"I thought you would be a bit confused, or even scared."

He tried to shake his head, but then he remembered that he had no form to express gestures.

"What is there to be confused about? The last thing I remembered was an explosion, and now I am in a mysterious, otherwordly environment. There is even a solemn old man that welcomes me. This place is obviously the entrance to the other side."

After a short pause, he mumbled:

"Though I am a bit surprised not to see a river here."

The old man started to stroke his chin.

"Indeed... Considering your life, the ability to remain calm even in this weird situation and make observations is to be expected."

There was a short pause. Thinking that the old man was done with what he was saying, he wanted to ask what to do now, but just before he worded his question, the old man continued:

"But I am afraid you are incorrect."

He tilted his non-existent head.

"This place... It is not the entrance to the afterlife. It is a gift I received a very long time ago. Its whole purpose is to let me observe the worlds in peace. And you, little one..." The old man pointed at his point of view "...is one of the people I enjoyed watching the life of!"

He was a bit perplexed. 'Is he watching over people who aren't even aware of it? Isn't this a bit... No, wait. Now that I think about it, it might not be weird if it is a Divine Being, watching over mortals. But the way he worded it... It sounded like he was watching some people out of curiosity rather than watching over everyone.'

"Well, you are right. I only watch people that piqued my interest, and even though I am indeed an entity of a higher level, I am afraid I am not an almighty being that can watch over everyone. Oh, and before you ask, yes, I can hear your thought. There isn't much difference between trying to say something out loud and just thinking it in your current form."

His mouth would be wide open if he had a body.

"So you are telling me... You are watching people out of your curiosity about them... Without their consent whatsoever... And there is no good reason for it either..."

"Well, sating my curiosity is a good reason in my opinion but other than that... Yeah, pretty much right."

He looked at the old man, who was standing without any change in his jolly expression even after all the things he said. He sighed.

"Venerable sir, perhaps living isolated for too long caused you to lose your understanding of social boundaries, but the thing you are doing... It sounds like stalking."

The old man's smile was now gone. In its stead, an expression of distress took place.

"No, wait-" Not giving the old man a chance to retort, he continued:

"Of course, I am in no place to judge someone whether they do good or bad things. But this... It is just indecent."

"Wait I tell you!" The old man's distress was blooming into panic "I might be living by myself for quite some time, but I still know what stalking is!"

"But then... Oh, how couldn't I think of it? My apologies..."

The old man was now a bit relaxed. He was about to say "Well, as long as you understand..." but the disembodied voice continued:

"... for not realizing your identity. You must be... The God of Stalking. It can't be helped if it's a part of your identity. Though I must admit, I never thought such a god would ex-"

"No, Wait- I AM NOT- Such god doesn't even exist!" He forced himself to stop when he realized that he lost control of his voice in his panic. Well, at least there was silence now, and no more... nonsense, he thought. He took deep breaths and tried to explain himself:

"Look, I am not the god of- well whatever nonsense you called me. And I am well aware of what stalking is, all right? What I am doing is not stalking. It is more like... Reading a book? Or watching a movie... Yes, that is right. It is just like that..." His voice trailed off. "Are you staring at me with a look of pity?"

"How can I do that when I don't even have a body?"

The old man tried to look more intimidating. "Don't you have any fear? What if I get angry when you mock me like that?"

"I am not mocking you, sir... Besides, I am literally dead."

'He even dropped the venerable' the old man dejectedly thought. He folded his hands at his back.

"Anyway... I am certain that you have questions... About why you are here."

Now the old man was once again looking right at his point of view.

"As you said earlier, this place is quite isolated, and there are some complications about me going out. When I saw your death, and how it happened, I saw it as an opportunity to talk a little. So I directed your drifting soul into this space."

'After all, he just wanted to talk to someone' he thought. "Yes", the old man reminded him that he could hear his thoughts.

"Well, it is not like I can complain, right? As long as you set things back to however they were supposed to be." The old man suddenly averted his eyes, which did not miss from his nonexistent eyes.

"You... Sir, you can send me wherever I was supposed to be, right?"

The old man remained silent.