Reapers have existed ever since humans have fallen from the Garden of Eden and their role has always been to lead souls into the afterlife. What would happen afterwards, I mean if they go up to Heaven or fall into Hell, does not concern the reapers anymore. It's really simple actually: once a human dies a reaper is appointed to go and get his soul past the veil and that can go on and on for quite a while.

There are also rules that reapers have to respect and those are:

(1) never snatch another reaper's soul, everyone has their own list and it is impolite to steal,

(2) never scratch a soul's name off the list, they will die no matter how hard you try to avoid it,

(3) never help a soul get in Heaven and most importantly,

(4) never look into the eyes of a dying human.

The last one can get a reaper vanquished which is both getting fired and your soul is automatically consumed by black fire and you cease to exist. No pressure. 

If a reaper works well and has a very good performance, he can get the title of Grim Reaper, which every human seems to be scared of. That is a reaper's highest achievement and all of them crave for it.

Reapers don't have names, they have numbers or some of them have letters depending on when they became a reaper. The new generation wanted to change the system a bit so they became A, B, C and so on while the older generation prefers to be called 13 or 450. 

By the time this story unfolds, the title of Grim Reaper is taken by a woman who died during the volcanic eruption in Pompei. She has been one of the longest and most active Grim Reapers in all lands and she seemed to be have caught the eye of higher ups, for a position that was beyond what she expected. 

However...

 

It was a day like any other for the Grim Reaper. She didn't have many souls that day but all the ones she had were in different parts of the world. This one that she just got appointed to was a surprise, just occured in Busan, South Korea. It seemed that a driver fell asleep at the wheel and drove into another two vehicles. He died on the spot and his soul was hers to deliver. Another reaper was appointed for another spirit on sight but that was not her bussiness.

As soon as she arrived she walked to the white wrecked Hyundai that was hanging upside down on the side of the road. She had to walk past a rolled over black Mercedes in which were two men. 

"What happened?" The driver asked looking up at her when he saw her coming over. 

"You died. Mister Ko Tae Hoon, it's time for you to receive eternal judgement." She said and smiled sarcastically.

"Wh-wh-what? What are you doing?" His eyes grew as big as two round plates when he saw a sceptre appear in her hand.

She raised an eyebrow and the sceptre became a normal pen. She pressed the bottom of the pen on his forehead and a warm light engulfed him before he vanished.

The Grim Reaper sighed happily and returned down the same way she came from but something caught her foot. She looked down and saw a bloody hand grasping her ankle tightly. 

"Save me, please."  She heard a man begging for his life. "Please. I'm begging you, save me." 

He could barely move or breathe and yet he was using the force he had left to beg. That was very humane of him. Grim Reaper scoffed and took another step but she felt someone crawl along. He didn't let go.  

"Please. I don't want to die," he cried, tears mixing with blood on his face. 

It was annoying how pestering he was for being such a petty creature. He continued to beg and his grasp tightened instead of lessening. It was curious how much he wanted to live. So curious that for the first time in a very long time, Grim Reaper took a peek at his face. He looked up at her and she gasped never having felt such a deep connection form before. She turned quickly and felt her hands tremble. She closed her eyes and as she calmed down The sirens of two ambulances and the police were heard approaching the scene. That drew his attention and she faded away before help arrived. He probably didn't know but she made that happen. She...made that mistake.

 

Yuri

 

Jo Insung

 

Song Kang

Rowoon

Lee Sungkyung