Not a Coincidence | yoonmin

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not a coincidence

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Rule No. 62

Souls shall enter the passing on gate when they have fulfilled their wishes, regrets, and purpose for remaining in Afterlife.

(From The Rules of The Above, Under, and Inbetween)

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Rule No. 63

Souls shall pass on once their wishes and purpose for remaining in Afterlife is fulfilled. They are not allowed to stay after their purpose for staying has been fulfilled, taken care of by nature itself.

(From The Great Rule Book; Edition 2)

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"Hey, Minji."

"Hm?"

"How long do you think we'll spend here?"

"... I don't know."

"Forever?"

"Hm... It would make sense since we can't really die. But..."

"But?"

"Nothing really lasts forever. There must come some form of an end, right?"

"... I think so too."

"But, don't worry! Until then, we'll be together, let's spend our time on earth together before our time comes, yeah?"

"...Yeah."

(Excerpt from The Addictive Kiss of a Demon, Epilogue, page 411)

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Duty

...

It is claimed that now duty should hold the meaning of "purpose" -- which, when fulfilled by the specific Angel and Demon marks their end.

Although it is not formal information, it is a very popular belief, with the potential to spread outside of the 17th region.

It follows the universe's logic; nothing remains eternal, so even Angels and Demons, after fulfilling their necessity like every being in existence, will cease to exist -- pass on, as a popular term, to get recycled just like any other soul.

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(Excerpt from After-Death: General Understanding; 937 A.D.)

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On the topmost floor of the Palace, Jaejun walked along the halls, glad there was barely anyone around. The main rooms were on the other side -- the opposite wing, while he could freely walk without consequences. He should be scared that he would get caught, but he was considered as a palace worker as well, so it shouldn't turn out bad.

As he looked at the wall designs, unsure of what really he was doing around, he paused in his step, looking at one of the lanterns.

Maybe it was because of those two, he thought. They were back. But, why? He had no idea. He'd seen them when they'd entered through the Afterlife-Earth Gate, memories flashing of the day he directed their punishment, inflicting them pain they didn't deserve -- they had just loved, what was wrong with that?

Glad that the rules have changed now, Jaejun let out a soft smile, looking away from the light before his eyes suffered long term damage. Those two really are something.

But, there was still no purpose of him loitering around, he thought as he sighed, deciding to head out, and enjoy the rest of his day maybe at a bar.

However, just as he was about to take a step towards the staircase, he heard muffled voices.

"--ou know, us. Passing on, being reborn, same faces, then dying but instantly being what we were before with all memories, as if our souls hadn't reset."

Surprised, he instead went over to where the sound was coming from, a window, barely open, but the voices from all the way down was still heard. He tried to force it to open a bit more, but it was jammed, having been unused for so long.

"Maybe... maybe they didn't?"

"...But, why?"

Their voices were a little far away, making Jaejun look around for other windows, all of them were closed shut. He checked every one he could, tried to open them, but no avail, there was only that one window, just a tad bit open. He would head downstairs to see if it would work better, but he gave up, deciding to just listen from there, setting his head on his hands, elbows propped on the window sill.

"... I know -- we both know -- forever isn't a thing. So, why?"

"...Maybe... maybe our purpose isn't fulfilled yet."

Purpose? Jaejun thought, eyes looking down at the two figures sitting close on one of the benches.

"If we look at why and how souls are reset, isn't it when they fulfil their regrets, or wishes that they wanted to and finally can in Afterlife? Going with the same logic... there must remain something we have to fulfill as well. It makes sense, right?"

Thinking about it, Jaejun seemed to agree, smiling to himself at the discussion. He listened to their interesting conversation, looking off at the distant Afterlife sky that disappeared off into endless blue of nothing.

There would be no reason of existence without containing purpose. Ends begin when fulfillment occurs. Thinking about it, Jaejun felt light at heart, knowing there was some philosophy to explaining meaning to the world and why he's in it.

We all have our own purpose to fulfill.

Otherwise, why else would we exist?

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