1 The God wants to recruit

Gasp. I lunged my head forward in shock, inhaling as much air as possible. My heart beat so fast I could even hear it.

"Woke up finally huh."

Called a demure feminine voice which prompted my head to look forward. She, going by the looks, was buried in countless but neatly arranged paperwork in which she punitively read and signed, scribing sounds made with her ornate inked pen.

The room was fairly large, with two large bookcases behind her desk with a large golden symbol of scales balanced on both sides taking up the space in the middle of it. The word "Yamaxanadu" were written on the nametag in the front of the desk.

"What happened… No… where is this!?"

I recalled I was distributing fliers after sticking underground posters on a few buses stop as usual. No, there's more after that. A well-groomed oblivious couple with a little minx smiling and following behind them, and my body moves reflexively in a feat of Altruism. I've learned personally how third newton law really works at this time. Huh.

"Hahahaha… so is that it. I've died. Years of preparation just went under the drain like that."

"Do you regret it?"

Asked the woman who seemed to be more interested in the paperwork in front of her. Well there's no one else here to do, and I don't really understand my situation either. If I survived being hit by a literal moving brick speeding at 130km/h on a quiet avenue, the smell of paper and ink is not the scent I should know the first time.

"None. There's nothing wrong in helping people if you're able. It's more the case if they're my fellow kindred or loved one."

"And yet here you are. They're nothing more than strangers to you. If the situation was to be reversed, the first thing they've done is probably take a picture of your mangled corpse. No, in fact they do take a picture of you after the incident then call the ambulance afterward. Everyone had different priority I guess."

Said the woman in complete disinterest as she continued to scribe on her paper. I feel irked for a reason but I've been holding my temper for as long as I can remember.

"You're just trying to discredit them. Even the case since I've died it means I have made my decision. There's nothing left there to regret."

I hate regret. People dwell on such thing when there's more prospect to be searched upon. Such overrated concept. Contemplating is fine, but dwelling and obsessing on "what if I choose the other path" to the point where it affects your life and health is nothing but disease. A severe one.

She briefly stopped before putting her pen down. She took parchment from what seemingly random selection and whether she already knew where to look and read it aloud.

"Name is Alberich Spee, born in UK 1997 from two-loving old couple outside a remote suburban area in northern Essex. Never finished his formal education and has been charged with a few offenses, most case pertains Hate crimes and violence towards minorities. Personality is described as reserved, chauvinist, and volatile in the vicinity of women and minorities, especially towards migrants, quite colorful. This is what your fellow… kindred thought of you."

I listened silently, slightly amused by the sheer ridiculousness of the report. She is listed and on.

"If you know me, a mere chump in the wide ocean, you should have known what's happening down there. I originally wanted to deflect such charges but crime is crime no matter how stained the hands that held the scale and sword. I'm guilty as the law decrees."

I guess that's it. At least I know that outside the materialism that such beings like her exist. Judging by the nameplate and the scale behind her I was being judged and evaluated for some sort. Maybe I'm just being delusional and this is my punishment after all I've done.

"Fumu." She nodded her head. The woman pulled the drawer beneath her desk, and grab what seemingly an ordinary classic Pocky box. "It's very unreliable to get information about mortals right now. Well it's been a long time since I personally superseded to judge a mortal."

"You're a god, aren't you?"

She miffed; a bit amused from what I just said. "A god is an extraordinary title but I guess they used to call me one back then. Not really though. I'm just an administrator."

"And what does an Administrator job entail?"

"A lot of things, but you can say judging soul and passing them is one of list though I rarely do so."

"And somehow I talked to you… on what purpose?"

She pulled and bit one of the sticks. Folding her arms, she said.

"Particularly one matter. You see I had a junior in another room and she caused a mistake by accident this past week concerning her fabric manipulation skills. To spare you from detail she created a world after having of what you mortals equivalent of lucid dream when nodding off. It's very rare of us to sleep and because of her blunder she will be demoted very soon."

That's interesting and insightful if I could add. These administrators were overworked worse than a Chinese sweatshop worker. The poetry. No wonder the world is as shitty as it is today.

"And that's where I came in?"

