Chapter 67: A Small Thought on the Afterlife (3)
The dead who are heading downstairs to receive their judgment can’t see the suffering souls in the Abyss.
They can only move forward into the pitch-black darkness, ignoring the faint screams of agony echoing from somewhere they can’t see.
However, the Mother of Life told me about the experiences of those being judged in this layer.
These folks, who were murderers in life, when they face punishment here, get all the memories of their victims.
They experience the victim’s death from the victim’s viewpoint, as if they were the victims themselves.
As many times as they killed, in all the ways they did it. They are endlessly, repeatedly killed.
Until their very sense of self disintegrates, they are continuously slaughtered.
That’s the punishment in this layer.
—
After passing through all seven layers, the dead finally arrive at the bottom of the Afterlife.
Before them stands a gigantic door, so massive that even a giant wouldn’t be able to open it, reminding the dead just how tiny and weak they are.
When they stand before this door, it gradually opens, and the Grim Reaper’s company ends here.
If a dead person is traveling with their young deceased child, that child won’t follow them any longer.
So the dead must stand alone before the judgment of death and approach the three administrators of the Afterlife.
Thanatos, the commander who directs the Grim Reapers gathering souls from the darkness.
Moros, the investigator who checks the death registry to see if the dead actually went out in a fitting way.
Keres, the judge who weighs the souls on a scale, measuring the weight of their sins to pass judgment.
Before these three, the life of the dead gets completely dissected.
“Mother of Life, then why wouldn’t those who have sinned avoid descending to the lower layers?”
If they knew how the Afterlife works and knew the fate of sinful souls, they would obviously try to evade it.
But it doesn’t matter.
“If only it were possible.”
If someone could break free from the Grim Reaper’s grip dragging them down. And if they could slip away into the darkness wherever it might be, that would be something!
If someone had that capability, they’d dawdle about the upper layers without descending, not suffering at all, and would still move on to the next life.
Of course, for most souls, shaking off the Reaper’s hold is impossible, but a soul with strong will and mental fortitude could give it a shot.
Well, such a soul would be worthy of the title “hero,” but…
If someone is heroic enough, they shouldn’t cower in the upper layers but should boldly face the judgment!
But how many would have the guts to stand firm before death?
“Even if the odds are impossibly slim, as long as it’s not zero, it could happen someday. That’s why we need someone managing the upper layers.”
“An upper layer manager?”
“Yep. If a manager were there to grab those refusing to descend and send them down, the ones hanging around in the upper layer could be forced down.”
Well, initially, if the Grim Reapers’ power got a boost, they could just drag folks down like it’s nothing. But I reckon their power now is enough as it is.
Or should we tweak the Reapers’ strength to match the sins each soul has racked up? But then, wouldn’t that mean revealing their sins before the Afterlife’s judgment?
No, the soul’s sins should only come to light at the very bottom of the Afterlife. Can’t change that principle.
Hmm. Should I make them suffer up here too? No, that wouldn’t work. That would make innocent souls suffer too!
Not easy at all. Balancing the sinners and the non-sinners is tough. If I focus too much on one side, the other goes out of whack.
So the most brilliant idea I had was just adding a manager up top to keep things fair. Un.
“What kind of being is the upper layer manager?”
“The position is open.”
“Open?…”
It looks like finding someone capable of managing the entire upper layer isn’t a walk in the park.
Well, it’s not entirely empty.
“I just recently filled the three management positions in the Afterlife.”
“There are three Afterlife administrators?”
“Yeah. Originally, there were only two, but we just filled one more.”
So it seems Thanatos, the spirit of darkness, and Yama, the mountain god from North Mangsan, are now joined by Keres as the new overseer of the Afterlife!
After thinking for what felt like an eternity, that decision was made, but… Honestly, it would have been nice if it had happened a bit sooner.
Well, at least now we have the triumvirate overseeing the Afterlife, so that’s something to be happy about!
“A new god of death, you say?”
“She’s a goddess of death who’s half alive, half dead.”
Keres tried to harness the death energy within her and somehow succeeded, but it left half of her body looking like a corpse.
