episode_0013

013 – For a Loved One # 2

Now, he is nothing more than a noisy sound pollution creator.

Orpheus was a great musician, praised as a hero during his lifetime.

He joined the legendary Argo Expedition and played an active role.

After returning from his adventure, he married his lover Eurydice, and on that very day he tasted the pinnacle of happiness, he met tragedy.

His new bride Eurydice was bitten by a poisonous snake and died.

At this time, Orpheus made a bold decision.

It was to go down to the underworld and beg for his wife back.

For the dead to return to the land of the living is the most forbidden of taboos.

However, Orpheus’s music made it possible, and even the rigid “CEO” allowed Eurydice’s return to the surface, albeit conditionally.

The condition was this:

─”Do not, under any circumstances, look back while ascending to the surface.”

Regrettably, in mythological worldviews, conditions were always meant to be broken.

They exist to be broken.

Orpheus looked back just before reaching the surface.

There are many anecdotes about why he looked back just before success, but the important thing is that he broke the condition.

His beloved lover Eurydice was dragged into the deep darkness of the Happy World, and Orpheus, losing his will to live, wandered until he was brutally murdered by frenzied women.

So, did Orpheus, who became a resident of the afterlife, reunite with Eurydice?

Upon checking in this “Happy World,” the conclusion was NO.

Orpheus committed the taboo of coming to the Soul Society with a living body.

As punishment, he became a resident of the Happy World and was undergoing “amnesia punishment.”

At the entrance of this Happy World flows the powerful River Lethe, the river of forgetfulness.

Orpheus drank a lot of that river water.

What would happen here if Orpheus and Eurydice were to meet?

What if an employee responsible for enforcing punishment violated regulations to provide convenience to a prisoner?

What if he was released without any reason?

According to the regulations of this Soul Society, where even the “CEO” is bound by rules, that employee would have a high probability of being punished.

And that was the move I was aiming for.

An openly committed illegality.

My affairs have been tangled due to strange fortune lately, but no one will be able to stop this matter.

“Section Chief Joy, are you really sure this is okay? I shouldn’t be leaving that house at this hour. I remember that was my punishment…”

“Oh, come on, didn’t I say I’d take responsibility!”

# # #

Bones, who was about to leave work, was surprised.

This was because he had received a report that special inmate “A-09C” had left his residence and was walking through the city.

‘Section Chief Joy, surely he didn’t leave the house with Orpheus!’

Orpheus was under house arrest.

His management grade was only C, but Deputy Director Bones couldn’t help but feel nervous about him leaving the house.

This was because Orpheus was a somewhat special prisoner.

Quietly-.

Deputy Director Bones opened a drawer and pulled out documents hidden deep inside.

“Name: Orpheus”

“Cause of Death: Compound fractures and decapitation due to beating”

“Crime: Taboo”

“Punishment: House arrest and amnesia”

This was the authentic punishment contract for Orpheus.

What needs attention here is the signature written at the end.

Whoosh-. Letters burning with flames.

It was written there like this:

“Approver: Hades”

They were truly chilling, goosebump-inducing letters.

The lowest-ranked individual, before whom even the wicked evil spirits of the underworld and the departed residing in the deepest, darkest places would cower.

The “CEO” of this Soul Society, whose name one fears even to mention.

Orpheus’s punishment was something he personally devised and executed.

Although Orpheus’s management grade was only C, in some respects, he was being managed as strictly as Kronos, and that was the reason.

‘Joy, I don’t know what you’re thinking, but if things continue like this, it might look like you’re challenging the “CEO’s” authority! If things go wrong, it won’t end with just a pay cut!’

Bones shivered, his left third rib trembling with extreme unease.

Then, a woman with “pomegranate eyes” appeared from somewhere and asked:

“If you’re a deputy director, your office is nice. Spacious. So, Deputy Director Bones, is there a problem?”

“Melinoye nim! That… nothing is happening!”

Bones was greatly flustered.

Just when a subordinate caused a big problem, the most difficult superior happened to appear.

As he was fidgeting uneasily, the goddess Melinoye added:

“It’s probably Section Chief Joy’s doing, obviously. In this ‘Happy World,’ if there’s an employee who can make the cold-hearted Bones nervous, it’s only that man. So, what is it this time? Tell me honestly.”

“…Well.”

“If you lie to your goddess, you’ll have an absolutely. terrible. time.”