She nodded and bit her pocky after finishing the first one, "That's right. Each of world is governed by an administrator, adding that she just had another one on top of our stretched administration. There's a lot of red-tape regarding the birth of a new world and we simply can't pruned it arbitrarily. The choice is either she managed both worlds, her old and new, which will assuredly exhaust all her energy and on top of that she will be demoted as a punishment making the condition worsen or…"

"You train another, a new administrator for that world… is that what you say."

I frowned my eyebrows, scrunching in deep thought of what exactly my fate will land. She painted nothing but grimness of her job of basically being grinded behind a desk for eternity. Maybe there's a silver lining. It sounds nice on paper… but I don't know where it could lead me.

She simply nodded and the pocky broke in two when she bit it.

"Why don't you just… create a new one or why can your junior use one of her world's inhabitant soul instead. And what choice do I have here?"

She leaned on her chair, sighing a bit before pulling yet another Pocky.

"It simply takes too long otherwise we can fill the vacancy and manpower strains so easily. Because the Boards don't trust her, not anymore anyway after the buffoon made a blunder. As such, as a senpai, I have to step-in and take a degree of control."

The woman twirled the long pristine Pocky with her digit before biting it. "You see, there's a lining out of the incident. We now have a full excuse and reasoning to recruit new prospects rather than creating them from the ground up, and that's where you… a lucky? One comes in. Either that or we will simply move forward and process you as usual."

I sighed, relegating my shoulder to the comfiness of the leather chair. "I'll be completely honest; I don't exactly have a good initial impression of this opportunity."

"That's quite alright. The boards originally wanted to at least partially lie to prospectors like you to take the bait. Honestly, I don't see the method, cost wise, effective in long-term seeing how volatile you mortals can be." She said with a disinterest and detached voice of hers.

She continued, "Well for now, we wanted to test the water first. We'll reincarnate you with memory and everything else intact, and of course you'll have our support in this life. Think of it as a trial. We'll agree the deal in a written contract." She procured a paper and laid it out on the desk, "By the end of the program, you must decide whether to become one of us or die as usual and when you do you'll govern the new world you live in as the administrator."

I crunched my eyebrows, reading the finer prints on the contract. Making sure there's no loophole to be exploited from their end.

"And when exactly will this program end? Do you people have any requirements at all in recruiting?"

"When you're mature enough. Of course, we have requirements, though you're quite special case. Personality wise you're sufficient, skill will come in when you're in the office. But the trouble is, being an administrator is something a mortal couldn't hope to undertake."

"You mean?"

"Think of this. You will spend eons managing nothing but endless lines of paperwork, troubles, and possibly monitoring billions or trillions of lives. I'm senior enough to handle a few dozen worlds. There's more other than bureaucracy but to the important matter, your fragile mortal soul is not ready to withstand such great burden!"

Huh, this is the first time she said something so passionately, is she secretly a workaholic? A love-hate relationship with her job and I know the feeling too well. This is not something to be pondered in a flash but I know they won't give me time.

In the end, does it really matter? If I decide to refuse, I'll be grinded, washed, and be refurbished then be born into a new life. It doesn't really matter, either choice is the same but at least I wanted something that I can control. It disturbs me that the new me will not be really "me", in fact I should have been grateful of this agreement contract. I can keep my memory and foremost knowledge I had accumulated that way.

I steadily made my way to one of the pens she laid on the desk. Scribing my gestures, I have decided.

"I agree with the terms."

She nodded her head, soft smiles graced her lips in satisfaction, "That's good. I know you won't refuse the offer. I'll be looking forward to working with you the next time we met." It creeps me out how she said that in certainty.

She dusted herself from the chair and offered her arm. I grab hers and shake her hand.

"Wait before that, at least give me your name."

It doesn't feel right to know not the name of someone you signed a contract with, of course I saw it in the paper but asking directly is the proper way.

She appears to be surprised, a tinge of rose on her cheek. "I apologize for the inconsideration. I'm Eiki Shiki. Call me Eiki if you will."

Well for one thing, she is certainly a polite and pleasant company. I never realized that I was talking to a being that is equivalent to a deity all this time.

However, before I could reply back, her visage was quickly replaced by a complete darkness. Just like that, without flair, I'm reincarnated into a new world.