In the Underworld
“Deceased: Evelyn Ashford, female, twenty‑six. Cause of death: abdominal stab wound, fatal blood loss.”
The ghost officer standing in front of her stared without a flicker of emotion, reading stiffly from the booklet in his hand.
“Identity confirmed. Head over there and get in line for reincarnation.”
Evelyn nodded blankly.
She’d grown up alone in an orphanage, and if it hadn’t been for the professor’s family helping her all those years, she never would’ve made it into medical school. The professor had been both a mentor and a father figure—honest, kind, and a brilliant doctor.
If her life could save his… honestly, she felt she’d come out ahead.
Thinking that, a faint, relieved smile tugged at her lips.
Just then, a beam of golden light shot down from above, hitting her square in the chest.
A gentle warmth spread through her whole body—well, her soul—and even her faintly transparent form began to shift and solidify.
The ghost officer jumped back. “W‑Wha… what’s going on? That’s… that’s a massive surge of merit power!”
The commotion drew every ghost officer nearby, all of them whispering while staring at her like she’d sprouted horns.
Before long, word reached the higher halls, and the Underworld traced the source of it all.
Riley, Lady of Oblivion Elixir, who oversaw reincarnation, stepped forward. Her eyes held clear approval as she looked over the young woman before her.
“Girl, you’ve got two paths laid out for you.”
“In your last life, you did something good enough that even the Heavenly Way blessed you and granted you merit. If you choose reincarnation now, you’ll be born into wealth and power. And not just that—anyone close to you will be lifted by your luck.”
“The other path is to work for us down here. We’ll send you into another world, you build up more merit, and once you earn enough in that lifetime, you can come back and take an official post in the Underworld.”
Evelyn thought for barely a heartbeat before picking the second option.
Jobs were hard to land nowadays—an Underworld position was basically a lifelong guaranteed paycheck. Who’d turn that down?
“So… do you guys get holidays? And what about benefits?”
Evelyn spoke up, her tone cautious.
If this job turned out to be some brutal 996 or, worse, a 007 schedule, that’d be a whole different story.
Riley, Lady of Oblivion Elixir, chuckled. "We usually work two days and rest five. And if your merit gets high enough, you can even split off a little avatar. Then your main body barely has to lift a finger."
Hearing that, Evelyn practically lit up. She could almost see the good days ahead waving at her.
Still, her mind was always quick, and she wasn’t about to miss a chance to bargain.
"I’ll take the second option. But since I’ll be doing errands for the underworld… shouldn’t I get some tools or something?"
Riley waved her hand, and a dozen small worlds appeared before Evelyn like floating bubbles.
"Tools depend on the world you pick. If the difficulty’s too low, then you don’t get any."
To be safe, Evelyn chose a world set in a moderately challenging era.
No way was she going to pick some apocalypse or wartime chaos—no tool was strong enough to guarantee survival there.
Right after she made her choice, a beam of golden light dropped onto her forehead, and her consciousness faded out.
…
Capital City, the Ashford Clan’s villa.
"Mom, you don’t think that girl really croaked, do you?"
"It’s just a jade pendant! What’s the fuss? Tinger only wanted to try it on. We’re all family—yet that girl acts like you’re nothing in her eyes!"
Rowena Ashford stared at the girl lying motionless on the floor, her eyes darting with calculation as she spoke in a sharp, mocking tone.
Mrs. Ashford grew even angrier. She slammed her cane down, the end cracking against the young girl’s body.
"Get up, you useless thing! Lying there pretending to be dead—how dare you talk back to your elders? How did our Ashford Clan end up with someone as uncouth as you?"
"Just like your bumpkin mother—no class at all."
The girl on the floor winced at the pain and slowly opened her eyes.
Evelyn’s gaze went hazy for a second, but her mind snapped back fast.
She stared down the two women in front of her, cold and sharp. "My mother died serving the country. A real hero. You dare talk like that outside? Not scared people will spit on your backs?"
That glare made Mrs. Ashford and Rowena Ashford both take a step back. What was wrong with this girl today? Since when did she look this terrifying?
"You try that again, I dare you!"
Mrs. Ashford slammed her cane on the floor, the crack echoing through the room.
She knew this granddaughter used to be scared of that sound, so she put on her usual commanding tone. "We’re your elders. Teaching you is our duty. And this is how you speak to elders? Get on your knees and apologize to your second aunt!"
But Evelyn wasn’t buying that anymore. Her face darkened as she looked at Mrs. Ashford and Rowena, anger churning in her chest.
Right now she was the young miss of the Ashford Clan. The family used to be well-off, but Mrs. Ashford favored her youngest son and divided the property early.
By custom, the eldest branch should inherit more, yet her father, Vincent Ashford, had only gotten a pitiful share.
Luckily, he was capable. Even in chaotic times, he’d made a name for himself and built up a good amount of assets.
But the youngest son—the one Mrs. Ashford spoiled—spent his share drinking, gambling, and fooling around. When he burned through all of it, he dragged his whole family to live off his big brother and refused to leave.
While Vincent was alive, they behaved themselves. But after Evelyn’s mother died in the war, he fell into deep sorrow. By the time Evelyn was twelve, he passed away too, leaving behind just her and her little brother.
Before he died, he asked a few brothers-in-arms to look after his kids and sealed all his assets in a bank safe, waiting for Evelyn to retrieve them when she came of age.
The second branch hated this to the bone but could do nothing. Still, they’d never stopped eyeing that inheritance, waiting for a chance to swallow everything whole.
And now Evelyn was less than a month from turning eighteen. These people had run out of patience, scheming day and night to get rid of the siblings so they could take it all.
Today’s mess? All because of a jade pendant.
It had belonged to Evelyn’s mother—excellent quality, beautiful color. Beatrice Ashford from the second branch had seen it once and then pestered nonstop to take it.
Today they’d fought over it. Rowena shoved the original girl in the heat of it, and that push had sent the old Evelyn to her death.
"Elders? She calls herself an elder? She’s nothing but a freeloader living under someone else’s roof. And she still thinks she gets to act high and mighty in front of me?"
Evelyn let out a sharp, humorless laugh. "I used to cut you some slack because we share a family name. Didn’t expect you’d just keep pushing your luck."
She brushed the dust off her clothes and started walking toward them, slow and steady. That quiet pressure rolling off her made Mrs. Ashford’s chest tighten with unease.
"If you really force me into a corner, I won’t hold back. The people my parents left behind aren’t decorations. If you dare lay another finger on me or Sanford, don’t blame me when things get ugly."
Rowena Ashford swallowed hard. She could tell this niece wasn’t bluffing this time.
And of course she remembered how capable those people left by her eldest brother and sister‑in‑law were—the second brother’s leg was still crooked because of them.