I Met God
I met God.
"This is the HR team. Thank you for taking the time to apply to our company. We're truly sorry, but it seems we won't be able to move forward with you this time...."
Another rejection. I hurled my phone aside and flopped down on the wooden platform outside my rooftop room. Staring up at the sky like this was one of the few perks of living in a place like this.
How many applications do I have left… I was counting the companies I’d sent resumes to when a brilliant flash cut across the heavens.
A shooting star?
They usually vanished in an instant, but this one left a long, glowing tail. If something had come from the sky, maybe it would listen to a wish.
Please, just let me get a job!
The moment I finished the silent plea, a chuckle slipped out of me. I’m really doing everything at this point. Pathetic.
That was when the strange thing happened. Something broke away from the shooting star that should have burned out and carved a completely different path across the sky.
Interesting. Do they branch like that?
But the strangeness didn’t end there. The detached fragment hurtled downward at terrifying speed. I kept watching, thinking it was falling to earth. It wasn’t every day you got to see a meteor come down.
A few seconds later I realized it was heading straight for me.
“Wait, what the—”
I never finished the sentence. An overwhelming impact slammed into me and consciousness vanished. The last thing I felt was the agony of my body being ripped apart.
When I opened my eyes, the world was pure white. The figure standing before me was white from head to toe. Even his hair was snowy white. For a split second I thought of the KFC colonel, but this man was a sharp, strikingly handsome figure.
“You’re awake.”
His voice wasn’t loud, yet the entire space trembled. The sheer pressure forced me to my knees before I even realized it. Fear crushed my lungs, making it hard to breathe.
“Was my presence too strong? You’ll adjust soon. Just endure it a little longer.”
“Who… are you?”
It felt a little easier to speak now, so I asked carefully.
“I am the First and the Last. To you, that makes me God.”
“God?”
“Take it as you like. Your mind couldn’t comprehend the truth anyway.”
The tone was dismissive, but instead of anger, all I felt was fear. It was like standing before something I was never meant to encounter.
“Why would someone like you come to someone like me…”
“I made a mistake. While crossing the sky, something got in my way. I swatted it aside and it happened to fall on you.”
He had to be talking about the fragment that broke off the shooting star. I didn’t know what it was, but apparently I had been struck by it.
“Then… am I dead?”
“Up to this point, yes. It will be quicker if you see for yourself.”
God snapped his fingers at the empty air, and a large screen materialized in front of me like a hologram from a sci-fi film.
“Aaaaaagh!”
I screamed and stumbled backward, the terror of standing before God momentarily forgotten. The scene was horrific. My body lay shattered around the wooden platform of my rooftop room. Limbs were scattered everywhere, internal organs burst open and spilling down beneath the deck.
“Th-this… The landlady’s going to faint when she sees it.”
“……”
I barely managed to calm myself and turn my head. God was staring at me with quiet intensity.
“What a strange human you are.”
“What do you mean?”
“You die that brutally, flinch for a moment, then worry about someone else? Shouldn’t you normally be cursing me for killing you?”
Now that he mentioned it, I wasn’t sure why my first thought had been of the landlady. Maybe because she always saved side dishes for me and encouraged me, saying I’d find a job soon.
“It’s just… she’s always been so kind to me…”
“Fascinating. Let me take a closer look.”
His eyes changed. It felt as though they pierced straight through my entire being.
“You… are a good person.”
“Pardon?”
“It has been a long time since I’ve seen goodness like this. Now I feel even more regret for killing you.”
When I was young, people often called me kind. As I grew older, they added that I was someone who could live without needing laws. But was it really something so extraordinary that God himself would feel sorry?
“You are kind without being a fool. You help the weak, refuse to grovel before the strong, and can be stubborn for the sake of justice. Had you been born in an age closer to mine, you would have become a prophet.”
A prophet—like the messengers of God in the scriptures? How could he possibly compare me to people like that?
After a brief pause, God snapped his fingers again. A large basin-like vessel appeared in the air. Inside it was the corpse I had just seen on the screen.
“Ugh… Why this…”
“I originally intended to take only your soul, but I’ve changed my mind. It would be a waste to let you die like this. I will remake you.”
“Remake?”
“After I created the world, I molded the last clay to make humanity. This brings back memories.”
To think I would hear the origin of mankind directly from the scriptures themselves.
“Since you’ve already died once, simply remaking you wouldn’t balance the scales. I will also bestow Grace upon you.”
Grace? I had just heard God talk about balancing the books. But what exactly was Grace?
“Um… what is Grace?”
