Episode 1: Would You Rather Die Like This?
“Haah….”
Go Taesan, a second-year student at Cheongmyeong High School, was staring at his own lifeless body.
It was past midnight. On his way to a convenience store because he was feeling hungry, he lost his footing on a narrow alley staircase and tumbled down several steps.
By the time he came to his senses, his soul had already separated from that unattractive, overweight body of his.
Seeing the blood pooled on the ground from his shattered head, it seemed he had died from excessive bleeding.
“…Is this really how it ends?”
He had heard countless times that life is short, but this was far too short, wasn’t it?
He was only 18 years old. What the hell?
生年不滿百常懷千歲憂
(Those who live less than a hundred years still carry a thousand years of worry.)
A Chinese verse, if he remembered correctly.
The line his history teacher once mentioned came to mind.
“Yeah… that was basically about me.”
In his brief 18 years of life, he had done nothing but worry.
Would he get into a decent university? Would he be targeted by school bullies? Could he endure military service? Could someone like him ever get married someday…? Worries, worries, worries!
“Damn it!”
In the end, this must have been his fate anyway.
All those worries had been meaningless.
Of course, as someone with no redeeming qualities—an utter nobody—he couldn’t live without worrying. But if he had known he’d die such a pathetic death, he wouldn’t have lived so meekly.
Regret surged over him like a flood.
He should have fought back against those who bullied him, bought expensive sneakers with his part-time job money, gone to PC cafés with friends, played soccer… He should have done all those things.
In his 18 years as Go Taesan, had he made even a single warm memory?
No.
His life had been closer to a documentary than a coming-of-age drama.
“…You pathetic bastard, Go Taesan.”
Deep resentment—and anger toward himself—rose within him.
“Ugh, damn. I’m late.”
“Huh?”
At that moment, a man who looked to be in his mid-30s appeared, muttering to himself.
He was an imposing figure, at least 190 cm tall, with sharp eyes and a rough, dark beard.
But where had he come from?
“Are you confused?”
“Y-yes….”
Go Taesan answered reflexively, though taken aback.
His eyes widened.
Can he see me?
Then this man must be…?
“Are you, by any chance… a grim reaper?”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
“G-gasp…”
Hearing that, Go Taesan finally realized with certainty that he had died.
So I’m being taken to the afterlife now?
Is this really the end?
No way!
Click.
“Phew.”
Contrary to Taesan’s expectations of being dragged away immediately, the man lit a cigarette, leaned against the railing, and took a long drag before exhaling.
Now that he looked closer, his attire was a suit—quite different from the traditional grim reaper Taesan had imagined.
In comics, they wore black robes and hats.
“How old are you?”
“S-seventeen… no, eighteen.”
“Family?”
“My mom… and a younger sister.”
“Girlfriend?”
“I’ve… never had one…”
At that final answer, the grim reaper glanced at him, then nodded as if he understood, taking another drag of his cigarette.
The smoke he exhaled felt strangely sharp.
“Why did you die?”
“W-well…”
Go Taesan explained the circumstances.
“I see.”
The grim reaper offered neither sympathy nor comfort.
Wait… something felt off.
“Don’t grim reapers usually know these things already?”
“Know what?”
“Like… who dies, when, where, and how… from some sort of death registry…?”
“There’s no such thing. Gods do not interfere in the lives and deaths of humans.”
“What? Really?”
“Do you think the deaths of over 7.7 billion people are all predetermined? There’s no reason for that, and besides, the underworld is already extremely busy.”
“I… I see.”
In other words, human death is not predetermined.
His own death was not fate—it was simply the result of him slipping and dying like an idiot.
Flick.
The grim reaper flicked the butt of his finished cigarette, and it vanished into thin air.
He carefully examined Taesan from head to toe before speaking.
“Let’s talk for a bit.”
Go Taesan and the grim reaper sat side by side on the stone steps.
“I’m Seong Daegang, team leader of the Underworld’s Deceased Guidance Division, Team 2.”
“A-ah… I’m Go Taesan…”
Deceased Guidance Division? Team leader?
So the underworld has an organizational structure similar to modern society.
“Go Taesan… nice name.”
“T-thank you…”
It sounded like a compliment, but it didn’t feel particularly good.
“Do you want to live?”
“…P-pardon?!”
“Do you want to live?”
“Yes!”
Caught off guard, Taesan straightened his back and answered loudly.
Seeing that, Seong Daegang smirked.
“You seem like you’ve lived a pretty pathetic life. Still want to live again?”
He wasn’t wrong…
‘Is he being a bit harsh for a first meeting?’
But Taesan didn’t have the courage to argue. If he could just be brought back to life, what did it matter?
With the most sincere, hopeful expression he could muster, he answered:
“Yes! Please! Absolutely! I want to live! The more pathetic my life was, the more regrets I have!”
If he was saying this much, there had to be a way to revive him.
Taesan even dropped to his knees and begged.
“Good. Reviving you isn’t difficult. I can put your soul back into your body and heal all your injuries completely—without any side effects.”
“Oh! Thank you, Lord!”
Though not religious, Taesan clasped his hands together and instinctively called out in gratitude.
“…Hey, idiot. Grim reapers are Buddhist.”
“Oh, sorry.”
Seong Daegang clicked his tongue.
“But tell me this—if you come back to life, do you think your life will be any different?”
“Huh?”
“Sure, you’ll probably think you’ll do all the things you couldn’t before. But your actual specs will remain the same.”
Taesan had no choice but to nod.
He admitted it.
He wasn’t going to be reborn as a chaebol heir or a genius beauty. He would simply return to his original, mediocre body.
“Once you’re back in your body, what changes? In my opinion, you’ll just go back to struggling in the harsh realities of life.”
“……”
Damn it.
