episode_0004

004 – Welcome to Happy World #4

The departed souls of Happy World loved alcohol.

The taste of the alcohol was so amazing that even I, who was desperate to leave this place, couldn’t help but admit it.

Alcohol brewed by soaking pomegranates, a specialty product of the Underworld, in the historic river waters like the River Lethe and the River Styx.

If not for this alcohol, I wouldn’t have been able to endure this long in my role as both a warden and an employee.

That’s how I found my way to my regular pub.

The pub’s name is “Nymph’s Tail.”

“Sisyphus Energy Corporation, In celebration of breaking the upper price limit! 50% off all menu items!”

“For all Happy World employees, unlimited River Lethe pomegranate wine!”

Passing by a signboard that somehow made my stomach hurt, I entered the pub, and inside there were many off-duty ghost employees.

“Whooooah!”

“Whoo-whooooah!”

Seeing me, they were very happy and rubbed their fluffy bodies against my face. It seemed they liked that the dormitory had become brighter, thanks to me (unintentionally) guiding Sisyphus.

“Whooooah!”

“Whoo-whoo!”

“The communal washing machine and the refrigerator are working well without stopping, so that’s very good. It’s good.”

It’s a misfortune for me, though.

But since it brought happiness to someone, it must be a good thing.

“I’ve never seen anyone whom ghosts follow so well. You also seem knowledgeable in ‘Ghost Language’.”

Just then, someone approached me and spoke, so I turned my head to see some woman looking at me.

Her skin was transparent like the mist of Tartarus, her hair seemed darker than the darkness of Erebus, and her eyes were strikingly red and sparkling like pomegranates.

Her inhuman beauty made me wonder if she was a goddess.

But that couldn’t be.

Most of the goddesses of this Underworld work as executives at the main office, “Pluto’s Palace.”

‘If she’s not a goddess, even with this beauty—’

I reflexively looked at her ear, wondering if it might be pointy.

The woman touched her ear and asked me in a gentle voice.

“Why are you looking at my ear?”

“Because I thought you might be a Nymph. Nymphs have triangularly pointy ears.”

Her ear was daintily round.

That meant she wasn’t a Nymph.

“Checking if I’m a Nymph? Why do you need to do that? Do you, by any chance, like Nymphs?”

Not wanting to be misunderstood, I strongly denied it.

“Not at all. I dislike Nymphs. In a way, my being here like this is also because of Nymphs.”

“Really? I don’t know your circumstances, but that’s interesting. I agree. I can’t stand Nymphs either. They’re small, chatter uselessly, cry easily. And before evolving, they’re weaker than squirrels.”

Evolution? What’s with evolution.

Did Nymphs in Greek mythology evolve like Digimon or Pokemon?

“By the way, have you and I met somewhere before? Your face looks vaguely familiar.”

Asking if we’ve met somewhere.

Is she perhaps showing interest in me?

I shook my head.

When I shook my head, the woman clasped her forehead.

“Oh dear, I’m like this sometimes. It feels like I’ve met people I haven’t met before. And I feel like I’ve been to places I haven’t visited. And sometimes I lose something but don’t know what it is.”

Is she a strange person?

But in this “Happy World,” there are so many strange people that the strange ones are rather ordinary.

‘Actually, I also experience déjà vu frequently, so I strangely empathize.’

*Pouring sound.*

The woman poured my glass full of pomegranate wine.

“Since we’ve met like this, by fate, will you be my drinking partner? I haven’t been here long, so I don’t know anyone. And seeing how much the ghosts follow you, you don’t seem like a bad person.”

“Me?”

“Haven’t you heard that saying? Among those whom ghosts follow, there are no bad people—”

Such a beautiful woman offering to be my drinking partner.

Could it be some kind of romance scam?

For a moment, I was suspicious, but anyway, in “Happy World,” there was no further bottom to fall to, so there was nothing to lose.

“Whoo-whoo—.”

“Whoo—!”

“Hehe, it tickles. The ghosts here are lively, that’s nice.”

Above all, seeing how well the ghost employees followed the woman like puppies, she didn’t seem like a bad person.

