Chapter 8

Chronos agreed to the collaboration far too easily.

It was an achievement I couldn’t accept.

So, like a shameful confession, I blurted out what was really on my mind.

“Kronos, sir… if I may be honest, I didn’t see a single wraith on the way down here. Just… fog.”

“Really now? Must be the ‘Blessing’ you received from the goddess of nightmares and ghosts. Even an old man like me can tell at a glance who’s carrying divine grace.”

Of course. Chronos was the Titan of Time.

His perception of time was flawless—down to the smallest tick—and that hyper-awareness likely gave him an exceptional ability to see through people as well.

“That’s what impressed me even more!” he said with a wide grin. “Receiving a blessing from the goddess of nightmares is a hundred times scarier than descending into a pit of wraiths. You took on that risk just to convince me?”

…He wasn’t wrong.

The goddess of nightmares—and the CEO’s daughter—is far more terrifying than a few wraith security guards.

That’s exactly the problem.

“Even an old god like me has ears. I’ve heard plenty about how rigid she is. No surprise, really—she takes after that stiff-necked eldest son of the CEO. Bleh. He was the most tasteless one I ever swallowed.”

Chronos winced, his wrinkled face twisting at the memory.

“Getting a blessing from a goddess like her? Yeah, no way you’re just some ordinary employee. You wouldn’t happen to be that noisy employee Joy, the one who humiliated Sisyphus?”

“…Yes, sir. That’s me.”

“I knew it. The rumors even reached my cell. Sending you here as a negotiator means they respect my authority. That’s all the reason I need to cooperate.”

“…Ugh.”

You’ve got to be kidding me.

You’re a doomsday-class prisoner!

How can you just decide to cooperate before I’ve even started negotiating!?

If this keeps up, I’m going to succeed again!

A critical crisis. I had to act fast.

“…Kronos, great ruler of the golden age! Surely someone like you should demand a little more… rightful compensation, no?”

“Compensation? Don’t need it, kid. You know what my punishment is? Killing time. Just plain ol’ boredom. That’s all I’ve got—an eternity of it.”

I looked around Kronos’s cell.

There was nothing.

Just blank, white walls.

A prison for an old god who once ruled the world.

His punishment? “T.”

T for “Killing Time.”

“Every now and then I make an hourglass just to keep from going insane! Not like anyone visits me during the holidays! So when a gutsy kid like you shows up with a job offer, I’m not gonna say no!”

…Nope.

He’s gone mad from boredom.

If I asked him to roll boulders alongside Sisyphus for eternity, he’d probably thank me for it.

But maybe, just maybe, that madness could work in my favor.

“…Kronos, are you truly okay with this? You, a former ruler who once looked down upon the world, bowing so easily to the very ones who imprisoned you?”

“I said I’m fine!”

“What we’re asking for is collaboration, not submission. Frankly, seeing you so passive and docile… makes me wonder if you’re even up to the job anymore.”

“What?! Passive!? Who do you think you’re talking to, boy?! I am Kronos, King of the Titans!!”

CRAAACK!

Yeah, he was genuinely pissed.

Even after centuries of confinement, a former ruler can’t simply throw away his pride.

Thank goodness he was unstable enough to take the bait.

“I was willing to let this slide, out of respect for your courage and the goddess who blessed you… but if you’re going to challenge me like that, then I can’t just walk away.”

Yes! Finally, this is getting complicated!

While I quietly cheered to myself, Chronos furrowed his brow and groaned deeply.

“Hmmm… Mmmhmm… Hm hm hmmmm… HMMMMMmmmmmm. What do I do…? I can’t let this slide, but… hmm…”

How long was he going to think for?

Guess that’s what happens when you have literally all the time in the world.

Looked like I’d have to step in again.

“…Kronos, sir. What if we let you choose your new office location? If you find a place you like, we’ll take that as a ‘yes’ to the collaboration.”

“Oho? That’s a fine idea. I did mention I have good taste, didn’t I? But are you sure? Finding a location that pleases me in this dreary underworld won’t be easy.”

Choosing a location?

Piece of cake.

All I had to do was pick the worst possible spot and he’d yell, “Are you mocking me?!

Collaboration canceled!”

And lucky for me, nearly every corner of Happy World is a dump.

See? You just have to use your head.

***

After Associate Joy left, Chronos was alone once more.

In his white cell.

He’d endured unthinkable amounts of time in this isolation.

It had been ages since he’d spoken to anyone.

“Not one visit from my kids, not once in all these years…

Guess I deserve that, considering what I did.

Still… they’re my kids, you know?”

The old god was getting sentimental.

He missed his children.

Even his grandchildren.

But no one ever came to see him.

That’s why Joy’s visit stuck with him.

The sheer absurdity of a mortal descending into the pit just to speak with him.

“He really seemed angry… for my sake.”

Rather than bowing his head, Joy had told him to demand what he was due.

That wasn’t the kind of thing a guard from Tartarus would usually say.

Chronos was genuinely impressed.

“That fire in him… Associate Joy, you want to earn my cooperation not through divine blessings, but your own merit?”

It finally made sense—why Joy had set the location selection as a condition.

He didn’t want the negotiation to succeed because of the goddess’s help.

He wanted to prove himself.

