[Rukh’s POV]

The lights flickered around me. I heard voices as my eyes closed and my mind faded away. I'm not sure what happened while I was asleep, but the last thing I remember doing was jumping off my building's terrace.

That's right, I jumped! tired of reliving the same miserable days. Nothing was changing—not me, my situation, or my life. I believed ending it all was the best way to stop feeling this way. At least that way, my mind would be at ease.

"So now that I've died. Where am I? And what is this place? I can't see anything because it's so dark here."

"Hello? Hello? What the hell is going on, Huh? Don't tell me, is this a dream?"

"No way"

"It took a lot of balls to jump from that building; if this was a dream, I would go mad once I woke up."

"Hahahahah"

"Huh? Who is there?"

"You are a funny one", said the voice, filling the darkness in the Void."

I turned my head toward the voice's origin but couldn't see anyone in the darkness.

"Who are you? Why can't I see you? And where the hell am I? Is this a dream?"

"Whoa whoa, calm down, that's a lot of questions to ask someone who you just met," said the voice

"Then who should I ask? Do you see any other voice coming beside you?"

"Oh, was that sarcasm? I like it! Hahaha"

I am annoyed

"Well, to answer your first question. You can call me Omrutya. I am the overseer of the souls worthy to cross the gates of reincarnation."

"Overseer? Reincarnation? What do you mean?"

"It means I believe you are worthy of earning a chance to have a reincarnation."

"Wait, reincarnation? Is that really possible? I thought those were just concepts, made by people to have hope for a new life. To think that those crazy people were not wrong."

"The world is huge, and the universe is much more complex as big as it is. Things that seem like concepts could be realities as long as you hope for them."

"Hmmm, so… are you a god?"

"Technically, you can count me as one of them."

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"Huh? What do you mean by that?"

"Aagh, enough chitchatting; we don't have enough time for stupid talks. Let's get to the main point." Said the voice annoyingly.

What the hell do you mean stupid? Have you ever met someone who died, and then some crazy ass voice in the darkness randomly starts blabbering about reincarnation, calling himself a god? Cause I, for goddamn sake, haven't.

"Haah, so what do you mean by reincarnation?"

"As I said, you are worthy of fighting for a chance to be reincarnated in your world."

"Nah, I am fine."

"I see, then let me tell you how you can be reinc-… wait, huh?"

"Yeah, I am gonna pass on that reincarnation thing; thanks for the offer, though."

"Wait, wait, wait, what do you mean by pass? Surely you won't want to miss this chance, will you."

"Yeah"

"I think you didn't understand me. Let me repeat, I am saying you will get a chance to be reincarnated."

"I heard you the first time."

"Then why do you refuse?"

"Well, 'cause I am tired of living. That place doesn't interest me anymore; I am too tired to think about anything anymore."

"Why do you say that?"

"Say, in the face of the harshest situation you come across, if you had the option to make a right choice, but that choice will make you suffer your whole life or a wrong choice, but that choice will lead you to peace. Which option would you choose?"

"Hmm, that's a tricky question. I guess most people would choose the latter."

"Right? So that is my answer to your question."

After a short silence, Omrutya spoke.

"I see. I understand what you say. However, if you refuse, your soul will be in solitude in this darkness for eternity. You won't ever vanish and will never find peace. Will you be able to endure that?"

That…hmmm, even I don't think I could endure that. But it's still better than the life I lived. What should I do?

"Let's do this instead, enter the gates of reincarnation and complete the trials to reach the next gates. If you wish to give up, call my name and say 'Concedo'. Once you say that, your soul will return to nothingness."

"Concedo, huh! Then why don't you send my soul to nothingness in here."

"Only those souls who enter the gate of reincarnation have that choice, but if you complete the trials, you earn a second chance to have a life."

"So, you mean I must pass the trials to have a shot? Isn't that way too tiring?"

"Hahaha, the benefits are much more appealing than giving up."

"What do you mean?"

"If the other gods are impressed by your efforts, they will offer you an opportunity to choose the kind of life you want."

"Oh, I see! Not bad, I guess."

"So, what is your choice?"

"Alright, I will go! I will say concedo the moment the trials start to get my wish."

"Alright then, I respect your wish."

Suddenly, a bright flash of light came from my body, lighting up the dark Void.

"Wh-What is this?"

"A gift from me to make you realize your true wish."

Why does his voice feel happy, though? I have a bad feeling about this.

"I wait to see your true wish come true."

As Omrutya said those words, my body flew forward into the depth of the Void. Am I moving forward? Or is the Void moving backwards? There was no way of knowing. My head spun around, watching the stars pass by.

A minute passed, and the moving stopped. I opened my eyes to see what happened, and the next thing I saw took me by surprise. A large gate stood in front of me. The gate's size was as tall as a five-storey building. The gate was completely white with golden linings designed around it and was made of pure marble.

"Is this the gate to heaven?" I wondered

That is when I heard a voice coming from beside me.

"Oh, so this is the gate of heaven?? It's huge."

I turned to look at her, and when our eyes met, I got a feeling that I would be spending some time with her in the future.

The moment she opened her mouth to speak, the gate opened, and a dazzling light came from the door, blinding us. That was the sign to enter the door. We both looked at each other, then at the door and took our first step to enter the door.

I didn't know what was waiting behind the door for me, but that was the least of my worries. I entered the door and waited for my end.