The Ledger of Hades.
It was a register that recorded the lifespans of the gods—an object that, depending on how it was used, could extend or shorten a life.
But there was no way an item of such power could be used without conditions or restrictions.
That was why Lee Geon had headed to the Celestial Administration for its use.
He still didn’t fully understand it, but his subordinate gods had told him that only by going there could he unlock the functions of the Ledger of Hades.
But right now, Lee Geon had something more important.
“Hey. Seriously, no luck?”
“…….”
“Really? No reaction at all?”
“…Geon-ah.”
“Argh, I’m asking if it won’t stand up!”
“Does it look like it’ll work, you shit-for-brains moron!!”
Hugo hurled a fist at Lee Geon, who was shoving porn at him.
That’s right.
At this moment, Lee Geon was engaged in a special operation to assess the full extent of Hugo’s defect and revive his functions.
And Lee Geon, who had mobilized videos, pictures, sounds, and every possible medium for his friend, grumbled.
“Tch, I thought this one would be intense. So even this doesn’t work, huh?”
“ARGH!!”
Hugo clutched his face, looking like he desperately wanted to throw Lee Geon but simply couldn’t bring himself to do it.
Meanwhile, Lee Geon was muttering under his breath.
“Damn, if I’d known this would happen, I’d have borrowed some pictures of Mr. Jiwoo from Yuha.”
He’d snuck into a folder supposedly full of erotic material, only to find fan fiction based on the 13 Heroes.
Figuring things like that couldn’t possibly be lewd, he had searched and searched across countless sites to test his theory, but well.
“Argh, seriously! Try to get it up! We need to go home! Here, watch one more!”
“Do you wanna die?! I mean it!”
When his phone was finally confiscated for a moment, Lee Geon pouted.
Truth be told, he hadn’t just been randomly shoving adult content at him.
Just in case, he’d already tried pouring healing potions on Hugo using the Aquarius Holy Grail skill.
That way, he’d have an answer for how to proceed.
But.
“Well, that figures. If the Holy Grail had solved it, that bald bastard wouldn’t be suffering like that now.”
And in Hugo’s case, it wasn’t that function was merely lost—it had been completely cut away, so it was more like it had never existed from the start.
There’s no way to revive something that never existed in the first place.
That wasn’t all.
‘The defect is actually the secondary problem. The bigger issue is that his lifespan itself won’t increase.’
It was probably because all of his lifespan was concentrated entirely in the severed part of Hugo.
Of course, if the penalty was lifted and he could retrieve all the authorities over life, a solution would appear, but...
‘I can’t just resurrect a guy who dies every single week, every single time.’
Not even he could infinitely resurrect the same person.
[Warning. Resurrections that excessively violate the natural order will consume the soul of the resurrected.]
[Karma and penalties will be incurred.]
To put it simply, resurrecting someone who died before their natural lifespan was up was less taxing, but infinitely reviving someone whose lifespan had already ended greatly disturbed the cosmic order and thus accumulated massive karma.
And even if he put himself aside, it would be a huge problem if that karma spilled over onto Hugo or his family.
In other words.
‘The surest way is to find the other severed body parts and combine them.’
Including the part that the Great God of Olympus had stolen.
Seriously, for whose benefit had his powers and lifespan been scattered and handed over to those kidnappers, anyway?
‘Those bastards are dead meat.’
Lee Geon’s eyes were flashing with that very thought when—
“…S-Snake God. You can use it now. Take it quickly.”
“!”
Lee Geon’s lips curled up at the voice beside him.
It was Anubis.
He had transferred ownership of Hades’ item back to Lee Geon. And being a fellow underworld god, he’d finished the task quickly, but Anubis himself seemed extremely agitated.
And sure enough.
“Alright, the work’s done, so let’s get out of here immediately!!!”
“What, why are you in such a rush, you bastard? Gotta take a dump?”
“Because of where we absolutely are! You brat!”
Anubis’s veins bulged on his neck.
Indeed.
