What happens after a person dies? That’s a question a person

might have wondered at least once in his life. I mean, the amount of content

consumed by an average person online, there had to be at least a single glimpse

of isekai anime in it, right? And if that is the case, if you got hit by the

truck, you would definitely expect yourself to be sent to a different world

just like that, right? At least I did. Instead, I’m sitting across a man who

looks like he’s in his early forties.

Is it God, you ask? I mean, if you aren’t transmigrated to

another world in the first go, it’s not that unusual for you to have an

audience with God in those stories, right? Well, if that’s what you thought,

maybe you should get your head off from all those stories. Because this guy

didn’t look like a God. Rather, he looked like those government employees that

we had to wait in line for to pay bills or some shit like that, only for him to

tell me that it’s actually their break and that I might have to come back after

some time. Quite a specific description, but that’s exactly how I felt when I

caught a glimpse of him.

“Ken, right?” He mumbled.

“Yes.” I nodded my head.

“Cause of death: accident, right?” He asked.

“By a truck.” I added. I mean, if he was to give me any sort

of perks cuz of it, I had to get it, don’t I?

“Huh?” But it seemed like this guy hasn’t watched any of the

isekai animes before. What was I expecting to begin with?

“Ah, nothing.”

“Hmm. Anyway, I’m here to inform you that you weren’t

supposed to die this soon. You actually had a slightly longer lifespan that

this.” He dropped the information as if it was nothing.

The information was a bit overwhelming for me in the

beginning, but I decided to calm down a bit. I mean, he said that I was

supposed to live a bit more, but it’s not like I had the best life to begin

with. I had no job, no love life, no friends and the last time I felt alive was

like six years ago or something. So, it’s not like this death of mine was a

massive loss to begin with. So, instead of grieving for my death, I believe I

should be exploiting it and that is exactly what I did.

“Wait, that’s unfair, don’t you think? Don’t you think I

deserve some kind of compensation for the mistake that occurred?” I asked. I

know I sound evil, but I have to do it, you know?

“Gambling with your own life, huh?” The man asked.

“Hmm, not really. I’m just asking you for what I owe.” I

shrugged as I spoke.

“I guess you aren’t wrong about that. After all, I’m

planning to give you exactly that.” He spoke.

“Really?” I was quite excited when I heard that. I mean,

even I didn’t know what I was owed, so I kinda wanted to know what he had

planned for me.

“An opportunity.” He muttered.

“Huh?” This was the point that I got really confused.

“An opportunity to be happy. Isn’t that what you want?” He

asked.

“Well… You could give me a free pass to heaven, you know?” I

replied.

“That is something that you should be earning.” He spoke.

“Wait, does that mean I’m destined to go to hell or

something?” I asked.

“Maybe?” He shrugged.

“Okay, this is hella confusing! Am I going to hell? Is this

punishment time for me? Is this some grand scheme to fool me?” I asked again.

“No. We’re giving you another chance at life.” He clarified.

“Wait, the same life? If that’s the case, could you please

send me back in time with my current memories intact?” I asked. I mean, if I’m

being sent back to my own damned life, I should at least be given a chance to

make it a bit better, right?

“Unfortunately that isn’t possible. Your previous life can’t

be tampered with. Instead, you would be provided with a new life.” He replied.

“Wait, that makes sense, I guess.” I mumbled. “Well, at

least can you send me to a world that I have some information on?” I asked.

“How would I know about the worlds that you have information

on?” He asked back with a confused look on his face.

“I mean, weren’t you planning to send me into one of those

novel worlds? Isn’t that how this whole process works?” I shrugged as I posed

the question.

“I don’t know where you have got this false notion about the

whole thing, but that certainly isn’t the case. And for your information, I don’t

read human novels.” He replied.

“Of course. What made me think that God reads all those

stuff?” I couldn’t help but chuckled as I mumbled that out.

“I’m no God.” This one statement brought me into way more

confusion that a few moments ago. I mean, although I did say he looked nothing like

a God, I expected him to be one because… I mean, he had to be, right?

“Then what are you?” I asked.

“Well, I’m a navigator. That’s all I can tell you at this

point.” He replied. It looked like he was disinterested in giving out further

information, so I decided not to go any further.

“I see. So, a new life, huh? Will I be getting any

information about it at all?” I decided to continue asking questions at that

point.

“It will resemble your world, I guess? Not much information

is given other than that.” The ‘navigator’ replied.

“Great. No magic and swords this life as well.” I couldn’t

help but be disappointed. “Okay, let me ask this. Will my record from past life

be wiped?”

“What do you mean by that?”

“You know exactly what I mean! Will I be eligible to enter

heaven the next time you swing by?”

