CHAPTER 1: WHEN DEATH COMES KNOCKING

There's a saying: "Death is but the beginning of a new life..." That's always been interpreted differently depending on who's listening and who's saying it. Personally? I just understood this as a simple divine ordinance that the Almighty God has more in store for us once we depart our lives on earth.

"Well, at least that's what mom would say... right?" I thought as I forcefully gazed upward, wincing from the unbearable pain, lying in a pool of my own blood that was trickling from multiple wounds across my body. Despite the agony radiating through my nervous system like electric currents, I could clearly feel the massive slab of concrete that had crushed both my legs – the pressure so intense it had gone beyond pain into a strange numbness. The metal rod impaling me straight through my gut, however, offered no such mercy. Every slight movement, every shallow breath sent waves of searing torture through my abdomen.

The concrete above me formed a makeshift cave, jagged edges dripping with water from broken pipes and something darker – probably my blood. Dust particles floated in the air, dancing in the beam of light that somehow found its way through the wreckage. The smell was overwhelming – gasoline, burnt rubber, scorched metal, and the coppery tang of blood. My blood.

It had all happened so fast. One moment I was on the bus, half-dozing with my earbuds in, the music drowning out the world as we cruised along the lower road beneath the expressway. I remember checking my phone, thinking about the game waiting for me at home – that new boss fight and its respective quest I'd been planning to tackle tonight with my online friends. The next moment, a violent shaking threw me against the window. A deafening roar filled the air as the world around us trembled. Screams erupted from fellow passengers before being suddenly silenced by the thunderous crash of the overhead express road collapsing.

More than 10,000 tons of concrete, steel, and asphalt came down like God's hammer, crushing our bus and anything else unfortunate enough to be beneath it. The horrifying sound still echoed in my ears – a cacophony of twisting metal, shattering glass, and human screams cut short. Then darkness, pressure, pain, and finally this – lying broken in this improvised tomb, waiting for the inevitable.

At the corner of my eye, a flickering orange light danced against the crumbled walls of my prison. Flames, probably from the bus's ruptured gas tank, casting ominous shadows that seemed to reach for me with fiery fingers. The heat was growing more intense by the minute, yet I felt increasingly cold. Shock, probably. My body shutting down, preparing for its final act.

Who would have thought that on a simple day, as I commuted from the day's grueling studies at the university, I'd find myself here? I was just headed to a different bus stop so I could transfer and head home, relax, and grind some of my favorite RPG games. The good ol' time... right? Such mundane plans. Such ordinary last thoughts.

The pain, oh the pain... It was unbearable. Each breath felt like swallowing broken glass, each heartbeat sending fresh waves of agony through my shattered body. And even when I wished it to go away, subconsciously I knew it was a type of pain that would stay, albeit briefly, as my life got sucked out of me. A temporary torture before the permanent nothingness. There's a cruel irony there, I suppose.

I tried to move my arm, to reach for my phone in my pocket – some instinctual desire to call someone, anyone, before the end. But my limbs refused to obey, heavy as lead and just as useless. A wet cough erupted from my chest, bringing with it a fresh spurt of blood that trickled down my chin and joined the growing pool beneath me. The metallic taste coated my tongue, warm and thick.

I, a normal student with hopes of making it big in this dog-eat-dog world, who just wanted to live out my life quietly like a normal and mundane person, suddenly and out of the blue meets my tragic end. No epic quest, no heroic sacrifice, no dramatic deathbed surrounded by loved ones. Just random, senseless destruction on an ordinary Tuesday afternoon.

My vision blurred, the edges darkening like an old television shutting off. Sounds became muffled, as if I were sinking underwater. Even the pain began to dull – whether from mercy or the failing of my nerves, I couldn't tell. Through this fog, my thoughts wandered to my family.

How would they cope? My dad, who always maintained that stoic exterior but would break down when he thought no one was watching. My mom, whose strength had carried our family through every hardship. My younger brother, still figuring out his place in the world. My sister, with her bright dreams and brighter smile.

The bickering we'd had the night before seemed so petty now. What was it even about? My gaming habits? The dishes I'd forgotten to wash? The way I'd spoken to mom? Such trivial things that somehow escalated into slammed doors and harsh words.

