take this magical breadstick."
Just void.
Adam felt nothing.
Until—of course—he did!
Warp.exe: Activated
Like someone turned off night mode on the universe, the surrounding darkness glitched, wobbled, and BAM—reality slapped Adam in the face like a tsundere love interest on episode three.
Gone was the nothingness. In its place?
A lobby.
But not just any lobby.
A bougie, thicc-wallet lobby.
The air was filled with the faint scent of artisanal lavender and capitalism. There was a receptionist desk made entirely out of crystalized mana shards (which was either a flex or a war crime), and beneath his newly grounded feet… was granite.
Not just regular granite.
No.
High-quality, 87% limestone, ultra-polished, divinely-commissioned, S-tier GRANITE.
Adam's eyes widened like he'd just spotted a rare drop in an MMORPG.
"Holy crap… is that Blue Whisper™ granite from the Aetherian Caverns?" he whispered, dropping to his knees and gently touching the smooth, luxurious stone like it was a sleeping baby dragon.
Back on Earth, he had once tried to convince the city council to use better stone flooring for the homeless shelter. They said it wasn't in the budget. They gave him vinyl. Vinyl! He pretended to be okay, but he cried into his hand woven alpaca wool scarf that night.
But here?
Here… was the good stuff.
Architecture Appreciation 100
He looked around, taking in the environment with the reverence of an Animal Crossing player inspecting a 5-star island.
Marble pillars laced with enchanted gold leaf. Paintings that actually moved and winked at you. A chandelier made entirely out of phoenix tears and regret.
The walls whispered softly in languages he didn't know but totally vibed with. Probably Elvish or IKEA Assembly Instructions.
And at the far end?
A door.
A door.
And that meant only one thing.
Knocking.
Which meant…
People.
And people?
MEANT. SIDE. QUESTS.
Adam grinned. His eyes sparkled with the enthusiasm of a YouTuber about to hit "record."
He dusted off his cloak (which now had an embroidered cat with glowing eyes on the back) and marched up to the door like a man on a mission. And he was.
A mission to make friends.
A mission to help others.
A mission to acquire snacks, possibly magical ones.
But mostly… a mission to find out why he had spawned inside what looked like Heaven's version of a five-star hotel crossed with an IKEA showroom curated by eldritch beings with design degrees! (Not that he was complaining, he just loved their sense of design!)
Dea Ex Machina
Suddenly, like a surprise DLC drop no one saw coming, the void popped.
Yes. Popped. Like a soap bubble with a god complex.
With a flash of neon sakura petals, glittering stardust, and the faint sound of a lo-fi anime remix of Ave Maria, a portal opened in front of him.
And through it stepped...
Her.
Floating three inches above a platform made of rainbow light and positive Yelp reviews, she descended.
She glowed.
She sparkled.
She sparkled twice.
Her gown shimmered like moonlight filtered through Final Fantasy cutscene lighting. Her hair flowed like someone left the fan on during a shampoo commercial. And her eyes—her eyes—were literal constellations.
She landed softly in front of Adam and beamed like a fangirl who just spotted her comfort character at Comic-Con.
"Adam."
Adam blinked.
"...Hi. Are you my reaper?"
She gasped. "REAPER?! No! No no no, sweet summer soul! I'm your fan. Your number one fan!"
He blinked again. "I... have a fan?"
"Oh my cosmic cupcakes, do you know how many karmic cycles I've watched you in?! I even knit a little plushie of you after that time you helped that middle schooler fix their Nintendo Switch and gave them a free game. Stardew Valley, right?"
"...Yeah."
She squealed.
"I love that moment. And the ramen shop scene? When you paid for that tired office worker's meal and vanished like a shōnen mentor? Iconic. And don't even get me started on the tanuki with your wallet. I CRIED."
She pulled out a sparkly scrapbook titled "The Book of Adam: Humanity's Support Class."
It was filled with polaroids, floating GIFs, and glitter stickers of Adam doing Adam things.
"I'm Dea! Goddess of Miracles, Emotional Buffs, and Kindness!. It's such an honor to finally meet you!"
