“Only those who pass the audition can pass this road.
"That's the procedure." "What? An audition? Oh my, no matter how trendy auditions are, you're gathering dead people together and having them audition? Seriously, me.
I'll hear all kinds of things.
"Do dead people dance? Do they sing? Why would they enjoy dancing and singing? If their fate was comfortable enough to allow them to dance and sing, they wouldn't have come here," said Mr. Hwang Myeong-sik, his voice rising.
“That’s the procedure, and you have to follow that procedure and pass to pass this path,” Macheon said firmly.

--- p.24

“That's what I'm saying.
“If we were to say otherwise, how could we have died, how could we have died?” Lee Soo-jong clenched his fists.
“That’s right, how could he have died?
I wanted to live.
“But how could it be otherwise?” A few people chimed in.
“Don’t use the word ‘how much’ carelessly.
Countless souls who were eliminated from the selection process for entering the world sometimes cry while waiting for an opportunity that may never come.
On days like that, the world shakes with the sound of wailing, and I am left with no choice but to sit back and do nothing.
But don't stop them.
I can't tell them to stop crying.
I understand and feel sorry for him to cry so sadly.
If they cannot gain life and go out into the world, they will have to wander for thousands or hundreds of millions of years without a form.
If you don't have a form, you can't do what you want.
This means that one's own existence cannot be seen or expressed with the eyes.
Do you know how tragic it is to have a soul but no form?
“‘How much so’ is a fitting word for those souls.”
--- p.36

“No, that’s what I mean.
If I had known that such a complicated and difficult task awaited me, I would have just stayed alive. I would have died in vain.
Who has the talent to shrink a camel and widen the eye of a needle? I never dreamed such a complex and tedious process awaited me.
I thought death would be the end.
I thought it was all over.
“Oh, my head hurts.” Lee Soo-jong scratched his head with both hands.
The clock shook and flashed.
“I also thought that everything would end with my choice.
“I never imagined something like this would happen,” said Na Do-hee.
I was also curious about what Na Do-hee wanted to end all of.

--- p.60

“You are really saying annoying things.
How many people in the world you lived in were truly merciless? Yet, they all endured, persevered, and lived out the time allotted to them.
As we go through life, there are times when we feel frustrated and despair, but we also find hope and happiness.
When I gave time to the souls who went out into the world to live, I did not include only the dark and bleak time.
I should have endured it.
I had to endure it.
Among those who came here, there were some who would have been delighted if they had waited just one more hour.”
--- p.135

I have never had the same troubles as these people.
That means it was truly monotonous and simple.
Because all I had to do was get through each day well.
Still, I was always busy and hectic.
Mr. Hwang Myeong-sik and Lee Su-jong were not monotonous people, but I was exactly that type of person.
'Did I live thoughtlessly? Did I live wrong?' I shook my head.
It may be so, but it may not be so.
Living that way, I was always an outsider and a pitiful child, but somehow I didn't choose death for myself.
I don't know what it means to live well.
'If I could go home, I'd have to think about this more deeply.' The strange thing is, I felt a desperate need to go home.
It was more so because other people's reasons joined in rather than just my own.
I felt like I was getting complicated.

--- p.190~191

“What is the approximate price that Ma Cheon-nim will have to pay?” “You don’t need to know.
What kind of masters are they?
When you return, make good use of the fifty-eight years you have regained.
Not a single second of the time given to you is meaningless.
These are times when everyone has a reason to live.
Make sure you never waste it.
“May you be able to say in fifty-eight years, that you lived the time given to you quite well.” Ma Cheon said calmly.

--- p.214