You're still dead, though.

Suddenly, a wild old man appears.

"You have to calm down, young lad. I can assure you that I don't want a conflict." An old man that wears a rag cloak, with a wooden staff. You can see the wrinkles in his face, courtesy of being old, but his eyes are full of wisdom. Even his speech is not informal. He slowly approach Jack while convincing him that he meant no harm.

"I just want to welcome you in my humble abode, so we can have a nice conversation while sitting in a nice and cozy seat." said the old man.

"It's not that I don't want a nice conversation, it's just that I don't know you, stranger. In my birthplace, if stranger offers you a candy, and he wants you to follow him, he's a kidnapper. Are you a kidnapper, old man?" Jack tries to probe the old man's intentions.

"Then I will introduce myself. You can call me Musha, a wandering magician." said the old man full of confidence.

"Alright, I'm Jack. Nice to meet you, Mr. Musha." said Jack. He is still doubting, but if he keep it that way, the information that he needs will slip by.

"Okay, I accept your invitation. I really need to know where is this place anyways and I badly need some help." The most important thing that he needs the most is information. He need to find the exit of this dungeon as soon as possible.

Inside the hut, he is doubting if this is really a hut. The interior of the hut is a two story house with a decent ambiance with a fireplace on the side. Jack sits beside the old man and formulating on what questions are need to be asked.

"By the way, nice tune! To think that you can perform such a marvelous song. Though I can't comprehend the language, still it's music to my ears." Musha suddenly praise his singing voice. He slightly embarrass about it.

"Thanks for the complement. So can we begin now? I want to ask a couple of questions, if you don't mind" He eager to know the truth of this matter. What dungeon is this? Where's the exit? Are you the only adventurer here?

"This wasteland is not a dungeon." Trying to become dramatic, he paused for a second and continued.

"You are in Tartarus, young lad. The place where the soul is banished from many worlds. Home of erratic mabeast. Born from a thick miasma that comes from the fields of punishment. Some mabeast evolves to scourge, a being with a wisdom that can compete with wizards." A sudden drop of news that he can't comprehend.

"Banished? Wait, Mr. Saint Peter transported me to this world! I'm not banished." To think that the so called saint will betray his trust.

"I have a question for you. Are you hungry? Are you tired? You have to accept that you're not a living being. You're a dead soul, young lad" Now the bombshell has been dropped by Mr. Musha, he can't deny the fact that he's dead.

"If Mr. Saint Peter really banished me, then do I have a chance to become a living being again? I mean, how am I gonna leave this goddamn wasteland." If only he can meet Mr. Saint Peter right now, he will not like what he will do to him.

"Before I answer your question. I want you to tell me why are you banish to Tartarus." Without hesitation, he tells Mr. Musha about the conversation with him and Mr. Saint Peter.

"I see, you desire to keep your memories of your previous life while being reincarnated. I'm sorry, but I must inform you that it's not possible to have both. That's why he banish you to this world." Mr. Musha drinks his tea, and place it in his saucer.

"Tell me, young lad. If Mr. Saint Peter allows you to be reincarnated while keeping your memories but you will be reincarnated as a pet turtle, what will you feel?" Raising his left eyebrow, he asked the young lad with a serious tone.

A sudden chill down in Jack's spine. He didn't realize the gravity of his request. Now he's thanking Mr. Saint Peter that he banish him instead.

"Okay, I understand my errors now. But I don't want to give up. If I want to live my life to the fullest, first I need to become alive again. Is it possible to live this place?" Now he's betting his last straw of hope. Even he is still a dead soul, he will not give up.

"You must have a lot of determination. Well, I have the answer to that and of course, it's possible." A new found hope exists in this goddamn wasteland. No use being indecisive.

"Okay. Just like you said, I'm still determined. So what I have to do so I can leave this goddamn wasteland?" He asked the old man with eyes full of hope.

"Before I tell you on how to get out of here, you must first understand what this world is." The old man wants to tell Jack that there is no need to rush. First he must gather information, formulate a plan, then execute it smoothly.

"To be honest Mr. Musha, I'm losing patience right now. I don't even know how many years that I live here. It takes a lot of months just to find a single monster. Heck! I'm walking while singing just to distract myself from being alone!" Jack slowly raising his voice, trying to tell him how he's worried.

