Chapter 30
The contestants marched into a stadium larger than most plains.
The fact that I was one of them?
Yeah. That was just plain depressing.
Baaaaaaaaaam—!
Bam-ba-bam—!
As trumpet blasts echoed through the air, announcing the start of the event, a man wearing nothing but red underpants and a crimson cape floated into the sky and shouted:
“Divine Effect!!”
Pop!
【Cursed with the Blessing of Forgiveness】
【Hell’s Escapee – Hassan】
“Tch. Glitched again. Refresh!”
Pop!
【CSO】
【God of Happy World – Zagreus】
“I am Zagreus, Chief of Security for the Soul Society, and today I’ll be hosting on behalf of our great CEO! Now, let me introduce the very first trial—designed personally by yours truly! Come forth!”
Fwoosh! Fwoosh—!
Flames flared around the stadium as mechanical gears started to churn below.
The ground rumbled.
A massive labyrinth began rising up from the arena floor.
“This is our planning team’s pride and joy!
Designed by none other than Director Daedalus, modeled after the Cretan Bull’s maze!
It’s filled with traps and monsters. Let’s see how many make it out before time runs out!”
Honestly?
I didn’t even want to step in there.
If some mutant roach the size of a section chief popped out, I’d probably have a heart attack and drop dead right there.
…Should I just forfeit?
I looked up and spotted the betting leaderboard on the scoreboard.
『Overall Betting Rankings』
『#1 – Marcus, Safety Division – 999,247 Gold』
『#2 – Admetos, Transport Division – 766,575 Gold』
『#3 – Joy, Punishment Division – 652,179 Gold』
Ranked 3rd in betting.
If I forfeited now?
The people who bet on me would go feral.
If every one of them spat on me just once, I’d drown.
That’s no exaggeration.
And if I died here?
I’d be revived as a soul—permanently stuck in this Happy World under a lifetime contract.
Escape would be impossible.
“Contestants, ready yourselves—!”
If I went in, I’d die.
If I didn’t go in, I’d also die.
Welcome to Happy World, where every option is a landmine.
How did I even end up in this mess…?
“GOOOOOOOOOO!!!!”
BOOM!
Zagreus roared, eyes bursting with a red flare like a bomb going off.
Contestants surged into motion.
Go-go-go-go-go—!
Thudthudthudthud!
Skrt-skrt-skrt—!
The sound of countless feet thundered like a stampede.
Charging ahead at insane speed—
It was Admetos leading the charge like a human bullet.
“Section Chief Joy! Victory is mine!”
He vanished in a dust cloud like a desert storm.
“Go after him!”
“Damn it, of course he’s in front again!”
Everyone behind him moved like cheetahs on caffeine.
And me?
“S-Section Chief Joy isn’t moving!”
“He’s the only one still at the starting line! What’s going on?”
“Is he… forfeiting!?”
The commentators lost their minds.
Just like they said, I was still standing at the start, not even touching that death maze.
Why?
“AAAHHH!! Save me!! SAVE MEEEEE!”
“I-It’s the Hydra! The cursed monster Hydra is in there!”
“There’s a Hell Wolf Spider too! AUGH—MY ARMS! MY LEGS!!”
CRUNCH! SNAP-CRACK—!
CHOMP CHOMP CHOMP!
SCREEEE—!
The sounds from inside were enough to melt your brain.
I didn’t know what a Hell Wolf Spider was, but the Hydra?
Even execs avoided that Greek abomination like the plague.
One breath from that thing and I’d insta-die.
…I should just quit, right?
But then I looked up again.
That betting amount… it felt like it was crushing me.
Even the stares from the crowd burned like cactus needles on my back.
I dropped my head to manage the panic.
Let’s think this through.
This event would take at least an hour. I could stall ten minutes.
When death is on the table, ten minutes of hesitation is reasonable!
And then—I saw something.
“Wait, is that…?”
A Hell Clover growing from the stadium turf.
It was insanely rare—just finding one lifted your mood.
Didn’t Lady Kshali say she’d trade me a cactus if I brought her one?
Hell Cacti had recently been discovered to have outrageous benefits.
Now they were near impossible to get—scooped up by execs and their wives.
But a Hell Clover could be traded for one.
Lucky doesn’t even begin to cover it.
Ever since I learned Hell Cacti repelled death-roaches, I’d been hoarding them obsessively.
Still never felt like I had enough.
Today’s my lucky day!
Let’s be real. If I went into the maze, I had a 99% chance of dying.
Wouldn’t it be better to chill here and pick clovers?
Sure, the betting crowd might hurl rocks at me…
But if I just survived, I’d figure out the rest.
Ideas flooded my brain.
This might even be the foundation for my “Get-Fired-Strategically” master plan.
“In the end… survival is victory.”
And then—
Something bizarre happened.
Admetos stumbled back to the maze entrance—beaten, tattered, and stunned.
“J-Joy… Did you just say… victory…?”
Meanwhile…
Zagreus, Prince of the Underworld, floated in the air, his eyes blazing like fire as he surveyed the chaos below.
Inside the labyrinth, battles were raging.
Injuries. Eliminations. Total mayhem.
“Doesn’t look like the Regressionists from Tartarus will interfere… for now.”
