It was as if he didn't care whether he would be shunned by the rest of the group or not.

 

He was right. No one batted an eyelid or reacted to his words. After all, they're dead, and there's nothing they can do about it. And even if they're back in the living world, would they care?

 

Absolutely not.

 

All of them are lunatics on their right, with the recent two boldly stated that they executed people before getting executed in return. If Jun Euri was a simple murderer, then what could these lunatics before him be?

 

Jun Euri brightly smiled at the people before him. He finally found a group of people that didn't flinch at what he just had said. It was akin to sheep getting accepted to a herd.

 

He then followed up his speech, continuing with, "As for my life... I don't really remember aside from killing random people. As for my death..." He placed his hand onto his chin to recall his final moments.

 

"... Hmm, I don't really remember, wait let me check my card. Oh! It seemed that I died from a sniper head shot."

 

Jun Euri scratched his head and laughed it off. In reply, others nodded and continued. Sen silently watched as people greeted themselves. Save from a single person, they were all lunatics. An underground kingpin, a devout follower of the church who summoned demons to torture people, a diabolical entity that felled a world into destruction. And much more.

 

The group he was lumped in was compromised by dangerous individuals.

 

Indeed, compared to them, Jun Euri's menial killings were child's play.

 

"What about you, child?" The rat spoke, it was finally Sen's turn, the final person to introduce himself.

 

"Sen Marfield. Was an agent-turned-arms dealer for multiple organizations. Died of torture after everyone banding to hunt me down."

 

He then closed his hand off and waited for the rat's next speech.

 

"Now that we introduced ourselves, does anyone have any questions left before we get into the main point?"

 

Jun Euri raised his hand.

 

"Say it, child." The rat permitted Jun Euri to ask a question.

 

"What were those cold-faced people earlier? They were pretty rude and ignored majority of what I was saying earlier. I want to punish them."

 

The rat laughed in return. Although it had heard this type of question multiple times before, it could not help but laugh at Jun Euri's follow-up snides. If the receptionists had heard Jun Euri's remarks on the spot, the rat would be damned to see Jun Euri getting the punishment instead.

 

"Child, we call them assistants. They usually manage trivial stuffs such as organizing worlds and people. As to why they're cold, well if you're doing such a menial job for an ungodly amount of time, wouldn't you be bored and just wanted to end things as soon as possible?"

 

Jun Euri nodded and uttered, "Hmm, true. I did get bored of butchering human remains..." in reply.

 

"I also have a question, rat." Grensweil, the knight who was silently observing the conversation added in.

 

The rat faced the knight and uttered, "Tell."

 

Grensweil pointed at himself and spoke, "When can I change already? It's scalding hot here you know? It's unbearable to even wear a full-plated armor on midday."

 

He pointed at the never-ending sun above them. Indeed, it was midday, and the scorching sun was glaring directly at them. Aside from the sails and the gigantic shadows left by the masts, there was nothing around them to hide and shelter. The entrance to the ship's interior was checked by the knight and found it locked earlier on, leaving them like monkeys in a desert.

 

And there was no wind to help them breeze of the blaze either.

 

"You can exchange the soul you consumed to currency used to buy goods such as clothing, child." The rat answered. "And besides, you had plenty of time a while back to spare so wh— oh."

 

While in the middle of speaking, the rat's eyes peered directly at the knight only to found out something shocking, leaving it disappointed. The knight in question then mumbled, saying, "Hey, what the hell..." as if he was in the wrong.

 

However, upon realizing the reason as to why the enthusiastic rat became disappointed in an instant, Grensweil immediately retorted.

 

"Hey! It's not my problem I got little to no compensation all! Blame that bastard whose physique is so weak that a single breeze of wind will topple him down! And besides, even if I try to make sense on him, he's too... urghhh!"

 

The knight grumbled under his suit of armor. He was despairing as he recalled his first and debut mission. He wanted to pull out his hair but can't as his hands were prevented both by his helmet and gauntlet.

 

"Not my fault you transformed into an amulet a con-artist sold." The rat remarked, its eyes half-dead.

 

"Urghh you!" The knight further groaned. "This is why I hated you bastard ever since my intuition told me upon seeing you! Argh!"

 

The rat ignored the despairing knight and turned its body to the group once more. It then asked the same question again, stating whether anyone had any questions whatsoever.

 

However, seeing no following complaints or questions from the group, the rat silently nodded. It then changes the topic, directly going to the point.

 

"Now, while some of you knew already about what's to come, I will repeat myself again so that the fledglings can have a rough picture on what they had just and are going to experience. If you want me to skip this section, please notify me."

 

Sen stood silent. Jun Euri, who was looking at his fellow newcomer, also remained silent. The rat nodded as the two gave out their answer.

 

"You probably realize by now that afterlife is different to what you had expected. It's understandable." The rat spoke passionately as if it was its time to shine. "The reason as to why is because your souls are too incompatible with reincarnating and thus, stuck here, in Soul Agency."

 

"Soul Agency is a place where irredeemable souls go. Think of it as any other place on the living realm. However, unlike the souls who reincarnate directly after dying, Your souls are stuck here. Forever."

 

"That is... very welcoming, rat." The knight scoffed. As he along with his companion skipped the rat's introduction on their first mission, he could not help but listen directly.

 

The rat put its hands onto its chin once more before continuing, "Don't worry though, you can also reincarnate if you wish anytime. It's just that after you die, your soul goes back here."

 

"How do I reincarnate?" Jun Euri said. Seeing him thinking about the Grensweil and Aseila's situation earlier, Sen could tell that Jun Euri was up to no good.

 

"It's easy." The rat faced Jun Euri. "Just lessen your burden."

 

"Burden?"

 

"The weight of your guilt. Basically anything that you regret, both good or bad."

