Death and a Job Offer: 1

An unfamiliar ceiling greets Haruto Kishinami as he slowly wakes up.

"Strange," he muses as he takes note of his surroundings. "I'm not cold anymore." He turns his head to look around some more, taking in the unfamiliar room around him. It looks just like his old hospital room, looks just like his old hospital bed--it all looks the same. But still, he can tell that it is not the same room as before. The room he just died in.

"Where am I?" he asks no one in particular. A white haze creeps in at the edges of his vision as pale light trails in from the window. A vase with flowers, just like the ones he had seen moments ago, sits on a table next to his bed. But beyond the familiarity of the hospital is an expansive whiteness, glowing and warm, that goes on forever. "As if this room were the only thing in the whole world," he whispers to himself.

"In a way, it is," a smooth voice replies from the haze to Haruto's left. He turns to look, and sitting in a newly appeared chair is a man in his mid to late twenties. He has long brown hair swept back into a loose ponytail with bangs dangling over his equally brown eyes. A long, thick red scar runs down his left cheek and eye, but it does nothing to mar the otherworldly handsomeness of the man who sits with his arms folded as he watches Haruto.

"Huh," Haruto replies. "So I'm dead." It wasn't so much a question as a statement, but the man nods anyways. "It's different from what I was expecting."

"Everyone says that," the man chuckles.

"Glad I'm so original then." The man gives Haruto a wan smile. "I'm guessing you're here to take me to the Land of the Dead or whatever? Whoever you are?"

"The names Edwin Vingels," the man replies with a half-seated bow. "And, under normal circumstances, yes, I would be taking you off to the Land of the Dead. I am a shinigami in the service of the God of Death, after all. However," Edwin says with a sigh, "I'm not here to take you across the river so to speak. Rather, I'm here to bring you the, and I quote, 'opportunity of an after-lifetime.'" Haruto raises his eyebrow and Edwin shrugs. "Look, my boss told me I have to say it, so don't blame me."

"Your boss? I take it you mean the God of Death? Whoever that is?"

"Thanatos, yes," Edwin states. "At least, that's the name they currently enjoy using the most. A lot of the Heavenly Ones use the names most associated with them in the worlds of the living, but my boss has always had particular affection for the name the Greeks gave them. Something about how regal and final it sounds."

"It is a pretty cool name."

"They'd be so happy to hear you say that. But, enough of that, let's talk about this deal. I, unlike my boss, don't have all day." Edwin steeples his fingers and leans closer. "Tell me, did you like reading light novels and manga or watching anime in your lifetime?"

"Well, it was about all I could do from this bed, so yeah, I guess so."

"Have you ever wondered why the isekai genre became so popular in recent years?"

"I figured market sensibilities and demand for easy to consume stories, but I'm guessing you're going to tell me something else?"

"Capitalism is a pretty good answer," Edwin laughs. "But you're right--there is another reason altogether. You see, those stories, not the ones you've read exactly but being spirited off to another world in general, happen all the time. Right now there's some poor soul out there being isekai'd to who knows where to fulfill some crazy power fantasy or fight an evil god at the whims of another god. But, the problem is, the act of isekai-ing itself is a highly regulated process constituting the formation of a legal contract. In essence, when one agrees to be isekai'd, you are entering into a contract with a Heavenly One or some other being to be transferred from your home world to the destination world to provide a service.

"Think of it this way. If a divine being asked you to save X world and in return would grant you Y special powers, that is a form of compensation for entering the contract. You have the right to refuse and be returned, no matter what they say. If you agree to the contract, then you are lawfully isekai'd. However, as I'm sure you can imagine, not all cases of being whisked off to another world are done through legal means. These illegal incidents compose somewhere between 80-90% of all isekai that are conducted across the universe."

"Wow," Haruto whistles. "That's fascinating. But, why are you telling me all this? Are you trying to isekai me?"

"No way," Edwin waves his hand and laughs. "Too much work. I'm here as a representative of Thanatos to offer you a job with the bureau that tracks down and punishes those who commit illegal isekais--The Isekai Investigation Bureau, or IIB."

"So, like the FBI but for isekais?"

"Sure. Whatever helps you understand."

"Okay, that's cool and all, but why are you asking me to join the IIB? I just died, so, don't I need to go to the afterlife?"

"You already are in the afterlife, kid," he replies. "This is it."

"This?" Haruto gestures to his hospital room. "This is the afterlife?"

"Not what you expected?"

"I was at least expecting scantily clad men snapping whips and torturing some souls while I flew off to heaven, but I guess this is...."

"Boring?"

"Yeah. Pretty dull so far."

