Hunter

"What in the fuck."

A bleak white room.

That was the only thing I could see as I looked around, confused. It seemed to stretch out infinitely, yet remain a small room.

"Well, not the usual answer I get. Interesting."

Suddenly, I found myself in a chair in front of a desk, facing a glowing white humanoid. A weirdly bright smile was plastered on its face.

The being seemed to be waiting for me to say something, but that smile was unnerving. It stared at me. Even without eyes, it felt like it was seeing right through me.

I collected myself before I started to speak.

"Hmmm, is this a dream? I can't really control myself, but I'm mostly aware of what's happening here, so I could be in a weird-ass lucid dream.

Or maybe I'm just dead."

The being laughed loudly at what I said. It leaned back in its chair with another bright smile on its face.

"Haha, you're a funny one, I tell you!

You're correct about the dead part!

You died, my friend, and you're here in this room so we can assign you to your afterlife."

"Oh..."

Well.

I'm dead, I guess, and this strange glowing white...thing is about to tell me where I'm about to go.

I guess that's fine?

I don't really understand what's going on, but I feel strangely okay with this entire situation.

I'm a little weirded out by my acceptance of this entire situation, but it beats being insane or something.

I hope I go to heaven, or something like that.

I was a pretty good person back on Earth. Or at least, I think I was. I helped people who wanted my help, made sure my family was always taken care of, etc.

I do wonder how this assignment is based. Is it based on the number of good deeds done? Maybe on believers or non-believers?

I concentrated on the being in front of me. It didn't look like an angel. Or at least, not like any angel that Earth has records or pictures of.

I don't know why, but the thing reminds me of an employee at a help center for some reason.

I think I should get some information from the thing.

"So, I understand that I get assigned to my afterlife here, right?

So how exactly does this whole assignment part work then?"

The being snapped its fingers, and a paper folder popped right into its hands. It opened it and casually glanced through the contents.

"Do you want the long explanation or the short one, my guy?"

The being leaned forward a bit, giving a sly smile.

Ignoring the smile again, I had the chance to try to understand how the afterlife works and what exactly happens after death.

Of course, I'm picking the long one.

This is one of the most wondered questions known to man that everyone asks.

And I'm able to learn it.

"Give me the long explanation then."

The being looked satisfied with my answer before clapping its hands together. A bluish screen suddenly appeared before us.

"Alright then! Let's start off with Karma values."

The screen displayed a meter filled with a gold liquid.

"Karma values, in short, are the sum of the good and bad deeds a soul did during their life."

The gold liquid started to drain out of the meter, making it completely empty. A 0 appeared right underneath it.

"Every soul's Karma value starts off at 0.

Good actions or deeds, depending on what they are and the intentions behind them, can increase the Karma value."

"Now, bad actions, they make the Karma value go down. Same thing applies here.

But actions considered 'bad' but were used for a good purpose or had good intentions would result in a smaller decrease than a straight-up bad deed like robbing a person.

Same thing applies for good deeds."

The screen showed the meter going up and down, with the 0 going up before going down.

"Now let's move on to the two groups a soul like yourself can be assigned to."

The screen generated two small images. One depicted a small chibi-like person with a halo, and the other a chibi person with horns.

The being turned the screen to the side so we could both see the little chibi people, pointing to the halo-wearing one first.

"First, we have Heaven. This is where souls with a high Karma value go."

Then the being pointed to the chibi person with horns.

"Now Hell. This is where souls with a low Karma value go."

Damn. That's a lot of info to take in.

"Alright, hold up on your explanation.

Most of this makes sense, but I'm confused about myself. Where do I fit into all of this?"

The being seemed amused by my question.

"Well, this leads me to your case.

After reviewing your files, you're in quite an interesting situation."

"What exactly do you mean by this?"

I felt worried.

Interesting situation?

It felt like a principal politely telling me I got suspended from school.

"In simple terms, my boss made a mistake."

"Huh.

Isn't your boss, like, some omnipotent being? Like a dude who created the universe and everything in it?

What kind of mistake could he make?"

The being scratched its head awkwardly and looked away, as if trying to avoid the conversation.

"Uh...

I really don't know myself.

All I know is that you have a choice. Either you can go to heaven, or you can become a hunter."

Well, shit.

Now that I think about it, the way I died was kinda weird.

I was just walking down the street in my neighborhood when I bumped into some random dude, and we fell.

I saw a car coming straight at us for some reason, so I pushed the guy out of the way and got hit by the car.

And I guess that's how I died.

"Wait, so I get to choose whether I go to heaven or become a hunter?

What the fuck is a hunter?"

The being let out another one of its creepy smiles.

"Here, let me explain."

It pointed to the screen again, which generated what appeared to be a zombie-like creature.

"A hunter is basically a person who hunts down anomalies throughout the multiverse. They are things that aren't supposed to be in a universe but are created through the piled-up negative energy throughout the universe. They take various shapes and sizes to partially blend into whatever universe they are in. Only that they aren't very good at it and have a semblance of monstrosity to them."

The screen showed an image of what seemed like a human but much more mangled and scary than a human should be.

"The hunter, like I said, is tasked with hunting down these anomalies across the multiverse, traveling to different universes to prevent the anomalies from causing chaos. If left unchecked, they can get pretty nasty.

And that's pretty much it, my guy."

The being clapped its hands again, and the screen exploded into confetti.

"So... what's your decision then?"

The being put out both of its hands. In its left hand, a small golden castle appeared, and in its right hand, a small sword appeared.

"Do you choose to go to heaven?

Or do you choose to become a hunter?

The choice is yours."

I had to think about this.

On one hand, going to heaven sounds nice and all. Eternal happiness, reuniting with loved ones, and all that jazz.

But on the other hand, becoming a hunter sounds badass.

It's like being a supernatural badass who hunts down monsters and saves the day.

I mean, sure, it's dangerous as fuck, but it's the kind of adventure that I always wanted.

And honestly, it beats the hell out of sitting on a cloud playing a harp for eternity.

I smirked as I made my decision.

"I will become a hunter."

Upon hearing this, the being stretched out its right hand to me, beckoning me to shake it.

"Once you become a hunter, there is no turning back. Are you sure you wish to become one?"

I thought about it for a moment, but nothing in my mind could come up with anything against the idea, so I grabbed the being's hand.

"I'm sure, 100% sure."

The being let out another smile as a bright light started to envelop both of us.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot to mention this. You'll be getting a little system to help you out on your journey!"

"A what!?"

The light was too bright for me to see anything, and it was producing a loud noise, so I could barely hear what the being said.

"Oh, never mind. You'll just find out yourself!"

Before I could even react, the light completely blinded me, accompanied by a loud "bang!" noise.

And just like that, I found myself standing in an alleyway, rain pouring down on me.