1. Qi-Yun Explains the Worst Lesson
Ne Job sat cross-legged on a floating slab of parchment while Qi-Yun calmly paced in front of him like a professor about to assign a group project worth 90% of the grade.
"Dying," Qi-Yun began, "is easy."
Ne Job's jaw dropped.
"Sir, with all due respect, NO. IT WAS NOT."
Qi-Yun ignored him.
"Dying is passive. It happens to you. But un-dying—"
He tapped Ne Job's forehead with one finger.
"—requires intent."
Ne Job gently slapped the finger away.
"Can't I just… not die again? Skip the un-dying part?"
"No."
"Pretty please?"
"No."
"Pretty please squared?"
Qi-Yun inhaled slowly, the universal sign of a mentor about to lose it.
"Ne Job. Temporary death is a prerequisite for mastery. But returning from death is what separates an ordinary intern from an Audit Warrior."
Ne Job frowned.
"So I need to… what? Will myself back to life?"
Qi-Yun smiled faintly.
"No. You must drag yourself back."
"…Drag?"
"Yes."
"Drag… from where?"
"The Death Layer beneath the Archive."
Ne Job stared.
"That sounds illegal."
"It is," Qi-Yun said. "Very."
---
2. The Floor Opens (Of Course It Does)
Qi-Yun snapped his fingers.
The ground under Ne Job dissolved into a spiraling vortex made of ghost stamps, expired forms, and shredded insurance disclaimers.
Ne Job screamed.
"WHY ARE ALL MY TRAININGS JUST DIFFERENT FLAVORS OF SUFFERING—?!"
He fell.
Not gracefully.
Headfirst.
Into a realm of cold, blue distortion and humming shadows.
He landed on something soft.
It was a ghost.
The ghost screamed.
"OW! WHAT ARE YOU—WHY—GET OFF—"
Ne Job rolled.
"Oh. Sorry."
The ghost blinked at him.
"…You again?! You were in the afterlife line!"
Ne Job pointed a dramatic finger.
"YOU SURVIVED SIX HUNDRED YEARS IN THAT QUEUE TOO?!"
"No," the ghost said. "I got bored and left."
"YOU CAN DO THAT?!"
"Sure. Just walk out."
Ne Job's left eye twitched violently.
---
3. The Death Layer (A Very Bad Place)
The Death Layer of the Archive was a dark ocean of floating ink sheets, each glowing with names of long-lost spirits.
A cold wind whispered:
> "Incomplete… Return… Amend…"
Ne Job shivered.
"Is this place haunted?"
"Everything here is haunted," the ghost said. "That's the point."
He slapped Ne Job's shoulder.
"Anyway, good luck! Don't get erased!"
Then the ghost phased into the floor like he had a lunch appointment elsewhere.
Ne Job muttered:
"I hate this place."
A low rumbling answered him.
"Oh great," he groaned. "It's alive."
---
4. The Erasure Beast Appears
Ink surged upward like a geyser.
Then it took shape—
A massive, draconic figure made entirely of blank paper.
Fanged jaws made of stapled forms.
A tail that ended in a giant red REJECTED stamp.
Its eyes glowed faintly with bureaucratic malice.
Ne Job whispered:
"…Why does every monster in this universe want me specifically dead?"
The Beast roared, a sound like ten thousand pages being shredded at once.
A status label floated above its head:
> ERASURE BEAST TIER: ARCHIVE CALAMITY
MOOD: HUNGRY.
Ne Job gulped.
"Qi-Yun did NOT prepare me for this."
The Beast lunged.
Ne Job ran.
---
5. Ne Job Accidentally Invents Un-Dying
He sprinted across floating papers, slipping, flailing, occasionally screaming.
The Erasure Beast inhaled deeply.
Ne Job froze.
"Wait—NO—DON'T INHALE ME—"
FWOOOOOOSH
Ne Job was sucked into its mouth—
—and instantly shredded into paper bits.
Everything went white.
For a moment, he was awareness without shape.
And then—
He heard Qi-Yun's voice echo:
"Un-dying is not resurrecting.
It is REFUSING to stay dead."
Ne Job felt something inside him pulse—
A spark.
A small, furious ball of indignation forged in 600 years of queue trauma.
He snarled:
"No.
I AM NOT DOING ANOTHER LINE."
The ink-paper void shook.
Ne Job's shredded pieces reassembled—
Out of sheer cosmic annoyance.
Light burst around him.
A title flickered above his head:
> UN-DYING (LEVEL 1): ACQUIRED.
Ne Job awoke on solid parchment again, gasping.
He stood inside the Beast's stomach.
He glared at the walls.
"You tried to digest me."
The Beast twitched uneasily.
Ne Job cracked his knuckles.
"Oh, NOW I'm mad."
---
6. The First Return: Ne Job Exits Dramatically
He concentrated.
The new spark inside him pulsed.
Ne Job roared—
A burst of silver-blue flame exploded outward.
The Beast convulsed, howled, and vomited him out like a malfunctioning printer.
Ne Job slid across the Death Layer floor, covered in residual ink.
He stood, shaking with adrenaline.
"I DID IT."
He held up one hand dramatically.
"I UN-DIED!"
A chime echoed:
> Un-Dying Level Up! (Lvl 1 → Lvl 2)
"Congratulations. You have returned from death twice. Efficiency improving."
Ne Job grinned triumphantly—
Then tripped on a floating file and faceplanted.
---
7. Qi-Yun Watches Like a Proud, Terrified Father
Back in the Archive proper, Qi-Yun stood with arms folded, observing the Death Layer through a circular holographic window.
He exhaled.
"He's… chaotic. But adaptable."
The Archivist appeared beside him.
"You chose this one?"
Qi-Yun nodded.
"He has the most important quality."
"And that is?"
Qi-Yun smirked.
"He refuses to accept anything."
The Archivist sighed.
"That is not a virtue."
"For him," Qi-Yun said, "it will be."
---
8. Back Outside — Yue Feels It Again
In the Void Storeroom, Yue gasped and nearly stumbled.
Ling grabbed her.
"Yue?! Are you okay?"
Yue pressed a hand to her chest.
"I felt it again. Ne Job just… pushed back against something."
"Pushed back? Like spiritually?"
"No," Yue said.
"Like he punched death in the face."
Ling blinked.
"Oh. That's very on-brand."
Yue stared at the sealed space where the Archive door once was.
"Whatever he's learning in there… it's changing him."
Ling shivered.
"That's either really good."
Yue nodded darkly.
"Or really bad."
---
END OF CHAPTER 187