Chapter 77

Chapter 77

Chapter 77 Fare for the Afterlife (9)

Five hundred and forty million won.

That was the money contained in the coffin bearing my name.

I don't know how I would have felt in the past, but it was difficult to simply welcome such a large sum of money that had suddenly come into my possession. After all, I knew exactly where it had come from.

"For now, we've deposited it into a newly opened account. There will be some tax-related matters to resolve later, but we've arranged things so you can use the money immediately."

"Thank you, as always. Your staff must have gone through a lot of trouble again."

"It's our job."

The staff really must have had a hard time. Director Baek hadn't even offered his usual polite reassurances or made light of the matter.

And understandably so. Even a casual glance had shown that every imaginable kind of currency was mixed together. There were old and new banknotes, foreign currencies, and even gold coins of unknown origin.

Moreover, this money had come from the underworld, so they must have had to conduct all sorts of investigations instead of simply taking it straight to a bank.

"You were racking your brains over those videos until late every night, but it seems your hard work has paid off."

"I never imagined I'd receive this much money."

"We live in different worlds, so our understanding of offerings differs as well. They say money is something you can't take with you when you die, yet she's managed to gather such a tidy sum. Heh heh."

"With this much money, we could buy more than a hundred bowls of jajangmyeon!"

"You little fool! Forget jajangmyeon. He needs to replace that wreck of a car!"

"You can still drive the car without replacing it! But if you don't buy jajangmyeon, you'll regret not eating it!"

"What kind of foolish reasoning is that?"

"And you can get a hundred bowls of jajangmyeon, but only one car! The fox can't even do simple arithmetic!"

"Why, you little rascal!"

"I have somewhere else I intend to use this money."

"Hm? Not on a car?"

"This money carries the wishes of people who wanted their families to depart peacefully for the underworld. I intend to use it in accordance with those wishes. As quickly as possible."

I intended to spend it as quickly as I could.

So quickly that I wouldn't have another moment to worry about it.

_______________

A small funeral hall on the outskirts of Seoul.

The light illuminating the syllable "rye" on its sign had broken long ago, so children who enjoyed wordplay had been calling it a "display cabinet" instead of a "funeral hall" for years.

And the sign wasn't the only thing that had grown too old and worn to serve its purpose.

Green tape had been plastered all over the broken windows, while the floors of the mourning rooms were pitted and sunken in places, unable to withstand the weight of time.

And, rather cruelly, the families who came to hold funerals there were often just as impoverished.

Such was the case in Mourning Room Four, where a ten-year-old child had spent three days alone beside her deceased mother, quietly sobbing.

"Isn't the funeral procession tomorrow? Why hasn't that family had a single visitor?"

"Apparently, the husband ran off somewhere, and the mother had been doing manual labor on her own when she suffered an accident."

"Tsk, tsk. Even so, her relatives should have come. Leaving that child all alone like that... How pitiful."

Although it was a place where the deceased gathered with all manner of stories, this family's particularly heartbreaking circumstances kept the employees clicking their tongues in sympathy.

And so the night grew late.

"How may I help you?"

"Oh dear, I hope we're not too late. We're here for the Park family, the deceased who passed away at three in the afternoon on June twenty-first, the Year of the Wood Snake... Ah! There she is!"

The man who had been reciting an elaborate collection of details about the deceased instead of simply giving her name to the employee on night duty was none other than Gangnim Doryeong.

"All right, everyone. Place the funeral wreaths out front, and hurry up with the food and tableware."

When Gangnim Doryeong gestured outside, the people waiting there streamed into the funeral hall.

"W-Wait a moment! Are you from a funeral service company? Are you sure you've come to the right place? Mourning Room Four?"

"Assistant Manager Shin, this is the right place, isn't it?"

"Yes. The deceased is Park Sohyeon."

"Then let's get inside."

"No, that can't be right..."

Watching the crowd stream into the mourning room, the employee could only repeat, "No, but..."

Judging by his many years of experience, this was clearly a funeral service company that had come to the wrong place.

After all, he knew perfectly well who the chief mourner in Room Four was.

'I'd better stop them before they try to pin the blame on us again.'

It happened occasionally. A company would install funeral wreaths in the wrong mourning room, then shift responsibility to the funeral hall by claiming the office had given them incorrect directions.

The employee hurried out of the office toward Mourning Room Four, only to encounter an unbelievable sight.

Five funeral wreaths completely filled the space outside the room.

They were unlike any wreaths he'd seen before, so thick and magnificent that their supporting legs were barely visible.

【CEO Kim Jinseong, Dangsan Enterprises】

【Executive Director Kim Lia, Dangsan Enterprises】

【Managing Director Geum, Dangsan Enterprises】

【Managing Director San, Dangsan Enterprises】

【All Employees of Dangsan Enterprises】

The ribbons bore the unfamiliar company name Dangsan Enterprises.

And the altar, which had previously held nothing but a few yellowing pieces of fruit and incense, was now packed with chrysanthemums and generous offerings of food.

'Good heavens, how much must those fresh flowers alone have cost? And what's all that food on the altar?'

Just as the employee hurried toward the mourning room to straighten things out before matters went any further, he heard a warm greeting from inside.

"So you're Ms. Sohyeon's daughter."

"Who are you?"

"We're your mother's coworkers."

"Hello! I saw you when you were only this big. You've grown so much!"

"Children grow a handspan every time you blink, don't they? Assistant Manager Shin, it looks like just about everything has arrived, so let's pay our respects first."

The two bowed before the altar, lit incense, and then sat down beside the child again.

"It must have been hard all by yourself."

