"Senpai, you won't believe what happened. When I was coming back from my business trip yesterday, something really strange happened."

The junior colleague sitting across from me at lunch suddenly brought it up out of nowhere.

"I visited the client's office to pitch our new product. But they just kept nagging me about issues with our old products. Since I didn't know much about those older items, I didn't have any good answers for them, and the presentation ended up being a total disaster. I was so frustrated."

The client was a key account that had bought our product released two years ago. The guy in charge of their account had complained before, saying they were always making unreasonable demands.

"In the end, the client just kept insisting they had no interest in new products, so I couldn't close the deal. My manager and the department head both chewed me out over the phone, and I started heading home feeling completely miserable."

"Man, that sounds rough."

"So I decided to drown my sorrows on the train ride back, but the alcohol hit me way faster than usual and I got pretty drunk. Maybe that's why, but it felt like the train ride was taking forever, and my stop just wouldn't come."

"You must've been really wasted."

"Yeah. So when I finally got off the train, I transferred to the bus. Next thing I knew, I woke up the next morning in my own bed at home."

"Wait, you don't remember anything between getting on the bus and waking up in bed? Man, you really were drunk."

"Honestly, I was shocked. I've never lost my memory from just a single 500ml can of beer before."

"For someone who always makes it into work the next day no matter how much you drink to black out from just that much... you must've been at your absolute limit. Go home early today."

"Thank you, Senpai. I appreciate it."

With that, she headed back to her desk for the afternoon.

A week later, I received an email from her asking if I'd join her for a drink after work. She said she wanted me to hear about something strange that had happened during last week's business trip.

"So, what's this strange thing you mentioned?"

"The truth is, I've gradually been remembering what happened after I got on that bus. Once I remembered, it really creeped me out, and I just had to talk to you about it."

"Alright, what happened?"

This was her story:

As she waited at the bus stop, a bus arrived ten minutes before the scheduled final bus of the night. Usually, that bus was completely empty, but that night, every single seat was taken.

When the bus pulled up, there was no automated announcement, and the driver didn't say a single word. Before she knew it, they were driving down an unfamiliar road, with no trace of any other vehicles—either in the oncoming lane or ahead of and behind the bus.

Feeling uneasy, she spoke to an elderly man sitting in the seat in front of her: "Where is this bus heading?" The moment she said it, all the passengers turned at once to stare at her, and a low murmur broke out. Looking panicked, the old man quickly hurried up to the driver and whispered something in his ear.

Before long, the driver came back and shouted sharply at her, "Miss, get off at the next stop! When you get off, walk straight ahead! Go straight to the temple right in front of you! Do not, under any circumstances, take any other path!"

When the bus stopped, she got off. She found herself at "Bus Stop Z," a location far away from her house.

From there, the road split three ways. Straight ahead was a pitch-black dirt path; to the left and right were paved roads lined with streetlights, with city lights visible in the distance at the end of them.

She really didn't want to take the dark path straight ahead, but having just been yelled at so fiercely by the driver, she reluctantly chose the path straight in front of her.

Standing at the temple was a man in Buddhist robes. "You've had a long night," he told her. "Wait here while I call a taxi." A taxi arrived shortly after, and she made it home safely.

"That really is a strange story. Do you remember the name of that temple?"

"Yes, it's Temple Y in X City."

"Have you tried contacting them?"

"No, I've been too scared to call."

"Why don't we give them a call right now and see if it's true?"

I was half-skeptical as I listened to her story, but wanting to clarify whether it had been a dream or reality, I called Temple Y in X City.

"Yes, we did call a taxi for a young woman who came by late one night a week ago," the voice on the line confirmed.

To my surprise, what my coworker had said was completely true.

When I told her, she said she really wanted to express her gratitude in person, so we decided to visit the temple on our next day off.

Over drinks later, as we checked the locations of the temple and the bus stop on a map, we noticed a bizarre discrepancy.

"Hey, look at this. Bus Stop Z where you got off is way up in the mountains, and there aren't any streetlights anywhere near it. Plus, it's a full hour's walk in a straight line from Bus Stop Z to Temple Y. Are you sure you didn't get the bus stop wrong?"

"No matter how drunk I was, there's no way I misread the bus stop sign. But... you're right. That's really strange."

Three roads did indeed branch off from Bus Stop Z, and the middle one headed toward the temple, but you'd have to make several turns along the way—reaching it on foot in five minutes just by walking straight was impossible. What's more, the remaining roads to the left and right were both dead ends that ended at sheer cliffs. We searched for any other bus stops near Temple Y, but couldn't find a single matching one, so we called it a night.

"Thank you so much for your help back then."

"Oh, it was no trouble at all."

When we arrived at Temple Y in X City, the head priest welcomed us. He was the man who had saved my coworker that night.

"Actually, I received a phone call that night," the priest said. "'A young woman is heading your way right now, so please keep her safe.'"

"Did something like that really happen...?"

My coworker held nothing back as she recounted everything that had happened that night to the priest, adding that she had reached the temple in five minutes after getting off at Bus Stop Z.

The priest fell silent in thought for a moment before replying, "That must have been terrifying."

"Truth be told, I've received a phone call like that once before. You're the second person this has happened to."

"...Is that so...?"

"This is just my speculation, but I believe the bus you boarded was carrying souls on their way to the afterlife. Since you were still among the living, everyone was shocked and rushed to return you to this world."

"But why did I end up on a bus like that in the first place?"

"Likely because your failure at work caused a heavy accumulation of negative energy within you, causing them to mistake you for someone bound for the next life."

"What would have happened if I'd stayed on that bus...?"

"Well, you might have died. That's why you should be truly grateful to the elderly man who spoke to the driver for you."

Saying this, the priest chanted a sutra for the elderly man.

As we thanked the priest and prepared to say goodbye, he added:

"I forgot to mention: it's a good thing you walked straight ahead from Bus Stop Z. If you hadn't listened to the bus driver and had taken another path, we might not be meeting like this today. I'm truly glad you're safe."

Leaving us with those words, the priest headed back into the temple. After watching him go, the two of us set off on our walk back home.