Chapter 4

The dead of Happy World loved their alcohol.

And even someone like me—desperate to leave this place—had to admit:

The drinks here were outrageously good.

Brewed by soaking pomegranates—native to the underworld—in the ancient waters of the Lethe and Styx Rivers,

this spirit was one of the few reasons I’d survived so long in this job, balancing both warden and employee duties.

That day, I returned to my usual haunt.

The bar’s name?

“Nymph’s Tail.”

「Sisyphus Energy Inc. stock hits all-time high! All menu items 50% OFF!」

「Unlimited Lethe Pomegranate Wine for all Happy World employees!」

I passed the sign—annoyingly painful to look at—and stepped inside, where ghost workers who’d already clocked out were crowding the place.

“Fwooo~”

“Whooo whooo~”

As soon as they saw me, they rushed over, happily rubbing their soft, cloud-like bodies against my face.

They seemed genuinely thankful that, thanks to my (accidental) correction of Sisyphus, their dorm lights were finally back on.

“Fwooo~”

“Whooo~!”

“Glad to hear the shared laundry machines and fridges are running again. That’s great news. Really great.”

Well, it’s bad news for me.

But if someone else is happy, I guess that counts for something.

“Never seen someone the ghosts like this much before. You must know their language too, huh?”

A voice interrupted me.

I turned and saw a woman looking at me.

Her skin was as pale and luminous as Tartarus fog,

her hair darker than the shadows of Erebus,

and her eyes—glowing red, like glistening pomegranate seeds—left an impression.

She was so ethereally beautiful that for a second I wondered:

Was she a goddess?

But no… that couldn’t be.

Most goddesses in the underworld worked as executives up at the Palace of Hades.

‘Still… if she’s this pretty and not a goddess—’

Instinctively, my gaze shifted to her ears.

I was wondering if maybe they were pointed.

As if reading my mind, she touched her ear and asked in a soft voice:

“Why are you staring at my ears?”

“I was just wondering if you were a nymph. Nymphs have triangular, pointy ears.”

Her ears were small. Round.

Definitely not a nymph.

“You check for that? What for? Do you like nymphs or something?”

Wanting to avoid any misunderstanding, I quickly shook my head.

“Not at all. I hate nymphs. I’m stuck here, doing all this, basically because of one.”

“Really? I don’t know your full story, but I get it. Same here. I can’t stand them.

Tiny, always yapping about nothing, crying at everything.

Before they evolve, they’re even weaker than squirrels.”

…Evolve?

Wait, nymphs… evolve?

Is this mythology or Digimon?

“Have we met before?” she asked, narrowing her eyes. “You seem strangely familiar.”

Wait—was she… flirting?

I shook my head.

She touched her forehead and muttered,

“Ugh, I get this a lot. Feeling like I’ve met someone I haven’t. Like I’ve been somewhere I’ve never been.

Or that I’ve lost something but can’t remember what it was.”

Weird woman.

But then again, weird was standard in Happy World.

If anything, weird was the new normal.

‘Actually… I kinda get that déjà vu thing a lot too.’

Pourrr—

She filled my glass with bright red pomegranate wine.

“Since we met like this, how about joining me for a drink?

I’m still new around here, don’t really know anyone.

But if the ghosts like you this much, you can’t be a bad person.”

“…Me?”

“Haven’t you heard the saying? ‘Anyone the ghosts like can’t be all bad.’”

A woman this stunning, offering me a drink?

Was this… a romance scam?

For a second I was suspicious.

But then I remembered—this is Happy World.

There’s no lower I can fall here.

What could I possibly lose?

“Fwooo~”

“Whooo!”

“Haha, they’re tickling me… I like the ghosts here. They’re so lively.”

And more importantly, the ghost workers were nuzzling her affectionately like puppies.

That had to mean she was trustworthy.

Like she said:

“Anyone the ghosts like can’t be all bad.”

So I lifted my glass and downed it.

I’ve always liked drinking anyway.

# # #

「Beeeeep—!」

The sharp screech jolted me awake.

It was the golden hourglass I’d installed in my room recently.

Don’t ask how an hourglass has an alarm function.

I don’t know either.

What mattered was that it was now 6 a.m.

“The executive welcome event was at 8, right? That’s still two hours away… I woke up way too early.”

The power of habit… terrifying.

Rustle—.

Just then, someone next to me started to stir.

A woman.

The same one I had drinks with last night.

“…You’re…?”

The problem wasn’t that she was here.

It was that I had no memory of how this happened.

Must’ve been the alcohol.

The pomegranate wine made from the waters of the Lethe tends to knock out parts of your memory.

It is the river of forgetfulness, after all.

“…Hey, did we… last night…”

“Hey, have you seen my wallet?”

“…Wallet?”

A wallet?

She completely caught me off guard by beating me to the punch.

She craned her neck around, looking for it.

“It’s a round coin purse. There’s a cute puppy embroidered on it.”

A puppy-embroidered coin purse?

Her tastes were surprisingly adorable for someone with such a cold and elegant look.

“Yeah, yeah, I know. It doesn’t match my mature vibe at all. But my mom gave it to me, so I’ve got no choice but to carry it. But where the heck did I put it…”

She started rummaging around my place.

I was still half in shock—but maybe, just maybe, this was a golden opportunity.

“It seems like it’s important to you. Let me help you look for it.”

“Are you sure? It might take a while.”

“You said it was a gift from your mother. That makes it worth the time.”

“I was late to the executive’s welcome because I was helping someone find her mother’s keepsake.”

A flawless excuse.

We turned my room upside down, even retraced our steps to the bar from last night—

But the wallet was nowhere to be found.