"No, sob... It wasn't hard... Waaaaah!"

Sometimes, sorrow only bursts forth when someone offers comfort.

All the emotions that had accumulated inside the child's small body came pouring out as tears.

"Ma'am, please prepare some food for us first. The poor child's practically skin and bones."

The women who had come to prepare the food were no less compassionate.

In the empty kitchen, they hurriedly heated instant rice and served the boiled pork and side dishes they'd brought with them.

"Go on, eat."

"What about you, Mister? And you, Miss?"

"We'll eat too. Ladies, please sit here and join us."

"Would that really be all right?"

"Hardly anyone comes to pay their respects after around eleven these days anyway."

Even with everyone gathered around, there were only five of them.

Compared with the loneliness the child must have felt watching the crowds of mourners in the room across the hall, it was a pitifully small gathering for a meal.

Nevertheless, it was enough for the child, who had finally cried to her heart's content, to feel the relief of having someone she could trust and depend on.

"So, Soyeong, what grade are you in now?"

"Third grade..."

"Really? You must have lots of friends at school. Who are you closest to?"

"Jimin and Hayun live in the same apartment building, so we play together a lot."

"What do the three of you play? Back in our day, girls used to play gonggi and jump rubber bands."

"Honestly, Deputy Manager. How long ago was that? Kids these days all play on smartphones. They even put emoticons in their emails."

"Is that so? I suppose I'm getting old. Even I can't keep up with the generation gap."

"That's not right..."

"Hm? It isn't?"

"You're exactly the same, Assistant Manager Shin! Hahaha!"

Their hearty laughter, so out of place in a funeral hall, was a deliberate kindness on the part of the two grim reapers.

Because of the nature of their work, they understood better than anyone that what the child needed right now wasn't solemn consolation, but lighthearted conversation about everyday life.

The grief of parents who lose a child never fades, but the grief of children who lose a parent comes and goes like the ebb and flow of the tide.

That is because it is the natural order for those who came first to depart first.

And so the mourning room where a parent's three-day funeral is held is never filled solely with sorrowful weeping.

Sometimes it also holds laughter that seems inappropriate for the occasion, or the joy of welcoming cherished visitors one might never have seen again if not for the funeral.

There was nothing strange about the child momentarily forgetting her mother's death and recalling her life at school.

"Time really does fly. Oh, that's right! I forgot I need to make a confirmation call. I'll step out for a moment, so keep enjoying yourselves. Shall I buy you some snacks from the shop out front when I come back?"

The child nodded slightly.

Gangnim Doryeong stepped outside the funeral hall, checked that no one was nearby, and carefully made a phone call.

-Ring, ring, ring.

(Yes, this is Kim Jinseong.)

"This is Gangnim."

(Ah, did the wreaths and food we prepared arrive safely?)

"Oh, they certainly did. Everything is of the finest quality. There are more than twenty different dishes."

(That's a relief. Did the situation meet the conditions?)

"The child was left all alone in truly pitiful circumstances. The deceased also says she'll depart for the underworld after the funeral procession, so we'll stay with them until then."

(Then I'm counting on you. Oh, and if there are any additional expenses, please let me know immediately. It doesn't matter how much it costs.)

'You already instructed us to get nothing but the best when arranging the food and flowers. How could we possibly need anything more?'

The arrangements had long since surpassed the employee welfare benefits offered by most major corporations.

Perhaps things would be different if the deceased had been a wealthy local dignitary.

But apart from the number of visitors, this mourning room was actually more splendid than theirs.

And so Jinseong's efforts to quickly dispose of the burdensome money that had unexpectedly fallen into his hands illuminated the final journey of an unfortunate soul.

All under the name of Dangsan Enterprises, a company that hadn't even been established yet.

_______________

-Clatter.

At the same time, in King Yama's office in the underworld, the clear sound of a porcelain bowl falling to the floor rang out.

"Your Majesty, are you all right?"

"I... drank the medicine again, didn't I?"

"Indeed, Your Majesty. It is time for you to retire to your bedchamber."

"All right..."

Yama's question, asked with vacant eyes and a sluggish voice, was already a familiar sight to her attendants.

They even calmly redirected her toward her bedroom.

"What's this?"

Just as she was about to rise with someone's assistance, Yama noticed a small glass board.

"Th-That is!"

"Memories That Cannot Be Erased?"

It seemed to be something important to her.

Not only had it been placed where it would be the first thing she saw after drinking the medicine, but the words written on the glass board were impossible to ignore now that her memories had been erased.

-Tap.

"Oh my!"

She'd merely touched the glass board with a finger out of curiosity, but it suddenly lit up brightly.

(Miss!)

(Huh?)

(Come inside! Hurry!)

...

(This is really delicious! What did you say it was called? Ssanghwa tea?)

...

(Blue Marble? I played this?)

...

(Aaah! I'm doomed! I'm on the deserted island again.)

...

The video, which lasted a little over three hours, ended with a promise to visit again.

On the screen, now turned black, appeared the thoughtful message, "Please remember to charge it."

By the time Yama finished watching the video, her eyes had become so clear that not a trace of their former murkiness remained.

"Charge it? Do whatever this charging thing is and bring it back to me. And we have a stockpile of funeral money, don't we? Send all of it to this teahouse. I've received such a precious gift, so I must repay its value."

"However, Your Majesty, we already sent the funeral money on a previous occasion."

"I don't remember. Send it again."

"Pardon?"

And so, Jinseong's bank account, which he'd intended to empty by using the money to cover funeral expenses for those who had suffered tragic deaths, became an inexhaustible source of wealth.