“That would depend upon how you live out this life.” He

replied.

“Great. That’s exactly what I wanted to hear. Send me to that

world then. I’m ready.” I steeled myself as I said that.

“Okay. I hope you focus on being happy more than anything, Mr.—“

I couldn’t hear the rest of what he had to say as I literally disintegrated.

#

*

*

*

“Ha, finally! I mean, the amount of questions that guy asked…”

The navigator from before stretched his body at that point.

“Did he finally leave?” A woman popped right in front of him

out of nowhere.

“Airi! You were here the whole time?” He asked.

“Yup. I’ve been waiting this entire time for him to freaking

leave, you know?” The woman named Airi sighed as she said that.

“Ah, well… I can’t be blamed for it, you know? That guy’s a

bit too talkative… You sure you wanna take this task?” He asked.

“I have to, my king. I simply have to.” Airi mumbled.

“This stubbornness of yours… I don’t know how I’m to deal

with it, to be honest.” The so-called King sighed at that point.

“I can’t help it, you know?” Airi shrugged.

The king sighed. “Fine. Head to the portal. Good luck with

the task, my sweet child.”

Airi looked elated when she heard that. “Thank you! I won’t

be disappointing you, my king!” She said as she ran off.

“I would much rather you be happy, you know?” The king

mumbled, but there wasn’t anyone to hear him say that.

#

Navigators. A clan in the netherworld specializing in the

afterlife happiness of the deceased. They are the people who are responsible

for a “smooth navigation” of the deceased in their new world, hence their name.

How do they make sure that the person stays happy? Well,

happiness is something that cannot be assured by someone, even if the said

group specialize in helping people be happy. Why? Because happiness is

something that comes from the within. And the perception of happiness differs

when it comes to different people.

This explanation would make someone believe that the

existence of a navigator is pointless. However, it isn’t so. While an external

influence can’t necessary make you happy for sure, it can always lead you to

the direction that can lead you to that happiness. And that’s exactly what the

navigators do. They make sure that you are led to the direction where you might

end up being happy. And Airi has been tasked with doing the same for the client

this time around.

“Ha, a teenage girl this time around, huh?” Airi mumbled as

she stared at herself on the mirror.

It was as she said. Before going through the portal from the

netherworld, she was a woman in the early twenties. However, now she was a

teenage girl with her facial features being retained for some reason.

“Anyhow, what does the cue card say…?” She mumbled yet again

as she conjured up the said cue card out of nowhere.

[Airi Hojo,

Age: 15

Mirai High School Student

Childhood friend of her next door neighbor, Sakamoto, whom

she endearingly calls Sacchan.]

“That’s too little information, you know? I might have to go

on an investigative journey before I make contact with Sacchan next door. I

mean, I don’t even know where Mirai High is to begin with.” Airi sighed as the

cue card disappeared just as it was conjured into her hand.

#

*

*

*

“What’s going on?” The light was too bright for me to deal

with. Maybe it was because I had my eyes closed for the longest time that it

was having a really hard time adapting to the light.

I mean, you can’t blame me on that, you know? The last thing

I remember is a light so bright that it would kill my eyes engulfing me. I had

to close my eyes to protect them. It’s as simple as that.

Anyhow, once I recovered my sight, I was a bit confused. I

mean, one moment, I was stood before someone who claimed to be the navigator of

some sorts and in the next, I’m back on Earth. But there’s something different

about it. This body… It doesn’t feel mine, to be quite honest.

And my suspicions were proven right. When I looked at myself

in the mirror, I saw the face of someone else. Well, then again, I guess it’s

mine now, so it isn’t right to call it someone else’s face now.

This sealed it. I did die. I mean, not that I didn’t believe

that before, but the entire ordeal with the navigator could’ve been a dream

sequence if anything. Like, if I did return to my original body, that would’ve

been what I would’ve believed, but then again, I didn’t. Weirdly enough I came

to terms with my death way quicker than I realized. I mean, I guess it was the

same when I was before the navigator guy as well.

Things weren’t so bad, you know? I looked like a teenage kid

who lived in a house on his own. This either meant that he has been earning for

himself or his parents have been giving him some money to live on his own.

Either way, this is nice, I guess. I mean, I don’t have to deal with others for

now. Like, it would’ve been difficult to lie to this kid’s parents and all.

Speaking of the kid, I wonder what happened to his original soul to begin with.

Did he pass away? Or was my soul being in his body a hostile invasion? Well, I

guess I’ll never have the answer for these questions.

But what I do have the answers for is the identity of this

kid. How? Well, I got his high school identity card. And it says that my name

is Sakamoto. A weird name, I’m not gonna lie. I mean, my real name was much

better—or so I would’ve said, had I actually remembered what it was. But I don’t.

