Noel stared at him in silence.
The longer he looked into those pitch-black eyes, the clearer the light of death became.
The smell coming from him, his atmosphere, every single thing about him was unlucky and unpleasant.
It felt as though even Noel’s own power was hissing at the sight of him.
‘Is he the one I saw at the hospital? Or is he someone else?’
-···I-is this okay?
The moment Yeong-hyeon saw the underworld messenger, he trembled and asked, but somehow, he did not run away.
Right now, the underworld messenger was radiating an aura in every direction that ghosts found utterly terrifying.
Was he brave, or was he stupid?
“Could you spare a moment?”
He asked with a courteous expression and posture, but Noel only smiled.
“No.”
He refused flatly.
He had never gotten along with these bastards, not since long ago.
Was that not obvious?
That was power a guide to death was supposed to possess, and yet a mere human had part of it, so they could not help but hate necromancers whenever they saw one.
This world must be the same.
“Well, then.”
Noel gave a light farewell and went inside.
Just as he stepped forward, then stepped forward again, he felt something viscous.
Everything around him slowed drastically, and the scenery changed.
Though it was morning, the sky had turned black-red.
Noel turned his head.
He avoided guides to death because they were unpleasant, not because he could not fight them.
If they were doing this, he had no intention of backing down.
“F-five minutes is enough! Just a moment!”
When the underworld messenger begged somewhat servilely, Noel lowered his hand.
‘···What is he doing?’
“Uh, so, this is not a scam. It is not one of those ‘Do you believe in the Way?’ things, either. And it is, of course, not proselytizing. Also······.”
At his floundering words, Noel took out his cell phone and checked the time.
He had come out rather early, so he could spare about five minutes.
“Promise you won’t threaten me. Otherwise, I’ll want to twist your neck.”
“I promise.”
At the underworld messenger’s words, Noel looked at Yeong-hyeon.
“You stay here.”
Even if he came closer, what would he do but get even more frightened?
-But that person··· is strange. He’s frightening. He’s dangerous.
“That’s because he’s an underworld messenger. Do you still want to come close?”
-······No.
Yeong-hyeon shook his head hard.
He absolutely did not want to go near him.
“···That is rather cruel of you.”
The underworld messenger looked at Yeong-hyeon with feigned wounded eyes, but Yeong-hyeon only hurriedly lowered his head.
Fear came first, to the point that even jokes could not reach him.
Naturally, the living were not as affected by that power as the dead, but that did not mean the power had no effect on them.
‘What a fascinating human.’
The underworld messenger thought lightly and snapped his fingers.
Snap.
With that sound, time began to flow.
“Your five minutes have started.”
“T-this way!”
The underworld messenger hurriedly guided him.
***
“I am Oh Jin-hon, underworld messenger and team leader of Team 32, Underworld 4th Department, in charge of this sector.”
After introducing himself, the underworld messenger smiled brightly.
Noel had no intention of falling for such tricks.
“Two minutes have passed. Can you explain within three minutes? Then again, I suppose you can.”
Would he not give an answer like “get lost” with that smile?
If so, he could definitely say it within three minutes.
“Sir. Please, could you show just a little more generosity?”
“Why are you taking such a low position? You must find me irritating.”
“Not at all. In fact, I came to ask for your cooperation.”
Jin-hon put as much strength into his eyes as possible, as if emphasizing how clear and sincere they were.
“······?”
Noel stared at him silently.
To be more accurate, he had the expression of someone wondering, ‘Is this bastard insane?’
“You people shouldn’t like it when the living interfere with the dead. What kind of scheme is this?”
Even if he did not know exactly that Noel was a necromancer, he should know that Noel possessed power capable of interfering with the dead.
Was that not why he had come looking for him?
And yet this was persuasion, not a warning.
“It is absolutely not a scheme. That would be disastrous. May I first explain in order to resolve this misunderstanding?”
“Go ahead.”
“As you can see from the Registry, Mr. Do Yeong-hyeon is already dead.”
Jin-hon took out his cell phone and held it out confidently.
When Noel’s expression did not change, Jin-hon asked cautiously,
“···Ah, do you not like modern versions? I rushed here straight from work just now, so I could not bring the paper Registry with me. Next time, I will be sure to bring it and show you. It does look a little more impressive.”
Whether it was modern or old-fashioned, that was not important to Noel.
This kind of low posture was a first in his entire life.
It was insanely awkward.
Had they not always looked at necromancers as if they were lower than passing insects and kept curses on their lips?
~Living one who possesses the power of death, even after you die, that suffering will be eternal.
Noel, too, had cursed guides to death countless times.
It was not a power he had wanted.
Who would want this power that always dragged him into misery?
“So?”
When Noel asked, Jin-hon held the cell phone a little closer.
Do Yeong-hyeon( )
Beside it, nothing could be seen, as if the letters had been erased.
Rather, the empty parentheses next to the name stood out more.
