After Dying, I Became the Harem King

On a scorching afternoon, a young man with golden-blond hair was working hard. Born with bad luck and no remarkable skills, he could only trade his courage for a living—working as a high-rise window cleaner. Swoosh! Swoosh! Every movement to wipe the glass was accompanied by the terrifying sensation of working at such a dizzying height. Whoosh! Even a light gust of wind was enough to make the safety ropes tied to the top of the building sway, threatening his life at any moment. But what did the man think? “Ugh… Can’t this lousy job pay even a little more?” He complained about his wages, not a trace of fear in his heart. Perhaps the instinct for danger had long since been worn away by his daily reality. From time to time, he could see the executives inside the building, doing all sorts of things—including taking advantage of their beautiful secretaries. “Damn it… Why have I never had a girlfriend my whole life?” he grumbled bitterly. “Hey Ren! Stop daydreaming! You’ll fall! Hahaha!” shouted a coworker working nearby. “Shut it, I’m just… thinking,” he muttered. WHOOSH! Suddenly, the wind from the north picked up, growing stronger and stronger, tossing both men as if they were about to be swept away. Thankfully, their multiple heavy-duty safety ropes held them in place. “Phew, that was scary, huh?” his coworker said, his voice shaky. “Nothing I can’t handle,” Ren replied briefly, before returning to his work. His coworker glanced down from the 80th floor, at the empty drop stretching nearly 300 meters below. “Still… the wind is unusually strong today. Gives me the chills,” he said. “Will you just be quiet? I just want to finish this, get paid, and go drink a beer,” Ren snapped back. “Alright, alright, got it!” But neither of them could have predicted what came next… CRACK! WHOOSH! SNAP! One of the many supporting ropes suddenly snapped and came loose, cracking like a whip. “Hey, Ren… Your safety line—!” This time, his coworker was truly terrified, no longer joking. “Hmm? You’re right, though. This would be bad— I don’t even have life insurance,” Ren said, still oddly calm. “Huh?! Are you insane?! Grab onto me! We need to climb back up and fix it—!” CRACK!! CRACK!! For the first time, Ren—a man who claimed to know no fear—felt a chill run down his spine. It was the raw, primal instinct of survival. One broken rope shifted all the weight onto the remaining lines, and the strain was too great. One by one, the others began to give way. “Ren! Give me your hand!” his coworker screamed, reaching out. SHREEET! Ren instinctively reached back— but it was too late. The final rope supporting his weight could hold on no longer. CRACK!! “REN!!!” His coworker watched helplessly as Ren plunged freely from a height of more than 300 meters. The odds of survival were zero. WHOOSH! The fall became a spectacle for the people inside the building, who cried out in horror and turned away, unable to bear watching what was about to happen. As for Ren himself… Time seemed to slow down. His entire life flashed before his eyes. “Is this what they call life flashing before death? Am I… really going to die?” he wondered. He saw his miserable existence: a man who had never succeeded in love, risking his life every day for a pittance. “So this is how it ends? With this boring, meaningless life?” Slowly, he closed his eyes, preparing for the final impact. “If I have one regret… it’s that I never got to have a beautiful romance with a woman. That’s all… Damn it, I…” Before the thought could finish, gravity took hold. His body accelerated toward the ground. CRASH!! SPLAT!! His body was destroyed upon impact, horrifying the witnesses nearby. “Someone! Call an ambulance! Aaaarrghhh!!” a woman screamed. “i***t… Do you really think a hospital could fix something like that?!” another man answered, trembling. And so, the life of an ordinary, unfortunate man was supposed to end. Or so it should have. “Wait… Am I… not dead?” Ren asked himself. He found himself surrounded by endless, suffocating darkness— yet he could still feel his own body. “I can still touch myself… That means only one thing.” “Wait a minute?! I’m… alive?! It’s impossible! I fell from that height! Death was certain! But… why?!” While he was lost in confusion, a faint blue light suddenly appeared before him— the only source of illumination in the void. It gradually took shape, forming a rectangular panel like a holographic screen, with words written across it: [You have died! Would you like to restart, surrender and collect all your points as a reward, or continue living?] “Huh? What is this? Where… where am I?!” Ren asked, panic rising in his chest. [You stand between worlds. Please choose one of the three options.] The screen updated, as if responding directly to him. “Breathe, Ren. Stay calm. Alright… explain each option first!” he ordered himself, forcing his composure back. [First: Restart. You will be reborn randomly in a world of your choice. All your memories will be erased afterward.] “Idiotic! Who would pick