Happy match Chapter 0

Prologue

 

I am a fruit.

On the day I was born, the ancient god who picked me evaluated my grade—“Good.”

Meanwhile, the other fruits growing on the same tree all received the grade—“Excellent.”

Clearly, I fell short compared to the others.

And falling short only a little meant a huge difference in treatment. For instance, the other excellent fruits were carefully held one by one by two other ancient gods, and taken away. They didn’t even have to transform into human form.

As for me, I now stand, transformed into human form, trembling before the ancient god who picked me. He pinches my face so hard that my lips are forced into a pout. Turning my head side to side, he scrutinizes me closely, then lets out a meaningful hum: “Hmm…”

“Ancient god…” I ask him, “Why is it that my fruit siblings from the same tree were all taken away, but no one came to claim me?”

“You lack merit…” He released me, straightened up, and, as though stifled by some irritation, muffled a couple of coughs into his hand. Shaking his head, he added, “You’re not yet ripe.”

“Then what do I need to do to ripen?”

I knew only ripe fruits could be sent to better places, becoming seeds, staking out their own territory, and eventually becoming new Divine Hidden Trees.

This is the greatest dream of every fruit: to have a place to call one’s own! To root! To grow! To bask in the sun!

The ancient god looked at me and nonchalantly said, “Then go save the world.”

I stared at him, dumbfounded. “Me?”

He raised an eyebrow. “Why not you?”

I…

It seemed there was no room to say “no.”

For the sake of having my own territory!

“Fine!”

The ancient god led me to my mother tree—the Divine Hidden Tree.

The Divine Hidden Tree soared endlessly upward, appearing to be the spine holding the divine realm together. The ancient god lightly tapped its bark, which resembled the face of a mountain, and I saw ink-wash-like images appear upon it—moving, as if alive.

“In the world shown here, there exist realms of humans and immortals. Lately, it seems the immortals have gone mad. Of the Nine Heavens and eight hundred immortals, they do nothing but indulge in frivolities. Meanwhile, the mortal world suffers unbearably. Go and sort it out,” the ancient god assigned my task.

I glanced at the scene. In the image, the people on the ground were desperately praying for rain, while the immortals above were indulging in romantic affairs, utterly detached.

Something had to be done.

But…

“To what extent do I need to fix things?” I asked the ancient god, wanting clarity about the end goal of this task.

The ancient god pondered for a moment and replied, “Fix them to the point where love brings fear instead.”

I mulled it over, feeling that this directive was still too vague.

“Is there a standard?” I pressed. “For example, the word ‘love’ has many meanings. Does it refer solely to romantic love, or does it include familial affection, friendship, and empathy? And ‘fear’—does it mean literal fright, or does it extend to reverence, awe, or avoidance… Ah!”

Before I could finish, I was abruptly shoved from behind!

The next thing I knew, the image on the tree bark absorbed me like smoke, pulling me inside. As the world spun, I heard the ancient god’s indifferent voice behind me:

“Considering that you are only a “good” fruit, you talk too much. If you can’t save this world, don’t bother coming back.”

With those words, he tossed me a metal object, which clanged as it passed through the smoky form of my body.

And so, I—a mere “good” fruit—entered the world in the image.

My mission: save this world.

First step? Stop the immortals from wandering in the flowers under the moonlight[mfn]an idiom that refers to a place where men and women date and talk about love[/mfn], constantly indulging in romance!