The afterlife blew up Gensokyo

Destroying these gods is easy, but seizing the faith of the people under their rule is far more difficult.

It is precisely for this reason that Shinki wanted to create a place like Takamagahara, and according to Shinki's idea, there should be no relationship between gods and humans other than faith.

Unifying all existing countries and establishing a single, unified nation was only the first step in her plan.

The second step is to transform the currently prevalent "divine rule" into "human rule," that is, to change the way in which gods rule the entire country to the way in which humans rule their own country.

The third step, harvesting faith, can only be carried out after the first two steps have been completed.

As for the fourth step... it's probably running away.

Because they were in a hurry, someone took a cruel and inhumane... hard shot of a frog.

Yeah... it's that kind of scenario where you're perfectly fine at home, and suddenly someone climbs in through the window, pulls out their phone and starts snapping pictures of you before you even realize what's happening, then brazenly leaves.

Because of this person's actions, an indelible psychological shadow was successfully cast on a certain frog, which directly led to a major incident in Gensokyo that affected the entire Gensokyo... caused by the frog.

Of course, that's in the future.

After successfully completing the encyclopedia entry for the frog, achieving a 2/3 completion of the Moriya Shrine encyclopedia, Tokihachi went to the Underworld with satisfaction, ready to officially begin his life as a Shinigami.

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"The work of the Grim Reaper is very simple. According to your needs, your job is to ferry the ghosts from the other side across the Sanzu River."

On the banks of the Sanzu River, shrouded in a hazy mist, Heca, unusually, stepped forward to act as someone's guide, pointing to the river before him.

"Although there are many Grim Reapers working in the Sanzu River, you generally won't encounter them in terms of work. As for the essential items for Grim Reapers' work, such as boats and scythes, they are uniformly issued by the Underworld."

"Is it just about bringing ghosts from the other side of the river by ship?"

With his arms crossed and chin in hand, the man looked thoughtful.

"This kind of job seems really simple..."

“Simple? Not all ghosts are qualified to cross the Sanzu River to come here and be judged by Yama.”

Heca explained the rules of the underworld very carefully.

"If a spirit wants to cross the Sanzu River, it must pay money. Those who don't have enough money will be thrown into the Sanzu River and sent directly to Hell to be punished. This method greatly reduces Yama's workload. Otherwise, with so many people dying every day, do you think the Underworld can judge them all one by one?"

"money?"

This was the first time Shi Bai had heard of such a thing, and he couldn't help but feel quite curious.

"Do ghosts carry money?"

"If you do too many bad things in your life, you cannot cross the river. The standard by which the Grim Reaper judges good and evil people is not based on the weight of their sins, but on 'money'. Although it is said that good and evil people are judged by 'money', the so-called 'money' does not refer to the property a person possessed before death, but rather how many people sincerely mourn the deceased. The specific method of judgment is very complicated, and the rules of the underworld have their own set of judgment criteria."

Heca reached out and picked a red spider lily from the ground beside her, glancing at the person next to her.

"If you were a ghost, you'd probably be killed the moment you boarded the ship and head straight to hell... As for the ghosts judging your sins after you cross the river, that's none of your business."

"So this so-called 'money' is probably the first step in the underworld's process of screening sinners?"

Shi Bai didn't seem to care about Heca's teasing at all; instead, he nodded thoughtfully.

"After all, there are only so many Enma. If we had to deal with them one by one, we'd probably be exhausted... By the way, how much should I charge each ghost?"

"Of course, ghosts must give all the 'money' they have to Death in order to ask him to ferry them across. If they are unwilling to give up all the 'money'... then they should just throw it into the river."

Heca pursed his lips.

"Do you think that crossing the Sanzu River is free of charge? The more 'money' a ghost pays, the faster it can reach the other side; the less 'money,' the more painful it is, and the longer it takes to reach the other side. These are the effects that the Sanzu River itself imposes on their subjective consciousness, but they have no effect on the Grim Reaper."

"Hmm... I think I understand a little better now."

Shi Bai reached out and touched his chin, then nodded.

"It's not surprising that the Sanzu River, being the first river to appear when the underworld was born, possesses such wondrous power. But the way you described it... it makes me feel like the Grim Reapers are just tools."

"A tool? What is a tool?"

Heca looked completely bewildered.

"You chose to become the Grim Reaper yourself; I didn't force you. You could stay in the underworld for as long as you want without doing anything, it wouldn't be a problem. Who asked you to say you wanted to be the Grim Reaper?"

"A tool is a tool, huh... Okay, back to the point, how much is the Grim Reaper's salary?"

With a slight pout, Shi Bai looked at the river shrouded in mist before him and sat down among the spider lilies.

"And what about the daily working hours, off-duty hours, and rest time? Since you're a Grim Reaper, you must have accommodation provided, right? Free food and lodging are basic requirements. Also, my..."

"The underworld has no plans to pay wages for the time being."

Faced with this barrage of questions, Heca rolled her eyes in exasperation.

"You can decide your working hours and duration yourself. Anyway, you won't follow my rules. As for where you live... no one lives in that huge Jade Tower you left behind. Why don't you just live there?"

"Without a salary, there's no motivation. You're a heartless company, don't you know that? You're supposed to be the representatives of the underworld, can't you even come up with a currency system?"

Shi Bai looked heartbroken.

"Speaking of which, the Grim Reapers and Yama in the Underworld are really pitiful! They work for free every day without any pay, and there's no hope for their lives. They're just like workers on a production line with no future at all!!"

—Someone has completely forgotten the Celestial and Immortal system that he previously set up for the Heavenly Realm.

"This is too much trouble, I don't want to do it. If you want to do it, then do it yourself."