 

Jun Euri tilted his head as he spoke puzzled, "I don't regret anything though?"

 

"Hm, do you now?" The rat looked at Jun Euri directly and continued, "The people you killed, do they also have not burden on them?"

 

The newcomers like Grensweil, alongside the people who worked three to four times, were shocked. This was a big piece of information and an alarming one at that. For people who had a tyrannic spree and murdered every creature on earth, that information was a death sentence set in stone for them.

 

"Eh? Wait what? So they stick with you until you die?" Jun Euri said, shocked at what he had just heard.

 

"Simply put, yes." Nonchalantly spoke the rat. "Alongside their grudge, goodwill, regrets, and blessings.

 

"Ahh..." Looking pale, Jun Euri looked at the rat aghast. It seemed that Jun Euri's plans were crushed by the sudden blow coming from the rat.

 

The fact that he had killed an uncountable number of creatures made it harder for Jun Euri to even reincarnate. Add in the number of regrets and grudges they held to him as he murdered them in cold blood means that he will not be getting out anytime soon.

 

Or even for a very long time.

 

"If you wish to reincarnate child, then lessen your burden by helping people in need. Isn't that great?" The rat smiled in an indiscernible fashion. Perhaps it was a smile of mockery or benevolence but Sen didn't look further and the rat was already continuing its passionate speech before they could even see the real nature of that smile.

 

"And help people you all will now do!" It snapped its fingers and soon enough, a portal leading to an unknown destination appeared before the rat. "Before me lies the entrance to your destination, children. However, it's not ready yet and you will only waste your time if you go here without concern.

 

"How does that portal work?" Asked Sen. He was curious about how the portal works. In his past life, every atom a creature contained was replicated to the destination while the main body gets to remain there, hollow and still.

 

As for the said creature's consciousness, it was relayed into a cloud data then immediately transferred into the new body, all in a single second. While technically you could have two or multiple bodies sharing a single consciousness at once, it was strictly outlawed and banned by every government. And even worse of a downside is that the being in question is going to have multiple severe mental disorders at once, with the only solution being either memory wipe or permanent death.

 

"It works similar to the hallway you passed through earlier." The rat pointed at the place that was supposed to be the captain's room door-turned-hallway behind him.

 

"I see. How do we know if it's ready?"

 

"The portal before me becomes much more clearer." The rat answered, pointing at the dimly-black portal. "But as to when, it differs from person to person. Only you can tell when the time is right."

 

Sen nodded. Although it was somewhat vague, he could generally puzzle and picture out stuff together.

 

"So don't be someone who's so courageous entering the half-finished portal just to make an impression to someone." Seeing the knight grumbling as he looked at the portal, the rat snark as if teasing and mocking him. "Otherwise you'll end up flopping hard and giving off the opposite impression you wanted to have. Heh."

 

"Hey! Don't 'heh' me rat! Not my fault that that woman was smoking fucking hot alright?" Grensweil shouted. "And besides, a knight-in-shining-armor can also fail sometimes okay?"

 

"You're an executioner, not a paladin." The mage Aselia who was silently reading a book commented with a flat tone.

 

"Ugh..." Grensweil looked at Aselia and mumbled, "Can you just agree with me this time?"

 

However, Aselia didn't talk any further and went on to read her book.

 

"Anyways, I got the topic haywire. Pardon me for that." The rat bowed. "Now then, as to what to do once getting to the world you're tasked to..."

 

The rat then snapped its fingers once more and immediately the portal disappeared as soon as it was introduced.

 

"Unlike the usual reincarnation, you will enter the world as avatars, creatures infused into tools, or summoned beings. Or anything that makes you able to penetrate the world really." The rat shrugged. "You will then serve the one in charge of your summoning, but to a price you're willing to offer."

 

"You can set the price as high as you want, but the summoner might think you are an undesirable entity and kick you back here, puzzled and lost."

 

"Are their souls the price?" Sen asked.

 

"Directly, yes." The rat immediately answered back. "In a much more complicated sense, it's their wills. Greed, passion, and desire all counts as wills. So too is their loved ones."

 

The rat smiled. It was a smile similar to that of a ruthless psychopath. Sen immediately felt killing intent from the rat as it continued to spoke more passionately.

 

"Ahh~ their souls. The joy of looking at their faces while you tear apart the flesh of their loved ones. Ahh~"

 

'Damned rat.' The knight thought as he clicked his tongue.

 

"Cough. Anyways, the goal is to serve them at the exchange of their souls. You can deny their request, but just like I said earlier, it's bad and generally not recommended." The rat calmed itself down as it continued, "But if you vehemently disagree or dislike the summoner and don't care about the repercussions, you can directly kill them instead."

 

The rat then concluded its speech. It then asked if anyone had any further questions but was only greeted with another silence. Seeing that its part had ended, it bowed to the group.

 

"Now that my part is done and well, I pray your journey to be of success. If you want to meet me again, please contact me through the assistants. If they were to ask my name, 'Rossien' would suffice."

 

Silently, it then left the group and walked back to the hallway. As soon as its figure disappeared, a portal appeared on the ship's main deck. The ship then sped up, its sails being assisted by the gusts of winds.

 

Sen could feel it. Anytime soon and the portal would open. He sat on the deck's floor as he waited for his first mission.

 

'What a weird experience,' he thought. Immediately after death, he became an office worker, albeit much more different compared to the usual. He snickered. Perhaps this was the result of his actions, and thus his fate. 

 

Either way, he stared at the portal, looking at it with a smile. Living in a purgatory as a herald may be better than what he had initially thought. Although there are some downsides, given that he's already dead, Sen considered this new life of his as a retirement from his past actions.

 

Perhaps this new life of his may turn out to be better or worse.

 

Who knows?

 

After all, only time will tell.