Rain. 

It was the first thing that Haneul Yun saw when he awoke and opened his eyes. A gentle rain falling slowly but steadily in front of an endless, dark horizon. 

Yet there was something off about the rain. Some subtle wrongness that he couldn’t quite place but that gnawed at him on some primal level deep within, creating a cold dread that formed in the base of his spin and crept slowly through his body.

After a few minutes of dazed observation it struck him like an epiphany. The rain wasn’t falling. It was rising. Each drop of rain being propelled from the ground up into the air where it disappeared into a black, cloudless sky.

A sky dominated by the thick, gnarled branches of an immense tree. Thicker and more immense than any he had ever seen before. ‘Where am I…?’ He silently pondered.

“Have you awoken, dreamer?”

The voice that spoke to him was calm and neutral, with just a hint of femininity and a dash of amusement to it. He groggily raised his head from the hard surface it was resting on, turning his gaze in the direction of the voice.

The speaker was a young looking woman with dark hair cropped short, dressed in an entirely black suit, almost evocative of funeral attire but a little too stylish to be appropriate for such a sombre occasion. She was slim and tall, built like a fashion model, with blue eyes that called to mind the depths of the ocean, specifically the point right before the light from the surface fades and all becomes inky darkness. Her face wore a smile holding little warmth.

She was seated, with one leg crossed over the other, in a tall and uncomfortable looking wrought iron chair with a small, circular wooden table in front of her. There was a large book of some kind laying in the center of the table, flanked on either side by iron candelabras holding black candles which burned with an eerie green flame.

“Am I dreaming?” Haneul asked. Yet somehow he already knew the answer was no. While asleep, a dream can often feel like reality, but when you awake you feel that heightened sense of reality which makes dreams seem fleeting and ghostly by comparison. And he had that feeling now, in this strange place, that surety of sense and being that told him this was no dream.

“You are not,” The woman replied bluntly, her smile never faltering.

“Where am I?” Haneul asked as he pushed himself up onto his elbows and into a sitting position. Once he was sitting up he could see that they were not at the foot of the tree but were rather situated atop one of it’s mighty branches. His eyes widened as the reality of all this began to sink in.

“I could answer your question literally but I think that the answer more pertinent to your current state of mind would be that you are dead.” 

“I’m… dead?” He stared blankly at the woman. A moment ago he had felt as if he were starting to get his bearings but this latest information left his brain unable to fully process everything. He scrambled through his memories, trying to recall the last thing that had happened to him before waking in this place.

“You are. Don’t you remember?”

“Remember…? Oh, yeah. There was… a fire, wasn’t there?”

---

“Nice work today, Han! You really saved our bacon with that order going to the Emirates. If you hadn’t caught that typo it could’ve been laid up for weeks in customs.”

Haneul’s boss, Jackson Thompson, gave him a hearty smack across the shoulder while congratulating him. He was a bear of a man with broad shoulders and a friendly smile, dressed in a navy blue polo shirt with the Thompson Exports logo emblazoned on it.

“That’s what I’m here for, boss,” Haneul replied with a tired laugh. He had come in early to work today and it wasn’t the first time this week. It was the busiest time of the year for them and the orders were piling up. Thankfully, he’d managed to finish his work in time to leave on time today.

“You need a ride home? You came on your bike today, right?”

“I’m okay, thanks. I actually like riding home, it gets me a little exercise before dinner.”

“Ahh, sounds nice, I wish I could do that. My place is way too far though. Thank god for audiobooks, seriously.”

The elevator let out a little ding as it reached the ground floor. The doors slid open and both men walked out into the lobby. Their office was on the twelfth floor of a towering building that rented space out to countless small businesses. Thompson had his suitcase in hand and Haneul had his folding bike tucked under one arm with his backpack slung over one shoulder.

“I don’t think I could survive a one hour commute every day. You’re a machine, Jack.”

“Huh, that’s funny. My wife says the same thing.”

Haneul sighed and rolled his eyes, “Real nice.”

Thompson chuckled and held the glass door of the building open for his employee. Haneul stepped outside into a slightly chilly Los Angeles evening. It never really got that cold, even now in December, but it was brisk and refreshing. Especially compared to the long days of summer heat.

