Chapter 1

Sponsored Content

 

 Translator: Nefarian                                                    

My name is Satou Tarou, I am a 30-year-old who works at the local construction company.

I finally became the site foreman and I am currently building the steel framework for a three-story office.
There was nobody in the building right now because all the workers were on lunch break.

At my own discretion I chose to take a selfie on the third floor of the construction grounds.
If people were still working here it would be obstructive to take a picture.
With a blackboard in one hand, I tried to get the best angle for my picture.

It was when I stepped on the veneer around the size of one tatami mat laid on the floor, that it suddenly happened.
I fell straight through a hole that was concealed by the veneer.

The veneer showed no sign of supporting my weight and it seemed like a piece of paper that broke as I stepped on it.

Along with the fragments of veneer, my body dropped down.

I was experiencing the horrifying feeling of free falling downwards when I remembered something.
There is a duct opening around here.

The duct opening is connected to the second floor and it is in the same position on all three floors.
That’s why I was dropping straight down to the first floor.

(This veneer is way too thin! such a thin piece of wood covering the opening of a hole is a freaking trap waiting in ambush!)

While shouting in my own mind, my body passes through the opening of the second floor and crashed into the first floor.

I am drifting along a dark space.

I see a mass lump of light appearing in the distance and I am being pulled buoyantly towards the source.

(Ahh, I guess I died huh…)

Is what I thought.
I accepted the fact.

(Director, I’m sorry.
On the final day of promoting safety in the summer campaign, I caused an accident.)

Moreover, it’s a fatal accident.

I guess the director isn’t going to have any happy holidays.
No, according to our company structure, all the members may have to deal with the accident without being able to take any breaks.

I really want to apologise to everyone, the frustration I feel for dying like this and my indignation against my own stupidity keeps getting higher and higher.

And after imagining the face of the middle aged man who planted that thin veneer to cover the duct made me seethe with fury.

It’s really sketchy to do a job only half-way done.

Just today they were working around the duct.

He probably thought that it was going to cut into his lunch time, so when he saw the opening and didn’t want to leave it as it was, he tried to cover it up.
However, none of the right materials were available and since a thin piece of veneer was available he thought to just use that instead.

If it was something that minor, there is no way anything would happen within the lunch break, is probably what he thought.

The problem is that if such a thin veneer is placed in that type of hole, it’s much better to just leave the hole open.

Well, if I did find a hole just being left unattended, I probably would have raged at them so…

Thinking about these types of frivolous things, a voice spoke to me from behind.

Rather than hearing sound, it was a type of feeling that directly entered into my mind.

『Will you hear my request?』

Sponsored Content

When I turned around, I could see this thick book which resembled a 4-meter-wide dictionary that was just floating in the air.

At the center of the book’s cover, there was this huge human face made out of stone.
Moreover, it’s eyes were staring right at me.

『… Will you hear my request?』

I wasn’t able to react because of how surprised I was and the stone statue merely repeated the same words slowly.

「Did you say…..
a request?」

I somehow managed to calm down and reply.
This is probably the afterworld.
Even if a monster looking thing were to exist, it wouldn’t be that weird.

It is natural to use polite speech.
After all, I don’t have the courage to speak in a casual manner with such a badass looking monster.

The statue nods its head indicating the affirmative and continued on with its words.

『Go to the world that I designate, then I want you to live there.』

I thought for a little while.
But no matter how long I thought about it, I didn’t understand what it meant.
So I decided to ask for an explanation.

「I’m sorry but, I don’t quite understand the situation.
If it is possible, would you be kind enough to explain it to me?」

 

『Of course.
If you are able to calm down and listen to me, then this would also save me the trouble.』

Hearing those words, I vaguely understood.

If a person were to die and be brought to this place after their death, then upon arrival they were forced to see a huge statue monster talking to them all of a sudden, it wouldn’t be weird for people to freak out and panic.

On the other hand, I am intrigued as to why I can stay so calm without that much effort?

Well, I did have many instances in which I had to face against scary old men when I worked as the foreman, so perhaps that experience has given me more guts then a regular person.

『First of all, you are already dead.
Though you were already aware of this fact, correct?』

「…..
Yes.」

『Moreover, the usual case would be to have your soul collect in one place and then be reborn as a new soul.』

The eyes of the stone statue looked in a particular direction, as if to point out the place I would have gone to.
It was the mass gathering of white light that I saw earlier.

『However, before this occurs, I would like to send you to a certain world to live out the rest of your life.』

「For what reason?」

『I do not intend to explain the reasons.』

Hearing this I was mind blown.
Nobody in their right mind would accept the request after hearing that explanation right?

「Well in that case I don’t think I can accept your request.」

Even I was surprised at my own answer.

『Is that so, how disappointing.
In that case, I bid you farewell.』

Readily moving away from me, the stone monster likely headed in a new direction where it could appear behind another dead soul.

Seeing such a response, I panicked.

Sponsored Content

Right now I have no information on my current situation.
Regardless of whether I accept this stone monsters request or not, I was hoping to garner some more information from it.

Besides, there is no other existence around that seems to know what is going on around here.

「Pl-Please hang on for a moment!」

『Will you accept it?』

「I’m not going to accept it but…」

『Then, it’s a waste of time.』

Crap, this stone statue has absolutely no attachment to me.
I have a feeling that if I refuse a third time, it will just disappear.
This isn’t a negotiation on equal footing.
The other party has more leverage.

Darn it! It’s almost like the really popular job interview I received back in my school days.

To add to that, I don’t feel like I have much time left over.

The big mass of light is getting closer and closer to me.
No, it could be that the light is pulling me closer towards it.

It mentioned something about absorbing my soul, I have a feeling that if I get sucked into that thing, all questions and answers will become useless.

「No! I will accept your request after all….
I’m willing to do it so please give me a little more explanation!」

Humph, the stone statue nods.

『An explanation….
No, you may ask the questions you want to hear for yourself.』

If I repeated my first question “For what reason?”.
I have a feeling that this will end the Question and Answer session and it will tell me to take care of myself.

「What kind of existence are you?」

『F