“Originally, the date of death should be written here. That disappeared, and something appeared next to the name.”
“What does that mean?”
“I thought an error might have occurred, so I restarted Registry version 26.1 and contacted the higher-ups as well, but the answer was simple.”
Jin-hon touched the cell phone with a smiling face, then showed it again.
「1. We wish you boundless death.
The Postmortem Underworld Guidance Department (abbreviated the Underworld Department) is a department that properly guides the dead to the underworld for the clean and orderly maintenance of order between the underworld and the living world.
For the above reason, this matter is unrelated to our department. End.」
They had said a lot, but to summarize, was it not telling him that it was not their department’s work, so he should contact another department?
Noel looked at Jin-hon’s expression.
He was boiling inside.
“This is what I received. So I contacted the Registry Management Department, which manages this Registry. Do you know what they said?”
“No.”
「1. We wish you boundless death.
After checking the Registry, no abnormalities or errors could be found. Since the relevant party’s soul has not yet been guided, please understand that additional confirmation is difficult.
Please re-confirm through your department, the Postmortem Underworld Guidance Department.」
“This is what I received.”
“They’re telling you to handle it yourself.”
“Exactly.”
Jin-hon nodded with a displeased expression.
“So what is the result?”
“A moment ago, I saw a soul that appears to be Mr. Do Yeong-hyeon. But right now, Mr. Do Yeong-hyeon is not dead. To resolve this contradiction, I concluded that there must be two souls.”
“Then you’ll have to wait, won’t you? You can guide the dead, but you can’t touch the living.”
That was an absolute law for guides to death.
No matter what kind of bullshit Noel pulled, Jin-hon could not touch him.
“You are correct, sir. At present, everything has been deferred. That is the first conclusion.”
“What is the second conclusion?”
“After observing you, sir, you appear to possess an outstanding ability in guiding souls. Truly, to a magnificent degree.”
As flattery flowed smoothly from his mouth, Noel smiled.
In the end, asking to borrow his power was the underworld messenger’s request and conclusion.
“What do you want me to help with?”
Noel asked with a newly innocent expression.
He had to know exactly what the other side wanted.
He even willingly put his cell phone back into his pocket.
“Well··· perhaps because the times have changed a great deal these days, no one fears us anymore. Some people even ask us to dance and··· sing. ···Ha, how cruel the times are.”
Jin-hon shook his head, mixing in regret.
“Could you explain simply? It’s my graduation ceremony, and I don’t want to be late.”
“In the old days, when guiding souls to the underworld, we could forcibly grab them by the hair and drag them away. But nowadays, not only the underworld system but even the items issued to souls have changed completely. If we do that now, complaints from the souls who arrive in the underworld pour in, so it has become difficult. One wrong move, and we may face salary cuts or even removal from position······.”
“So you want me to help ghosts pass on, don’t you?”
“That is correct! We can safely guide souls who have already passed on. I saw you safely help two souls pass on, sir.”
Jin-hon clasped his own hands together tightly and pleaded earnestly.
Noel knew his performance had some exaggeration mixed in to appeal to his sympathy.
He could tell just from the fact that there was not a single ghost around Jin-hon right now.
His influence may have decreased compared to the past, but the power granted to him remained the same.
‘Is he planning to monitor me under the pretext of that request?’
Noel thought for a moment, then stared at him quietly.
Whatever scheme he had, there had to be a reason he was taking such a low position.
That was merely the surface reason; Noel could not know his true intent.
Then he would have to dig it out.
“For free?”
“Of course not. I am not that stiff of an underworld messenger.”
“Then?”
“The act of guiding souls is extremely sacred and noble, so later, when you head toward death, sir, we will provide you with special treatment. For example, when you cross the Three Crossings River, we will prepare a luxurious boat equivalent to a cruise ship rather than an ordinary boat. Not only that, but the underworld’s finest lawyer will also be on standby. Our department will cover the legal fees, so please do not worry. There is much more besides that.”
Jin-hon looked at Noel as if asking what he thought.
The thing the living feared most was death.
What happened when one died?
This was the answer to that question.
Would special treatment not be enough to melt even a frozen heart?
“Is that all?”
“······Pardon?”
Jin-hon’s expression froze slightly.
That was all?
Was his reaction not far too bland?
It was not the reaction he had expected.
“Think about it a little more and come back. So, what about my graduation present?”
Noel demanded it confidently.
At least right now, was Jin-hon not the one who wanted more?
“I··· cannot give anything to you while you are alive, sir. It is illegal.”
“At least you can congratulate me.”
After being briefly flustered, Jin-hon soon smiled and said,
“Congratulations on your graduation.”
“Thank you. Well, then.”
Noel smiled along with him and turned away.
Jin-hon stared blankly at Noel as he left without even looking back.
He wanted to grab him immediately, but instead, he rubbed the back of his neck for no reason.
‘···Our sir is quite wary.’