And Chronos respected that.

“If he’d been satisfied leaning on the goddess’s power, I would’ve taught him a hard lesson. I hate Happy World employees. But…”

But Joy had rejected divine shelter and stood up on his own.

Even Kronos, who detested everything about Happy World and its staff, couldn’t help but admire that spirit.

‘Still… Sorry, kid. I won’t go easy on you.’

He’d judge Joy’s abilities with extreme scrutiny.

He had to be sure this man was truly worthy of working with him.

Then, Kronos’s thoughts drifted to someone else—

To the one who had granted that divine blessing.

Melinoe, goddess of nightmares.

He had never met her directly…

But she was his granddaughter.

‘The blessing she gave Joy wasn’t just some cheap trinket. That must’ve cost her a lot of divine energy…’

To Kronos, Melinoe still seemed like an incomplete, immature goddess.

A deity still unaware of her full potential.

And beings like that often caused problems when they overexerted their divine powers.

‘…Well. Not my business, I guess.’

Just as Chronos wrapped up his thoughts and settled back into his seat—

Far away, in a heated corner of the corporate HQ once known as the Palace of Hades…

A disruption struck the executive board meeting.

“Melinoe. Vice President of Happy World. She’s not attending?”

Not once had the daughter of the CEO missed an executive meeting.

And now—of all times—she was absent.

***

Turns out, picking the worst plot of land was harder than I thought.

Even when a place looked barren and useless, if you dug just a little—

Sparkle. Sparkle.

A gold vein.

A literal gold vein.

“Tch!”

Panicking, I quickly covered it back up.

Gold is the last thing I need!

“Joy, I told you to use the catalog I gave you. I know you’ve got this weird rivalry with me, but this isn’t the time to let that get in the way.”

Krates, the ace of Team 1, strolled up beside me and gave me a nudge with his elbow.

He wore that face—“I don’t get you at all.”

“I mean seriously, who voluntarily sabotages a completed collaboration? Do you realize Chronos isn’t just about your performance review? This is a win for all of Happy World.”

Flap flap flap—

He opened the catalog in front of me.

It was filled with plots from the priciest regions in Happy World—real estate goldmines listed at jaw-dropping prices.

Naturally, those were exactly the places I needed to avoid.

“Krates, this is why you’ll never get it. You’ve got to develop a sharper eye. Don’t rely on numbers and price tags.”

“What? Oh, come on. Fine, suit yourself. Just trying to help, man.”

I searched across all of Happy World for land so trashy, so dry, so barren that it had nothing—

No hot springs, no oil, no gold veins, no gems.

I wanted pure, unadulterated junk.

About half a day into my quest, a man wearing nothing but boxers stopped me.

“Hey, you. Wandering all over Happy World like that—what are you up to? You look shady.”

Shady?

Says the guy walking around in his underwear!

Maybe he was one of the inmates being punished here.

I didn’t recognize his face, so he must’ve been from another division.

I was about to ignore him when—

“You haven’t seen a nymph around here, have you? Tiny, cutesy type. About waist-high on me, black hair. Real weirdo.”

…A nymph?

In Happy World?

Well… technically, yes.

Melinoe counts.

But she’s not just a nymph—she’s a goddess. And she’s definitely not “tiny.”

We’re practically the same height.

I shook my head, and the underwear man added:

“Haven’t seen her? Weird. Feels like she should be around here somewhere…”

Then he just vanished.

I mean, it looked like he was walking normally, but the guy was fast.

What a strange dude.

After days of searching, I finally arrived at a long-abandoned landfill.

Barren. Filthy. Absolutely no oil, no gold, no precious minerals.

A useless dump.

At last, my efforts have paid off.

What if Kronos’s office got built here?

He’d probably scream:

“A landfill? Are you calling me garbage?! Collaboration canceled!”

…Or maybe I’d be punished for insulting a god.

Better clean up this trash a little, just in case.

Cleaning the place took a few more days.

Krates couldn’t hide his snark.

“Joy, you’ve definitely lost it.”

“He’s cracked from overwork.”

“Poor guy…”

Even the other employees were whispering.

As for Manager Bones, he was literally drumming on his own skull in frustration.

“Assistant Manager Joy! I don’t know what you’re thinking, but proposing this wasteland as Kronos’s office is madness! No, this won’t do! I’ll take responsibility for this myself!”

“Manager, with all due respect, please don’t waste your time. I don’t need anyone to take the fall for me. I’m confident in my choice.”

Then came the day of the inspection.

Chronos was dragged by two skeletal guards to the old dump.

The wrinkles on his already ancient face flushed with color—blues, purples, reds—pure shock.

“Th-this…”

He looked ready to shout “What is this trash heap? Are you mocking me?!”

I was this close to declaring victory.

Until—

“…This is it. This is the place I’ve been searching for! Wide! Desolate! Barren! Absolutely perfect for my office! Assistant Manager Joy, you’ve moved this old man to tears…”

The Titan King’s eyes welled up as if he were genuinely touched.

Everyone around us stood stunned.

I… I couldn’t believe it either.

Krates, eyes red from disbelief, stammered:

“Kronos, sir… forgive the ignorance of this lowly mortal, but… what exactly do you like about this useless land?”