Then what was he supposed to do?
Why ask if he wanted to live, only to suggest he might as well die?
“Th-then what are you trying to say…?”
Taesan asked, slightly irritated.
“That’s why I’m offering you a very special opportunity.”
“What… kind?”
The corners of Seong Daegang’s mouth curved upward.
After a brief pause, he said:
“If you accept my proposal, you’ll be revived and receive something called Underworld Coins.”
“Underworld Coins…? What are those?”
Something like Bitcoin?
“It’s a currency used in the underworld.”
“…?”
What did money used in the underworld have to do with him?
Seeing Taesan’s confusion, Seong Daegang continued explaining.
“If you take on certain missions, even a human like you can use Underworld Coins.”
“What can I buy with them?”
“You can improve your own specs.”
Improve my specs?
“What do you mean exactly?”
He couldn’t quite grasp it at once.
“You can adjust various aspects that make up you as a person—appearance, physical ability, athletic performance, intelligence, and so on. For example, you could increase your height, improve your memory, or enhance your strength.”
“…W-what?!”
Taesan’s jaw dropped even wider than when he had first heard he could come back to life.
Wait—something like that is possible?
“Underworld Coins are used as payment for that.”
“So… if I have these Underworld Coins, I can become handsome, athletic, and smart?”
“Of course.”
“Whoa!”
He couldn’t help but gasp in admiration.
So he could be surrounded by women, hand out business cards with confidence, drive foreign cars… He could live a life he had never even dared to dream of!
Of course, he would have to do the work the man was proposing—but if it meant such an opportunity, what wouldn’t he do?
He could come back to life and change his entire existence.
“However, it won’t be easy. To raise your below-average specs to that level, you’ll need a considerable amount of Underworld Coins.”
“Of course it won’t be easy.”
Nothing in the world is free.
In fact, being handed such an opportunity for nothing would feel suspicious—like a devil’s temptation.
Heh.
Seeing Taesan’s burning determination, Seong Daegang looked satisfied.
“But what kind of work would I need to do to earn these coins?”
“Nothing too special. Just help guide wandering souls to peace.”
“…Huh?”
Seong Daegang said it as if it were nothing.
“You mean ghosts, right…?”
“Yeah.”
“You want me to purify ghosts?”
“Correct.”
“Yikes!”
Was he really saying that so casually?
Even as a kid—and still now—he couldn’t handle horror movies because they scared him.
And now he was being told to deal with ghosts?
Of course, if this was the condition for getting a chance, he had no choice… but could he actually do it?
“Out of curiosity, why would a human do a grim reaper’s job?”
He needed to ask everything he was suspicious about, in case this was some kind of unfair contract.
“Forty minutes passed after you died before I showed up, right?”
“Yes.”
“Field grim reapers like me are extremely busy, so delays like that happen often. While you were just standing there confused, some souls escape during that gap. Those are what humans call ghosts.”
“I see…”
In other words, ghosts are souls that escaped while waiting for a grim reaper to arrive.
“On average, 280,000 people die annually in Korea. Meanwhile, there are only about 150 grim reapers domestically. That means each grim reaper handles about 1,866 souls a year—around five per day. When it’s busy, we can handle nine or even ten cases a day.”
“Wow… that’s insanely busy. Shouldn’t they hire more grim reapers?”
“Right. But we don’t get days off, and since we’re field workers, we see all sorts of nasty things. You think the dead behave themselves? There are plenty who refuse to accept death and go berserk.”
Well, once you’re dead, what’s there to be afraid of?
“In the past, we used to handle those by force, but now the afterlife has an improved grievance system. If we want promotions, we have to persuade and calm them down. Who would want to be a grim reaper like that? Once you sign a contract, you’re stuck for a thousand years.”
“A-a thousand years?”
This really was hell—no pun intended.
“With such intense workloads, of course some souls get missed. Souls with strong lingering regrets run off the moment we’re late. We’re already swamped—who has time to chase them all down? Eventually, everything exploded into chaos.”
Seong Daegang lit another cigarette.
“After about a hundred years of chaos, things finally started to settle. This year, the Underworld Management Innovation Office began outsourcing escaped souls.”
“So people like me…?”
“Right. Instead of reviving young deceased individuals like you, we recruit them into something called the ‘Guidance Supporters’ to assist grim reapers.”
So that’s how it was.
Guidance Supporters.
A Buddhist concept with an English name.
Anyway—
“Is there a reason you’re offering this to me…?”
“You seem like you’d be good at it.”
“Really?”
Surprisingly, that felt like a compliment.
“Haha… what made you think that?”
“You look extremely pathetic. I figured you’d work hard to collect Underworld Coins. Do you think already successful people would try that hard?”
“……”
In other words, he was chosen because he had a lot to gain.
“Then I had another question—”
“Stop.”
Before Taesan could continue, the grim reaper cut him off.
Looking at his wristwatch, he continued:
“You have exactly two minutes left. After that, the connection between your body and soul will be severed, and revival will be impossible. Decide now.”
“Ah…”
There were still so many things he wanted to ask…
What if he chose wrong and ended up suffering more than death?
Was there something big he didn’t know?
“What are you hesitating for? This is an incredible opportunity. Where did that earlier confidence go? If you don’t want it, then just die.”
Seeing Taesan hesitate, the grim reaper clicked his tongue in frustration.
He was right.
Just moments ago, Taesan had resolved that he would do anything if it meant living again.
Go Taesan, you idiot.
That’s exactly why your life turned out this way.
Even after dying, you still haven’t come to your senses?
“I’ll do it. Please let me do it.”
Whatever the choice, it was far better than dying like this.
“Kid, don’t slack off and do your best.”
Seong Daegang grinned mischievously.
In an instant, everything went black—and Go Taesan lost consciousness.
