My friend had a near-death experience and came back, and his story was incredibly fascinating!

Late night on an internet message board. Anonymous participants gather to listen to strange experiences. The thread’s author begins to tell a story about the afterlife as told by their friend.

It’s going to be a bit long, but would you listen to kill some time? My friend almost died and was unconscious for about 3 days, but during that time, he said he was in hell the entire time. His perceived stay in hell was about a month. As for what hell was like, it was different from what we imagine hell to be; it was more like heaven. A vast grassland as far as the eye could see, an open space where you could see the horizon. He said it was like the Windows XP wallpaper landscape with the atmosphere of the Hyperbolic Time Chamber from Dragon Ball. He suddenly found himself standing in this vast empty place. His memories were intact, and he felt similar to just waking up, but somehow he understood, “Ah, I must be dead.” Apparently, it had a sense of reality completely different from dreams. Looking around, he noticed what looked like a gathering of people in the distance, a black mass that seemed like creatures congregating. He couldn’t tell if they were human, but since there was nothing else to do, he decided to approach them.

• [17] Please continue, don’t mind us
• [18] That doesn’t sound like hell

The author’s story has caught the readers’ interest. Despite the peaceful landscape description that doesn’t seem like hell, the participants wait for the continuation with skepticism.

He thought it was about 5km away, but that wasn’t the case. When he started walking, he approached the crowd quickly, and the sense of distance and time flow felt ambiguous and uncomfortable. It’s like walking to a station that normally takes 30 minutes, but arriving in 2 minutes and thinking, “Huh? What’s this?” Also, while walking, he realized he didn’t feel thirst or hunger at all, which confirmed to him, “Ah, I really am dead.” Once he noticed this, he thought the absence of thirst and hunger was actually quite nice. After walking for what felt like 10 minutes, he could confirm the black mass was indeed human, specifically about 20-30 people gathered together. Some were crouching as if picking or digging something, others were standing up and walking back and forth. They seemed to be moving with some kind of pattern, which made him feel quite reassured. He thought it would be fine to approach them, so he kept moving closer. Even when he got within about 200m, no one noticed him. They seemed completely focused on their tasks, not paying attention to their surroundings. He didn’t want to suddenly call out loudly, so he decided to keep approaching.

• [27] If hell is like heaven, I’d call it heaven
• [29] What about a river?

The friend is puzzled by the physical laws that don’t apply in this reality. The strange sense of distance and time flow further emphasizes this is not the living world.

Well, we’ll understand later, but maybe my friend thought it was hell because he had attempted suicide and nearly died? I didn’t specifically ask about that. When he got close enough that they should have noticed him, he could tell that everyone appeared to be Asian, though he couldn’t hear any conversation. Their clothing looked like loungewear? Kind of worn-out attire that seemed strange, but when he thought about it, he realized he was also wearing the sweatpants he had used as pajamas.

• [37] Please continue

When he finally reached the crowd, no one approached or spoke to him. Even when he looked around, no one would make eye contact. Just as he thought he had no choice but to speak to someone, someone suddenly asked him in Japanese, “First day?” When he turned around, there was a skinny man who looked about 40 years old.

• [39] Scary

The first contact with the otherworld. The unexpected greeting in Japanese heightens the tension.

Since everyone looked Asian, he wasn’t surprised, but he was happy that they could communicate. He seized the opportunity and rapidly told the man about his current situation and all the questions he had. The man listened properly while half-dismissively saying “yes, yes” and answered most of his questions. Here’s a summary of the conversation with the man: • We are indeed dead. • This is hell, probably. • Everyone here died in Japan, though not everyone is Japanese. • Everyone here is constantly working. • Newcomers rarely arrive. • People disappear sometimes but never return.

To make it clearer, I’ll call my friend “A” from now on. A was calm after asking and talking for a while, but he still didn’t understand what work they were doing or why they were doing it. Then, the man said, “Let me tell you about the work.”

• [43] Interesting
• [44] I’m watching

The truth about “hell” is about to be revealed. The participants’ expectations rise as the story approaches its core.

The work, according to the man, is as follows: ① There are very small red-fruited plants that rarely grow among the grass on the ground. ② You have to bend down and separate the grass roots to find them, like looking for four-leaf clovers. ③ If everyone keeps searching, they can collect enough red fruits to fill both hands. ④ When you’ve collected enough that they almost spill from your hands, you place them on a flat stone (like salmon roe on sushi). ⑤ The stones must be thin and about the size of a 500 yen coin. ⑥ The stone with red fruits on it is called an “offering,” and they need to make as many offerings as possible. ⑦ They arrange the completed stones in a grid pattern at a designated place.

• [47] Light work in hell? Even death is hard
• [50] So your friend went to hell

The term “offering” evokes Japanese Buddhist culture. The ritual-like work in the afterlife gives the story a mysterious depth.

…That was the explanation of the “work” he received. A asked more questions about this strange work. The whole thing seemed absurd and incomprehensible. The man explained it in a practiced way, as if reading from a manual. To summarize: • The work procedure was discovered by people who were there before. • The procedures are fixed and cannot be changed, though new rules might sometimes be added. • The completed and arranged offerings eventually disappear. • Why the offerings disappear or who takes them is unknown. • No one has ever seen the moment when offerings disappear. • Even if you watch without sleeping, they vanish in the blink of an eye. • Just as offerings rarely disappear, people also rarely disappear. • Everyone hopes they will be the next to disappear. …That was the truth behind the work. It was too mysterious to comprehend, and A could only respond with “huh.” Normally, you could ignore someone who seemed mentally unstable, but given the circumstances, even such a story had a certain persuasiveness. The man’s emotionless, matter-of-fact way of speaking also lent a strange credibility to it.

• [54] Aren’t there people who just do nothing and space out?
• [56] Were there young and old, men and women?

A Buddhist-like view of the afterlife seeking liberation. The quiet wish of souls wanting to “disappear” tells the essence of this hell.

A stayed there for what felt like a month, but he said you’d go crazy if you did nothing the whole time, especially with no distractions like eating, drinking, or sleeping. He just stayed there normally, and only about 2 people besides the skinny man talked to him. They were all middle-aged men, and one of them was Korean. I don’t have any more notes, so I’ll summarize: after about a month of doing this work, A came back to this world. On the day he returned, he had walked away to a different place. During that journey, he found what appeared to be a cat he used to own, and when he caught it, his memory of hell ended.

• [63] So the goal is to erase your own existence by doing the work? There’s a limit to just spacing out too
• [72] Regardless of the ending, it was interesting

The story reaches an abrupt conclusion. The unexpected catalyst for returning to the real world is meeting a remembered pet. In Japanese folk beliefs, pets wait for their owners in the afterlife.

I asked A a lot of questions like why he left that place, where he was planning to walk to, why the cat suddenly appeared, but I haven’t organized the answers, so sorry for being vague. To conclude, that’s what happened.

• [73] I wonder what happens after death
• [76] When your instincts think you’re dying, you lose consciousness. When I had a head-on collision with an oncoming car while riding my motorcycle, it was about 30 seconds? When I came to, I could see the sky
• [77] It’s scientifically suggested that humans secrete excessive endorphins when dying to ease fear and create happy hallucinations, so I found this genuinely interesting
• [81] I used to have similar nightmares. Constantly collecting red stones in an empty cave with no one around

As the story ends, participants begin sharing their own views on death and similar experiences. The strange tale that blurred the line between reality and unreality quietly dissolves into the darkness of the message board.