Chapter 9: Side story. The bet between Goad and the devil

“Chief Administrator? A dimensional breach occurred in the 17th dimension.”

“That place is always summoning someone. Probably another dimension needed a hero and took one.”

After the reporting angel left, another entered.

“The 66th dimension has met its end.”

“Survivors?”

“A few are alive.”

“Report back later with updates. Next.”

As one angel left, another came in, and the cycle continued. Handling hundreds to thousands of dimension-related documents daily, after centuries of this, I’m beyond fed up.

Who knows? Hell’s been screaming about staff shortages too. Lamenting my fate, I was processing the next document when someone burst in frantically.

“Chief Administrator! Emergency!”

“What is it?”

“An uncontrollable soul is rampaging in our dimension!”

Looking up from the papers, I saw a dimension manager. For someone like that to come personally, it must be serious.

What happens when a soul goes out of control? The dimension it’s in, and any connected ones, slowly collapse.

“Paperwork’s already a hassle, and now this nonsense. Raphael, can you handle these documents for a bit?”

“Why not use time suspension?”

“You know last time I did that, it caused issues in several dimensions. Manage things while I’m gone.”

Dressed and following the manager, I confirmed a rampaging soul was rapidly absorbing dimensional energy, preparing to obliterate the dimension.

“That’s the best we could suppress it. If it continues, the 17th dimension and I will be erased.”

“If it was just you and your dimension, no big deal. The problem is the ripple effect wiping out connected dimensions and their managers.”

[Space Severance]

Locating the soul’s core, I severed its access to dimensional energy temporarily and prepared a negotiation table. Then, I morphed into a form the soul would find most comforting and investigated the cause of its rampage.

“A 30-something potbellied guy makes it feel at ease? Weird taste. Let’s peek at its memory fragments.”

‘I want to live looking sick. Really sick. I was too healthy-looking, so no one cared when I was in pain. Why am I the only one suffering? I want to be worried about and comforted too.’

“…This is why it rampaged successfully? How much resentment does it take to succeed where even deeply vengeful souls often fail?”

Soul rampages are usually driven by grudges, with powerful souls seeking revenge. But a rampage from feeling misunderstood? That’s a first in my career.

“Granting the wish would mean making them look sick… Wait, didn’t the 24th dimension ask for help with a ‘shell’?”

A shell is a risk. It’s harmless on its own, but if a sentient being interacts with it, turning it into something else, big problems arise.

“No sentient being in that dimension noticed the shell for 22 years. Lucky. I’ll handle both issues at once.”

As the soul calmed and stabilized, I spoke, making it aware of its death.

“Are you coming to? No time, so I’ll be blunt: you’re dead.”

“Huh?”

“You’re dead.”

“Suddenly?”

Nine out of ten souls deny their death. Unprepared souls, mostly. The one in ten who accept it are ready to go. This one was the former.

“Your body reached its limit enduring pain, so death was inevitable. Honestly, it was never built to last.”

“I see.”

“You’re accepting death faster than most.”

Unlike others, who often rampage again, doubling the trouble, this one seemed easier to handle.

“Well, doctors gave me a month, so it’s not surprising. Who are you? A reaper? Or a god?”

“God.”

I wanted to explain, but with little time left in the severed space, I posed as a god. Surely, the real god would understand, given it’s for work.

“Do gods guide the dead? I heard reapers do that.”

“Your life was so tragic, I came to grant a wish. Normally, reapers handle it. You’re a special case.”

Special indeed. Usually, low or mid-tier angels or the soul’s assigned demon come for it. Waiting for the wish, the soul asked for details.

“So any wish works? Like reincarnation, past lives, or possession?”

“Anything. And since one wish feels cheap, I’ll grant up to three.”

Initially, I planned to grant one and send it to the 24th dimension, but its resentment piqued my curiosity, so I offered three. What would it wish for? I was dying to know.

“Make me reincarnate with a healthy body that looks sick. Physically, not mentally. No matter what I do, make me look fragile, like a glassfish.”

“I’ll give you a chance to reconsider.”

All three… on looking sick? Not wealth or power?

Thinking I misheard, I offered a redo, but it was firm.

“No need to reconsider.”

“Fine, I’ll grant your wish. Don’t blame me later—I gave you a chance.”

“Don’t make me anxious. Just grant it.”

This soul is serious about looking frail.

It’s been ages since I met such an intriguing soul, so I secretly marked it to watch later. Then, I explained the wish’s fulfillment.

“Enter that gate, and your wish will come true. It’s similar to your old world but different. You’ll live as a ‘healthy person who looks sick.’ Satisfied?”

