Chapter 1 – The Hunter-Turned-Chasa
“Reincarnate before it’s too late, Jeyeon.”
On the day Yeomra’s three-day funeral ended, my older brother, Gangrim, who was the chief mourner, said this to .
Reincarnate?
I took a sip of alcohol and replied.
“Brother, if I reincarnate now, I’ll beco a mosquito.”
It had been 49 years since I ended my life and beca a low-ranking Chasa. I didn’t have enough seniority to be reborn as a human, let alone a dog or pig.
Hearing this, my brother chuckled and retorted.
“I’ll just make you human.”
His tone was light, but his words carried the divine authority to decide reincarnation— the finality of death.
With Yeomra gone, he, as the Head Chasa, beca the supre god the underworld.
Well, it didn’t really matter anymore since there were only two of us left, but still, even reincarnation was now his prerogative.
He spoke of it as a matter of course.
“You’ll do well even if you beco human again.”
Human, huh?
I didn’t answer.
It was because the ti 49 years ago, when I was still human, felt as vivid as yesterday.
Lee Jeyeon.
A low-ranking Chasa belonging to the *Speech Hell departnt.
[TL/N: *A place where sinners who continue to lie go]
21 49 years, which would be 70 in human years (rare age).
I’m the only Chasa in the underworld who has experienced the Hunter era.
I’m also the last generation to have lived through both the Hunter and non-Hunter eras.
Born 70 years ago as the son of a small business owner, I had a relatively comfortable childhood.
But unfortunately, in the year I turned twenty, dungeons started appearing all over the world.
Dungeons.
Strange spaces where reality and the bizarre intertwined.
Unheard-of monsters erged, and soon after, Awakened beings called Hunters rose to power, slaying those monsters.
The Hunter era began without warning.
The year that followed— until a new order based on the System was established, was pure chaos.
Governnts were overthrown, and laws and institutions beca practically obsolete.
I lost my parents during that ti.
My father was killed by a Hunter he had hired as a bodyguard.
Soon after, my mother passed away, poisoned by a monster’s venom.
My four younger siblings and I beca orphans.
Our vast fortune vanished into thin air during the chaos.
At the age of twenty, I had to work odd jobs to feed my siblings.
For , a young master raised in comfort, it was a truly devastating ti.
Then, at twenty-one, unexpectedly, I Awakened as a Hunter.
Although I was the lowest rank, I was overjoyed.
A way to provide for my siblings had opened up.
For the first ti since my parents’ deaths, I felt hope.
I felt happiness.
My siblings were proud of too.
But my lack of knowledge about the world proved to be my downfall.
Eager and hopeful, I went on my first mission, only to be tricked by a broker.
The team I had joined, thinking it was an exploration party, turned out to be sacrificial lambs for a ritual.
That’s how I ended up in that dungeon.
Twenty-nine Hunters were eaten alive by monsters.
They said the real dungeon would only open after sacrificing thirty Awakened beings.
So.
Just before I beca the final sacrifice, I took my own life.
‘If I die first, they won’t be able to open the dungeon.’
At that ti, I thought it was the only way to get revenge.
But I was wrong.
Just within two days, thirty more Hunters were sacrificed.
Whether it was thirty or sixty, lives were cheap during those chaotic tis.
But because I had committed suicide, I ended up paying the price in the underworld.
For the cri of endangering others by taking my own life, I beca a Chasa.
Looking down at from the throne, King Yeomra said—
—Tsk Tsk, such a young one. You’ll have to toil for a thousand years as a Chasa before you can be reincarnated as a human again.
I didn’t care.
I had already lost all attachnt to human life.
And so, I beca a low-ranking Chasa, reluctantly anticipating my next life.
But the first souls I was tasked with guiding were children.
My younger siblings, who had starved to death shortly after my passing.
Those poor things, who had waited for , starving, until they died.
“…Brother, I hate the living world.”
I muttered after a long silence.
Even after half a century, the Hunter era held no good mories for .
And now, to beco human again? Damn it, I’d rather be a mosquito.
“…”
Gangrim stared down at with his characteristically cold eyes.
“…It’s not that you dislike it.”
He raised his cup and spoke.
“Or is that you’re afraid of it?”
His low voice pierced , just like his gaze.
“You chose death because you were afraid of life. That fear hasn’t gone anywhere.”
His words brought back a mory from 49 years ago, when he had co for with a rope.
—Will you be tied up and dragged away, or will you follow on your own accord?
He had asked then.
—Soone who ran from life because it was too heavy, would they ekly accept death?
As if he knew I would try escaping.
But like all sinners bound by the rope, I knew I couldn’t escape him. He was like the stern visage of a god.
“…What will you do, brother?”
I changed the subject.
Because, just as he said, I was still afraid of life.
“…”
His piercing gaze held captive.
With a gaze that could see through a human, he gave a small smile, as if to say he would let off the hook for changing the subject.
“I must capture the sinners.”
He replied.