Adam scratched the back of his ethereal head. "Uh... thanks? I thought people didn't really notice the stuff I did."
Dea's eyes flared with divine sparkle energy.
"Adam, you're the emotional backbone of a hundred timelines. You're the support class MVP in a world full of damage dealers. You didn't just help people—you buffed humanity's entire moral alignment!."
"Aren't you a goddess? I don't think you really should be fangirling over a mortal like this.."
Dea's eyes lit up.
"Aren't you more humble in real life!? I didn't think that was possible! Don't worry, my kind, intriguing idol, It doesn't matter if I fangirl over a mortal when it's you!"
Adam.exe: Blush Protocol Overload
For a split second, Adam's soul glitched harder than a Bethesda NPC trying to walk through a closed door.
You ever see someone run Genshin Impact on a microwave? That was Adam's spiritual processing unit right now. Emotions overheating. Logic fan whirring. Blush levels? Terminal.
"Uhh… thanks?" he mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck like a humble shōnen protagonist who just got complimented on his mediocre sword form. "I—uh—don't get this sort of attention often."
"Oh stars, he's modest, TOO?!" Dea squeaked.
Dea, who still hovered like a holographic Lisa Frank trading card powered by unicorn tears, spun mid-air in a glittery pirouette of excitement. Her constellation-filled eyes sparkled so hard they were probably visible from a different dimension. Somewhere in the corner, a choir of cherubs whispered, "Ooooooh he's blushing," like it was divine gossip hour.
"You have no idea," she breathed, placing both hands over her dramatically racing heart (which sparkled), "how long I've waited for you to die!"
There was silence.
Adam tilted his head. "…You wanna run that one back?"
Dea froze. Then turned crimson—not with shame, but with cosmic embarrassment.
"Oh! Nononono, I mean spiritually transcend! Ascend! Level up to Existential Platinum Tier! Not like, 'get hit by a truck-kun' kind of dead. I mean, even your death was so kind and selfless!—BUT STILL!"
She summoned a scroll that burst into holographic confetti and popped a party horn with excessive enthusiasm.
🎉 REINCARNATION ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: "Soup and Support Supreme!" 🎉
Reward: 1x Starter Pack (God-Tier Edition™)
Buff: +300 Emotional AoE / +999 Empathy Scaling
"I've had your reincarnation request on my Divine Wishlist since you gave up your umbrella to that soggy old corgi in the rainstorm and walked home wet. You remember that?"
Adam blinked. "...I mean yeah, but—"
"IT WAS SO WHOLESOME I ASCENDED TWICE." Dea wailed, flailing like a celestial fangirl at a BTS concert. "I literally had to install an extra heart module in my divine form because the FEELS broke my original one!"
She whipped out a shimmering scrapbook thicker than a deluxe JRPG artbook. On the front:
"𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓑𝓸𝓸𝓴 𝓸𝓯 𝓐𝓭𝓪𝓶 – Vol. I: Soft Boi Saga"
Inside, floating polaroids captured moments of Adam being his purest self:
Hugging a vending machine delivery guy who dropped a crate on his foot.
Giving relationship advice to a couple arguing over Pokémon starter choices.
Leaving warm post-it notes on bathroom mirrors at public libraries.
"I even made themed sticker sheets of your kindness moments!" Dea said, summoning a holographic display:
"YOU MATTER!" holographic Adam thumbs up.
"BUFF RECEIVED: +Hope" sticker with chibi Adam in a cape.
"Donated Coffee = Double XP" foil rare.
Adam stared at the glittering shrine of kindness.
"I thought... no one really noticed this stuff."
Dea flew up until she was face to face with him. She stared directly into his eyes, voice hushed with divine reverence.
"Adam. You didn't just get noticed. You got canonized. The Celestial Algorithm™ considers you a Top Ten Human. You're the support class MVP in a world full of main character wannabes trying to out-edge each other. You didn't just help people… you emotionally buffed the entire moral alignment chart."
"I'm... just me though. I didn't really slay any dragons."