“Satisfied.”

“Time’s up. Enjoy your next life.”

With little time left in the severed space, I bid farewell and started work on the 24th dimension’s shell.

[Grant Settings]

“Let’s see, what works? Make the appearance as frail as possible… Oh, shit, I messed up.”

This isn’t frail—it’s on death’s door. I tried to fix it with divine power, but the 24th dimension restricts divine and magical energy. I lacked power to customize further without compromising other settings.

“Of all places, the 24th dimension… No choice. I’ll invest more as my power recharges. Wait, this shell is female? Well, it’s their choice, so they’ll deal with it.”

Settings complete, I headed back to the celestial realm for paperwork, but the 17th dimension’s manager followed.

“Resolved?”

“Yep. Moved the soul to the 24th dimension.”

“Won’t the demons flip?”

“Demons? Is that soul tied to them?”

Scratching their head, the manager explained.

“That soul was assigned to hell. The demon in charge will lose it when they find out.”

“Who’s the demon?”

“Archdemon Mephistopheles.”

Trouble.

A soul powerful enough to nearly destroy a dimension would’ve been a prized worker. Mephistopheles will surely storm the celestial realm.

“Let’s deal with that later. I’m heading up, so handle the cleanup.”

“Thank you, Chief Administrator.”

I returned to finish paperwork and prepare for Mephistopheles’ chaos.

—

As the day’s paperwork neared completion in the celestial realm, I stretched.

“Raphael, put these sorted documents over there.”

“Anything else, sir?”

“You can head home.”

No archdemon showed, so I told the archangels they could leave. But then, commotion erupted outside.

“Stop him! Keep that archdemon out of the office!”

“Get lost, you angelic bastards! Faust, you call yourself Chief Administrator?”

“How dare a vile archdemon step into this sacred place? Begone!”

“Sacred, my ass. Hell’s holier than this hypocritical dump, you filthy flies!”

Raphael, who’d placed the documents, quietly summoned a spear.

“Raphael, put it away.”

“But if Mephistopheles attacks…”

“Prepare defense instead. If we clash, we’ll be working three days straight. Can you handle that?”

“…”

After a pause, she stowed the spear. The door burst open, and a red-haired woman in a suit stormed in, panting.

Boom!

“Faust, you bastard! Have you no business ethics?”

“Lack ethics? I just did my job.”

“Oh, really?”

She drew a flame-wreathed whip.

“Then I’ll burn all these documents. Burning the celestial realm is part of my job, right?”

“…Stop the whip.”

Seeing her ready to incinerate everything, I prepared to protect the documents.

“You’ve got no ethics! First, a god breaks a completed contract and steals you. Now you send my prized soul to another dimension?”

“No choice. Left alone, dozens of dimensions would’ve collapsed. Would you let that happen?”

Calming down, she dismissed the whip and asked about the soul.

“Where’d you send it?”

“24th dimension.”

Correction: not calm.

“You sent it to a dimension where divine and magical power is restricted?”

“You can still cause minor poltergeists, right?”

“Minor poltergeists make me ache for weeks. Would you? Why the 24th dimension?”

I explained quietly to the furious archdemon.

“There was a shell there. I handled the 17th dimension’s soul rampage and the 24th’s issue at once. I had no other option.”

“A shell? The kind that appears once per dimension?”

“Yep. It existed unnoticed for years, so I put the rampaging soul in it before someone else messed with it.”

Sighing, she calmed down.

“Collecting from the 24th won’t be easy. Hell’s already short on labor.”

“But you’ve got an elite few, right? Quality over quantity.”

“They’re good, but one vacation and hell breaks loose. Anyway, that’s not the point. When that human dies in the 24th, they’re hell’s, right?”

“Nope.”

A dimension change lets a soul choose its afterlife. One meant for hell could go to the celestial realm.

“I’m not giving my prized worker to you.”

“Don’t bullshit me. That soul was ours! Retract that, or I burn your documents.”

“Try it.”

I’d already had archangels shield the documents. Even an archdemon can’t break that. But she couldn’t stay long in the celestial realm, so I moved to send her off.

“Mephi, let’s make a bet like old times.”

“Don’t joke. That shitty god will break another contract and take you. Why would I?”

“The god’s on a 100-year vacation. No human lives that long, so it’s a fair bet.”

Intrigued, she grinned maniacally.

“Fine. What’s the prize?”

“I’ll work in hell for 100 years, free. But if I win, you send an equally skilled worker.”

“Deal. No running if you lose, Faust.”

“I don’t plan to lose, you damned archdemon.”

The bet between a god and an archdemon began, transcending time.