The place they were in right now was the Celestial Administration, managed by the Divine Realm. It was the common area of the Pantheon, divided broadly into nine major factions.
And this place was a no-fighting zone and a kind of central government office where the divine registrations of all gods were managed.
It handled all bureaucratic affairs: registering Great Gods, registering their subordinate gods, managing divine artifacts, managing colonial territories, and so on.
They’d come because they were told they absolutely had to pass through here to use the seized Ledger of Hades.
“Do you understand?! This is a place where members of every faction come and go! Just imagine if we run into a god I know here, you son of a— Krghk!!”
Lee Geon stomped Anubis down with his foot.
“You’re speaking informally. To your master.”
“ARGH!! You little whippersnap—!”
“What’s that? A fight? Who is it?”
“I’m not sure, looks like the Ennead faction…”
“Aack!”
As attention focused on them, Anubis hastily threw himself to the floor and covered his face.
The other gods then passed by without paying them much attention.
But Anubis felt like dying.
‘This is absolutely no time for me to be here…!’
“Anyway, the ownership has been secretly nullified from Olympus and transferred. You should be able to use it no— krgh! Now!”
At this, Lee Geon, looking satisfied, activated the item’s ownership.
Now that its ownership had changed, the Ledger of the Underworld had turned from black to a brilliant gold.
And the book floating in the air was inscribed with the names of countless gods.
However.
“What’s this? Why are they almost all gods of the Olympian faction?”
“What do you mean, why? For other factions, you have to fight and seize their names, so they’re scarce… Aack! Why is my name in there!”
Anubis was shocked to see his own name and Osiris’s name written at the very end.
It must have been because they fell under Lee Geon’s dominion upon becoming his subordinate gods.
But regardless of that reaction, Lee Geon flipped through the pages. Olympus was what mattered to him now, anyway.
“That bastard who called earlier, his divine title was Morpheus, right…”
Morpheus. The god of dreams, the etymological origin of ‘morphine.’
And after flipping through a few more pages, Lee Geon’s lips curled up.
“Found him. Great God Name: Morpheus. Remaining Lifespan: 48,349 years.”
It seemed the lifespans of gods were determined by their ‘Achievements’, the ‘Level of their Divine Title’, and their ‘Followers’.
And by erasing and rewriting these numbers, one could dictate the fate of the gods.
But there was a crucial problem.
“Hey. I can’t change the number? It says it’s locked.”
At this, Anubis clutched the back of his neck, bemoaning what a complete greenhorn he was.
“That divine artifact is a 5-star divine artifact that can disrupt the universal order! You can’t just use it recklessly!”
“What’s that cheesy rating? So how do I use this thing?”
“You have to buy a Pardon Chip!”
“A Pardon Chip??”
“Yes, it’s like a chip that acts as an indulgence!”
The Pardon Chip was an item of supreme importance in the Divine Realm.
There was a good reason for it. Even for gods, acts that excessively disrupted the universal order were forbidden.
After all, among the authorities and items of the gods, there existed techniques that could literally annihilate the entire universe.
Therefore, certain specific techniques were fundamentally restricted, meaning one had to receive permission from the Divine Realm to use them.
Using them by force would accumulate karma, and punishment was meted out according to the severity of the transgression.
Well, it wasn’t an incomprehensible system.
‘If they let everyone use them freely, everyone would end up dead together.’
Of course, low-level subordinate gods could still freely extend and shorten lifespans even now.
But the ones Lee Geon was targeting weren’t those nobodies.
‘Great God-level beings.’
Lee Geon’s lips curled up.
“So how do I buy these Pardon Chips?”
“What? There’s no way a brat like you could ever buy such a valuable— Krghk!”
Anubis got hit by Lee Geon again but thumped his chest in frustration.
That made perfect sense, because whether or not Pardon Chips were sold depended entirely on a god’s credit rating and level.
Furthermore, even buying one or two was so rare that most gods were reluctant to sell them at all.
