3. Don’t cry for the dead

My mind was floating aimlessly in a sea of darkness. I caught a fragrance in the air.

Armen!

Someone was calling my name.

“ARMEN!”

“So noisy…”

I opened my eyes. Ray was kneeling beside the bed I was lying on. That… wasn’t his apartment.

“Ray… Where are we?”

Just what was going on? I couldn’t remember a thing. Why was I half-naked? I didn’t have anything like a hangover so… I didn’t drink, right? Anyway, Ray wasn’t the kind of person to buy alcohol. He didn’t like it.

“Armen! Thank goodness, you remember!”

Ray’s slanted eyes were shining with joy. The heck had gotten into him? I swept the room with my eyes. Bookshelves, a desk, and a clock. I rubbed my eyes in disbelief. My sight… Had it ever been that good?

“Does it hurt anywhere?”

I frowned.

“No. Nothing like that. Why? I don’t remember a thing. Shoot, it’s already midnight?”

“No… Actually, it’s noon. Armen, you… really don’t remember what happened last night?”

“Er…” I rubbed my head and smiled. “Did I do something wrong? I drank, right? Sorry about that…”

“It’s… not like that.”

Ray’s gaze suddenly avoided me. Something felt off. Ever since I met him, when we were twelve years old, he had been a shy child, but whenever he put that kind of face, I could guess right away that something was going on.

“So?”

Ray swallowed, and then, without a warning, his hands began to tremble. I bounced off the bed, lost my balance, recovered it the Holy Gods know how, and asked worriedly:

“Ray, you alright?”

“I… I can’t tell you if you don’t remember!” he cried out, startling me. He stood up and stepped back. His cap hid his eyes as he looked down. “I may have… I may have done something horrible to you!”

What was that supposed to mean?

“I don’t get it. What did you do to me? I’m sure it wasn’t that horrible. First, calm down.”

“…”

“Alright, if you don’t say anything, let me guess. You made me eat a mushroom that causes hallucinations. That would explain why my body feels weird and why my eyes are seeing just fine. All because of a magical mushroom. By the way, those cookies, did you made them?” I took a cookie from the small table and swallowed it. “Yummy.”

Actually, it wasn’t. It tasted like ashes. Why, though?

Ray sighed.

“My dad made them. Also… I’d never make you eat a hallucinogenic mushroom, Armen.”

I grinned.

“You calmed down a bit, that’s good. Now,” I said, sitting at the table and picking another cookie, “I’m a bit curious about what happened.”

“I know. Sorry, I shouldn’t be the one to panic here. It’s just that…”

He paused, sat down in front of me, looked at the cookies on the plate, then at me.

“Are they really yummy?”

“No. It tastes like dust. Your dad sucks at cooking.”

Like son, like father. Well, no, wasn’t it the other way around? Ray smiled sadly.

“Ah… I figured. Sorry.”

“What for?”

“That’s…”

There was a silence.

“You won’t say it, huh? Let me think back.” I concentrated. “We left school at five o’clock, then you invited me over to your place to play Survival Dungeon 3, we were talking about the demon-fish brains my big sis cooked, and, oh, yes, I pressed the wrong number in the elevator, we went to the eighth floor, or was it the ninth? Anyway… it can’t be that you got the wrong door and we entered somebody else’s apartment, yeah? But then why am I half-naked like that? Did we enter a party uninvited, no one else noticed, then we lost our innocence without even remembering? Th-Th-That’s not possible, right? Am I being too imaginative? ”

Ray’s cheeks puffed out, and he burst out laughing.

“You’re the same as yesterday, Armen.”

“Huh? Does that mean I’m still a virgin?”

“There wasn’t any party, you moron.” Ray sighed. “It’s a very serious matter.”

I looked at him expectantly. He shivered.

“The truth is… The truth is… You died last night.”

The third cookie, in my hand, fell down on the table.

“I… What?”

“I wouldn’t be telling you that if I thought you could lead a normal life as you are, but you can’t. So you have to believe me, Armen. The truth is… you’re dead. A gangster killed you, and my dad, a famous necromancer in the Underworld, revived you at my request.”

He paused as if waiting for me to chime in. However, at this moment, the memories of last night were coming back to me like a wave of needles, and I could only stare at him in astonishment.

“That’s why your body feels different,” Ray went on. “You lost your human sense of touch. For now, you can feel your movements, but hardly anything more. And you lost your sense of taste. That’s why the cookies you just ate are tasteless. I’m pretty sure right now you’d rather eat this.”

