After I died, my world became a dark place. Everywhere I look, all I saw was darkness. I don't know how long I was in the darkness. I was just sitting there in the darkness in one place.

'Is this what death feels like? How disappointing.' I laugh. I truly thought death was scarier. Pain was only momentary but the emptiness I felt inside me was more or less permanent. After death, I had expected an angel to guide me up to heaven. 'Does this mean that I am not qualified to be sent to heaven?'

A long time had pass as I kept on questioning myself about death and other similar thoughts. When I was fed up with staying still in the darkness, I decided to get up and walk forward. I didn't know if I was going the right direction. Time has no real meaning in a world full of darkness and neither does direction. All I knew was that I was moving forward.

I walked for quite a long time until I reach a giant stone slab that seemed quite old. I was left in awe when I saw the giant thin slab. I became curious and went to inspect the slab. Ancient and mysterious carvings adorned around the giant slab with such detail that one would think it was a master piece from some amazing sculptor if not sculptors. The giant slab could not really be called a slab because it was paper thin and the only volume it has were the decorations.

On the outer edge of the giant slab were stone angels of the trinity each holding a mirror in hand, eight pale marble flowers that encircles the slab, and two obsidian orbs on polar opposite sides of the slab. But what struck to me was that the inner area of the giant slab was blank. 'Why is it blank? Is this an unfinished art work? If so, why is it here?' I thought to myself. I dare not touch the art work. It seemed so ancient that it looked like it could crumble at a mere touch.

But at that moment, the giant paper thin slab begins to shine. The light blinds my vision and envelops my body. When I open my eyes, I could see that I was hovering over my own dead body. "What the hell?" I said as I couldn't believe it. I am witnessing the moment of my death. During the awards ceremony, I had a heart attack and died while standing still. I thought it was only a heart attack, but that wasn't all of it.

My family rushed me to the hospital as fast as they could. The doctors immediately rushed me to the emergency surgery room in order to save me. But they were too late. I was already dead even before they got a chance to cut up my body. Electric shocks were useless and so was CPR.

It was only later did they find the cause of my death. The doctors diagnosed it as a heart failure. When they came with the bad news to my parents, the tears were inevitable. "We suspect that the cause of the heart failure to be exhaustion mentally and physically. Has your son been unhealthy in any sort of way? How did he live his life?” the doctor asks my parent. When they ask these types of questions, I thought back to my high school years. I was in so many clubs with so many activities that I forgot what exhaustion meant. All I really wanted was for my portfolio to be good when I enter college.

I was never the best in any activity since I didn't want to over work myself so I only put moderate efforts into club activities. My grades were all B's and above except for two D's. This was all the doing of spiteful teachers who expects or despises perfections in students. It is either an A or a D to them. I could only wonder, 'how is it that having all B's and above count as perfection in their eyes?'

Space warped and the scenery around me was dark and rainy cemetery. I look around to see that I was still flying high above in the night sky and could hear the cries of people down below. When I look down, I recognize some of them. My family was there crying but there were some people I could not recognize. One by one, they paid their respect to my grave. Sadly, none of my friends attend to my funeral. But that was alright. People still have to live their life so I didn't blame them. When everyone left I flew down to my grave and took a long look at myself.

"What a life you had. You work all day and study all night to earn yourself a living in hopes of living on your own when you enter college. Not a day of your life did you enjoy nor did you hate. All these were just passing everyday emotions to you.” I said to myself. That's right. I lived in poverty with my family with little income. It was because I hated being poor that I work all day and studied all night. Regardless of the jobs I had to do, I just didn't want another day of suffering just because we were short on money.

I still remember that in my first year of grade school. I had to wear worn ripped shoes because my parents were short on money to buy me some shoes. But I didn't blame them. The economy suffered a depression in which took jobs away from many families. It was unfortunate that it had to hit us. Thus I was known as the broke boy in my grade school year for five long years.

Due to being broke, scorn and looked down by others, and humiliated just because my family was slightly poor, I began to study like a madman. Not once during those five years did I participate in any activity unless I was called on. When I was in sixth grade, my family was living in a slightly better conditions as I entered a prestigious middle school which ranked 2nd in the city. The economy shifted out of the depression and was back on track to growth. By then my academics were ranked at the top 50 in my school. I also worked from then on since money is an important thing to have. Seeing that I was growing up responsibly, my parents had high hopes for me as they saw my grades were improving.

