It’s been 300 years, yet the appearance of the Underworld hasn’t changed much.
After passing through the first gate guarded by Talos and proceeding along the riverbank where many children were gazing into the river.
Crossing the river and continuing on the path, I finally arrived at the bottom of the Underworld after passing the scene where countless souls were being judged for their sins.
The courtroom of the Underworld where souls are judged.
“Pretty hardworking, huh.”
“Ah! Goddess of Life! We heard you were asleep, but have you finally awakened?”
Yama was alone judging souls in the courtroom. And behind him, assisting with Yama’s judgments, was a girl inside a black stone tablet who looked exactly like me.
Originally it was a system where one out of three would rest, but now thanks to Hades’ help, two out of three can rest.
So naturally, Yama was handling things alone.
“Yes. I planned to sleep for 500 years, but somehow woke up early.”
“That’s good then. If you had slept another 200 years, who knows what chaos might have occurred. As it is, there’s already enough madness after only 300 years.”
I nodded slightly at Yama’s words. Just from hearing snippets of events, it seems like quite the mess.
Not just Baal’s situation, but also the new continent that appeared, and factions claiming to be kings of gods…
This means my plan to let things run their course while I took a break has gone awry.
However.
“How’s Hades doing?”
“Hades. Fully operational. d*ath Evaluation System all green. No issues.”
“A bit too strict in the beginning, but after consulting with us, the judgments have become more balanced.”
Hmm. Since the judgment process was designed to learn and adapt, improvement is natural.
Hades, who looks like me but lacks horns and has black hair, seems to be doing his job adequately.
“Only occasionally during the trial process do some problems arise… very rarely… cases appear where souls reincarnate with memories from their past lives.”
“Memories from their past lives?”
“Yes. The soul should be separated from its spirit and all memories erased before reincarnation, but in some rare cases, this separation isn’t complete. Very rarely, souls reincarnate with memories from their previous life or even the Underworld.”
“Hmm… how often does this happen?”
“Statistically speaking, about once every hundred years.”
At Hades’ answer, I nodded. Given the unimaginable number of souls processed daily in the Underworld, one case every hundred years falls within acceptable error margins.
“There shouldn’t be any major issues, but double-check just in case.”
“Understood. We’ll add an extra verification step.”
Hmm. Hades listens well. Though he’s a fragment imbued with part of my divinity, unlike Baal’s fragment, he causes no trouble.
Speaking of which, where is Baal? I heard he’s here in the Underworld.
“I heard Baal’s soul is here. Where is he?”
“The soul of Baal? Convenient timing. There’s disagreement on how to handle it, so if the Goddess of Life could decide, that’d be helpful.”
“What’s causing the disagreement?”
“The divine entity Baal wishes to renounce his position as a god and reincarnate as a regular human. However, this is unprecedented, so we’ve postponed judgment.”
I tilted my head at Hades’ explanation. Reincarnating as a human? Baal? A god?
What kind of process leads to such a conclusion? Totally baffling!
“We should talk to Baal first. Where is he?”
“He’s staying in the quarters behind the courtroom. Honestly, we’re all at a loss on how to handle this.”
Tch. I entrusted him with the role of king of gods, and look what happens.
Let’s start with a conversation. Conversation.
That’s how I headed toward the quarters where Baal supposedly was, leaving Hades and Yama behind.
“Hmm? This energy… Mother of Life. You’ve awakened?”
When I arrived at the quarters, Thanatos was reading something.
“Hmm. Somehow woke up. Anyway, I heard Baal’s soul is here. Where is he?”
“Oh, if you’re here about him, great timing. He’s locked himself in a room, refusing to come out until we agree to let him reincarnate as a human. We need your help since we can’t make the decision ourselves.”
“Locked himself in?”
I looked at the building used as living quarters by the three gods of d*ath. From one corner, I sensed a familiar energy—it really is Baal’s presence.
