This is a true story. Last year, I suffered a heart attack and was rushed to the ICU in an ambulance. On the way, one of the paramedics was talking to the receiving hospital. They kept checking on me to see if I was conscious. It was too painful to answer, so I think I was just staring blankly. I believe I asked something like, 'Um, am I going to die?' The paramedic smiled and gently replied, 'You'll be fine. We're almost there.'

When we got to the ICU, there was a huge crowd of medical staff, and they immediately started hooking me up to all kinds of equipment. Sharp, agonizing pain shot through every part of my body.

In the middle of all that, a doctor performed an ultrasound and said, 'This is bad.'

Several doctors gathered around, consulting each other as they looked at the images. While that was happening, I blacked out. I assume I fell asleep, but I felt as if my body were floating in midair.

Then, suddenly, my surroundings turned into a mountain path. Plenty of people were walking up the trail around me. Wait, what is this? Did I die? Yeah, I must have died. Since there was nothing else I could do, I decided to start walking.

After walking for hours, I finally came out to a place that looked like the shore of a lake. Everyone was boarding a small ferry, one after another.

There was a young woman nearby, so I asked her, 'Where does this go?' With a lifeless look on her face, she replied, 'Who knows? But we don't really have a choice.'

When I walked up to the boarding area, there was a ticket vending machine. Apparently, you couldn't board without buying a ticket. Everyone was putting money in, buying their tickets, and getting onto the ferry.

I looked at the options. There were three ticket tiers: First Class, Second Class, and Economy. What shocked me, though, was the pricing.

First Class: 350,000 yen; Second Class: 100,000 yen; Economy: 50,000 yen.

So expensive! Can you not even go to paradise without money? I figured 350,000 yen must get you a private room and decent food.

It suddenly hit me to check my wallet, but when I looked inside, I only had 30,000 yen. I couldn't afford a ticket.

There was someone who looked like an attendant checking tickets, so I walked over and asked, 'Um, I don't have enough money. What should I do?'

'Huh? No money? Then you can't board,' they said coldly. Still, how did everyone else have so much cash on them? A lot of people were buying First Class. If you die suddenly, how are you supposed to prepare for that?

I mean, what was I supposed to do? Completely lost, I sat down on a bench.

The ferry departed. It was pitch-black night the whole time. I sat there for hours, but it stayed dark. What should I do? Is there an ATM around here or something? I was starting to panic.

Right then, the area brightened slightly, and someone called my name. Over and over again. I must have been called dozens of times.

When I opened my eyes, a nurse said, 'Your vitals have stabilized, so we're going to perform surgery now.'

When she asked, 'Are you alright?' I blurted out something totally out of touch like, 'Um... did I die?'

The nurse chuckled and said, 'You'll be fine. We're doing a catheter procedure instead of open surgery, so it won't hurt.'

My head was still completely foggy, though, and the only thing on my mind was buying that ticket. Apparently, I told her, 'Excuse me, could you go to an ATM and withdraw 350,000 yen for me?'

I was told later that it became a running joke at the nurses' station. Honestly, if I had enough cash in my wallet, I probably would have gotten on that ferry. I wonder where that ferry was heading?