“Just where does a greenhorn who hasn’t even completed his divine registration get the nerve to buy those?! You’d be lucky to obtain even a single on—…”
“Ah, what’s this? I can get 1,000 of them.”
“?!!”
Lee Geon’s lips curled up at the automated exchange booth.
At what looked like a kiosk, he was printing out a receipt.
[User: Lee Geon]
[Title: The Serpent of Beginning and End]
[Designer of the System]
- Number of Pardon Chips Available for Exchange -
- When Selling Divine Achievements -
[Account of Being Expelled by the Floor Master (Permanent Defense Increase)] = 10 chips
[Account of Killing Hades (Permanent Attack Increase)] = 50 chips
- When Selling Possessed Items -
[Unearthly Spear] = 100 chips
[Unearthly Currency] = 1 chip per 10 units
[Hogu] = 500 chips
[Ledger of the Underworld] = 20 chips
[Weapon of the Sun] = 10 chips
[Fang of the Lion God] = 50 chips
Lee Geon’s lips curled upward.
He wasn’t entirely sure, but it seemed you could buy Pardon Chips using accumulated achievements and items.
‘The “Spear” and “Currency” probably refer to things I made.’
He assumed it meant the spear he’d forged as a Monarch of the Abyss, and the counterfeit currency he’d used to deceive the Divine Realm.
Of course, in the case of the counterfeit currency, he had no idea why it was being valued so highly.
‘Well, I did make them from the corpses and excrement of monsters.’
Could it be that, like the spear he’d made as a Monarch, these held some benefit for those beings?
Whatever the reason, it was fine by him.
‘Anyway, they’re objects with ego. They’ll all come back the moment I give a single command.’
Because of this, Lee Geon said coolly,
“Alright then, sell all the Lion God’s Fangs and the remaining 1,000 units of currency.”
But it was right at that moment.
“Oh!”
The instant Lee Geon brought out the counterfeit currency he’d made, the surroundings stirred.
It was because of the rumbling, gurgling sounds emanating from the Talents.
As if on cue.
“Hold on, that thing!!”
“Isn’t that the item that appeared at the auction?”
“Right, the Talents with ego!”
In the blink of an eye, gods swarmed toward Lee Geon.
“Nameless god! Are you thinking of selling those for Pardon Chips?!”
“Uh. It said 10 units per 1 Pardon Chip, so…”
“1 Pardon Chip for 7 units!”
“What?”
“1 chip for 5 units!”
“1 chip apiece!!!”
“????”
At that bizarre spectacle, Anubis’s eyes went wide.
Just what in the world is this situation right now?
But whether he was flustered or not, Lee Geon’s lips curled upward.
“10 chips apiece.”
“Good! 10,000 chips in total! I’ll buy them!”
“?!”
In an instant, 10,000 chips—notoriously difficult to obtain—appeared.
Lee Geon nonchalantly stacked up a huge pile of chips.
“What’s this? Buying Pardon Chips is easy.”
Witnessing the scene, Anubis was flustered yet let out a hollow laugh.
“Te-Ten thousand chips won’t even let you touch a Chthonic God-level being. Just how many gods do you think there are in all of Olympus?”
But regardless of his words, Lee Geon activated a skill.
“I’m a Creation God, man. If it’s just making more of these measly things, that’s all it takes.”
“?!!!”
At the ever-growing pile of counterfeit currency, Anubis screamed.
* * *
Around that same time, on the 1st Floor of the Divine Realm.
“What is this? Why is no one in the Ruling God’s palace?!”
Spires soaring between majestic rock faces. And a grand metropolis and buildings sprawling below those towering skyscrapers.
This was the highest floor of the Olympian territory.
And Morpheus, having finished his call with Lee Geon (?) and just arrived to formally receive a Great God regarding the matter of Hades, could not hide his bewilderment.
That was only natural, as this place was the supreme headquarters where the Chthonic Gods—the highest-ranking officers of each faction, including the Great Gods—resided.