It seems as if some things were wiped out of my memory. I guess that’s kinda

good in its own way. After all, I wouldn’t be chasing after my past at the very

least.

This meant one thing though. A clean slate. A new beginning

to do whatever it is that I want to. And I will not lie, this is genuinely

exciting!

#

It's weird, to be honest. It's been like a whole day since I came to this world and yet no one has even tried contacting this kid. I mean, not his parents, not his school and by the looks of it, he doesn't even have friends. Weird. But then again, this is kinda advantageous to me. After all, I don't have to worry about how this kid acts around people. So, it's fine... Except for the tugging feeling that my heart is going through right now.

Although, it doesn't seem like I have inherited Sakamoto's memories, it does seem like I have inherited his feelings and emotions. And deep down, Sakamoto seems really hurt by the fact that no one actually came in to check up on him. I kinda understand that feeling, I'm not gonna lie. But then again, I went through it and survived it. I'm a professional loner, if anything. So, this kinda thing is fine with me, but it doesn't feel like this kid is accustomed to it though. What if he was way too lonely with this lifestyle of his? What if he did the deed because of it? So many questions, but I got no answers for any of them.

I didn't even notice how the day ended just like that. I mean, I had not been doing anything this entire day and even then, it went by way too quickly. Maybe it's the excitement of being in a new body that made me feel like the day was short.

Anyhow, once the night time befalled me, I kinda felt hungry. And since it seems like there isn't any food made here, I decided to do the next best thing and make ramen because for some reason, there was an ample supply of ramen here. And with that, the rather unremarkable day was done with and I decided to go to bed.

.

.

.

.

[Ring ring]

[Ring ring]

I tried reaching for the clock to turn off the alarm, but it wasn't the clock. Maybe it was because I wasn't accustomed to the new body, but my perception of sound was literal trash at that point. After all, it was the doorbell that was ringing.

But then again, it's not like you could blame me for that. I mean, no one swung by the entirety of the last day and now all of a sudden, someone swings by right in the early morning? Seems quite an unbelievable thing, if you were to ask me.

Anyhow, I decided to drag my body to the door, albeit unwillingly. However, it was once I got to the door that the realization hit me. I was about to have a conversation with someone that actually knows this kid. I mean, I had the entire day for myself to know a bit about him, but I didn't even use this time to go through his phone! So, in short, I'm pretty much screwed at this point.

But, there's no point in giving up now. So, I decided to suck it up and just open the door for whoever it was on the other side of the door.

"Why did it take so long for you, huh?" The woman burst opened into the room as she asked me that question.

I was a bit taken aback at that point. The amount of familiarity that the girl showed me was alarming. I do fear that she might be someone who would be able to see through everything and recognize that I'm not the person that she knows.

"What do you mean?" I decided to play it safe this time around and gauge the situation instead.

"Huh? I've been ringing that bell for about five minutes now. Not just that, I called you on your phone as well. The fact that you didn't notice either of those!" The girl looked incredibly frustrated at that point.

"Umm, sorry? I mean, I had the phone on silent." I replied. I mean, I wasn't lying about that, to be honest.

"Ugh, fine. Please don't do that again, you know? It's concerning when you do things like that." She sighed.

It did seem like I'm the kind of guy that goes AWOL quite often, by the looks of it. Not that it matters, I guess.

"Yea, I won't do it again." I assured her at that point.

"Good." She smiled, and what ensued was the most awkward minute or two in the history of mankind. I mean, neither of us talked, and we had this weird smiles on our faces that didn't make it any better.

"What are you doing? Aren't you gonna get ready now?" She was the one who broke the silence as she asked that.

"Get ready?" I asked back.

"We've got classes, lad! Get on with it now!" She pushed me as she said that.

"Ah, I forgot! Thought it was a Sunday and all." I gave out an awkward chuckle.

"Oh, come on! How can you make a-" Before she said anything further, she checked her phone for the day once. "Yea, how can you make a mistake like that?" She asked.

"Well, the fact that you just checked your phone right now makes me believe that you weren't so sure about it as well. So, it's not like I'm the only one to be blamed." I replied.

"Ha, smart way to take the blame off of yourself. I mean, at least I wore the freaking uniform, unlike you!" She argued.

"Meh. Now get out, will you? I need to change my dress." I spoke.

"Don't take too much time, okay? We're already running late. I can't afford to get scolded now." She replied and left the room.

I couldn't help but give out a huge sigh at that point. I mean, I somehow managed to successfully fool one of Sakamoto's friends into thinking that I was him. One down, an entire class to go now. So, I guess it isn't gonna get any easier from now on. Prepare for battle it is, then!

#