Melvin Miller was 25 years old and a regular drone of an office worker. He found his life to be both boring and uninspiring and he spent most of his free time dreaming about having something extraordinary happen to him…something unpredictable that would spark excitement and would make facing the next day bearable.

It’s funny how fate works. The answer to his dreams came from the most mundane of events: a car accident.

Ten minutes ago. Melvin was going about his usual routine. His favorite brand of bread in hand, he walked back home humming a tune to himself.

He was feeling relaxed, enjoying the warm afternoon sun on his face, when his attention was grabbed by the erratic movements of a black car coming down the street toward him. He found himself stopping on the sidewalk, unsure of what he should do. Suddenly the car’s engine reved and the car seemed to jump straight at him. With no time to react nor even utter a cry of alarm, it crashed into him.

In this contest of mass, momentum, and inertia, Melvin sadly lost. The collision shattered much of his body, then hurtled it away. His body tumbled to the ground, coming to rest against a raised curb, his head striking it first, instantly ending his life.

Melvin slowly became aware of himself, again. The pain of those final moments still felt fresh in his mind, but any sense of trauma was a distant thing.

Next, he became aware of what he could see in front of him. On a seemingly infinite canvas of black, a panorama of galaxies, nebulae, and stars had been painted by a master’s hand. Ethereal lights appeared out of nowhere, the dazzling colors moving in an intricate dance across the cosmic painting. The sheer vastness of the sight provided an awe-inspiring backdrop to a long spectral queue.

Spectral figures stood in line, seemingly walking on the fabric of space itself. They appeared to be awaiting their turn in what Melvin assumed to be the afterlife. These sights ignited a flutter of excitement in his heart.

While not particularly devout in any religion, Melvin identified as an agnostic. Embracing the notion of "I don't know what I don't know."

Melvin had spent a major portion of his life daydreaming about things greater than what he could see and touch. He loved anything related to the paranormal and the possibility of something extraordinary being real. Confronted with the prospect of the afterlife, his emotions surpassed mere happiness and headed in the direction of bliss. Needless to say, witnessing it all before him was a dream come true.

Watching the occurrences unfold, beyond the transparent tunnel where the spectral figures walked. Melvin felt a profound sense of awe, his spectral mouth agape, eyes shining. His head continuously turned from one side to the other, greedy to take everything in.

Celestial melodies resonated through the void, soothing spirits and enhancing his sense of tranquility.

Melvin couldn't resist the urge to close his eyes, enveloped in a profound sense of contentment.

A rude thought kept tugging at his mind, 'What if one of the religions was correct, and because he wasn't following their faith, would he be judged and sentenced to eternal damnation?'

But, it was very easy for him to dismiss such a thought, it felt rather minuscule compared to the profundity and vastness that lay before him. After a while, he opened his eyes and surveyed the queue of humans who he assumed had just died like him.

The line, composed of souls from presumably various walks of life, extended as far as the eye could see. Spectral figures, adorned with the remnants of their earthly clothes, stood in complete silence. The atmosphere among them was intense, understandably so, as most had just met their end. They were still processing this reality, grieving their deaths, and, most importantly, mourning the lives they had lost.

Some of them managed to find solace in the cosmic wonders, and the celestial melodies unfolding before them. While others appeared to be shell-shocked and too burdened to even take notice.

Melvin, on the other hand, wasn't despondent about his death. He hadn't left behind anyone whose life would be unduly disrupted by his passing. While he had some close friends, he knew they were well-adjusted individuals. He trusted their ability to grieve his death in their own ways, before moving on with their lives.

The afterlife queue slowly moved forward, guided by unseen forces that orchestrated the ebb and flow of souls in the afterlife. Each step brought them closer to a shimmering gateway—a threshold between their previous existence and the mysteries of the beyond.

As the line progressed, Melvin's anticipation swelled. Curiosity and excitement replaced his initial tranquility, while newfound expectations for the journey ahead enveloped his heart in a sweet embrace.

'What would it be I wonder?' He thought, 'Reincarnation? Heaven and Hell?' Both excited him, but frankly, he felt it'd be better if it was the former. Although, not a particularly bad guy, he wasn't exceptionally good by any means.

Close to the heavenly gate, he was able to see new figures, and the sight made his spectral heartbeat quicken its beat in reverence and fear.

Tall, gigantic creatures with human forms stood proud at each side of the marbled gate, gazing at the incoming souls. Towering above the gate, the colossal beings commanded attention with their imposing stature. Their human-like forms were exaggeratedly muscular, their chiseled features bearing an air of both strength and solemnity. Cloaked in robes that billowed majestically around them, their presence was both awe-inspiring and intimidating.