“Fwooo~?”

“Whooo…”

Even the ghost workers didn’t know.

The woman’s expression grew more and more bitter.

“Well, nothing we can do about it. It was getting old anyway—I was planning to replace it soon. Still… sorry to have dragged you into this. You helped like it was your own wallet. Let me buy you a drink to say thanks. Hair of the dog?”

Wait, another drink?

After how much she had last night?

“Boss! One pomegranate wine, please!”

Clink—.

That’s when I saw it.

Something strange.

“Wait—hold on. That—”

The woman who was about to treat me… pulled a coin purse from her pocket.

It had three-headed Cerberus puppies embroidered on it.

“Is that… the wallet we were looking for this whole time?!”

“Oh—H-Huh!? Wha…?”

Her pale face turned bright red as she flailed to explain.

“…Ahem. A mature woman like me… making such a nymph-like mistake… I apologize.

Please don’t tell anyone about this, okay? I’ll… make it up to you somehow.”

So the “lost” item had been in her pocket the whole time?

Elegant on the outside—complete scatterbrain on the inside.

Still, it was a relief that she hadn’t actually lost it.

It seemed like a precious gift filled with memories of her mom.

‘I wonder how my mom is doing…’

Now I was getting sentimental.

I just wanted to quit this Happy World job and go home—

Home to Mom’s ramen.

“Well, I should head to work now.”

We found the wallet.

And I was already terribly late—it was 10 a.m.

A level of tardiness beyond repair.

Blazing—!

On my way to work under the artificial sun made by Daedalus,

the rays were blinding—

probably because Sisyphus was overproducing energy again.

What was really bothering me, though,

was that the wallet girl kept following me.

I changed directions a few times just to test it—

but she kept trailing behind me.

“Do you need something from me? I already said you don’t need to repay me.”

“It’s not about repayment.”

If not repayment… then…

‘Is she going to ask me to take responsibility for last night?

We did wake up in the same bed… And even though I barely remember it, maybe something really did happen…’

This is Greece, after all.

Purity is serious business here.

They have literal virgin goddesses.

‘Did I lose my virginity without realizing…?’

Just as I was trying to dig up last night’s memories,

she softly said something completely unrelated to what I expected:

“You work at Happy World, right? I have business there today too.

I don’t really know the way… so I figured if I follow you, I’ll get there.”

Business at Happy World?

A complaint, maybe?

Whatever.

At this point, being late was a fact.

“Joy! There you are! I was looking for you!”

As I reached the front of the building—designed to look exactly like a palace from hell—

Bones, our department head, spotted me near last year’s flowerbed and rushed over.

His skeletal face was… oddly tense.

“Joy! Why are you so late on a day like this?! This isn’t like you!

And to think, I had a special assignment just for you…!”

Perfect.

The scolding I’d been hoping for.

I bowed my head and sincerely apologized:

“I’m so sorry! To be late on a day this important…

If you want to cut my pay—or even fire me—I’ll accept it without complaint!

Of all days… today!”

Krrghhh!

The key here was to make my expression look like I was really beating myself up.

Looks like it worked.

Krates, ace of Team 1, saw his moment and pounced.

“Haha! Joy! So cocky now that you’ve been promoted to assistant manager, huh?

Late on a day like today? That’s what you get! Hahaha!”

Late on an important day.

A disaster so obvious, even Achilles himself couldn’t outrun it.

Perfect.

I silently cheered, relishing my imminent doom—

Just then…

“Wait—hold on.”

Clack!

Bones, the skeletal department head, clattered his jaw together.

…Wait?

What does he mean, “Wait”?

I suddenly had a very bad feeling.

“Now that I really look at it… Assistant Manager Joy didn’t just show up late.”

“What do you mean by that?”

Thankfully, Krates from Team 1 voiced the exact question on my mind.

“What do you mean I didn’t just show up late…?”

“Joy, I was planning to ask you to go escort the new executive who’s arriving today.

She’s been unresponsive since last night, and I was getting worried…But—”

Bones pointed a bony finger behind me.

“Looks like you brought her back before I even asked!

I thought maybe she got lost, but you found her! Outstanding!”

“…Sorry, what?”

“Executive?!”

“Just as expected from our star employee!

Everyone! Look! Joy brought the executive!

That’s why he was late!”

Executive what now?

I turned around slowly.

And there she was.

The woman I drank with.

The one who was currently standing right behind me.

Then Bones got down on his knees in front of her.

“I, Skeleton Bones, humbly greet the noble and exalted one.

Welcome to Happy World, Lady Melinoe!

It is a true honor and joy to receive you.”

「HELLCOME TO HAPPY WORLD」

「WELCOME, LADY Melinoe!」

Pom-pom-paa~m!

Banners unfurled everywhere.

Trumpets blared.

I stood there in stunned silence, my brain scrambling to make sense of the name I just heard.

And then… pure terror.

Melinoe.

A name rarely spoken, even in whispers.

The first daughter of our CEO—

The goddess of nightmares.

And also… a nymph.

‘Wait, wait—WHAT?! A NYMPH?!’

I thought she wasn’t one because her ears were round!

But SHE was the nymph executive who was supposed to arrive today?!

‘Then that means… I told a nymph I hate nymphs.

And even worse—I SPENT THE NIGHT WITH HER?!’

Sure, I don’t remember much.

But we woke up in the same bed.

After heavy drinking.

Yeah.

There’s only one logical conclusion.

Oh gods oh gods oh gods—

I SPENT THE NIGHT WITH THE CEO’S DAUGHTER?!

At this point, worrying about getting transferred to Olympus was laughable.

I might not survive to see next week.