1 The beginning of the end

Zarin woke up once more to his new reality. He knew that the guard would come to check on him in ten seconds. After that, it should take the guard 12 more seconds to open the cell's door, and beat him up.

He had lived that moment repeatedly, as each time he got killed, he just reappeared at the same spot, and everything looked the same as the first time.

In that moment of break, before his killer reached him, Zarin tried to think about what sin he had committed in his past life to make him be in this situation.

Zarin used to be a typical high school student back on Earth. He wasn't the brightest of students, but his grades were decent enough to get him into a good college.

He got the chance to go on a date with the crush of his life after a long time of persuading her. Since kindergarten, he had been in love with her, but she never paid attention to him.

On the day of the date, as he was on the way to pick her up, he noticed an old woman passing the street while the red light for the pedestrians was still on. So, as the good suc… person he was, he had run to get the lady out of harm's ways.

On the way to do so, he tripped, and while falling, he pushed the lady away, but he was the one in danger. As it has happened in many animes, he had watched a truck had appeared out of nowhere to hit him. But the truck had stopped in time to avoid hitting him, but it was too late.

Zarin had died from a heart attack. Even if he was young, he was lucky to be alive after getting born. During his coming out into the world, some problems had led to him having a severe heart condition that had weakened it.

After that, everything turned dark, and he felt little pain. Then, a light came up again, and he could see, but his vision was different. It was almost like a filter in his eyes that made things a bit more bright and blurry.

He could tell his surroundings, which seemed to be up in the clouds. He looked down at his body and noticed that his whole body was light blue and semitransparent. However, he still looked to have the same form as when he was alive, and when he tried to use his hands to feel his body, he felt nothing.

It was like his hands were numb, and they couldn't feel anything.

He also noticed that he couldn't speak or smell, and only his hearing and sight had remained from his senses. He wasn't sure if his sense of taste was also gone, as he had nothing to taste, as he couldn't even produce saliva.

He kept himself in the line since he couldn't do anything else and paid attention to the other people in it. He understood that he was dead, which should be the line for the afterlife.

'Is it always that busy?' he had wondered, as he couldn't see the end or start of the line.

They were moving at a decent pace, as he calculated that they should have been taking close to 5 seconds for each person.

'They probably already know where we should go if they have records of our actions.'

He wasn't much of a religious person, but like everyone, he had speculated in the past what would happen when one died.

He was a fan of the reincarnation theory, more than just being sent to heaven. No matter how great a place was, they would grow bored with it if they stayed there for eternity. With reincarnation, especially if you could go to a different world each time, it was a new adventure each time.

After hours, the start of the line was within his sight. There was a huge golden gate. In front of it, there was a figure in a suit, sitting behind a desk with a computer on it.

The figure had no facial characteristics. It had two arms, and the part of the body that Zarin could see looked humanoid. Its face was utterly blank--- no mouth, ear, eyes, or nose. It had no hair or facial hair.

Just an oval-shaped head.

As he got closer, he noticed the figure seemed to type something into the PC after the first person in the line changed. Then, after writing, he seemed to stare at the PC's monitor and then pointed at the left or right side.

If he pointed at the left side, a figure with dark bat-like wings and red skin appeared, grabbing the person who was just 'judged' and dragging them to a door at the side that led to some stairs that went downwards.

If he pointed to the right, another figure appeared, but it had regular wings with feathers instead of bat-like wings. In addition, its skin was human-like, and its face seemed to produce a dim light, making its appearance look even more holy.

Unlike the other figure, which was almost entirely naked except for a loincloth, this one wore white robes with golden lines at the end.

The first figure was a demon, while the second one was an angel.

Zarin's turn came, and he was confident that the person would point to the right for him. Even if he didn't worship God heavily, he was a good person. He had died because he tried to help an older woman he didn't know after all.

He saw the individual writing on the computer. A pause lasted more than for the other individuals Zarin saw getting 'judged.'

He saw the figure typing something on the computer again, which was a first. Until now, the figure had typed something only once and then pointed. So Zarin was the first person the figure had to type twice on its computer.

The figure turned its empty face towards Zarin, and even if it didn't have any eyes, Zarin could feel its stare.

Then the figure pointed behind it at the large gate.

Zarin was confused and then started hearing some commotion from the gate. It sounded like someone was running toward them.

"I am here, I am here. Where is the chosen one?" the unfamiliar figure said.

This person didn't look like either an angel or a demon. It actually looked like a typical female human, except for one detail—the mountains on her chest.

Zarin had seen those divine gifts only at animes and on the television, but never up and close. Nevertheless, he was confident there would be some movement in his lower region if he was alive.

The Judge, as Zarin had named the person at the office, pointed towards him, and the 'divine' being turned her gaze at him.

Zarin could see eyes of excitement on her as she looked at him.

Next, she gripped his hand and dragged him through the gates. The gates weren't open, but it was a bar gate, and since it was that huge, there was a decent space between each bar.

Zarin couldn't do anything, as that person's strength was over him. But he was excited about what would follow. He was called a 'chosen one' after all.

After passing that gate, they moved to the left and into a small wooden building. The room they were in was almost empty, with just two chairs.

The figure placed Zarin on one chair, and she took the other one across from him.

"You are finally here. You took your time. You should have died sooner, as it isn't good to have a lady wait that long," the person said with frustration at its voice and some teasing hidden in it.

Zarin didn't know what to say, as he was unaware that someone had waited for him to die. But even if he knew what to say, he could not speak.

"Let's see. What was the next step again?"

She looked in deep thought for a few seconds, but then she looked like she had an idea.

"How silly of me. Introductions come first," she exclaimed.

She stood up and then gave a slight bow to Zarin.

"My name is Ais. Thanks for using our services."

Zarin once more did not react since he couldn't speak. Finally, he tried, just in case that person had done something to him to talk again, but no sound came out.

Soon, Ais noticed he said nothing, and after a few seconds, there was a look of revelation in her eyes.

"How could I forget something that simple?"

She gave another bow to Zarin. This time looked to be one to ask forgiveness and not show respect like the last one.

She then closed her eyes and started chanting something. As she spoke those words in a language that Zarin had never heard of, something he had hoped never to happen started happening.

The divine mountains were becoming smaller.