Blessed by the Goddess of Wealth

Deban slowly regained consciousness, feeling the warmth engulfing him. It was a stark contrast to the bone-chilling cold of his previous life. Well, scratch that. It wasn't warm; it was hot!

Deban found himself laying on the scorching floor and jolted awake, taking in his surroundings with groggy confusion. His mind was a hazy mess, offering no clear sense of where he was.

The first thing that surprised him was how effortlessly he could breathe. His broken body and destroyed lungs were a distant memory as he took the easiest breath of his life. Everything felt fresh and unfamiliar.

"Where am I? What happened to me? Last thing I remember is bright lights and screeching tires," Deban mumbled, trying to make sense of it all. He found himself in what seemed like an ancient temple, abandoned and crumbling into ruins.

Slowly, clarity returned to his eyes, and the realization hit him—he had died and been transmigrated into a different world.

"What the hell!" Deban exclaimed.

Some strange voice had tempted him with escaping sin and living a life of virtue and dignity, and suddenly he found himself dead. Dying didn't bother him much, given his miserable existence, but the feeling of being cheated left a bad taste in his mouth.

"Was my entire life just a sinful mess? Is that why I had to die?

Well, it kinda was if you count being poor and weak as a sin, " Deban said as he chuckled to himself.

There were a few fragmented memories that surfaced in his mind, but he couldn't really make sense of them and was still very confused as to where he was or how he got there.

Deciding it was better to put aside how and why he got here for now, Deban calmed down and decided to survey his surroundings. Hopefully, he would get a better understanding of where he was that way and maybe even make sense of his broken memories and what his next move should be.

The first thing that caught his eye was the vast expanse of sand covering the temple's floor. "Looks like I've stumbled into a desert temple," Deban pondered, his eyes wandering around the room.

As he explored, his gaze landed on an altar at the room's center, empty and bare. However, the dusty imprints on the altar hinted that something had occupied it until recently. For now, Deban ignored the altar, shifting his attention to the rest of the temple ruins.

Statues adorned the area, remnants of the goddess once worshipped here.

Deban found himself captivated by the goddess's beauty, depicted in various scenes and poses. One statue showcased her holding a gold bar in one hand and a scale in the other.

Another depicted her atop a caravan, gazing into the distance.

A third showed her holding a bag in her right hand, with her left hand outstretched as if requesting something in return.

Countless other statues presented the goddess in different situations, but it was the massive figure behind the empty altar that truly seized Deban's attention.

The goddess lounged in a pool of gold coins, wearing a golden crown that accentuated her beauty. He was both entranced by her allure and fascinated by the wealth required to create such a statue adorned with what seemed like real gold coins.

Deban had always been dirt poor, poorer than the rats scurrying in the streets. He had never laid eyes on so much gold in his life. Curiosity, or perhaps greed, got the better of him as he approached the statue, longing to inspect the authenticity of those shimmering coins.

Walking around the large altar, Deban finally reached the statue and picked up one of the golden coins. It felt weighty in his hands, and the clinking sound it made when it collided with another coin confirmed its authenticity.

Deban bit into the coin, leaving an indent with some effort. And while he wasn't an expert in precious metals, something told him that these were indeed real gold coins. He had to find a way to keep them for himself before someone else snatched them away.

Years of living in an orphanage, where everyone fended for themselves, had instilled a defensive attitude toward anything he deemed his property.

Deban entertained the absurd notion of stuffing the coins into his pockets but swiftly abandoned the idea.

Gurgle, gurgle!

Just then, his stomach growled, reminding him of how hungry he actually was. Amidst the shock of transmigrating and the allure of unimaginable wealth, he hadn't noticed his empty belly. Before he could figure out how to hoard the wealth, he needed to find something to eat first.

As he looked around, Deban was shocked by the sight of corpses strewn across the temple floor, scattered around the altar. He had completely missed them when his attention was drawn towards the statues in the hall.

Most of the bodies lay face down, looking llike they were attempting to flee from something but failed to escape. Well, at least those he could see. All he witnessed now were lifeless bodies withering in the temple's scorching heat.

Desperate and praying to the beautiful statues of the money goddess, Deban searched the bodies and the vicinity, hoping to find something edible. He dreaded the thought of adding humans to the long list of strange things he had consumed to survive.

Fortunately, his brief search led him to a large backpack near where he had woken up. It contained a few supplies—an assortment of leather sacks holding water, dried fruits, and meat. He tore into the provisions without a care, ignoring the wise notion of rationing his meals until he had a clearer plan.

"Who would've thought meat jerky could taste this good?" Deban remarked to himself, taking another hearty bite. His time in the orphanage had taught him to seize any opportunity for sustenance.

Transmigrating to a new world wouldn't suddenly change his bad habits, so he would continue indulging in as much food as he could now that he had the chance.

After gorging on jerky until his stomach protruded, Deban decided it was time for a nap. He needed to digest all that food before continuing his exploration of the ruins after waking up.