Oh, wow…Look, it’s the River of Styx again! Having been here before, I was by no means surprised. The boiling hot water in the distance looked anything but calm, and the person giving us a ride, Charon, also looked like he wasn’t paid enough to do this. Lord Hades, you should start paying your employees a little more.

  With the menacing red glow of the area, and the annoying noise of the clattering of teeth, even a deity would be unable to cope. Seriously, why are people so terrified after dying? I mean, even though it’s my second time crossing the river, I wasn’t this scared…right?

  “Wrong, Ace. You were anything but calm the last time you crossed Styx. I get chills just imagining your expression. It was dark, even for a deity who resides in the Underworld like me.” A lanky-looking individual said, as my expression turned dark. Having seen Charon before, I was by no means terrified of his appearance, unlike some people. Hint Hint. However, I had never heard of his mind-reading ability, causing my mind to enter a state of disarray.

  “You can read my mind? Does that mean you still remember my thoughts from back then…?” I croaked, hoping the answer would be a big fat “No.” Of course, some things, no, many things in life don’t go the way you wish them to, because I received a short laugh in response to my question. Yeah, a deity who always resided in the Underworld laughed. Even I was surprised by this revelation, causing me to cover my gaping mouth with my semi-translucent hand.

  “Don’t go questioning it, and don’t tell Lord Hades.” He warned as a tinge of bloodlust sparked from within his pupils, causing me to widen my eyes. With a trembling semi-translucent body, I managed to nod slightly, as Charon retracted the pressure that was placed upon me.

  “Also, Lord Hades may not be very thrilled after finding out about your second death. Lord Tartarus punished Lord Hades severely after finding out that you were put into the cycle of reincarnation without losing your memories. Thankfully, an unknown circumstance prevented Lord Tartarus from beheading Lord Hades on the spot.” Charon explained, to which my body stiffened. Lord Hades had actually gone through all of that because of my second life? One thing I didn’t understand was the reason why Lord Hades reincarnated me in the first place. Was it because of good karma? Was it because of pure goodwill? I never found out.

  I nodded my head, causing Charon to let out a sigh of relief. His expression changed slightly, as his lips began to curl up, almost forming a faint smile before he violently turned his head away. I forcefully suppressed a laugh, causing Charon to unsheathe his hammer. Yes, you heard correctly, Charon carried a scabbard for his hammer. Pretty weird, right?

  I witnessed Charon’s ears turn red, something I never thought I would get to experience. Immediately, all thoughts about my previous life vanished, as I took a bit of time teasing the deity in question as he blushed. A total tsundere, I tell you. You find one weakness, and he’ll reveal countless more just to cover the former up.

  Soon after the incident, we arrived at the entrance of the Underworld, mainly, Lord Hades’ domain. Dimly lit candles illuminated the area a bit, as I gazed upon the glory of the ‘Entrance to Hell’. The entrance was plated in gold, as well as the size of an elephant, as it revealed the majesticness of Hell. Never thought I’d even be thinking of those words before finding out about the concept of deities.

  Charon got out of the boat as he signaled the others to do the same. I quickly jumped out of the boat and plopped myself near the deity, as I observed the other passengers. None of them had spoken yet, if we exclude the tumultuous noises of groans, grunts, and occasionally, teeth. There was a burly man with a buzzcut, two girls who looked like twins with freckles splotched all over their faces, and a short boy who looked to be around 17 years old with wavy hair. Hey, the short boy and I were of the same mental age. Yes, in my first life, I lived until I was 14 years old, while in my second life, I died at 3. Quite unfortunate, if you ask me.

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  With a snap of his fingers, Charon quickly disintegrated the boat, leaving behind nothing but stale air. Having watched this display before, I was just as calm as ever, but the others? Oh boy…

  Watching the others widen their eyes until they were about to bulge out and scream in confusion, I revealed a rare look of melancholy. Usually, people lived around five times my age before finally dying, but me? I had died twice in the span of 17 years. In my first life, I lived in Toronto, Canada, while in my second life, I lived in a place named Ziel, which was supposedly a magical world filled with monsters and superpowers. Now, has my life as a mortal finally ended? Would I live in the Underworld for eternity now?

