"No…"
A boy—black hair, average physique, around nineteen—shot up from his bed in haste. He wore a simple white t-shirt and black shorts. The room around him was… decent. Normal.
He was panting heavily, chest rising and falling as the remnants of that nightmare clung to him.
That dream…
He took a few deep breaths, trying to calm himself. Slowly, his heartbeat settled.
He wiped his forehead and let out a small, relieved laugh.
"Oh… so it was just a dream…"
Relief washed over him for a moment.
Then—
It shattered, and his expression froze.
Right in front of him, visible to his wide, naked eyes—
His eyes locked onto it. A screen—floating in mid-air.
[You finally woke up, my hubby.]
The message appeared on the screen, followed by a smiling expression that looked almost playful.
He blinked once. Then twice. His eyes stayed locked on it, unmoving, as if his brain refused to process what he was seeing.
"…Hah?"
A dry laugh escaped him.
He stared a few more seconds, then slowly shook his head.
"No… yeah, that's it. Just a dream."
His voice came out shaky at first, then turned into an awkward laugh as he tried to convince himself.
But even he could hear it—it didn't sound real.
It didn't feel real.
Still, he forced a smile, as if that alone could erase what he just saw.
He pulled the blanket over himself again, turning slightly on the bed. His body sank back into the mattress, and he closed his eyes tightly.
'Just sleep… just sleep and wake up normally…'
He tried to shut everything out, drifting in his thoughts about what had happened until now.
---
After getting struck by that lightning, Rain thought he was done for—but no.
'Somehow… the second after I got hit by that damn lightning, when I opened my eyes, I found myself here… in this body that's almost the same as when I just entered adulthood… and in this room where I woke up.'
After that, he thought he had somehow ended up in some transmigration stuff—like those anime and manga stories where a soul enters someone else's body. And he was at least right about that. He had been transmigrated. But where, he didn't know it at that moment… and it didn't take long before he got his answers.
Before he could think any further about those questions, a weird screen popped up in front of him.
His first thought was, 'Alright… I ended up with some really cool system stuff.'
'Then again… I was wrong.'
'The first thing this thing showed me wasn't skills, stats, or some cheat ability—but a message.'
---
The screen kept floating in front of Rain even under the blanket.
[Hubby wake up!... wake up!... wake up hubby!]
The message on the screen showed a smiling face, even sending a kiss-like expression, like a couple teasing each other.
Rain got up from the bed in an instant, irritation and anger flashing through him.
'What the hell was that damn message!…'
The message was the furthest thing from what he could have ever imagined.
And then his mind drifted back to it—
'You have to become worthy of me, my dear hubby—worthy of the Empress of Domination…'
That was the past message.
'Yeah… I clearly remember now… that damn screen appeared and told me to become her husband—worthy of her… and then… that Domination Lord crap…'
The screen was still floating around Rain.
[Hubby! Hubby! Hubby!]
The messages kept repeating, surrounding him like it wouldn't stop.
Rain snapped.
"Shut up for a moment! Can't you see I'm thinking about something?!"
His voice carried irritation and anger as he finally lost patience.
But then—
[Sniff… sniff… Hubby is bad…]
The message appeared on the screen again, this time with a crying expression, like a child sulking.
Rain froze.
'Shit…'
A sense of unease crawled up his spine as he realized something—
He quickly said with an awkward laugh, his voice cracking slightly as if trying to fix something already broken. "Plz… stop… stop crying… plz…" but the moment those words left his mouth, he already felt it—this was not going to end well for him.
Another screen flickered into existence right in front of his eyes.
Rain froze.
His breathing stopped for a split second.
Rain thought with a scared face, 'not this again… no… ' as he knew what was coming next.
Because he actually knew. Deep down, he knew it too well. What came after this screen was never mercy.
The red screen glowed brighter, as if mocking his silence, and the words slowly started forming one by one like a verdict being carved into reality itself.
[Penalty for misbehaving with the Empress of Domination]
Rain's lips trembled instantly. His pupils shrank as panic rose in his chest.
"P-please… wait… wait! Don't—don't do this… please!" he shouted, his voice breaking as he instinctively stepped back, as if distance could save him from what was coming.
But the screen didn't even pause for a second.
[Penalty is now beginning]
Rain thought with a pale, terrified expression, 'now I am done for… this is really it…'
And then—
It started.