"They'll never forgive themselves," I whispered to the uncaring rubble around me. The thought brought a fresh wave of pain, sharper than any physical wound. To die is one thing – to leave behind people drowning in guilt and what-ifs is another cruelty altogether.

From the many novels and manga I'd read, the authors usually described how a person's life – mostly their main character's life – flashes before their eyes at the moment of death. That random thought wandered through my dimming consciousness: Where the hell is my life-flashing? I mean, it's usually meant to be a significant scenario, right? A moment in time to have the person at death's door recount their life, look for mistakes, finish regrets? Why isn't it happening to me when I am quite literally dying?

"Man... this fucking sucks," I spoke, this time almost inaudibly as I suddenly spat more blood from my mouth. The effort sent fresh daggers of pain through my chest. Something had punctured my lung, definitely. "And here I thought it'd be like what I've experienced from books."

I could feel my heart struggling now, beating erratically in my chest like a drummer losing the rhythm. My breaths came in short, shallow gasps that barely brought any oxygen to my starving cells. The darkness at the edges of my vision grew bolder, encroaching further into the center with each passing second.

"I wonder where I'm getting the energy to have all these random thoughts," I continued internally, no longer able to form words with my blood-filled mouth. "To be honest, dying doesn't look like a bad thing considering the nonsense I have in my head right now." I tried to force a chuckle, but only succeeded in choking on my own blood, sending fresh spasms of pain through my body.

The flickering orange light seemed to dim, though whether it was the fire dying down or my vision failing, I couldn't tell. The pressure on my legs had become nothing more than a distant awareness, my body mercifully numbing itself as systems began to shut down. The rod through my stomach, however, still sent occasional reminders of its presence with each diminishing heartbeat.

It was then that my blurry vision went completely dark. Not gradually, as it had been doing, but all at once – like someone had flipped a switch. The pain, the heat from the fire, the cold sweat on my brow, all sensations vanished in an instant.

"Welp, guess this is it," I thought, not daring to even struggle to open my mouth. What would be the point? Who would hear me in this concrete coffin? "I hope and pray to God, if he's actually listening, that he takes care of my family... and at least... let them not worry too much... and hopefully, they can forgive me for being such a trashy son." I did my due diligence, saying my final prayers to whatever deity might exist, might be listening to the pathetic last thoughts of an unremarkable university student crushed under tons of concrete.

The darkness was absolute now, a void that seemed to press against me from all sides. The silence was complete, not even the sound of my own heartbeat remained to keep me company. Was this what death felt like? This empty nothingness? This absence of everything?

No light at the end of the tunnel. No deceased relatives waiting with open arms. No angelic choir or gates of pearl. Just... nothing.

Then, inexplicably, I felt something. Not pain, not pressure, but a sensation of movement – like being pulled gently yet inexorably upward. The darkness remained, but somehow it felt different. Less oppressive, more... expectant. As if it were waiting for something. As if I were waiting for something.

A pinprick of light appeared in the distance – so faint I thought I might be imagining it. But it grew steadily brighter, expanding outward like the opening of an eye. Unlike the harsh orange of the fire, this light was pure white, with hints of blue and gold around its edges. It didn't hurt to look at, despite its intensity. It felt... welcoming.

"So there is a light at the end of the tunnel," I mused, finding humor even in this most final of moments. "How cliché."

The light continued to grow until it filled my entire field of perception. Within it, shapes began to form – indistinct at first, then gradually solidifying into... something. I couldn't quite make it out, but it seemed to be reaching for me.

And with that, came the end of my chapter of life on earth, the end of being incomplete, my final death and the beginning of something a tad bit awesome...

My consciousness, or whatever remained of it, seemed to expand outward, beyond the confines of my broken body, beyond the collapsed expressway, beyond the city itself. I felt myself dissolving, molecules separating, atoms drifting apart – not in a painful or frightening way, but as natural as exhaling after a long-held breath.

The last thing I remember thinking before everything changed was a surprisingly peaceful acceptance: "Well, Mom was right about one thing – death really is just the beginning."

What waited on the other side, however, would prove to be beyond anything my human mind could have possibly imagined. The universe, it seemed, had plans for me – plans that transcended the simple life and death I had known. Plans that would redefine the very concepts of existence itself.

But that, as they say, is another story...