Afterlife Department

Normal World, Balanced. 

"Keh! Keh!" Huo Ling coughed as he waved his hands to make the 'smoke' go away after they passed through the Pathway of Clouds to go to another world. The 'smoke' he is waving off are the thick clouds they went through earlier. 

"We've arrived." Yi Bing spoke after they appeared inside a telephone booth. 

Huo Ling has just finished coughing after he inhaled some clouds earlier. He heard Yi Bing's voice spoke and turned, only to hit his elbow in the telephone on the side. "OW!" he cried when he felt the numbing pain in his bone. His already pale face as a grim reaper became paler and beads of sweat formed in his forehead because of the pain. He reflexively raised his hand to hold his aching elbow. 

He raised his head and finally saw Yi Bing looking at him.. His brows slightly raised and his gaze is mocking as he looked at him, like he was looking at some idiot. 

The 'some idiot' Huo Ling averted his gaze and finally noticed that they are inside a telephone booth. With two people, and big men like them, the space inside the telephone booth is very cramped. They looked like sardines inside a can. That's why he hit his elbow in the telephone earlier. 

He turned back to Yi Bing and was about to express his awe after transmigrating when his eyes met Yi Bing's still mocking gaze. He froze and swallowed the words. "Where are we?" he asked, creating a topic to make the awkward atmosphere between them disappear. 

Yi Bing, fortunately, cooperated with him. "Normal World 9999." He answered. 

Huo Ling froze. "… Normal World. 9999?" he asked and stared at Yi Bing. 

Yi Bing nodded to confirm. "Yes. 9999." He spoke. 

Huo Ling. "…" bro, are you playing with me? Why choose the world with the same number as mine? 

Yi Bing seemed to read his thoughts. "There are nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine worlds. Added with our Stable World, there are ten thousand worlds in total." He spoke. In these nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine worlds, there are Normal Worlds and Special Worlds. And these worlds, they can be Balanced Worlds." He explained. "Right now, we are in a Normal World, which is also a Balanced World." He told him. 

A Balanced World is close to a Stable World. But, because of certain factors, it can't be perfect like the Stable World. Many worlds wanted to be the second Stable World. But, they just couldn't become like one. And, right now, this only one Stable World is the world they came from. 

Speaking up until here, Yi Bing remembered the leader of that organization they caught that used the ancient artifact to trap the souls in their world. There is nothing wrong for these people to make their world become a Stable World. But, if they harmed humans – most especially, souls, then they have to suffer the consequences. 

"So this world is the 9999th world?" Huo Ling spoke. 

Yi Bing nodded. 

"What about our Stable World?" Huo Ling asked. 

"9998th." Yi Bing answered. 

"… wow." Huo Ling muttered with no enthusiasm as he blankly stared ahead. 

Yi Bing didn't mind his reaction. "Isn't this number auspicious?" he asked. 

"9999 is more auspicious." Huo Ling answered. 

"9998 is." Yi Bing said. "'9' is already 'eternal'. But, you should also add '8'. Because a sideward 8 is eternity." He explained. 

"Then, I think 9987 is more auspicious." Huo Ling spoke. 

"Why?" Yi Bing asked. 

"Because '7' is a number for luck!" Huo Ling answered. 

"… you're right." Yi Bing spoke. His expression looked pensive. 

"What world is 9987?" Huo Ling curiously asked. 

Yi Bing looked at him. "A Normal World." He answered. Before Huo Ling could ask what kind of world is it, he continued. "Not a Balanced World. Since it is an apocalyptic world." He said. 

Huo Ling. "…" I am disillusioned! 

"It isn't a Balanced World because there are more zombies than humans. And it is a Normal World since there is no magic or supernatural involved in the apocalypse." Yi Bing spoke. "In short, humans aren't ability-users. Therefore…" his voice trailed off as he looked at Huo Ling. 

"… therefore, it is a sh*thole." Huo Ling continued and sighed. "We shouldn't rely on the numbers…" he grimaced. 

Yi Bing just chuckled and then opened the door of the telephone booth to go outside. Huo Ling followed him with a disappointed look on his face. 