*sigh*

Jack drink his tea so he can manage his pent up stress. "But if you think that this knowledge will help me to survive and to become alive again, then I'm all ears." He said while succeeding in controlling his emotions.

"Good! You made the right choice, young lad." He looks at the young lad, and he notice that there is no doubt in his eyes anymore.

"The thing is, Tartarus is only a part in the Underworld, and this wasteland is the last layer. As a matter of fact, there are three parts of Underworld, the other two are Limbo and Helheim, which is the first layer and second layer respectively." Mr. Musha said.

"So you're saying is, if I want to get out of Underworld, I need to climb first to Helheim then Limbo. After that, sneak at the entrance so I can go out. Is that right, Mr. Musha?" Since this worlds are stack with layers, there has to be a way to climb up, now that he is in the bottom layer.

"I'm impressed! I only gave you a little information but you already get the gist of it. All you have to do is to climb up to the first layer and exit at the entrance. But in this case, it's easier said than done." To think that he didn't have to tell him every detail to save some time. This young lad, even though he's rushing things, he's still calm and collected. A good quality of being a wizard.

"Now I'm going to tell you how to climb up and this is only your last chance." Jack drinks his saliva accidentally the moment he hears the word 'Last Chance'.

"In Tartarus, there is a place with an identical to oasis, above the oasis is 'The Rapunzel's Thread'. Take the thread, climb up and you can go to Helheim." The old man said.

"Okay, you're telling me that this is easy. And we know that there is danger or obstacle in this. So tell me, what's the catch?" The good thing is its easy to understand, the bad thing is there is always dangers in easy paths. He needs to prepare on this impending danger.

"Before you can grab the Rapunzel's Thread, you will need to pass the Grim Reaper, without being destroyed of course." Jack became depressed the moment he will meet the skeleton guy again.

"Not only that young lad, once you start to climb, you will be mark by all of the mabeast here. They will drag you down in the process."

"Is there anything else? That will impede me to being alive again?" Jack said with a slight of anger.

"You being weak is also an obstacle."

*crash*

Jack suddenly lose his grip in the cup accidentally, making it crash on the floor.

"Okay, I'm going to hunt more mabeast if I have to." He grips his fist since he's aware that he's just lucky when he killed all of his prey.

"You can do that. But just like you said, it takes a lot of months just to find some monsters. Do you want some shortcut? I can teach you a thing or two about magic. Maybe you're capable in advance level magic." Mr. Musha said with a mysterious smile.

'Yeees! I have an opportunity to learn some magic! Yahoo! But first I need to probe the old man.' He thinks.

"Mr. Musha, thank you for giving me an opportunity to educate me on this so called magic. But I also understand there is no free lunch in this world. So tell me Mr. Musha, how can I repay you?" A sudden formal speech makes the old man shock.

*cough*

"As you can see young lad, I'm also alone here, but the difference is I choose this situation due to circumstances. The only thing I regret is not able to spread my theory and application in magic. It is also our pride as a wizard to train students and nurture there growth. Now if I can teach what I learn, I can somehow spread my knowledge and at the same time, it may help you to achieve your wish. I call this 'Win-Win situation'." Now the cat is out on the bag, there is nothing to lose in learning magic. Even if I learn it after a decade, it doesn't matter here since time is just a number in underworld.

*sigh*

"What a relief. Okay so can we start the training? I'm excited in learning magic? What spells do I have to learn? I prefer fire since I already have an ability to fire and it might amplify it to the next level. If I need another element, maybe wind or earth." Jack said with eyes full of eagerness.

*chuckle*

"You really like to rush things, young lad. For now you have to learn the very foundation of magic, which is the Runes. I can also teach you the Alma Mather, the universal language of mortals. It might come in handy when you step foot in Midgard." Mr. Musha said casually.

To think that there is someone wants to help him to attain in being alive, what a good person! Unless he's a con artist.

'But if I will not risk this, I will spend another year doing walking and singing. Atleast I have someone who can hear him complaining.' He thought.

"Then what should I call you? Master, Teacher or Coach?" He asked the old man about this.

"It doesn't matter how you called me, young lad." He said to the young lad that there are more important things than addressing him.

"Okay, I'm ready Professor Musha." He chose the professor because he thinks that it rolls off the tongue better.

"I will absorb your knowledge as best as I can, and I will show to them that your magic is a force to be reckoned with" He declared not only to his future enemies, but to himself that he will not stay being weak.