***
Strangely, his body found the classroom on its own.
-What happened? I’m asking what happened.
Letting Yeong-hyeon’s repeated questions flow past him, Noel found his desk and saw the thick pile of bouquets stacked on top of it.
Whatever flowers they were, was this not something one did for the dead?
‘Is this bullying?’
Noel looked around.
At his cold expression, every student who met his eyes flinched.
-Noel? For now, sh-shouldn’t you smile?
Yeong-hyeon watched him anxiously.
His gaze was extremely fierce.
“Who left these flowers here?”
How unlucky.
Noel swallowed those words and spoke aloud.
Just then, several people stood up at the same time and looked at Noel.
“We did! The teacher told us you were sick!”
“Yeah. Why didn’t you tell us? We wanted to visit you in the hospital.”
‘Ah. They must be the friends Yeong-hyeon mentioned.’
He had heard who they were, but even when he looked at them, his heart did not move at all.
It seemed the teacher had made up some vague excuse.
-···What? Why are there two of him?
Instead, the voice of a ghost in the class circled in his ears.
It was nothing new.
Why would there be no ghosts just because this was a school?
He simply had not expected the nasty bastard he had glimpsed in passing to follow him all the way here.
Was there something in this class?
‘Ignore it. There’s no money in it.’
Before Noel sat down, he looked at that bastard as it reached a hand toward Yeong-hyeon.
It flinched.
This was a warning.
-···What is that bastard?
The thing backed away and glared, but Yeong-hyeon said boldly instead,
-You’ll be in serious trouble if you do that, okay? I’m seriously warning you.
“Yeong-hyeon? Do Yeong-hyeon?”
At the voice calling him, Noel turned his head.
Their eyes seemed to be filled with some kind of expectation, but Noel had no desire to answer that expectation.
“My phone was smashed in the accident, and I hurt my head, so I don’t have my memories. Sorry.”
With that apology, he drew a line between himself and them.
He had only changed phones; his number was the same.
While he was learning how to survive in this world with Yeong-hyeon, exactly one friend had contacted him.
Seo Si-hoon, the one with a nasty ghost attached to him.
~···There’s someone named Seo Si-hoon. I got close to him when we were in the same class in our third year of high school. But how do I put it? We aren’t that close. When it’s just the two of us, it gets really awkward. He’s just the most awkward connection I have.
What did it mean when only the friend he had the most awkward relationship with contacted him?
Noel looked at their expressions.
‘They were only casual classmates.’
Connections like that were destined to disappear once one left this class anyway.
The first to accept that was none other than Yeong-hyeon.
‘He went quiet.’
Noel sat down and ran his fingers over the desk.
This was a school, and the place he sat was a desk.
He simply liked that fact.
***
“Congratulations on your graduation, my nephew.”
Shin-hyeon, who had been waiting outside the school, approached with a bright smile.
He held out flowers.
When Noel glanced to the side, Yeong-hyeon was smiling brightly.
Was he that happy?
Noel received the flowers in Yeong-hyeon’s place and smiled.
“Thank you, Uncle.”
“You’re going to eat with your friends, right?”
Shin-hyeon took out his wallet.
“No.”
“Uh···?”
“I thought I was fine even though I hurt my head, but I don’t remember my friends. I don’t even remember their names.”
“······.”
Shin-hyeon’s expression stiffened.
Just as he was about to say they needed to go to the hospital, he saw a student approaching behind Noel.
“Y-Yeong-hyeon.”
When Noel turned his head, he saw Si-hoon.
He was hesitating considerably.
“What?”
“···My name is Seo Si-hoon.”
At the self-introduction given as if they were meeting for the first time, Noel looked at Yeong-hyeon.
He was happy.
‘He had a friend.’
Noel’s gaze shifted to the space above his head.
‘Though there’s a clear cross hanging over his head.’
He was someone who believed in God.
“Would it be all right if··· I kept contacting you?”
The fact that he believed in a god felt burdensome.
But how could Noel ignore that courage?
“Of course.”
Noel smiled at him.
He also took one step closer and gave a warning.
“This may offend you, but don’t take it badly.”
“Uh···?”
What did that mean?
Si-hoon looked confused.
“There’s a nasty ghost attached to you. I don’t know why. You might not know, either. Anyway, if anything strange happens, contact me.”
After whispering quietly, Noel curled his index finger and thumb into a circle.
“Make sure you bring this, too. All right?”
“···Is it because you hurt your head?”
At Si-hoon’s words, Noel looked at him for a moment.
He was more accepting than Noel had expected.
“Looks like it. I can see ghosts now.”
It was a whisper, but Shin-hyeon heard it clearly.
“······Yeong-hyeon? What does that mean?”
“It means I’m going to become a shaman.”
At Noel’s confident words, Si-hoon was the one who looked startled, his eyes widening.
With wavering eyes, he looked between Yeong-hyeon and Shin-hyeon.
‘···Oh, Lord.’