“Have a great evening, see you tomorrow!” His boss waved goodbye, his car was parked in the other direction than Haneul was heading so they parted ways at the sidewalk.

“Thanks, you too!” Haneul said, waving goodbye to the man with two last names before unfolding his bike and putting on his helmet for the ride home.

The ride back to his apartment building took twenty minutes, just long enough to build up a little sweat and get the blood pumping. ‘Perfect for staying in shape when you have an office job where your butt is parked in front of a computer all day.’

Once he came to a stop in front of his apartment building he folded up his bike and climbed the stairs to the second floor. He had already reached his front door when he realized he’d forgotten to check the mail and let out a mildly annoyed sigh. ‘There might be something important and I don’t want to let it get too full,’ He lectured himself to chase off the temptation to leave the mail for tomorrow.

A couple of minutes later and he shuffled into his apartment with his bike under one arm and a handful of junk mail under the other. He stored his bike and dumped the mail on his living room table before heading to the restroom to wash up and get changed.

His apartment was a small but comfy one bedroom. It was nothing lavish but it was cozy and just big enough to have a couple of friends over for an evening of movies or tabletop games. Once in the bathroom he splashed some water on his face and briefly looked himself over in the mirror.

Black hair cut short, just a little bit longer in the front than in the back. Practical enough to make himself look like a serious business person at work but with a splash of personal style. He wasn’t extremely muscular but he kept himself in good shape, with a hint of toned muscles on his small frame. He was clean shaven and handsome, even if some of his friends teased him that he still looked like a high schooler. He did wish he was just a few inches taller but that ship had long since sailed. Satisfied that everything was in order, he turned the light off and headed to the kitchen.

Dinner tonight was a simple chicken and vegetable stir fry that he’d cooked a few days ago and stored in the fridge. Most nights after work Haneul felt too tired to cook so he usually prepared his meals for the week on the weekend before. Even if it was reheated, it was tastier and healthier than a frozen dinner. Still, there were a few of those stashed in the freezer for those especially lazy days.

Once he’d eaten his fill he flopped onto the sofa in front of his TV and turned on both the TV itself and his Playstation. ‘No better reward for a hard day at work than a relaxing evening.’ Plus, there was an ongoing event in his favorite game and he didn’t want to miss out.

He spent the next few hours relaxing and having fun with his game. Haneul was happy. He was a responsible young adult with a decent job who still managed to enjoy his hobbies and spend time with his friends. He hadn’t become the first Korean-American President like his mother had bragged he would when he was a child or fulfilled his own secret childhood dream of becoming a video game developer but it was a good life.

There was one little thing though. A feeling that occasionally nagged at him, popping up in the back of his mind from time to time like a gremlin that came to sow doubt and dissatisfaction. There was a lack of adventure in his life. He was satisfied and happy but sometimes he craved a little something more. Something… bigger. Maybe that’s why he enjoyed fantasy games and stories of adventure and heroism so much.

He was so immersed in his game that he didn’t even notice the fire alarm going off next door at first. It went off from time to time when his neighbor was making dinner, owing to the fact that the landlord had installed the fire alarm too close to the kitchen causing them to regularly go off any time his neighbor cooked anything at all. It was only when a few minutes had passed without the alarm being shut off that he paused his game and sat up.

He tilted his head up and sniffed at the air a few times, “Smoke…?”

It took Haneul’s brain a few seconds to process what was happening but once the reality and urgency of the moment hit him he sprang to his feet and ran to the front door, throwing it open and rushing outside.

The door to his neighbors’ apartment was still closed and nobody had come outside yet. He ran to his neighbors window. The blinds were shut but he could see the flicker of bright light inside. The hungry flickering of a spreading fire. He ran to the door and banged on it repeatedly.

“Hey! Are you okay in there!?” 

No one answered his shouts. He grabbed the handle and turned it but the door was locked. Worse, the handle was starting to get hot. This fire was spreading. A few of the other neighbors had come outside by this point and were glancing over at him with worried eyes.

“Damn!”