"Don't be so disheartened. I won't take you there." Yi Bing told Huo Ling. 

"Then, why did you take me here?" Huo Ling asked. It's not because of my same code, right? 

"After what happened to Special World 7321, Shen Taizi dispatched the angels and grim reapers to investigate the worlds." Yi Bing explained. "We are not assignment-bound, so we are included to the group of investigators." He said. 

Huo Ling looked at Yi Bing. "But, before, you…" he muttered. 

Yi Bing is an assignment-bound grim reaper before, and his assignment is him. 

"I am a special case." Yi Bing just said. "Since this is an important matter and specially ordered by Shen Taizi, then I have to obey." He explained. 

Huo Ling. "…" bro, can there be trust between us? Didn't you just say you are a special case? Aren't your words contradictory? He thought. He chose not to comment on that and change the topic. "So, where are we going now?" he asked as he looked around. "The military? Airport?" he asked and looked at his and Yi Bing's uniform that looked like that of a soldier's, or of a pilot's. 

In short, it looked crisp, formal, and made of high-quality materials. 

"School." Yi Bing answered. 

"'school'?" Huo Ling asked then froze. He raised his head to look at Yi Bing. "What are we doing there? You will give a special lecture? Or a speech?" he asked. 

Yi Bing's uniform is different from his. Yi Bing's uniform looked like that of a superior's while his uniform looked like that of an apprentice's. 

"No. You're – " Yi Bing spoke. But, before he could continue, they suddenly heard a loud screeching of tires afar. 

Both of them turned and saw a car swerving on the street, sometimes overpassing some cars while sometimes bumping against them, causing a collision before the car that looked out of control continued to run while the other cars that it collided were left. If not for their car malfunctioning because of the collision, then their drivers were injured. The crowd immediately ran away while some of those who remained calm called the police. 

Huo Ling saw the car coming their way and instinctively jumped forward and raised his hand. 

Yi Bing saw him and cried. "Huo Ling! What are you doing?!" he asked, mad, and immediately pulled Huo Ling back. Fortunately, the other people were running away so no one paid attention to them and no one has seen what Huo Ling did. 

"Sorry. A reflex…" Huo Ling bit his lip and hung his head. 

The car is coming nearer to them. "Let's go follow these people. The police are on their way…" Yi Bing spoke. 

"Yes." Huo Ling answered. But, before they could walk further away, the car suddenly changed its direction and dashed towards them! 

Huo Ling's eyes widened and his pupils shrank. Subconsciously, his hands rose and he pushed Yi Bing, who was taken aback by the sudden change of events, away. 

BANG! CRASH! A loud thud was heard after the car hit a person then crashed on the wall. 

"AAAAAAAAAAH!!!!" the people, who were following the car with their gaze after they retreated to a safe distance, saw that Huo Ling was hit by the car while Yi Bing was pushed away by Huo Ling. 

Yi Bing fell on his back but his gaze was stuck on Huo Ling's figure that rose in the air because of the impact after he was hit by the car, before it fell on the ground. Fortunately, it wasn't on a cemented rose that Huo Ling fell, and instead on the grasses. Or else, Huo Ling would've been turned into a meat paste. 

"HUO LING!" he called and immediately rose from the ground before he ran towards Huo Ling to check on him. 

Meanwhile, the sound of the police siren followed by the sound of the ambulances can be heard from the distance. Yi Bing saw Huo Ling lying on the ground. His brown, bushy hair on the back of his head was bleeding while his leg was bent on a cringing angle. He hit a tree before he fell on the ground. 

"…" can I assume this is Huo Ling's habit that he brought from the previous worlds? Why does he always die every time? He thought as he speechlessly stared at Huo Ling whose eyelids twitched, indicating he is about to wake up. "Don't move. Nor open your eyes." He spoke. 

Huo Ling. "?" 

"Don't speak, too." Yi Bing continued. "It'd be strange for you to still remain conscious in this state after you were hit by a fast-moving car. Do you want to be on the headlines tonight?" he asked. 

"…" mmp1. 

'ma mai pi', or 'your mother is a ***'. Basically, it is an expletive and means 'motherf*cker'.