Soul Mall

Seth found himself in an expansive tower, sitting atop a lofty mountain with bubbling waters gushing beneath. The surroundings looked bizarre, though, but the interior structure of the mysterious building seemed more dazzling.

Inside the building, Seth could catch a glimpse of countless humanlike beings, standing in front of some people. Both young and old, these people, just like him, were laid down on a slow-moving transparent caravan that temporarily stopped in front of the mysterious beings after the profile of an individual had been seen on the wide screen at the side of the building. 

These mysterious beings didn't only possess the appearance of a human being, but also the physique of an angel. The angels' wings looked as sturdy as that of a matured dragon with their majestic figure showing a full illustration of a super warrior. 

But still, their faces showed the opposite side of their appearance. Their eager looks at the moving caravan made Seth startled. Of course, he knew he was dead, but the fact that the dead individuals were disbanded instead of being carried to the "Almighty" for judgment was something that had made him want to scream out loud in curiosity. 

However, he never understood the word "Market value". What's with a "Market value" in Heaven? This was what many might be asking themselves by now. 

At this point, Seth wondered if this place was what people had always called heaven. Judging by his view, the place was nothing but a mysterious "Tourist Attraction". 

As the train continued to draw near to the mysterious beings, Seth got to the standing point of a female angel. Her pale skin, white long hair, and iconic appearance made Seth's eyes widen in astonishment. However, her eager expression suddenly broke his long gaze to her face and next, his watch was on her approaching legs. 

As she drew near, she raised her right hand for a signal to show Seth's profile. Suddenly, a bunch of phrases appeared on the wide screen and Seth's profile sounded loudly at that spot.

[Seth Fiske]

[Race: Human]

[Mode of death: Plague of Coron]

[Killer: God of plagues]

[Market value: 87%]

[Soul type: Adequate]

"Huh! What's with that?" Seth asked as he stared at the screen, dumbfounded. The moment Seth's profile reading ended, the female angel quickly signaled again and tapped a button below Seth's lying zone. 

"I'll buy him!" She said and opened the wicket to let Seth out of the train before it moved to another buyer. Then, an old man with fair skin and long grey hair nodded positively and wrote down something on the book he held as the female angel made those statements. His physique was different. He had no wings nor an eager look. He stood calmly, close to the screen as he watched the Trade of Souls. 

"Done!" The man said. 

"Done," the female angel replied and straightened her hands for Seth to hold, but he shamelessly rejected. He wondered where she would take him and what he would do there. What was lingering in his mind was that he might be led to hell unknowingly, and that made him more curious. Even though he wanted to sell his novel to Devils, it should have been when he set his naked eyes on Heaven's Gate. 

"What am I doing here? I should be in Heaven by now," Seth asked the angel with an inquisitive expression. However, she only grinned slightly and muttered with a friendly expression:

"Common, your soul has slept for so long, you have to get going now before it's too late."

"W–what do you mean by that?" Seth asked, and this time, he was more curious.

The angel chuckled and looked away. After a moment, she stared back at Seth and pointed a finger in the direction of his forehead, and suddenly, he began to lose control of himself. Afterward, she began to walk southwards, and Seth unwillingly followed with his hands on his head, as directed by the mysterious female angel. 

As they progressed, Seth's eyes accidentally glanced at the top of the exit door wall. Surprisingly, what he saw made his eyes broadened in fear. 

"Soul Mall."

"Huh! Is God going to sell me? Am I that useless in Heaven?" Seth whispered towards the angel who seemed to be heedless of what he was doing behind. However, she never turned to him nor answered. 

Soon, they entered a wide chamber. A chamber which could cover the expansivity of a whole building in earth, if Seth was to inspect.

The angel inactivated her spell on Seth and let out a sigh of relief, delivering a warm gaze at the innocent soul standing before her. After a moment of looks exchange, Seth finally decided to break the silence with a harsh utterance. 

"What am I doing here?! Where is this place and where are you taking me to? Besides, who are you and why did you buy my soul?"

The angel only grinned and stepped close to Seth. Her heavy arm landed across his shoulder and gave him a squeeze as her gape became more friendlier.

"Hey boy, chill. Your soul is as eager as that of the Traders. You will know all these when I complete the ritual. Just stay calm and relax, everything will be fine okay?" The angel assured as she peeked through Seth's faint eyeballs.

Seth nodded positively with a not-so-calm look as his gaze switched from her and straight to the window. Seth hastily strode close to the window and got his first glimpse at the waterfalls. The mighty window glass was extremely thick so he could rest both hands firmly on them. Thereafter, he balanced his glance at the white waters gushing down the cliffs of the North. 

"That's the Mall Waters." Seth looked back at the angel after she said those words and veered back to his previous sight. "That water will continue to flow for infinity till death becomes no more. It shall continue to gush out from nowhere till the Psychopomp God never sees a soul to protect again."

