NOVEL NEXT Chapter 62
Chapter 62: The Afterlife Setup
The Afterlife is all set.
We’ve got two gods of death to manage the Afterlife, plus messengers ready to gather the souls of the departed. We’ve even made arrangements to restore seriously damaged souls and soothe their grievances.
The Cloud Whale, tasked with collecting the processed souls, has been directed to the northern entrance of the Afterlife.
Additionally, we’ve set up a space to judge and punish sinful souls, so we could kick off the Afterlife operations anytime.
Everything was in order, yet here I was, still unable to get the Afterlife rolling.
The reason? Not anything particularly magnificent—just that Seres is still waffling about.
Seres, the Black Dragon’s kid who’s been infused with the essence of death from that Dragon’s Tomb.
The kid I had thought I could trust with overseeing the Afterlife was still tangled up in indecision.
I don’t know what kind of mental gymnastics they’re going through, but I really hope they can make up their mind soon.
Even without Seres joining in, we could manage the Afterlife somehow.
But if that happens, it’ll mean double the load on the two Afterlife managers, so at least a three-shift system would be needed. It’d be awesome if Seres decided to jump in too.
Anyway, Seres was the main snag, and the next issue was the lack of Afterlife guardians.
I do have my first golem, Talos, but he can only guard the entrance.
Ideally, we’d have at least one guardian for each layer of the Afterlife, but that seems like a tall order. Even if I was to whip them up myself, I’d need some ideas to get started.
I’d love to create something like Cerberus, but part of me wants to bring something living into existence instead of just another dull golem.
So, for now, the guardianship situation will have to wait.
Once Seres makes a decision, we’ll kick off Afterlife operations. We can always recruit anyone who looks like a decent guardian along the way.
You never know; maybe suitable guardians for every layer will just pop up out of thin air.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
Just as I was on the cusp of starting the Afterlife, a middle-aged priest came bother me with a prayer.
“Mother of Life, grant me wisdom, please!”
Huh, looks like he’s got a question again. It’s been a while since he last asked me something, but here we go again.
But really, what can this ‘Mother of Life’ do?
“What is it you want from me?”
“Please grant me wisdom. Your clueless servant has an unsolvable question.”
An unsolvable question? This kid has amassed a treasure trove of knowledge among humans already!
Well, perhaps he’s about to ask something similar to life as before.
“What’s got you all curious now?”
The priest answered cautiously.
“I wish to know what lies beyond the commonly accepted end for all life—death.”
“You mean what happens after death?”
“Yes. Surely, as the Mother of Life, you must have some insight into what happens at the end of life?”
Oh, I know. I know it so well!
I’ve been busting my tail creating the Afterlife just for that! Even if we haven’t kicked it off yet…
So I told the priest,
“I do know. I understand what happens after death and what unfolds.”
“Then please tell me. What exists beyond death? Is it just an empty void? If a harsh life only leads to an empty darkness, what’s the point of living?”
This kid, my priest, must have faced a lot of death while trying to help others—the deaths of those asking for help, the wounded, the sick.
Seeing countless deaths must have weighed him down, leaving him weary.
“So please, enlighten me. What’s beyond death? What’s the meaning of life? Why must it be filled with suffering?”
There’s this tinge of resentment in his voice. How did this once-goofy kid, who worked so hard for others, turn into such a sorrowful being?
Did all those deaths wear him down so much?
His voice carried a heavy sadness.
“Please answer me. If life has no meaning, why did my wife and child have to die from the plague?”
The plague? Wait, are you serious? A plague has broken out?
I slipped out of the cave where I was hiding, and made my way to the city-state of Arcad where the priest lived.
The city was buzzing with energy as usual. No signs of any epidemic around.
I rushed to the Temple of Life where the priest should’ve been, but he was nowhere to be seen.
Instead, I heard that he had headed to a nearby village close to Urkh, the city-state battling Arcad.
When I arrived at the village, it had turned into a battleground.
The scene was so gruesome. Lives lost by the dozens or hundreds, and the abandoned corpses were beginning to brew an epidemic.
Among those who perished in the outbreak… were the priest’s wife and child.
“Please answer me… Help me make sense of their deaths… Let me find peace… Reveal what lies beyond death…”
Ah, I see. He’s grappling with the torment of losing his loved ones.