“It is a gift given freely by God. Believers call it grace, but if that’s difficult to grasp, simply think of it as an extraordinary power.”
So he really was giving me a gift. I didn’t know what it was, but since it came from God, it had to be something good.
He snapped his fingers once more. Several containers resembling spice jars appeared in the air.
“What would be suitable…”
As he pondered, his hand slipped while reaching for one of the jars. In the instant I thought huh?, the entire contents poured into the basin.
“Oops. My hand slipped.”
“What just went in?”
“Let me see… Ah, this is the Grace I once poured for my son.”
“Your son?”
“Yes. Long ago he said he would descend to the earth, so I gave it to him. He returned after being whipped and pierced through the palms. I had stored what remained, but it seems I never put it away. Is Michael even doing his job?”
He sounded genuinely displeased as he scolded someone I couldn’t see. Anyway, this was clearly the story of the Savior from the scriptures.
“It is a Grace no prophet has ever received. I can remake you and send you back to the earth. However, if you descend, you will be given a mission. If you believe you can bear it, go. If not, I will send only your soul to heaven. What is your choice?”
“What is the mission?”
“Salvation.”
“Nine won?”
“You think far too little of me. Would I bother sending you back for something so trivial?”
“I’m sorry.”
“Ahem. When you receive this Grace, people burdened by life will naturally gather around you. The weary and heavy-laden instinctively seek out Grace. Your task is to help them.”
Helping others was something I had done since childhood. That didn’t sound difficult at all.
“I thought it would be something grand, but it doesn’t seem that hard.”
“It would be difficult for most, but you are a special being who has received Grace. You will manage. Besides, there is a bonus.”
“A bonus?”
“Indeed. For every person you help, something good will come to you in return.”
“Something good…”
“Help the wealthy and wealth will find you. Help those in high positions and status will follow. Help a man and you will earn his trust. Help a woman and you will be loved.”
I could simply help people, and on top of that, tangible rewards would come my way. I don’t want to die yet. There are still so many things I want to do.
Even without the rewards, I didn’t want my life to end here.
“Please remake me and send me back. I don’t want to die yet.”
“A wise choice.”
God began kneading my corpse with practiced hands. Before long it turned into something like bread dough and vanished from the basin.
“It has been a while. Quite enjoyable. I almost pulled out a rib and made you a woman as well. No, never mind. You can find your own women. With the Grace you carry, they will gather around you anyway.”
He laughed heartily. This God had quite a frivolous side.
“One last thing.”
He drew close and suddenly shoved a finger into my nostril.
“Ack! Ughhh…”
“There. I have placed the Divine Spirit in your nose. It will help you from now on. Get along well.”
I clutched my nose and staggered backward while God waved with a smile. The world grew bright, and pure light enveloped my entire body.
At least tell me what this Divine Spirit thing is!
“Huk!”
When I opened my eyes, I was back on the wooden platform of my rooftop room. The screen had shown blood and guts everywhere, yet now everything was clean. I patted myself down, wiggled my fingers and toes. It was my ordinary body, completely unharmed.
“What? Was it all a dream?”
I must have fallen asleep while staring at the night sky.
It was not a dream.
“Aaaaaagh!”
Startled by the sudden voice, I tumbled off the platform. There was no one around.
Did you not hear the Lord say he placed the Divine Spirit inside you?
“Wh-who are you?”
I am that very Divine Spirit.
The voice wasn’t coming from the surroundings. It rang directly inside my head.
What? So I really died and came back to life?
Correct. The Lord remade you. Along with a most precious Grace.
It can even read my mind!
Our souls are linked. I must know your true intentions in order to draw out the Grace.
True intentions?
The heart that desires truth. Grace does not respond to wickedness or twisted desires. It can only be used when you genuinely wish to help others in accordance with the mission the Lord has given you.
I didn’t fully understand, but it seemed I could only use Grace for good purposes. Was the Divine Spirit inside me to determine whether my intentions were pure?
Your understanding is quick. Grace only activates when you truly desire something and I sense it. In simple terms, my role is to use your true intentions as the trigger to fire the Grace.
So it was like a trigger. I somehow felt like I had become a weapon.
Similar. You are not yet accustomed to Grace, so I will activate the appropriate power when I sense your true intention. That is why the Lord placed me inside you.
About that Grace… what exactly can I do? In other words, what abilities can I use?
I do not know.
You don’t know?
The Grace will only reveal itself when a situation arises and I sense your true intention. The fact that I do not know means there are many possibilities. You will have to experience it yourself.
How do I experience it?
By meeting people who need Grace, of course.
So I had to go where there were people.
Preferably a place with a great many of them.