"Who is the Psychopomp God?" Seth asked, eager to get an immediate response. 

The female angel turned to face the door and walked a little bit forward. Her footsteps were indeed, like that of a "Mighty Warrior". 

"The old man at the side of the screen. He owns this place and will always remain here to keep more souls for the next decade of Trade. When one dies, his/her soul is kept safe in the Psychopomp God's chamber. Then on the day of Trade, they are brought out and get sold to us," the angel said and turned back to Seth, crossing her arms. 

"Then who are you... A Trader?" Seth asked, leaving the window for a seat.

"They call us Traders, but we are more than that," she sighed and continued, "We are servants of 'Personified Gods'. We get them a soul to dwell in and release a hint of their power to them while they move on to their next life. In short, we are Angels."

'Interesting. I know you guys are desperate angels who are just sent to work on a mission without any hope of achieving anything. Geez! I still don't get why I'm not in Heaven,' Seth thought and exhibited a curious look. 

"Then where is Heaven? Where is the Almighty? I want to see Heaven or maybe get a glance at the so-called 'Hell'. Is that too much to ask?"

"There's nothing and have never been anything like Heaven or Hell. Death in Nature-1 leads to life in Nature-2. Anyone who dies in Nature-1 will reincarnate to Nature-2 after being granted a 'God'. So you should notice that Planet Earth has been fooling themselves. There's no Heaven nor Hell. The only 'Hell' I know is the hell you might go through in your next life, that's just it," the angel said and walked nigher to Seth.

"Okay, shall we begin the ritual?" She asked.

"Wait! What ritual?" Seth asked as he tried to move backward. 

Viewing from the fantasy stories of web novels he had read, rituals are magic sacrifices or trials made by magicians to either strengthen or awaken their powers. And this time, he wondered why things associated with magic were to be done by the angel. 

After his question, the angel hesitated and said, "Rituals are bestowment of a God's power privilege on a newborn. And it is called an 'Affinity'. Once you are granted an affinity to your God's power, you'll have the potency to get an ability that looks similar to your God's own. They are called Abilities, not Powers."

So truly, he was going to experience magic in his next life. At first, he thought magic was a pure fantasy thing. But now, he really believed that magic does exist since the moment the angel manipulated him. Though angel were said to have powers, but with the fact that Heaven and Hell was not real, Angels might not be real too. Maybe these are "servant" types of Angels. As she just said, they buy awakening souls for Personified Gods to dwell in. 

"Okay. Let's do this," Seth said as he produced a long sigh. 

The Angel moved close to Seth once more and brought out a seed that possessed a blue hue. The seed's size was like that of the seed of a cherry, with a diamond-like structure as it glows blue lights around their sitting spot.

"Swallow it," the angel ordered as she placed the blue seed on Seth's tongue.

Seth hesitated to some extent and finally decided to give the blue substance a chance into him. And suddenly, Seth's body began to gleam blue lights as the substance reached his chest region, causing him to jiggle upon the rocky bench. His eyes widened a little as he discovered that he couldn't let out a word as the ritual was ongoing.

As the magic progressed, the angel placed her palms on Seth's palms, and his physical identity began to transform. His slightly pale skin transformed into a reinvigorated skin as the scratches on his flesh began to vanish. At a point, his hair color began to change but Seth never detected any of this due to the harsh reactions of the Blue Seed inside of him. 

Soon, the lights dimmed and Seth could feel himself once more. He opened his eyes after a rough sigh and glanced at the angel who only smiled at him before saying: 

"You are now prepared to begin a new life, and please, don't you dare to live with the influence of your previous life. It's going to tear you apart," she said with a slight smile and later wore a serious countenance, "and most importantly, never make a slight mistake in telling anyone, not even your father, the rate of your Market Value and your Soul Type. That is something you should always keep to yourself."

Seth's eyes dilated as he glimpsed at the angel with a confused face, causing her to feel and understand his unsaid questionnaires. With a slow move, she shifted back for about two meters and waved her hands toward Seth's face.

Then suddenly, some phrases — just like the one he saw on the wide screen — appeared on his retina. With a rush of panic, he quickly tried to primp his eyes, hoping that the phrases would erase due to its harsh approach to his eyeballs, but still, after halting his scrubs, he opened up his eyelids and unfortunately saw the words again, awaiting for a read.

"Read it," the angel ordered, and Seth had no choice but to read it and get some info. Even if he wasn't too interested in magic, he just wanted to know what was behind the "Market Value" that he had to keep a secret. 

[Market Value: 87%]

[Market Value Description: You have 87 Strength Cords in you that enable you to become a strong Magician. An individual with a high rate of Market Value is seen to be a strong Magician. The higher your Market Value grows, the more you get stronger physically and magically. 

