Ethan opened his eyes to pitch darkness. Well, that wasn't exactly true, as there was a single source of light shining down on him. The only thought going through his head right now is:
Have I been kidnapped?
An assortment of ropes, chains, and locks had bound his entire body to a chair, kind of overkill if he was being honest. He tried to look down. Hard to do when you're tied tighter than a Black Friday electronics display.
Then, a voice resounded from the shadows.
"Seems you're awake?"
Ethan jolted.
The voice was female, it was deep, probably coming from someone with a lot of authority. Voices like these made Ethan flinch instantly, as it usually came when he got fired.
A figure stepped out of the dark. When she emerged in the light, he could finally see her full appearance.
Sharp accents, with short white hair trimmed at her chin. She approached casually, hand in her dark trenchcoat pockets.
She dragged a chair from the corner, flipped it around, and sat backward on it like she'd done this a hundred times.
Her chin rested lazily on her folded arms.
"Mornin'," she said.
Ethan stared. "…Who are you?"
"Well, Ethan."
She spoke his name like she'd known it for years.
"I'm Mina, and I'm just like you…"
Ethan blinked.
Like him?
She lived in a storage container too?
Worked three minimum-wage jobs?
Forgot her birthday?
She smiled at his confusion, the corner of her mouth curving with clear amusement.
"A Proxy."
Ethan inhaled sharply.
…Right.
He leaned back in the chair, well as much as he could without feeling like a Christmas Tree.
Everything was real, Thanatos, the Contract…
"T—That… that wasn't a hallucination?" he whispered. "He was real?"
"Oh, very real," she said casually.
Ethan stared at her, processing.
"So… you mean you work with a Reaper too?"
She grinned.
"Bingo."
She tapped her chest lightly, letting out a soft laugh.
"Point is, Ethan… you're one of us now."
Ethan blinked at her.
"…Okay but—how? I don't even remember agreeing to anything."
Mina's smile dropped to a frown.
"…Sorry, what?"
"I remember dying, then seeing this cloud thing. Then this white haired supermodel with a suit popped up…then I woke up here."
Mina froze.
"…Oh no."
"…No?" Ethan whimpered.
She stared at him with something between pity and disbelief.
"Ethan," she said slowly, "you didn't sign with a normal Reaper."
"You signed with the Reaper."
"W-What does that mean?!"
Mina crossed her arms.
"Thanatos," she said quietly, "And he's known for not taking Proxies."
Ethan blinked. "…Why?"
Mina continued, tone calm and matter-of-fact:
"He's the most competent Reaper ever. The one who never misses a collection—borderline stealing other Reapers' souls."
She pointed a thumb at herself.
"I've been doing this for ten years, and I've never even heard of him choosing a Proxy. Not once."
Ethan's voice shrank.
"So… why me?"
Mina shrugged.
"No clue." Then she added, annoyingly cheerful,
"But hey. Either you're extremely special, or extremely doomed."
His head hurt. He was used to going home every day, cooking himself a meal, and then reading webnovels in his spare time. Whatever this woman had said was completely beyond him. The only thing that grounded him was the cold chair and buzzing light overhead.
Ethan let out a shaky breath.
"Okay… hold on. Let's dial it back. What's a Reaper? What's a Proxy? And how am I doomed?"
Mina folded her hands on the chair's backrest.
"Alright. Simple version."
"A Reaper exists to collect souls. It's their entire job. Without them…souls get messy."
"Messy how?"
She continued smoothly.
"If a Reaper doesn't collect a person's soul in time—" she said smoothly,
"—the soul rots. Everything they feared or regretted twists together and manifests into a physical creature called a Wraith."
"You mean those weird shadow monsters on TV? The one they usually blur due to gore?"
Mina reached over and tapped his forehead with one finger.
"Correct. And that's where we come in."
"We?" Ethan echoed.
"Proxies," she said.
"Reapers can't interact with the physical world, so they contract someone who can. Our job is to subdue Wraiths and handle the disasters before they get worse."
She stood up from her chair, brushing imaginary dust off her coat.
"Try saying, 'Open Ledger.'"
Ethan blinked. "Uh… what? Like, out loud?"
"Yes, Ethan. Out loud."
She gestured at him. "Humor me."
He hesitated.
"...Open Ledger?"
A soft chime echoed in the air, followed by a translucent panel snapping into existence in front of him.
DEATH LEDGER — PROXY INTERFACE
User: Ethan ???
Vital State: Delayed
Soul Count: 0
Reaper: Thanatos (Active)
Traits: [Soothing Aura]
Skills: [Shadow Step]
Ethan's jaw dropped.
"Oh my god… it is a system."
Mina blinked at him. "A what?"
"The—this—status panel thing! Like in every webnovel ever!" Ethan said, eyes widening.
Mina stared at him, unblinking.
"…Anyway," she said, choosing not to engage.
"You're gonna be utilizing it a lot so make sure to check it often."
Ethan nodded. He'd calmed down now but the last question still burned in his head.
"Right… I get Reapers. I get Proxies. I get Wraiths. But you still haven't answered the most important question."
Mina tilted her head. "Which is?"
"Why am I doomed?"
Her expression brightened instantly, like he had asked her favorite question.
"Oh! Easy one."
She pointed at him with both hands.
"You signed with Thanatos."
Ethan's stomach dropped. "And that's bad because…?"
"Well," Mina said, walking a slow circle behind him,
"remember how I mentioned he borderline steals souls from other Reapers?"
"…Yeah?"
"Yeah. A lot of Reapers don't appreciate that." She leaned forward, lowering her voice.
"And they really don't appreciate anyone tied to him."
Ethan froze. "So you're telling me—"
"Correct!" Mina chirped.
"As a Proxy, you'll be dealing with Wraiths… and other Reapers… and their Proxies… all of whom might hold a grudge."
She clapped her hands together like announcing a game show prize.
"Any other questions?"
Ethan groaned, sinking back in the chair.
"Great. I died, and somehow I still fell for the 'mysterious handsome guy' scam."
Mina comforted him, kind of. "Lesson learned, right?"
After a beat of silence, Mina clapped her hands lightly, as if wrapping up a meeting.
"Well, now that you're one of us, I'll need to start the paperwork for you."
Ethan blinked slowly, like his brain was buffering.
"You guys have… paperwork?"
"Of course we do." Mina raised a brow. "What, did you think reaping souls was a hobby?"
Ethan's mouth opened and closed.
"You're telling me there's a whole government department for… for… you people?"
"Relax," she said, patting his shoulder. "You'll get used to it."
With a flick of her finger, the padlocks clicked and various ropes and chains started to loosen around Ethan until they dropped to the floor. His life as a clearance sale bundle was over.
Ethan pushed himself upright, wobbling like a newborn deer.
"Wow," he muttered, stretching his stiff arms. "I forgot what freedom felt like. Slightly overrated."
Mina snorted. "You'll live."
"I already didn't," he shot back.
"Semantics."
She stepped past him and placed a hand on the metal door.
"Alright. Don't freak out."
"That's never a good preface—"
The door swung open, flooding the interrogation room with bright, sterile light. Ethan squinted hard, raising an arm to shield his eyes.
When his vision finally adjusted, his jaw dropped.
Rows of desks, flickering monitors, ringing phones. Some ran around with stacks of papers in their hands while others with cups of coffee. A tried and true office. Or what Ethan assumed was one, never had a corporate job.
Mina walked out ahead of him, hands slipping casually into her coat pockets.
"Welcome to the Department of Reaper Affairs, Ethan."