It was late at night, pitch-black outside, when I shuffled out for a walk in my slippers.
I’d only just finished work, and my shoulders, back, and wrists were all stiff and aching.
Once I left the cluster of low-rise apartments where I lived and reached the main road, the wide boulevard opened up before me.
I had a little routine for these nighttime walks. There was a convenience store on the main road, and I always stopped by to buy a 500 ml bottle of soda.
“Ahhh.”
I took a long swig of the fizzy drink as the night breeze washed over me, and instantly felt refreshed.
Nothing beat an ice-cold soda after hours of grueling coloring work.
Enjoying the cool air, I headed toward the bridge at a brisk pace. Streetlights stretched out in a long, orderly line, casting a soft glow over the deserted road and sidewalk.
There was hardly anyone around tonight.
Even better.
I was walking along, feeling pleasantly liberated, when something caught my eye.
A tiny shape, huddled in the middle of the four-lane road.
Is that a cat…?
It twitched faintly but otherwise didn’t move at all.
Why is it sitting somewhere so dangerous? Don’t tell me…
Maybe someone had abandoned it there.
Or maybe it had already been hit by a car and was hurt.
Damn it.
The pedestrian light at the nearby crosswalk had just turned green.
After checking my surroundings, I hurried into the middle of the road.
What if it freaks out, scratches me, and bolts?
I slowed down as I got closer, trying my best not to startle it.
I crouched, preparing to scoop it up.
VROOOOM—
A pair of blinding headlights suddenly flooded my vision.
A car had appeared out of nowhere and was barreling straight toward me at full speed.
What the hell? The light’s still green!
The pedestrian signal was still blinking green.
But the lunatic behind the wheel didn’t even try to slow down.
If anything, the car seemed determined to plow straight through me.
I shot to my feet.
Too late.
The headlights were already right in front of me.
Just before I squeezed my eyes shut, I instinctively glanced toward where the cat had been.
And that was when I saw it.
A black plastic bag, floating merrily into the air.
******
…And so I, Lee Rohun, died at the age of twenty-three.
Wherever I was now, it was warm.
Sunlight poured down from a ceiling so distant I could barely make it out, and the floor beneath my feet felt as soft as if it had been covered in cotton.
I stood in the middle of the white space, blinking.
Bzzzt—
A door I hadn’t even realized was there slid open.
And in walked a cat.
On two legs.
…Huh?
“Hello.”
The smart-looking black cat had tuxedo markings and had just casually greeted me.
“Uh. Yeah. Hi.”
I answered as though none of this was remotely strange.
The cat continued.
“My name is Kkami. You must have been very startled to suddenly wake up here.”
Every time its tiny mouth moved, its long white whiskers twitched along with it.
Its muzzle was adorable.
“You’re currently in the form of a soul. Are you experiencing any discomfort?”
Only then did I look down at myself.
So this is what being a soul looks like…?
I still had a definite shape, but I wasn’t wearing any clothes, and my entire body was glowing.
I raised one luminous hand and flexed my fingers.
Nothing hurt.
Nothing felt particularly uncomfortable either.
I just had this strange, weightless sensation, like I was floating.
“Not really.”
“That’s a relief!”
“Where are we?”
“This is Heaven. It’s also known as the Cat Star.”
…Oh.
I’m dead.
But why did I end up in the cat afterlife?
“There’s a cat who has been desperate to meet you, Mr. Rohun. If you don’t mind, would you be willing to see her?”
“A cat? Besides you?”
“Yes. Her name is Coco.”
There was another cat?
The more cats, the better.
I nodded, and Kkami looked toward the door.
“Then I’ll bring her in.”
Bzzzt—
The door opened again.
This time, an ordinary cat walked through.
“Myaaarp!”
The second she saw me, she cried out happily, stuck her tail straight up, and came trotting over on all fours.
Then she rubbed her head enthusiastically against my leg.
She was glowing just like me.
So I guessed she was a soul too.
…I had never received this much affection from a cat in my entire life.
Overcome with emotion, I stood frozen for a moment before slowly bending down to pet her head.
Her fur brushed against my palm, soft as dandelion fluff.
“Purrrrrrrrr.”
Oh my God. So cute.
The powerful rumble of a motorcycle engine filled the air, and my heart felt ready to ascend straight into heaven.
Ah.
Right.
I was already there.
“Coco says she owes you a great debt.”
“Mya!”
I was far too busy petting Coco to pay much attention, but Kkami relayed her words for me.
Coco gave an emphatic meow, as if confirming it.
I see.
She owes me a huge debt.
How adorable.
I was about to accept that without another thought when I froze.
“Wait… me? Are you sure you haven’t mistaken me for somebody else?”
