INV 54

The Underworld is a single world. Could the floating island of “Samra,” where the headquarters building stands tall, possibly be the only territory of the Underworld? It means that the Eight Hot Hells and the Eight Cold Hells, as well as every world where shadowed things linger, are all part of the Pure Land of the Afterlife. Nevertheless, there are certain worlds that must be presented to the light. Therefore, the floating island “Samra,” which oversees administrative systems and field operations, was decorated in a manner pleasing to both internal and external eyes. It was cultivated so that one could not even imagine a scene of prisoners being confined and tortured. However, essentially, the purpose of Hell lay in calculating the sins that souls destined for reincarnation committed in their current lives and making them pay the price based on that.

So, to summarize.

“The trial of the defendant, Gwak Deukcheon, will now begin.”

The essence of the Underworld lies in legislation and the judiciary.

And among the life-long wishes of the judges, there was this:

‘I will lock Gwak Deukcheon away with my own hands.’

Where?

‘Into life imprisonment.’

That was it. Gwak Deukcheon was the dream and hope, the light and salt of the judges.

‘I want to be desperately entangled with your sentencing document!’

‘I will send you to prison with the three characters of my name!’

This was the sincere heart of the judges.

Kwon Yihyeon, who returned Chacha after a two-hour date, swallowed hard. Having semi-forcibly dragged along Gwak Deukcheon—who complained of nausea from being forced into the date—he attended the trial without being late, but for some reason, the atmosphere among the judges was murderous. They weren’t late in terms of time… As Kwon Yihyeon worried with such thoughts, Kang Taerim shared a piece of information with him.

Up until now, Gwak Deukcheon had avoided sentencing through all sorts of dog-like antics, and there were scores of judges whose life goal was to send such a Gwak Deukcheon to prison.

In the midst of that, the target had stretched his neck and stood himself before the execution block.

The established theory in academic circles was that everyone would be filled with excitement.

‘No, really, what do you have to do in life to receive this kind of treatment with that personality…’

No, wait. I misspoke.

‘With that kind of temper, this is well-deserved…’

However, there was one problem in satisfying the wishes of the judges.

“Before we begin this trial—”

“Step aside.”

“Great King? Great King, why are you—”

The natural sentence, ‘Great King Yama is the monarch of Hell,’ refers to the fact that the entity with the highest authority among the judges of the Underworld is Great King Yama.

“Is your disobedience an attempt to reject the authority of judgment held by Yama?”

“A-Ah, no! There is no way—”

“Then hand over the gavel.”

“Urgh…!”

Thus, Gwak Deukcheon’s greatest ally spoke.

“Defendant Gwak Deukcheon. Your sins are heavy… but for various reasons, I shall take them into consideration.”

“…!?”

“The sentence concludes with one month of community service. That is all.”

In all of history, there had never been another instance where Great King Yama interfered so openly in a trial, let alone one for Gwak Deukcheon. The personnel belonging to the Underworld who had come out to watch Gwak Deukcheon die were fidgeting in their seats. The young ones wondered what on earth this situation was, and those who were Gwak Deukcheon’s colleagues or seniors were trembling with dilated pupils, wondering if there had actually been a connection between Great King Yama and Gwak Deukcheon all along. There was a rebuttal that if that were the case, wouldn’t he have pushed him further before Gwak Deukcheon suffered a disgraceful demotion of authority? But the situation before their eyes was speaking an irrational truth that made such rational thoughts impossible.

“The community service to be conducted for one month is dedicated to emergency dispatch. The Haetae Department must unconditionally respond to emergency dispatches. If you finish the requested work early, you may rest.”

“…Yessir. But does an incentive come out? It’s a performance-based system, isn’t it? Emergency dispatch.”

“Service is originally unpaid.”

“How can it be like that! You’re acting so petty, Mister!”

Gwak Deukcheon had repeatedly given sharp warnings not to interfere in his business to protect Great King Yama’s face in his own way, but Gangnim’s opinion was: what wouldn’t he utilize now that even Jae Angshin’s groom was involved? So Gwak Deukcheon threw away his previous pretenses and screamed at the top of his lungs just like when he was alone with Gangnim. And Great King Yama flaunted their friendly appearance by giving Gwak Deukcheon a “fist potato” gesture.

“Graaaah!”

Perhaps, they are friendly.

Unlike the spectators who had become as hollow as raccoons washing cotton candy, the team members each ran to Gwak Deukcheon and hugged him, saying it was a relief. They didn’t care whether Gwak Deukcheon screamed that his waist was breaking or not. Kwon Yihyeon watched their thick friendship with a faint expression and only said what he had to say.

“Excuse me, but what is an emergency dispatch?”

