“In the first place, it’s a miracle you were even able to open a portal, hyung. Wasn’t that a space we couldn’t leave without clearing the Gate? If that was a design flaw, you’d better take responsibility for it.”
The System seemed to flinch at his rapid-fire accusation. As he glared at the window, which was now shaking left and right as if trying to make an excuse, the red warning vanished. In its place, a small, blue window, no bigger than his palm, appeared timidly.
<This new quest will require a great deal of resolve from you. It will be very difficult. It’s hard. You might even die. If you die, Sa-yoon will be sad! (º □ º l|l)>
It had been a while since he’d seen one of those emoticons. He zoomed in to read the text, written in letters as small as his fingernail. A bitter smile touched his lips.
“Oh, so the fated tower wasn’t a big deal, but this is supposed to be hard?”
It hadn’t even given him a warning like this back then. Now, after just a few exchanges, it was showing him this ridiculous kindness.
What was so special about dying, anyway? The moment you awakened as a hunter, you had to repeatedly conquer Gates, never knowing when your end would come. Because of that, most hunters were somewhat detached about the idea of death, and Geon-joo was no exception. If he died, he’d just figure it was his time. The System was making a fuss over nothing.
Placing his own death and Sa-yoon on a metaphorical scale, the balance tipped with laughable ease.
‘Thank you.’
That one voice, still echoing in his ears, was all he needed to make his decision.
There were too many things he needed to ask when they met again.
Why did you kiss me?
With that question burning at the forefront of his mind, he gave a slight nod as if to say it didn’t matter. The familiar blue window immediately expanded to fill his vision.
+++
<Emergency! A special quest for the disposition holder has occurred!>
<Proceed with the special quest, ‘For the Sake of ‘–’! (º □ º l|l)>
+++
[Quest – For the Sake of ‘–’]
‘For you, who has left the quest area due to an unfortunate accident, we shall grant a new quest! The place you were just in is the Underworld. Go to the River of Death, persuade the King, and obtain a new path to the Gate!’
+++
Warning: This is an L-rank difficulty quest. Please be fully prepared. Angering the King of the Underworld may result in ‘Death’. Reward: Return to the Gate, acquisition of the new title ‘He Who Faced the Gods.’ Failure: Death.
+++
“The Underworld?”
So there was a reason it had tried to scare him with warnings it never usually showed. More than anything, the fact that the place he and Sa-yoon had been in was the Underworld was so absurd he had to frown. It trapped us in a place like that all this time?
As his eyes narrowed and his gaze turned murderous, the system window trembled slightly, as if fervently denying something.
It was either unintentional or unavoidable. He could guess that much by now, so he ignored it and pressed the ‘Accept Quest’ button. In an instant, Han Geon-joo’s body, which had been floating in a nameless void, was sucked into the system window.
***
Damp. The first thing he registered, almost as soon as he realized his location had changed, was a humid, muggy air, the kind you’d expect to find under the perpetually overcast skies of England.
Ting!
An alert sounded by his ear, and he opened his eyes. In that same moment, something metallic and foul surged up from his stomach.
“Cough!”
Unable to hold back the sudden wave of nausea, he bent over. A torrent of dark red blood splattered onto the ground with a wet, heavy sound—not a drip, but a splat. Like slime, the viscous glob of blood slowly melted into the black surface of the floor. He stared at the sight, unable to believe his eyes.
Something like that came out of my body?
As he recalled the blood, which had looked almost like a living creature, and touched his lips, another notification popped up in his vision. Ding.
<Warning! Health has decreased by 5. Remaining Health: 95. If all Health is depleted, your soul will belong to the Underworld.>
“…What?”
He hadn’t done a thing. He’d simply opened his eyes after being transported, and his health had already dropped. As his confusion mounted, a belated explanation window appeared to help him understand the situation.
<Warning! You have entered the Underworld with a physical body. The aura of death that permeates the Underworld covets your flesh. Clear the quest and escape the land of the dead before all your Health is depleted!>
<You are affected by the debuff, ‘Breath of the Underworld.’ Your Health will randomly decrease over the next 1 hour. After 1 hour, all Health will be depleted.>
<You are affected by the debuff, ‘Rule of the Underworld.’ Your movement speed will decrease and you will experience pain proportional to your lost Health.>
He wiped away the blood, looking at the warning windows that seemed to be urging him to turn back even now. The “Underworld” wasn’t just a name, it seemed. The entrance alone was chilling enough.
