We arrived at a large building with transparent glass walls. I could see several people at the top, eating and smiling, apparently we were going to a restaurant. She signalled once again that I should follow which I did.
"So Ji-ho, the thing is, my family is kind of a big shot, especially my brother." She said glancing at me. Maybe she thought I already knew who she was and pretending, but honestly I wasn't even aware such a place existed before.
"I'm just a regular guy, I doubt I'll cause trouble for your brother," I said.
"Well I supposed that's right," she said trailing off. "But please be careful, he can be really pushy." "what do y--" "Heyyyyyy, Rin-ah" a female voice called out waving towards us. We walked towards a grey metal door, I wasn't sure what happened, but after she pressed a button the metal door opened with a soft chime and revealing a small metal room with mirrored walls. Several people stepped inside casually, as if this strange box was nothing unusual.
I stopped.
The space felt… wrong. Enclosed. Like a trap that moved on its own. I stared at it for a moment longer than I should have.
"Ji-ho?" Rin-ah called, already halfway in. "…What is this?" I asked, my voice low. I had tried to keep my curiosity to myself but the words slipped out.
She blinked, then looked at me again. Slowly, realization dawned on her face. "Oh--- it's an elevator," she said gently. "It just takes us up."
"Up?"
I glanced once more, then stepped in after her. Keeping my expression neutral, the doors closed on their own making my shoulders tense for a brief second. Rin-ah watched me from the corner of her eye, then smiled somewhat amusingly.
"You really are… something else," she muttered, sounding oddly pitying. There was a brief silence inside the elevator, after few seconds it stopped. She tapped another button, which made the doors open again and we stepped out.
The moment we got out, she ran over to her brother in a warm embrace but he didn't actually reciprocate, neither did he push her away, but stood completely still. "Ahem," he coughed. "Right, sorry brother," she said, a little bit stiff.
She took a step back, straightened up, curved her right hand into a fist and placed it on her left chest before taking a slight bow," this wasn't something unfamiliar back in my world, a way of conveying respect to those in military, that would mean. "And who is that?" He said, turning his attention towards me.
Almost my height, lean, with an authoritative presence.He had a straight jawline, dark hair which framed his sharp features, carved by discipline rather than age, his crimson eyes seemed to pierce through everything. He walked over with calm, measured steps.
Then I noticed it. His right sleeve hung slightly lower, empty. No movement. No attempt to hide it. The absence of his arm wasn't weakness it felt deliberate, like a reminder. Whatever had taken it hadn't taken him. He stood right in front of me so close that I could feel him now.
His gaze stayed on me, steady and unblinking. For a brief moment, I wondered if he could tell. Not that I was a reaper. But that I didn't belong here at all.
He stretched out his left hand a little bit signalling for me to reciprocate, "Yoon Joon-seok nice to meet you," he said. His hand still in the air," "Ji-ho, Seo Ji-ho." I said, a little bit relaxed.
Taking a step forward and stretching my hand, I felt a strike so close to my face, the attack screamed past my ears. Instinct propelled me aside, my composure never wavering. The impact of its speed rang in my skull like a battering ram, every nerve screaming.
"Brother!" Rin-ah shouted. Clearly embarrassed, I noticed there were stares but I was sure it wasn't directed at me. Maybe he was someone popular, maybe some military brat.
He raised his hand and the growing chatter reduced into little murmurs until it stopped. "You're quite the nimble one," he said, his lips curving into a slight smile but his stern gaze never softened.
He raised his hand again, albeit reluctantly I proceed to shake him. He looked at me, "are you suppressing your mana by any chance," he asked. "Nope," I said. I was lying, but for some reasons people couldn't sense my mana since the day I was born even I myself wasn't aware of the reason.
He flustered a little,before regaining his composure "I see, I take it as you don't...." "I don't have any mana," I said, my voice low so only him could hear.
"So you dodge my attack purely on reflexes," he said. "Yes," I replied almost instantly. "I see my sister has found a reliable man this time around," he said. With that, he signalled over to the table and I walked beside him.
"I did notice it, but I thought You were suppressing your mana," Rin-ah spoke out in awe, I see, that would explain why she was staring so intently at me before. "Yh," I replied awkwardly as I took my seat. I exchanged pleasantries with the girl who sat close to him apparently his girlfriend and suddenly it became a mini interrogation from him.
Though, they were mainly about my past which I dodged and answered half-heartedly. "So Ji-ho should I assume you don't know who I am?" Joon-seok asked, as he took a slice of meat from his plate.
"I really don't," I said, now I was curious about who he was. "Well Joon-Seok is a first class in the obsidian blade," his girlfriend chimed in with a wide smile poking his arm. Apparently he might, no he was a hot-shot in this country, but I wasn't sure what all of those meant but I nodded and said. "I see, sorry for my rudeness earlier on," after that it was few chatter until it became evening, the clouds had started to gather, and if I wasn't wrong it was going to rain.
"Well I'll get going I said," getting up from my seat, "I- I'll escort him," Rin-ah spoke out, standing almost the same as I did. "Wait," Joon-seok spoke out handing me his card, "do call me," he said. "I will," I said slipping the written card inside my suit pocket but in honesty I didn't even know how to operate a phone properly, I had only seen and heard about from the books I read and eavesdropping, but nevertheless I guess it was fine.
