King Of Underworld [EN]: Chapter 29

The King of the Underworld is Tired 29

The Story of the Dead

The Underworld, the final destination and resting place for souls.

Just as humans know, countless gods exist here.

First, there’s Hades, the king of the Underworld, along with Thanatos, the god of death, Lethe, the goddess of oblivion,

The goddess Styx, the master of absolute oaths, Hypnos, the god of sleep, and Morpheus, who governs dreams…

However, they are not the only ones in the Underworld.

For example…

“Ferry fare.”

“Hic… Yes…?”

A high-ranking deity, the son of Erebus, the god of darkness, and Nyx, the goddess of night, yet…

“Don’t have it? I can’t take you across without it.”

“Ugh… Eh? Something in my mouth…”

“It’s there. Open your mouth, I’ll take it myself.”

He suffers from back-breaking labor, rowing the boat every single day…

Charon, the ferryman of the River Acheron.

“Yes, 1 obol [an ancient Greek coin, worth one-sixth of a drachma] is correct. But another single coin, tsk.”

A god with white hair, a weary face, and the appearance of an old sailor.

Isn’t Charon, the ferryman who toils under a workload comparable to Hades or Thanatos every day, the true workhorse of the Underworld?

* * *

When a person dies in the mortal realm, they first meet an avatar of Thanatos, and their soul is dragged to the entrance of the Underworld…

Next, they encounter the first river flowing through the Underworld, the River Acheron.

Waiting on the wide, tranquil riverbank, an old man rowing a boat calls out to the souls.

“I’m dead… Ugh… But… who are those people?”

“Why ask when you know? If you don’t pay the fare, I can’t let you cross the river.”

Charon, the ferryman of the River Acheron.

He never allows the dead to cross the river unless they pay a single coin (1 obol).

Therefore, the banks of the Acheron are always filled with souls wandering and weeping.

Charon’s stories are widespread in the mortal realm.

That’s why, when burying the dead, families usually place a coin in their mouths.

But what about travelers who died far from home and were devoured by beasts?

Souls who died on the battlefield and whose bodies were never found for a proper burial?

Those who received divine punishment and whose bodies left no trace?

Such souls could not find peace even in death.

Because the dead from the mortal realm flock to the Acheron River every day, one might think Charon is incredibly wealthy, but…

Whoosh- Splash.

The money that Charon, the ferryman, can actually possess is only from the second coin onwards, and the first coin received must always be thrown into the River Acheron.

This is the law of the River Acheron, which is why Charon is always poor.

“Haa… I work myself to death, but my pockets are always empty.”

Let’s briefly jump to Hades’ past life…

Isn’t this just passion pay, almost unpaid slavery?

“We’re here. Get off, you lot.”

“Hic… Sob… Yes…”

“Mother… I’m sorry.”

“Damn it… I should have dodged that guy’s knife…”

It wasn’t long after the souls boarded Charon’s boat that it arrived on the other side.

Thus, Charon drops off the souls and rows back, disappearing into the distance.

After crossing the River Acheron comes the River of Sorrows, Cocytus.

“Ugh…”

“Mother… Uwaaa!”

“It’s so cold…”

This river reflects the past 모습 [Korean word for appearance or form] of the souls, causing them to be immersed in sorrow.

Regretful memories from their lives, moments of love, cherished memories.

And the current situation of facing death, leaving all of that behind, shakes the souls’ hearts.

What the dead, who have crossed the River of Sorrows with a gloomy air, face next is…

The River of Fire, Pyriphlegethon.

“What the… The river is on fire?”

“Flames everywhere…”

“But it’s not hot?”

Fire in the mortal realm is hot.

The souls hesitated for a moment, remembering that, but soon realized they felt no heat.

“It’s really not hot?”

“I guess, is it because we’re already dead.”

Flames engulf the souls’ bodies, but there is no sensation of heat.

Rather, a refreshing sensation, as if scrubbing away old grime, envelops them, and the souls cross the river once more.

Thus, purified of the filth of the mortal realm in the River of Fire, Pyriphlegethon, they face the River of Oblivion.

The River of Oblivion, Lethe.

“Go that way…”

The goddess Lethe, showing off her beautiful silver hair, often appears on the riverbank to guide the souls.

Following the goddess’s hand pointing across the river, the dead jump into the river.

“How much further… Ah… Uh…”

“This river is no different from the mortal realm… Eh…”

The souls do not suffocate, but the water of oblivion that naturally enters their mouths erases their memories of the mortal realm.

Occasionally, souls with too much resentment do not forget their memories of the mortal realm, but this is not the case for ordinary people.

The dead, moving forward by instinct, finally reached the last river to go to the Underworld.

The River Styx, the river of hatred. It is a long and wide river that wraps around the Underworld nine times.

Sometimes the goddess Styx guides the dead, but,

Today, the goddess’s attendants urge the souls on.

After crossing the river and walking a short distance, Hades’ fortress comes into view for the dead.

