I died as I lived-broke, alone, and wet.

Not in the fun way.

The rain was relentless. The kind of rain that felt personal, like the universe had specifically scheduled a

thunderstorm just to remind me I was garbage. I sat hunched on a cold sidewalk, a paper coffee cup in front of

me-my proudest possession. It held exactly one coin. Probably Canadian.

Some guy tossed in a button earlier. A button. Who even carries those?

People passed. Some gave pity glances. One guy gave me a pamphlet for a "pyramid-shaped business

opportunity." I ate it. It tasted like disappointment and toner ink.

You might be wondering: "What brought you to this point?"

Me too.

Let's just say life and I had a very complicated relationship. I wanted to survive; life wanted me to die in

increasingly embarrassing ways. We settled on "death by tragic backstory."

Anyway, at some point, I realized something.

I wasn't even sad anymore. Just... done.No teary montage. No anime flashback. Just me, standing on the edge of a bridge in soggy socks, wondering if

ghosts had to pay rent.

"Let's see if the afterlife has central heating."

And I jumped.

No music. No angels. Just a thud, darkness-

-and a glowing white void.

I blinked. "Huh. This doesn't feel like hell. Or heaven. Or, like, literally anything."

Floating ahead of me was a gigantic, shining gate the size of a small country. Guarding it was what could only

be described as an elf goddess with supermodel legs, judgmental eyes, and the fashion sense of someone who

buys their robes in 'Heaven's Limited.'

She looked at me like I was a bug on the windshield of eternity.

"You do not belong here," she said, voice echoing like she swallowed a cathedral.

"Okay, fair," I said, brushing off my shirt. "But in my defense, I was aiming for reincarnation. Y'know, a fresh

start. Magical world. Overpowered abilities. Maybe a harem. I did the research."

Her golden eyes narrowed."You took your own life," she said coldly. "As per the Divine Accord, self-termination voids all rights to

reincarnation."

"Wait-what?! I get punished for skipping the tutorial?"

She folded her arms. "You were given a life and you chose to discard it."

"It wasn't much of a life! I didn't even get DLC!"

She rolled her eyes and turned away. "Be gone, mortal. Your soul will be cast into the Nether."

"Hold on! Maybe there's a side quest or appeal form or-whoa!"

I slipped.

I don't even know how you slip in a void, but I did. And as I reached out to catch myself...

Riiiiiip.

Her divine robe tore.

Everything froze.

My hand was holding fabric.

My eyes met hers.Her expression was the exact moment before a volcano erupts and kills everyone within a thousand miles.

"PERVERT!"

"I-I-I CAN EXPLAIN-"

She didn't even respond. Just raised her foot and launched me with the fury of a goddess who did not skip leg

day.

The next thing I knew, I was falling through realms. Screaming. Spinning. Cursed in at least nine different

ancient dialects by accident.

And then-splat.

Face-first in a swamp that smelled like dead demons and disappointment.

"Ugh... where the hell am I?"

A low growl echoed behind me.

I turned around slowly.

A giant, two-headed lizard-beast with fourteen glowing eyes and way too many teeth was glaring at me like I

just insulted its mother."Oh. Right. The Nether."

And that's how my new life started.

With mud in my mouth, death on my heels, and zero plot armor.

The first thing I felt was cold.

Not the kind of cold that tickles your spine or nips your fingers, but the kind that gnaws at your soul. It seeped

into my bones, into the marrow, and clung to me like a second skin. It was suffocating. Disorienting. Real.

So... I didn't reincarnate. This isn't heaven. This isn't hell. This is-

My eyes snapped open.

Darkness. Endless, choking darkness. But it wasn't just the absence of light-it was alive. The air pulsed with

malevolence, like the world itself was breathing, whispering, watching.

I sat up, slowly. My body ached. Not just physically, but spiritually, like I'd been shattered and stitched back

together wrong.