Melvin paused momentarily, struck by something about their proud expression. However, he didn't dwell on it and quickly resumed his admiration of other sights.

When he saw a man and a woman in front of the gate sitting behind a simple wooden table with a parchment on top of it, a short thick bottle of ink, and a simple white quill, an incredulous expression sneaked onto his face, "Why does this feel like we're in line at a medieval DMV? What is this?"

This was unlike the celestial and heavenly afterlife he had envisioned, but just before he could analyze it more, the queue had already progressed enough that he could faintly hear what the two figures were talking about.

Behind the table sat a golden-haired, handsome man with a striking figure. He wore a simple toga reminiscent of those worn in ancient Rome, busy writing on parchment with a white quill while seated on a plain wooden chair.

Beside him lounged a stunning woman with cascading black hair, her gorgeous red dress flowing over the chair as she engaged in conversation with the man next to her, wearing a lazy expression.

A tense young man, his body rigid and his expression wrought with fear, stood before the table. His voice quivered as he timidly posed his question. "W..who are you? The gods?"

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The golden-haired man didn't even look up and uttered with both impatience and disinterest, "Just tell me your first name and last name and move on."

The young man was shaken to be spoken to like this in such a vulnerable moment by these lofty figures, who were beyond the reach of death nonetheless. His lips started quivering and with tremendous difficulty, he tried to say his name, "Al... al... Alfr..."

The golden-haired man's lips curled slightly in amusement at the sight, his attention drifting away from the young man. He resumed his conversation with the woman beside him, patiently waiting for the young man to conclude. "What were you saying? What happened after he discovered that you were lying?"

Melvin was shaken by this sight. "What in the world is this? Why aren't they comforting that guy and giving him more time?"

He had already understood that if the afterlife was real, then naturally God was real too, and then according to his understanding of most faiths, these creatures must be angels.

However, he had heard plenty of how compassionate angels were, and these two were nothing like that. They were rude, impatient, annoyed, and worst of all they engaged in gossip. There was practically no difference between them and most people he had known his whole life, so Melvin refused to believe they were angels or any other godly beings.

Yet, a lingering question persisted in Melvin's mind. These beings, whom he thought so little of, seemed to be beyond the grasp of death itself, stationed at the threshold of the afterlife, 'Who are they?'

What the woman said next, however, made him question everything.

"What could he do, Rebay is but an old god, both his powers and influence are in decline," muttered the red-dressed woman lazily with her gaze fixed on the young man before them, an amused expression tugging at her lips.

Melvin was overwhelmed hearing that, "Rebay, old god? Could it be..."

An earth-shattering realization struck him: "Could the world have been created by a pantheon of gods, like those in Greek mythology?" This epiphany shattered his previous sense of contentment.

Of all the myths and religions, he despised that one the most.

The notion of being created by such primitive and simplistic beings whose ego and immaturity knew no bound filled him with a sense of humiliation, and more so shattered his reverence toward the beauty of life and the universe.

It was like knowing that the school bully or the vapid celebrity was the creator of the whole known universe.

His lifelong interests, beliefs, and ideals were slowly disintegrating in the face of the reality he found himself in.

A surge of emotions was threatening to burst out, and so his feet unconsciously moved as he separated himself from the queue and made a beeline for the heavenly gate where the talking figures sat. He had one motive in mind, and that was to find an answer.

Beyond that, he no longer cared for anything else.

At the same time, on a more unconscious level, he was still operating from the religious conditioning that had been fed to him his whole life: the heavens are just and fair, thus there was no second-guessing his safety or anything since he was already dead.

This seemingly simple turn of events from Melvin managed to grab everyone's attention: the people waiting, the godly guards by the gate, the young man, and most importantly the two people in charge behind the table.

Faint, indistinct murmurs emanated from the queue to his left, yet he remained too preoccupied as he wrestled a dam of inexplicable emotions and grappled with even more profound questions as he walked past them.

He steadily walked forward, step by step, and when he stood beside the young man, he looked at the two and simply asked, innocently, airing out his confusion without the slightest shred of malice, "Who are you, people?"

The duo looked at each other without the faintest trace of anger, just amusement. After all, it was a very boring task to which they were assigned, and it wasn't exactly an ordinary occurrence for a mortal to dare question them as such.

The woman, being the one most entertained by this, was the first one to break the silence and replied, "I am the Goddess of Art and he's the God of Agriculture. What is the matter?"

