Chapter 70

Chapter 70

Chapter 70 Fare for the Afterlife (2)

It must have been about twenty-five years ago.

I was at an age when I'd only just begun riding buses.

On days when I received a generous allowance like today, I would buy paper tokens marked "Student" from the stationery shop in front of my school so I could visit an arcade or comic book shop in the neighboring town.

Then I'd board the local bus, which ran on such a tight schedule that it practically drove with its doors open.

My friends weren't used to riding buses alone, so simply being able to buy these tokens was something worth boasting about among them.

But that day, despite having waited so long for the bus, I stood with one foot on the step, unable to bring myself to board.

Because it wasn't the bus I was supposed to take in the first place.

"Mister, does this bus go to Tancheon Intersection?"

"No."

"Uh, um. Then does it go to the theater?"

"No. If you're not getting on, I'm closing the door."

"Okay. I'm sorry."

-Beep. Hissss.

Perhaps because a child who wasn't even going to board had wasted time asking unnecessary questions, the bus roared down the road with a much louder engine noise than usual.

Unfortunately, however, it didn't get far before a traffic light forced the driver to slam on the brakes.

And in that brief moment when the bus stopped,

-HOOOOONK.

A huge dump truck sped past the front of the stationary bus, blaring its horn repeatedly.

"What on earth was that?"

"What a terrible driver."

"What are the grim reapers doing? Why don't they take bastards like that away?"

The people at the bus stop had witnessed what had nearly happened to the bus, and each cursed the passing truck in their own way.

But one person among them wore a distinctly different expression.

He looked rather like a careless friend who'd realized he'd left his homework at home.

"This can't be. This shouldn't happen. I'm sure that was the right bus..."

The man muttered to himself as he rummaged through an old document folder for quite some time, then collapsed onto the ground.

It was only when I made my fourth call to 119 to report a fire that I realized the man was a grim reaper who took away the dead.

______________

It was a memory that brought a sense of pleasure at meeting someone again after so long.

Though probably not for the person concerned.

"Still, I suppose their jobs really are secure. He's somehow managed to keep working there all this time."

"The expression 'a calling for life' was practically invented for those fellows. It's not a job they can simply quit, even if they want to. Heh heh. By the way, they must have suffered quite a bit trying to revise the registers of the souls you saved. They would've had to alter the course of heavenly fate. If they discovered you were responsible, they'd surely weep tears of blood."

"I've actually been wondering whether I should keep it a secret."

Would it have been better not to know?

Now that I knew I'd caused them trouble, at least several dozen times that I could remember, it was difficult to simply do nothing.

"If they come again, I'll at least serve them some complimentary ramen."

"You altered the course of heavenly fate, and your apology is a mere five-thousand-won bowl of ramen?"

"It's not a mere bowl of ramen. I'm dealing with people who pay for drinks using counterfeit money."

This was a genuinely unprofitable business, not some merchant's exaggeration.

I almost wished they wouldn't come back at all.

Though I knew that wish was unlikely to come true, considering how thoroughly they'd enjoyed their ssanghwa tea.

___________

The courtroom of the Palace of Yama.

As befitted a place where the souls arriving in the underworld were judged for their sins, it possessed an atmosphere of utmost solemnity.

There were plain stone pillars and floors without a single decoration, while Yama and the other judges sat on platforms far above the souls.

Only one object seemed unrelated to the furnishings of the courtroom: the Mirror of Karma.

The mirror currently showed a middle-aged man standing on a platform, delivering a speech with the veins in his neck bulging.

[If you elect me, I am prepared to dedicate myself completely to the people! Politics for ordinary citizens! I will practice clean politics!]

"And you still claim you're innocent?"

"N-No, that's just how election campaigning works. I meant that I would do my best to uphold those promises..."

"Yes, yes. I'm sure you did."

The scene reflected in the Mirror of Karma changed to a disreputable drinking establishment.

[Goodness, President Kang. You didn't have to prepare something like this.]

[You're doing such important work, Assemblyman. Surely this little golden toad can contribute in some small way? Please look favorably upon this redevelopment project.]

[Hoho, you really shouldn't have. I've already been coordinating with the other assembly members, so just wait a little. You know, I've got some powerful people backing me as well.]

[Of course!]

"Do you need to see more?"

"I only accepted the golden toad! I didn't actually carry out the redevelopment project!"

"That's even worse, you bastard! Pull out his tongue. Next."

"I'm sorry! I'll never do it again! So please, just give me one more chance! I'm begging you! Sob."

Yama rose from her throne and approached the man lying prostrate on the floor.

"Please! I have a daughter I haven't even had the chance to see. So please! Please, I beg you..."

Perhaps because Yama had the appearance of a young woman, the man believed there was still hope. He pressed his forehead against the ground and pleaded with everything he had.

But Yama merely brought the Mirror of Karma closer so he could see more clearly.

"You had more than enough chances to wash away your sins. Want to see?"

[Assemblyman, the mother of Park Byeongho has come regarding the Worker Safety Act proposed by the People's New Party.]

[Park Byeongho? Who's that?]

[The worker who died in that shipyard accident last time. Your approval ratings rose significantly thanks to the photograph of you holding his mother's hand.]

[Ah, I remember now. But why has she come all the way here again? A National Assembly member's office isn't somewhere just anyone can walk into.]

[I'll explain things to her and send her away.]

[And quietly withdraw that bill before deliberation. There's no need to stir up trouble. It'd be awkward when I go golfing with the chairmen of the companies involved later.]