Poor kid.
“In ancient times, before humans acknowledged the existence of death, beyond death was just void—nothingness.”
“Nothing…?”
“Right. Nothing at all.”
Back then, those who faced death simply scattered, melting into nature without leaving a trace.
“Is that so…?”
The priest’s voice suddenly turned heavier. Oh well, you’ve gotta listen to a whole story!
“But now the situation has changed.”
I said this in a calm tone.
“Once humanity recognized death, the souls of the deceased began to appear.”
“The souls of the deceased…?”
“Yes, the souls. They contain the ‘spirit’ and the ‘essence.’ The ‘spirit’ ascends to the heavens and is reborn, while the ‘essence’ disperses and slowly fades into the ground.”
The spirit flies away, and the essence scatters. It’s as simple as that.
But where does the scattered essence go? Where do sins vanish to?
If the dead have even a flicker of resentment, their souls won’t disperse and will cling to the bodies. It only makes sense that a soul denying its own death might turn dark.
So, the system currently in place doesn’t actually resolve anything. It just keeps reincarnating souls that float back without a proper process.
“What’s beyond death now is an incomplete cycle. The departed soul splits into two; one part—that’s the essence—scatters, while the spirit rises to be reborn. But that doesn’t provide any form of retribution for life. The sins committed in life remain unjudged. And the grievances left behind by the deceased are never absolved. And honestly? I can’t stand that!”
It’s all simple stuff.
Good folks get rewarded, bad folks get punished.
All I wanted was for a world where this justice could happen.
Sure, I had a whole laundry list of other reasons, but at its core, that was it.
“That’s why I’m working on creating a new system for the afterlife.”
“The afterlife…?”
“Yup! It’s the realm where the souls of the deceased go. There, their lives will be judged, and if they’ve messed up, they’ll be punished. So that the good can achieve eternal happiness!”
Of course, in this process, we’ll ensure that no souls remain hanging around on the earthly plane.
“If I reach that afterlife… will I reunite with my wife and child?”
I shook my head slightly.
“Unfortunately, while the afterlife I’m shaping is nearly finished, it hasn’t launched yet. So, your wife’s and child’s souls will likely be divided, with the spirit flowing to the Cloud Whale for a fresh reincarnation and the essence scattering into the earth. Sad times.”
If the Afterlife had already kicked off, I could’ve set it up for you to meet your family for a bit.
What a bummer.
And even if I wanted to bring them back to life, their souls have already drifted away.
“Reincarnation… I see.”
The priest’s voice now sounded heavy.
“Then… if I wait in the Afterlife, will I eventually meet my reincarnated wife and child?”
Hmm?
“Is there a chance I’d get to meet their souls again?”
Wait a second.
“Even if you do run into their souls, they won’t be in the same state as before, right? Even if you miraculously locate the spirits of your wife and child, they won’t remember you!”
“But…”
“It’s the essence that carries the major weight of personality and memories. The spirit ascends to be reborn, while the essence scatters into the ground…”
…Hang on a second.
I moved silently toward the area where the priest’s wife and kid’s bodies were and began to examine the soil around.
The essence sinks into the ground and decomposes over roughly three years.
So, if I’m right… those should still be…
“Mother of Life?”
I ignored the priest’s voice and located dozens of essences seeping into the ground, and after rummaging through their memories, I was able to pinpoint the essences of the priest’s wife and child.
Well, since they’ve only recently seeped, there’s still enough time before they fully vanish—so the essences are still intact!
“I’ve found your wife’s and child’s remaining essences.”
“What?!”
“But I can’t resurrect them since their spirits are MIA.”
If the spirits had been around, I might have been able to figure out a way to revive their bodies. But without the spirits? Nope, not happening.
But if I had to make some kind of resurrection magic, how would that work? Revive the bodies and reintegrate the spirits? Plead with the reapers who took the souls to give them back?
Let’s hold off on that thought. Right now, I need to stay focused on chatting with the priest.
With a newfound glimmer of hope in his voice, he said,
“If we find the spirits, can I meet them again?”
“Absolutely! If we can locate their spirits and combine them completely with the essences here, they will return to their full selves once more.”
With that, he can meet the souls again.
Well, the easiest way would be to turn back time, but… let’s save that for an emergency plan!