But in the middle of that year, some classmates didn't like how I was climbing up in the ranks and decided to push me down. I was not afraid to be bullied and was not afraid to fight back. I was only afraid of the fact that their parents were richer and in fact some of their parents were the boss of my parent. Other students were pushed down as well because their families worked under these types of bosses as well. I've seen some families unfairly affected because of these spoiled kids. So all I could do is follow along but I was never obedient. I was often called, "The Pacifist" during these years which seems like a joke. Needless to say, my family and I lived in an unfair world. Call me a coward if you must but I am not willing to take chances in life.

When I entered high school, I decided not to stand out amongst my peers and thus only aimed for the highest average I could have in each class. Thankfully, the only classes I could earn A's in were the unimportant ones. At least they were unimportant in the eyes of others. I entered a multitude of clubs in order to build up my portfolio to show that I am a team player.

But now that I am dead, none of that matters and I had only one regret. I regret the fact that I still couldn't do that much for my family even after I died. Not only that, I also brought them grief. I really wanted to cry for all the sadness I brought them.

Space warped around me one more and brought me back into the darkness where the slab was. But this time, in front of me was a hooded person holding a crescent blade. Just as I was about to ask who the person was, the hooded person pointed his finger at me and let out a loud laughter. "Gya ha ha ha ha! Ah ha ha ha ha! You died a virgin!!!!!" the hooded person roared. By the voice, it sounded like an old man.

'I was not the slightest irritated. Being a virgin doesn't bother me.' I told myself. But in truth, I was pissed. One of the few mysteries of the world and I could never know why it always pisses me off when someone calls me a virgin. But now even after death I was called a virgin and was made fun of for that very reason.

"Are you here only to make fun of me?" I said coldly

"Oh lighten up. At the very least you didn't die from a disease" he said lightly.

"I died from a heart failure....." I said to him.

"Eh? You didn't die from being stabbed twenty times in the heart before losing your virginity?" the old man said in surprise.

"No. I died from a sudden heart failure during my graduation ceremony" I told him once more.

"What? If you didn't die from being stabbed..... Oh god..... So that's why you didn't look like swish cheese" the old man said as his voice trailed off. "Let me take a look at your death record for a bit" he said to me as he put his hand on my chest.

A small ball of light came out of my chest like a crystal orb and inside it replayed the moments of my deaths.

The old man then took out a book and reviewed it.

"Oh dear.... I got the wrong soul..." his voice sadly trailed off.

"Wait! Then I wasn't supposed to die?" I was surprise to find out.

"Nope. You were supposed to live till two hundred due to your good karma of your many previous past lives. I crossed off the wrong name by accident. See look here" he said as he points into the book.

It was indeed my name that was crossed as the name Jin Kai Zhao was crossed with a black line. Under my name was the information on how I should have died. Then I look a line down and saw the name below mine was also Jin Zhao but the middle name was Rai. Under his information he died from twenty stabs to the heart from many different angles looking like swish cheese just before he was able to lose his virginity.

At that moment, I began to realize that it was a mistake. All this was a mistake. The heavens don't have eyes!

"Ah don't worry. All we have to do is add one more strike to your good karma. By doing so, you will have a chance to become a servant of the heavens." he said as he flicks his right hand. A small brush appeared and was about to add a stroke to the book. But when he looked at the book once more, with a gaping mouth.

"N-nine? Nine past lives as saints? Are you joking me?" the old man gasps for air.

"So? What is wrong with having nine past lives as saints? Is there a problem?" I ask him

"By the books, when you have two good karma past lives, you have a chance to become the servant of the heavens. When it is four, you have a chance to become the caretaker of the heavens. When it is six, you have a chance to become a messenger of the heavens. When the number becomes eight, you become one of the embodiments of light in the heavens. Think of it as a demigod which serves god and is an equal to many demigods of the higher planes. But nine.... and ten...." the old man said while still in a state of shock.

"What? Is there something I am missing here?" I ask the old man.

"Nine good past lives gives one a chance to become an angel of light. If the strikes become ten, then you would become the paragon of light" the old man said before he let out a sigh.

