Chapter 25
When I closed my eyes, I could see the earth I longed for as clearly as if I were there.
Our house, bathed in real sunlight—warm and familiar.
I opened the front door wide.
Inside the living room, Mom and Professor Jeousu were sitting together, laughing over tea.
“Madam, your beauty is astounding. I still can’t believe your son is all grown up.”
“Oh my, Professor, you flatter me. Though… I do get mistaken for a high school girl now and then.”
—Jeousu, you absolute scumbag. Flirting with a married woman when you’re married yourself?!
I reached out to pull him away from Mom, but—
“What is this thing crawling into my house?! Get out!”
Mom suddenly whipped out a broom from somewhere and began smacking me.
MOM—!
Your own son! A disgusting monster?! How could you say that!?
But instead of words, only a grotesque shriek came from my mouth:
“JOOOOOOOY-ZHEEEEIIIIK!!!”
What the hell kind of sound was that?!
I turned to the mirror in the living room—
And saw it.
My reflection was horrifying.
An enormous insect with a glossy exoskeleton, humanoid in shape.
I looked exactly like one of the shining hell-roaches of Happy World!
“JOOOOY-ZHEEEEEIIIIK!?”
Why… why had I become such a thing?!
It was like a cold, bony hand reached from deep inside my soul—
Suffocating my heart with despair.
“Section Chief Joy, you must awakennnn!”
Someone shook me violently.
Snapping out of it, I found myself staring at that bizarre nymph Melinoe and…
Krauser.
“You were thrashing about like you were having a nightmare,” Krauser said.
“I once lived as a bard, you know. I dabbled in dream interpretation.”
“I dreamt I turned into a giant bug.”
Like Gregor Samsa waking up from uneasy dreams.
Yeah—it was that kind of dream.
“Like Actaeon turning into a stag… but you haven’t even peeked at a goddess.
Curious. Perhaps your subconscious is expressing—”
Whatever.
I hadn’t had a nightmare in a while.
But I knew the cause.
That weird nymph Melinoe, who I thought had vanished, was back.
You know how if you use too much power in a house, the circuit breaker trips?
It was like that.
My mental breaker flipped from sheer strain—and I passed out.
I turned to Markius, who was busy photocopying things as usual.
“Marci. Tell me everything you know about Melinoe.”
“Melinoe? That’s the rookie you hired the other day.
You got famous for punching Mercenary King Magnus in the face to hire her,
Remember?”
See?!
This is the problem.
Up until recently, everyone acted like Melinoe didn’t exist.
Like she was some forgotten NPC.
And now she’s suddenly everywhere.
“She showed up to work yesterday, right?”
“Of course.
She saved Priest Kuchiki and Priest Inoue.
And she always keeps the supply room spotless!”
…Who the hell are those people?
What even is Hueco Mundo?
According to my memory, Melinoe hadn’t shown up to work even once.
Yet now, she had smoothly embedded herself into everyone’s daily life and memories.
What the heck is going on here?!
But then again—
Weird things are so normal in Happy World, reacting to each one like it’s a big deal will only give you more nightmares.
I thought I’d gotten used to this bizarre world after two years.
Guess I still have a ways to go.
What the Happy World.
***
With the rookies in tow, I left Happy World HQ.
Our destination: a meeting with the trending idol group E&S.
We were scheduled to record the new corporate anthem.
My task for today.
The old me would’ve spent all morning scheming—
“How can I fail this as spectacularly as possible?”
I’d play the saboteur, the chaos agent.
But that always backfired.
The more absurdly I tried to fail, the more things spiraled out of my control—
Somehow handing me even greater achievements.
Then the solution is simple: I need full control.
This mission’s name is:
[Operation: Work Normally].
Do the job.
No overachieving, no disaster.
Just enough to miss expectations by a hair.
That way, everyone stops expecting miracles.
Right now, people are overestimating me.
So if I give them something just average, it’ll hit them like disappointment.
Even mediocrity can look like failure if expectations are high enough.
Think of a director whose movies always break box office records.
Every film is a ten-million viewer hit.
Golden Lion awards, international fame—
Then suddenly, one movie only draws two million viewers.
Still respectable, right?
But to fans expecting greatness?
“He’s done for.”
“Guess he lost his touch.”
Perfect.
A psychological ploy that even impressed me.
“Hooh, so meeting an idol group and recording is today’s mission?
A job most befitting of this Melinoe!”
“Section Chief Joy has the Midas touch.
Everything he touches turns to gold—and glory!
With him, even I might succeed!”
Clearly unaware of my plan, the rookies were practically skipping with joy.
Krauser, my would-be superstar employee, didn’t even try to hide how he planned to leech off my reputation.
I kinda respected that.
Reminded me of the myth of Helios and his son Phaethon.
Phaethon begged to drive the sun chariot to prove himself.
He failed, lost control, and got struck down by a thunderbolt.
Helios had no choice but to hand his duties to Apollo afterward.
Borrowed power can bring down its source.
Which meant Krauser might just be my secret weapon.
We were just about to board the ferry to Elysium, when—
“Mhehehe~ This Melinoe wants to try the super deluxe business class!
