I Don't Want To Work! - Chapter 98
CHAPTER 98
It’s not something that happens every day.
It was something impossible to happen.
How could a living human go to the underworld and bring back a soul?
But.
‘I’m not human right now.’
I turned my head while looking at my hand where a white light was softly flowing.
I smirked watching Pendrade.
“Take care of him.”
“What kind of situation is this as soon as I wake up from a nap?”
Pendrade scratched his neck and then nodded.
“Don’t die.”
I nodded lightly.
“I’ll come back and let’s have a drink.”
That was my bequest.
I couldn’t endure anymore. My body collapsed, and my vision turned even redder than before.
Thud, thud. My breath slowed down, slowly but surely.
Soon death came rushing like waves.
And.
“Hey, come on in.”
When I opened my eyes, I was sitting in a familiar place.
It was a white place. A place where nothing existed.
There was a single boat floating there.
And a sailor with a robe covering his face was waving at me.
“Phew.”
I made it properly.
After taking a deep breath, I stood up.
As soon as I took a step, the scenery around me began to change.
Dark caves, purple mist, gloomy atmosphere.
It was a scenery perfectly fitting for the name of the underworld.
“Poor imagination.”
The sailor trembled his head.
Whether it was like that or not, I climbed onto the boat and settled at the stern.
Creak, the old boat made an unpleasant sound.
“Leave me alone. I thought this place was like that at first.”
This place, the threshold of the underworld, projected exactly what people usually imagine.
Some imagined dark caves like me, and some imagined vast fields.
“But isn’t it time for a change?”
The sailor who was steering the boat was also the same.
It seemed like my appearance had been visible from the beginning, but it wasn’t for others.
It seemed like they could see the form of the Grim Reaper, or maybe the appearance of someone they hoped would come to pick them up.
For example, family or loved ones.
It was said that those who missed them so much that they couldn’t endure without holding their hands would be seen.
I once asked Detmé about the reason for this in the past.
<Suddenly you’re dead! People won’t come easily if you do that. It’s about making it as familiar as possible.>
That’s what she answered.
‘Who was I?’
If I had come here normally, who would have come to greet me?
“Hmm?”
I was lost in thought for a moment, and the sailor frowned.
“What’s wrong?”
“Isn’t this weird?”
The sailor, who had been grumbling for a while as if there was something stuck in his head, looked at me.
“The boat’s not moving. It’s heavy.”
“What the hell?”
Is this what a guy who has spent his whole life fishing has to say?
“No!”
When I glared at the sailor with cold eyes, he spread his hands wide, now even flapping the sails, and looked at me.
“The boat is sturdy for carrying just one soul, isn’t it? That’s what I’m saying!”
He looked at me.
“You’ve gone through the process of weighing sins, haven’t you? But, strangely, it’s this heavy.”
The eyes hidden under the robe shone coldly.
“Yeah, as if you’ve burned a living person.”
“Nonsense.”
I chuckled lightly and pulled out a pouch of gold coins from my pocket.
It was an emergency fund I had been holding onto just in case.
It turned into pocket money.
“Originally, how does a living person come to the underworld? They said they blocked even one entrance because of some incident.”
“That’s true, but…”
I gave half of the gold coins in the pouch to the sailor.
Clang! The gold coins spilled onto the sailor’s hand with a loud noise.
“Just because I didn’t give you the fare, you’re making a fuss? Here, I’ll give you a hefty sum.”
“Oh, my, giving all this. I won’t refuse, will I?”
The sailor rolled his eyes and then chuckled as he counted the coins in his hand.
“The gold coins were heavy. Gold coins!”
After carefully putting away all the gold coins I handed over into his pocket, he started rowing again.
Good.
I breathed a sigh of relief internally. I almost got caught.
‘If you’re alive, it’s heavier.’
I didn’t know.
I must have been to the other side alive.
I clenched my fist quietly. And as I opened it, I gazed at the light that slightly dimmed and disappeared.
