The convenience store door closed with a little jingle, a little happy reminder to 'come again!'
Ethan stood at the entrance with his bag of goodies, cold air biting his hand as he lifted the bag with a smile. He'd just finished a job interview, which went terribly, as he was declined due to being 'too suspicious'.
Right, because forgetting your own birthday was clearly a crime.
It wasn't his fault that he didn't fill in his last name and date of birth. He just couldn't remember it.
Ethan shrugged, not that he was expecting them to hire him anyway. There were always more interviews to come—he was more worried about the convenience store.
They usually had a sale at the end of the day when they were about to close. That's how he got these eggs half off after all. It was always the moment he looked forward to the most in the day, that and when his favorite web novel posted a new chapter. It wasn't much but it gave him motivation everyday.
He took out his phone, a hand-me-down he got from his previous boss, scrolling past the various news about Wraith attacks to get to the webnovel app. Ethan shivered; Noxterra's days always ran cold. Most people were asleep by now—it was daytime hours after all.
The sun was rising already, which reminded him of how late he'd stayed up from the last shift of his 2nd part time job…or was it the 3rd? He lost track sometimes.
Small droplets of water started coming down. Ethan really wished he had brought an umbrella. Though he couldn't really afford to buy a new one. Whatever, he'll just use his head to cover the phone screen.
He tapped the latest chapter button, excitement already rising as the stupid author left his last chapter on a cliffhanger.
Just then, someone bumped into him.
A kid. A little girl, with a cute pink backpack and messy hair. She jolted, mumbled a flustered apology, and hurried past him without looking back.
Ethan blinked.
No big deal.
He was used to people not noticing him. Half his coworkers once joked he moved like a ghost anyway.
Ethan looked back down to his phone, but something else caught his eye instead. On the ground, a small coin purse had laid there. It was bright pink and had a little cartoon rabbit stitched at the top.
Definitely hers.
He picked it up and glanced toward where she had gone. The girl had already stopped on the crosswalk, waiting for the pedestrian light to turn green.
"Hey! You dropped—"
She didn't hear him. Or maybe she thought the voice wasn't meant for her.
The pedestrian signal changed to green. He made it to the crosswalk but couldn't reach her, especially since she had sprinted across—probably in some kind of hurry.
Ethan took a step after her—and that's when he heard it.
A loud car engine, speeding through what he thought was a yellow light, which had obviously turned red.
Ethan opened his mouth to call out again, but the girl was already halfway across the street, little shoes tapping softly against the pavement.
Ethan didn't think. He just moved.
One second he was on the sidewalk, and the next he was sprinting, the coin purse clutched tight in his hand.
"Ugh… why do I do this to myself," he muttered. In the familiar way of someone who keeps sticking their nose into other people's business.
The girl turned, wide-eyed, just in time for him to reach her.
His arms wrapped around her tiny frame.
…and he pushed.
The world blurred—
Then something hit him, and the impact knocked the sound out of everything.
The rain, which had been pattering lightly just moments ago, suddenly felt miles away—reduced to a soft, distant hiss.
Warmth bloomed in his chest, spreading outward like he'd fallen backward into a warm and cozy bathtub. Not that he'd know what that felt like, he just assumed so from the novels he'd read.
A raindrop slid down his cheek, cool against the warmth spilling through him. Another landed on his lips, and he tasted that familiar Noxterra metallic tang.
"…Ah," he exhaled, a tiny huff of breath that almost sounded like a laugh. "So this is it… my time to get reincarnated, right?"
His mind drifted sideways, thoughts loosening like strings coming undone.
"I want to be a hero. Or a villain. Honestly, at this point… I'm not picky."
The raindrops around him no longer fell straight down. They spiraled, drifting upward, swirling like a gentle cyclone of liquid starlight.
What hit him wasn't a truck, it was just a normal everyday car. Maybe the gods made exceptions, a truck isn't necessary.
Ethan let out a soft breath—almost a laugh, almost a sigh.
"I lived a good life anyway."
The thought surprised him with how natural it felt. His life hadn't been much, but it was his. He'd survived and tried the best he could, that had to count for something.
Hell he even got to save someone in the end, a perfect cherry on top if he'd say so.
Everything felt… light. His eyelids felt heavy. Ethan was certain that this was it.
His heartbeat slowed, steady and calm.
Then something shifted.
Ethan's eyelids fluttered open.
A shape hovered above his head. A dark swirling cloud, as quiet as a breath, which bent all the raindrops around it.
He didn't feel fear. Just… curiosity.
"Oh."
From its center, the darkness folded apart, giving way to a tall silhouette stepping forward. A man.
A very handsome man, actually.
Ethan would've assumed he was hallucinating if the rain didn't keep bouncing off the man's shoulders.
He had snow-white hair parted neatly down the middle, a few strands falling over calm, observant eyes. His face was sharp in that annoyingly photogenic way—the kind of handsome that made Ethan automatically associated with a story's protagonist.
He wore something impossible to categorize: a black tailored jacket, crisp and sharp around the shoulders, layered over flowing dark cloth that moved like ancient robes. The mix shouldn't have worked.
The stranger stepped fully out of the cloud and slid his hands into the pockets of his strange half-suit, half-robe outfit as if this were the most casual situation in the world.
He glanced down at Ethan.
Then at the ruined car.
"…Rough morning, huh?" he said.
His voice wasn't divine or echoing like Ethan had expected. Normal, calm, something he expected a tired CEO or boss to sound like.
Ethan blinked up at him, dazed. "Uh… are you a paramedic?"
The man snorted softly. "I wish. No, nothing that useful."
He crouched beside him, the long cloth of his robe-coat pooling elegantly on the wet pavement.
"Name's Thanatos," he said.
"Reaper. But, like… don't make it weird."
Ethan blinked slowly. "Thanatos? Sounds a bit weird."
"It's not," Thanatos said, deadpan. "And trust me, if I were picking a name, I'd go with something more normal."
"…Like what?"
Thanatos shrugged. "Dunno. Kevin?"
A small, breathy laugh escaped Ethan before he could stop it. The man in the coat smiled faintly, like he'd been waiting to hear that reaction.
"Well, Ethan," Thanatos said, "Not sure if you noticed…but you're dying."
As he said that, the man took out a little notebook and pen, not a real one but a kind of ethereal looking one.
Ethan nodded softly. "Yeah. I figured."
Thanatos tilted his head, clicking his pen in confusion.
"No screaming, no bargaining, no dramatic monologue?"
The rain continued spiraling gently around them, lifting upward like tiny ribbons of silver.
Ethan shrugged weakly. "Even if I don't get reincarnated, it'll be okay."
Thanatos clicked his pen once more, closing it and putting the notebook away.
"I don't know about reincarnation but, I have a proposition for you"
Ethan blinked up at him, barely processing the words. Thanatos leaned closer examining his pupils, almost like checking for something only he could see.
"Not sure if I should be telling you this…but you weren't supposed to die today."
Ethan stared. "…What?"
Thanatos shrugged. "Looks like someone pushed your fate forward."
He extended his hand again, as casually as someone offering help off a couch.
"Now," he said,
"Would you like to become my Proxy?"