* * *

“Heeik…”

“O-Oh…! There…”

Hades’ fortress, spread throughout the Underworld,

The grandeur of the jet-black castle, visible from afar, overwhelms the dead.

Walking along the wide avenue leading from the River Styx to the fortress,

A huge gate leading into the Underworld’s fortress appears.

And in front of the gate, Cerberus, a three-headed monster, bares its teeth.

“Krrr…”

“Aggrrr…”

The foamy saliva dripping from its sharp fangs contained poison.

The dignity of the divine beast, whose father is Typhon, the god of storms, and who received Hades’ power, terrifies the souls.

However, seeing the approaching souls, Cerberus ignores them and clears the way as if uninterested.

The Underworld’s divine beast, faithfully following Hades’ orders, only devours souls leaving the gate.

The dead carefully pass through the huge gate guarded by Cerberus,

Underworld officials appear and lead them somewhere.

“Come this way, humans. There are those still undergoing trial, so wait here for a moment.”

“And most of you will live in the Underworld, so what you need to keep in mind is…”

“You’ve probably lost your memories of the mortal realm after crossing the River of Oblivion, right? I’ll tell you about the gods again.”

The souls, moved to a space resembling a building or a plaza, listen to the explanation.

New knowledge enters the minds of the souls who have forgotten their memories of the mortal realm,

And the dead begin to understand the situation they are in.

“Trial…?”

“Was I a good person in the mortal realm?”

“I’m anxious…”

An official approaches the dead, who are frantically absorbing new knowledge.

“It’s your turn now. From you there to here, all of you follow me.”

The dead get up one by one and follow the official.

They are now moving to the place where Hades delivers his judgments.

When roughly hundreds of souls gather in a wide, open space, what they see is a black-haired, black-eyed god.

With a very tired face, holding parchment in his hand, he was the lord of the Underworld, Hades.

He was rummaging through piles of documents piled on the platform, receiving reports from the officials.

When the Underworld god waved his hand here and there as if annoyed, his authority manifested, and a black wind swept through the crowd.

An emotionless voice enters the souls staggering from the black wind passing by as if brushing against their bodies.

“There are no souls going to Tartarus [the deep abyss that is used as a dungeon of torment and suffering for the wicked] or Elysium [the final resting place of the souls of heroes and virtuous people], so next…”

“You guys move this way.”

“From now on, you will move to the judges.”

After Hades’ simple judgment, which filters out major criminals, heroes, or special individuals, they are judged by the three Minos brothers, the judges of the Underworld.

The three Minos brothers examine in detail the gravity of the sins the soul committed in the mortal realm and impose a punishment accordingly.

Sometimes, changing the procedure, the three Minos brothers judge the souls first and send those who are difficult to judge to Hades.

“You committed the crime of killing three neighbors and stealing their property in the mortal realm…”

“Then let’s impose hard labor on the outskirts of the Underworld and the penalty of repairing the fortress.”

“Is the next soul that old man?”

Minos.

The son born between Zeus and Europa, and was the king of Crete in his lifetime,

After death, he became a judge of the Underworld with his two brothers.

Their judgments were so famous for being fair that Hades also trusted the three Minos brothers and entrusted them with the judgment of souls.

Those who have committed great sins either receive all their punishment in the Underworld,

Or those who are judged by the three brothers to have little or no sin live in Hades’ fortress.

The scenery of the mortal realm and the underworld is not that different.

Except that all the dead souls are translucent and do not consume food.

Here, too, there were laws and order, occupations and rules.

In the Underworld’s space as vast as the mortal realm, souls who have not yet been reincarnated were talking.

“Will I be reincarnated soon?”

“I’m going to stay here, I want to become an administrator of the Underworld.”

“Goddess Lethe seems so beautiful today too…”

“Watch your mouth, she’s the mistress of the Underworld.”

“Wasn’t that Goddess Styx?”

Souls who have washed away their sins begin preparing for reincarnation in the order they arrived in the Underworld.

If, in this process, the dead refuse reincarnation and wish to remain in the Underworld, they are allowed to stay, considering the situation.

If they stay in the Underworld, they are usually assigned jobs to administrators or lower gods.

Guards patrolling the Underworld, attendants or maids to gods such as Hades or Hypnos.

Or roles such as repairing the vast fortress or building houses or spaces for souls to live in.

“It looks like there’s a lot of dust here… I should clean it up a bit.”

“There’s a hole in the fortress? We need to repair this quickly.”

“I heard Hades’ maid has been reincarnated?”

“Really? They’ll be recruiting again soon. Should I apply?”

Also, the souls of the Underworld, who have adapted to the dark and gloomy underworld, could see even without light.

Hestia’s hearths placed everywhere give the dead a sense of security and warmth, but the light itself is not very necessary.

Thanks to this, they are more familiar with night than day, and darkness than light.

This is the daily life of the souls living in the Underworld.

It was one axis of a vast system where life and death are repeated.

But what if this cycle is broken…

Wouldn’t that be a disaster?