Chapter 1

The chilly air of December is breathtaking.

Imagine waking up at 3 a.m. to go out and shoot when the wind chill is already below freezing.

You'll be feeling chilled to the bone and extremely stiff.

"Wow, hyung! I had so much fun! I feel like all the sleepiness I felt from earlier had disappeared!"

"It still doesn't really feel real. Were those people in front of the stage really our fans? Waiting in this cold weather, just to see our little pre-recording?"

"My whole body is exploding with adrenaline, I feel like I could actually dance for another three hours right now!"

These young people said as they headed to the parking lot of the KBC station, seemingly looking oblivious to the cold or just didn't feel it at all.

On the contrary, they were jumping up and down, letting loose with unbridled energy.

I rubbed my eyes, which were stiff from the lenses, and patted the youngest member and maknae of the team, Lee Kyung-hwan, on the head.

"Kyung, little brother, you'll step on my foot again if you keep continuing to run like that."

"Aww, what a shame. I was trying to sneak up on you and pretend to trip."

"I'll see you when you get back to your quarters."

"Wow, I'm scared that I feel like an asshole."

The youngest, still reeling from the stage, continued to rant and rave.

Witnessing my sigh deepen, the leader, Hwang Seong-hu, gave me a wry wink that told me to hang in there for a little bit longer.

"Be patient, Si-hwan. You know how exactly how meaningful it is to record this first music show today."

"Of course I'd know."

"So let's just let them run amok for now. I'm sure they'll be falling asleep as soon as they get in the car."

"I'll listen to you and put up with them."

You know what that first music show performance you just did with every muscle in your body on fire means?

I don't know anyone who's felt that moment more poignantly than me.

I spent 6 years as a trainee at BlackLash Entertainment, a medium to large-sized agency with a good reputation.

At the young age of 15, I was handpicked by the CEO of BlackLash Entertainment and became his favorite trainee.

I was praised for my singing, dancing, looks, acting, and other aspects of my training.

He even had a policy that he would never let me debut until they were "perfectly formed" with members who'd fit my standards.

It's not that I didn't understand your sentiment. Like a parent sending their favorite child off to be married, you wanted to make sure they'd have the best partner possible.

But one year went by, two went by, six went by, and the frustration of "please just let me make my debut" built up.

Then the last member, the youngest member, Lee Kyung-hwan, came in, and we finally had a five-member debut group, and we were able to debut in front of the public as a group called Black Shot.

I still vividly remember the moment when my voice floated over the studio as I sang the killer part, the last verse.

I've wanted it so badly and worked myself to the bone to get there, so today's debut was especially precious.

The moment I had gotten into the van that my manager's brother had already started, the reality of finally becoming an official idol seemed to hit me even harder.

"Ah, now I can finally relax."

"Si-hwan, what did I tell you, you're going to stretch as soon as you get in their car?"

"That's true."

"Hehe.. brothers, I'm going to bed first. Wake me up once we get there."

"It's only 30 minutes to the hotel, let's just get there and sleep."

Looking at Lee Kyung-hwan's already half-closed eyes, Cha Kang-hyun clicked his tongue.

But the way he pulled the blanket over his brother's body was so sweet.

"You guys must be nervous because it was your first recording today, so get some sleep. It's been a long day."

The manager's brother, who noticed that the vitality that had briefly entered our bodies right after the pre-recording was over, was slowly disappearing, said while smoothly turning the steering wheel.

I didn't fall asleep right away, but stared at the still-dark sky and thought for a moment.

I had made the debut of my dreams.

I wonder how my fellow trainees, who'd changed so many times in six years, are doing.

I wonder what the kid who joined BlackLash with me in the early days is doing now. We had each other's backs when things got tough, but he hung in there and made his debut with me. The bad guy.

I wonder why we have to pre-record the music broadcast so early in the morning every time. I heard that the order is pushed back when the annual leave is a bit full. When will we be able to perform the closing stage?

'I must be getting a little sleepy with all these distractions.'

My dazed mind had spontaneously led me to dreamland.

I wanted to share a few bit more impressions from my first day.