The power of God.
That was the secret to coming down to the underworld while maintaining a physical form.
‘I’m not dead.’
I will take Arkin and leave the underground alive.
“By the way, come to think of it.”
I casually spoke to the sailor who was humming a song and rowing the boat.
It was time to find out where Arkin was.
He wouldn’t have already gone inside the door, would he?
“Just before I came, didn’t a young human come?”
“Hmm?”
The sailor hesitated for a moment, as if trying to remember my words, then nodded.
“Yes, a kid came just before you came. How did you know?”
“Where did he go?”
Fortunately.
I breathed a sigh of relief internally.
If he had just come before I did, there was a possibility he would be wandering on the other side of the river.
‘Just hurry and bring him back.’
Though I’d have to see Deron to get out of here.
It was a relief in itself that he hadn’t gone inside the door alone.
“That guy didn’t get on my boat.”
“What?”
I looked at the sailor in surprise.
As he rowed across the river again, the sailor answered.
“Deron took him directly.”
“Deron?”
The god of the underworld came personally to take Arkin away.
Why?
“Yeah, that’s right. Someone who hardly ever even blinks suddenly appeared, so I was surprised too.”
Thud, the bow touched the opposite bank of the river.
“Alright, we’ve arrived.”
I jumped off the ferry.
“Ah.”
And then I emptied my pockets, handing over all the remaining gold coins to the sailor.
“If there are people who don’t have any money, you can use these to help them out a bit.”
“You’re always kind.”
The sailor put the coins in his pocket with a smile and waved his hand.
“Hurry back again. It’s always boring here.”
I debated nodding my head but decided to just turn away.
Though he’s working as a ferryman, he’s still a subordinate deity.
Promises with gods should not be made lightly.
Instead, I waved back with a bright smile.
‘Ugh, I hate it here.’
As the sailor disappeared into the mist again, leaving me alone, I furrowed my brow.
Before me stretched a long corridor.
When people die, they board a ferry and weigh their sins.
After that, depending on the weight, they may receive punishment here, or simply pass through enjoying the pretty scenery.
But I possessed the seal of the gods, unable to escape the cycle. And what lay before me was…
“Ugh, I really hate it here.”
In front of me were the gathered ‘me’s who had died until now.
‘It’s never easy to adapt even after seeing it hundreds of times.’
I asked Detmé how it could be changed once, but all I got was an answer that it couldn’t be helped.
‘It feels like I could intervene, but I’m not doing anything.’
I took a deep breath and set off.
It’s better to ignore the unpleasantness, as I learned long ago.
However, perhaps it’s because of the stories I heard from Lionel before, or maybe it’s because of the conversations with the spirit kings.
As I walked along the path, I glanced at the ‘me’s lined up along the long corridor out of the corner of my eye.
Different races, genders, ages, causes of death—there were various versions of me there.
The me who saved Lionel and died, the me who died of a severe flu at the age of three, the me who died in a fight, the me who died as a result of a failed experiment, the me who died from a racial disease.
There were hardly any versions of me that lived out their full lifespan.
“….”
The unease deepened.
There’s a difference between just suspecting and confirming with your own eyes.
With a slight squint, I turned my head.
The road had disappeared, and in front of me stood a giant door.
“Phew.”
Behind it, there would be Deron.
Considering he took Arkin away, he probably already knows everything about Arkin and me.
‘It won’t be easy to negotiate.’
But that doesn’t mean I’ll back down.
Taking a deep breath, I reached out with my hand and opened the door.
The giant door didn’t even feel heavy.
As the door swung wide open, it revealed a massive dining table.
So long it seemed endless, with empty plates and candlesticks laid out along its length.
Walking along the table, I finally saw him, seated at the head.
Simultaneously, my expression twisted.
“Welcome, big sister. I’ve been waiting.”
The seat where the deity of the underworld should be seated.
Instead, sitting there was the real Arkin.