“I will bind those who murdered the King with my rope and drag them back.”
Even after becoming the person with the highest authority in the underworld, he intended to remain a Chasa.
“…”
They had killed Yeomra, the ruler of Hell.
Yet, I clearly understood what it ant for him to go after them.
Are you afraid of life, or are you afraid of death?
His question weighed heavily because he truly feared neither life nor death.
That’s why he chose revenge without hesitation, even at the brink of death.
Unlike humans, he knew that the end of a god truly ant the end.
That was Gangrim, the Chasa.
“Co visit before the 49th day, brother.”
After a long pause, I finally managed a response that wasn’t really a response.
“You should say goodbye before you go. I won’t reincarnate until then either.”
He finished his drink without a word.
But he must have understood.
Forty-nine days held a special significance in the underworld.
“Whether you co or not,”
I continued.
“…On the 49th day, I’ll offer you a drink.”
A brief silence.
He emptied his cup and set it down with a thud.
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
His lips were smiling, but his eyes remained cold.
They continued to pierce through .
“If you’re still here when I return, I’ll personally bind you with the rope and throw you out the Reincarnation Gate.”
It was the sa look he had given when he asked if I would be dragged away or go willingly.
“Live, Jeyeon.”
He, who had ushered countless souls to their deaths with those eyes, now commanded a single life.
“Death is not the end. That is the myth of this land. So, facing life once more— that is your final task in this underworld.”
Even as he gave this order with unwavering resolve, his outstretched hand gently grazed my hair.
The touch of death on my forehead was as cold as ever.
But I understood why the stoic Gangrim reached out now, and for a mont, I wished that rough, calloused hand would linger longer.
***
Forty-eight days had passed.
I was still tidying up the desolate underworld.
I scrubbed the extinguished cauldrons of the Hwatang Hell, sharpened the moss-covered blades of the Dosan Hell, and buried the snakes of the Doksa Hell who starved to death from the lack of prey.
[TL/N: Hwatang Hell- Cauldron of Boiling Oil Hell, Doksa Hell- Hell of Knife Mountains, Dosan Hell- Hell of Poisonous Snakes]
Forty-eight days of tidying up the vast underworld, all alone.
The once magnificent underworld, with its dazzling array of hells, was now just sowhat presentable.
…As if it exuded the lancholy of an abandoned amusent park.
“…”
It was ti for the Reincarnation Gate.
Standing in front of it with a bucket of rags, I was suddenly filled with remorse.
Forty-nine years ago, when I brought my siblings— filled with grief.
Here…
Unexpectedly, *Jijang Bosal greeted us.
[TL/N: *A popular figure associated with helping the deceased, especially children and those in hell]
With a benevolent face, he carried the youngest on his back and gave snacks to the hungry children.
Then, he whispered to , who was standing at a distance.
—Your parents have already been reincarnated.
—Good relationships are not severed… you will et again as a happy family, in due ti.
I do not condone suicide.
It was only natural, since I beca a Chasa for the sin of suicide.
However, for so in this world, life only found solace in death.
Whether it was suicide, illness, starvation, or any other tragic end— there were lives that yearned for the injustice they suffered in the living world to be resolved in the underworld.
They believed in a fair and just afterlife.
That’s probably why faith in the underworld persisted for thousands of years.
But now, even that faith has ended.
Yeomra, the punisher of sinners, was killed by a Hunter, and Jijang Bosal, the caretaker of pitiful souls, had vanished.
Perhaps people no longer believed in punishnt or salvation.
As I cleaned the Reincarnation Gate, I thought about these things.
Tomorrow was the day Gangrim was supposed to return.
He had ordered to reincarnate, but I would wait just one more day for him.
Even if I were to be bound by his rope and cast away, it didn’t matter.
All mories would fade upon reincarnation anyway.
But if he didn’t return, I would just build a tomb for Gangrim here.
Even if… I were to eventually forget about that too.
And then, I would reincarnate.
My brother was right.
The cycle of life and death is inescapable; just as life inevitably ends, death inevitably cos, regardless of our desires.
After death cos another life.
That was the mythology of this land.
So, as a Chasa of the underworld, I had to follow it.
…But I didn’t want to be human. I’d rather just beco a mosquito, as the rules dictated.
I’d beco a mosquito and suck the blood of Hunters.
I’d only bite them at night, disturbing their precious sleep.
I’d lay lots of eggs too, to annoy them for generations to co.
As I diligently cleaned the Reincarnation Gate, plotting my bloody revenge— sothing happened.
“…?”
Rumble.
I heard a collapsing sound, and then— with a crack, the air split open.
A siren blared, and a pitch-black sphere of unknown origin appeared.
[ —Bzzzt—Converting to Earth format—Bzzzt— ]
The sphere, emitting strange noises— stretched and expanded in mid-air like rubber clay, eventually transforming into a familiar shape.
It looked like a massive bulldozer, the size of a house.
“What the hell is that?!”