"Ah..."

Only after seeing the man's despair did Yama smile with satisfaction and continue speaking.

"We may seem coldhearted, but we weigh the severity of sins according to the times. We've even abolished the Mountain of Blades Hell and the Boiling Cauldron Hell, which dealt with things like merit from previous lives and good deeds, and we've restricted the Sword Tree Hell with that thing... What was it called? That belt?"

"The greenbelt, Your Majesty."

"Right! We've designated it a greenbelt. We live in a world where failing to help others is no longer considered a sin. How merciful is that?"

-Click. Click.

The sound of Yama's heels gradually receded from the man.

"But if you couldn't even meet that minimum standard, you were rotten from the start. The mortal world is already in such chaos even when we reincarnate only good souls. Do you think we can let someone like you go back up there? Take him away and pull it out."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Armored soldiers dragged the devastated man out of the courtroom.

"These fellows grow more shameless by the day. A thousand years ago, at least they begged forgiveness for their terrible sins. Now they insist they haven't sinned at all. That's enough for today. Ugh, I'm tired."

"Yes, we shall obey your command."

As Yama stretched and rose from her seat, the judges hurriedly stood and bowed their heads.

(But haven't we finished rather early today?)

(Indeed. There are still about five hundred more waiting, yet Her Majesty is leaving already.)

____________

'Books and cups, that thing with the clicking buttons... And what was this again?'

Having returned to her office, Yama was carefully selecting various items while comparing them with a densely written list in an old notebook.

Books, a laptop, earphones, a tumbler, car keys, a handbag, and other objects were spread across her desk.

Since they were intended purely to create the right atmosphere, they were merely imitations of their external appearances made from spiritual power, but they looked exactly like their mortal-world counterparts.

'Good! This should be enough! Shall I go, then?'

In any case, her plan was perfect.

She would sit by the window, unfold the machine with the clicking buttons, and read a book.

Since this plan involved pretending to be a woman enjoying black water alone, she'd dismissed all the attendants who usually accompanied her.

Her excuse was that they would only get in the way if a real evil spirit appeared.

And so Yama ascended to the mortal world alone, arrived at Jinseong's coffeehouse, and opened the door without hesitation.

"Welcome."

'Hm? There are customers here today? Good heavens, aren't those immortals and a dragon?'

Since the coffeehouse was openly conducting business, it was only natural that there would be customers.

But these particular customers went far beyond anything Yama had expected.

Why on earth would immortals who spent their time playing Go in the Celestial Realm, along with a dragon, turn up at a little teahouse like this?

'Well, I came here too.'

Only then did she realize that, in terms of extraordinary visitors, she was hardly an exception.

After all, as the ruler of the underworld, she had no particular reason to visit this teahouse either.

Fortunately, although the immortals and the dragon recognized her identity, they showed no outward reaction.

"Would you like the same thing you had last time?"

"Huh? Yes."

Having somehow placed her order, Yama headed toward the seat she'd occupied on her previous visit.

'Now, shall I arrange everything?'

There was plenty to set up before the Divine Tree's guardian brought her drink.

-Tap, tap.

She took the laptop and books from her handbag and arranged them on the table one after another.

Next came the earphones, tumbler, and car keys, which she placed neatly on the tabletop.

But something about the arrangement looked strange.

The objects had been placed so neatly(?) with their left and right spacing carefully aligned that there even seemed to be a particular rule governing their positions.

The red-covered book went to the east, and the white laptop to the west.

With the traditional rule of red to the east and white to the west observed to the letter, the table resembled an ancestral memorial offering table with the food missing.

'Good. Perfect. This should make me look like someone who visits teahouses all the time, right? Hm? What's that?'

Yama's satisfaction collapsed almost absurdly quickly.

The examples she had to compare herself against were simply too formidable.

"Hoho, another easy victory this game."

"You haven't even reached the endgame, yet you can already see your victory?"

Not only did the immortals have strange glass boards without any buttons at their table, but tiny Go boards were displayed inside them.

The way they leisurely sipped their tea while tapping on the glass boards was hardly the behavior of people who'd visited a teahouse only once or twice.

And there was an even more formidable presence: the coffeehouse owner and a little girl who appeared to be his daughter.

The father and daughter were playing a game Yama had never seen before.

It looked like tujeon, or something similar.

They spread out colorful pieces of paper and rolled dice, laughing continuously as though they were having the time of their lives.

For Yama, whose bucket-list dream had been the simple act of visiting a teahouse and drinking tea, the sight was a refreshing shock.

'What is that? Are you allowed to do things like that in a teahouse? I've never seen that in the Mirror of Karma...'

Her attention kept drifting toward the father and daughter's table, until even the tea she'd been served was growing cold.

"Miss."

"Hm?"

"Would you like to play with us?"

"What's that?"

"It's Blue Marble. It's even more fun with three people!"

At last, the identity of the game Jinseong and Lia had been enjoying was revealed.

Of course, hearing its name didn't mean Yama understood what kind of game it was.

But now that she'd been personally invited to join them, she found it difficult to conceal her delight.

"S-Shall I?"

The woman who had come to sit alone in a teahouse and enjoy her solitude was no longer there.

After tasting ssanghwa tea for the first time in her life, Yama now found herself seated before a board game that would send her dopamine levels soaring.

In that moment, Jinseong's coffeehouse transformed in her eyes into a trendy board game café.

"Then let's begin."

It was Jinseong, who had no idea that the opponent sitting across from him was King Yama herself, ruler of the underworld.