  Noticing my expression and reading my thoughts, Charon expressed his sympathy by placing a hand on my shoulder. Surprised by the sudden action, my shoulders stiffened a bit before returning to normal after realizing who touched them.

  “I’m sure you’ll get another life. I’ll personally talk to Lord Hades about this topic if he refuses to listen to your explanation.” Charon muttered, as he gazed down at the crimson-red soil under our feet. Surprisingly, it wasn’t barren. I’m sure Lord Hades could’ve grown some potatoes or something on here. As I thought that, Charon suddenly smacked my back, cursing at himself for ever trying to comfort me. As he did so, I just smiled.

  “Now then, we should get going.” Charon said in a firm tone as he observed the others with an all-knowing gaze. “Ren, you’re going to the lower floors, while Amanda and Alice are heading to the middle floors. Kevin, you’re going to Elysium.”

  I quickly turned my head to gaze at the short boy, who I now knew was named Kevin. He was actually going to Elysium, something I couldn’t even dream of…

  There were 3 floors in the Underworld, Lower, Middle, and Upper. Lower had the worst treatment possible, akin to torture, while Middle had moderate treatment. The Upper Floors were akin to hotel rooms, as they were quite luxurious. Now, there was another floor of the Underworld, reserved for mortals who had died honorable deaths in battle, named Elysium. In Elysium, the treatment you received was at the same level, if not better than that of a King. From stupidly large rooms to personal butlers, people who resided in Elysium had everything, except freedom. Well, they had freedom in the sense that they could roam around freely in the Underworld, but the fact that they were dead didn’t change.

  Yeah, this guy named Kevin was extremely lucky to have been entering Elysium. Contrary to my expectations, the boy in question just stared blankly at Charon, paying no mind to my dumbstruck expression. How ungrateful. As he read my thoughts, Charon immediately slapped my head extremely hard.

  As I winced in pain, Charon spoke. “How would he know about Elysium, you dolt? Can’t you see he’s a mortal?” Hearing his response, I lowered my head enough for him to notice that I was apologetic. Reading my thoughts once again, he punched me in the head.

  As I rubbed me head, I suddenly had the urge to yell, ‘I’m a mortal too, you know?’, but I refrained from doing so, since arguing with Charon was almost completely fruitless. Even Lord Hades didn’t dare do so, considering it would only worsen his mood.

  “Now, we shall enter the domain of Lord Tartarus, as well as the land that Lord Hades rules over.” He spat out. His tone was far from friendly, completely unlike the way he talked to me. Ah, I guess I should be happy, but my mind was filled with other thoughts. Thoughts about reincarnating once again, if possible.

  As we entered the Underworld, the other mortals around me gasped. I could tell they were shocked because of the majesticness of the Underworld, a place mostly known as Hell. People didn’t like coming here because it was where dead people resided, but what they didn’t know was how beautiful the Underworld really was. Bright lights covered the land as countless citizens walked around casually, not minding the intrusion of new figures inside their homeland. In fact, by what I remember, they welcomed newcomers with glee as it only helped to increase the beauty of the place. Although the air was stale and the sky was crimson-red, no one seemed to mind a bit. Well, that was probably because they had lived here for thousands, if not millions of years.

  After walking for a bit, we arrived at the entrance of the Royal Palace. Charon helped me enter as he left to drop the others off at the place they would be living at for the rest of their lives. I nervously walked upstairs, as I was guarded by a couple of demons. Judging by their humongous armor, and their posture that seemed to scream ‘I am one of those arrogant rich young master types!!’, it was quite obvious that they were High-Level Demons, possibly even Arch-Demons.

  As we entered the Palace Hall, the guards scurried away as if they were mice running from a big menacing cat. Of course, that cat was the King of the Underworld, Hades. He was a burly man, as even his toes had inflated muscles. His eyes were dull but fearless, as they scrutinized me to no end. He wore a majestic red-gold robe that came down to his knees, and had a well-trimmed beard along with long hair tied behind his head in a man bun. Tiny strands of hair entered his field of vision as he sat atop his dark throne looking down at anyone.

  That was what mortals would think of him, but as a person who had met him before, he looked like an old grandpa more than anything.

  As I kneeled on the ground, I quickly gave my respects to his majesty.

  “Lord Hades.”