1 Prologue: Dream or Death

As much as I wanted to say I grew up normally like any other child, I did not. In a way, due to long-term exposures to TV shows, novels, manga and video games throughout my childhood, I had quite an imagination. My personality was... eccentric, to say the least.

On the outside, I was a normal girl. Often hanging out with friends, stressing over my education, enjoying my free time indulging in useless hobbies that I would give up in a few months, and occasionally fighting with my siblings.

But deep down, I always knew that I would die young.

In fact, if I'm being more specific, I believed that I would never live pass 19 years old.

See, quite a weird child.

But I did celebrate my 19th birthday. And I celebrated another the next year, and the year after that, and another after that.

By the time I reached 26 years old, I was so busy with life the thought of dying at a young age had dissipated.

That's why it was surprising, to put it lightly, to find myself going to sleep the night before my big job interview...

...and woke up in the realm of the dead.

'You've got to be kidding, right?'

On top of the enormous gate before me, was a large sign with the word 'UNDERWORLD' painted neatly onto it.

'This has got to be some sort of joke or maybe a dream. That's it! This is just a dream! There's no way a healthy 26 years old lady like me could die in my sleep.'

With that in mind, I did what I usually do whenever I realised I was dreaming. I tried to fly. Putting all my force to my leg, I reached for the dark, cloudy sky... and landed face first onto the stone path with a loud thud.

The people (or should I say spirit) nearby gave me a weird glance before going back to their businesses.

That hurts! Dream or death, shouldn't mortal pain be irrelevant by now?

"You there, quit dilly-dallying!"

One of the guards at the door shouted, his spear pointed directly at me.

I looked around. Everyone was heading to the gate, not paying any attention to the guard's bark. I pointed my index finger to myself. 'Me?'

"Yes, you! Hurry up, I ain't got all day!"

I got up from the floor and dusted myself. Despite the immense pain I felt, I didn't seem to sustain any physical injury. Perhaps I am dreaming. If that was the case, I should wake myself from this nightmare. Focusing hard, I shouted internally.

'Wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up!'

I opened my eyes. No luck. I'm still where I was a few seconds ago.

"What are you doing?"

The guard stood in front of me, giving me a vicious glare.

"I'm trying to wake up." My statement sounded more like a question than an answer. I was grabbed by my arm and pulled to the station in front of the gate before I could say more.

"State your name," he said when we were at the counter.

"Huh?"

"Your name," he repeated with a sharper tone. "Your full name, please."

"He YuLan." I answered hastily. Better not agitate him further.

He took out a tablet from his bag and gave it a few taps.

'Huh, since when is Hell–assuming this is the afterlife–so technologically advanced?'

"You're one those priority souls," he clicked his tongue and looked at me with an annoyed expression. "Come this way."

What?

The guard placed a hand on my shoulder. Before I could process what was going on, I felt a jolt and my vision blurred. We were in front of a wooden door in an instant. It opened automatically, and I was guided to a long marbled hallway.

The walk through the empty corridor was quiet save for the sound of our footsteps. It did not take long for the silence to grate my sanity. I needed to distract myself from the situation before my anxiety sets in.

"So, what are priority souls?" I asked.

Mr Guard glared at me, but he answered my question nonetheless. "They are souls due for reincarnation. Usually, there's a period between death and rebirth where spirits will remain here until it is their time to reborn. But in some cases, the waiting periods were shortened or eliminated because the soul's reincarnation is sooner than expected."

His answer confirmed my suspicion–that I have passed away. Perhaps I was in the first of the seven stages of grief, but there's a little part of me that refused to accept my death. That, just maybe, there was another explanation for my existence here.

"Am I really dead?"

"As dead as a doornail," he answered bluntly.

'Well, there goes my hopes.' My expression must have betrayed my emotion because the guard gave me a small pat on the back.

"Don't worry, kid. You'll get a new life soon. All this pain and sadness will be forgotten once you drink Meng Po's soup." His reassurance did little to repair my deflated hope, but he was nice enough to console me, so I gave him a polite smile in return. "Come on, let's pick up the pace. You don't want to miss your reincarnation."

"Where are we going?"

"To the court. You need to be judged before you can reincarnate."

I was brought into a sparsely furnished room. The dark tiled floor reminded me of the assembly hall in my high school years. With the exception of a large raised table and two monstrous-looking stone statues beside it, there was no furniture in the room. The lightings were nice, though. Other than the intricate wall lamps around the court, the iron chandelier in the middle of the ceiling was bent into the shape of an orb with a large shining crystal at the centre.

A serious-looking man with glasses and long black hair was standing beside the table. The suit he was wearing made him appear more like a salaryman than a member of the Underworld court. Even from a distance, I could see the dark circle under his eyes.

Mr Guard placed me in front of the raised desk before approaching the man. They whispered to one another, occasionally glancing at me. After a few minutes of quiet discussion, Mr Guard gave me a thumbs up and left the room, mouthing 'Good Luck' as he passed me.

'Despite his rough attitude, deep down he's a nice guy, huh?'

Once he was out of sight, it was just me and glasses guy. He did not seem inclined to make conversation, instead chose to focus on the tablet in his hand.

Not knowing what to do, I stood there like an idiot, rocking back and forth on my heels.

The door behind the desk opened and a skinny man appeared with a stack of paper. Despite his humanoid figure, he has a greyish skin and pointed ear. However, what grabbed my attention was the horns on the sides of its head.

'Whoa, a demon!'

The demon handed the paper to glasses guy and retreated behind the door immediately, giving me little time to observe him.

"He YuLan," the glasses guy called.

"Yes!"

"My Lord will be arriving shortly. I strongly advise that you refrain from disrespectful acts in his presence... unless you desire retribution from His wrath." The glare he gave could freeze the whole hell. "Understood?"

"Yes, sir!" I answered loud and clear.

As if on cue, the door behind the desk opened once again. Seeing the glasses guy bowed, I did as well. The sounds of footsteps followed by chair scraping against the floor were heard. The air around the room became tense.

There was no doubt about it.

The Lord of the Underworld had arrived.