“…He’s leaving with Orpheus. It seems he’s trying to go to Elysium. To commit such an illegal act right before the head office inspection. What on earth is he thinking…?”

“Pffft!”

Melinoye spat out all the Hellmericano she was drinking.

That was only for a moment-.

“Ghost employees, gather.”

─Whoosh.

─Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…!

Fluffy ghosts began to emerge from everywhere.

The goddess Melinoye gathered these ghosts into one mass, made them like a cloud, and then rode on top of it.

# # #

In the distance, the new city of Elysium could be seen.

The newly built apartments, rising high, emitted a white light, truly dazzling.

It looked close enough to touch, but in reality, the rivers of the underworld twisted and flowed between them, and one had to pass through the vast Asphodel Meadow, so it was quite far.

Whoosh-oh-oh-oh-oh-.

In the Asphodel Meadow, as its name suggests, Asphodel flowers bloomed in abundance.

As the wind blew from somewhere, swaying the flowers, Orpheus sank down.

“Mr. Joy, I really can’t go any further. I don’t know who you’re telling me to meet. Just send me back to that narrow, dark room!”

Send him back? Then nothing would happen.

That won’t do.

This Happy World needs more incidents and accidents.

“Mr. Orpheus, didn’t you say you wanted a musical instrument made from a nymph’s hair? If we just cross that river, everyone can be happy, so stop whining!”

If only we cross that river!

But a problem occurred.

As if they knew the prisoner I was with was Orpheus, all the ferrymen of Charon’s Transport shook their heads.

─Whoosh, whoosh-whoosh-whoosh!

─Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh.

Perhaps it meant they couldn’t carry a prisoner without approval from above.

The problem was that everyone had an impeccable professional ethic.

“Fellow colleagues. Can’t something be done?”

─Whoosh-whoosh…

At my request, the ghost employees seemed to exchange glances, then pointed to the river mouth with their hazy, round hands.

There was an old boat placed there, and unlike modern boats with motors, this one had to be rowed manually.

Creak-!

Just in case, I got on the boat and tried to row.

‘Ugh, damn it, why is this so heavy?’

The oar was extremely heavy.

It wasn’t budging at all.

“The oars in this underworld weigh at least a thousand geun. So, to row it yourself, ordinary physical strength is useless. I, too, struggled a bit trying to row this oar myself in the past…”

Orpheus scratching the back of his head.

He tilted his head.

“…Why did I try to row the underworld’s oar myself?”

This is driving me crazy.

A thousand geun, is that roughly 600 kg?

To row something like that, ordinary strength wouldn’t even make it budge.

“Mr. Orpheus, please wait here for a moment.”

A good idea occurred to me, and I immediately headed to the work site.

As I hurried, I saw a monstrous figure pushing a mountain-sized boulder, breathing heavily.

“Oh, delicious. This is it. This weight. A delicious weight.”

“Senior, you are respectable!”

“Indeed, the strongest in Happy World!”

More people showed up?

If they look like crazy people, that’s correct.

I approached them and said:

“Mr. Sisyphus, I need someone to row a heavy oar. Do you have a moment?”

“How heavy is it?”

“600 kg.”

“No, thank you. That’s too light. If I suddenly lift something light, I’ll lose muscle.”

“If this task is completed successfully, I will consider increasing the weight of the boulder you are pushing, Mr. Sisyphus. What you’re pushing now, honestly, it’s light, isn’t it?”

Sisyphus raised an eyebrow as if tempted by my proposal.

However, he gestured with his chin towards the hourglass placed in front of him.

“Is it something that can be finished within my 10-minute break?”

Carrying Orpheus across the rivers of the underworld to Elysium would take at least an hour.

Sisyphus’s 10-minute break was far from enough.

But?

“Then, please wait here for a moment.”

I knew exactly the solution to this situation.

So I ran with all my might, and in the distance, an old man plowing a field was visible.

“Old man!”

“Look who it is. Isn’t it Section Chief Joy? Why have you come again?”

The old Titan, Kronos.

He, who had been plowing the field, straightened his back and looked at me.

I had no time to delay with this colossal old man, so I immediately stated the conclusion.

“An hourglass that makes 10 minutes feel like 1 hour. Can you make one?”

“Are you telling me to use the relativity of time? Possible.”

Rustle-rustle-rustle-.

Kronos knelt down and scooped up dirt from the ground.

He soon entered his humble shack office and began to bang-bang-bang on something.

