I was drifting, eyes closed, lost in a void between dreams and nothingness. It felt like I had been asleep for a very long time. A strange calmness wrapped around me, soft and warm, like a blanket I never wanted to let go of.
My hands and feet lay still, weightless, unbound by pain or struggle. There were no burdens here, no regrets, no expectations. Just silence. Just stillness.
And in that moment, I didn't want to wake up. I could stay like this... forever.
My body gently descended, settling onto a soft, unseen surface. My arms and legs followed, touching down like falling feathers. A faint irritation stirred in me, annoyance that my perfect slumber had been disturbed.
Reluctantly, I opened my eyes.
And the first thing I saw… was a shooting star streaking across the vast sky above me, its trail burning like a silver flame across the heavens.
I immediately sat up, my heart suddenly restless. Around me stretched an endless expanse of night sky, so pure and untouched, it felt sacred. There was no trace of light pollution, only a canvas of stars twinkling endlessly, like a sea of distant souls watching in silence. Shooting stars streaked across the darkness in every direction, their trails vanishing into the void.
Far beyond, at the edge of the horizon, a soft crimson glow painted the sky, neither dusk nor dawn, but something in between. A world caught between endings and beginnings.
I stood slowly, brushing off nothing but air. No ground, no wind, no scent. Just the sky. Endless, beautiful sky that wrapped around me like a dream. I turned in every direction, but the view remained the same, a perfect sphere of starlit serenity.
"Is this... the afterlife?" I murmured, the words barely leaving my lips.
Then came the memories crashing over me like waves.
The dull monotony of my old life, stuck behind glowing screens and endless deadlines. The confusion and thrill of waking up in another world. The blood. The battles. The fear.
And the faces.
Maya. Evelyn. William. Kel. Bob.
Each memory was a stab of warmth and sorrow. And then, the moment everything ended. That crushing blow. The darkness.
I exhaled slowly, a faint smile at my lips despite the ache in my heart.
"I hope... Bob can keep going. I hope he lives."
I walked slowly, not a clue where I was going, just putting one foot in front of the other.After what felt like an eternity, something finally appeared in the void.
An office table.
Yes. Of all things. An actual desk. Just sitting there.
"Why the hell is there an office table here?" I grunted, squinting at it. "Is this because I didn't come to work? What is this, divine HR punishment? No way. Even the afterlife isn't that cruel… right?"
On the table sat two towering stacks of paperwork so tall they looked like the Twin Towers, while loose papers were scattered everywhere on a table.
As I approached the table, inspecting the chaos, a voice suddenly rang out behind me, making me nearly jump out.
"Oops! Excuse me," said a man casually walking toward the desk from behind me, as if popping up from nowhere.
He walked over to the table with the calm urgency of someone who had done this a thousand times, reaching for scattered sheets, stacking them, mumbling under his breath.
His back was turned to me. I could see long, flowing white hair cascading down to his back, almost blending with the loose white robe he wore.
He looked incredibly busy adjusting stacks, flipping papers, shuffling forms, so much so that he didn't even acknowledge my very confused face.
"…Uh. Hello?"
No response. Just more paper shuffling.
Hello?" I called out again, a bit louder this time.
Still nothing.
The man just kept humming some weird tune and continued organizing his twin tower of paperwork like I wasn't even there.
I squinted. Was he ignoring me? Or was this some customer service where I needed to take a number first?
My eye twitched. I raised my voice.
"HELLOO!"
Finally, the man froze mid-stack. He let out a long sigh, placed the last paper down and turned to face me slowly, like a teacher reluctantly turning to deal with a loud student.
"What do you want?" he asked flatly as he finally turned to face me.
I blinked. The man finally spoke.
Now that I could see his face, I noticed deep wrinkles etched into his skin. He looked like he was pushing 90, maybe even 100 years old. But something about the way he stood... his posture was too solid, too intimidating.
Honestly, with that robe draped over him, I was starting to worry that if he ever took it off, there'd be a bodybuilder physique underneath, like a grandpa version of Hercules. His white hair and pristine white robe he wore gave off strong 'headmaster of a magical school' vibes.
The way he replied made me immediately regret raising my voice.
But I pressed on anyway, trying to sound braver than I felt.
"W-where am I? Am... am I dead?"
The old man stared at me for a moment, then casually walked to the other side of the table. Out of nowhere, he pulled a chair and sat down, now facing me directly.
"For the first question," he said, folding his hands over his knee, "you're in the Realm-In-Between. For the second... it's both yes and no."