The sudden appearance of the bulldozer jolted out of my gloom, and I shouted.
This crazy bulldozer was about to demolish King Yeomra’s tomb right in front of !
“What the hell! what is that thing?!”
I threw down my mop and ran towards the bulldozer.
The burial mound I had ticulously cleaned was about to be crushed.
This was insane! Who demolishes soone’s grave with a bulldozer?!
Infuriated by this unprecedented act, I stood in front of the bulldozer.
But then.
[ Cosmic Official Duty Vehicle ]
The sign on the bulldozer left speechless.
It was an absurd sign that read, “Cosmic Official Duty Vehicle.”
“Excuse , sir, you can’t stand there!”
Then, from inside the bulldozer, a giant man wearing a matching outfit labeled [Cosmic Official Duty] popped his head out.
He was wearing dark sunglasses, like a gangster.
“Sir, you saw the official notice, didn’t you?”
Official notice?
“It says the demolition of the Underworld starts today, so you need to vacate the premises!”
Demolition?
Vacate?
What the hell is this?!
I stared at the giant man, wondering what nonsense he was spouting.
He opened the door and let out a heavy sigh.
Wait a minute.
That sigh sounded familiar.
It was like the sigh I made when I encountered a stubborn soul who refused to go to the underworld.
…It was a strange realization that this guy was indeed a real official.
Suddenly, the giant man held out a docunt.
[ Cosmic Order Preservation Council ]
Recipient: Planet Earth Underworld
Subject: Request for Demolition of Hell and Planet Earth Underworld Facilities
1. In accordance with Article 292 of the Cosmic Order Preservation Act, we request the voluntary demolition of underworld facilities that are no longer functioning.
2. If not demolished within the specified period, the Cosmic Order Preservation Council may directly initiate demolition work.
3. The demolished underworld facilities will be compensated at a fair price in accordance with Article 182 of the Cosmic Order Preservation Act. End.
“…”
My hands trembled as I held the docunt.
These guys were completely insane.
Who were they to demolish the underworld?
Compensation, my ass! How could they put a price on 20,000 years of mythology?
“What nonsense is this?! This land is not yours!”
I fud and lunged at the bulldozer.
“Argh, seriously! This is why I quit being a public servant!”
The giant man, not to be outdone, opened the door and stepped out.
It was a spectacle that revealed the frustration of soone burdened with authority, whether it was cosmic order or sothing else.
And then.
Just as the 49-year veteran underworld official and the cosmic whatever official were about to clash…
BOOM!
This ti, there was an explosion, and…
“Underworld! Is it true that you guys are finished?!”
A woman appeared.
Her long hair flowed behind her, she wore a traditional Korean jeogori top, and her red skirt fluttered above her knees.
“…!”
A damp, chilling miasma spread around her, drawing my eyes to her.
Her black sleeves with a greenish tint and her red skirt fluttered wildly.
Her elegantly curved body strangely evoked images of decaying corpses and blood.
The eerie dissonance of such a grueso image being beautiful made instantly recognize her.
“…Hogu Byeolseong?”
Hogu Byeolseong.
The goddess of smallpox, who had vanished long ago.
Humans, out of fear, used to call her “Mama” as a term of respect.
The goddess of pestilence, who had driven tens of thousands to their deaths throughout history, arrived in the land of death, cloaked in a sinister miasma.
“…And who might you be?”
Hogu Byeolseong frowned as our eyes t.
“A Chasa? I haven’t seen you before.”
Her dark green eyes, different from Gangrim’s piercing gaze yet clearly divine, glared at .
I finally ca to my senses.
This was a god, after all.
A truly ancient god, unlike a fake one like .
I had to show so respect.
“I am Lee Jeyeon, the youngest Chasa of the Speech Hell departnt, Mama. I’ve been in the underworld for 49 years.”
“49 years?”
Hogu Byeolseong’s eyes widened at my words.
“You really were a little sprout! Have you even grown any hair on your grave yet?”
“…”
I swallowed the words, “It’s grass, not hair.”
No need to provoke her further, considering her already nacing aura.
“Forget that, where’s your dad?”
She imdiately asked for my father… the deceased King Yeomra. It seed she had co to the underworld with so knowledge of it.
A mont later, I reassessed the situation.
Hogu Byeolseong didn’t seem to have any ill will towards the underworld.
…So, if she did have a problem, it was likely with this damn official who was trying to demolish the underworld and Yeomra’s tomb.
“…He’s here.”
I quickly pointed to the bulldozer and King Yeomra’s tomb.
“As you can see, I’m desperately trying to protect it.”
It felt like I was tattling, but before I could feel embarrassed, Hogu Byeolseong raised her voice first.
“What the hell is this!”
Grasping the situation, she glared at the official.
“Is that really the old man’s grave?!”
Her long hair whipped around fiercely.
The demonic aura instantly ignited the surroundings like wildfire.
“Damn it, what kind of bastard is this?!”
Her rage, though its cause was unknown, strangely reassured .
———-
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