For I am a Business Nymph!
And that means I deserve a business seat!”
Melinoe started throwing a tantrum about sitting in business class.
And of course, Krauser jumped on the bandwagon:
“I heard business class passengers get serenaded by the Muses.
If I could hear that just once… I might rediscover my lost musical spark…”
From what I knew, business class on Charon Transport cost 100 gold per seat.
That’s almost my entire annual salary.
Also, it comes with a 5-second call to Earth.
And a tasting sample—just a drop—of Nectar and Ambrosia, the food of the gods.
Even that tiny amount was enough to justify the 100-gold price tag.
What would happen if I bought three of those tickets?
One for me, one for Krauser, and one for Melinoe—all charged to the company card.
That would be a textbook case of unauthorized corporate credit abuse.
Instant grounds for disciplinary action—or even termination.
That’s what the “me” from yesterday might’ve done. But that’s sloppy.
If I go through with this, some unexpected variable might swoop in and—boom—turn it into a success again.
What if the elderly man who boards business class turns out to be some mega-tycoon,
and I unknowingly network my way into another gold-plated opportunity?
Right on cue, Krauser burst out—
“Look there! That old man boarding business class!
If I’m not mistaken, that’s Carnegie—the real estate mogul who bought up half of Elysium!
And… he’s looking right at us!”
See?
Exactly what I was afraid of.
I almost ended up accidentally building connections again.
“Miss Melinoe, company policy strictly forbids using corporate funds to buy luxury seats like business class.
That’s day-one-level ethics.”
“But this Melinoe is absolutely worthy of a business class seat!
Even if I pay out of pocket… am I still forbidden…?
But this Melinoe really wanted to try it…!”
Clink.
She pulled out a coin purse.
A beautifully embroidered pouch featuring a three-headed dog—
Familiar, somehow. But that wasn’t the issue right now.
“That won’t do.
Small infractions are often the root of major failures.
Sticking to the basics is the first step to mastering corporate life.”
“Aha! That mindset is what made you the great Section Chief Joy of today!
This Krauser, still green to the business world, shall remember this well!”
“Indeed, fundamentals are important!
This Melinoe has often lost in Nymptendo Switch 2 fighting games when my ultimate moves got blocked by basic combos!
I now understand why I failed—!”
They bought my excuse way too easily.
Just to be safe, I decided not to board the same ferry as the real estate king.
“Why are we taking the next boat instead?
Won’t that make us late?”
“This Melinoe… does not understand either….”
They looked genuinely puzzled.
How should I explain that I’m just trying to reduce the chances of bumping into a VIP?
BWOOOOOO—!
The ferry’s horn blared, and the ship departed.
A little while later…
“Ha-ha! We’ve infiltrated successfully! Victory!
This ship now belongs to Tartarus!”
“Look at all these bloated businessmen in business class!
Filthy bourgeois!”
“I, Mercenary King Magnus, shall now become a Pirate King!
Watch as I show you true piracy, like a real man!”
Yup.
The ferry ran into a full-blown pirate hijacking mid-river.
***
“Section Chief Joy!
I was so worried after seeing the news!
The ferry you were supposed to take got hijacked by pirates!”
Miss Arachne was inspecting me all over for injuries.
The office TV in the idol agency was still showing the breaking news:
“The rebel group Tartarus was subdued in a single strike by Soul Society’s Chief of Safety, Prince Zagreus.”
“Authorities are investigating the incident—”
“…We’re fine. Nothing happened.”
“Thanks to you, Section Chief Joy! That was incredible!”
“This Melinoe never could’ve predicted a pirate rebellion either—!”
I decided to hold my tongue.
My mental circuit breaker was dangerously close to tripping again.
No more bug-transformation nightmares, please.
Let’s just finish this job and go home.
“So then, Miss Arachne, when do we begin?”
“Actually… that’s the thing.
The real reason I asked you here is because… one of the idols I trained is having a bit of a situation.”
Of course.
The job never ends.
“She suddenly changed her mind and refused to participate in the corporate anthem recording…”
Great.
A last-minute cancelation.
But Miss Arachne’s eyes sparkled with expectation, not stress.
“But I’m sure you can make it happen, Section Chief Joy. Right?”
“Yes! A perfect opportunity to witness the legendary skills of Section Chief Joy—!”
“So… the singer bailed?”
Their gazes sparkled with emotion.
A cocktail of awe, hope, and curiosity.
This was it.
Time to initiate [Operation: Work Normally].
Perform at a slightly underwhelming level.
Just enough to miss expectations.
“Understood. But every decision has a reason behind it.
Why did Miss Euriole refuse to participate?”
“She said…
That she’s not a company employee, and it doesn’t feel right for an outsider to sing the anthem that represents Happy World.
She believes the anthem should be sung by someone within the company.”
...Huh.
That’s a pretty valid point.
I mean, it’d be weird if Justin Bieber sang South Korea’s national anthem, right?
It’d go viral, sure—but still weird.
“I’ll speak with Miss Euriole directly.”
“M-My stomach suddenly hurts…!”
Whoosh—!
Krauser bolted out of the room.
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