Chapter 1

It was a long line.

Since everyone here is "dead," it's amazing... Hikaru thought.

Tall buildings towered like a forest. But there was no sign of life. Only the dead formed a long queue.

Everyone was wearing the same clothes, something like a white jinbei.

-- Surely, they will be judged here to decide whether they go to heaven or hell.

That was the only certainty he had.

Not everyone was dazed like Hikaru. Some were screaming, some were trying to pick up the dead in line, and some were trying to persuade others to make money—

Hikaru was different from the other dead. He had slipped out of the line and circled around to the back of the high-rise building.

(To die here...)

Hikaru, who died at 15.

He was named with the hope that he would become a shining boy, but Hikaru had always lived in the shadows.

No, he had chosen to live in the shadows.

It was easier not to have connections. He couldn't keep up with the conversations of his peers.

The direct cause of his death was a "traffic accident."

He shouldn't have gone to a convenience store in the middle of the night.

If he said it was his fault for being lost in thought, that would be true, but the other party was also at fault. Hikaru had definitely crossed on a green light.

(But, well... there's no point in regretting it any further. The only thing I learned is that humans can die so easily. --Huh?)

There was a presence behind the high-rise building—a presence of the dead.

"Hey, move it!"

"Hehehe. It's all your fault we died too. Hehehe."

"You're being cocky. I'll bully you for the rest of your life."

Three boys were kicking a crouching boy.

It was bullying.

(To be bullied even here... What deep karma. I don't like it, but it's none of my business.)

He was about to turn away and avoid getting involved when—

"!"

His eyes met the crouching boy's.

The boy looked at Hikaru and then shifted his gaze.

Behind the boys, there was a bag. A burlap sack. A faint light was leaking from it.

Come to think of it, other dead people had such light.

Some had it in their pockets, some held it directly in their hands.

What it was—Hikaru could sense that it was something very important.

--Take it.

The crouching boy seemed to move his lips to tell Hikaru.

Take it. In other words, steal it.

"......"

It was easy to ignore.

But here, Hikaru's bad habit kicked in.

His curiosity.

He was interested in the "light" that other dead people had.

Those who had it and those who didn't—Hikaru didn't have it.

What did having it mean?

(...Will stealing it be your revenge? Well, fine. I'll do it. I was curious too.)

Slowly, slowly.

He approached.

All three boys had their backs to him and didn't notice.

He had always avoided risky actions.

But now he was about to do it.

The reason was simple: "Humans can die so easily." And he was already dead.

At least he wanted to satisfy his curiosity.

Surprisingly, he was calm.

He approached.

What's the big deal if he wasn't noticed?

Three boys in their early teens. About Hikaru's age or a bit younger.

They were kicking the boy with malicious faces.

He reached for the bag.

Just a little more. Ten centimeters.

He grabbed it—

"Hey?"

One of them turned around.

He and Hikaru's eyes met perfectly.

"--What the hell are you doing?!"

Hikaru grabbed the burlap sack and ran.

"Youuuu!"

"We're in trouble without that!"

"Wait!!"

What does it mean to be in trouble without it?

"Whoa!?"

Something happened behind him. He glanced back and saw the crouching boy stand up and jump at the three boys.

Surprised by the sudden counterattack, the three boys—Hikaru turned the corner of the building and they disappeared from view.

Hikaru ran. Ran. Ran.

He ran through the forest of high-rise buildings.

"Huff, huff, huff, huff..."

Eventually, his legs stopped moving.

He leaned against the wall and slid down to sit.

He was exhausted.

"Did I get away...?"

There were no footsteps chasing him.

It seemed he had escaped.

"Hmph... This kind of excitement isn't bad. --But what is this?"

The bag leaking light.

A bag made of tattered cloth, sewn together haphazardly.

Was it the crouching boy's possession?

Or the three boys'?

They had said something about being in trouble if it was taken—

"Beautiful job, stealing it."

"!?"

He was startled and turned around at the voice from behind.

"Who are you!!"

"I don't have much time. I want you to listen to me for a moment. Is that okay?"

The person was a boy about Hikaru's age.

But he had blonde hair and blue eyes.

(A foreigner?)

He thought so, but the boy's clothes were old-fashioned.

A glossy velvet outfit. The collar was decorated with a corsage.

He looked like a noble from an oil painting in an art textbook.

(That's strange. The dead here were all Japanese.)

The dead in line earlier all had black hair and black eyes.

The three bullies and the crouching boy too.

And the clothes.

They weren't wearing the white jinbei-like outfits.

"You will go to the world I live in. Live as me, in my place."

"I don't understand."

"I'm going to die soon."

He lifted his shirt, and his abdomen was stained red.

"...Severe injuries."

"I was stabbed with a knife. Assassinated."

Assassinated. Not peaceful at all.

"I transferred my soul here just before dying. Do you know where this is?"

"Between death and the afterlife...?"

"Yes. This is the entrance to the heavenly realm, the place where souls are judged. In my world, it's the same. I needed to acquire great power for a certain reason, so I studied the art of crossing worlds. But I could only connect to the heavenly realm of another world. And I'm about to be killed before achieving my goal."

"Tell me in order. You're too rushed. I don't understand half of it."

"Yes... I don't have time to explain in detail. Come to my world. Fulfill one of my wishes, and you can come back to life. To be precise, you can reincarnate."

"......"

Come back to life?

Did this boy just say he could come back to life?

"Live as you please when you come back to life. How about it?"

"...Alright."

Hikaru nodded.

To be able to come back to life. That was the happiest thing. The knowledge he had accumulated and the various thoughts he had, he couldn't bear to have them reset by the "judgment of souls."

"Then I will perform the art of crossing worlds. --My name is Roland. Roland Nui Zarasha. I will give you my body."

Hikaru's vision turned white and hazy.

And Hikaru's soul disappeared from the scene.

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