"Sweet cosmic coffee beans," Dea gasped, pressing her hands against her cheeks in sparkly agony. "You're so humble I'm going to cry liquid galaxies."
Adam fidgeted. "I mean, don't get me wrong, this all sounds amazing, but you're a goddess. Shouldn't you be, I dunno, above all this?"
"OH, HONEY," Dea whispered dramatically, her voice reverberating with cosmic resonance. "I am literally the Goddess of Miracles, Emotional Buffs, and Found-Family Side Quests. You're basically my One True Favorite Netflix Original."
She snapped her fingers and summoned a glowing whiteboard with "TOP 5 ADAMS OF THE MULTIVERSE" written in celestial ink.
✨You✨
That one Adam who tamed a dragon by making it tea
Adam Savage from Mythbusters
The biblical one, but only for lore purposes
Adam the sentient mushroom from Dimension 47-B (who is very nice)
"You, my sweet mortal wonder nugget, are the blueprint."
Adam gave a nervous chuckle. "Okay, okay… I guess I'm kind of flattered."
Dea squealed. "Can I hug you? Is now a good time? I brought consent-flavored sparkles just in case!"
Adam's mouth opened to protest—to be modest, to do the usual awkward shuffle of "uhhh I'm not really a hug person"—but unfortunately for his dignity, he was powered by pure cinnamon roll energy and several decades of chronically saying yes to Girl Scouts at his door.
So instead of a verbal answer, he just sighed through his nose in defeat and opened his arms in the universal pose of "Fine, destroy me emotionally with affection."
Dea exploded.
Not like, exploded exploded, but in the way a glitter bomb filled with joy, sparkles, and seventeen centuries of pent-up fangirl glee would if it were forcibly crammed into a divine humanoid form and then set off by a hug invitation.
She squealed so hard it briefly registered as a minor earthquake on six different spiritual planes.
"AAAAAAAAAA—HUGGGGG—ENGAGINGGGGGG!!" she screamed like a mecha pilot slamming the launch button.
And then she teleported into the hug.
POOF.
One moment she was hovering, vibrating with excitement and sparkles. The next moment, Adam was buried in a Dea-shaped meteor of warmth, wings, and cosmic joy. She hugged like someone who had spent eons stockpiling affection and was now unloading it all in one glorious, sparkly go.
She smelled like starlight, vanilla frosting, and a hint of lavender tea. Her wings wrapped around him like a weighted blanket had fallen in love with a hug.
"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!" she squealed directly into his soul. "YOU'RE EVEN SOFTER THAN I IMAGINED!! I CAN FEEL YOUR AURA. IT'S LIKE… LIKE A CUP OF COCOA WITH SELF-ESTEEM ISSUES."
Adam was now ninety-seven percent flustered and three percent tears.
"I—uh—thanks?" he mumbled into her shoulder, completely unsure how to hug back without triggering some kind of heavenly ascension sequence.
Dea pulled back only slightly, just enough to beam at him with that wide-eyed look of someone who just met their idol and got a backstage pass and was now planning a scrapbook about it.
"You don't even understand, Adam," she breathed, wiping sparkles from her cheeks. "I didn't just read about you. I watched your life like it was a top-rated comfort anime. You were my slice-of-life masterpiece. My moral support serotonin generator. When the other gods were arguing about balancing the karma system, I'd just pull up a scene of you helping that anxious barista fix the shop's tip jar sign so it wouldn't look passive-aggressive anymore and cry for three hours straight."
Adam blinked. "That… was weirdly specific."
"I KNOW!!" Dea chirped, delighted. "Because I SAW IT. I HAVE IT MEMORIZED. Want me to quote your speech about how 'everyone deserves a second donut' word-for-word?"
She pulled a microphone out of somewhere and cleared her throat dramatically.
"'Sometimes… the world is cruel. The weather sucks. People suck. Your phone dies at 3%. But for one moment, you get to hold a warm donut in your hand, and for that brief second, you remember: maybe today doesn't have to suck completely. So yeah. Give people a second donut.'"
Adam's entire soul blushed.
"I wasn't expecting that to be… y'know… recorded."
