The red sun glimmered in the blushing sky, and the cold wind carried the scent of flowers. Birds chirped their favorite songs, and trees danced in rhythm.
The skeleton in a black cloak made of shadows sat on the rim of the fountain. He looked at Zeth as though he were the most precious thing in the world and stuttered, "Will you be... my employee?"
Zeth, who had been waiting for this opportunity, gasped and covered his mouth with his hand. "Yes!"
Death jumped up in excitement. "I have got an employee!"
"And I have got a job." Zeth matched the excitement with double the enthusiasm. He jumped off the ground and danced like a monkey. After all, his long, painful plan was finally coming to fruition.
But then the skeleton stopped, thinking for a second.
"Wait, thinking again, I can't actually hire you."
Zeth's smile dropped. "Wait, why not? You can't go back on your word!"
Death scratched his mandibles. "Well, you see, I don't have the money to pay your salary."
"But I don't even need money!"
"Rules are rules, though... Gods can't hire an employee without paying a minimum wage set by the heavens."
All the celebration Zeth had planned was meaningless. If he couldn't take the job, his whole life as a rich bum would fall apart, and everything he did would amount to nothing.
"My life is a comedy skit... and I am the joke."
"Umm, that's not what I meant." The skeleton scratched its mandibles.
Zeth shook his head without looking. "Nah, just let me jump into the cycle of reincarnation at this point."
Death coughed awkwardly, "There is a way to work around this."
The poor soul looked at him with hopeless eyes.
"If you take an internship instead of a job, things may work out."
"What's the difference?" Zeth asked.
"Good question." Death cleared his throat, though Zeth didn't know if that thing even had a throat to begin with.
"During an internship, you will only have access to a limited number of my powers, mostly low-level skills. You won't be getting paid anything. But if you perform well, you may earn a job at the end of the month."
With a frown on his face, Zeth stood up. "So you want to test me for a month before giving me a job? Shame on your bones."
"No, no, that's not what I meant." The skeleton leaned closer, his voice barely above a whisper. "See, what I am saying is I don't have money right now because I don't have followers, and hence I can't give you a job. But if I give you an internship instead... You can go back to Earth and gain followers, and by the end of the month, I will have enough money to hire you for a job!"
"What if you don't offer me a job by the end of the month? Can an internship exceed that period?"
The skeleton hesitated. "I can only grant an internship for up to one month. After that, I will have to hire you. If I can't... You will... pew pew."
A cold chill ran down Zeth's spine. He neither had any idea nor wanted to know what that "pew pew" meant.
'That's actually a good workaround. Not that I have any other options.'
Zeth nodded faintly, scanning the skeleton from top to bottom. "I didn't expect you to be smart... Wait, you don't even have a brain!"
"Was that a compliment?"
Ignoring the question, he extended his hand for a handshake. "I'll take it. Give me whatever you have. But you will owe me one."
One month was not a short time for him. In that time, he only had to revive and throw around money to buy followers for Death. If he wanted to, he could theoretically make the skeleton one of the most popular gods on Earth.
"Alright then!" Death shook his hand. "Then all that is left is to sign an agreement, grant you a basic system, and clear a compulsory test."
Zeth froze again.
'Why does there have to be a catch at every step? Can't that bonepile say everything at once?'
"Don't tell me you don't have the money to buy a system as well."
The skeleton laughed awkwardly. "Just wait a little. I will be right back... very soon."
Without any further explanation, the skeleton disappeared into the cloak of shadows he was wearing. Zeth was left alone once again in the middle of Heaven, trying to make sense of it.
'Did that thing just teleport?'
An employee inherited abilities from their god. If Zeth could inherit that teleportation ability, he could use it to rob banks. Just how many could he rob with that ability?
'No, no, what are you thinking, Zeth? You are going to be an employee of a god soon. Think bigger. Go for the drug cartel instead.'
Zeth was busy with his thoughts, and after a few minutes, he felt the shadow beneath him move again.
"Tada! I am back." The skeleton greeted him with a holographic cube in his hands. If Zeth hadn't already experienced this jumpscare twice, he would have tried to punch the skeleton instead.
Leaning closer to the blue cube, Zeth asked, "Is that what I think it is?"
The artifact hovered in the air, almost translucent, its web of complex circuitry gleaming with energy. Instead of replying, the skeleton simply began chanting in an unknown language.
Suddenly, the cube shrank to the size of a small grain, and before Zeth could react, it flew into the air and entered his forehead. A sharp pain filled his head, as if countless pieces of information were being forced into his brain. Then it slowly faded, and when it did, a blue screen flickered into view before his eyes.
[Initializing system…initiated.]
[Sup?]
"Wait, so that's the system?"
Zeth touched the screen, but his hand phased right through it. Just like in novels, it left him gasping in amusement. To add even more to his shock, the skeleton leaned in and whispered.
"What do you know? I made a deal with Loki. And he gave me the most broken system to exist in Heaven!"
'Am I going to be an overpowered protagonist with the smartest system?'
Perhaps the God of Death wasn't as useless as he had thought earlier.
"Now, are you ready to face the trial for the internship?" the skeleton asked excitedly. Zeth didn't know how, but even without any visible expressions on the skeletal face, he could feel the expressions of death.
"Alright then!" Zeth sighed. "But wait, what's the trial again?"
"Oh, you just need to kill the thing that killed you!"