“It’s fine. Those Underworld bastards are originally so lazy that they don’t even handle one of their own tasks properly, so even if it’s a matter requiring emergency dispatch, they’ll just pile it up and stall… uh?”

However, there was something Gwak Deukcheon had not expected.

“…Eh?”

Beep-boop! Beep-boop! Beep-boop! Beep-boop! Beep-boop! Beep-boop! Beep-boop! Beep-boop! Beep-boop! Beep-boop! Beep-boop! Beep-boop! Beep-boop! Beep-boop! Beep-boop! Beep-boop! Beep-boop! Beep-boop! Beep-boop! Beep-boop! Beep-boop! Beep-boop! Beep-boop! Beep-boop! Beep-boop! Beep-boop! Beep-boop! Beep-boop! Beep-boop! Beep-boop! Beep-boop! Beep-boop! Beep-boop! Beep-boop! Beep-boop! Beep-boop! Beep-boop! Beep-boop! Beep-boop!

Loud sirens began to wail from everywhere. Everyone covered their ears at the ear-splitting, high-decibel screeching.

However, the irritating beep-boop sounds did not stop.

“What is this! Hey, you bastards! Stop it. I said stop it!”

To repeat, the natural sentence, ‘Great King Yama is the monarch of Hell,’ refers to the fact that the entity with the highest authority among the judges of the Underworld is Great King Yama.

This is proof that there is no judge as wise as Great King Yama. In short, Gangnim was not a person who would hand down a hasty trial out of personal feelings.

“These crazy bastards are reporting every single piece of work they’ve been hoarding and neglecting…!

If the way he lived hadn’t rejected others, this result wouldn’t have come back to him, but Gwak Deukcheon lived like Gwak Deukcheon.

So the residents of the Underworld decided to return a “big screw you” to Gwak Deukcheon in the form of emergency dispatches.

In other words, it was “poetic justice”…

“Kaaaaargh!”

Kang Taerim was the first to snap out of it.

“Five thousand emergency dispatches are piled up right now. If we don’t handle this immediately, we’re all screwed. It will never end in just one month.”

“If we just dawdle and let the month end…”

“What will we do if a truly serious emergency occurs in the meantime?”

“Ah! I’m going crazy because of these numbers, really.”

“Let’s just do it. Isn’t this something someone has to do eventually anyway.”

“No, it’s just that it’s unfair. Fuck, it’s obvious they planned this to screw us over. I’m about to get a stress-illness, really.”

“Now, now. Prepare for dispatch! Let’s go, Haetae Department!”

“Ah, you should have just thrown me in prison instead!”

“Understood!”

“Dog-like Yama… urgh!”

“Keep your mouth shut and follow me!”

It was the moment the reason why Manager Kang was the second-in-command of the Haetae Department was revealed. That’s right. Because the only person who can shut Gwak Deukcheon’s mouth is Kang Taerim…

Regardless, Kwon Yihyeon was in a daze. He was busy enough putting on the intern-use ritual robes he was given to wear when going into the field, but his seniors were persistently shouting information into his ears, claiming they would teach him something.

“Listen, ‘Yeong-Gwi-Yo-Seon-Sin’ refers to Spirits, Ghosts, Monsters, Immortals, and Gods. Ah, just memorize it roughly like that. Spirits haven’t really caused accidents and aren’t corrupted, but Reapers need to collect them; Ghosts are a bit more corrupted! Those are the ones we handle! If they become evil here, they become evil spirits…”

Even after finishing dressing in the ritual robes, the advice—if you could call it that—from the seniors continued.

“Hey, kid. Listen. And Monsters are a different species from humans. There are bad monsters and good monsters. They’re also called sacred creatures or divine beasts, huh? And Immortals are those belonging to the Celestial Realm. You go there once you’ve accumulated enough Tao. Gods are just literally Gods! Real gods who went to the Heavenly Realm!”

‘It’s chaotic, so everyone shut up!’

He was already running with all his might, but with them chattering endlessly beside him, it felt like his brain was going to explode. They chattered while crossing the hallway, and they chattered while riding the elevator. Even after they went down to the basement and stood on some sort of magic circle, they kept chattering and chattering, chattering and chattering…

“Aaah! I can’t remember a single thing, so please stop talking!”

“Just listen! It’s our first time taking a total amateur out with us too!”

“Memory manipulation is the power of the Heavenly Realm. It is forbidden for us! What would happen to the world if individuals used such massive powers for private purposes? However, in the process of maintaining the providence so that people of the world do not know of the bizarre, permission can be sought only in very special cases. So, we have to do well on our own normally so that the existence of the Reaper is not revealed.”

“And! Hey! Spiritual power is…”

“Kyaaaaaak!”

Soon, light dawned.

‘Isn’t this schedule really too hardcore for an intern on his second day of work?!’

The space-leap technique had been activated.

‘Save me—!’