The Other World, Hell.
An endless sea of dark golden clouds formed the backdrop of this realm of the dead. At its center stood a sprawling palace complex, its main hall crowned by two massive, demonic-style spires—the unmistakable King Yemma Judgment Hall.
Before the hall stretched a "highway" spanning countless miles, radiating outward like a spider's web across the Other World, connecting to every life-bearing planet in the living universe.
Upon this road, countless will-o'-wisps—the souls of the deceased—shuffled in orderly lines under the direction of ogre enforcers, awaiting their turn to enter the hall and face King Yemma judgment: Heaven or Hell?
Against this backdrop, Yamiru's sudden appearance in the sky—a living, breathing, flesh-and-blood man—stood out like a sore thumb.
The ogre enforcers startled, but upon spotting the golden halo above Yamiru's head, they relaxed. "Oh, thought a living guy somehow wandered into the Hell… Turns out he's just a big-time dead guy. Hmph… Must've been a real saint to keep his body in Heaven."
This was Yamiru's second visit, though last time, he'd rushed straight to negotiate with King Yemma without sightseeing.
Surveying the boundless dark golden clouds, he noted their eerie resemblance to the demonic miasma he'd once seen with his Golden Veil. His gaze pierced the clouds, peering into the world below—Hell.
Here in the Other World, his ki sensing felt slightly sluggish, as if unaccustomed to the shifted spacetime. But his Golden Veil clearly discerned the dense, writhing ki beneath… identical to the demonic energy of the Makai.
So, "demons" are essentially "Hell-dwellers"…
Bypassing the queue, Yamiru flew straight into the Judgment Hall, where an enormous desk loomed over trembling soul-wisps awaiting judgment.
At the sudden appearance of a "living" man, the wisps scattered in panic.
"Hm?" King Yemma glanced up from his ledger. "Earth's Guardian? Here to finally move to Heaven?"
"Not quite," Yamiru said. "My temple isn't finished, and I haven't found a successor yet."
King Yemma snorted. He knew this petty Earth god was stalling—and Yamiru knew he knew. Setting down his giant notebook, the Other World ruler genuinely puzzled, "Why cling to the living world?"
Yamiru understood. Since entering the Other World, his golden halo had gone from "weak signal" to "full bars". He had no doubt that even if he blew himself up here, the halo would restore his body instantly.
The same body, but free from aging, sickness, death… and Heaven was surely no worse than Earth. Its inhabitants were the virtuous dead, their society harmonious under Yemma's oversight—free, peaceful.
So why stubbornly linger on Earth?
That was what baffled Yemma. As a minor god, Yamiru had to know Heaven's perks.
Yamiru simply smiled and shook his head.
Some truths weren't for Yemma's ears—nor Annin's, nor Mr. Popo's.
Why refuse Heaven?
He was already dead. He couldn't die again.
But whenever he thought of his wife, Tights, Yamiru wondered: If he lived out these millennia day by day, accumulating experiences, relationships—even in Heaven—would the man who finally reunited with her still be the husband she knew?
"Is this… loyalty?" he mused.
Tens of thousands of years. More than both his lifetimes combined. Living them fully would reshape him—if not his core, then his perspective. The imbalance between his accumulated existence and Tights' would warp their marriage irreparably.
"You owe me millennia…" Yamiru whispered inwardly, smirking. "I'll remember this, Miss Tights."
If enduring these eons was the price to return to his original timeline, then he'd spend them training, meditating—or self-hypnosis, hibernation, whatever. For companionship, Annin and Mr. Popo would suffice.
And perhaps… the King Kai he'd come to find.
"Lord Yemma, I've come to request permission to visit the Kai," Yamiru said politely.
"The Kai?" Yemma raised an eyebrow. In his eyes, Yamiru's power far surpassed any of the Kais. "Which one do you seek?"
"The King Kai," Yamiru replied.
That lazy, weakest one? Yemma internally scoffed, but his duties were piling up. After indulging Yamiru's small talk for this long, he simply nodded and summoned a red-skinned ogre attendant. "Follow him. He'll take you to the Snake way. With your strength, crossing it should be effortless. The King Kai resides at its end."
"This way, please."
The horned, red ogre led Yamiru through a side exit, winding through the halls before stopping at a comically tiny car.
Unfazed, Yamiru squeezed in. The ogre shifted gears with practiced ease, chattering nonstop about Other World gossip as they drove—mostly poking fun at Hell's villains and his coworkers, given Yamiru's golden halo marked him as Heaven-bound.
Finally, they reached the Serpent's Path. Yamiru floated out before the car fully stopped, landing atop the colossal stone serpent's head. Shielding his eyes, he gazed down the winding road stretching beyond sight.
"They say the path is a full million kilometers long!" the ogre cheerfully informed him. "In the last hundred million years, only Lord Yemma has ever walked its full length—"
BOOM!
A thunderous shockwave erupted, nearly knocking the ogre off his feet.
"Wha—what was that?!"
Fumbling with his glasses, he gaped at the Serpent's Path.
The air itself seemed to ripple, clouds parting as a streak of white light tore through the distance. By the time the delayed sonic booms reached them, Yamiru was already a vanishing speck at the horizon.
"That's just…"
The ogre's jaw hung slack. Only on the drive back did he realize he'd forgotten to close it.
---
Meanwhile, in the Celestial Realm…
At the sacred borders of the cosmos, within the realm of the Supreme Kai, the slender, youthful Shin and his hulking attendant Kibito jolted simultaneously. Tiny white sparks crackled above their heads.
Locking eyes, they saw mutual astonishment.
"To think a mortal could reach such heights…" Shin murmured. "Though it seems… he's already dead."