A sudden, violent wave of pain exploded through his lower body— in his testicles, like his entire being had been set ablaze from the inside. Not just pain—something deeper, something cruel, something that made his brain fail to process reality for a moment. His knees gave out instantly.
"—AHH!!"
His body dropped hard to the ground.
He curled up instinctively, both hands clutching himself as he rolled, scraping against the ground, dust rising around him as his body twisted in uncontrolled agony. His vision blurred, ears ringing, breath turning uneven as if even air had become painful to inhale.
"Sorry!… sorry!… I was wrong!!"
His voice came out broken, desperate, almost hysterical as he kept rolling.
"I am really lucky… to have such a loving wife with me… so… so please stop!! I won't do it again!!"
He shouted it again and again, like repeating it could somehow reverse what was happening, like words could overwrite pain itself. But the suffering didn't fade—it only pressed harder, forcing him deeper into helplessness.
Rain thought with fading sanity, 'this is too much… this is too much… I can't… I really can't…'
[Hubby… do you really mean it?] Message appeared with a sobbing expression, the crying slowly stopping as if it was trying to calm itself down.
Rain stopped rolling for a split second, body still trembling violently, breath uneven, sweat cold on his skin. His expression twisted between pain and desperation as if even thinking was difficult now.
Rain thought with frantic panic, 'don't think… don't hesitate… just say it… just end this… anything…'
"YES!! YES!!" he screamed instantly, voice tearing through the air. "I mean it!! I swear!! I swear I was wrong!! I will never do it again!!"
Even while saying it, his body kept shaking uncontrollably on the ground, every second still dragging the remnants of that unbearable punishment through him.
A brief silence followed.
[Hubby!] the message appeared with a bright smile expression.
The words appeared on the red screen.
And the very next second after that, the red screen flickered again.
[Punishment fulfilled]
And with those words, it vanished in a flick—like it had never existed at all.
Rain lay there trembling, gasping, completely drained, staring at it with exhausted disbelief as one thought echoed in his mind, gritting his teeth, '…this fucking thing…' and then, with shaky relief, '…it finally ended… I actually survived…'
During this past couple of days, whenever he misbehaved with this unknown screen who called herself the so-called Empress of Domination, that red demon always appeared out of thin air to punish Rain in the most cruel ways possible.
This red screen was just like her loyal dog.
Rain somehow managed to get up on his two legs, using the support of his bed, his body still unsteady.
[Hubby, you have to become stronger, this pain is nothing for you right?]
Rain said, still shaking from what he had just gone through, his legs trembling crazily as he forced a fake, hesitant smile. "Haha… how can you be wrong. This pain was nothing."
But his thoughts were completely opposite.
'Nothing, huh… even a T-Rex would die a miserable death from this kind of pain… and you call it nothing…'
[Hubby, you have to become worthy of me.]
Rain thought with a blank expression, 'what do you even mean worthy of you… I don't even know you…'
At first, he had tried to connect the name she called herself—Empress of Domination—to this world.
Yes… after his hardcore online research, he had found out he was inside the world of OG—Omniscient Gacha, the game.
So he concluded she might be Sylvia.
But that theory collapsed almost immediately.
This "Empress of Domination" had a completely different personality… and even different titles. Sylvia was a queen… while this one called herself an empress.
And when he had tried to confirm it, she simply replied that she was not Sylvia… but also refused to reveal her name.
She only said—
"I will tell you… when the time comes."
[Hubby, here is your first task on the path to becoming the Domination Lord.]
"What… I have to do this kind of crap now too?!"
[Of course, hubby!]
The message appeared with a cheerful, almost teasing expression.
Rain sighed and said, "No."
A cold, emotionless refusal.
The red screen appeared instantly.
A chill ran down Rain's spine.
'Why are you here again…' he thought, clearly not happy seeing this thing.
Words appeared on the red screen.
[Penalty for failing to complete the given task within allotted time: Death]
And just like that—it vanished.
Rain stared in silence for a second.
Then he laughed awkwardly.
"…Who said I was going to refuse in the first place? Of course… anything for you, my dear wife."
His words came out smooth—but his thoughts were screaming.
'This is blackmail… this is straight-up blackmail…'
A cheerful reaction instantly appeared.
[So sweet!] with an expression shooting heart emojis.
Rain exhaled and said, "So… what is it?"
The screen flickered.
A new task slowly appeared.
Rain froze.
"…Really?"