Your Market Value rate category is... Type-2 and that makes you an Adequate Soul].

[Soul Type: Adequate]

[Soul Type description: Your soul corresponding with your MV makes you an Adequate soul. However, your soul can accidentally get destroyed and decrease if your MV and ST are exposed].

Seth turned to look at the angel after the phrases had disappeared, and his expression this time was blank — he couldn't utter a single word.

After a moment, he nodded positively and finally made an effort to feel relaxed. 

Of course, every newborn was going to do exactly the same thing Seth was doing. Experiencing mysterious encounters instead of being judged in Heaven was something very frightening but at this time, Seth made up his mind to feel free and accept his fate. 

"So, is the Market Value and Soul Type the most important thing in my life? What happens to my Affinity?" Seth asked, confused. 

The angel slightly grinned and muttered: 

"I never said. That your MV or ST is not the most important but the most brutal. Once it gets hijacked, your Affinity is going to get terminated."

She sighed and added: 

"Once you settle at your new world, you will know the rest. You have to go now, I think the Trade of Souls is about to end. You should go now before the Portal closes."

They stood up from the bench and before Seth could know it, the female angel hugged him. And suddenly, she flew upwards, through an opened window and balanced in the air. Thereafter, she dashed forward, aiming to the direction of a crowded place at the foot of a lofty mountain that shortened other peaks of the mountain chain. 

As they progressed, Seth took in the green and gold smell of autumn woods. He felt cold air go through his moist skin as his soaked cloak due to heat during the ritual began to dry up. At that moment, Seth was delighted — not because he had an Affinity and a God, but because he was going to live again.

The most delightful part was that Heaven and Hell were not real. 

'Geez! I almost shrunk when I discovered that I was going to die. I should have been in Hell by now if it truly existed.'

However, he wanted to know what Nature-1 and Nature-2 are. But judging by the way he saw things, he believed Planet Earth should be Nature-1, and his new world would be Nature-2. But that was not going to make him relent in his intent to ask for further explanation. 

Soon after, they reached a crowded place filled with both Newborns and their Angels. Seth's angel dropped him on his shanks and let go of his waist, causing him to almost tremble on the ragged floor of the mountain foot. 

"Hey! You almost got my arm broken," Seth complained, throwing an unfriendly gaze at the beautiful figure who was twice his height. 

"Slightly sorry. You should have prepared for that. You know, in everything you do, you have to set up for a bing-bang. Because things come without notifications and you know what I mean... How you died, do—"

"Don't say it... I don't want to listen to talks about my miserable death. It's gone, and would never happen again," Seth said after interrupting the angel. 

The angel nodded positively and scampered off into the crowd after giving Seth a "follow-me" sign. Seth quickly followed as they progressed through an army of eager Newborns and Angels. Angels were trying to complete their mission so they could receive a complete blessing from their masters. And the Newborns were eager to enter their new world so they would not miss the Portal. 

This was what was buzzing at the mountain foot till Seth finally couldn't believe his eyes. 

"Where is she?" 

After a long period of crowd obstruction, the both of them couldn't link up anymore. The throng was so overwhelming that some angels decided to let the Newborns go on their own to the "Void of Life". Sure, it should be expected. These were people who had died on Earth commencing from ten years ago. For Seth, he had expected more, but, not after seeing Half-elves amongst the crowd.

[Everyone hurry up, the Portal of your new world is about to close in less than an hour]. 

A voice ranged from the mountaintop, causing the Newborns to boost up their running speed. Many were falling as others stepped on them without placing a gaze beneath. 

On the other hand, Seth who still stood back was busy scrutinizing the running crowd, hoping to catch a glimpse of his angel. But unfortunately, he saw not even her shadow. 

"She should have been looking for my sorry ass right now," he said and stared through the distance. 

[Hurry up the Portal of your new world is about to close]. 

Seth peeked up at the source of the ranging voice again and grimaced. 

'I think she had told me what I need to know. I would be a punk if I dare to miss this New Life opportunity. I've to go now... Goodbye My Warrior.'

Seth quickly charged to the crowd and luckily, he found a thin space to go through since others were focused on the main pathway to the Void of Life. 

It didn't take up to a minute, and Seth already found himself in a queue. Many were ahead, so it took more than five minutes to reach his turn. 

As he stepped close, he clenched his fist while standing on the gleaming void. 

'So this is how I got a second chance to live another life in another world. Mom, I promise to live my life to the fullest and always stand strong in the face of difficulties. To my new world, I go!'

As Seth muttered, the whooshing wave of the void reached him and before he could know it, he got swollen into his new world. 

Not up to a second, a big harm tried to hold back, only to see that it was too late. Then a female voice sounded in exasperation: 

"Hey! That punk forgot to receive his God's Identity."