Dea laughed with the power of three sunrise montages and an emotionally cathartic Studio Ghibli soundtrack.
"I archived it. With emotional commentary tracks. You're iconic, Adam. You're not the guy who kills dragons. You're the guy who stops the dragon from having a midlife crisis by helping it start a therapy podcast."
Adam rubbed his face, half hiding his face behind his sleeve, half melting into the sparkly comfort of being understood too much.
"…Can I still be that guy in the next world?"
Dea stared at him like he just handed her the key to her dream cosplay cafe.
"Sweet soft boy of stardust," she said, gently cupping his cheek like a proud anime wife meets RPG quest-giver. "You're going to be that guy, but with stats. With buffs. With titles. You're about to emotionally support your way into a god-tier build so powerful, your enemies will question their alignment before they attack you."
Adam wasn't sure if this was still part of his reincarnation or if he had just glitched into someone else's fantasy, but his emotional system was currently running at full capacity, his heart rate sounded like a rhythm game on Expert Mode, and his blush had probably gained sentience.
"I'm ready," he said again—softly, honestly.
Dea, still twirling in mid-air like a glitter tornado caught in a feelings typhoon, let out a squeal so pure that an entire galaxy briefly collapsed into a heart shape.
"YES! YES YES YESSSSSSSS!!" she cheered, doing victory air flips like a magical girl who just landed her final transformation sequence while the ending theme played in the background. "OH MY STARS, I'M GOING TO CRY ACTUAL METAPHORS. I knew you'd say that! I KNEW IT! I literally had a betting pool with the Archangels and I bet EVERYTHING on your soft little hero soul—I'm gonna make so much moral currency off this!!!"
She was practically vibrating at the molecular level with giddy joy. Her eyes were shimmering galaxies, and she kept clasping her cheeks with sparkly squeals like she couldn't believe he was real.
"Do you even realize what it's like to finally be in the same spiritual plane as you?! I've had a floating Adam fan club in the Astral Network for ages. We made reaction gifs of you helping lost ducks cross the street! We did weekly wholesome watch parties! YOU. ARE. LEGENDARY."
With a snap of her glitter-dusted fingers, a HUD appeared in mid-air. It shimmered with divine energy and UI animations smooth enough to make AAA game developers weep. In glorious sparkly font, the ability was revealed:
✨Unique Skill Unlocked: EMPATHIC RESONANCE✨
Category: Divine Passive
Effect: Every time you perform an act of genuine kindness or emotional support, you gain buffs. The more emotionally impactful the act, the stronger the buff.
Scaling: INFINITE
Stacking: YES
Debuff Resistance: 100% against cynicism, despair, and narrative edgelords
Hidden Bonus: You grow stronger by making other people stronger.
Additional Notes: Caution: Hug responsibly.
"Wait—infinite scaling?" Adam asked, his gamer instincts kicking in. "Like, no cap? No soft limit? No emotional fatigue cooldown?"
Dea's jaw dropped open in reverent shock. "He gets it! He actually gets it!!"
She floated backwards, fanning herself with her wings like she was about to faint. "YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!" she screamed, shaking him joyfully. "DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT THIS MEANS?! You're going to be the single most emotionally powerful being to ever exist!! YOU'RE THE FEELS META. I WANT TO FRAME THIS MOMENT. I'M FANGIRLING SO HARD I THINK I JUST BROKE THE LAWS OF NARRATIVE THERMODYNAMICS."
She practically exploded with a heart-shaped supernova as she hugged herself midair and spun around like a glitter blender.
"Do you KNOW how long I've tried to get the celestial balance council to approve this build? They called it 'too idealistic'! TOO PURE FOR META! But I knew—I knew—if anyone could wield it right, it'd be you! You precious beanbag of emotional sturdiness! I wrote fanfiction about this! I ran simulations where I just cried watching you pet virtual puppies!"
Adam raised a cautious finger. "So… what kind of buffs are we talking about? Like +5 to charisma or…?"