Haneul clenched his teeth. Logical thought had retreated from his mind and instinct had taken over. He backed up a few steps and then ran forward and kicked at the wooden door.

“Ow!” 

He flinched and stumbled backwards as the recoil from the kick shot up through the length of his leg. Sadly, it turned out that kicking down a heavy wooden door wasn’t as easy as it looked in the movies. The sound of sirens weren’t even faintly audible in the distance yet. If help was coming it was still far away. No choice but to keep trying.

With sweat beading on his forehead he lashed out at the door with kick after kick. A dull pain was building up in his leg but after several heavy kicks the front door started to give way, the wood splintering around the lock and the hinges. He stepped back and lunged forward with one final kick that finally knocked the door off its hinges, desperation giving him a boost of strength.

Flames leapt out at him and he fled backwards, recoiling from the heat. Along with a blast of hot air, the sound of crying came from inside. Somewhere in his panicked thoughts a flash of memory shot through his brain and he recalled that his neighbor had children.

He grit his teeth and ran into the flaming apartment. If he gave himself time to think he might hesitate or become overcome with fear so he just went for it without pausing. The fire was spreading across the carpeted floor and the apartment was rapidly filling with smoke. He pulled the neckline of his shirt up over his mouth and ran for the kitchen, the source of the crying.

A little girl was curled up in the far corner of the kitchen, her knees hugged up to her chest as she tried to scoot as far away from the spreading flames as possible. The fire was the worst here, indicating this was the source of the blaze. An accident as the little girl tried to make herself dinner. No sign of her parents.

He could feel his hands shaking from fear and adrenaline as he plunged headlong into the flames. Searing heat licked at his arms and legs, sending flares of pain shooting through his nerves. He ignored it and pushed through to the other side. When he made it he crouched down in front of the girl.

“I’m getting you out of here! Hold on tight and keep your face close to my shoulder, okay?”

He didn’t really know what he was doing but he hoped that burying her face in his shoulder would grant her some protection from the smoke. Sniffling, with tears still running down her cheeks, the little girl nodded and Haneul scooped her up, holding her tightly against him.

The flight from the apartment was a blur. He could feel throbbing pain all over his shoulders and his arms and legs but somehow he made it out. He carried the little girl away from the smoking entrance of the house and set her down. In the distance he could hear sirens approaching. A sense of relief began to wash over him as he took a deep breath. But what the girl said when she opened her mouth made his blood freeze.

“My brother…!”

With wide eyes, Haneul turned back to look at the flaming apartment. He didn’t remember getting back to his feet and running into the building once more. He couldn’t hear the screams of his neighbors telling him not to go. It was all a blur.

The apartment was an inferno now. He could hardly see through the flames and the smoke. But the floorplan was identical to his own apartment and there was only one place left that the boy could be. The bedroom. He dashed madly through the flames.

He practically threw himself through the bedroom door, stumbling and falling as he forced it open with his shoulder. Thankfully, the bedroom itself was mostly free from flames for now but that wouldn’t last much longer. For a few seconds he had a coughing fit and lay motionless on the floor, unable to force himself to move. It felt like an eternity but lasted only a heartbeat.

When he recollected himself after a dazed few seconds he saw a young boy on the other side of the room staring at him with wild, tear filled eyes. He didn’t know it himself but his arms and legs were covered in burns and his clothes were singed and smoking. He forced himself to smile as he looked at the boy with bloodshot eyes.

Fighting through his own exhaustion, Haneul pushed himself up to his feet and stumbled over to the boy, kneeling in front of him. When he held his arms out the boy instantly ran into them, hugging him tightly. In his weary state it was almost enough to knock him over.

Picking the boy up, he ran into the flaming living room one final time. One final sprint to safety and then he could rest. He didn’t hear the cracking and splintering noise overhead until it was too late. A support beam in the ceiling collapsed right on top of Haneul, striking him in the back.

He felt himself falling. It was strange, in that moment he didn’t feel any of the fear he had thought he would. He felt detached from the events happening around him, as if he were watching them from the outside. The world spinned and everything seemed to be moving in slow motion. Then, a single image flashed across his mind.

The image of a little boy, trapped beneath his own body with a wooden beam atop them both, crushed and surrounded by fire. 