"It gets better, trust me," Edwin assures Haruto. "It all depends what you make of the afterlife. Most souls choose to cross the river to whatever form of Solace they deserve for the deeds in their lifetime, and then eventually reincarnate until they Release. However, some souls have the capacity to take on the Great Works of the Heavens and they are scoped out by the various Heavenly Ones who run existence. They go on to be angels, devils, shinigami, and other minor deities that manage and maintain the universe."

"Hold up. You make it sound like the afterlife is some sort of corporation or something? What are you talking about?"

"Please don't mix capitalism into this, it's nothing like that," the shinigami shakes his head in disgust. "This universe requires individuals to maintain it, and not just any soul can take on that job. Different bureaus exist in the afterlife that handle those roles and regulate the souls and other forces that make up the universe itself. It's not a company that makes money or anything, rather it is a large group, headed by the Heavenly Ones, that seeks to maintain balance in the universe through the careful management of souls and energy."

"Okay...so again, why me?"

"Your soul, Haruto Kishinami, is special," Edwin states rather simply. "Not every soul has the capacity to take on work in the afterlife, but when we find one that does, usually some bureau or other will make all efforts to get their hands on that soul and ask them to work for them. Normally, souls like yours would be fighting off offers from a whole bunch of agencies when you die."

"Normally? So, what's going on here? Does this have something to do with the isekais that you mentioned earlier?"

"Exactly," Edwin grins. "As I said, your soul is special. There is about a .000000000000000001% chance that any given soul in the expanse of the universe has the ability to become an Investigator. When one is found, they are marked so that upon dying a member or representative of the IIB will sequester you so that we can speak with you one on one without any other interference. That, and Thanatos 'calls dibs' so to speak and no one else is allowed to speak with you. That's one of their privileges as the god who rules over Death and as the head of the Isekai Investigations Bureau."

"I have the ability to become an Investigator?"

"Yep."

"So, let me see if I have this right," Haruto says as he sits up and adjusts himself in his bed. "You're basically an afterlife recruiter who's here to give me a job now that I'm dead? Don't I get to like, you know, die in peace?"

"You certainly have that option. That's why shinigami are normally sent to do this kind of work. If you choose to, you may go on to whatever Solace you have awaiting you based on the deeds in your life. For a soul like yours, you would get a peace free from pain and suffering to make up for the suffering you experienced during your living years. It would be a calm free of worry and filled with joy. You're a rather pure soul, so it would be a true respite for your weary bones."

"But is that what you really long for?" a voice rings out from the emptiness surrounding Haruto. "Do you truly long for peace after being trapped in your bed for so long? Don't you hunger for something else? Something more?"

"I..." Haruto begins to say as he searches for the source of the voice.

"Can you deny it?" the voice continues. "That you hunger for more? That your weary soul yearns to feel the touch of grass beneath your feet? That your cold hands ache for the warmth of the sun? Do you not desire to feel once again? To throw off the specter of icy death and embrace the ever-burning radiance of life itself?"

"But I can't," Haruto replies. "I'm dead. My body is nothing and I'm...I never was anything! I'm not special. I lived in this bed dying from a cancer doctors couldn't fix. My heart gave out every few months whether I asked it to or not! I can't live when I'm dead. It's over!"

"Is it? Is this not the chance of the after-life? The chance to see things you never dreamed of, touch worlds you could've never hoped to have touched while living and eat foods none from Earth even know exist? Doesn't your soul itself crave adventure?"

"But I'm--"

"Dead? Why yes, yes you are." With a woosh of incoming air, a sphere of pure darkness materializes and slowly begins to take shape. Soon, a figure with skin shimmering like marble and wreathed in ebon darkness stands before Haruto and sweeps its hands out wide. "You are dead! But that is not the end! Sure, folks in the realm of the living say that all the time and don't really mean it, but here? It means everything. Yes, you are dead, but that doesn't mean it's the end of your soul's journey! Rather, it is the beginning of the life you were always denied. The beginning of an adventure your flesh never dared to dream about! This," they sweep their arm out, "is your new forever!"

Haruto's eyes go wide, instantly imagining all of the things he never did in life, all of the stories he had to endure while trapped in a bed. The world turned around him, leaving him stuck in place and watching, always waiting for the world to come to him. Now? Now that he's dead he can explore and dream? It all sounds too amazing to be true. Could it be that now he has the opportunity to experience what was so long denied him?

"So what do you say? Will you join me in Death, Haruto Kishinami?" Haruto stares at Death, wondering if he can believe them. Can everything he ever dreamed of come true? There is only one way to find out.

"Tell me more about this IIB and I'll consider your offer," Haruto replies.

"A wise choice," Death states. "Why don't you follow me and we'll talk."