I leaned my head against the window and closed my eyes, thinking about going back to the motel and making small talk with the members.

Little did I know that the night sky I looked at before falling asleep would be the last thing I would ever get to see in this world.

Without realizing it.

. . .

I felt like I was breathing in bitter smoke.

Along with the strange scent came a sensation of something tickling the tip of my nose.

'I didn't keep a cat in my quarters.'

I slowly opened my eyes.

Then I could only stare blankly around, saying nothing.

I've never seen anything like it.

An endless field of reeds under the livid gray sky.

A breeze had blown in, ruffling the reeds in front of me.

'But there isn't a fire around, so why does it smell so suffocating.'

No, that's beside the point.

Where the hell am I?

We were obviously on our way back to the van.

On the way back, everyone was so relaxed that they were fast asleep.

I couldn't understand where my fluffy bed had disappeared to and why this reed bed was welcoming me.

I unconsciously took a step forward.

No matter how wide I opened my eyes and looked over the horizon, I couldn't see where the reeds would've ended.

'I've never had a dream like this in my life, and if it's a dream, I wish I could just wake up.'

I wonder how long I walked.

No matter how much I trained in physical fitness, I don't have two hearts to walk across endless fields like this without getting tired.

When I finally stopped walking, out of breath.

"Soul #10453678, please step forward."

An unknown voice whispered in my ear.

When I stood still without moving, I heard the voice again, this time it had a slightly frustrated tone.

"Soul #10453678, please step forward."

No matter how I look at it, it seemed to be calling me.

But no matter how much I walk it doesn't change anything, when all I see in front of me is a field of reeds.

I take a step forward, unsure with myself, and the landscape changes in an instant.

The plains with the same brown reeds was gone, and a space of black tiles had been created.

Standing upright on my own two feet, I was suddenly seated in a hard wooden chair, and in front of me was a tall courtroom dais (1) that exuded an air of brilliance.

Rising up behind the dais were three large chairs with masked people staring at me.

Even though I couldn't see their eyes, I could feel their stares burning into my flesh.

The woman standing next to the chair I was sitting in said in a much less irritated voice.

"This is the last judgment of the day. The judgment of soul #10453678 will begin now."

"Oh, wait," I said, "there's something unusual written here."

The judge that sat in the center seat raised his hand, and the woman who seemed to be in charge of the aide's duties hurriedly flipped through the papers.

"Ah, that's right. Perhaps this soul was harvested by the Judge himself, which is why he said he would come to deliver the verdict personally right now."

"You've arrived just in time."

Now I couldn't tell if this was a common dream or not.

I stared open-mouthed at the large, hulking figure that had materialized from the shadows in an instant.

Like the judges seated in the courtroom, it worn a mask, but this was no ordinary mask.

Adorned with silver plates and gold trim that glinted in the dim light, the mask told me at a glance that it held immense authority.

"This is a soul I'm going to deal with myself, so you guys may leave now."

"Thank you, Judge."

"I'll see you tomorrow."

After a curt bow to the one called the Judge, the masked men disappeared in a flash.

The Judge turned his head slightly towards my direction and shrugged.

"You look like you need further explanation."

"Oh, yeah."

"First, tell me where you are in your own perspective. That'll determine where I have to start to explain towards you."

What do I know?

I feel like I shouldn't just say that I walked through the reeds without thinking about it, thinking it was all just a dream.

I racked my brain, trying to figure it out.

"Ah, um. So, you're saying you harvested my soul?"

"That's right."

"Does that mean I'm dead now?"

"I see you have no idea what you're talking about, and those paycheck-collecting bastards didn't help to give you any guidance. Phew, looks like it cant be helped."

The Judge sighed and waved his hands in the air.

A cloudy puff of smoke erupted, and an image formed from it.

I stared into the smoke, lost for words.

"This is...

"Yes, I'm so sorry to show this. Handover time 3:21 a.m., December 3rd, 202X. Six humans, including you, Yu Si-hwan, were all killed in a senseless car accident. You humans call it, drunk driving. A drunk driver slammed into the car you were in, causing a great loss of life."

"...."

It's normal to say something negative.

