episode_0034

034 – CEO

“…….”

I wondered if I was seeing things.

As I stepped out the door to go to work, there was a cockroach as big as my torso lying in front of my house.

─Screeeeeech!!!

Its outer shell was shining platinum, and a long, Y-shaped horn, like that of a rhinoceros beetle, protruded from its head.

If it weren’t for that strange cry, it would have been difficult to recognize this creature as a hell cockroach.

“At this point, isn’t it just a huge rhinoceros beetle?”

─Screeeeeech!!!

Look at its temper.

Even the “manager-level” cockroach I had often seen recently was terrifying.

Its size and shape were such that it was rather admirable.

“Then this one must be a ‘deputy general manager-level’.”

This ‘deputy general manager-level’ cockroach seemed to have collapsed flat, unable to penetrate the cactus field I had acquired in exchange for a large quantity of ‘Hell Clover’ a short while ago.

As expected, the more cacti, the better.

Even so—

I really don’t want to go to work.

“Congratulations on your promotion, Deputy General Manager Joy!”

“Wow, Markius truly acknowledges you!”

As I entered the office with unusually heavy footsteps, firecrackers popped and exploded loudly.

Soon, many employees handed me armfuls of bouquets, and I felt like crying.

Because it was too sad that this was reality.

I hoped for just a moment.

Perhaps the ‘promotion test’ that happened recently was just a dream I had overnight—.

But some realities were stranger than dreams.

I’m already a Deputy General Manager?

“Deputy General Manager Joy! Thanks to the money I bet on you, moving into a newly built Elysium apartment is no longer just a dream! As expected, I did well to trust you!”

“I, Krauser, have also taken a big step closer to the musical instrument I’ve been eyeing! If I had known this would happen, I should have raised the betting amount, even if it meant taking on a lot of debt and guarantees!”

Everyone seems to be joyful after winning a big share, right?

But I’m suffering this much!

I’m resentful.

If I had known this would happen, I shouldn’t have won the Deputy General Manager promotion test.

As I was thinking that, Mr. Admetus burst into the office.

His hands were full of large boxes.

“Joy, congratulations on your promotion! This is a gift from our transport team. After hearing my and Alcestis’s story, everyone recognized your greatness.”

“Th-this, isn’t this mango!”

“This is a peach! I’m seeing it for the first time in 100 years!”

“It reminds me of the days I was alive…. It was truly good to eat lots of various fruits….”

They were fruits from the living world, rarely seen in this ‘Soul Society’.

Mr. Admetus, the transport team manager, rubbed his nose.

“If you work at ‘Charon Transport’, you can eat lots of fruits from the living world, you know. Everyone, share and eat. And Joy, if there’s anything you need to get from the living world in the future, tell me!”

Bang-bang-!

Mr. Admetus pounded his chest.

Just as I was thinking that he was small in stature but truly had great ambition and guts, Marki from the transport team asked.

“Mr. Admetus, didn’t you decide not to recklessly get things from the living world for people? That’s smuggling, you know. If you get caught, your path to success will be completely blocked.”

“Ha! Anyway, I’m an ‘eternal manager’ who’s been passed over for promotion! That’s my destiny! I’ve decided to accept it. So Joy, is there anything you want to get from the living world?”

Something I want to get?

Not particularly.

The Deputy General Manager’s salary, which I unintentionally received a promotion for, was quite high.

To the extent that most things could be easily obtained even in this ‘Soul Society’.

At that time, Krauser asked.

“Is it also possible to take things from the underworld to the living world?”

“To the living world? If it’s something that can easily pass through customs, I can send as much as you want. Of course, if it’s someone of my level, I can even hide and take something like a ‘dud thunderbolt’!”

Why bother sending a ‘dud thunderbolt’ to the living world?

I don’t even want to do such a terrible thing.

Still, it was a tempting offer.

Should I try sending a letter to my mom?

What should I write about?

Hell cockroaches are swarming.

Sulfur rain is falling from the ceiling.

I’m suffering in a Happy World full of skeletons and ghosts?

‘Such a letter would be worse than not writing at all.’

For reference, everyone in the office shared and ate the fruits from the living world that Mr. Admetus gave.

Everyone missed the living world.

Especially Manager Bones, tears gushed from his skeletal face, which had only bones remaining.

“Ah, the good old days!”

# # #

The ‘headquarters’ was located in the lowest and deepest part of this ‘Soul Society’.

The building’s shape was like a gigantic Parthenon temple, its exterior covered as if wallpapered with gold, marble, and ivory.

On the floor, precious mythical-era velvet, so rare that I couldn’t buy even a span of it with my salary, was spread like a carpet and decorated with gold thread.

Clack-clack-!

Clack-!

Everywhere, skeletons armed with magnificent armor and spears stood strict guard. Indeed, it was worthy of being the most strictly guarded place even in this ‘Soul Society’.

Floating lightly—.

To enter this building, one would likely have to go through several complex procedures.

─Whoosh, whoosh…!

─Whoosh…!

This ‘ghost carpet’ I was riding seemed to be like a free pass in the eyes of the frightening skeleton guards.

They opened the doors for me without any special inspection, and thanks to that, I could easily enter the headquarters building.

That was the problem.

‘I didn’t want to come to a place like this, you know!’

Why do I have to come here?

Because I finished the game as the top-ranked bettor, an interview appointment with the ‘CEO’ was scheduled.

I want to turn around and run away right now!

An interview with the ‘CEO’, whom even the executives fear!

An ordinary person like me wouldn’t be able to endure even a short time and their heart would probably stop.

“Don’t dawdle and come in!”

At that moment, a thunderous voice was heard from inside.

I thought a bomb had exploded in my ear.

