A Second Chance

"Why is everyone so obsessed with clapping my cheeks!" Gojin yelled loudly, but his cheeks flushed with embarrassment when he realized what he had said. "I did not mean it in that way!"

The old man before him buried his hands in his face and sighed loudly, clearly disappointed by Gojin's words.

Taking a moment, Gojin inspected his wound, which had mysteriously vanished. His eyes then looked around and realized he was no longer in the alley but in a strange place.

He had no idea where he was because everything around him was pitch black except for the glowing old man standing before him.

"What is this place?" Gojin mumbled, losing his shit. "And who the heck are you?"

The old man peeked through his fingers and gave Gojin an angry look. "This fool has no respect for his elders. No wonder he's useless!"

Gojin was confused and rubbed the back of his head. His mother has always taught him to be respectful to the elders, but unfortunately, all the elders Gojin met were useless folks who didn't deserve any respect either way.

However, the old man standing before him didn't appreciate his silence and whacked him with a stick that appeared out of thin air.

"Ow! Stop hitting me! You sadist geezer!" Gojin yelled, covering his head.

"Then learn to show some respect to your elders!" the old man retorted. "Reply when you're told to, and shut up when you're asked, you brat!"

Just then, another orb of light appeared this time in the form of a bulky man with bulging muscles who stood beside the old man.

"Hey, hey, old timer, lay off the kid, will you?" the muscular man called out, grabbing the old man's stick. "He might be a screw-up, but that's no way to treat our descendant."

"Descendant...?" Gojin caught the word and went mute.

Before Gojin could process what was happening, a multitude of orbs materialized, each morphing into a peculiar figure.

One resembled an ancient scholar, and another was encircled by women around him. There was even one that took the form of a stern military officer, while another exuded the regal presence of a king.

Before long, Gojin found himself surrounded by several strange, luminous beings, their eyes gleaming with curiosity as they stared at him.

"Trust a brute to ruin everything," the scholar called out the muscle man.

"What did you say?" the muscle man called out, ready to exchange fists as usual.

Ignoring their fight, the soldier marched forward and grabbed Gojin by his shirt, lifting him up like he was some odd creature.

The other men, glowing in the light, gathered around and gave Gojin a curious glance before shaking their heads. When they were done, the soldier let Gojin go and clicked his tongue in disappointment.

"The lad's a disaster, sir," the soldier reported back to the elderly man. "He does not have a speck of talent in any area, I'm afraid."

"No wonder he died miserably," the playboy remarked, playing with the hair of the blonde woman next to him. "Tsk, what a lame way to end our bloodline."

Finally, Gojin couldn't take it anymore and yelled loudly, "WILL SOMEONE EXPLAIN WHAT'S HAPPENING HERE!?"

"Will you look at that?" The muscle man smirked. "The pup knows how to bark, after all."

The others also had a lot to say, but the old man raised his hand to stop them. Instead, he took a step towards Gojin and offered him a hand.

"You, my child, are our final kin, who just passed away," the old man revealed at last.

"I.. died, huh," Gojin mumbled with a sigh. "So, what now? Are you people here to welcome me to the afterlife or something?"

"Quite the opposite," the scholar stepped in, covering the lower half of his face with a paper fan. "We are here to give you another chance."

"Another chance?" Gojin replied, unable to process the words. "I already died. How can I-"

"That's why I told you to listen first!" The old man barked, ready to smack Gojin again, but decided otherwise at the last second.

"Ahem, allow me to elaborate further," the scholar intervened.

What Gojin heard next was straight out of some webnovel. Apparently, all the spirits there were his ancestors from both the past and the future timelines. Some died over a thousand years ago, while some weren't even born yet, at least in the current timeline.

However, all of them had something in common. They all were talented in one field or the other and successfully carried the ultimate task of carrying the bloodline before their demise.

Unfortunately, that's where Gojin fell short. Not only was he untalented, but he also failed to create offspring to carry on the family name, as he died before he could even do the deed.

The playboy then grabbed Gojin and pointed him towards another spirit of his ancestor. It looked like a gloomy guy who was sitting in the corner all by himself.

"Hey, look at him! Even this loser managed to score!" the playboy hollered, giving Gojin a rough shake. "What's your deal, man? How come you couldn't find a single girl to hook up with?"

Gojin was embarrassed and scratched his head. Talking about his virginity was never easy, and it wasn't any easier talking about it with the ghosts of his ancestors.

The old man whacked the playboy off Gojin and continued, "Your duty is to carry on our family line. But since you seem unable to handle anything yourself, we'll lend a hand..."

"But how? I'm already dead-"

"Um, yeah... So, here's the thing," the spirit, dressed like a regular office guy, muttered, fiddling with his glasses. "See, the big boss upstairs got interrupted by an elder before he could mark you down as gone. So, we might be able to figure something out, you know, so you're not totally, uh, gone for good."

"...I don't know what's happening here any more," Gojin replied, looking even more confused.

"Meh, don't worry about it," the muscle man replied. "Leave it to us and prepare for your second life."

"Prepare-"

"In the name of Amitabha," the old man murmured, clasping his hands as if in prayer.

But then, swiftly, he lifted his staff once more, striking Gojin with such power that it rattled their realm. The next thing Gojin saw was his fading ancestors as everything turned dark.