Heca moved aside with obvious disgust and began to speak.

"And so what if there's no salary? Even if there are occasionally some complaining Grim Reapers or something, there's still Meng Po's Soup of Oblivion and the Water of the River of Forgetfulness... uh..."

Heca realized halfway through her sentence that she seemed to have accidentally let something slip in her daze.

"Sweatshops, you capitalists are all black-hearted."

They quickly came to their senses, and the person also moved their body to the side with considerable disgust.

"All I wanted was for those immortals to work 24/7, while you're trying to keep Death and the others working with renewed enthusiasm by making them forget everything... Tsk tsk tsk, you're really ruthless."

"Don't slander me for no reason!! I only said it, I didn't actually do it, otherwise do you think the Grim Reaper and Enma would still have time to rest?"

Heca looked at her with disdain.

"And you, who planned to make them work 24/7, aren't you the devil?!"

"Hmph, enough nonsense, I've already seen through your true nature."

With his arms crossed, the man wore a cold smile.

"In short, are you selling Meng Po's Soup and the Water of the River of Oblivion? I want to buy in bulk!!"

Heca: "???"

P.S.: Good morning!

Chapter Nine: The Legendary Ghost King Jump

What is it like to die?

He didn't know that before, but now he does.

The heavy body became light, the soul detached from the body, drifting aimlessly in the vast darkness, losing all self-awareness and wandering blindly forward.

It wasn't until he arrived here that his self-awareness truly returned, and only then did he understand.

Who exactly is he?

Staring at the vast river shrouded in thick fog, it took him a long time before he looked down at his illusory hands and finally snapped out of his daze of being dead.

To this day, he still remembers the scene when he stood in front of the monster with his sword and the people behind him fled in panic, as well as the scene when his body was torn apart by the monster and fresh snow covered the earth.

...Is this what death feels like?

He subconsciously touched his still intact neck, a fleeting look of confusion crossing his eyes.

Some people are afraid of death, while others are not. The former are called ordinary humans, and the latter are called outlaws or something else entirely.

To be honest, he wasn't afraid of death, but he was afraid of having nothing after he died. Occasionally, just thinking about the scene of nothing existing after he died would make him tremble with fear.

...But why did I choose to stand up at that time?

If he were to die and have nothing left, then he would truly have nothing left.

Was it to protect her?

A blurry image of a girl flashed through my mind, but it vanished in an instant, followed by a sharp pain that seemed to emanate from the depths of my mind.

who is she?

...I can't remember.

In the afterlife, do even memories gradually fade?

But if I'm already dead, then where... am I?

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but look to his side, where a dozen ghosts with illusory bodies, just like him, were standing beside him.

This place vaguely resembles a ferry crossing; guided by some unseen force, they crossed a long boundary to arrive here.

So are we waiting for... the ferry?

Almost at the same time that strange thought had just crossed his mind, a blurry black figure appeared in the mist-shrouded river in front of him.

—It was an extremely simple and rustic wooden boat.

At the bow of the ship stood a young man dressed in white with black hair and black eyes. A huge scythe, disproportionate to his size, was placed across the ship like a piece of trash.

"Welcome to the Underworld. I am Death, here to guide you. Do you wish to board the ship? Shake your head if you do, nod if you do not."

As the wooden boat drew near, the figure standing at the bow gave them a friendly smile.

Death... the Underworld...

Almost instinctively, he wanted to nod, but after a moment of silence, he silently shook his head.

They definitely had to get on the ship, since they couldn't possibly go back the way they came. But why did this guy in front of them, who called himself the Grim Reaper, seem a bit unreliable?

Due to the rules, at least here, ghosts cannot speak, so they can only answer each other's questions with actions.

"Very well, then if you want to board the ship, pay the fee, and those who pay can board the ship."

He jumped off the ship, and Death wore a kind smile.

"Please remember to line up, one at a time, and don't cut in line."

...Money?

As the Grim Reaper spoke, he looked down at his palm, and under the influence of some kind of rule, a dozen strange sheets of paper slowly appeared in his palm.

"Hmm... Twenty yuan, crossing the river takes about three days. One hundred yuan, crossing the river takes ten hours... Holy crap, a negative one thousand?"

The voice of the Grim Reaper came from ahead, and he raised his head in confusion.

The first two people, who had already handed over all their money, obediently boarded the ship. The third person, a large, bloated fat man, looked at his hands in disbelief, seemingly wondering why the amount of money in his hand was negative.

"What a talent! When you go to hell, remember to say hello to Watermelon for me. It's rare for her to invite me for drinks, and I'll gladly accept after get off work... Go for it!!"

After patting the fat man on the shoulder with great enthusiasm, just as the fat man's face lit up with a fawning smile, the Grim Reaper simply kicked the fat man into the river.

Almost instantly, the rushing river completely submerged the figure of the fat man.

Seeing this scene, everyone immediately fell silent... Although they were not supposed to speak anyway, they clearly became much more well-behaved.

The ticket check continued, and after the Grim Reaper kicked three more people into the river, the other person finally walked up to him.

Without the slightest hesitation, he calmly displayed the money in his hand.

"Five thousand... crossing time is five minutes."

After giving him a slightly surprised look, Death himself readily took all the money from his hand.

"Come on board."

Without any hesitation, or rather, hesitation simply didn't exist for him, he was the last to step onto that small wooden boat.

The wooden boat wasn't very big to begin with, and it became quite cramped after five or six people stood on it.

However, after the Grim Reaper boarded the ship, the people who had boarded before him for some unknown reason turned into a pile of light orbs stacked in the center of the ship, instantly making the originally narrow wooden ship much more spacious.

I haven't turned into a ball of light yet... is it because I gave the most money?