With a sudden burst of strength drawn from somewhere deep in the oldest of human instincts he braced one knee and somehow managed to stop himself from falling. With the weight of the beam bearing down on top of him there was no way he’d be able to move it or take another step, and he would only be able support the weight for a second.

He used that second to shove the boy with all of his remaining strength in the direction of the door.

“Run!!” He screamed in a hoarse voice.

With both his strength and his consciousness fading he saw the little boy cross the last stretch of the living room, running out of the open door and into the waiting arms of his sister. 

‘It’s not bad for a last view.’ He decided, closing his eyes as the world collapsed around him. He slept to fire. He woke to rain.

---

“So I really am dead, huh?” Haneul’s expression was still slightly dazed as he looked up at the strange woman. Even now that he remembered everything that had happened this all seemed so unreal.

“You really, truly are,” She replied, her smile unflinching.

“So this is the afterlife?”

“This is a part of it. A small part of a greater whole.”

He pushed himself up to his feet and carefully walked to the edge of the giant tree branch. Looking down, the tree was insanely tall. He couldn’t even see the bottom. Just a massive trunk amidst the rain and the darkness, with countless branches stretching out towards the dark horizon. 

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“So, what happens next?”

“That depends on you.”

The woman uncrossed her legs and gestured for Haneul to take a seat across from her at the table. ‘Was that second chair always there?’ She noticed his curious gaze and a hint of mirthful amusement passed across her features. 

As he took a seat at the table he couldn’t help but notice that his chair was a short wooden one, much less impressive than her iron throne. Seated here, he had to look up to meet her gaze, making him feel small in comparison.

“Are you an angel? Or a god of sorts? Are you going to judge my life to decide what happens to me? Do I get reincarnated? Is there a hell and a heaven?”

The questions just spilled out of him at this point, unable to restrain his growing curiosity. The woman held a hand up to silence him and he quickly shut his mouth.

“My name is Lailah. I am not a god. You may think of me as an angel, if it helps you to understand. When I say it depends on you I mean it more literally than that. I am giving you a choice.”

“Oh.”

He blinked and his gaze lowered to the book sitting on the table. The pages were completely blank. ‘That’s a little anticlimactic…’

“So, uh, what’s my choice?” A hint of nervousness colored his voice.

“You may pass on the way that most humans do. To sleep for a time beneath the boughs of the great tree. To sink into the cycles of guilt until your soul is cleansed and you pass beyond the frontier.”

She said it all so nonchalantly but his head was spinning. There was so much to take in.

“The cycles of guilt don’t sound great. What’s ‘beyond the frontier’?”

“That, even I do not know,” Lailah closed her eyes as she spoke, “My role is to administer this place. Only human souls pass beyond the frontier. As for the cycles of guilt, they can be painful but it is a voyage that all humans must take when their time comes. For some they last longer than for others.”

Haneul blinked. Some of this sounded vaguely familiar. Concepts similar to religions back on Earth but not quite the same. ‘I guess they were on to something but hadn’t quite figured it all out.’

“What’s the other option?”

“There is a task of some importance that we require a mortal’s help with. The nature of your passing brought you to my attention and now I am giving you the opportunity to be reborn in order to aid us with this task.”

“So I’ll come back to life to help you with something on Earth? Will I just wake up in the ruins of that apartment, perfectly fine?”

“Not quite. Allow me to tell you a story. A story of a lonely boy and a foolish angel.”

Lailah swept a black gloved hand over the open pages of the book. Strands of ink appeared at the edges of the pages and squirmed across the paper like worms, spreading over the pages and then coalescing into an incredibly lifelike image. Haneul’s mouth hung open in shock.

The image that the ink eventually settled into was that of an incredibly average looking young Japanese man. He had an average build, an average face, short black hair, and a pair of thick lensed, round glasses. ‘Wow, it’s like looking at a background character in an anime,’ He was even dressed in an appropriately dumpy tracksuit.

“Sato Taishi, an unemployed high school dropout still living with his mother. He spent his days locked up in his room playing games and watching anime. A lonely boy who hated the world and didn’t have a single friend.”