Didn’t they say there are no bad people among those whom ghosts follow?

So, not knowing what else to do, I gulped down the glass.

Because I had liked alcohol from the beginning.

# # #

*Alarm sound.*

Suddenly, at the sharp sound, I woke up.

The golden hourglass I had installed in my room a while ago was ringing its alarm.

Don’t ask me how an hourglass has an alarm function.

I don’t know either.

The important thing is that it’s 6 AM.

‘Did they say the executive welcome party was at 8? There are still two hours left. I woke up too early.’

The habit of waking up early is truly formidable.

*Rustle.*

Then, someone slowly sat up beside me.

It was a woman. And what’s more, the woman I had been drinking with last night.

“You are…”

The problem is why this woman is beside me.

Honestly, I couldn’t remember a single thing.

It must be because I guzzled an enormous amount of alcohol. Pomegranate wine made with the water of the River Lethe sometimes makes a certain part of one’s memory disappear.

That’s because the River Lethe is the River of Oblivion.

“Um, by any chance, did we last night…”

“You, by any chance, haven’t seen my wallet, have you?”

“Wallet?”

What wallet.

Since she got ahead of me, I was speechless.

Regardless of what I said, the woman peered her head around here and there.

“It’s a round coin purse with a cute puppy embroidered on it.”

A wallet with a puppy embroidered on it.

Compared to her seemingly cold impression, she seems like a lady with quite cute taste.

“I know. It’s an item that doesn’t suit a mature woman like me. But my mom gave it to me as a gift, so I have no choice but to carry it. But where on earth could it be?”

The woman started rummaging through my house here and there.

I was quite bewildered, but I might be able to use this opportunity if I played it well.

“Since it seems like an important wallet, I’ll help you find it.”

“Will it be okay? We don’t know how long it will take.”

“Didn’t you say it was a gift from your mother?”

Ended up being late for the executive welcome event because I was helping someone find a lost item—.

A perfect plan.

We rummaged through my entire room like that, then even went to the pub where we drank yesterday.

But the wallet wasn’t there.

“Whoo-whoo—?”

“Whoo—.”

Even asking the ghost employees, all I got was ‘they don’t know.’

The woman’s expression became very disappointed.

“It can’t be helped that it’s lost. Anyway, it was an old item, and I was thinking of replacing it soon. I’m sorry to you. You helped me so diligently as if it were your own problem. As a token of thanks, I’ll buy you a hangover drink.”

A hangover drink?

After drinking that much yesterday, is she going to drink again?

“Boss, one glass of pomegranate wine here, please.”

*Clink.*

But then, my eyes caught something peculiar.

“Wait a moment, that—”

The item the woman who said she’d buy the hangover drink took out of her pocket.

It was a coin purse with a three-headed puppy drawn on it.

“No way, was the wallet in your pocket? That’s the wallet we were looking for, right?”

“Oh? Ohhh…!?”

The woman also seemed flustered.

She blushed her pure white face red and rambled incoherently.

“…Ahem, ahem, for a mature and grown-up person like me to make such a Nymph-like mistake… I’m sorry to you. Still, I’d really like you to keep this a secret from others. Ahem, ahem… I’ll repay you for it.”

The item I was diligently looking for was actually in her pocket?

She looks like a cold beauty, yet she’s a complete scatterbrain.

Still, it’s a relief that it wasn’t lost.

Because it seemed like a precious item imbued with memories of her mother.

‘I wonder if my mom is doing well.’

I’m getting a little melancholic.

I want to quickly quit this Happy World job, return to the surface world, and eat the ramen my mom makes for me.

“Then I’ll go to work now.”

I found the meaningful wallet, and it was also very good that, before I knew it, the work start time had already passed to 10 AM.

Now, it was truly irreversible tardiness.

*Dazzling.*

An excessively late commute.

The artificial sun made by Daedalus was as bright as a real sun, so my eyes were too dazzled.

Is it because the energy production by Sisyphus is overflowing? Even the sun is bright.

However, if there was one thing bothering me, it was that the wallet-owner woman was continuously following behind me.