How much time had passed?

“This is an hourglass that makes 10 minutes feel like 1 hour. Kronos officially certifies it. I’ve even specifically carved a large signature into it!”

Thud-!

After receiving the hourglass from the giant, I returned to Sisyphus.

Then, upon seeing the hourglass in my hand, his eyes sparkled with interest.

“An hourglass that makes one hour feel like ten minutes, you say. Extremely intriguing. Very well. As long as that hourglass runs out, I’ll also leave my post. Let’s go!”

Thus, I led the massive Sisyphus across the Asphodel Meadow towards the ferry landing.

There, Orpheus stood alone, looking at the opposite bank of the river.

Upon seeing him, Sisyphus’s eyes momentarily sparkled with confusion and tension.

“Mr. Joy, aren’t you overdoing it right after becoming a section chief? There’s no one in this Happy World who doesn’t know what kind of prisoner Orpheus is. You might even lose your job if you’re not careful.”

“I will take responsibility for that. I will ensure no harm comes to you, Mr. Sisyphus, so please row the boat. Everything that happens from now on will occur under my sole discretion as Section Chief Joy.”

Creak-.

We boarded the old boat.

A washed-up singer and a workout addict.

An employee who somehow ended up in the wrong job.

For people on the same boat, they all have strong personalities.

Swish, swish-swish-.

It seems pushing mountain-heavy boulders wasn’t just for show, as Sisyphus rowed the boat, and it advanced towards Elysium’s new city at an incredibly fast speed.

The apartments visible in the distance looked exactly like those on the surface, making me feel a sudden wave of longing.

Perhaps it might not be entirely wrong.

Because if this boat arrives at Elysium, I will be fired, and I will be able to return to the surface.

But it was at that very moment, as the boat was about to reach the riverbank of Elysium.

Whoosh, flash-!

“Stop.”

Princess Melinoye, wearing a bright red laurel wreath, flew rapidly from behind us, riding on something fluffy and cloud-like.

─Whoosh, whoosh-.

─Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh…!

As it got closer, its form became clearer, and upon closer inspection, it wasn’t a cloud but something like a carpet made by gathering fluffy ghosts.

“Orpheus, stepping onto the paradise of Elysium as a prisoner is a violation of regulations. And Sisyphus’s 10-minute break is already over. Section Chief Joy, quickly withdraw.”

“No, that’s not quite right.”

Crash-!

A sudden red lightning strike.

When I regained my senses, a man wearing a golden laurel wreath stood beside Princess Melinoye, arms crossed.

“I just checked, and Orpheus completed his sentence and was released based on Section Chief Joy’s unilateral decision. Therefore, for now, there’s no problem with him being here.”

The strange thing was that the unfamiliar man was wearing only red underwear.

He looks familiar somehow.

Sisyphus, greatly admiring him.

“Muscles boasting a miraculous body fat percentage, as if carved from a sculpture. Surely you are Zagreus, the Prince of Hell…!?”

Zagreus, if that’s who it is…

Does that mean Zagreus, the 4th ranked in this Soul Society, the “CSO”?

The man spoke.

“Divine Effect!”

Pop-!

[Illegal Resident of Another World]

“Ah, this. Hasn’t this broken thing been fixed yet? Refresh!”

Pop-!

[CSO]

[Great Prince of the Soul Society]

[God of the Happy World – Zagreus]

How did he even create that billboard-like effect?

As I frowned at the dazzling letters floating in the air, Prince Zagreus chuckled lightly, ‘Hmph-‘.

“Section Chief Joy, we owe you a big debt ahead of the large-scale audit. Go. To that shining Elysium. We’ll discuss responsibility and credit for this matter after it’s concluded.”

What is this?

Why is he suddenly obediently clearing the way?

In this situation, shouldn’t it be normal for the Prince to scold me for abusing my authority?

At that moment, Sisyphus slapped his thigh as if having a fit.

“Large-scale audit… Debt… Release from prison… Indeed, indeed, that’s how it was! Section Chief Joy, you are truly a terrifying person! Was even Prince Zagreus’s appearance all part of your calculations…!?”

“…If it’s an audit, then surely not. Ah, indeed, that’s how it was. Section Chief Joy. Truly amazing.”

Even Princess Melinoye, who crossed her arms and straightened her back─.

What on earth is happening?

Before I had a chance to ask anything, the boat arrived at Elysium.