‘Yikes, go a little easy on the poor guy.’ Haneul flinched internally.

The ink shifted, rapidly changing the picture displayed on the pages. It showed Sato walking along a crowded sidewalk, a bag stuffed full of anime goods of a dubious nature clutched tightly in one hand. The ink squirmed, moving quickly enough to even show pictures in motion. A tired salaryman bumped into Sato’s shoulder and a plastic box containing a figurine of a scantily clad anime girl sprung free of the boy’s overstuffed bag.

“Poor Sato met an unfortunate end.”

Without even checking for traffic Sato stepped out into the street and reached for the figurine. There was no sound but Haneul could see the terrified looks of people in the background as a van bore down on Sato. The boy looked up with an expression of surprise and in a heartbeat the ink scattered in all directions. Haneul winced and turned his head.

“Sato came from a world very similar to yours in almost all aspects but different in a few key ways. There are many such worlds. But there are also worlds which are far different. Each of these worlds has caretakers, angels such as myself, who watch over these worlds and make sure that things continue to operate in accordance with the Great Plan. Most of us manage more than a single world. The caretaker of Sato’s world is Eisheth.”

As Lailah narrated her story the scattered ink returned and formed a new image. A woman of similar model-like stature to Lailah but dressed all in white. Her face was warmer and kinder, her features so youthful that if Haneul had seen her when he was alive he would have assumed she was a model for a teen magazine. Her eyes shone with a naive, joyful light.

“Eisheth took pity on poor Sato and wanted to give him a second chance. And it just so happened that one of the other world’s under Eisheth’s care was facing a dire crisis at the time. This world is one far different from the worlds that you and Sato came from. Yet you may find some of its features familiar to you.”

The picture changed to an aerial view of a city that looked like it hailed from the middle ages. High walls surrounded a city of picturesque wooden houses with a towering castle standing at an elevated position in the center of it all. People walked the streets, dressed in tunics and dresses right out of a history movie or fantasy game.

“In this world, the humanoid races, including not only humans but elves and dwarves, had driven back the monsters that plagued their land and built kingdoms which had known peace for a hundred years. Then, an evil tyrant appeared who united the remaining monsters and plunged the world into chaos.”

The idyllic scene erupted into madness. A giant boulder smashed through the wall surrounding the town and an army plunged through the hole into the city streets. Many of them had forms familiar to Haneul from video games and other media. Goblins, orcs, dark elves. It would’ve been too much to believe if he wasn’t seeing it in such unbelievable circumstances. 

Knights rode out from the castle and clashed with the monsters. They were led by a golden armored knight wielding a faintly glowing sword of blue steel whose red cape billowed heroically behind him as he rode forth. A towering figure appeared in the midst of the horde of monsters, striding confidently towards the frontline with a massive axe held in one hand. He stood nine feet tall, dressed only in a horned helmet and a metal harness that left his rock hard abs, arms and legs free for the world to see.

“His name was Fatal Krait. Most called him the Demon Lord.”

As Haneul watched, his eyes glued to the book, the so-called Demon Lord squared off with the gold-clad knight. It was over in an instant. The knight charged, heroic and defiant, but his graceful swing was deflected with brute force before a single swing of the massive axe cut him down. Disheartened, his fellow knights were swiftly overrun by the horde of monsters.

“With the death of the human king, an entire continent was brought low. The elves and dwarves were cut off from their allies while the human resistance was left in disarray. As his armies marched across the continent, Fatal Krait made plans to take his conquest across the seas to the rest of the world.”

“Hang on, where do Sato and Eisheth come into this?” Haneul asked, raising his head to glance at Lailah. 

“Eisheth’s world needed a hero and she felt that Sato deserved a second chance at life.”

‘Wait, why does this sound so familiar?’

The image in the book changed to Sato and Eisheth sitting at a table just like the one Haneul and Lailah were currently seated at. The angel was smiling kindly and the boy had an excited look on his face.

“She bestowed great magical power onto Sato and sent him to this world with the mission of defeating the Demon Lord and saving the world."

“Isn’t this the plot of an isekai!? You’re telling me these things actually happen!?”