His answer didn't make anything clearer, if anything, it made me more confused. But before I could get lost in my thoughts, I asked the most important question:
"Who are you? Are you a god... or an angel?"
"No, I'm a devil," he said, looking straight at me.
"W-what? Am I in hell?" I felt a wave of terror, thinking about fire, chains, and all those scenes from movies and books. Was I destined for eternal doom?
"Nope, just kidding." Without a hint of guilt, he flipped the papers on the paperboard on his hand and kept his eyes on them. "I'm the one responsible for people who transmigrate, reincarnate, and anything like that."
I twitched my eyes. This guy... he gave me the same kind of annoyance I always got dealing with Bob.
He then sighed heavily. "So many people reincarnate nowadays, I don't even get a moment's rest. Hey, kid," he pointed at me, "when you return to your world, do me a favor, tell those people to fight more in their lives. Don't just give up easily and make me suffer here, sorting them into other worlds or whatever.", he ordered me like he was my boss.
Yeah, yeah... so you want me to be some kind of advocate or something. I thought, half annoyed.
But then… I was shocked.
"What do you mean, 'when you return to your world'? You mean I can actually go back to my own world?" I asked, hope sparking deep inside me.
"Of course you can. You are....what's your name, kid?" he asked, flipping aggressively through the papers as if searching for my name.
"Alan," I replied quietly, understanding he must be drowning in paperwork for all the people transmigrating and reincarnating. For once, I decided to forgive him for not remembering my name.
"Right, Alan," he said, then threw the paperboard onto the table with a loud thud.
"That's why I couldn't find your name. The not chosen one... The sidekick.... The normal guy....The... Anomaly," he said dramatically, eyes gleaming with a strange mix of amusement and pity.
He moved around the table and approached me, then placed his right hand firmly on my right shoulder.
"Come on," he said, starting to lead me forward.
"Let's talk while we walk."
As we walked side by side, he rubbed his beard thoughtfully. "Why do you think you're here?"
"You mean this place?" I glanced around the starry void. "Because I'm dead."
"Yes, that's true," he nodded. "But what's the real reason you've come here?"
Before I could answer, he clapped his hands. A sudden burst of light cracked open in front of us, like a door appearing out of thin air, revealing something on the other side.
"I,I don't know… erm, sir," I replied, trying to sound polite.
He smiled faintly before stepping forward and standing beside the glowing light.
"This door," he said, gesturing to it, "will lead you back to your original world. A world of hope, where people dream every day of becoming rich, happy, and living long, fulfilling lives."
I took a few steps closer to the light. Inside, I could see myself, going through the motions of daily life: waking up, heading to work, laboring tirelessly at the office, then returning home to sleep.
It was like watching a recording of my mundane routine, played back with clinical precision.
"Go through this door and enjoy your life in there," he said as he gave me a gentle push from behind, nudging me toward the light.
Yeah, that's right. This is my life, the one I'm used to. Doing the same things every day. That's what I'm good at. Picking up everyone else's slack. Paying rent every month like clockwork. Yup, that's my world.
Oh...and don't forget the glorious comfort of a proper toilet.
Not some world of magic and fantasy, fighting monsters, living without electricity, without proper lighting or even a decent sewage system. Sleeping on what might as well be a rock, and,ugh...making friends with one particularly annoying mage woman. That is not for me.
I thought to myself, trying to force my mind to accept that this, the real world, the one I came from, is where I truly belong.
Then... I saw it in the light.
Memories.
All of them...of Bob.
Playing tag with him when we were just kids.
Walking to school together, every single day.
Me patting his head while he cried over.
Going to concerts and malls, wasting time like we had all the time in the world.
Even standing in an absurdly long line just to get the autograph of some cute voice actor he liked.
I could see his happy, annoying face, like the whole world was just some game he could laugh through.
Tears welled up in my eyes and slid down my cheeks before I even noticed.
"B-Bob…" I whispered, choked on the name.
He'd cry, wouldn't he? That idiot.
Who's going to make sure he eats on time?
Who's going to scold him when he tries to do something reckless again?
Who's going to be there... just to be there, like always?
I clenched my fists, the light in front of me now flickering slightly, like it was waiting for my choice.
I then turned away from the light, my steps shaky, my chest heavy.
Tears were still running down my cheeks as I faced the old man again.
"I-I want to go back to the other world," I said, my voice trembling like a crying child's.
The old man raised a brow, a faint smile playing on his lips.
"Hmmm… are you sure? Why the change of heart?"
"Because..."
I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand, took a deep breath, and looked at him...really looked at him, with a soft, but firm smile.
"...my stupid friend is there."