“From the Goryeo era…one of Heaven’s strongest…a warrior…”
“That’s right.”
I nodded my head in response.
“But why did you die?”
“Exactly my question. I don’t quite understand it myself. My body suddenly heated up and my heart started to race as if it was going to explode… And then I lost consciousness.”
“It was a heart attack.”
King Yama replied as he flipped through the pages of a book. Then he turned to the Grim Reaper next to him.
“Explain to me exactly how he died.”
“Oh, uh, yes…!”
Caught off guard, the Grim Reaper quickly recovered from his surprise and began to explain my death to the king. He seemed so disoriented, I thought that he must be new.
“Sian Lee. Age 30 as of this year. Died of a heart attack on his wedding night after seeing his wife’s naked body.”
“The end?”
“Yes, yes… That is how Sian Lee died….”
“Pft.”
King Yama snorted. His head was as big as the rest of his body, and he was several times the size of a bear. Even his laughter was threatening.
“What’s so funny?”
I was a little offended, to be honest. He seemed to be scoffing at me.
“So you’re telling me, that before you even had your first time with your wife, you saw her naked body and died.”
“Is something wrong with that?”
“Nothing’s wrong, but…pft!”
King Yama giggled again. He was completely different from what I had always imagined. However, his sheer size was threatening enough.
“Was that the first time you’d seen a woman naked?”
“Yes.”
I nodded.
“What have you been doing all this time? Did you make absolutely no use of that thing?”
He gestured towards my nether region. I shook my head and the king questioned me again.
“If you weren’t going to make use of it, you should have just thrown it away. Why keep it?”
“…”
I was flabbergasted. There isn’t only one way to use it. I use it to urinate, and I was going to use it on my wife tonight. Although I died before I could…
“I was going to use it tonight.”
“You didn’t.”
“I couldn’t. Because I died.”
“Pathetic fool.”
“…”
I felt wronged.
“Aren’t you apologetic to the Creator? You dropped dead before you could ever make use of his creation.”
“I don’t think it’s anything that should concern you… But if anyone’s upset about it, it’s me. I restrained myself for 30 years for this day…”
It’s true. I saved myself for marriage. So I abstained for 30 years, and finally, after getting married I was going to be able to do it. But instead, I died before I could claim my prize…
“You’re upset.”
“Haah…”
I sighed heavily and looked at King Yama and the Grim Reaper.
“Reaper.”
“Ye, Yes…”
The Grim Reaper responded awkwardly. He was so different from the Grim Reaper I had always imagined. Even when he came to collect me at the time of my death, he was quite clumsy. He got us lost on the way to the heavens, wasting half a day just trying to get back on track.
“He’s lived a pitiful life. Reincarnate him.”
“Re, reincarnate?”
“Yes. Pick any one of those who just died and reincarnate him.”
“Ah, yes sir… I will follow your orders…”
And like that, the Grim Reaper came to stand before me.
“I’d rather not be face to face like this with a man.”
“I’m sorry… I have no choice if I am to reincarnate you…”
He reached over my head and grabbed the white ring floating above me.
“You will be reincarnated now… Go and live a good life…”
“But are you sure you did it right? Why is your hand shaking?”
I asked, as I looked at his shaky hand grasping the ring. It was quivering furiously, making me a little nervous.
“D, don’t worry. You’ll certainly be reincarnated as a man…”
“I don’t know… But I never said I wanted to be reincarnated…”
“It’s King Yama’s orders.”
“Hohoho, well I’ll trust you.”
“D, don’t worry…”
Still making me nervous, the Grim Reaper yanked the ring above my head, and in a moment, I lost consciousness.
***
[Sian!]
[Sian! Wake up!]
[Sian! Please!!!]
I heard desperate pleas ringing through my heart. What’s going on? Did I really reincarnate? I started to hear the voices through my ears, and I opened my eyes.
Bam!
Staring at me were a bunch of youthful, pretty girls. The girls sighed with relief as I came to, and they soon started to sob.
“Sian Lee! Do you know how worried I was?!”
“What happened, Sian?!”
“I really thought you were dead!”
Coming from outside I could hear the sirens of an ambulance. I had no idea what was going on.
“Uh…”
I slowly propped myself up, and I felt it. A heavy weight on my chest. I looked down, and…huh…uh….huh…? And I fainted again.
***
I looked in the mirror.
“Fuck.”
I could only swear. What in the world just happened.
“Is that really me?”
I shook my head at myself in the mirror. Fat on my cheeks, belly, butt, it was all spilling out. I was a big, fat pig. What’s more shocking was that I had become a woman.
“Damn it.”
That wasn’t all. I was in a world totally different from what I had previously been living in. Everything was different. And all of these strange memories were floating about inside my head. These were the only things helping me to form some sense of my current identity. However, these memories were giving me a raging headache.
“What are these doing here?”
I said as I massaged my chest. I’m a man. But why…just why…
“Haah…Fuck.”
All I could do was curse. I had no idea where my family jewels had gone. In its place was a new, unfamiliar set of jewels.
“Was I reborn into a different world?”
Reincarnation. Yeah, the Grim Reaper had clearly told me that I would be reincarnated. But no one told me it would be in a different world. But I guess no one told me that it would be in the same world, either. But he clearly said I would be reincarnated as a man. Who is this pig… Something was definitely wrong.
“But at least I still have my strength.”
Surprisingly enough, I had all of my strength. I was still myself. Just then, someone knocked on the door.
Knock knock.
And I heard a cheery voice.
“Sian, it’s me Yoo-young~ Can I come in~?”
From my new memories, I knew that her name was Yoo-young Lee. She was a talented 22 year-old idol star, with whom I had been in a ballad trio. Ah, side note: She and I spent 2 difficult years outside the limelight, and currently we were on a break. The other third of the trio was called Jumi Yeom, another talented singer. Jumi and I are 21 years old, and Yoo-young is 1 year older than us.
‘You remember all sorts of things, don’t you?’
I thought to myself. And then I responded to Yoo-young outside the door.
“Come in, Yoo-young.”
It felt strange, saying this familiar, yet unfamiliar name.
The door opened and Yoo-young walked in. She was cute. Average height, but perfect proportions. Her skin was milky white and she was on the prettier side. Probably popular with the boys. In my new memories I found that she was the queen bee at Minchun University. But most of all, she was a talented idol star with a great voice.
“Sian, are you really feeling okay~?”
She asked me in a sing-songy voice. Her voice was cute too, just like her face.
“I’m fine, Yoo-young.”
I smiled. It really did feel strange saying her name with my lips.
“That’s a relief. I really thought that you died.”
She gave me a gentle hug, and when her chest came into contact with mine, I freaked out.
“W, wait…”
I gave her a gentle shove. My heart was racing like it was about to explode again. I was just reincarnated, and I wasn’t about to die of a heart attack again…
“Sian, are you still not feeling well?”
Yoo-young looked at me worriedly.
“I’m fine.”
I answered curtly. I was 30 years old in spirit. I had no time to tiptoe around a 22 year old’s feelings.
“Okay. Then get some rest. I’ll come back later. Is there anything in particular you want to eat?”
“No, I’m fine. Don’t worry too much.”
“Okay.”
Yoo-young gave my head a pat and left the room. Of course she’d be worried about me. Before I was reincarnated into this woman’s body, she had suddenly collapsed and her heart had stopped beating. They thought she had died, but suddenly she awoke. I awoke. Isn’t that just a hoot.
<Chapter 1: Reincarnated! (1)> The End