Lailah laughed. It wasn’t a warm, amused laugh. Rather, it was a bemused chuckle. A laugh that screamed, ‘Isn’t this guy so stupid it’s funny?’ Haneul frowned and squinted at the angel.

“Remember that we angels observe the worlds under our dominion. Eisheth was inspired to take this course of action after observing your stories.”

“Oh. I suppose that makes sense. It’s sort of like a self-fulfilling prophecy.”

“You may think of it as such. As you might imagine, Sato was thrilled with the idea. To him, the chance to actually live out one of his favorite story genres was well worth the price of throwing his old life away. He agreed without a second thought.”

‘Something must have gone wrong though,’ Haneul mused, ‘Otherwise, what would be the purpose of this story? Did Sato fail and now she wants me to try my luck at taking down the Demon Lord? Am I going to have to watch this poor guy die a second time?’

“And so Sato was transported to the Durnhwood Forest, home of the elves and a region that had not yet fallen to the Demon Lord’s conquest.”

The image showed Sato materializing in mid-air. He hung there for a moment suspended in the air before falling gracelessly to the ground. A moment later an elf girl emerged from among the trees surrounding Sato. She was beautiful, with flowing, golden hair down to her waist and a striking figure. She approached Sato with a curious look on her face.

“After helping the elves defeat an incursion by the Demon Lord’s forces, Sato traveled to the fortress of Swan’s Keep to unite the remaining human resistance with the armies of the elves and the dwarves, aided in his quest by the elf princess and a circle of loyal traveling companions that joined him along the way.”

A brief montage showed Sato winning his first battle, his nervous disposition changing to bold confidence after seeing how powerful he had become thanks to Eisheth’s gifts. Then, it showed him walking down a long earthen road. At first he was joined only by the elf from earlier but one by one more companions appeared. A shady looking dark elf in a black cloak, an energetic girl with cat ears and a tail dressed in a revealing leather outfit, a demure priestess carrying a large staff, a sturdy warrior woman with brilliant red hair and an oversized sword. Sato looked so happy and the girls eyes held love and admiration for their otherworldly hero.

“This… really is just like an isekai light novel, huh…?”

“They faced many hardships and overcame many trials together. At first, Sato was the ideal hero. But the more he killed, the colder he became. And the more his companions adored and praised him, the more certain he became of his own righteousness. It was at Swan’s Keep where things really took a turn for the worse.”

The book showed a magnificent castle, shining bright in the midday sun. An army was assembled outside of it, human soldiers preparing for war. The picture zoomed in to a man inside the castle. He was a severe looking figure in a military uniform with dark hair and a pointed beard.

“A cunning minister of the human resistance named Lothaire Winther plotted a conspiracy to turn Sato over to the Demon Lord’s forces in exchange for a position of safety and power. He arranged for assassins to sneak into the castle and lie in wait for the arrival of the hero and his companions. After overcoming the ambush, Sato dealt with Winther’s treachery… ruthlessly.”

The next image was one that Haneul was not prepared for. Sato was blasting the dark haired man with some kind of magical power that caused his entire form to shrivel up, his flesh darkening to a lifeless grey as his body twisted and curled. It took only moments for the minister’s body to become an unrecognizable lump on the castle’s floor. Sato’s companions in the background looked shocked but the hero himself wore a cruel and self-confident smile on his face.  Haneul felt his stomach churn and he looked away.

“Sato decided that anyone who opposed the hero chosen by the goddess of this world was irredeemably evil and deserved nothing but death. After all, he was the main character of this story and anything he did was obviously correct. He had himself crowned king of the fallen human kingdom and married the elven princess Siona to unite the two kingdoms. Naturally, the new king allowed himself the right to keep a harem on the side. Even if the princess didn’t like the idea, how could she argue with her beloved hero? In time, she would even come to accept it.”

Lailah was smirking slightly as she told this part of the story. Haneul was certain she was enjoying his discomfort with the turn the story had taken. He only half watched the montage of Sato’s descent into depravity.

“With the kingdoms united and the hero leading them the war against the Demon Lord reached a new level of intensity. The two armies clashed again and again but with the hero’s overwhelming strength the monsters were inevitably pushed back towards the former capital of the human kingdom, the fortress that the Demon Lord had made his own.”

