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Z & the Afterlife Agency

JWFstories
7
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Synopsis
Z is not your average spirit mediator. A firm believer in science—and determined to make everyone else believe in it too—she takes on the odd role of an afterlife agent. Sent to Australia on a special assignment from an underworld official, she ends up crossing paths with Jake and his childhood friend Daniel. Together, they stumble into one outrageous ghost case after another. At first, Jake is captivated by Z’s cool and aloof demeanor. But the more time they spend together, the more he discovers her goofy, sarcastic side—and later, something deeper. Beneath her playful exterior, Z keeps a part of herself locked away. Her real reason for coming to Australia isn’t just ghostly business: she’s quietly investigating the mystery of her father, a secret she never shares with anyone. Now, with two rookie Australian assistants at her side, this eccentric mediator embarks on a journey like no other—where science meets the supernatural, and laughter collides with danger. If you like urban fantasy with supernatural twists, cross-cultural humor, and a heroine who’d rather bargain with a ghost than fight it (unless she really has to)—this is your story.
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Chapter 1 - Chapter 1: The Girl, the Ghost, and Two Confused Mates

Jake is still in shock at the appearance of the Asian girl. But Daniel doesn't give him any more time. He shakes Jake's shoulder and points at the girl, yelling,

"Dude! Wake up! What the hell is that?! Oh my God! We need to run!"

Following Daniel's finger, Jake also opens his eyes wider than he ever has before. In front of them, the Asian girl isn't the only figure—two other black shadows are around her as well. The two shadows look like human figures, but not physically solid. They seem to fight against each other, while the Asian girl runs towards them.

Then Jake swears to God that he sees the girl wiggling her fingers with a very determined look while speaking softly but clearly,

"Lin! Bing! Dou! Zhe! Jie! Zhen! Lie! Qian! Xing!"

With the end of her last word, the two black shadows look like they are attacked all of a sudden. They have to stop fighting but twist like they are in pain.

The girl doesn't stop there. She keeps moving around the shadows and takes a piece of yellow paper with red characters on it, holding the paper between her two fingers and pointing at the two shadows. She says something in Mandarin and then throws the paper at one of the shadows. That shadow is pinned in the air by the paper and gradually turns into a floating translucent woman…

Ghost! Jake finally realizes. But by now, both Jake and Daniel are too scared to move or talk. They stand there like two wooden sticks, with no facial expression, while in the meantime, deep inside, their brains are working so crazily, yet they still can't make sense of anything they are looking at right now.

The female ghost seems Asian as well. She is wearing some sort of Chinese opera clothes: a red long-sleeved jacket with a Chinese-style front opening, and an ankle-length red skirt with golden embroidery all over. She is wearing a Chinese headdress, looking like someone from an ancient painting.

The girl starts to talk to the ghost in Mandarin. She seems to be trying to comfort the ghost. The ghost looks so angry in the very beginning, but after talking to the girl for a while, she seems to calm down a lot and puts a sad look on her face. Then she nods at the girl, seeming like she's giving her permission. Then the ghost dives into a jade pendant the girl is holding and disappears.

After that, the girl turns to the other black shadow and starts talking in English,

"So what's your problem?"

As soon as she starts to talk, the other black shadow also turns into a translucent woman. But this time, it's a western ghost, wearing a white dress with little daisy flowers all over, like something from the 1980s. She looks pale, like someone who has drowned.

She looks at the girl and says,

"Thanks for saving me from that crazy bitch."

As soon as Jake hears this ghost start talking, weirdly, he isn't as scared as before. He whispers to Daniel,

"Did you hear that? She called the other ghost a bitch."

Surprisingly, Daniel doesn't seem scared anymore either. He even giggles a bit at Jake's words.

"Well, I wasn't trying to save you, I was trying to save her." The girl seems quite honest, but she makes the whole situation a bit awkward now.

The ghost seems unable to find the right word to keep the conversation. Fortunately, the girl starts talking again,

"She's just a poor young woman. She didn't intend to fight you, she was controlled by some evil person. But you, on the other hand, you died more than 40 years ago. Why are you still here? Don't you want to go to your heaven? Don't you want to go see your God?"

The ghost looks so surprised,

"Don't you know that anyone who commits suicide can't go to heaven?"

"I thought they'd changed that rule already. But if you are willing to start a new life, instead of dancing on the porch of this stupid pink house from time to time after dusk, then you should give it a go. I think your God has set up a new trial system at the waiting zone now. If you're still too scared to go, just go to our system. We have the ghost realm—you could find a job there, like a government job, because of globalization and population movements in recent years. We could use some ghosts like you to help with their work."

Silence, total silence. The ghost has the same facial expression as Jake and Daniel now. The three of them look like they have just learned something new in class but none of them can understand a thing.

The ghost responds with uncertainty,

"So, you mean that I could find a ghost job to help other ghosts?"

The girl scratches her head and answers,

"Correct. And also help our ghost messengers of the underworld. It won't be too hard. Probably just needing you to guide some English-speaking ghosts who lost directions and ended up in our underworld. To make it simple, a ghost translator-slash-tour guide."

The ghost seems to understand a bit better. But Jake pokes Daniel's arm and murmurs,

"Do you understand what's going on here?"

Daniel looks back at him,

"Sort of. I think that girl just hired a ghost to work for her world's underworld... mate, actually I'm still confused."

But the ghost seems really bored with her decades of dancing life. She happily says yes to the girl, and then the girl uses her finger to draw something in the air, chanting in a low voice at the same time.

At the end of her last syllable, the symbol she draws in the air appears with flowing golden lights, and it turns into a giant door.

The door opens in front of all of them. They can feel the coldness and hear a lot of whispering from inside the door. Then the girl points at the door and tells the ghost,

"Now you can go in. Tell the first messenger you meet that Z sent you here. And they'll arrange the rest for you."

The ghost nods and smiles back at Z, mouths a final "Thank you," and disappears inside the giant door.

Then the giant door closes and gradually fades into the air. It's totally dark now, but when the door is gone, the heat of a summer night comes back all of a sudden, and they can hear and feel the annoying little bugs and mosquitoes returning.

Then Z turns her face to Jake and Daniel,

"Why are you two still standing here?"