Unlike the 2nd and 3rd floors, which were filled with low, European-style buildings, the 1st floor was a city of spires where elegance and the atmosphere of a battlefield coexisted.
And normally, this palace would always be bustling with countless subordinate gods carrying nectar and food…
“Is anyone there!”
And then it happened.
“L-Lord of Dreams…!”
“!”
Morpheus, who had been surveying the corridor, was taken aback. A guard who had remained in the palace was collapsed on the floor, gasping for breath.
“What is going on?!”
“Th-that is… Krghk!”
At last, the guard let out a scream. Simultaneously, a familiar pattern appeared beneath the guard’s feet, dragging him down into the ground.
And that pattern was unmistakably Hades’ Underworld, the Emblem of Tartarus!
“D-Dragged into the Underworld… he said?!”
There was no doubt about it.
This was Hades’ authority, the Ledger of the Underworld!
It was the authority to manipulate lifespans and make someone a denizen of the Underworld.
‘Who in the world dares!’
He had come anyway to report to the Great God about resuming dealings with the Ennead after Hades’ death.
After all, he had already dispatched gods to Anubis and Osiris to negotiate the trade.
[I should get ahead of the other gods and secure a portion of the profits.]
Thus, the Olympian gods were aiming not only for the Hogu divine bodies but also the money made from selling off the Hogus.
It was clear that acquiring those Hogus would become a huge fund for taking over Earth.
And yet, what in the world…!
But this phenomenon didn’t seem to be happening only in the palace.
“Have you heard? The subordinate gods on every floor of Olympus are being dragged into the Underworld.”
“Excuse me?!”
At this anomalous event, the Chthonic Gods and most of the gods, including the high-ranking gods, had gathered.
At the same time, they all wore expressions of sheer absurdity.
“Wasn’t Hades reported dead? What on earth is this…!”
“What are the Fates doing?!”
But it was right then.
Flash!
“AARGH!!”
The gods who had gathered at the palace screamed. The screams spread from inside the palace, covering the entirety of the 1st floor.
In that moment, light blanketing the whole of Olympus enveloped the gods’ bodies.
Simultaneously, they couldn’t believe their eyes at the numbers floating up from their bodies.
“Th-this is…!”
“L-lifespan… AARGH!!!”
The gods screamed.
Numbers that had fundamentally been units of thousands or tens of thousands had instantly changed to [7 Hours 00 Minutes 00 Seconds].
Their lifespans had been reduced to just seven hours.
As the gods turned as white as sheets at this unforeseen event—
[Ahh. This is an announcement to Olympus from the Underworld.]
“……!!!”
An unfamiliar voice echoed throughout Olympus.
The voice was coming from the sky.
“That thing is…!”
It was a voice coming from a bird flying in the sky. It looked similar to the communication birds they had sent to the Ennead.
And then.
[Hades, I ate him. Meaning, the current ruler of the Underworld is me. Ah, and most of you, the subordinate gods of Olympus? They’ve all become residents here. But don’t worry, they’re still alive and well for now.]
“……?!”
“Who the hell is that bastard!!”
[Well, as you’ve probably realized by now, your lifespans are currently 7 hours, so take note. Originally, I intended to set it for 7 days, but when I used the skill, turns out it works in units of hours? So, as I kept going, it ended up at 7 hours. My apologies for that.]
“??!!”
[Anyhow, that’s how it is, so don’t go making any useless desperate struggles. If you want your lifespans back, hand over the Hogus we had over there.]
At the voice ringing out, the Olympian gods were thrown into mental pandemonium.
What in the world is this crazy bastard saying right now?
“D-Don’t tell me, he really…!”
“No, the Divine Realm just stood by and watched this?”
The gods were bewildered.
Of course, one of the Olympian Chthonic Gods among them, the Master of the Blazing Fortress, was just as perplexed.
No, it wasn’t for a different reason.
‘NO, NEPHEW!!’
How could you turn MY lifespan into 7 hours too!
(Continued in the next chapter)