Melvin was even more stupefied by that and directly remarked without a care in the world, "You are lying, how could someone so rude, small, and ordinary be a mighty God?"

The woman's once amused expression swiftly morphed into one of shock at the mortal's words, mirroring the man's reaction.

The golden-haired deity stood up, a faint smile adorning his lips, and his eyes burned with interest as he gazed upon the mortal before him. With a voice steeped in authority, he spoke, "You, insignificant mortal, dare to speak so boldly in the presence of your God?"

However, the terror they were expecting from the man didn't arrive; instead, Melvin looked even more disappointed and uttered, "I don't believe it. I refuse to believe it. How can you be Gods? You were just gossiping and talking about lies, and whatnot. It's impossible. Gods are beyond the limited shackles of human behavior. You are just like me, someone flawed."

The golden-haired man was even more stupefied after hearing that and shouted, "Mortal, are you stupid? We are the Gods you speak of."

The woman rose to her feet, her expression piqued with interest, a faint smile tugging at her lips. "Did you witness your continued existence after death and thought that you were immortal?" she smilingly questioned. "Kneel and apologize now, or I will show you what eternal death means."

Melvin, who only an hour ago was casually browsing the supermarket for his favorite brand of bread, now found himself embroiled in a potential battle with self-proclaimed Gods in the afterlife.

Despite the shattering of his previous hopes and expectations upon meeting them, what he felt most was not anger or fear, but rather a profound sense of second-hand embarrassment—not just for these two supposed deities, but for himself as well.

He wanted to apologize, and just get on with it, but as he looked at their gloating gazes lording over him, he immediately changed his mind.

Witnessing these supposedly superior beings, impervious even to death, engaging in such petty behavior left him feeling disillusioned and disheartened. It was as if his lofty aspirations had suddenly been grounded in the mundane reality of human pettiness.

'Are they truly the gods?' he pondered, his mind swirling with complex emotions. The realization that the world was created by such beings left him stumped, unaware of how to process such a thing.

Melvin glanced at the duo's different expressions and calmly said, "If the world is indeed created by petty small creatures such as yourselves, then eternal rest from all of your bullshit wouldn't be so bad. Do your best."

Saying that he indifferently shifted his eyes beyond the two angry figures and gazed at the vast cosmos behind them, feeling a mixture of both disappointment and utter confusion at what was happening.

'How could the world be created by these small people?' His mind continued mulling over, unable to make sense of the situation.

Most importantly, the existence of the afterlife solidified the existence of God as well, and so deep down he was hoping for the true God to appear and make things right.

Although he knew how ridiculous that thought was, they were already in the afterlife, and if God wasn’t here, then what these two in front of him said was the truth.

As he gazed upon the beautiful expanse of the cosmos, a whirlwind of emotions engulfed his heart. Suddenly, the woman's voice shattered the silence with a chillingly cold tone, her feigned amusement failing to mask the bitterness caused by the mortal's words. "So be it. What's one more mortal?" she declared before he felt the world constricting around him, suffocating him in the process.

All he could feel in his final moments was slight regret as he thought, 'Maybe I should have just apologized and continued to reincarnate or something', but when he saw their amused expressions, he vehemently rejected such an idea as it would be too humiliating.

Thus, with bulging eyes, he fixed his gaze on the two of them, feigning a mocking expression, although he couldn't muster any genuine mockery to anyone but himself.

Fortunately, this had indeed caught the duo off guard, their expressions changing. He found that amusing, and his lips widened into a genuine smile.

Just when he thought he was going to die once and for all, a sudden and drastic turn of events unfolded.

In the farthest corner of the visible cosmos, a minuscule black dot swiftly advanced toward the heavenly gate with astonishing speed.

As the dot drew nearer, it expanded, casting a shadow over everything in its path like an ominous void. Its overwhelming presence seemed to swallow even the light, leaving only complete darkness in its wake.

Without awaiting the duo's reaction, it maintained its speed and easily passed through the invisible tunnel. Upon passing through, its size reduced significantly, now reaching a diameter of two meters. It continued its approach towards Melvin, and in the blink of an eye, it engulfed him before the two instantly blinked out of existence.

A silence fell like a pin drop as the two Gods and the guards behind them witnessed this unfolding spectacle in shock, and though they wanted to act, everything had happened too quickly.

The eyes of the two Gods began radiating a golden glow as they stalked toward the gate. After a short while, the void around them began to form small ruptures, allowing several creatures—both human and non-human—to approach and encircle the two Gods.

A single thought echoed through the minds of all the Gods present: 'The Eternal Watcher.'