RARITYRARE

ENGLISH V.A.cayman klm

STORYHansaneega@Lee Jongbeom

The Grim ReaperThe guide to a new world.The very first being you would meet in the last moment of your life. He is a figure of duality. For the living, he is a figure of fear, but to the dead, he is a companion. There was a man who used to be a doctor when he was alive. He helped patients hold onto their lives until their very last breath. However, after finding out the hard way that death cannot be avoided by any means, he accepted a new role in working for death, not life. “Kim Sun Woong.” “G, go away. Go away!” The grim reaper was dressed in a black suit that made his pale face look even paler.  His face was white, but his lips were red like he’d put on lipstick. They drew the eye even more because of it.  “Kim Sun Woong. Age, 17. Got in a motorcycle accident…” The grim reaper looked behind him for a moment.  He could see Sun Woong’s leg.  And he could see Sun Woon’s upper body in front of him. This one’s not gonna make it. The grim reaper had seen many deaths from when he was a doctor and after he became a grim reaper.  Of those, there had been quite a few deaths that were inevitable.  Well, no death had ever been evitable. It was just that the timing was different.  Rather than trying to make them live longer, wouldn’t it be more meaningful to take care of the death itself and what comes after it? That’s what His Majesty said.  Was it just talk?  He had no way of knowing.  But the grim reaper agreed with those words from Yeom Ra and had been doing his work faithfully. “He was hit by a truck and has died. Time and date of death, 00:00, 00, 00.” “No. No… I can’t… just die like this.” The 17-year-old boy looked desperate.  In actuality, his face wasn’t just drained of blood, it was devoid of expression.  His soul had just his youthful face, so as the one looking at him, it was enough to automatically feel pity for the boy. “In any case, you’re only going about 70 years earlier.” “It’s 70 years, you bastard!” Of course, it didn’t mean much to the grim reaper.  He didn’t say 70 years to make fun of him. He just told the truth.  Wasn’t life honest?  Neither kings nor beggars, neither generals nor foot soldiers could escape death.  The only important thing was how they lived until they reached death. Even that process was perceived differently in the land of the living and the land of the dead. To be exact, Yeom Ra looked at it differently.  Some kings became less than a beggar’s socks, and some beggars became nobler than a king. “Ah, ahhh! Let go, let go of me!” And yet, that didn’t mean he wasn’t able to understand a soul struggling this hard.  Why wouldn’t he?  This boy had never seen the land of the dead.  Everyone experienced death just once. “It’s alright. The place you’re going is also a place where people live.” “What… I just died!” The soul was looking over his fragmented body.  The grim reaper thought it was interesting how he could look at such a grisly corpse so well when the boy wasn’t even a doctor. “Ugh, mmph.” And then, he started to vomit. Of course, he didn’t have a body, so there was no physical vomit.  He just went through the motions.  The grim reaper was about to thump the soul on his back, but he thought it was useless, so he pulled his hand back.  When he did, their incense burner flipped over as it was rising into the sky. “The, the world is upside…” “It’ll look like that. It will take some time to get used to it, don’t try too much to come out and move around, and follow me.” “I can come out and move around?” “Okay. Do you see those?” The grim reaper lifted his hand and pointed at something wandering around the upside-down world.  Was it a person?  No, it did look like a person, but it was too horrific. It seemed to be over eight feet tall, but then in a single moment, it shriveled and became wrinkly. “That…” “It hid because of me. It’s not really something worth catching, but… Anyway, if you run away, you’ll become like that, so don’t. As I keep saying, the land of the dead is a good place to live. No, for good people, it’s actually a better place to live.” “People also say the land of the living is better even if you roll around a field of dog crap.” “The guy who made that up is fine and dandy in the land of the dead.” The soul was quickly getting calm again, thanks to his tight grip on the grim reaper’s hand. “Okay, this is Sanzu River.” “Sanzu River… And… What’s that?” It was possible because he carried the energy of the Sanzu River.  If the soul was to totally forget his longing, he’d have to cross that river.  Just holding the grim reaper’s hand like this could make him forget the land of the living even for a moment.  And right now, there was a huge attraction on the Sanzu River that drew the eye. “That…” The ship Great King Yeom Ra made. What did he call it? “That’s Land of the Dead No. 1.” “What?” It was a very embarrassing name to say.  It seemed that Yeom Ra hadn’t bothered to nurture his skill in naming things while he lived for an eternity. The grim reaper bowed his head for a moment and continued,  “Thanks to that, the waiting time has gotten better. The number of escapees increased as the waiting time increased, so it’s a good thing. Uh… This. What is this?” “Why, why?” “This can’t happen. Right now… Uh…” “Why. You’re scaring me.” “You… Even if I’m not here, don’t go anywhere and stay here. You can’t go anywhere. Okay?” He was telling him to wait calmly, but he heard a sound in his ear.  This was the first time he actually heard it, but he knew about it.  Yes, Great King Yeom Ra had been called over and come back, right?  He must have been feeling good after that because he kept laughing, and more souls kept fainting. “This isn’t good.” Either way, the grim reaper arrived at the platform.  And, of course, his hand, which had kept a tight grip on the soul, was now empty. That rascal wouldn’t have gone back to the land of the living, right? He’d shown the boy a miserable-looking evil spirit on purpose. He hoped it was effective. Someone approached. “Grim Reaper. You who considers the true meaning of death.” “Why am I here?” “You have simply been chosen. It can either help or impede you.” “I think it’s impeding me…” The grim reaper couldn’t focus because he was worried about the soul he left behind.  However, as he talked to the guide, he realized the one to be worried about wasn’t the soul but himself. “So… He’s not here.” “Great King Yeom Ra? Yes, the platform is a little small to keep hold of a being of his stature.” “So what am I supposed to do here? How do I go back?” “I can’t tell you that. It’s up to your free will.” “Huh.” He couldn’t see Yeom Ra’s energy even when he looked around.  Was there a soul close to death?  That wasn’t it either. At least there didn’t seem to be death here. “Then I wish you success in war.” “No, wait! I have to hurry back! How can I… Okay, he’s gone.” The soul worried him.  What if he became an evil spirit?  And what if he was the one to go catch that evil spirit?  Was there any sort of memory more ugly than that? No, no. More than that… What the heck do I have to do here to get out? The grim reaper looked around and started to walk.  It wasn’t to go anywhere but rather because he felt too anxious. Your damn Majesty, will you help me out here? If Yeom Ra was here, no, if there was even a trace of him, he’d feel relieved. The grim reaper hugged himself and walked like a puppy that lost its owner.