"Is that a good thing?" I said as I raise an eye brow.

"It is. It is. I just feel sorry for your past lives. Living nine past lives as saints is already hard enough. But now, although you didn't live like a saint, you still died by an accident in which I still have to compensate by adding another strike to your good karma." he said as he hung his head.

I was only wondering why he was looking gloomy.

"Then why are you sad?" I ask him.

"Simple. I just killed a candidate who had a chance to become a paragon of light. Now the heavens will punish me for a long time to come" he sadly wailed.

I felt bad for him for just a bit.

"Oh well... You still died a virgin!!!!!!" he roared laughing.

I no longer felt bad for him

"I make a few mistakes every now and then. Oh well. Two hundred years’ worth of punishment here I come" he laughed.

I really wanted to kill this old man for taking my life unjustly.

But then, a piece of paper flew down from above and shined with golden light.

"Heaven's decree!?" the old man said in surprise. I could even hear his lips quivering.

"?" I didn't know a piece of paper was a heaven's decree.

When the man took the paper and read it, his face changed. It wasn't a face of fear but happiness.

He then tried to rip the paper. But it didn’t rip. He stabbed it with a dagger and a knife but it didn’t cut. He tried to chew it but his teeth broke. Lastly, he tried to swallow it but it came back up along with his vomits.

He then roared out, “HA HA! So it is a Heavenly Decree!”

"Alright. Listen up you lucky young man! Heaven's decree states, 'Due to unjust death on Jin Kai Zhao, we are granting him a second chance at life. We are here to give him a three year time limit. If he successfully becomes a saint within the amounted time, not only will he is granted to become a paragon of light, the one who accidentally took away his life will be allowed a chance to redeem himself free of all previous punishment.' So now, for both our sakes, become a saint. Or else...." the old man said seriously.

"Or else what?" I ask out of curiosity.

"Or else my ass is on a platter and yours is back into reincarnation. It isn't you that have to worry about getting in to trouble but me. I beg of you, please become a saint for both our sake" the old man pleaded

"Alright. But how do I get back to my old body?" I ask him.

The old man points towards the slab. "Touch that stone and it will become the door back to your world. It was originally Death’s door leading one to hell or heaven depending on the karma. But it will transform and you will come back from your grave once you go through. Just hope that you don't die before the three years" the old man said in a joking tone. “No but seriously. Become a saint.”

I still had a slight suspicion about that paper. So I snatched it from his hands and read the words. Strangely, I could read the weird symbols. To sum up what it said, it does give me a three year time limit to become a saint. But the old man will become my guardian during the time limit. The decree will also boost many of my features such as appearance and health. But most of all, it will greatly increase my luck. Thus the chance of me dying will be nearly impossible. Should I complete it, I would have a chance to become a paragon and the old man would be promoted from angel of death to messenger of the heavens and is pardoned from all previous punishment.

"This have to be the thickest plot armor the heavens can ever give to a person" I murmured.

The old man, seeing that I was reading the paper burst out laughing. "So you aren't just a person who would just listen to what people spout. Good. Good! Ah ha ha. But now, we don't any time to waste. Hurry up and become a saint!"

Deeming all this as the truth, I walked right up to the slab and touched it. The slab grew bigger and bigger as the ornaments came to life. When it stopped growing, the slab transformed into a door just like he said it would and swung wide open.

I could feel the excitement grow in my heart. Mainly due to the fact that I am coming back to life. I took my first step before I enter. My heart began to beat rapidly just like the time I had a heart attack. Okay that was a bad comparison but you know what I mean.

But then, “Stop being over dramatic damn kid and go!” the old man yelled and pushed me into the door. “Damn old man!” I angrily yelled. But it was useless. The door already slammed shut before he could hear anything.

Crossing the threshold between life and death, I could feel a clear change in my body. If one could describe it, it would be euphoria. Essences of light filled my body with a lot of energy that can be considered pure. Suddenly, half way, a mad laughter could be heard and I could feel the essences of darkness entering me as well.

My body felt heavy as both energies convulse inside of me. Great changes took place inside my body. Almost as if my soul was being split apart. I became unconscious due to the heavy stress and my world turned black once more.