After we stepped out of the building, she turned towards me and smiled a little bit. "Thank you for today," she said bowing slightly. "N-no it's fine," I said. She reached into her purse and brought a hefty sum of money and handed it to me. I wondered why she went around carrying such amount. "I should thank you for the clothes I said," Bowing slightly. she shook her head left and right. "L-like I Said it's fine," she said appearing flustered.
"Well if you say so," I said, deciding to turn and leave..."Wait!" What now I muttered under my breath. "Well, uhmm, here you go," she said handing me a card, one similar to her brother's. I'm supposed to use this some how with a phone to call her I guess. "I'll---- before I could finish my sentence, she vanished in a blur. The heck, humans are sure weird maybe even weirder than me.
"Now one more thing to do, I said" remembering the information, I transformed into my veilborn form since it was already night, a long scythe rested in my hand, white hair tucked under my hood,my bony fingers gripping it tight. "First solo mission Ji-ho, don't fuck it up," I said. After few minutes what started out as a drizzle.... turned into a heavy downpouring.
The city outside illuminated with life, rain hammering down on streets that shimmered with neon reflections. I moved through the building. I finally got to the hotel, I wasn't sure if it was the very best but judging at the standards of this building it clearly wasn't cheap. Room 109. I slipped through the door convenienly. I stood outside the room door, there it was 'room 109' the 9 looked a bit crooked not dwelling on that, I phased through the door.
There she was, my target, curled over her laptop. Messy orange hair, fists clenched. Her eyes were red, tear-blurred, staring at something on the screen. She was looking at a guy and another girl from the screen. "How could you cheat on me, and with my sister," she spat. Her words coming out almost inaudible due to the tears and the stumbling on her words.
In a fit of rage she started throwing random objects at the door. Looking at the surrounding of the door, I could tell she had thrown several objects already. She screamed, cursed, slammed the desk. Anger, humiliation, heartbreak they were all there, spilling over in waves.
Humans were dramatic, I thought, but watching her, I felt a sense of pain and pity towards her. But I had a mission to fulfill, I announced myself. Materialising myself to become visible to her still in my terrifying form. "I am the Grim Reaper. It is your time to die."
Her head snapped up. Wide, terrified eyes met mine. For a moment, I thought she might faint, scream, or run. But instead, she froze, bitterness overtaking fear. Her arms crossed, she spat out words of defiance, mocking the very thing that should have scared her.
I swung my scythe, but it stopped, the very tip of my scythe pressed ever so close to her neck, just a push and her throat would have slid open. I wasn't sure why, but something was stopping me from killing this girl, or rather I did not want to kill her.
Dawned by the realization of what was going on, she pulled back, missing her footing and stumbled on the book shelf in her room. "A-- Grim Reaper!" She screamed but the rain and thunder drowned her voice. Facing death might have taking a toll on her because she suddenly went pale and collapsed on the floor.
Still confused on what to do, I decided to sit down and ponder what to do before she woke up. After few minutes she gradually started getting up, her orange silk hair scattered all over face. She raised her head up a little and our eyes met. Then she exclaimed again, "why are you not just a figment of my imagination she cried."
"So are you going to kill me now?" She asked. I wasn't sure if what to do. Then it hit me. "I've changed my mind," I said. "Huh," she looked at me confused. Like I said something bad and foul. I turned towards her "Do you want to die?" Like agreeing with my statement my scythe titled a little bit scraping the wall. "N-no.." "Y-yes," she said confused. But isn't that why you're here," she said matter-of-fact.
"Besides what's there to live for she said," her shoulder slumped. I guess she was referring to whatever happened on the screen. "I might have taken my life soon or later, maybe it was my fate." I wasn't sure what it was, anger, pain, pity, or something else entirely, I raised my bony hand upward and for the first time I slapped a girl. She looked at me puzzled. "What was that for?" She shouted. "Why would you want to throw you're life away?" I questioned.
"Well..." She trailed off , "it's something stupid" she said "but even if I don't want to die, it's not like I can decide what happens anymore," she said. Taken aback my sudden outburst "You're right," I nodded. But the thing was I didn't want to kill her maybe I should have spent the week first, then maybe I would have gotten tired but I was curious of this world. Then I spoke,"well you're right, your death here is inevitable but what if we came to a contract."
"Contract?" "Yes a contract" I replied, "I will let you live for a year, but in exchange, you're to teach me the ways of this world." "I see ,"she said even if it seemed selfish there was nothing she could really do on this matter. She gulped then she spoke out, "Can I add a condition of mine?" She asked.
"A condition I mussed," "Say it then," I said urging her to spit it out. "I want you to help me take revenge on my ex boyfriend and my sister," she said. Wiping away her tears now. " It's done then," I replied. With that I stretched my hand to her, she did likewise and we shook on it, a mutual contract, I could feel a little bit of my energy flowing into her and three black marks appeared on both of our hands.
"By the way, she said. I thought a Grim Reaper had a skeletal face or something like that, why is yours, splitted into a human and a reaper," she said "almost like it's refusing to acknowledge the other," she added, caressing my face.
Honestly I would have gotten angry but I couldn't, because I sensed no Ill intent from her words but a genuine pity. I was about to say something but I couldn't. "Now reaper sir why are you crying," she said.