Dea clapped her hands and summoned an ethereal whiteboard, where floating chibi icons of Adam illustrated the point:
Help someone reunite with a lost pet? → +Agility Boost
Cheer up a kid who's getting bullied? → Temporary Invincibility Aura (30s)
Remind someone they're worthy of love? → +Strength, +Focus, +Literal Glowing Aesthetic
Hug a grieving warrior who's lost their way? → Summon a spirit wolf that only obeys kindness
"Oh, and don't get me started on the synergy effects!" Dea gushed, now flapping her wings with excited bursts of squeak-laughter like she might just ascend again out of sheer affection. "If you perform multiple emotionally resonant acts in a single day? The buffs start evolving! Your tears of empathy can heal wounds. Your presence alone starts giving people hope stat boosts. Even your puns start dealing radiant damage!"
Adam blinked. "I can weaponize emotional intelligence?"
Dea clutched her cheeks, gasping. "YES! And you say stuff like that so sincerely, too! I can't—I just—I'm gonna implode into a fangirl singularity!!"
She spun again, and a massive golden contract with pastel highlights unrolled in front of him like a magic scroll crossed with a handmade Valentine.
"Sign here to accept your new class: Empath Knight. Bonus titles include: 'Hopebringer,' 'Moral Paladin,' and 'Friend of Sad Wolves.'"
Adam took the pen—it sparkled like hope—and signed.
The moment he did, the room exploded in glittering confetti, chimes, and what suspiciously sounded like a K-drama OST swelling to a climax.
And then… a new line appeared beneath his chosen class.
Party Member Assigned: Dea (Support Deity Tier) (SSS-Level) (What did you expect, normal S?, She's literally a goddess)
Role: Hype Squad / Emotional Battery / Moral Compass With Wings
Weapon: Sparkle Staff of Encouragement +5
Ultimate Skill: "Cosmic Cuddle" – Full party restoration and cleanse. May also induce happy crying.
Divine Magic, in case someone dares to insult Adam!
Outfit Customization: Enabled
Party Banter Level: Maximum
"Wait wait wait—you're coming with me?!" Adam gasped.
Dea practically combusted. "ARE YOU KIDDING? I'VE BEEN DREAMING OF THIS. You—me—the world—side quests filled with emotional catharsis! I'm gonna be your Number One Hype Angel! I even practiced my sparkle trails to match your walking pace! I have an entire Pinterest board dedicated to traveling with you!!"
She zoomed up to his face, stars bursting from her aura like popcorn in a supernova microwave. "I want to be there for every hug, every redemption arc, every speech that heals a village. I WILL BE YOUR GLITTERING SHOULDER ANGEL AND EMOTIONAL DAMAGE CO-PILOT."
Adam gave a nervous chuckle. "Okay, okay… I guess I'm kind of flattered."
Dea squealed. "CAN I HUG YOU? Is now a good time? I brought consent-flavored sparkles just in case! I practiced the technique—no pressure, no pinching, just pure moral-boosting squeeze energy!"
Adam blinked. She looked so hopeful. Her hands were literally trembling with barely-contained sparkle juice.
He opened his arms.
Dea exploded into the hug like a confetti cannon of pure serotonin, wrapping him up in an embrace so radiant it instantly maxed out his Empathy Buff meter.
She squeaked against his shoulder, "You smell like gentle character development."
And Adam, who had never really considered himself a hero, smiled softly.
"Thanks, Dea."
Not because he didn't want it.
But because for once, someone had seen him. Really seen him. Not for his lack of ambition, or his quiet way of doing things—but for the good he left in the world in small, often overlooked doses.
And now that good?
It was his power.
And he had a literal sparkly goddess companion to back him up.
"…Okay," he said at last, voice soft but solid. "Let's go emotionally wreck the world."
Dea squealed so hard reality wobbled.
"YESSSSSSSSSSSS!! ADAM.EXE: WHOLESOME STORM ACTIVATED!"
And then the reincarnation portal opened, shimmers waiting, and a new world just aching to be emotionally buffed into shape.
Hand in sparkly hand, they stepped through.
Ready to hug destiny and fate itself.
And perhaps have fun along the way too!?