that?!” he snapped. [Second: Your life’s achievements will be calculated. Merit minus demerit, and you will receive your reward in the afterlife.] “Boring! And my life probably had way more bad than good anyway— I’d probably end up in some terrible place! What’s the third option?!” [Third: You will continue your life as you are, but in a new world of your choice. You will receive 1,000 base points, plus points calculated from the merit and demerit of your previous life.] “Hmm… All three sound like garbage, but this last one sounds the least terrible. Fine! I’ll take it!” Ren decided with a wide grin. For the first time in his life, he felt truly alive— ironically, only after he had died. Every choice now felt meaningful, unlike the misfortune that had followed him his whole life. “I don’t care if this is just a dream before death. Whatever it is… I’m going to enjoy it to the fullest!” [This is not a dream.] “Eh?! You can read my mind?!” Ren exclaimed. [Place your right hand on the screen.] Whatever this presence was, it gave no further explanation, only commands. “Ugh… Fine, have it your way,” Ren sighed, and pressed his palm against the glowing panel. [Calculating…] [Point calculation complete.] [Total Points: 275] “WHAT?! Was my life that bad? You took my 1,000 base points and left me with only 275?! Are you kidding me?!” he shouted, furious. “Though… I guess those points are useless anyway, right?” he added, regaining his cocky smile. [Points can be exchanged for talents, special abilities, or equipment before your transfer to the new world.] “Wait— They are valuable?! Ugh… Alright then. Show me what I can buy!” Ren replied, his energy instantly renewed. [First, choose the world you wish to travel to.] In an instant, thousands of glowing spheres of all sizes and colors appeared around him. When he touched one, it expanded, revealing its description. “Egalathia— a world ruled by demon lords capable of crossing dimensions… Are you insane?! Who would want to go there?!” [You may filter worlds according to your preferences.] “Could’ve mentioned that sooner!” Ren snapped. He quickly listed his ideal criteria: “First! I want a world of swords and magic! To hell with technology and modern slavery and modern wage slavery!” Ren declared firmly. [Accepted.] Whoosh!! Hundreds of glowing orbs vanished, filtering out all the modern worlds without swords or magic. “Second, demons are fine—they actually sound kind of fun! But remove every world completely conquered by the demon race!” Whoosh! Only one orb disappeared this time—the one he had just looked at. Ren tilted his head, confused. [The probability of demons conquering a world before Guardian intervention is near zero. That world is an anomaly, as its Demon King was born excessively powerful.] Ren didn’t fully understand the explanation, but decided it was good enough. “Third… and probably last… I want a world filled with beautiful women! If there are demons, there must be other races too, right? The more, the better!” [Understood.] Whoosh!! Hundreds more orbs faded away, leaving only dozens, which drifted closer toward him. After scanning them all, one caught his eye. A fantasy world, designated [Eloria]. “I choose this one—can I go with it?” he asked, lifting the glowing blue sphere. [Eloria] [World Rank: A+] [A world similar to your former home on Earth, with technology equivalent to the Middle Ages, infused with magic and other mystical abilities. It is home to many powerful intelligent races besides humans, and the planet itself is 1.63 times the size of Earth…] “Yeah, yeah, I don’t care about the rest of the description! What matters is there are plenty of races with beautiful women, right?” Ren cut in. […] “Hey… why does it feel like you’re judging me every time you go quiet like that?” he grumbled. [Correct.] “Great! Hah… alright then—what’s next? Buy powerful items and abilities, right?” he grinned, already imagining himself as a mighty hero surrounded by beauties. But expectations and reality rarely matched. [The world you have selected costs 3,150 Points. As such, your remaining balance is -2,875 Points. In simpler terms: you now owe 2,875 Points.] “WHAT?! I can go into debt even after dying?! Are you kidding me?!” Ren fumed. After a moment, though, a thought struck him. “Wait a second… you said I have a debt, right? That means I can still choose this world, right?” [That is correct.] “Perfect! Then… can I take on more debt to buy special abilities and weapons too?!” he asked, his hope flaring again. […] “Ah, no can do, huh? Alright then—just tell me how to pay it back, and…” He looked slightly disappointed, but he had already guessed it would be hard. Even banks required collateral for loans, let alone whatever this mysterious entity was. But then… [Decision made: You may take on additional debt. Your maximum borrowing limit is 2,000 Points in total. Do you wish to proceed?] Ren’s face lit up. With newfound confidence, he answered: “YES! I want to proceed! Now—show me every ability and piece of gear I can bring into Eloria!”