Elqueeness [EN]: Chapter 2

Chapter 2

In a daze and filled with disbelief, I quietly inhaled.

Everything was so different from when I had died. When I became a spirit, there was definitely no one around me. Besides, I wasn’t in a state of blankly being unaware of my surroundings like that boy. Something was definitely wrong, seriously wrong.

From then on, I lurked around the hospital for a while, watching the moments when people passed away. I wondered if I had seen something wrong. Also, I had a sense of expectation that maybe someone would be in the same situation as me.

However, as if to prove that it was just my wishful thinking, the Grim Reaper appeared without fail immediately after death came and took their souls. Even the intervals at which they appeared were all exactly the same without a single error.

As the time I spent watching grew longer, I became increasingly anxious and uneasy. I wondered if I could just keep hiding like this.

At first, I thought the Grim Reapers were deliberately ostracizing me. Like my father always used to say, I was an unlucky and jinxed guy, so even the afterlife wouldn’t accept me.

But no matter how I thought about it, the reason didn’t seem to make sense. What did I do so wrong? If there was a sin, it was just that I lived an inconspicuous and ordinary life. Even if there was a problem with me, wouldn’t they take me to the afterlife first and then punish me or throw me into hell?

After a long period of contemplation, I came to one conclusion. If I couldn’t figure out the reason, I should go and ask directly.

Staying here wouldn’t change anything. So, the only way was to confront them head-on. It was a blow to my pride that I had to take the initiative, but now wasn’t the time to worry about that. I could be left alone forever like this. If it was a mistake, I would go to the afterlife now, and if it was intentional, I would beg on my knees to be taken.

‘Then maybe they’ll take pity on me and take me.’

Just in time, there were signs of a soul rising from an injured person who had been brought to the emergency room. The medical staff was trying to save him, but judging by his condition, he seemed to be dying soon.

As expected, he soon passed away. I stood near the soul, separated from the body and sitting blankly, calmly waiting for the Grim Reaper to appear.

Fwoosh.

“…They’re here!”

Seeing the group of lights flashing so reliably this time as well, I felt a sense of relief and bitterness at the same time. After seeing them so often, I even felt a sense of familiarity with them now. Soon, two men slowly walked out of the hazy, shining space. They stood with the soul between them, as they always did, and began to write down the contents on the documents they were holding. It didn’t seem like either of them had noticed my presence yet. Then, feeling a gaze, the man who was reporting raised his head, discovered me, and his face hardened. Then, the man who seemed to be his superior across from him gave him a puzzled look.

“Okay, then this soul’s transfer is… Huh? Why do you look like that, Hares?”

“P, Preuniss-nim [term of respect, like ‘Sir’]. That boy is…”

“Boy? What are you talking about… Huh!”

Following him, the man called Preuniss also took a deep breath as soon as he discovered me. Seeing that, I felt a little relieved. Seeing how surprised they were, it didn’t seem like they had deliberately omitted me. They blinked their eyes for a long time as if they couldn’t believe it, and then, when I gave them a silly smile, they finally came to their senses and began to panic.

“H, how did this happen, Hares? Why is a soul wandering around alone like that without a guide?”

“Th, that is… Th, that can’t be? There wasn’t a child like that among the souls whose fate ended today, Preuniss-nim.”

“What? There wasn’t?”

“Of course. It’s because I died not today, but more than a week ago.”

I enjoyed watching them panic and then honestly told them the truth: that I had died more than ten days ago, and that I had been waiting for someone to take me, but there was no news, so I came to find them myself. However, the moment they heard my words, they gave me even more distrustful eyes.

“You died ten days ago and the guide didn’t come?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Hmph. You want us to believe that?”

“Excuse me?”

“What you’re saying is impossible, boy. When a soul whose fate has ended appears, the wave is automatically transmitted to our guides. There’s no way the guides wouldn’t have felt your wave for ten days, not just one or two.”

“Excuse me? But I’m clearly existing like this right now?”

“That’s why I’m saying it’s strange… Huh? Come to think of it, what happened to you? Why can’t I feel the unique wave of the dead?”

“Y-yes?”

I could only ask back in a daze at the unexpected question. Preuniss muttered, scanning my appearance with a searching gaze.

“Now that I see it, that’s really true. A soul with no deathly aura at all. Such a ridiculous thing…”

“That’s not all, Preuniss-nim!”

At that moment, a man named Hares hurriedly interjected and held out something. It was a thin leather bundle inserted in a transparent case, and it was densely filled with writing, as if it were part of a report.

“I’ve just checked the past records, and there’s no boy named ‘Kang Jihoon’ anywhere in the records of April 26th, when that boy died.”

“What? The soul is right here in front of us, but there’s no record? Even if it’s a temporary astral projection, a record should remain, shouldn’t it?”

“Yes, that’s right. But as you can see, nothing remains. And please look at this.”

It wasn’t just me who felt that the situation was flowing in a strange direction. Hares unfolded another bundle of papers he was carrying. Preuniss frowned slightly when he saw it.

“Isn’t this the Book of Life? Why this in this situation…?”

“I checked just in case, and I couldn’t find any record of this boy’s birth, not just the death record. It means he’s not a person who exists in this world yet.”

“Wh, what did you say?”

At his words that followed that moment, I could only freeze. Hares looked at me with a confused expression and said.

