This Reincarnation Requires a Subscription Fee

‘What do I do now?’  

I was truly at a loss.

‘Judging by the atmosphere, this seems to be Kydsha’s temple…’  

But whenever I made eye contact with someone, they would immediately throw themselves to the floor as if something terrible had happened, making it impossible for me to ask anyone what was going on. As a result, I had no choice but to keep walking, not entirely sure where this path would lead. The only silver lining was that my intuition wasn’t sending me any negative warnings.

With the legendary-level intuition that had always guided me in the right direction, I felt a bit more at ease. I knew that as long as I followed my instincts, I wouldn’t end up lost, no matter where I was. This thought gave me some comfort. Besides, as long as I was in Kydsha’s temple, where the influence of the Pope and Bael still held strong, I wasn’t too worried about running into trouble.

Seven years ago, after I used an enormous pillar of divine power to heal the Pope’s illness, the temple had regained its peace. The decisive moment had been when Cardinal Kaltas’s faction, which had risen against the Pope while he was bedridden, was thoroughly dealt with. The culprits behind the carriage accident were excommunicated by the Central Church and sent to the underground prison known as ‘Dolehim.’

‘Dolehim’ was an ancient word meaning ‘hell.’ According to the church’s doctrine, those who died there could never enter Heaven. For priests, not being allowed into Heaven after death was the most terrifying and severe punishment. Although I had never experienced it myself, Bael had once mentioned that the conditions in Dolehim were extremely harsh. It was said to be so dreadful that many would rather die, but since dying there meant they couldn’t go to Heaven, everyone endured it, desperately seeking a way to atone for their sins.

The Central Church’s method of punishment was to make those who prayed and labored daily believe that one day the Pope would show mercy and release them from Dolehim. This hope was what kept them alive.

‘It would have been nice if they had thrown Cardinal Kaltas into Dolehim for trying to dethrone Bael.’  

Unfortunately, Kaltas had cleverly manipulated those beneath him, leaving no direct evidence that he had orchestrated everything. 

‘Perhaps his followers were so desperate to keep him from falling that they hid his crimes, knowing that if their leader was completely removed from power, they’d never recover either.’  

Political strife is always so unjust like that—always cutting off the tails while the head remains intact.

Of course, even the head suffered some damage that time. Cardinal Kaltas was expelled from the Council of Elders and banished to a small monastery in the countryside. With the Pope firmly in place, it was unlikely he would ever return to Kydsha.

As I continued walking, organizing my thoughts about the situation in Kydsha, I suddenly stopped. It was my intuition. I looked around, scanning the area, and noticed a small door.

At moments like this, it was best to follow where my intuition led me. Things usually worked out well when I did. Without much hesitation, I pushed the door open wide. 

Contrary to my expectations that someone might be inside, the space beyond the door was completely empty.

Instead of finding someone in the room, I was met with rows upon rows of bookshelves, each packed tightly with an overwhelming number of books. It was a library.

Was there a specific book my intuition wanted me to find? I couldn’t be sure, but I decided to follow my instincts. I walked further into the room, meandering through the aisles as the mood struck me, until eventually, I found myself stopped in my tracks.

It wasn’t a dead end.

‘…Axel?’

There, in the narrow space between two bookshelves, Axel was sitting. Despite the dim lighting, his golden hair glowed beautifully. Scattered around him were books in disarray, and he was precariously nodding off, his head bobbing back and forth.

‘Why is Axel here… in Kydsha?’  

Puzzled, I approached Axel cautiously. Just as I got close, his head swayed back, and it looked like he was about to hit it against the bookshelf with a loud thud. I quickly reached out, slipping my hand between the back of his head and the bookshelf.

The moment his head touched my hand, Axel’s eyes flew open, and he grabbed my arm. Before I could react, he forcefully pinned me to the ground, as if he thought I was an enemy.

“Ugh!”  

I groaned as my back slammed against the hard, stone tiles, the impact drawing an involuntary gasp from me. Realizing who he had just tackled, Axel’s eyes filled with confusion and shock.

“You… are you real?”

Real?  

I couldn’t help but let out a half-laugh at the absurdity of his question and looked up at him.

“Of course, I’m real. What, did you think I was a fake?”

Even though I assured him I wasn’t an impostor, Axel didn’t move, his expression still dazed. Looking closer, I noticed that his normally smooth and enviable skin appeared rougher than usual.

‘Are those dark circles under his eyes?’

This wasn’t like the always-perfect young master of the Elpinard family. While lying here wasn’t particularly uncomfortable, it did seem a bit odd to have a conversation in this position.

“Axel? How long are we going to stay like this?”

My question seemed to snap Axel out of his daze. His eyes refocused, and he suddenly jolted upright, releasing my arm. I sighed in relief and sat up to follow him. Axel watched my every movement intensely, as if trying to catch every detail.

‘What’s gotten into him…?’

I blinked at him in confusion, and suddenly Axel reached out, gripping my shoulders tightly.

“You…”

He started to say something but clamped his mouth shut again. I felt his hands trembling against my shoulders, and my eyes widened in surprise. Instinctively, I glanced at the titles of the books scattered around him.

Death, Life, Resurrection.

A few key words caught my eye.

“How long… was I dead?”

“…Over two weeks.”

“What? I was really dead for two weeks…?”

“You promised, didn’t you?”

Axel cut me off, his face set in a rigid expression. It wasn’t anger—it was fear. 

“You promised, even hooked pinkies with me. You told me you’d value your life, so why… why did you…”

His voice, which had started to rise with emotion, was cut off as he bit his lip to hold it back. I’d never seen Axel show such raw emotion before, and for a moment, I was at a loss for words.

“You used that much power just to save some kid who doesn’t even matter if they die. What were you going to do if it really killed you?”

‘A kid who doesn’t even matter if they die?’ Hearing that from the usually composed Axel left me stunned. I quickly waved my hands to calm him down.

“Axel, I didn’t die. Like I said, I still had time left on my subscription, so…”

“That’s not something you can just rely on.”

Again, he cut me off, his voice cold in a way I’d never heard from him before, even during our bickering days in the expedition.

“How much can you really trust that so-called subscription period? You should be more cautious.”

“Well…”

“You’ve already died once, even had your heart stop. Why are you being so reckless? Think about the people around you who worry.”

“…I’m sorry.”

I shrank back, shoulders hunched. I hadn’t expected things to go this way, but it was true that using untested methods of divine power had been reckless. I was deeply regretting that decision.

‘And to think the negotiation with the gods took so long…’

I couldn’t deny that I had been tempted by the prospect of gaining something, and in the process, I had made my friend worry. I had no excuses.

“So… did you worry a lot?”

“Do you even have to ask?”

Axel suddenly yelled, pulling me into a tight hug.

“!”

‘Wh-Wh-What’s happening?!’

I was so shocked that I froze in place, still wrapped in Axel’s arms. I never imagined a day would come when Axel would hug me like this! It was a situation I had never even considered, not in this life or the last.