episode_0077

077 – Assistant Manager Joy and the 13 Labors # 1

Various male employees gathered on the headquarters rooftop.

They smoked cigarettes or chatted to relieve the fatigue accumulated from work.

“These days, real estate prices in Happy World are going up and up….”

“It’s still better than the new apartment prices in Elysium, isn’t it?”

When male office workers gather, the topics of conversation are obvious.

Topics full of numbers like stocks, real estate, and marriage.

However, recently, there was a topic that had become the hottest issue among men.

“Hey, did you hear the news from the Welfare Team this time?”

“That the Welfare Team is doing incredibly well? They say if they can maintain this, they’ll become an influential department like the Audit Team.”

“Not that! The story of Orpheus from the Welfare Team!”

“Orpheus, you mean that ‘poor Orpheus,’ right?”

Orpheus from the Welfare Team was one of only three men in the Welfare Team.

The only bachelor among the men.

If he were the sole male among beautiful women, he would usually become the subject of envy and various fantasies. But people called Orpheus ‘poor Orpheus.’

This was because he had been inherently weak-willed from birth, and he couldn’t adapt to the pressure from the Amazonian women of the Welfare Team, twisting like a dried squid.

However—.

“That Orpheus has been smiling lately.”

“Then that rumor must be true. That the Welfare Team’s atmosphere has completely changed lately….”

A rumor had recently spread.

The story that if a single man transferred to the Welfare Team, he would receive an excessive amount of attention among the beautiful and capable women.

Of course. From my perspective, working as a manager on temporary assignment to the Welfare Team, it was nonsense.

Because the Welfare Team was still a hell that tormented single men.

“Manager Joy! You were here!”

“There was something I wanted to tell you about the employee event this time, so let’s go quickly!”

“Manager, should I carry you on my back!”

“Get out of the way! Manager is coming with me!”

Beautiful female colleagues came up to the rooftop.

They each clung to my arms, busy pulling me towards themselves.

The men who saw this were so amazed that they dropped the cigarettes from their mouths.

“I have a dream now. It’s to transfer to the Welfare Team.”

“The heaven Elysium I dreamed of was there!”

“The rumor that the Welfare Team was reorganized was true!”

They are fools.

The women currently hanging from my arms are Amazons who make even the valiant male heroes of myths tremble. For them to pull my limbs in different directions is no different from being tied by ropes to my hands and feet and torn apart by an ox.

Snap-crackle-pop—.

Look. My bones are actually screaming.

I was thus dragged to the office by an irresistible force.

Boom-boom-boom-! Bang-bang-bang-!

Soon, explosions began to burst all around.

“Oh.”

I was really startled.

I thought a war had broken out.

“Manager! Congratulations on your promotion to Assistant Manager!”

“Ta-da!”

I finally came to my senses with the bouquets of flowers the women handed me. The balloons and placards hanging everywhere were very elaborate and colorful.

“Even if you return to the Audit Team tomorrow, don’t forget us!”

“Manager Joy is an ‘Honorary Welfare Team Member’!”

Today was the last day of my temporary assignment.

Starting tomorrow, I would return to Audit Team duties, and for me, the Welfare Team colleagues had prepared this farewell party.

I was flustered.

Because the time I spent here was only two weeks.

And even those two weeks passed by so haphazardly that I didn’t know what I had done.

‘Honestly, I didn’t do anything. They took care of all the work on their own.’

A concrete jungle of perfect businesswomen.

This place would have functioned well whether I was here or not.

“Manager, just stay here with us!”

“That’s right!”

But without knowing that, these Welfare Team employees seemed to have grown fond of me, even shedding a few tears.

They were so affectionate and considerate.

‘Perhaps the reason there were so many small gatherings was due to their affectionate natures. They wanted to have a sense of community with various people.’

My conscience pricked me.

Because I was not the kind of person who deserved such hospitality and gratitude from them.

To put it another way, I was like a troublemaker trying to stir up chaos for the sake of getting fired.

But since they treated me like a national hero, my face couldn’t help but turn red.

“Sisters of the Welfare Team. You must not cry because I am leaving. Instead, smile. I was a hindrance to you, an unwelcome guest.”

At my confession of conscience, the Welfare Team became an even bigger sea of tears.

Even Assistant Manager Fantasileia wiped away tears with the tip of her pinky finger.

“You. You said such harsh things when you first came here. You intended to make yourself the villain to unite us, didn’t you? Truly worthy of being a man recognized by Manager Hector.”

The residents of this Soul Society only saw what they wanted to see and heard what they wanted to hear.

Why was that?

While I was thinking that, Manager Hippolyta approached me and handed me the rubber band that was tying her hair.

“Manager Joy, I give you this Hippolyta hair tie. If you show this, at least the female warriors of the Themyscira tribe will not treat you roughly.”

Clack—.

It was Manager Hippolyta putting her hair band on my wrist.

The problem was that unlike a simple rubber band, it was tied around my wrist like handcuffs and wouldn’t come off.

‘What kind of hair tie is stronger than a steel cable?’

No matter how hard I pulled, it wouldn’t come off my wrist.

To think she was just using something like this as a hair tie, superhumans truly were different.

# # #

“Yes, that’s how it is. I am Assistant Manager Joy, who has returned to the Audit Team.”

I had gone out as a manager and returned as an assistant manager.

Soon, hands were raised everywhere, and shouts began.

