Where Am I?

Death is equal. Whether you're ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a child or an elder, healthy or frail, rich or poor—death cannot be bribed or swayed by any condition. It simply claims the lives of the living. Yet the reason death feels so unjust is because it arrives without warning, snatching away the tomorrow of those who were simply trying to live through today.

“Aigoo, that poor young man! What kind of tragedy is this!”

“That bastard crippled one person and gets to live just fine. Why won’t he just drop dead?”

It doesn’t follow concepts of good and evil, nor can it be controlled by human will.

“Chicken? Yeah, I can pick some up, but is it okay if I’m a bit late? Work’s been tricky today…”

—Screeeeeech!

Crash—!

A person had died.

It was an accident where a truck that had run a red light struck a pedestrian crossing the street. Even though it was the dead of night and few people were around, the screams of those who witnessed it were loud enough to echo across the entire street. The horrific crash and the shrieks served as a signal of death for some—and a beginning for others.

Yes. For me, it was the latter.

“What? Is it time to start work already?”

“Ah, looks like it. I didn’t even notice the time while on the phone. Anyway, I’ll grab the chicken right after I’m done. Should I get some beer too?”

“Ooh, beer sounds great. Yeah, throw in some beer, please. Thanks for your hard work.”

“Got it. I’ll hang up now.”

I ended the call with Senior Heath and let out a long sigh. Just how gruesome would today’s corpse be? Hit by a truck going at full speed—there was no way it wouldn’t be a total mess. Just imagining it made me want to gag.

“…Ugh, I really don’t want to do this. But work is work. Let’s finish this as quickly as possible.”

I squeezed my eyes shut and held my smartphone out toward the accident scene. One, two, three seconds. No alert sound came even after a long wait.

‘…Don’t tell me it’s doing this again?’

I cracked one eye open and glanced at the screen. Unfortunately, it was still the same. The angle must have been slightly off because I’d taken the shot with my eyes closed.

“Argh, why does the recognition judgment keep messing up like this!”

Thinking back to the days when I had to flip through the Death Register one by one, it really felt like the world had improved. But at times like this, I almost missed the old days. It was annoying, sure, but all I had to do was keep my head down and rummage through the register.

I waved my arm around a couple more times, but there was still no response.

“As soon as I get back, I’m demanding a software update.”

With tears in my eyes, I half-opened one eye and took the shot of the accident scene. Thankfully, this time the information about the deceased appeared.

Whoa. A high school senior who died the day after his college entrance exam. I clicked my tongue in pity. It was only natural for humans to call fate cruel. Even though I was a reaper who harvested fates, there were many times when I thought, ‘This one’s a bit much.’

But what could I do? I had to follow orders from above. If humans disobeyed their superiors, they got fired. In my case, it was immediate annihilation.

“I’m sorry. Before you wake up, I need to register the portal first… Ack!”

I shouldn’t have lifted my head. If I hadn’t, I wouldn’t have seen an arm lying pathetically on the road. The accidental glance dealt serious mental damage. To make it worse, the arm was right under a streetlight, so I could clearly see the bone piercing through the skin.

“…I really can’t keep doing this grim reaper job.”

I looked up at the pitch-black sky and rubbed my face. It had been ten years since I started working as a grim reaper. My previous department had been a bad fit too, but honestly, this one wasn’t much better.

…Well, that’s because despite being a so-called Sashin, I’m extremely weak to gore.

Not only did I faint at the sight of blood-soaked organs on full display, I could barely stand seeing even the tiniest cut on a fingertip. When I tried watching gore movies to build up my tolerance, I passed out right at the opening scene.

Contrary to what people think, there are quite a few grim reapers with weak stomachs. Of course, in the past they only hired those with strong nerves. But now, with the severe labor shortage… they pretty much accepted anyone who applied. There were plenty of people even weaker than me.

Still, those types were usually assigned relatively gentle deaths. I was at the very bottom in terms of courage, so I was only supposed to handle calm cases. But special situations like this were the exception.

Because I wasn’t just a grim reaper—I was a Sashin.

Thanks to that, tasks like guiding souls for ‘otherworld transference’—exercising authority across different universes—fell to me, whether I liked it or not.

‘…Why do people keep getting hit by trucks like it’s some kind of obsession!’

It used to be normal work when I was a rookie. When did sending people to other worlds by truck become a universal trend? It’s even been labeled a stale cliché in the human world!

But the gods up there clearly had no idea about trends in the lower realms. Truck accidents were still all the rage in the divine world, and with everyone and their mother begging for a hero to be sent down, it was enough to drive anyone insane. At least request it through a peaceful method like ‘I woke up in another world’!

Did those damn gods not understand the feelings of their colleague who had to witness these gruesome scenes every time? Or maybe they didn’t realize how horrific accident sites were because they only ever saw pristine souls?

If it was the former, the gods’ consideration was clearly lower than the drop rate of S-grade items. If it was the latter, I wanted to send them straight into the scene right after the accident so they could experience it themselves.

But I only thought about it. I felt too bad for the innocent victim.

“Yes, yes. It looks like he’s dead. His body flew way over there and his arm was severed and lying on the ground…”

“Ack! Aaaack!”