“In short, he’s a child without fate.”

* * *

What appeared before my eyes was a splendid hall with ivory pillars everywhere. The whole place was as wide as a school playground, and the floor, as well as the flowers decorating the pillars, the stained glass of the windows, and even the curtains hanging on them, were all white, making the already bright space feel even more dazzling. Even the trees planted in front of the terrace were white.

In a space where I felt a thorough determination not to contain anything other than white, I was wandering alone. I wanted to sit down at least, but there were no kinds of furniture such as chairs or tables here. From the beginning, it didn’t even feel like a space that someone would use. I recalled the events that had happened just before coming here to relieve my boredom.

He’s a child without fate.

According to the guide Hares, I have not yet been given life. All humans are recorded in the Book of Life and then conceived in their mother’s womb, but I have not been given this process itself. In other words, from their point of view, I was a being who had not yet been born.

Then what are all the things I’ve experienced so far?

Although I can’t say that I had a smooth life, I clearly have a past that I remember, and if I hadn’t died, I would have had a bright future ahead of me. The days when I was alive are still vivid, but I’m not even in a state of being born. I didn’t know how to accept this.

Preuniss also had an expression of disbelief.

“I can’t believe it. Is it possible for a being who is not recorded in the Book of Life to be born in the first place?”

“I also have doubts about that. But the evidence in front of us is so clear that we have no choice but to believe it.”

“Hmph…”

He sighed repeatedly with a lost expression. Then, after a long time, he swept his hair up and opened his mouth.

“This is not a problem that we can solve on our own.”

“Then…?”

“I can’t help it. Even if it becomes a little troublesome, we have no choice but to leave it to the judgment of the higher-ups.”

Preuniss looked at me with a complicated gaze and said.

“This soul will be taken to the decision-maker ‘Arehis’.”

That’s how I came to this place.

Immediately after bringing me here, they disappeared somewhere. They probably went to call that Arehis or whatever. Judging from the serious atmosphere until then, I wondered if I could just keep waiting like this, but in fact, I didn’t have any other options. Above all, I couldn’t see any exit in this space. All sides were blocked by solid walls.

As befitting the world of spirits, I went to see if I could pass through the wall, but instead of passing through, it only caused a terrifying discharge, and I almost died from electrocution. It seems that if an unpermitted person approaches the wall beyond a certain distance, it is designed to emit electricity.

The reason I knew that was because those grim reapers from before passed through the wall without any problems. Tsk.

“Ah, I’m bored. How long are you going to leave me like this!”

It doesn’t seem like a long time has passed, but I felt like I was going to die of boredom because I was standing alone in a quiet place with no one around. At that moment, an unfamiliar voice was heard right next to me.

“Oh dear. I’m sorry to have kept you waiting, Jihoon-gun [term of respect].”

“……!”

Surprised, I turned around and saw three men standing there; I didn’t know when they had appeared. The two guides who had brought me here, and one unfamiliar man I was seeing for the first time. They were staring at me with calm faces, as if they had been there from the beginning.

“Ah, hello.”

Ugh, this isn’t it! As soon as I greeted them without thinking, I immediately regretted it. Why would I greet them at this moment like an idiot? I should have asked who they were, or asked if they were in charge of this, or gone out a little stronger so they wouldn’t take me lightly. I felt uneasy because I seemed to have ruined things from the start because of my timid personality.

“Hehe, you don’t have to be so nervous. Then shall I introduce myself first? My name is Arehis. I manage the souls of the dead and their records. I am more often called by the title ‘Decision Maker’. To explain it in the way of the world Jihoon-gun lived in, it would probably be around the department head level.”

The man named Arehis was a typical handsome man with black hair that reached his shoulders and blue eyes. Perhaps because of his calm eyes and intellectual appearance, he had a very noble atmosphere overall.

After staring at him blankly for a while, I belatedly realized that I hadn’t introduced myself and quickly bowed my head.

“Ah… I’m sorry. I’m…”

“I know. Kang Jihoon-gun. Born February 19th, Aquarius. Place of birth is the Earth system, Gyeonggi-do, Suwon, Korea. Currently a first-year high school student, 16 years old. Date of death is April 26th. Is that correct?”

I just nodded blankly at the story that was not even a bit wrong. Arehis said with a satisfied expression.

“Excuse me, but I did a little research on you before coming here. It took me some time to find you because there was no record of you in the Book of Fate. I think I fully understand why Preuniss and Hares were so surprised and looked for me. The reason I came to this place is to find the place where you should originally be.”

“The place where I should originally be?”

“Let’s sit down and talk. It seems like the story will be very long.”

At his words, I immediately frowned. As I said before, there was no furniture in this quiet space. But to have a conversation sitting down… Surely he doesn’t mean to sit down on the bare floor?

As if reading my question, Arehis burst into a short laugh. At that moment, an amazing thing began to happen before my eyes. The surrounding space began to distort as if being sucked into a black hole. At the same time, dazzling colors that were so dazzling that my eyes were dizzy quickly filled the space. It felt like colorful paints were mixed together.

“Gasp!”

When I came to my senses, the surroundings had changed to a completely different space than before. The pure white temple-like background had disappeared, and a cozy room with a red carpet and a fireplace had appeared. In the center, there was also a sofa and a table where four people could sit comfortably.