This was a difficult quest. There was a reason it had been designated L-rank from the start. And I guess that’s why the reward is a title like ‘He Who Faced the Gods,’ he thought.
Remembering the quest reward, Geon-joo surveyed his surroundings. The ground he stood on felt like hard, blackened mud. Soil was usually brown, but he thought he knew why this was black, having just witnessed his own blood seep into it.
Shifting his gaze far to his right, he could see a long river in the distance. He had a feeling he knew its name. He focused his eyes on the water. It was quite a ways off, but his S-class vision could easily pick up details from that distance.
Bubble, bubble.
He could see the water churning as if it were lava. Just as he tilted his head, wondering if it was hot, a hand shot up from within! Geon-joo, who had been concentrating, flinched in surprise.
“Gyaaaaaaah!”
The hand that had emerged was swiftly dragged back down into the river with a horrifying scream.
A despairing, final shriek echoed out, and then all was quiet. The river grew calm, as if nothing had happened, with only small ripples disturbing its surface.
“The River Styx.”
It was too famous a name to not know. Muttering the river’s name under his breath, Geon-joo tried to call the system window. He’d intended to ask what to do next, but the System didn’t respond.
It can’t interfere?
According to widespread speculation, the beings who controlled the System were gods. And the King of the Underworld, if mythology was to be believed, was also a god. Since they were equals, it made sense that the System couldn’t freely exercise its power in another’s domain. With that thought, the System’s sudden silence became understandable, and he brushed off his clothes.
That means I have to do this alone.
“Is crossing the river the first priority?”
Geon-joo continued to speak his thoughts aloud, just in case, and slowly started walking. He rummaged through his coat pockets, but not a single coin turned up.
I heard you have to pay the ferryman to cross the river of the dead.
That’s what the stories said, anyway. Just as he frowned, worried he might be stuck, the metallic scent of blood hit him again, stronger this time. He tried to fight it down, but his jaw was forced open and another blackish mass poured out.
<Health has decreased by 5. Remaining Health: 90. Hurry!>
He hadn’t even walked that far, and his health had dropped again.
Is time in the Underworld different from time in the real world?
A chill ran down his spine. If that was the case, he had no time to waste. He broke into a run, but as if the health loss was proportional to his exertion, another surge of blood rose in his throat.
This time, it came with a searing pain, as if the muscles in his legs were being torn apart.
<Health has decreased by 10. Remaining Health: 80. If your Health drops below 50, all physical abilities will decrease by 20%. Be careful!>
Ha.
He’d known it wouldn’t be easy from the moment he saw the quest difficulty, but this penalty was on the level of a tyrannical thug. As he wiped the blood trickling from both corners of his mouth, it started flowing from his nose. Fortunately, no notification popped up saying his health had dropped. This must have been the source of the bloody scent that had filled his sinuses moments ago.
Wiping his nose with his sleeve, Geon-joo started running again.
His health was going to drain for an hour anyway. Since he wasn’t going to die immediately, he moved decisively. He reached the riverbank just as his health dropped another 10 points, leaving him at 70.
“Ugh!”
It seemed the more he coughed up blood, the more nauseating it became. He vomited blood, his eyes turning red with the strain. His body automatically bent over, hands on the ground as he gasped for air.
I can manage this.
It was tough, but not so bad he wanted to cry and go home. The problem was that this probably wasn’t even the tutorial phase yet.
He had a gut feeling that he had to cross the river to reach the land on the other side to meet the King of the Underworld. Given the myths he knew, he was half-certain of it. As he raised his head, he saw a single boat approaching. A figure in a black robe was rowing it. The ferryman.
“Can I get a ride?” he asked as the boat drew near.
The rower extended a hand. Just as he thought, it required payment. When Geon-joo hesitated, having nothing to give, the figure with the wrinkled hand withdrew it and began to row again, seemingly about to leave.
What kind of person…!
No compassion and no patience. Growing desperate, Geon-joo ran along the bank, calling out to the old man.
“Will you accept a different price?”
As he shouted, another hand shot up from the river, followed by a scream. The old man’s mouth moved.
He seemed to say something, but it was drowned out by the scream. Geon-joo raised an eyebrow, and the ferryman stared at him intently before extending his hand once more. An emaciated arm was revealed.
“Life,” the old man answered.
This time, Geon-joo heard him clearly and fell silent.