King of Underworld - Chapter 29



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Tales of the Dead

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

There are many gods here as humans know.

First, Hades, the king of the underworld, Thanatos, the god of death, and Lethe, the goddess of oblivion.

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

But they were not the only ones in the afterlife.

For example…

“Boat fare.”

“Ugh… yes…?”

A high deity, the son of Erebos, the god of darkness, and Nyx, the god of night…

“Don’t you have any? If you don’t have any, I can’t give you a ride.”

“Huh? There’s something in my mouth…”

“There it is. Open your mouth, I’ll get it for you.”

Suffering from hard labor of having to row a boat every single day…

There is Charon, the boatman of the river Acheron.

“Yeah, it’s one obolus (one-sixth of a drachma). But then another penny? Tsk.”

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

Could it be that the boatman Charon, who suffers from a daily burden of work comparable to that of Hades or Thanatos, is the true worker of the underworld?

* * *

When a person dies in this world, he or she first meets the incarnation of Thanatos, and the soul is dragged to the entrance of the underworld…

Next, you will encounter the Acheron River, the first river that flows through the underworld.

As you wait by the wide, calm river, an old man rowing a boat calls out to the spirits.

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

“Why are you asking when you already know? I can’t let you cross the river if you don’t pay the ferry fare.”

Charon, ferryman of the River Acheron.

He would never let the dead cross the river unless he received a penny (1 obolos).

That is why there were always many wandering, weeping souls along the banks of the Acheron River.

The story of Charon has spread even to this world.

So when burying a dead person, the family usually puts a coin in his mouth.

But there are travelers who die in foreign lands and are eaten by wild animals.

The souls of those who died on the battlefield and whose bodies could not be found and thus could not be buried.

Those who were punished so severely that not even a trace of their bodies remained.

Such souls could not find peace even after death.

Since the dead in this world flock to the Acheron River every day, Charon must be incredibly wealthy…

Wheeze – Pongdang.

The only money that the ferryman Charon can actually keep is the second coin, and the first coin he receives must be thrown into the River Acheron.

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

“Sigh… I work like crazy but my pockets are always empty.”

Let’s go back to Hades’ previous life for a moment…

Isn’t this passion pay, practically unpaid slavery?

“They’re all here. Get down, you guys.”

“Ugh… uh… yeah…”

“Mother… I’m sorry.”

“Damn… I should’ve dodged that stabbing…”

Before the souls had even boarded Charon’s ship, the ship had already arrived on the other side.

So Charon lets go of the souls and rows a few times before sailing away again.

After crossing the Acheron River, the next one is the river of sorrow, Cocytus.

“Ugh…”

“Mother… Euaaaah!”

“It’s so cold…”

This river is filled with sorrow because it reflects the past appearances of souls.

Regrettable memories from this life, moments of love shared, memories you want to remember.

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

What the dead who crossed the river of sorrow with a gloomy look faced…

Pyriphlegethon, the river of flame.

“What the… the river is on fire?”

“Flames all around…”

“But isn’t it hot?”

The fire in this world is hot.

The souls pause for a moment at the memory, but soon realize that they do not feel any heat.

“It’s not really hot, is it?”

“I see. Is that because he’s already dead?”

The bodies of the souls are on fire, but they do not feel hot.

Rather, as a refreshing feeling washes over them as if the old times are being pushed away, the souls cross the river again.

In this way, in the river of flames, the Puriflegethon, the filth of this world has been purified, and they face the river of oblivion.

Lethe, the river of forgetfulness.

“Go over there…”

The goddess Lethe, with her beautiful silver hair, often appears on the riverbank to show souls the way.

The dead jump into the river, following the hand of the goddess who points across the river with her finger.

“How much further… Ah… Uh…”

“This river is no different from this world… uh…”

The souls do not suffocate, but the water of oblivion that naturally enters their mouths causes their memories of this world to disappear.

Occasionally, souls with strong resentment do not forget their memories from this world, but this does not apply to ordinary people.

The dead, who had been moving forward according to their instincts, finally reached the final river leading to the afterlife.

The River of Hatred, Styx. A long, wide river that circles the underworld nine times.

Sometimes the goddess Styx guides the dead,

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Today, the Goddess’s retinue urges the souls.

After crossing the river and walking a little way, the castle of Hades soon comes into view of the dead.