She claims it’s only skin-deep, but it really doesn’t come off that way to everyone else.
Anyway, the newly morphed Keres made a proposal to me.
—
“I want to be the administrator of the Afterlife. In return, please fulfill one request.”
“What kind of request?”
“Please create a special place for dragons to hang out after they die.”
—
Keres’ request was for the dragons.
Clearly, she had seen enough of the fate those dragons faced after death.
She probably wanted a unique afterlife where the souls of the dragons could chill.
Well, I granted that. After the souls who passed the Afterlife’s judgment moved on, I created a heavenly space where those poor dragon souls could finally relax at peace.
If Keres hadn’t asked that… I guess the dragons might’ve just turned into spirits after kicking the bucket.
But whatever, it’s all good.
Since Keres ended up doing something totally out of the ordinary, I decided to change her name just a bit to Keres.
And to make her job easier as the goddess of death, I even whipped up a scale to measure the sins of souls.
“Thanks to those three Afterlife administrators, things are running pretty smoothly now!”
“Those three Afterlife managers… Are they all gods of death?”
“Yep. They all handle death but in slightly different ways.”
Keres—formerly known as Ceres—doesn’t yet have the fame of a goddess of death, but that can easily change.
“What are their differences?”
“Yama, known as Moros, deals with the unavoidable fate of death and the rest that follows. Keres, on the other hand, represents destructive death and is the judge of sins committed in life.”
“What about Thanatos?”
“Thanatos is the unbiased harvester of death, the king of all reapers, free from all constraints.”
It’s all thanks to Thanatos’ leadership that countless reapers can gather souls in perfect order.
Anyway, I think I’ve written enough about the Afterlife for now.
The content might seem a tad lacking, but detailed bits can be added by the priests later. They just gotta trust me!
Now then, since I’ve set things up to let the Afterlife run on autopilot, it’s about time I took a break.
Seriously, why did this turn out to be such a pain? Ugh…
I swear I’m never doing this again. Never!
—
Rychlen proceeded down the stairs.
At the end loomed a massive river, so wide that the other side looked completely lost in the fog.
Rychlen scanned the riverbank, looking for a way across.
He ignored the kids huddled together on the bank and finally spotted a small dock with a boat and a ferryman sitting in it.
Rychlen approached the ferryman and ordered, “Take me to the other side.”
But the ferryman merely stared at Rychlen in silence, extending his hand.
Is he wanting the fare? Rychlen fished out a small pouch from his clothes.
He pulled out a single silver coin from the pouch the Sage of the Deep Forest had prepared for him. The ferryman took the coin, stood up, and grabbed the oars of the boat. Rychlen hopped onto the old vessel, and off they went across the river.
…
What waited at the end of the dark cave was an expansive flower field.
If what Rychlen learned from the Sage of the Deep Forest was true, this flower field was not a place to linger.
Rychlen tried to keep his presence down while searching for the entrance to the lower levels, hiding his massive frame as best he could.
“Who are you?”
Naturally, hiding his muscular body was a tall order.
“Are you a soul wishing to stay in the Western Paradise? You seem strong enough to shake off the Grim Reaper, but please turn back. Although this place is beautiful, it’s not one to linger in for long…”
The lovely woman with a bunch of flowers furrowed her brow when she caught sight of Rychlen.
“You’re still alive. I’ll refrain from saying anything harsh. You should return before others discover you.”
Rychlen kept silent, merely adjusting the handle of the club by his waist.
“If you’ve come here alive, it must be to retrieve a dear one. But bringing back the dead is against the natural order. As someone who once tried to do the same, I advise you to turn back.”
Her calm words settled in his mind, but Rychlen shook his head.
…
Rychlen pressed on, nursing his battered body as he descended to the lower levels.
He had only passed through two out of the seven layers the Sage had mentioned, yet his body felt like it had gone ten rounds in a boxing ring.
But Rychlen didn’t give up. He wouldn’t stop until he revived his friend who had died because of his mistake.
The next layer revealed a plain covered in black pebbles. At the entrance stood a man clad entirely in black, with a necklace adorned with two emeralds.
It was as though he had been waiting for Rychlen.
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