I wondered if our directions were overlapping by chance, so I tried changing paths here and there, but it was true that she was continuously following behind me.

“Do you have any business with me? I should have told you that repayment is fine.”

“It’s not for repayment.”

If it’s not for repayment….

‘Is she trying to tell me to take responsibility for what happened last night? It was chaotic suddenly looking for the wallet, and I don’t remember well, but the fact that we woke up in the same bed this morning surely means last night….’

Women in this Greek setting tend to value purity in their own way. To the extent that even virgin goddesses exist.

‘Did something really happen last night?’

Did I lose my virginity without even knowing it?

As I tried hard to recall last night’s memory, the woman, unlike my expectation, gently said something completely irrelevant.

“You’re a Happy World employee, right? I also have business there today, but I don’t know the way here well. If I follow you, I’ll arrive at Happy World, right?”

What business could she have at “Happy World?”

Is she planning to submit a civil complaint or something?

Well, fine.

Anyway, the fact that I was late on an important day wouldn’t change.

“Joy! You! I was looking for you!”

Just as I arrived in front of the company, which looked exactly like a palace of hell, Department Head Bones, who had been loitering in front of the flower garden made last year, spotted me and immediately ran over.

For some reason, tension overflowed on his skeletal face.

“Joy! Why are you so late on such an important day like today?! It’s not like you! Even without this, there was something I absolutely needed to ask of you…!”

I’m going to get an earful.

That’s what I wanted.

For now, I decided to apologize by bowing my head.

“I apologize! To end up being late on such an important day like today! Even if you cut my salary or fire me, I will gladly accept it! Of all days! To be late on a day like today!”

*Groan!*

The point here was to make a truly frustrated expression.

As if my acting had worked, Krates, the ace of Team 1, shouted as if he had seized an opportunity.

“Haha! Joy! You let your guard down because you were promoted to assistant manager! To be late on such an important day like today! Hahaha!”

Tardiness on an important day.

In such a difficult situation, like spilled water, even Achilles, who runs like waves, wouldn’t be able to escape.

It’s working—

So, it was when I was inwardly cheering with joy.

“No, wait.”

*Clack!*

Skeleton Department Head Bones loudly clacked his jaw, which had only bones remaining.

What does ‘wait’ mean?

I started to feel uneasy for no reason.

“Now that I see it, our Assistant Manager Joy wasn’t just late.”

“What do you mean by that?”

Krates of Team 1 asked what I wanted to ask instead.

What on earth does it mean that I wasn’t just late?

“Assistant Manager Joy, what I was going to ask you was to bring the executive who will be newly taking office today, you see. They hadn’t been contactable since last night. But—”

Department Head Bones pointed behind me with his skeletal hand.

“Even before I asked, you brought our executive! I was worried they might have forgotten the way or something!”

“…What? Executive?”

“As expected of our excellent employee! Everyone, look! Joy brought the executive! So that’s why you were late!”

What about an executive, what’s the big deal?

I turned my head to see only the woman who had been with me since last night standing behind me.

Bones was prostrating himself flat in front of her.

“This Skeleton Bones greets the great and noble superior! Melinoye nim, I sincerely welcome and congratulate you on your appointment to Happy World.”

“HELLCOME TO HAPPY WORLD”

“Welcome, Melinoye nim!”

*Fanfare.*

Placards fluttering everywhere.

I clutched my somewhat dazed mind and struggled to recall what the name Melinoye was.

And I became afraid.

─Melinoye─.

That name was the name of the first daughter born to the ruler of the Underworld, the “CEO,” whose name was even frightening to mention.

And her identity was a goddess who presides over nightmares, and at the same time, a Nymph.

‘Damn it, I thought she wasn’t a Nymph because her ear was round! That the new Nymph executive coming was this woman!’

So, did I say I disliked Nymphs right in front of a Nymph?

Moreover, I even spent a night with that woman.

I don’t remember well, but if a drunk man and woman woke up in the same room, then indeed….

*Goosebumps.*

‘I spent a night with the CEO’s daughter! This isn’t the time to worry about transferring to Olympus!’