Sisyphus

The Book of the Dead had been altered. Among the Grim Reapers, this was an earth-shattering matter.

After Baru and Sebas reported the incident, the personnel working in the Underworld began passing it upward level by level. No one dared handle such a matter.

In the end, the news reached the Great Grim Reaper, who had recently awakened from his long slumber—the original Grim Reaper, Thanatos.

Thanatos and his brother had not held particularly high status in Greek Mythology. They had merely been two subordinate gods of Pluto, without even a proper palace of their own.

It was only after the Greek gods fell into eternal slumber that he took control of the Underworld and built an enormous castle in the realm of the dead. Since it had been built later, its architectural style closely resembled that of Britannia: a Baroque-style castle.

In the oval office within the tower on the castle's left side, Thanatos sat behind his desk, his brow slightly furrowed as he looked at the two low-ranking Grim Reapers kneeling before him.

He bore the classic features of a Greek man: black hair, black eyes, sharply defined features, and especially that straight, prominent nose—a classic Greek nose.

He wore the same black robes as them, though a pair of black wings extended from his back.

Sebas and Baru lay prostrate before Thanatos, trembling faintly and not daring to utter a word.

It was the first time either of them had met the true Great Grim Reaper.

The entire palace was silent. Donka, who had greeted Sebas earlier, stood at the Great Grim Reaper's side with documents in his arms.

"Is what you said true?" Thanatos asked gravely. "The Book of the Dead was altered?"

His voice was steady. He spoke an ancient Greek language, yet everyone could understand him, whether they knew the language or not.

Baru raised his head. "You can inspect our memories, or... or we can bring Hart back for interrogation."

Thanatos came back to himself and rubbed his forehead with a headache. After a moment of silence, he waved at the two little Grim Reapers.

"I understand. You may leave for now."

Sebas and Baru exchanged glances, each seeing a trace of surprise in the other's eyes.

Before coming to the palace, they had considered two possible reactions from the Great Grim Reaper. Either he would not believe what they said.

Or he would fly into a rage and order a thorough investigation. After all, directly altering the Book of the Dead was far too crude, but in a sense, it was also an interference with death.

It was a provocation against the Underworld.

But they had never expected the Great Grim Reaper to react like this.

He seemed to believe them, yet he was so calm.

Still, this was not something insignificant figures like them could question. From this point on, it was no longer their concern.

They obediently got to their feet and withdrew from the office.

"I finally understand what woke me."

Thanatos turned his head and gazed deeply out the window. Outside lay a fiery purgatory of magma, where countless evil souls wailed amid scorched earth as far as the eye could see.

Donka tilted his head slightly in confusion, but said nothing.

The office remained utterly silent. After a long while, Thanatos slowly exhaled a breath of stale air.

He had encountered something like this before.

It was not as though he had left no legends behind in the human world.

There was a very famous tale in the Iliad and Odyssey, called "Sisyphus."

According to the records, Sisyphus was the most resourceful and cunning man in the human world. He was the founder and king of Corinth.

When Zeus abducted Echidna, the daughter of the river god Aesopus, the river god came to Corinth in search of his daughter. Knowing of the matter, Sisyphus revealed the truth in exchange for a river that flowed year-round.

Because he had exposed Zeus's secret, Zeus sent the Grim Reaper to drag him down to Hell.

But Sisyphus unexpectedly used a trick to capture the Grim Reaper, causing no one in the human world to die for a long time. Only after the Grim Reaper was rescued was Sisyphus cast into the Underworld.

Before being sent into the Underworld, Sisyphus instructed his wife, Merope, not to bury his body.

After arriving in the Underworld, Sisyphus told Persephone that someone who had not been buried was not qualified to remain there. He requested three days' leave to return to the human world and settle his affairs.

Unexpectedly, once Sisyphus saw the beautiful earth again, he refused to leave and did not wish to return to the Underworld.

After his death, Sisyphus was sentenced to the punishment of pushing a boulder uphill.

He had to push a massive stone over the other side of a mountain, but because of its weight, every time he pushed it to the summit, it rolled back down. Sisyphus could only repeat the task endlessly.

This was a story that had truly happened.

What many people, and even some gods, did not know was that before this incident, Thanatos had met someone: an old man.

He was a mortal without the slightest trace of divinity. At the time, all the Greek gods looked down on mortals. To the gods, mortals were nothing more than insects crawling on the ground.

Thanatos had been the same, and had therefore offended that old man.

The old man said that he would punish him, making him understand the power of mortals.

At the time, Thanatos had not cared. He had even felt disdainful, until Sisyphus's incident happened shortly afterward.

A god had been captured by a mortal?

And it had been the Grim Reaper, the most terrifying being to mortals!?

It was an utterly absurd thing, whether heard by mortals or gods, yet it had happened just like that.

He became the laughingstock of the divine realm, an incompetent clown among the Greek pantheon.

Even now, the incident remained the greatest humiliation of Thanatos's life.

That was why, after gaining control of the Underworld, he had chosen to erase all records of the matter.

During the years he had been imprisoned by that mortal, he had also learned something.

There truly existed powers in this world so terrifying that even gods found them unimaginable.

He believed it, but the Twelve Olympians, including Zeus, did not. They had even continued mocking his incompetence.

Then, they fell into eternal slumber.

And he became the ruler of the Underworld.

After a moment of silence, he spoke.

"Pass down the order. Notify every Grim Reaper, including apprentice Grim Reapers.

If anything similar happens in the future, such as the Book of the Dead being altered, do not report it again. Treat it as though nothing happened."

Donka bowed without the slightest hesitation.

"Yes."

Then he withdrew from the office.

Thanatos sank into thought once more.

If it truly was that being, then if he wished to hide himself, no one would notice his existence.

And this clearly was not his usual way of doing things.

Thanatos recalled the voice that had awakened him from his slumber. He seemed to realize something and slowly rose from his seat.

That was it. It had to be.

He had deliberately exposed this to him. He had some message he wanted to convey.

It seemed he needed to make a trip to the human world.

It seemed I had not outworked anyone else this week, so I did not make the recommendations. Still, my mindset was fine now, but I still had to ask for continued reading and all kinds of votes. Don't stockpile chapters before release.