But Keres’ energy isn’t here… Hmm. Did she go somewhere?
“She went to meet an acquaintance among the dragons for personal reasons. It’s fortunate her days off have increased.”
“Hmm. Well, if it’s personal, it’s not something to worry about.”
Though Keres became a god of d*ath, she was originally a dragon, so it makes sense she’d want to meet other dragons sometimes.
In that case, let’s meet Baal first.
Passing Thanatos, I entered the building.
“Baal.”
“……”
I quietly called out to Baal in front of the door to his room.
“I know everything inside. Open the door. Let’s talk.”
“……”
Baal remained silent, as if refusing to speak with me.
“If you won’t open the door, I’ll break it down. And then, I might do something unexpected. You know what I mean.”
As I warned in a low voice, the tightly shut door slowly opened.
And there…
“Gaia…”
Instead of the youthful form I last saw before falling asleep, Baal now stood disheveled.
Though his boyish body had grown into that of a young man, his hair was unruly, his beard overgrown, and his overall appearance was a mess.
Where did the proud god of the sky who became king of the gods go? Now he’s a fallen figure, ready to abandon his divine status.
“What’s this state? Why are you giving up on everything?”
“I… failed. That’s all.”
A small, timid voice, like someone trying to crawl into a rat hole. To change this much in just 300 years…
It’s somewhat disappointing.
“Yes. Disappointing.”
At my words, I could feel the presence inside the room shrink.
“I’m disappointed seeing you unable to rise again after such a failure.”
While I wasn’t overly disappointed by the failure itself, I was deeply troubled by how he let it lead to abandoning everything else.
Even after such failures, shouldn’t you stand back up?
“But I’m tired. It’s too much.”
Hmm. His spirit is broken?
“The gods dumped countless tasks on me, endless work piled up no matter how much I did, fragments I created ignored my orders and declared themselves kings of gods, and suddenly a massive continent rose from the sea with overwhelming magical power. I’m exhausted. I don’t want to do anything anymore.”
Hmm… Is this burnout syndrome?
Is the throne of king of gods really that difficult?
“I heard Gaia had plenty to do before creating fragments. How did you manage so much? I can’t understand. How?”
“Well, basically, I worked hard. That’s all I can say.”
Before creating fragments, I had no choice but to work hard.
There was no one to delegate to. Only I could do it.
It was tiresome, but there was no other way.
If Baal went through the same process, it’s understandable he’d suffer from burnout.
“So, you intend to give up your position as a god?”
“Yes. I want to live as a carefree human. Please reincarnate me as one. Otherwise, I won’t budge from here.”
Hmm… His condition seems truly bad. Breaking down the door and dragging him out forcefully wouldn’t be difficult, but with his spirit this broken, forcing him to work wouldn’t yield results.
Then… hmm.
“Alright. If that’s what you wish, I’ll grant it.”
“Really…?”
“Yes. I don’t lie.”
Though I might omit parts of the truth sometimes.
“However, reincarnation of a god as a human has no precedent, so let’s do this.”
I spoke to Baal, who was listening intently inside the room.
“You seem too worn out now. Once you’ve lived fully as a human and feel confident enough to return to the throne, I’ll prepare your return as a god.”
“Really?”
“Yes. I’ll keep your divine throne vacant until then. Enjoy your time as a human—it’ll be like a field trip.”
Who knows how long this human life will last, but it probably won’t be too long.
During this time Baal spends as a human… let’s reduce the number of gods appropriately.
There are too many gods anyway, and too many who don’t listen. Seeing how the once vibrant Baal has become so dispirited…
First, I’ll eliminate all disobedient fragments of Baal, and maybe take care of those around him too. The children they’ve taken care of might complain a little, but this is necessary.
By thinning out the gods, dismantling divided factions, destroying religious diversity, and maintaining a manageable number, unifying global faith will make management easier.
So, until then, let’s keep the throne vacant.
For the eventual return of the king of gods.