Why did they have to be so unnecessarily detailed! The vivid report made me scream nonstop.

…Today was definitely going to be boneless chicken. I absolutely refused to yield the bone-in chicken to Senior Heath. Just thinking about the bones showing when you tear off the drumstick made my stomach churn.

‘Ugh.’ A dry heave rose in my throat. I covered my mouth and turned my head away from the accident scene. It would be better for my mental health to stay like this until I sensed the soul’s presence and take it away immediately.

“Wait. Maybe I should just pretend to be crazy and go with the soul? If I seriously complain about how the higher-ups should show some consideration for their colleagues, maybe they’ll stop hitting people with trucks? Should I go for it? Should I just do it…?!”

At that moment, a bright light flashed before my eyes. It was so intense I couldn’t even open them. It was so blinding I thought I’d been hit head-on by a car’s high beams.

“Ack! My eyes!”

“…Who are you?”

“Huh? Excuse me?”

I looked toward the source of the voice. An unfamiliar woman was staring at me. But what was even more bewildering was that the surroundings had completely changed. Just moments ago, I had been in the middle of a blood-soaked road. Now I was in an overwhelmingly pink room overflowing with ribbons and lace. What the hell was this?

‘…Is this woman the owner of the room?’

It’s wrong to judge people by appearance alone, but no matter how I looked at her, she didn’t seem to match the room at all. Her hair looked completely unbrushed. Her bangs were so ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠bushy they covered her eyes. Her arms and legs were so thin she looked like she hadn’t eaten in days. And her whole body was hunched over like she had done something wrong. On top of that, despite her sparkling eyes, dark circles heavy with exhaustion sat beneath them.

No matter how I looked at it, she didn’t match this lovely room at all.

‘…A ghost? Or a hallucination?’

Just to be sure, I pinched my cheek hard. The pain was so bad it brought tears to my eyes, so it wasn’t an illusion. This absurd situation was reality?

‘What is this? What the hell is going on? …Did I accidentally activate the portal without realizing it? So I ended up in Erelld?!’

No matter how much I racked my brain, that was the only explanation that came to mind.

…I was screwed. Cold sweat began pouring down my back. I had crossed over to another world alone without even bringing the soul I was supposed to guide. If I wasn’t careful, I could be punished for unauthorized absence from my post. That meant I would have to spend at least a few months doing all the senior reapers’ grunt work.

And that would mean giving up all my precious free time.

‘No way! The game I pre-ordered for next month is coming out! I’ve been waiting for years!’

It wasn’t just the game. Internet surfing, variety shows, anime, movies, restaurant hopping. There was no way I—who was thoroughly addicted to human civilization—could give up any of it.

I quickly put on my customer service smile. Whether I banged my head on the floor or made up excuses, I had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to clean this up somehow. I would pour out every last bit of know-how I’d gained over ten years as a grim reaper—the ultimate veteran of the Underworld’s service industry!

“Nice to meet ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠you. Excuse me, but are you perhaps the Goddess of Erelld?”

“…I’m not a goddess. I’m a saint.”

“Ah? Oh, I see. Then may I ask where the goddess you serve is right now?”

“Th-there isn’t one here…”

Her voice was mumbled and hard to hear, but I was pretty sure she said there wasn’t one.

‘No goddess? That can’t be right.’

I glanced at the saint. The golden eyes looking back at me were steady and unwavering. It didn’t seem like she was lying.

‘What’s going on? Did I set the portal wrong? I definitely set the destination as the goddess’s sanctuary.’

I reached into my pocket to take out my smartphone and check the coordinates. At that moment, the saint suddenly grabbed my hand. The desperate look in her eyes made my body freeze without me realizing it.

“U-um, Saint? Why are you suddenly holding my hand…”

“…Ahh. You’re finally here. You’ve finally come to grant my wish.”

The saint’s golden eyes sparkled. As if she had been desperately waiting for this very moment.

But… unfortunately, granting wishes wasn’t my job. That was the domain of the gods above, not us who belonged to the Underworld. Besides, by regulation, we couldn’t interfere with living humans.

I smiled awkwardly and said,

“…Um, I’m sorry, but I’m not in the profession of granting wishes.”

“No. You can definitely do it.”

Her gaze was resolute. What now? It seemed she had mistaken me for one of the gods from above. I tried to gently pull my hand away, but it didn’t budge. This was getting increasingly awkward.

…What should I do?

“Um, Saint? If you could let go of my hand…”

“I’ve waited so long, Mister Sashin.”

For a moment, it felt like time had stopped.

…Had I introduced myself as a Sashin? No, I was certain I hadn’t revealed my identity at all.

“How did you know that I’m a Sashin…”

“It was nice to meet you.”

Instead of answering, the saint left behind a strange greeting and pressed something firmly into my hand. A cold, eerie sensation seeped through my glove. I slowly lowered my gaze to look at what I was holding.

It was a dagger with an extremely sharp blade.

‘What the hell is this.’

I hurriedly tried to drop the dagger.

“Please kill me quickly.”

But… before I could resist, the dagger slashed across the saint’s throat in an instant.