He took out a bag and placed it on the table. As it opened, the delicious fragrance I smelled upon awakening got stronger.

“That’s… meat?”

“Raw pork meat. It’s more effective if it’s raw. It has lifeforce in it.”

Despite myself, I salivated.

“S-So… You say I’m dead.”

“Yes.”

“And you say I was killed by a crazy gangster.”

“That’s right.”

“And you asked your dad to revive me.”

“You got it.”

“No, I got nothing at all! First, you never told me your dad was a necromancer.”

“That’s because I don’t care about my father’s doings.”

“Whatever. You’re saying I’m dead, and yet I’m moving.”

“That’s how an undead is.”

“So I am an undead.”

“You are. S-Sorry for that. I know I acted rashly. It’s my fault you’re like this… I-I was so shocked when that man…! I still can’t believe what happened. It’s so stupid!” His lips quivered. He went on with a hollow voice: “My dad uses his familiars a bit as if they were some obliging children of his, but there’s no way I can do the same. You’re my friend.”

“But you want me to eat raw meat. Never.”

“You’re eating it right now.”

He was right. I was chewing a big slice of meat as I was talking.

“Whatever. It’s yummy.”

“So you believe me.”

“Don’t look so gloomy, Ray. It’s not your fault. Now I remember that bastard cutting my throat… What about you?” I asked worriedly. “Did the gangsters do something to you?”

“No… They just left after t-t-that guy k-k…”

Ray choked on his words. The scene of my death must have traumatized him. I made a face.

“I never thought I’d be dying like that. Ugh… That freaking hurt. I’m almost relieved I’m dead. It’s like in the games, right? I can’t even feel pain.”

I scratched my arm with my fingernails. It itched. Ray snorted.

“Are you crazy?! Don’t cut yourself with your nails! And don’t bite yourself!”

I let go of my arm and stood up, amazed.

“Did you see that, Ray? I’m not even bleeding. Wait a moment, that’s the bathroom, right? Oho! And it has a mirror… Mm… I can’t see much of a difference. Did I get a bit paler? Wait, was I that handsome before? Haha, I don’t even need to breathe or blink! So convenient.”

I inspected myself thoroughly, staring at the mirror without blinking. The wound on my throat was gone, not even a scar was left, as if I had never died. I stretched my arms and legs and jumped back to the bedroom.

“I’m stronger!”

“No, you aren’t. You will perhaps if you train and eat well, but as of now, your muscles are the same as yesterday.”

I clenched my fist.

“Okay. I’ve got to level up quickly.”

Ray covered his eyes muttering something under his breath. What? Wasn’t he a gamer himself? I sat down and took another slice of meat.

“So you were worried I would blame you because you revived me?”

Ray blushed.

“I… Your family worships the Holy Gods, right? So, I thought… I may have done something with your soul I shouldn’t have.”

Now that the cat was out of the bag, he was calmer but still worried about my reaction. Actually, it was hard to believe I was dead but… I couldn’t possibly have survived after my throat got cut. And about my rebirth… Well, I had heard stories from my big sis. She worked at a big company that kept records about superpowers, so I was a bit familiar with powers given from mutations. They weren’t uncommon —it’s just that, as a normal guy, I wasn’t blessed with one. As for necromancy… I genuinely thought it was something so rare that I shouldn’t concern myself about it.

“You’re amazing, Armen.”

I turned my gaze at Ray, surprised, as he added:

“You’re calmer than me.”

“Since I’m dead.”

“You’re even able to make lame jokes.”

I laughed. Ray had a quivering smile.

“It’s as if nothing happened at all but… your lack of reaction worries me. You can’t fool me, Armen.” He stared at me with a very serious face. “You’re scared, aren’t you?”

I froze, then relaxed and smiled again.

“What are you talking about?”

“I know you well, Armen. I just have to look at you to tell apart a true smile from a fake one.”

My smile faded.

“Is that so?”

“It is. I don’t know if it’s true that the Holy Gods collect the souls and give them eternal peace within the Crystals, I don’t know either if they really exist. That’s why, if you think I have defiled your soul by reviving you… I’m truly sorry.”

He was. I knew him enough to tell he was blaming himself for what had happened, not only for the resurrection but also for my death. But these gangsters were searching for his dad’s whereabouts, and I knew, without knowing the reasons, how much Ray had tried to avoid his father all these years. He was the last person to blame!

I cleared my throat.