The next image shown was clearly the same castle town from the beginning of the story, but it held a completely different atmosphere now. The peaceful streets were all torn up, once picturesque homes lay in ruins, and bonfires raged throughout the town. The castle was a ruined heap of rubble and Fatal Krait sat upon the shattered throne inside. 

“The fallen capital was the sight of the final battle between Sato and the Demon Lord. The clash was truly epic. Divinely gifted magic against feral demonic might. The battle raged for hours and the hero’s companions could only watch with bated breath. But in the end, the victor was clear.”

Amidst the ruins of the castle lay the body of the Demon Lord, his axe shattered and his body broken. Sato stood over him, triumphant. The malevolent grin on the hero’s face sent a shiver down Haneul’s spine. 

“The hero’s victory was complete. The Demon Lord defeated and the world… saved.”

The sarcasm dripped thick on Lailah’s words and her grin only grew wider. 

“With his mission complete, Sato declared the dawn of the Sato Empire.”

Haneul cringed slightly at the name. ‘Come on, Sato, be a little less blatant.’

“He set about rebuilding the capital and spreading his influence across the continent. One by one the independent kingdoms have come under the rule of the Sato Empire. Many were happy to allow themselves to be ruled by the chosen hero but some wanted to retain their independence. Those brave few were crushed mercilessly. The Demon Lord is dead and the world is rapidly falling into the grasp of an even more powerful monster. Who would’ve thought giving so much power to a single boy would cause so much chaos?”

“I guess it’s true what they say,” Haneul said in a low voice, eyes still glued to the book, “You can’t just set the world at someone else’s feet without being trampled underneath. But what about Eisheth? If she gave Sato his powers, can’t she take them away?”

“Oh, indeed she could. However…”

The living ink shifted once again. This time it showed the angelic Eisheth, hunched over her own book, watching Sato’s exploits. In one hand she clutched a small fan with Sato’s face on it. In the other she held a small flag, likewise bearing Sato’s likeness. She was blushing and smiling like a young maiden fawning over an idol. Haneul sighed.

“Setting aside her poor taste for a moment, there are even angels like this…?”

“Sadly so. Eisheth is too fond of Sato to take away his power and the rest of us are unable to do so. However, this imbalance in the world is an affront to the Great Plan. Sato must be removed.”

“Removed, huh? Wait, so that ‘important task’ that you need a mortal’s help with is… killing Sato?”

A chill ran through Haneul’s spine. ‘They want me to kill somebody? I’m just a normal guy. I’ve never even been in a real fight, just a few sparring matches, let alone killed someone. Wouldn’t it make more sense to pick a soldier for this?’

“That’s correct.”

Lailah delivered her response in her usual blunt manner.

“So, just to be clear. You want to give me powers and send me to this world to have a showdown with another human given powers by a different goddess? Or, uh, angel?”

“No. I’m not going to give you any powers.”

“...huh?”

“I’m going to send you there exactly as you are.”

“...are you serious?”

“Most certainly.”

A particularly nasty smile was spreading across Lailah’s face during the entire exchange. ‘Your face is going to get stuck like that.’

“How am I supposed to take out a guy with divine powers without any of my own!?”

“That is entirely up to you. You enjoyed stories like that when you were alive, did you not? Underdogs managing to overcome seemingly impossible situations? Stories of revolution and heroism? This is your chance to live such a story.”

“I’ll just get annihilated instantly.”

“That is certainly a possibility.”

Haneul flopped back in his chair, tilting his head up to stare at the sky. ‘This is seriously crazy. The entire thing, it’s just insane. I’m not a killer. It does sound like taking Sato out would be the best thing for the people of that world. He has the unfair advantage of divine power so they can’t deal with him themselves, but… how am I supposed to fare any better? I’ll probably just die.’ 

He lowered his gaze, looking into Lailah’s eyes as he asked his final question.

“If I die there, what happens?”

“Nothing special. You’ll return here and proceed to the afterlife like a regular human soul.”

