Welcome to the Divine Realm!

"Takeda Ryuji, welcome to the divine realm!" A voice coming from Ryuji's resounded from his back. It was a male voice, but he was sure that he was in the middle of nowhere where everything is white. It didn't look like a room but rather just a white big space and you could not see anything from it.

"I'm sure no one is here…" Ryuji whispered to himself but hearing a voice out of nowhere would frighten anyone, so he did not dare look. He was sweating and resolved not to look at his back.

"Bisha-san, you have done this before right? Are you sure we got the right person?" A young man was confused how Ryuji was like ignoring them.

"Affirmative. He is the one." A deep manly voice responded.

Ryuji's thoughts were running overdrive. 'Is this a dream? Probably it is… who the hell is Bisha? I never know anyone named Bisha. Should I run? But where to?' While he was thinking, he did not hear footsteps until he felt someone tapping at his shoulder.

"Hey Ryuji-" The younger voice was calling him. Ryuji instinctively looked but he could feel all his fluids were about to leak out in fright but before he could take a look who was tapping, he already screamed.

"AAAHHHHHH!!!!" Ryuji shrieked and stepped back causing him to be out of balance. His chest seemed to beat 200 beats per second in fright.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!" The other person also was surprised and screamed with him. It was high pitched that it sounded almost similar to a girl's shriek.

"Sugawara-san get a hold of yourself!" A large burly guy with a fierce face reprimanded the young man who looked more of a scholar from Heian period. The fierce looking man had a flame hoop at his back. The young man quickly composed himself in after being scolded.

"Oh… He acted like a creep earlier, I thought it was some Junji Ito moment." The one called Sugawara huffed and patted his chest like consoling him. Then he composed himself again to a dignified manner

"I told you to stop reading those scary manga." The warrior said matter-of-factly and gave a warning glare to the scholastic man.

"It was the past time during the ancient era, ask Seimei-san, he was also into it to." The young scholar defended himself.

Ryuji was dumbfounded. 'Is this really a dream? I think I have watched too much historical drama lately that I imagine people cosplaying in historical clothes!' Ryuji was still racking his brain, he usually leaves the TV on and to the point whenever a historical drama goes on, it's like his queue to turn it off. Regardless if its wuxia, Korean or Chinese, if it is classified its period drama, he will turn the TV off.

"I am sorry for such a rude display. Let me start over again. Ahem." The young scholar cleared his throat. "Takeda Ryuji, welcome to the Divine Realm!"

Ryuji heard it earlier, but it did not register. Divine realm? What does it mean? Now he has been reading too much manga lately. Usually, this is a case were the protagonist dies and a welcome ceremony to heaven then dumps to another world to fight some demon king. "W-w-what?"

The young scholar frowned. It seems he will have a hard time with this guy. According to Lady Inari and King Yan, his brother was easier to deal with. Being scared witless and this comical denial is very contrast from how the reports observed him back in the living realm.

"Ryuji-san, why don't we take a seat." The warrior said it in a straight face but pointed out to a small conference table that appeared out of nowhere. Ryuji was still in shock that it suddenly appeared out of nothing, but he then eventually settles his emotions down, but his mind is on overdrive.

If this is the divine realm, it only means one thing. Ryuji attempted to probe at first. "I apologized for being impolite, I am Takeda Ryuji. Nice to meet you." He formally bowed but before the two men spoke Ryuji did not hesitate to ask. "Am I dead?"

"Yes." The scholarly person replied. He scrutinized Ryuji's face which gave him a blank look. He could not decipher what is this soul thinking. From comedic then to something serious. The scholar was an actual human before, he was personally invited by King Yan when the first shrine in his name was built. He was just a wandering soul back then and it took a few months before he recovered. The old capital Kyoto was experiencing disaster after disaster after he was falsely accused of rebellion by the emperor he served. He wasn't the one who set old Japan to ruins back during the Heian period but since he had a shrine in his honor, he was elevated to a deity back then. "Aren't you surprised? I suppose you do have more questions for us Ryuji-kun."

"I do." Ryuji was gathering his thoughts. On several manga he read, if he is dead, then this must be the gods. He gave a quick look to the 'beings' in front of him. The scholarly man probably some scholar ages ago that ascended to godhood. Probably in feudal era or before. He gives out a dignified and scholarly aura despite if does not take into account, the shill shriek that he had earlier. It was partly his fault for scaring the poor man, but he could not take the full blame because if a normal person would be in his place, seeing all white with no one then the next thing he knew these guys appeared out of nowhere, it would scare the crap out of anyone around him.

Ryuji still has a pensive face. He scrutinized the warrior which on the other hand seemed to be some virtuous god judging from the war paint and armor. Probably he is a god of war or something. But to confirm further he needs to probe more. He decided to ask his second question. "Who are you guys?"

"I am Bishamonten of Shichifukujin." The fearsome looking warrior said. His tone was serious and commanded respect. In Japan, he is one of the seven lucky gods. He also a protector of people who follow rules.

"I am Sugawara no Michizane." The young scholar introduced. He is a scholar who was executed rebellion by the emperor during the Heian period. He currently has two shrines in his name.

'Bishamonten? Isn't that a God of war?' Ryuji thought the other person was also a god, but he was bad at history, so he never pondered on it. He never worshipped gods after his parents died but for the sake of tradition, he still observed superstitions growing from Aori village. He deeply respected belief and now these beings in front of him introduced themselves, he bowed politely like meeting a senior official. "Forgive my impudence Bishamonten-sama, Sugawara-sama."

"Oh? That's it?" Michizane lost his composure. The Takeda brothers are quite interesting. Based on the report that he received, the younger Takeda took only 5 minutes to accept his death with higher ranking gods such as Lady Inari and King Yan. This guy accepted in 15 minutes. He could not help himself and said, "Aren't you going to say like 'this is a joke' or 'I don't believe you'?"

"Uhhhhhh… actually I was thinking about it earlier. If this is true, might as well accept it. I'll try to find my brother in the underworld. If this is some figment of my imagination, I'd wake up to either stare the whole day at the ceiling. I do hope it's the first one though." Ryuji embarrassingly explained.

Bishamonten who was observing him gave a hearty laugh at the young man. "Takeda Ryuji, such an interesting person!" Though he has a fierce face he smugly smiled at Ryuji. His brother was amusing as Lady Inari told him to be and now his brother did not disappoint.

Michizane jaw dropped. He was speechless with the young man's reply. No wonder Bishamonten laughed heartily. He never shows his emotions unless it's something piqued his interest.

"How did I die?" Ryuji changed the topic. He was prepared for the news of how he left the otherworld. Since these are gods, why would they lie to him. However, a fragment of his mind is still cautious. He knew he was straightforward to admit his feelings but based on his experience in corporate sometimes the other party can often mislead you and steer you to what they want instead. 'If they are indeed gods, its best to be polite.' Ryuji was thinking that courtesy and politeness his best weapon at this point.

"Your heart went into overdrive and shut down." Bishamonten replied with a straight face.