“Do you want me to punch you to take revenge or something like that? You think you will solve anything that way? Don’t cry for the dead, Ray. I understand how you’re feeling, but you don’t have to blame yourself for your dad’s or some gangsters’ wrongdoings. And I’m not scared. I’m just pissed off. The guy that killed me was nuts. His leader told him to scram, but anyway he killed me, a guy who did nothing to him, just because he felt like it. I want to pay him back now.”

The kind of mental guy capable of destroying a life like it was nothing drove me crazy the most.

“About that…” Ray swallowed hard and confessed: “The gangsters that attacked us managed to run away. Actually, we don’t know who they are. My dad said he didn’t revive any human last year, and the last one he revived was a woman, so… it seems it was a misunderstanding.”

“So, I died because of a misunderstanding.”

“I’m… sorry.”

“I’m sorry too but… oh, well, now that I’m dead, I guess there’s no turning back, right? So, let’s not worry about this anymore,” I suggested in a cheerful tone.

Ray stared at me, then muttered:

“So… You don’t care about me reviving you?”

“Not at all. I’m sure the Holy Gods are so busy taking care of the souls that they’ll think I’m doing them a favor defiling mine. So, it’s all right!”

Ray gave me a curious look.

“I don’t get your reasoning, but anyhow, I’m glad you don’t hate me.”

I smiled sincerely this time.

“I’m glad too.”

“You’re supposed to say ‘we’re best friends, how could I hate you?’ or something like that…”

“Mm. No. I won’t say that, because it’s wrong. I can hate my best friend, after all.”

Ray’s cheeks quivered.

“What?”

I raised my hand covered in pork grease, then put my thumb and forefinger closer like some pliers.

“Let me hate you just a little bit for a moment. Like this.” Bang! I slammed my hand on the table. “You bloody bastard! All these years, you made me think you wanted to live alone apart from your family, but you were actually avoiding a necromancer and you never said a thing, you sly little fox.”

Ray widened his eyes. His face was priceless. I grinned.

“Okay, time’s over. Now let’s be friends again.”

Slowly, Ray held the brim of his cap and lowered it. If he intended to conceal his relieved smile, he failed.

“You…” he said, “you can’t call someone you hate a sly little fox.”

“Oh, you’re right. Let me rephrase it: you archvillain sneaky rogue!”

Ray let out a muffled laugh.

“That’s lame!”

A cheerful silence filled the room. If I had been told yesterday that I would be eating raw pork meat while joking after my rebirth, I would have thought: so cool. But now that I was in this situation, I was baffled at my own reaction. Had I always been so assertive? Well, I wasn’t exactly brimming with self-confidence, but I guess having Ray with me gave me the reason not to think too much about the consequences. And I knew there were. Like, I wouldn’t be able to enjoy normal human food anymore, or…

I stopped thinking and bit into the next slice of pork. It was already the fourth or fifth one. How could it be I was still hungry?

“Pigs will hate me at this rate,” I sighed.

Not that I cared as long as it helped me stay alive.

“Don’t worry, after the first days, you won’t be eating pork anymore. You’re not a ghoul, but a life reaper.”

“A life reaper? So you know what I am.”

“You think I wouldn’t? I was brought up by the Lord Necromancer. Even if I don’t want to be a necromancer myself, my dad’s dead set on making me one.”

Those parents that pushed their dreams onto their children, huh?

“Now that I think about it, I saw your dad in middle school, at the festival. He looked like a cool dad.”

Ray’s face darkened.

“Appearances can be deceiving. He’s actually pretty annoying. I didn’t decide to live on my own for nothing. My dad bosses around his familiars, but in fact, it’s because he has to keep a high vigilance over his whole house just in case a danger appears. He’s well-known, so he has to deal with quite a few shady incidents per year.”

“Sounds like being a necromancer is a real pain.”

“It is. Oh, but that doesn’t mean I will be chased for reviving you, of course! If we keep a low profile, you will be able to live almost like before… hopefully. You probably know it, but necromancy is considered a dark art by the World Government. Do you know the reason?”

“Huh… Because the Holy Gods don’t like it?”

“No. The World Government has no religion, Armen. Necromancy is condemned because of the high rates of fatal accidents it causes, but also because it goes against the morality of a lot of cultures. Still… necromancy excites much controversy. And precisely because it’s ethically polemic, the Dark Arts Regulators have a hard time dealing with some questions, such as… is it a crime to give life to a corpse? can corpses be owned? or… is an undead guilty just because it exists?”

“Am I?”

“Of course you’re not! I was the one who revived you along with my dad. But as necromancy works, they can’t easily punish the necromancer without punishing the undead along, so… their Justice hits a wall.”

