Strange. Wasn’t I dead? Why can I still feel things? At least it doesn’t hurt anymore. Confused, I opened my eyes—and a beautiful river of stars filled my vision.
It seemed I’d arrived in an endless starry sky. Vast, beautiful nebulae stretched all around me, and countless translucent, blue-green humans drifted nearby. They seemed to be dead souls, just like me.
Was this the Underworld? It wasn’t quite what I’d imagined. Just then, I saw the souls around me wearing expressions of utter shock and terror.
What was happening? I looked up—and saw a sight I’d never forget for as long as I lived. At first, I thought it was a star. Then I thought it looked like countless planets gathered together.
Only then did I realize it was an eye—a compound eye. Countless eyes stared at the sea of souls, and far away at the other end, there was another compound eye.
The owner of those compound eyes was a gigantic fly—or rather, some unknown thing that looked like a fly. With the stars as its backdrop and its feet planted on planets, it seemed as though all the celestial bodies around it were nothing more than exhibits in its gallery.
The fly had dozens of insect legs and countless pairs of overlapping wings. When it spread out its body, I couldn’t see where it ended. It was so huge that at first I’d overlooked it, thinking it was just a pitch-black backdrop of space.
And the fly was unbelievably disgusting. Its mouthparts split into three sections, each packed with layer upon layer of densely crowded teeth, like a meat grinder. Its body was covered in rotting lumps of flesh, with countless maggots crawling in and out of its hide.
Just looking at the thing made countless souls gag, though nothing came up. They were only souls, after all.
Seeing so many souls, the Big Fly gave a slight suck with its gaping mouthparts. A huge batch of souls suddenly flew up and got sucked into its mouth. Everyone screamed in terror. They’d seen its meat-grinder-like mouth, and knew what would happen to the souls that went inside.
The fly chewed. It seemed quite pleased with the taste of souls. Then it suddenly made a strange sound—so awful it was like rubbing two pieces of old Styrofoam together, or scraping glass with your fingernails.
“Aaaagh!” I screamed in agony. The moment the sound reached my ears, I felt the same intense pain I’d suffered when I was alive. It was like a blade scraping my nerves, like countless bugs biting into me from the inside, or a thousand needles stabbing into my brain.
The souls around me all let out screams of unbearable agony. Their bodies and faces twisted out of shape. I had no idea how I could hear the Big Fly’s voice and their anguished cries in a vacuum.
Why? I’d already gone through so much pain while I was alive. Why did I have to keep suffering after death? The pain grew worse and worse. I could feel my consciousness starting to blur.
The giant fly’s scarlet compound eyes kept staring at the countless souls, at that sea of souls as insignificant as ants. Then it parted its disgusting mouth just a little. Though it had an insect’s head, I saw a vaguely human smile.
Was it smiling? Was it laughing at us? We were all in agony—was it actually enjoying itself? I couldn’t help wondering.
A miracle happened. The moment I thought of happiness, my pain vanished as if by magic. It disappeared so abruptly that not even a trace remained. I almost wondered if the agony I’d just felt had been an illusion.
Of course, that was impossible. Countless people around me were still screaming in unbearable agony. Except for a few: I saw them wearing expressions of fanatical devotion. Their faces were still twisted with pain, but they gazed at the Big Fly with the same rapturous joy.
What? Did they know this fly and worship it as a god? How ridiculous. Something that disgusting was a god? And what era was this, anyway? Were there really still people with such fanatical faith?
At last, all the souls’ screams stopped. About half of them had survived. The other half couldn’t endure the pain and exploded in an instant, becoming a blue-green cloud of souls. The Big Fly took a suck, turning them into a tasty meal.
Then the Big Fly made another sound. This one lasted a little longer, like the buzzing of countless mosquitoes, flies, and wasps beating their wings.
Fragments of countless memories flooded into my mind. They were jumbled bits of knowledge I couldn’t understand at all, all kinds of bizarre memories. And because they came so fast, I couldn’t even stop to think about what they contained.
Countless unknown bits of knowledge and memories were being forcibly crammed into my head. I had no idea what any of it meant. It was like staring at a jumble of code cobbled together from assembly, Java, and C++, then having it carved straight into my brain at a speed of terabytes per second.
My head felt so full, like it was about to explode. These memories, like something out of an ancient tome, washed over my mind as if they were going to erase my personality and replace it with someone else’s.
No. Absolutely not. I was me, and I wouldn’t let some Big Fly brainwash me. I desperately recalled the happy moments from my life, my close family and friends, and everything I’d ever been through.
When the flood of information stopped, countless fragments of knowledge still echoed in my mind. I opened my eyes and looked around. Fewer than one in ten of the souls remained. The vast sea of souls that had been here before was now reduced to a sparse few dozen.
The rest had naturally exploded, becoming an ocean of soul mist before turning into a delicious meal for the Big Fly.
What did it want? I had no idea. Was it just killing us in all sorts of bizarre ways, then eating us?
Just then, I felt an invisible force lift my chin, forcing me to look straight at the disgusting Big Fly. It wasn’t just me—the other souls were forced to raise their heads and look at it, too.
Not to be rude, but staring at a rancid fly was just awful. The thing was revolting, from its compound eyes that made my skin crawl, to the maggots crawling in and out of its body, to its **-style mouthparts. It all made me nauseous and dizzy.
But after being tormented for so long, even a fly suddenly started to look rather charming. Ugh!
It wasn’t that I’d come to accept its looks. It was something deeper, more fundamental—closer to instinct. I felt that it was sacred, magnificent, on a level far above anyone else. It must not be profaned. Even thinking it ugly felt like an insult.
If there were a word in the dictionary that could describe it, it would probably be… [God]. How ridiculous. A god was a fly?
As I thought that, it seemed I understood something—or maybe I’d just guessed. My gaze passed through the fly, and I saw something deeper, something more fundamental.
I don’t remember what happened next. I think I saw the truth. I think I saw the end, and the laws of all things.
When I came to, I was no longer looking at the Big Fly. The vast sea of souls that had surrounded me was now reduced to a scant handful, and several of them looked completely deranged.
The Big Fly made another satisfied sound, then tapped the void with one of its insect legs. A doorway opened in the air, and beyond it was nothing but chaos.
Then all of us were thrown inside.