Startled, I went inside and saw work documents piled high like temple pillars.

The amount of work given to me, now that I’m a Deputy General Manager, is enormous.

If it’s a ‘CEO’ of this ‘Soul Society’, the workload must be unimaginable.

“Sit anywhere.”

The ‘CEO’ I faced right in front of me was extremely large.

Perhaps because he was the eldest son and heavily inherited the blood of Titan Kronos, or perhaps due to his muscles, his build seemed to be twice mine.

That’s why the pen he was holding looked exactly like a club.

He won’t beat me to death with that, will he?

─How dare you touch my daughter? Thunderous Eight Trigrams!

Someone like me will just turn into dust.

As I stood there, terrified and silent, a Nymph shouted from behind me.

“If you invite a guest, you should at least bring out a drink, you know…! This Melinoye knows there are plenty of drinks in that refrigerator…! Of course, this Melinoye is just a newcomer with no relation to the ‘CEO’, you know…!”

“What!?”

I was greatly flustered.

Suddenly.

Because a Nymph appeared!

“What─!!!”

It seemed the ‘CEO’ was equally surprised.

His voice was like an earthquake that erupted right in front of my nose, and my ears went deaf.

“────!”

“──!”

What is everyone saying?

My ears are ringing, so I can’t hear a thing, you know.

Oh, suddenly my vision is darkening….

This, surely not… a heart attack…!?

The last thing I saw was the ‘CEO’ taking out a bag of candy from a drawer.

# # #

……….

…….

“Gasp! Nymph! Candy!”

I was greatly startled and regained consciousness.

Had I been sitting on an unusually cushioned sofa and fallen asleep briefly?

Rustle-rustle-.

The ‘CEO’ was signing documents in the same posture as before.

Also, in the seat in front of me, Melinoye nim was elegantly and leisurely sipping tea.

Their actions were as if nothing had happened.

“Deputy General Manager Joy, a Nymph, you say? You’re saying all sorts of strange things. There’s no way a Nymph would be in this headquarters, you know. And there’s no way there’d be candy that Nymphs like. It seems you dreamed of a Nymph. Hehehe….”

Melinoye nim, smiling beautifully.

Her expression quickly became calm.

“Of course, there’s no way you’d dream of a Nymph. Deputy General Manager Joy dislikes Nymphs, you see. Dreaming of someone you dislike, that couldn’t happen, could it?”

“─What?! How dare you say you dislike Nymphs?!”

Stiffly—.

The ‘CEO’, who had been signing documents, stopped his hand.

Grooooooan—.

Rummmmmble—.

The headquarters building itself began to shake.

“You Nymph hater!”

Was disliking Nymphs the forbidden thing?!

He seems utterly furious!

My survival instinct alerted me to the crisis, and I prostrated myself flat on the floor.

“…Rather than disliking them, I’m just a little uncomfortable for personal reasons! I don’t dislike them! On the contrary, I’m rather fond of them! My first thesis was even about Nymphs!”

“─What!!! How dare you say you like Nymphs?!!!”

Craaaaaaaash—.

Craaaaack—.

Cracks appeared in the headquarters building, and gold dust pattered down from the ceiling.

“Gah! Th-that’s the King’s Aura!”

“Prince Zagreus ran away from home to the living world without permission again, didn’t he!?”

“It’s clear that Typhon is trying to revive again!”

An anger on the level of the Demon God Typhon’s revival, you say?

Somehow, he seems even angrier than when I said I disliked Nymphs.

…This is… rather an opportunity!

“I apologize for daring to anger the ‘CEO’! This is a truly great sin! If you demand responsibility, I will accept it willingly!”

The ‘CEO’, extremely angered because of me.

To appease his anger and get fired, I prostrated myself even more flatly.

“Please, fire me!”

A prostration with all five limbs, containing a man’s sincerity.

Then Melinoye nim laughed, “Hehehe.”

“Joy, there’s no way you’d get fired for something like this. Whether you dislike or like Nymphs, this ‘Soul Society’ isn’t so reckless as to fire an employee over such preferences.”

“Only something like this, you say? This father is tremendously angry. This is the first time I’ve been this angry since your older brother Zagreus grabbed my collar, threatening to run away from home!”

Run away from home? Collar? What kind of story is that?

I wanted to cover my ears from a story I didn’t want to hear.

Should I just faint again?

Soon, the laughter also disappeared from Melinoye nim’s lips.

“Dad, stop joking now. Zagreus running away from home, you say. That never happened in the first place. We’ve always been a ‘harmonious family’ from the beginning until now.”

A brief silence arose from that.

Melinoye nim quietly stood up from her seat.

“Then I’ll go get a drink for our guest, so the two of you can talk.”

Swoosh-swoosh-swoosh—.

Melinoye nim passed through the wall like a ghost and disappeared somewhere.

The Chairman and I.

It became so awkward when just the two of us remained that I felt choked, but the Chairman was the first to willingly speak.

“As you can see, our family is ordinary. And like any ordinary family, we naturally have a few trivial problems. But everyone is busy, so we don’t have time to solve these trivial problems.”

Honestly, they’re neither trivial nor ordinary.

Of course, I couldn’t say such words.

“Therefore, Deputy General Manager Joy. I’d like to entrust a personal task to you, who has recently gained a reputation for excellence. It’s a matter concerning my family, unrelated to the company. It’s about someone in our family.”

If it’s someone….

As expected, could it be about Princess Melinoye?

Or perhaps it’s about Prince Zagreus, who had a splendid ‘runaway’ incident.

“It’s about my wife.”

Ah, all my predictions were wrong.

To think he’d bring up his wife here.

“My wife hasn’t returned to her parents’ home for several years now.”

This is a really serious problem, isn’t it?