“Hee hee, indeed, the promotion of the Honorary Nymph will continue…! As an Honorary Nymph acknowledged by Peranoi, she survived even the battlefield of the male-hell Amazons…!”

“This Carnoy doesn’t know what’s what, but it wants to dance to a joyful nymph beat…!”

Moving to a rhythmic beat—.

Nymphs wiggling their shoulders and waists.

Soon, the Audit Team employees also followed them, dancing to a rhythmic beat—the joyful nymph dance.

“Why are there nymphs here?”

However, I didn’t know why there were nymphs in the Audit Team.

Then Manager Hector patted my shoulder vigorously, making my whole body tremble.

“That’s to congratulate you on becoming an Assistant Manager! Joy, becoming an Assistant Manager in this headquarters, you know. It’s an occasion for the entire department to celebrate! An Assistant Manager promotion usually happens once every 100 years!”

“What are you doing! The Audit Team is also finishing work today! Pull down the shutters!”

When Alecto nim, the executive in charge of Audit Team 1, shouted, champagne bottles popped around us as if they had been waiting.

Pop, pop-pop-! Shimmer-shimmer-shimmer-.

Thanks to that, my body was soaked in foam and felt sticky, making me feel unpleasant.

Pat-pat-pat—.

As I was patting off the foam on my clothes with my palms, Narcissus assistant manager, seeing the hair tie on my wrist, was greatly astonished.

“My goodness! Everyone, look at that! Assistant Manager Joy brought Queen Hippolyta’s hair tie!”

Why is he making such a fuss?

Soon, Goddess Alecto nim also continued to express her admiration, looking at my bracelet.

“To think you received recognition from the Amazon Queen. You know well that bringing Queen Hippolyta’s girdle was one of Hercules’s labors, don’t you? You received that much recognition.”

Hercules, the greatest hero of Greece, was a bastard son of Zeus and had to complete 12 quests due to a curse from his stepmother Hera.

Each of them was an impossible feat for a human, so even completing just one was enough to be called a ‘hero.’

The ninth of these was to bring the girdle from Hippolyta, the Amazon Queen.

Hercules, who brought Hippolyta’s girdle.

Joy, who brought Hippolyta’s hair tie.

Are these comparable?

That’s absurd.

However, the admiration in the eyes of the Audit Team members looking at me was similar to the gaze of longing for a truly great hero.

‘From my experience, I must stop this atmosphere!’

If this continued, there was no telling how high my reputation would soar.

So, I shouted to everyone.

“Everyone, calm down. How dare I compare myself to Hercules?”

“Assistant Manager Joy! Are you saying now that you will not only rival Hercules but surpass him? I have seen countless heroes, but no one has ever spoken like you!”

Manager Hector, as if excited, ground his teeth vigorously.

When did I ever say such a thing?

The problem was that other employees also added their comments.

“Indeed, if it’s a simple feat, Assistant Manager Joy can already be compared to Hercules.”

“From his affiliate days, he overpowered Kronos and Sisyphus, and since coming to headquarters, he’s been a hero who brought stars and clouds to the sky of this Soul Society.”

“Didn’t he defeat Typhon and overcome Thanatos too?”

Defeat Typhon and defeat Thanatos?

When did I!

Where on earth are such rumors spreading from?

“Joy, I think you might be able to accomplish the 13th Labor.”

Manager Hector’s eyes shone quietly among the employees.

At that, the employees who had been chattering quieted down.

“If it’s the 13th Labor….”

“…That legendary one.”

What could the 13th Labor be?

As it was mentioned in such a situation, I couldn’t help but be interested.

Alecto nim stroked her chin and frowned.

“The 13 Labors, you say. We don’t even know if it’s real or not. The capture of the ‘Phantom Nymph’ said to exist somewhere in this Soul Society—. It is indeed an extraordinary labor.”

“…‘Phantom Nymph’?”

What kind of unsettling name is that?

Soon, the nymphs who were moving to a rhythmic beat reacted.

“This Carnoy doesn’t know what’s what, but it heard that a ‘Phantom Nymph’ lives somewhere in this Soul Society…!”

“It’s a mysterious nymph whose identity no one knows…! It’s even unclear whether it’s a nymph or not…! And no one knows where or how it lives…!”

…A mysterious nymph of unknown identity?

Very suspicious.

“What happens if you catch the Phantom Nymph? If you accomplish that 13th Labor?”

“That is….”

Manager Hector’s gaze wavered.

“We don’t know. It’s just a rumor. There’s a rumor that one day the great Moirai set 13 Labors. And if all of them are accomplished, something amazing will happen.”

Whether this rumor was true.

Whether the 13th Labor actually existed, all of it was unclear.

‘Maybe it’s just a rumor.’

This Soul Society is filled with strange stories, to the point where there are even rumors that I, Joy, defeated Typhon and Thanatos.

You shouldn’t blindly believe what’s rumored among the public.

“Joy, since you’ve been promoted to Assistant Manager, you’ll also be going to meet the Moirai.”

“I’ll meet the Moirai?”

“For Assistant Manager promotions, there’s a welfare benefit for performance improvement: the opportunity to ask the Moirai one question. You already knew that, didn’t you?”

The Moirai are goddesses of fate whom even executives cannot resist.

The right to meet them and ask a question.

‘Could I ask how I can escape from this Soul Society?’

Assistant Manager promotion.

It might not be so bad after all!