It's weird that we keep hearing this nonsense, this nonsense, and this nonsense.

But no words were able to come out of my mouth.

All I could see was the black van with the fire roaring, and at the very least 119 emergency vehicles surrounding it.

I could only stare blankly at the image.

He even showed me the license plate of the blackened van.

After staring at it for a couple of seconds, I realized it was the license plate of the van we were traveling in.

The smoke the judge generated seemed to be trying to dispel my doubts about the presence of a high-performance AI as accurately and quickly as possible.

After the license plate, it now showed me my body, with my arm bent at an odd angle.

"Whoosh!"

"Well, well, well! let me apologize, this damned thing doesn't move of its own volition, and you ended up looking pretty disgusting."

As I gagged and nearly vomited, the Judge waved a hand to clear the smoke.

That's why my nostrils smelled so suffocating earlier.''

I looked at the black van, completely burnt out, and it all made sense.

The air I had inhaled just before I died was still in my lungs.

It didn't really feel real, but when I caught a glimpse of my strangely contorted (2) form, everything seemed to crack.

I struggled to spit out a word, trying to control my violently churning stomach.

"Am I really dead?"

"Yes. Human life is a really both a beautiful and cruel thing to be a part of."

A man with a brilliant future ahead of him is suddenly reduced to a…

"So this is.…?"

The Judge nodded once.

It was a moment that made his gleaming mask stand out even more.

"The place where the souls of the dead gather to decide their destiny. The Plains of Asphodel in the Underworld."

I had no idea that the concepts of Inheritance and the Underworld actually existed.

I thought they were just myths and stories.

"Normally, I let my men, like the ones you saw earlier, decide where the dead go, but when special spirits come to me, like Mr. Yu Si-hwan, I do this. When someone with a beautiful future meets an untimely end, or when there are circumstances that are required for them to be punished even after death."

"In my case, please tell me it's the former."

"Haha, it looks like you've gotten over the shock quite quickly already though. Yu Si-hwan is definitely, of course, the former case. I haven't looked too deeply into the inheritance, but from what I've heard that in your world, the title of an idol is very honorable."

Indeed.

I worked my ass off to get on stage as an idol.

I practiced even when I wasn't playing with my friends, couldn't eat what I wanted, and couldn't even have a normal school life.

I wanted to be an idol so badly that I sacrificed all of that, and now I'm searching in vain on the first day of my debut. What kind of a joke is this?

"So I'm going to give you a choice, especially with the authority of my referee."

"A choice?"

"Formally by nature, souls have no right to choose. How you've lived your life determines your fate. If you've lived a life of wrongdoing, you go to Hell. If you've lived a normal life, you'll go towards the Asphodel Plains, and if you've lived a beautiful life, you'll go to Heaven. But, like Mr. Yu, if you've been wrongfully denied the right to live a good life, we'd offer you a choice."

The Judge spread his hands and spoke slowly.

"First, we will allow you to spend the rest of your life in Heaven to compensate for the wrongful deprivation of your life."

"…and?"

"Second, you can go to Hell, where you'll have the opportunity to be 'reincarnated' into the body of someone else.

Reincarnation.

Did I hear that right?

"Did you just say 'reincarnation'?"

"Yes, the privilege of being reincarnated to Earth on a different blood line, with the memories and appearance of your previous life, so that you'll be able to live a new one. But, of course, it won't be easy. Everyone who enters Hell is given a task, and they must perform it perfectly for a set of period of time to fulfill the conditions for reincarnation."

"So as long as you stay quiet in Hell."

I could feel my voice shaking.

"Are you saying I could get my life back?"

At my question, the judge said nothing but just nodded.

"Now, soul, I'll ask you again."

"…"

"Will you go to heaven and rest in eternal peace. Or will you voluntarily plunge into Hell for a chance at reincarnationing?"

If I'm sure I'm really dead.

If everything that's unfolding right in front of me right now is truly real.

And if I could really have a second chance at life.

I would do absolutely anything.

I'd go to the depths of Hell to take back my life.

I took in a breath and opened my eyes.

And in an unwavering voice, I answered.

"I'm going to hell."