King Of Underworld [EN]: Chapter 39

Ominous Sign – (1)

The Underworld is never peaceful.

The goddess Aphrodite, who had agreed to help with the affairs of the Underworld for the time being, was having another rough day.

Until they reach the River Lethe [the river of forgetfulness], the souls of humans retain their memories of the living world.

Therefore, there were bound to be those who couldn’t accept their death and caused a commotion.

“Ugh! I’m not dead yet!”

“Please, just let me see my mother one last time! I’ll see her for a moment, I promise, and then walk on my own two feet!”

“Damn it, let me out of here!”

Those who deny reality, those who cling to the living world, those who vent their anger on the enemies who killed them…

Even the souls wandering the River Acheron [the river of woe] without a single coin.

Soon, she grew tired of even speaking with the dignity of a goddess, and for a moment, she simply charmed the souls with her gaze.

Charon [the ferryman of the Underworld], who had taken the souls across the river and returned, delivered Hades’ message.

“Hades says he’s going to hold a banquet in the Underworld for a whole day.”

“A day… a whole day?!”

“Hmm. I was quite surprised too. I guess he’s worried about what happened with Thanatos [the personification of death] last time…”

Clearly, it was the same news, but the reactions were different.

The ferryman of the River Acheron was happy that he could rest from work for a whole day, while the goddess of beauty and love was shocked that it was only that much.

That’s because, what kind of work would the goddess of beauty and love have done on Olympus [the home of the gods]?

The emotion of love arises naturally, and beauty is not something she needs to actively manage.

And Olympus was full of gods as leisurely as her.

Banquets were often held, and they could live a life of leisure.

“Come to think of it, you lived comfortably on Olympus, so you might not be used to the work.”

“…I think I know why Athena [the goddess of wisdom and strategic warfare] avoids her seat whenever the Underworld is mentioned after the Great Flood.”

Such a delicate flower was suddenly plunged into a work hell…

This kind of reaction is only natural.

* * *

“I… I am wronged… Zeus [the king of the gods] forced me… sob… Why does Hera [Zeus’ wife and queen of the gods] only target me?”

A human soul who was raped by Zeus and retaliated against by Hera, died, and came to the Underworld.

Behind her, weeping sadly, the goddess Lethe quietly approaches and makes her forget her memories of the living world.

When making judgments in the Underworld, there are often those who arrive with their memories of the living world intact.

It is natural that the River of Forgetfulness is ineffective if one dies with deep resentment…

“Why are there so many rape victims in the living world…”

The gods are selfish.

Not only Zeus, who thinks with his lower body, but most of them are like that.

The higher the rank of the god, the more severe this tendency is, but even lower-ranking gods rape humans.

Just today alone, there are 3 rape victims who have arrived in the Underworld.

All of them came to me with their memories of the living world and begged me.

As I held my head in my hands, the goddess Lethe, who had just erased the soul’s memory, quietly approached.

“But Hades doesn’t do that, does he? And he’s so popular…”

Of course not, even like this, I am one of the Three Great Gods.

If you marry me, you can become the mistress of the Underworld and gain tremendous power and strength.

Honestly, I think I’m handsome enough, even though my face looks a bit gloomy.

There are quite a few goddesses who subtly express their feelings to me, even if I’m not as bad as Poseidon [god of the sea], whose official wife Amphitrite gets angry every day because of excessive affairs, or Zeus, who has relationships with most of the women he sees.

But…

“Hoo… It’s just because I see only those kinds of souls every time.”

The Underworld is filled with victims of rape, adultery, and murder due to love triangles.

When I see those who died because of the curses or jealousy of goddesses, even if I have the desire to get married, it disappears…

And the mistress of the Underworld must be chosen carefully.

Like Zeus’s wife and the queen of the gods, Hera, who kills rape victims, or Poseidon’s official wife, Amphitrite, who overturns the sea when she gets angry, is a bit…

Just then, a servant approached and informed me that the banquet was ready.

“It seems that the banquet preparations are slowly being completed, so let’s go to the banquet hall.”

“Tch… Yes.”

Everyone will be happy since it’s been a while since we’ve had a day off.

I left the office with the goddess Lethe quietly following behind me and headed to the banquet hall.

I told them to distribute the wine made by Dionysus [god of wine and revelry] to the people of the Underworld since we were holding a banquet today.

Even though souls don’t need to eat and drink, maybe they can still feel the festive mood.

“Has the Mousai [the Muses] goddess arrived?”

“Yes! The goddesses have already arrived and are in the banquet hall.”

The nine Mousai goddesses, who are in charge of arts and sciences, are the daughters of Mnemosyne [the goddess of memory] and Zeus.