She supposedly owed me some enormous debt, but I had never helped or rescued a cat in my life.
In fact, the thing I’d tried to rescue just before dying had been—
…a black plastic bag.
Fuck.
Was there a more humiliating way to die?
Even thinking about it again made me want to crawl into a hole.
I supposed the one consolation was that I didn’t have any parents left behind to grieve over my death.
“There’s no mistake. It really is you, Mr. Rohun. Isn’t that right, Coco?”
“Myaaa!”
Coco purred as she circled around my legs.
“Coco lived with her owner for four years. She says she was very happy.”
Kkami began telling me Coco’s story.
Coco sat quietly beside us.
“Until her owner got a boyfriend.”
I suddenly had a very bad feeling about this.
“When Coco’s owner had to work late, her boyfriend would come over and look after Coco. Or at least, that was what her owner thought. In reality, he would hit and torment her.”
“What?”
“One day, Coco fought back, so he kicked her hard in the stomach.”
He kicked this tiny thing?
This little creature that looked like she might break just from being held too tightly?
“…Sadly, Coco died that day. The man hid her body in his car. When her owner came home, he lied and told her that Coco had run outside while a window was open.”
That fucking @*$&#※% piece-of-shit human bastard!
“And early the next morning, he buried Coco on a mountain outside the city.”
Every obscenity I knew surged all the way up my throat.
It took serious effort not to scream them out loud.
“Even after becoming a spirit, Coco stayed beside her owner. Her owner spent months searching for her.”
Coco let out a small, mournful meow at my feet.
“The person who stayed by her grieving owner’s side was that man. When her owner was emotionally vulnerable, he took advantage of it and persuaded her to marry him.”
“Don’t tell me she agreed.”
“…She did. They were supposed to get married this year. Coco cried every day and tried desperately to stop her, but as a spirit, she had no way to make herself heard.”
Even Kkami seemed upset by the story.
Without warning, the cat lifted one front paw and began licking it.
A tiny pink tongue rapidly swept over a paw that looked like it was wearing a white sock.
“I’m sorry. Even I get worked up whenever I talk about this…”
“It’s okay. Take your time.”
Cats sometimes started panting when they became extremely stressed.
I was getting worried.
Fortunately, after a little while, Kkami calmed down and resumed speaking.
“…Then, with only a month left before the wedding, the accident happened.”
“The accident where I got hit?”
“Yes. The man caused a fatal accident while driving drunk and then fled the scene. His fiancée was horrified by what he had done and broke up with him.”
Whew.
Thank God.
“At that point, Coco finally felt that she could pass on in peace.”
“Myaa.”
“The man will soon go to prison and pay for what he did. But because of that accident, you lost your life despite having done nothing wrong…”
“Myaaa…”
“Coco says she owes you an enormous debt. And she wants to repay it.”
Being told she owed me something honestly left me more bewildered than anything.
It wasn’t like I had deliberately done something for her.
I’d just been unlucky enough to get run over.
I looked down at Coco.
“But are you really okay with that? That bastard’s being punished because he ran me over. No one ever found out that he abused you and killed you. Doesn’t that make you angry? …Are you really okay with your owner never learning how you died?”
“Myaa, mya. Nyaaa.”
“Coco says that if her big sister found out, she would only be heartbroken and blame herself. She wants her to believe Coco is alive somewhere, living happily. And she wants her sister to be happy now too.”
I scooped Coco up with both hands and hugged her.
How could she be this sweet?
If it had been me, I would’ve begged them to drop that bastard into the fires of Hell and let him suffer for all eternity.
Yet what did these cats decide to do?
Repay a debt to some random victim who got killed by the same bastard’s car.
“So we would like to help you live again in a new world.”
Huh?
That came out of nowhere.
“Can’t I just… stay here?”
I wanted to stay with Coco.
“This is the afterlife for cats. Human souls cannot remain here for very long.”
“Oh. Then I guess it can’t be helped.”
I rubbed my cheek against Coco’s soft fur, unable to hide my disappointment.
A world for cats was probably happier with only cats in it anyway.
Better than having a human like me intrude.
“Do you perhaps… have any lingering regrets you haven’t been able to let go of?”
Coco rumbled contentedly in my arms.
I tried to think of anything I regretted from my previous life.
Nothing came to mind.
All I could think was that in my next life, I was definitely going to save up enough money to get a cat.
“Not really? I don’t have any family, and I didn’t have much money saved either. There’s nothing I’m particularly attached to.”
“Ah, I see. Then don’t worry! We’ll send you somewhere much better than your previous world—to the world of a story you love.”
The world of a story?
Did she mean…
I was going to transmigrate into a book?