* * *

“Eek…”

“Uh…uh…! Over there…”

Hades’ citadel spread throughout the underworld,

The grandeur of the pitch-black castle, visible from afar, awes the dead.

As you walk along the wide street that leads from the River Styx to the citadel,

A giant gate appears leading to the castle of the underworld.

And at the door stood the three-headed monster Cerberus, baring his teeth.

“Krrrr…”

“Agurur…”

The frothy saliva dripping from its sharp fangs was venomous.

The majesty of the divine beast, whose father was Typhon, the god of storms, and who received the power of Hades, terrifies souls.

However, Cerberus, seeing the approaching spirits, gave way as if he was not interested in them.

The beasts of the underworld, who faithfully follow Hades’ orders, only prey on the souls that leave the gate.

As the dead cautiously passed through the great gate guarded by Cerberus,

The officials of the underworld appeared and guided them somewhere.

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

“And most of you will be living in the afterlife, so here’s what you need to keep in mind…”

“You must have lost your memories of this world after crossing the River of Forgetfulness. I will tell you about the gods again.”

Souls moved to a building or a square with a vacant space hear an explanation.

New knowledge enters the minds of souls who have forgotten their memories of this world,

The dead began to understand their situation.

“judgment…?”

“Was I a good person in this world?”

“I’m anxious…”

The manager approaches the dead who are frantically accepting new knowledge.

“Now it’s your turn. From you there to here, everyone follow me.”

The dead get up one by one and follow the management in order.

They now move to the place where Hades passes judgment.

As hundreds of souls gather in a wide open space, what they see is a male god with black hair and black eyes.

The man with the very tired face and the parchment in his hand was Hades, the lord of the underworld.

He was receiving reports from managers while going through a pile of documents placed on the stage.

As the god of the underworld waved his hands here and there as if he was annoyed, his power was manifested and a black wind swept through the crowd.

An emotionless voice is heard by the souls staggering along in the black wind that passes by their bodies.

“There are no souls that will go to Tartarus or Elysium, so next…”

“You guys, move this way.”

“We will now move to the judges.”

After Hades’ simple judgment to filter out the criminals, heroes, and special people, they are tried by the three Minos brothers, the judges of the underworld.

The three Minos brothers carefully examine the severity of the sins committed by the soul in this world and impose an appropriate punishment.

Sometimes the procedure is changed, with the three Minos brothers judging the souls first and then sending those who are difficult to judge to Hades.

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

“Then let’s punish them by forcing them to work in the outskirts of the underworld and repairing the castle.”

“Is the next soul that old man?”

Minos.

He was the son of Zeus and Europa, and was the king of Crete during his lifetime.

After death, he became the judge of the afterlife along with his two brothers.

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

Those who have committed great sins will be punished in the afterlife,

Those who are judged by the three brothers to have little or no crimes are sent to live in Hades’ castle.

The scenery of the living world and the underworld is not that different.

The only difference is that all dead souls are translucent and do not consume food.

Here too there was law and order, occupation and discipline.

In the vast space of the afterlife, as vast as this world, souls who had not yet been reincarnated were talking.

“Will I be reincarnated soon?”

“I must remain here and become an administrator of the afterlife.”

“Goddess Lethe looks so beautiful today…”

“Watch your mouth, you’re the mistress of the underworld.”

“Wasn’t that the Goddess Styx?”

Souls that have been cleansed of their sins first begin preparing to be reincarnated in the order in which they arrived in the afterlife.

During this process, if the deceased refuses reincarnation and wishes to remain in the afterlife, consideration is given to the circumstances and it is permitted for them to remain.

If you remain in the afterlife, you will usually be assigned a job by an administrator or lower-level god.

A guard who patrols the underworld, an attendant or maid of the gods such as Hades or Hypnos.

Or perhaps it’s the role of repairing a very large castle or building a home or space for the spirits to reside in.

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

“There’s a hole in the citadel. This needs to be repaired quickly.”

“Hades’ maidservant has been reincarnated?”

“Really? They’re recruiting again soon. Should I apply too?”

Also, the spirits of the underworld, who had adapted to the dark underworld, could see without light.

Hestia’s braziers placed here and there give the deceased a sense of comfort and warmth, but the light itself is not really necessary.

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

This is the daily life of the afterlife where souls live.

It was one axis of a huge system where life and death were repeated.

But if this cycle is broken…

Wouldn’t that be a disaster?

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