I could barely make out the ground beneath me-twisted, blackened stone slick with a crimson sheen. The sky,

if you could call it that, was a swirling mass of blood-red clouds churning like a storm. No sun. No stars. Only

a faint violet glow from cracks in the ground that pulsed like a heartbeat.

And then the smell hit me.

Rot. Sulfur. Blood.So this is the Nether...

I stood, wobbling like a drunk toddler, trying to make sense of where the elf-goddess had dumped me. My

stomach churned-not from fear (okay, maybe a little)-but from the overwhelming stench of death. The air was

heavy with despair, and for a moment, I swore I heard... laughter. Faint. Distant. Mocking.

"Great," I muttered, voice dry and raspy. "First I get denied reincarnation. Then I get groped by gravity. Now

I'm in Hell's unfinished basement."

Somewhere in the distance, something screeched.

It wasn't human.

I froze.

Okay. Don't panic. Don't run. Running attracts monsters. I've seen anime. Running is code for "Eat me,

please."

I took a slow breath, eyes scanning the desolate, nightmare landscape. Twisted trees with no leaves. Jagged

rocks like skeletal fingers clawing at the sky. Pools of what I hoped was water, bubbling unnaturally.

I needed shelter. A weapon. Food, maybe? No, scratch that. My stomach had officially shut down in protest.

But most of all-I needed answers.

"Alright, Hinata," I muttered, slapping my cheeks. "You've died. Been denied an afterlife. Kicked into a

monster pit by an angry elf chick. You can either curl up and cry... or do what you always do."

I paused.

"What do I always do?"

Before I could dwell on my existential crisis, something rustled behind me.

I turned-and saw it.

A creature crawled into view, low to the ground, bones exposed through tattered flesh. Its mouth was a jagged

grin stretched ear to ear, and eyes glowed faintly yellow like dying embers. It twitched. Sniffed. Snarled.

Oh. Right. Running it is.

I bolted.

The terrain was uneven, sharp rocks tearing at my bare feet. I didn't care. The creature shrieked behind me,

clawed limbs skittering like a centipede on steroids.

"I take it back!" I shouted to no one. "Running is bad! Very bad!"

I darted behind a pillar of stone, heart pounding, lungs burning. The creature screeched again, louder this time.Closer.

And then-

BANG.

A flash of red light exploded across the landscape.

The creature wailed-a horrible, earsplitting sound-as its body erupted into flames. It writhed for a second, then

collapsed into ash.

I blinked.

What... just happened?

A figure emerged from the smoke, heels clacking against stone like a metronome of doom. She stepped into

view-tall, slender, and annoyingly confident. A long crimson coat billowed behind her, and her eyes-sharp,

golden, with slit pupils-locked onto mine.

Her silver hair glowed faintly in the dark.

She looked like a warrior who'd walked straight out of a fantasy poster... or an underworld fashion magazine.

"Tch," she muttered, sliding a smoking pistol into a holster at her thigh. "You scream louder than the demon."I blinked again.

"You... saved me?"

She smirked. "Debatable. I just don't like wasting bullets."

"You're an angel," I breathed.

"Wrong," she said flatly. "Try again."

"Demon?"

"Strike two."

"Uh... bounty hunter from Hell?"

She paused, then shrugged. "Close enough."

I slowly stood, brushing soot from my pants-what was left of them, anyway.

"Name's Hinata," I offered.

"I didn't ask."

"Right. Of course you didn't."She sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Listen, newbie. This is the Nether. You're obviously fresh meat.

And around here, fresh meat gets eaten. Fast."

"I noticed."

She looked me over, then tossed me a rusty dagger from her belt.

"Try not to stab yourself with it. And try harder not to die."

I caught it clumsily. "Thanks... uh, what's your name?"

She gave me a long, unimpressed look.

"Alis," she said. "Try not to forget it. I hate repeating myself."

She turned, coat swirling as she walked.

I hesitated.

Then followed.

Not because I trusted her.

But because I was still alive.And in the Nether, that had to count for something.