“That sounds complicated. So those Regulators won’t do anything against me?”

“According to my dad, as long as we don’t cause problems, they won’t bother to do anything. They do try to avoid new necromancy cases, though. They confiscate books, prevent corpse trafficking, and the like… but the most bothersome thing for us is that they work hard on keeping a record of the necromancers and undead living in an area so they can contact them and keep a close eye on them. We don’t want that. And that, for… several reasons. One of them is that being on their list means our names can end up in the hands of other people way more dangerous to us. People like the Death Hunters.”

“… For some reason, I don’t like the sound of it,” I grimaced.

“That’s how necromancers call them. They are fanatics who think that necromancy is a sin; some work in groups, others are lone wolves, but they all have something in common: they track and kill necromancers and undead. For the money, or because of personal grudges or beliefs. They’re the ones we have to avoid at any cost. So… that’s why you can’t say what happened to anyone, not even to your sis. She works for the Nyomin Union, and Nyomins work for the World Government, so you’d just be putting her in a bad spot if you were to tell her or blunder before her. If we want to keep living normally, then… Armen?”

My eyes had gone wide.

“Armen? Did I scare you? Sorry, relax, you don’t need to be afraid!” Ray assured, raising his hands. “I’ll teach you all I know about the undead. As long as we’re careful, you shouldn’t get caught—”

“I’m fine, it’s just that I completely forgot about my big sis,” I groaned, suddenly nervous. Knowing her, she had surely already called the police to search for me and…

“Oh, about that…” Ray held out my cellphone. “Last night, I took the liberty to text her pretending to be you.”

I stared at him in disbelief, and Ray shrugged, uneasy.

“I told her you would stay over at my place. I thought it’d be better if she didn’t have to worry about you.”

“Haha, that’s true. I never expected you to know the password, though. That’s Ray Styxer for you. Did you spy on me?”

“No need. 1111. Did your finger get stuck when you changed your PIN?”

“Oh. I thought it would be better than 1234 or 4321.”

“You’re hopeless. Anyway, I was lucky to get the right number on the first try.”

“Are you a telepath? Oh! You used emojis,” I said happily, reading the messages. “So rare of you.”

“You overuse emojis like a middle schooler, so I did the same. She really believed I was you, I think.”

“Good job, good job.”

My big sis had answered:

‘Sis, yesterday, at 21:56: No prob! Eat well and have a good time, lil bro! 😉’

That was so like her, always wanting me to hang out with friends like it was the best thing I could do during my youth…

‘Sis, today, at 11:04: Still sleeping? 😴’

‘11:04: We’ll have demon-fish brains for tonight~ >°))))彡’

‘11:05: Just kidding XD’

‘11:05: Last time was an experiment.’

‘12:06: I’ll go shopping in the afternoon for tonight dinner, let me know if u have sth in mind.’

After a pause, I began texting:

‘Armen, 12:22: Plz, spare me your experiments, big sis 😱’

‘12:23: We have midterms soon, so I’m thinking of staying over at Ray’s place a few days to study with him.’

‘12:24: I’ll drop by home this afternoon to get my textbooks.’

The answer came right away.

‘Sis, 12:24: 👍 You sound like a real high schooler.’

‘Armen, 12:24: But I am a high schooler 😅 Thx’

‘12:25: Ray’s a nerd, so I thought if I hang out with him a lot, I’ll get smarter faster then eating demon-fish brains 😎’

‘12:25: Like a chameleon.’

‘Sis, 12:26: lol, ain’t ya clever.’

‘Sis, 12:26: *faster thaaaan BTW 😉’

I rubbed my forehead. That mistake again…

“Then, than, than, then… I can’t tell them apart. Anyway, Ray,” I said, putting the cellphone on the table. “Big sis said it’s okay if I stay here. I’ll bother you. Hope you don’t mind.”

“Not at all,” Ray said rolling his eyes as he put away his own cellphone. “She just told me not to let you take advantage of me.”

“Seriously? You two write so fast.”

“You’re always wasting time searching for emojis, Armen, that’s why.”

“Damn, that’s true. But I can’t help it. Communication is 90% pictures and gestures, after all.”

“Wrong. Don’t throw random numbers just to act cool.”

“Sorry. Is that really wrong? But I heard that…” Bzz, bzz. Bzz, bzz. I frowned as I looked back at my phone. “Who the hell is Darkness12?”

‘Darkness12, at 12:28: Good afternoon. How is my son doing?’

