## Prologue
### 00. Reincarnation
Do you believe in the existence of souls?
I didn’t.
At least, not until I died.
—
“Waiting number **2037110420**, please proceed to **Counter 7** for your reincarnation.”
I looked down at the number ticket in my hand.
**2037110420.**
I stood up and walked over to Counter 7.
The reincarnation guide sitting there looked like an ordinary office worker in a business suit. The only unusual thing about him was the halo floating behind his head. Dark circles hung beneath his eyes.
“You’re **Yeo Hee-joo**, correct?”
“Yes.”
When I closed my eyes on Earth, certain I was about to die, and opened them again, my soul had already arrived in the afterlife.
At first, I didn’t even realize it was the afterlife. The place looked just like a neighborhood government office.
If an employee hadn’t suddenly appeared out of thin air, I’d probably still have been standing there in a daze.
Seeing how shocked I was, the employee kindly explained that this was the afterlife and that I would soon be reincarnated.
He even gave me the waiting ticket.
“Ms. Yeo Hee-joo, your karma isn’t very heavy, so after you drink the **ā ā ā **, you’ll be able to reincarnate immediately.”
The employee spoke in a tired voice while looking at something like a computer monitor.
But what was “ā ā ā ”?
It was a word that didn’t exist on Earth, so I couldn’t understand the pronunciation.
“What am I supposed to drink?”
“…Ah. Hmm, you’re from Earth’s cultural sphere, aren’t you? It’s something like the **River Lethe** from your mythology. It erases all memories of your previous life.”
“Oh, I understand.”
“Good. Here’s your guide employee pass. Just keep walking to the left. We wish you a peaceful reincarnation.”
I accepted the wooden pass and headed where he had directed me.
There, I met another guide wearing the same business suit, except his halo was a little more elaborate.
After checking the wooden pass, he asked,
“You’re Ms. Yeo Hee-joo?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll guide you directly to your assigned world.”
The guide threw open a massive white door standing before us.
“Wow…”
Beyond it was an entirely different world.
Unlike the familiar office-like interior, the outside looked as though it had been cut away and replaced with something completely alien.
I stared, utterly mesmerized by the endless universe I’d only ever seen in photographs.
Whether I was captivated or not didn’t seem to matter to the guide.
He took my hand and led me into the star-filled space.
“From here, we’ll walk to the world assigned to you. Please stay close.”
“How long will it take?”
“As long as the regrets you carried in your previous life.”
“I see.”
Then it shouldn’t take very long.
I nodded and continued admiring the sea of stars.
Maybe I wasn’t really dead.
Maybe this was all just a dream.
But after what felt like about thirty minutes of walking, a planet that looked remarkably like Earth suddenly came into view.
Instinctively, I knew that was where I was going to be reborn.
I cautiously called out to the guide.
“Sir.”
“Yes?”
“May I ask you two questions?”
“Of course.”
“Are you… gods?”
“According to the general ideas humans share, we’re closer to grim reapers or angels.”
“I see. Then… in your opinion…”
Before I realized it, we had stopped in front of a translucent gate.
The guide pulled out a bottle of the River Lethe’s water from his pocket and quietly waited for my question.
For some reason, the words wouldn’t come easily.
Once I drank that, I’d forget this conversation too.
Thinking that made me hesitate.
But even if it was meaningless…
This really was the very end.
So I slowly voiced the one question I’d kept buried deep inside.
“What is the meaning of life?”
He looked down at me with an unreadable expression, then held out the bottle.
The clear water inside gently rippled.
“I don’t know either.”
“I see.”
It was an unexpectedly flat answer.
Yet, for some reason, an indescribable sense of relief seeped into my soul.
I took the bottle and drank every last drop.
“Once you pass through this gate, you’ll forget all the memories of your previous life and begin a new one. I wish you a joyful journey.”
“Thank you.”
I bowed deeply to him.
Then, without a single regret, I stepped through the gate.
A brilliant light burst forth and swallowed me whole in an instant.
Goodbye to that miserable old life!
