1 Prologue

Yu Mei groaned, opening his eyes to see himself in a pure white room. He sat up from the bed he was laying on and pressed his right hand to his temple, hoping to alleviate his pounding headache. "Where... am I?" He muttered out loud, scanning the blank area around him in hopes of finding any clues. The last thing he remembered was getting back to his apartment and showering before passing out on his couch after a long and stressful day at work.

He stood up, shivering as his feet hit the cold tiles. Yu Mei saw a door on the opposite side of him and started towards it cautiously. He had his hand on the doorknob when it was yanked from him and opened with a vigourous pull from the other side. Yu Mei sucked in a quick breath and jumped back, his heart racing unsteadily.

"Oh!" A surprised woman was standing in front of him, mouth opened in shock and a tablet gripped in her free hand. "You're awake!" Her long blonde hair was pulled in a straight ponytail and she wore a grey suit, her glasses framing her small face. She looked harmless enough, but it wasn't Yu Mei's first time being decieved by a pretty face and he backed away from her rapidly, narrowing his silver eyes at her.

"Who are you?" He asked, voice sharp and suspicious. He cursed the fact that he was wearing a plain white shirt and sweatpants - nothing he could use to defend himself if this person ended up wanting to harm him. She took note of his wariness and smiled at him, holding her free hand up in a placating gesture.

"I know this must be confusing for you, but I swear I'm not here to cause you any more pain." Her voice was soft and soothing, her words slow and calm. It made Yu Mei want to trust her. "My name is Jie and I'm just here to tell you what happened to your body in the physical world, and what your options are now."

"Physical world?" Yu Mei asked, letting the woman walk into the room. He kept his back from her, but dropped out of his defensive stance. Jie pulled out two chairs he didn't notice before and placed them down, sitting in one and gesturing for him to sit on the other.

"Yes." She answered him when he took her silent offer. "Your physical body was under too much stress and you passed away in your sleep." She turned the tablet face-up and a picture materialized in front of him. Yu Mei twitched, but forced himself not to flinch back as he stared at the hologram.

It was him, he realized. He recognized the shabby old couch he took with him from his parents' house, and the worn throw pillow his body was cradling to his chest. "I... Am I dead?" He asked hollowly, feeling his stomach drop.

Jie nodded, eyes sympathetic and patient as she waited for him to come to terms with his demise. "You were under stress from your job and malnutritioned, it caused your body to give out from exhaustion." She waved her hand and the image disappeared.

Yu Mei closed his eyes and sighed. He had a bad habit of choosing work over food whenever his boss handed him a big project, but he never thought it would lead to him dying of all things. "God," he muttered out loud. "What a stupid way to go." Jie giggled from across him and he looked at her, a wry smile on his lips. He appreciated the fact that she didn't try to coddle him - he hated being given sugar-coated words.

"Well", she said playfully, "we had someone die from choking on a dry sandwich and another who slipped on a puddle of water and hit their head, so there are worse ways to go." The corners of her eyes crinkled as she smiled at him and he let out a laugh of his own.

"I suppose that's true." He relented, nodding his head. "I'm just glad I didn't leave anybody behind." Yu Mei had dated here and there, but at this moment in his life, he'd been single, too busy to care about a boyfriend. His parents passed years ago from old age as well, and Yu Mei could only be glad that he wouldn't be buried before them

"So," he cleared his throat. "You said I had options?"

Jie nodded, brightening up from the change of topic. She pushed up her glasses. "There are technically only two options, though one branches off more than the other. First," she held up her pointer finger, "is your soul gets sent off to oblivion. It's the simplest way and most often choose it compared to the other. Second," she held up her middle finger, "is your soul being sent to different worlds to fulfill its requirements and earning enough karma to enter the reincarnation cycle. Depending on how well you do, you might even be given the opportunity to decide your next life!"

She beamed at him and handed the tablet over, waiting until he had a good grip on it before going on. "There are different groups of the second option. Souls who had a rough life, like dying an unnautral death and being betrayed, often choose to go the revenge route - taking the life of someone who died in a similar manner to them and making it right. By the time they've earned enough karma, those souls have generally calmed down and made peace, so they are allowed to enter the reincarnation cycle."

While she had been talking, Yu Mei scrolled down, seeing the different options listed to him. 'Cannon Fodder Revenge, Becoming A Filal Child, Getting Away From the World's Beloved Child, and -' He tilted his head at the last option.

"Hey, Jie." He interuppted her continuing speech. She stopped and looked at him, smiling encouragingly. "What's this one about? 'Unfulfilled Wish Granting'?" Jie lit up and clapped her hands.

"Oh, it's my favorite option." She said. "Some souls regret their choices leading up to their deaths so much that they come into contact with our system and we take them on as clients. They often have unfulfilled wishes from their life and we assign an agent to take over. Once the wishes are granted, the clients are able to see what their life could have been like if they went another route and we guide their souls to a peaceful afterlife."

The more Jie elaborated on the 'Unfulfilled Wish Granting' route, the more Yu Mei wanted to do it. He died at 25 and didn't particularly want his soul blasted into oblivion just yet - but neither did he want to go through worlds consumed with the need for revenge. He also went through a pretty rebellious phase of life and what sent him back on track was the kindness of strangers. He knew if he hadn't taken their hands, he might not have shown his shameful face back to his forever loving parents and grown up to be a man he was proud of.

"I've decided." Yu Mei said, nodding his head in determination. "I want to go that route."

"Are you sure?" Jie said. She looked like she was reigning in her excitement. "Usually souls need more time to process this, and as much as I love that route, I don't want you to come to regret it later."

'She's very sweet.' Yu Mei thought to himself. He let his guard down even more around Jie and replied back to her, "Yes, I'm sure. I've always been the type to make the most of what I'm given."

"Alright then!" She exclaimed. She took the tablet back from him and typed on it rapidly, holding it out to him. "Just sign it and put your thumbprint on and we'll be on our way to the 'Unfulfilled Wish Granting' department!" Yu Mei used his pointer finger to sign on the line and pressed his thumb down. There was a short 'ding!' and his saw a number appear next to his name.

"Agent 9158, active!" Jie declared, standing up. He followed suit and she led him outside of the room, down an empty corrider to an elevator. They got on and Jie looked down when her lit up.

She let out a small noise and turned to look at him. "A new mission just came in! It should be relatively easy - do you want to jump right in?"

"Is there no one to meet?" Yu Mei asked in surprise. No superiors or other agents?

Jie shook her head. "Agents generally don't come into contact with each other unless there's an emergency or a mistake merged them into the same world. And each agent is assigned one Administrator if they choose to enter worlds." She pointed at herself then him.

"Ah." Yu Mei said, thoughtfully tapping his chin. "Yeah, let's just get into it." Jie let out a small whoop and Yu Mei smiled, thankful he got someone as nice as Jie.