“I see…” 

“That’s no guarantee your passing will be easy and peaceful, though. You will still experience the pain and terror of a normal death. Which is to say nothing of what cruel punishments Sato may inflict upon you if you are captured.”

Haneul turned a shade paler at her words. ‘She really doesn’t hold anything back, does she? And she’s definitely enjoying this. But… as crazy as this is, the choice is obvious, isn’t it?’

“I’ll do it.”

He made his declaration in a firm and confident voice without hesitation.

“I mean, it sounds terrifying and the entire thing is crazy. At the same time, it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity… Actually, I guess that’s not accurate considering I already died, but you know what I mean! So I’ll do it! I’ll take on Sato and his twisted Empire! Even if I die I’ll just pass on normally so there’s no reason not to give it a shot! Hopefully I’ll be able to accomplish some small amount of good at the very least.”

“Splendid.”

Lailah leaned forward in her chair, her grin growing to the point that it distorted the attractive features of her face and gave her a demented, devilish appearance.

“You don’t fail to live up to my expectations. I look forward to seeing how you perform, my assassin. Kill the hero and offer up his head for the sake of the Great Plan.”

“I seriously sound like the villain when you phrase it like that.”

“Ahahaha! No hesitation now, not after your bold declaration! Go forth and show me what you can accomplish with your feeble life!”

Her manic laugh pierced the serenity hanging over the branches of the great tree. Above Haneul’s head, the air cracked and fizzled. A glowing line began to form in thin air, like a crack forming in the fabric of reality. Then, with a ripping noise, it tore open, forming a wound in the skin of the world. Through it, Haneul could see a glimpse of a deep, dark forest.

“Hang on, do I get like a map of the world or anyth--”

His words were torn away from him as his body was wrenched out of the chair by an invisible force, all the air in his lungs expelling as he was hurtled upwards towards the portal. He couldn’t even vocalize a desperate cry as the world spun around him, his vision turning into a blur of colors and motion. The only noise he heard was the echo of Lailah’s triumphant laughter.

Once Haneul had disappeared through the portal the angel sat back and let out a satisfied sigh, bringing one hand up to brush a stray strand of hair out of her face. She turned her attention to the book in front of her as it began to paint a vivid moving picture of Haneul’s arrival in the new world.

“I see why Eisheth enjoyed this so much. I can’t wait to see how this turns out. I wonder which of our humans will come out on top in the end? And if he does die… I’ll just send another and another until I drag that unsightly brat down to the depths of Gehenna.”

---

The sky was green. Blades of grass hung in the air above him, fluttering gently in the breeze. ‘Oh. That’s not the sky, is it?’

An alarmed shout finally escaped from Haneul’s lungs as he plummeted towards the forest floor. It was an inauspicious start to his second life.

Mere seconds later he crashed to the ground and a groan of pain escaped his lips, dull pain spreading throughout his body. It wasn’t too bad, all things considered, it was more the shock of the entire experience that left him lying dazed on the ground than the force of the impact itself.

Stretching above him was a peaceful blue sky, no different than the one back on Earth. Tall, majestic trees stretched up towards the sky all around him, casting a cool shade on the floor of the forest and shielding him from the midday sun. It was serene and mostly silent save for the occasional bird song or chirping of insects. For a while, he just lay there trying to process it all.

“You fall out of a tree or somethin’?”

The voice that interrupted his reverie was rough yet feminine, delivered with a deadpan monotone. A moment later the speaker appeared in Haneul’s vision, standing over him and leaning down to look at him. Not that she exactly towered over him even when he was laying flat on his back.

Her body was curvaceous but small. He couldn’t guess her exact height but it looked like she was only around three and a half feet tall. That, in addition to the green color of her skin, brought forth memories of fantasy games he’d played in the past. ‘She’s gotta be a goblin, right?’ Her black hair was long and straight, hanging down over him as she peered at him with amused golden eyes surrounded by black eyeliner. She was wearing dark robes with the hood pulled down.

“You’re a goblin, right?”

He asked, staring up at her from his place on the forest floor.

“Yep. And you’re a human. Obviously.”

“Yeah. Cool.”

One of her eyebrows quirked up in amused curiosity while one side of her lips curled up into a half smile.