When the goddess Mnemosyne heard that I was holding a banquet, she contacted Olympus directly and called her daughters.

Bbiriri~

The sound of music echoes as I enter the banquet hall.

The goddess Euterpe [muse of music] plays the flute, and Terpsichore [muse of dance] dances to it.

The other Mousai goddesses were also enlivening the banquet atmosphere according to their respective fields.

As I sat down for a moment and looked around the banquet hall, I could see that everyone was enjoying the long-awaited rest.

But something is strange.

“My goodness…”

“How hard must it have been…”

There must be something in the back corner of the banquet hall… the gods are whispering.

As I crept closer, an old god was lying down and sleeping.

“Kuh… keuh…”

Why is the god Hypnos [the god of sleep] sleeping on the floor of the banquet hall? Was he that tired?

Still, I shouldn’t disturb him since I opened the banquet for him to rest.

I ordered a servant to move the sleeping god Hypnos to a quiet room and returned.

“Did they die from disease again? Weak mortals, tsk tsk tsk… mumbling mumbling…”

In another corner, the power of death was swirling around Thanatos’ body as he sipped nectar.

He couldn’t rest because he had to control his doppelgangers to harvest souls even at this moment when the banquet was held.

“Lord Hades!”

Someone calls me.

I’ve heard that voice somewhere, ah!

“Oh my~! Lord Hades! It’s been so long!”

“Erato [muse of love poetry]. It’s been a while.”

A goddess with long blue-silver hair and a tunic that suits her well approaches me with a smile.

One of the nine Mousai goddesses, the goddess Erato, who is in charge of love poetry and solo singing.

“You’re always working hard in the Underworld, but I’ve been busy and haven’t been able to visit…”

The goddess Erato comes over and links her arm with mine.

Don’t get too close, niece…

Her cute appearance is adorable, but isn’t the distance too close?

“Hades-nim~ Seeing Hades-nim after a long time, I’m getting so much inspiration~”

“…?!”

I feel like I’m getting a lot of attention, but let’s stop here…

Unlike my inner thoughts, Erato clears her throat and recites a poem.

The sweet voice of the goddess of art, who is in charge of love poetry and solo singing, echoes in the banquet hall.

* * *

Humans say~

Phoebus [Apollo, god of light] with a smile like the sun, Poseidon with a chest like the sea.

Dionysus with a captivating figure, Hermes [messenger god] with pleasant eloquence.

Erato, who paused her poem for a moment and took a sip of nectar, put her hand on my chest and continued.

But we know~

Pluto [Hades] of the Underworld, whom everyone fears, is the one who…

“Heok… I’m… I’m sorry! Then I’ll be going now…!”

“Huh…?!”

Erato suddenly stopped talking and looked behind me.

She bowed her head and backed away as if she was very embarrassed.

When I turned around, the goddess Styx [goddess of the River Styx, a boundary between the living and the Underworld] was looking at me with a smile.

But she doesn’t seem to be in a good mood.

“Hades… with another strange goddess again…”

“Yes?”

“Hoo… It’s nothing. By the way, why are you holding a banquet? How much damage will it cause if you skip work for just one day…”

Yes, yes… I know.

“I just thought everyone needed a break…”

“But what if things get backed up again like last time?”

“I don’t think you have to worry about that. If you look over there…”

We turned our heads and saw Thanatos, who was muttering something with a sinister look in his eyes and controlling his doppelgangers.

The busiest god in the Underworld seemed to be still busy harvesting souls.

“Was the next one this way? Oops… a whole family starved to death…”

Aside from the black wings hitting the nectar glass and getting wet,

No god existed near the god of death because of his terrifying appearance of harvesting souls in real time.

“Thanatos is still working hard, and the three brothers Minos [judges of the Underworld] are taking turns resting.”

“So, can I go back now? Hades?!”

The goddess Aphrodite, with an angry face, intervened in the conversation.

The goddess of beauty, who has transformed into an even more decadent appearance compared to a while ago.

I’ve used her enough.

I could feel that the work in the Underworld had decreased for a while.

“Thank you for your hard work. If you ever want to come to the Underworld again…”

“Re… Really?! Can I really go?”

Aphrodite leaves her seat as soon as I agree.

The goddess Styx looked at her and shook her head in disbelief.

“No, just because she worked a little in the River Acheron, she’s acting like that.”

Is it because she’s a goddess who only played and ate comfortably on Olympus that she’s so quick to escape the Underworld…

…?! Someone is offering a prayer to me.

A believer in Thebes, or a priest?

But this earnestness, plea, and request filled with fear is…!

“Lord Hades! Please help me! A monster that is a combination of a snake and a human…!”