Chapter 1: Trouble in Afterlife Middle Management

Name’s Quincy Grant. King Quincy, if you’re filling out Afterlife paperwork. Up here, I’m middle management for ghosts and the dearly departed—think Fortune 500, but everyone’s dead.

Back when I was alive, a title like that actually meant something. Now? It’s still all suits and spreadsheets—only now I’m herding spirits instead of sales teams. Turns out, dying doesn’t get you out of meetings. The paperwork just gets weirder.

Today, right in the middle of a meeting, the director of the Ghost Affairs Office barged in, looking like someone just told him the IRS was auditing his afterlife tax returns. He blurted that Sam Walker’s political secretary had stopped by, asking about someone called the Old Corpse of Pine Hollow.

The air went ice-cold. My heart did a nosedive straight through my ghostly shoes. You ever see a PTA president realize the superintendent just walked in—right as her kid’s running wild in the gym? Multiply that by a hundred.

I could feel the sweat beading on my ghostly brow, palms clammy even though I didn’t technically have skin anymore.

Who the heck does this Old Corpse think he is, getting tangled up with Sam Walker of all people?

If you’ve ever crossed paths with Sam Walker, you get it. When he blows his top, even the big bosses in the Afterlife duck for cover. Me? I’d be lucky to end up as a cautionary tale. Not even ashes left—just a faint memory drifting through HR.

Let me tell you, if Sam Walker loses his temper, even us Reaper Kings would be in deep trouble. Forget about a lowly director like me—he wouldn’t even leave ashes behind.

So, the very next day, the Afterlife Office sent out a "Notice on Strengthening the Management of Wandering Spirits and Lost Souls."

We scrambled like a high school marching band at halftime when the principal’s watching. The Legal Affairs Department wasn’t far behind, churning out policy memos faster than the breakroom printer spits out jammed paper.

The Legal team rolled out the “Registration, Management, and Disciplinary Measures for Wandering Spirits and Lost Souls,” the “Standardized Management Measures for Wandering Spirits,” and even the “Regulations on the Proper Naming of Wandering Spirits and Lost Souls.”

And right about then, Captain Hank Black from Law Enforcement cornered the Old Corpse of Pine Hollow and kicked off a supernatural brawl.

The Afterlife isn’t all gray fog and echoing chains—sometimes it’s just another day at the office until someone throws a punch. You dare call yourself the Old Corpse of Pine Hollow? You’re done. The oil cauldron’s already boiling—jump in yourself, don’t make us do it for you.