After the Reaper Started Working for Me

[The Days the Grim Reaper and I Neglected Our Duties]

The Grim Reaper's performance is measured by the souls he reaps. He accumulates yin virtue in exchange for a chance at reincarnation.

Maybe he had sinned too much, or maybe he had neglected his duties. Either way, Cheng Cang became the Grim Reaper with the longest tenure and the worst performance in the Underworld.

Unable to stand watching any longer, Yan Luo gave Cheng Cang a mission: investigate why the people handled by funeral director Song Xie were unable to reincarnate.

Cheng Cang hurried over with his enormous soul-reaping scythe.

Song Xie took one look at him. "Here for an interview? Your blade's too dirty. Go wash it first, then we'll talk."

Cheng Cang: ...

This is the Grim Reaper's scythe!!!!

-

Song Xie, born with yin-yang eyes, often heard the grievances of wronged spirits and saw evil people lord it over the world, carefree and unpunished.

He asked Cheng Cang, "Is there really a cycle of good and evil in this world, with karma and retribution?"

Cheng Cang: "There wasn't before, but now there is for anyone who passes through my hands."

Yan Luo: "All right, case closed. So you two have been working together, one inside and one outside, to cut down the Underworld's reincarnation wait times!"

-

At last, the girl had let go of her resentment and was ready to leave the human world. But after lingering here for too long, her face had rotted beyond recognition.

"My nose has rotted away. I don't look pretty anymore. He won't recognize me."

Song Xie picked up his brush, ready to paint a flower on the girl's face to cover it.

Then the gong rang three times. It was time to send her soul home.

Song Xie looked at Cheng Cang, who was holding the Book of the Dead.

Cheng Cang: "Why are you looking at me? Do you need me to help pick a flower?"

--

"Death is not the end. Being forgotten is."

"Today, the gods are feeling kind. May your whole life go as you wish."

☆ A Grim Reaper who thinks he's wild, cool, and dazzling but is actually a goofy slacker x a gentle, levelheaded, penny-pinching funeral director who thinks about docking the Grim Reaper's pay every day

(The cover shows how the Grim Reaper imagines himself.)

Blurb written on February 11, 2021

Theme: Cherish the present. Treat every second of life as if it were your last. Love those who are lovely, and punish those who are vile.