‘12:28: If anything happens to him, I’ll kill you~ 🕱 😊’

I swallowed hard as I read it out loud —though I didn’t have any saliva. Ray snorted and made a call on the spot.

“Dad! Are you crazy? Don’t write death-threatening messages on a cellphone! Do you want to get caught? No, a nickname doesn’t make you anonymous in any way, do I really have to explain it to you? Well, don’t message Armen! How did you get his number, anyway? What? Dammit, don’t be happy because I called you when all I’m doing is scolding you, old man!”

He hung up, out of breath.

“I can’t believe he got your phone number. Anyhow, if he texts you, just ignore him.”

“Yeah…”

My uneasiness clearly showed. The thought that an expert necromancer was talking to me was a bit distressful.

“Your dad’s use of emojis is scary.”

Ray sighed. He didn’t get easily upset, but his dad seemed to be a special case. That was a facet of him I didn’t know. I stood up.

“I’d better go get those textbooks. You’ll tell me the rest when I come back. Where are my clothes?”

“I’ll lend you some. Yours were stained with blood. And your glasses broke. But your school bag and wallet are safe, as well as your knit cap.”

“Oh, thanks. My mother knitted it, so it’d be sad if I were to lose it. But are you sure about lending me your stuff? You’re shorter than me.”

“Tsk. Hardly.”

His glare made me grin innocently.

“Well, some baggy clothes will be fine, I guess.”

As I was getting dressed, Ray said:

“Armen, be careful not to eat anything.”

“I lost my sense of taste, anyway. But why? Is there something like ‘vampires are powerless against garlic’ or—?”

“Garlic is inoffensive. Milk is not.”

“Milk?”

“Yeah. Milk and citrus fruits slow down the transformation of lifeforce into deathforce. Salt too, to a lesser extent. And large quantities of oil or alcohol would obstruct your inner pores, which are essential to absorb lifeforce and transfer it into your core.”

“… You lost me there.”

Ray grimaced.

“Anyway, don’t put anything in your mouth.”

“I got it.”

I put on my red knit cap on my head. Ray added:

“Oh yeah, so you know, this place isn’t in the same neighborhood at all. It’s a two-story house, a traditional one, and it’s pretty near the school.”

“Oh? So far from the Old Docks… And you moved all your things in one night?”

“Not me. My dad’s familiars helped me. Most of them aren’t smart, but a few of them are like you.”

“Ray! Did you call me smart just now?! I’m so happy—”

“Idiot. I mean, they act like humans, even if they don’t remember their past life.”

“Eeh, I see…” I said relaxedly as I followed him downstairs. “Anyway, when I come back, be prepared, Ray Styxer. I’ll ask you a lot of questi—” I stopped dead by the doorway. “It’s fine, right? To step outside even though I’m dead?”

Ray shook his head.

“Don’t worry, no one will notice as long as you act naturally.”

“In novels, the undead smell of rotten corpses—”

“We revived you before your body began to stink. Besides, your body is no longer a corpse but an undead body: as long as it is nurtured with energy, it won’t decay.”

I gulped.

“Ah. I won’t rot then? That’s great!”

“Yes, but you’ll need lifeforce to live on… Ah, right, try to avoid physical contact. The way you are, it’s unlikely that you’ll be able to absorb lifeforce, since you’ve been just resurrected, but better be cautious.”

I stared at him. Absorb… lifeforce? So that’s why Ray said that eating raw meat wasn’t going to be my life sustenance. I didn’t quite get it but…

“Okay, I’ll be off, then.”

I made the door slide on the side and stepped on the veranda. It sure was a traditional wooden house. It even had a little yard on the front with an orange tree bowing down under the weight of its yellowish fruits yet to mature.

The sun was bright and I stepped back subconsciously.

“Th-Th-The sun—”

“Don’t worry. In winter, the sun's rays are weak. You should be fine. Even in summer, it’s not like you will turn into ashes. That’s a myth.”

I sighed in relief. I couldn’t drink milk, nor oil, alcohol, or anything too salty, but garlic and sun, the undead’s classic weaknesses I had heard of, were harmless in reality. There were so many things I didn’t know! Was it really okay for me to go out like this?

“Er… Armen. Do you want me to go with you?”

My eyes slightly widened. That’s true. Ray was here, with me, and he said I should be fine.

I turned back and smiled.

“Thanks. But I’m fine. I’ll be right back.”

I breathed in —even though I didn’t need to—, and adjusting my school bag on my shoulder, I passed the entrance and left the house.

As soon as I was out of his sight, Ray muttered gloomily:

“Armen, you liar. There’s no way you’re fine…”