As CSO—Chief of Security—Zagreus wasn’t tasked with keeping things out.
His job was making sure nothing escaped.
Once you step into the Soul Society, there’s no way out.
That was Rule #1—even after the big “Operational Reform.”
And this maze?
It was built on that very principle.
“Running a promotion exam and a security field test at the same time… Still multitasking as always, Zagreus.”
Floooat—
Melinoe, goddess of ghosts, glided up beside him.
She looked down at the maze, then smiled when she saw Joy still at the starting line.
“As expected. Section Chief Joy is the only one who truly understood the test’s true nature.
He didn’t even step into the maze. Zagreus, your cheap trick didn’t work on him.”
“…Hah.”
He didn’t show it, but even Zagreus was impressed.
“You’re right. This maze is a microcosm of the Soul Society.
Once you’re in… there’s no exit. They just don’t know it yet. Because—there is no exit.”
Once entered, the maze became an inescapable trap.
Which meant the only winning move… was not to play.
‘Sometimes doing nothing is how you win’—a perfect motto for this test.
And honestly, that’s the key trait a real Deputy Chief needs around here.”
Risk or restraint—
Deputy Chiefs had to guide their teams through countless forks in the road.
But most of them chose reckless ambition and sank.
“I heard Joy was obsessed with performance metrics…
But when others went all-in chasing glory, he stayed calm and cold.
Honestly… that gave me chills.”
Zagreus grinned as he watched Joy from above.
“Melie, even you have to admit—does this still look like a failed policy?
Without my Operational Reform, we’d never have discovered a talent like Joy.”
Melinoe didn’t answer.
Even though she was his younger sister, Zagreus could never quite figure out what she was thinking.
Just as he thought that—
“Zagreus, your plans are always sloppy. A maze no one can escape from? Doesn’t seem like it to me. Look—over there.”
Melinoe jerked her chin toward something in the distance.
Admetos was charging back toward the starting point.
He’d darted through the maze at full speed, evading every monster and trap in his path.
“First place is mine!”
Having once sailed as a crew member of the Argonauts, this kind of challenge was nothing for him.
But the problem was—
No matter how far he ran, there was no visible exit.
And that’s when it hit him.
‘Prince Zagreus, Chief of Security, personally designed this maze… And in the Soul Society, “security” means inescapability. Which means… the exit probably never existed in the first place.’
Then, a spark of realization lit up in Admetos’ head.
There was one possible exit.
The way he came in.
Once that thought took root, he couldn’t stay still.
‘Sooner or later, the others will figure this out too! I have to be the first one to get back to the entrance!
That’s the real test—the “exit” is actually the entrance!’
He sprinted like a bullet, sure that he would be the first to arrive.
But…
At the finish line—the starting point—stood none other than Section Chief Joy.
“Oh, another Hell Clover. My luck’s unreal today.”
He was casually picking clovers like he had all the time in the world.
Admetos was struck speechless.
‘He’s… faster than me? The fastest Argonaut? No—wait… he didn’t even enter the maze…?!
Does that mean… he figured out the test’s purpose from the very beginning!?’
He remembered now—
This was the man who had completely reformed Sisyphus, the guy once known as the ultimate schemer in the Soul Society.
He thought it was dumb luck before, but now…
“In the end, surviving is victory.”
When Section Chief Joy confidently declared his win, Admetos knew.
This man was the real deal.
***
So there I was, just planning to pick a few clovers at the entrance when Admetos stormed back through the gate.
What now?
He looked furious, and then suddenly shouted:
“Damn it, Joy! I lost this round to you, but I swear I’ll win the next one!”
“Huh? Lost? Wait—why did you come back…?”
“I… I escaped.
Turns out there’s no exit in there. Who the hell designs a nightmare test like that?!”
One by one, people began trickling back to the starting point.
Something was clearly off.
And then the announcers shouted over the crowd:
“The winner of Match 1: Maze Escape—
From the Soul Society’s elite of the elite, the rising star of the Punishment Division—Section Chief Joy!”
“To think he realized from the very beginning that the exit was the entrance! Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!
As expected of the man chosen by Chronos, the King of the Titans!”
“Meanwhile, top contender Admetos finishes in second place… again! I repeat—second place again!”
“Why are you repeating yourself?”
“Why are you repeating yourself?”
“OH! And betting rankings have been updated!!!!”
『1st – Joy, Punishment Division – 1,052,699 Gold』
『2nd – Marcus, Safety Division – 999,247 Gold』
『3rd – Admetos, Transport Division – 766,575 Gold』
“If he maintains 1st until the end of the competition, regardless of actual tournament results,
Section Chief Joy will be granted the honor of a personal meeting with the mighty and terrifying CEO!”
“Joy surges ahead toward fame and glory—!!!”
NOOOOOOOO!
Forfeit.
I have to forfeit.
Getting beaten to death isn’t even the biggest issue right now!
But meeting the CEO?
Absolutely out of the question.
I raised my hand to forfeit, but—
“Section Chief Joy raises his hand! That must be a declaration of VICTORY!!”
“Dominating! Absolutely dominating!”
WOOOOOOAAAAHHHHH—!!!
The crowd’s cheers drowned out my feeble attempt at surrender.
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