Mujae thought.
He had spent a few hundred years as a departed soul—short if short, long if long—and in that time, he had seen all sorts of things.
‘This is a crisis.’
Work under this eccentric and unpredictable King of the Underworld?
“Why are you so silent? Are you speechless from joy?”
“I am honored, but…”
Mujae forced his trembling lips to move.
From dawn until now, one shock after another had left his mind spinning.
But he couldn’t give up here.
‘If I don’t pull myself together, I’ll get dragged off just like this!’
Mujae smiled calmly and offered a polite refusal.
“I am already working as the Promotional Officer at the Seocheon Flower Garden.”
“Unbelievable!”
Yama cried out in disbelief.
Her eyes gleamed with desire.
“You’re wasting these precious hands on some backwoods promotion? The hands that can produce Hongto in an instant?”
“Your Majesty.”
Hallakgoong, watching the situation, jumped in.
“Mujae is someone the Promotion Team at Seocheon Flower Garden can’t do without. Thanks to him, our garden even has a promotion channel….”
“Is that so?”
As if struck by a brilliant idea, Yama slapped her knee.
“Then you can manage a channel for our Revelation Hell too! I’ve been busy farming alone and haven’t had the time for anything else.”
‘You never planned on doing anything anyway!’
Yama’s anything-goes attitude left Mujae’s mouth dry.
This time, Zack frantically signed.
‘No, please. Our Promotion Team can’t function without Mujae. We want to work with Mujae.’
“Then you work here, too.”
With arms folded, Yama stared at Zack with interest.
“You’ll like it here better than the flowerbeds. I’ll fix your tongue in three days.”
‘What?’
“Why are you so surprised? Did you come here not knowing where this is?”
It’s Revelation Hell (Tongue Extraction Hell).
True to its name, ‘the hell where tongues are pulled out’, they could hear the moans of sinners from afar.
-Aaaaah!
-I’m sorry! I was wrong!
“I know all there is to know about language. I even know why you lost your voice.”
“…….”
Yama, putting on airs, continued to entice Zack.
Sure enough, Zack’s eyes quivered uncontrollably.
Feeling she’d done enough coaxing, Yama turned her attention to Hallakgoong.
“Son of Flower Stone. I’ve liked you from the start.”
“…….”
“Quick-witted and clever. I don’t know what Flower Stone does for you, but I guarantee you’ll be better off as a civil servant here in Revelation Hell.”
“…In what way, exactly?”
Yama’s lips curled all the way to her ears, as if she’d caught Hallakgoong in her net.
“Salaries?”
“!”
“Benefits? Bonuses?”
“…….”
The Promotion Team, who received nothing more than room and board, pricked up their ears at the mention of proper pay. And Yama added one final, decisive blow.
“And the Future.”
“…….”
“Think about it. Is working at some mere flower garden better than being a civil servant in Hell? You know the title of Ggotgam Officer was something the Jade Emperor made up on a whim.”
“…….”
“I’m not disparaging Flower Stone, it’s just the truth.”
Yama smiled in victory.
For the King of the Underworld, who’d seen countless existences over endless years, persuading a team of just-born rookies like the Promotion Team was child’s play.
It was at that moment—
“Hal-mang!”
Cutting through the moans of sinners, a sturdy male voice rang out from somewhere.
Reflexively turning, they saw a man in black military garb walking toward them.
A splendid feathered cap with a peacock’s tail, dignified black outer robes, and confident strides.
Mujae recognized him.
“Chasa?!”
“So this is where you were, Grandma, kidnapping little ones?”
“Kangrim…”
The smile that had just been beaming on Yama’s face instantly soured.
“Kidnapping? I was scouting, thank you very much!”
“Same difference.”
With his hands on his hips, Chasa Kangrim looked like he had no intention of backing down from Yama.
Instead, he began criticizing her point by point, almost as if he pitied her.
“So, they’re from Seocheon, right? If you agreed to collaborate in good faith, you should let them go back peacefully. If you keep luring them away like this, who would want to work with Revelation Hell?”
“I never said I’d work with anyone!”
“And what if I went to Seocheon Flower Garden, got scouted, and decided to live there? What would you do then?”
Faced with Kangrim Chasa’s logic, Yama fell silent.
Kangrim, imitating Yama’s tone as if he knew her inside out, said,
“‘You’re breaking the code of ethics, you good-for-nothings!’ That’s what you’d say, Your Majesty.”
“…You brat.”
Yama snorted and turned away, admitting defeat.
At last, Kangrim Chasa turned to Mujae with a broad smile.
“It’s been a while, [00-749].”
How could calling someone by their deceased number feel so different?
Relief at escaping danger and joy at seeing an old face mingled as Mujae replied, his voice brimming with emotion.
“It’s good to see you again, Chasa!”
“Hmph, were you two ever that close?”
Yama pouted.
“Every time you were dragged in here, you were so awkward.”
“That’s because Your Majesty always spouted nonsense at those times.”
Kangrim Chasa shook his body, mimicking Yama’s shrill tone.
“Every time I brought [00-749] in, you’d force it: ‘Let’s just pull it out!’”
“Ahem!”
“And what did you say again? ‘Who among the living has never sinned with words? So let’s start by pulling out the tongue. If we leave it to rot, we’ll see how great the sin is.’ Wasn’t that it…?”
“Was I wrong? If you pull it out first—”
“How can you say something so reckless! Even Hell has the Principle of Presumed Innocence, doesn’t it?”
“Ahem, that wasn’t a reckless—”
“Time for lunch!”
Just as the atmosphere was heating up, a bright voice rang out from somewhere.
Juseon Child, having spotted Kangrim Chasa, put his hands on his hips and pouted.
“Oh! Kangrim-nim is here too? We’ll need to set another spoon~!”
“Long time no see, Juseon Child.”
“You really do have luck with food, Kangrim-nim. Always showing up right at mealtime!”
“Hahaha!”
With Juseon Child’s appearance, the tense atmosphere melted away.
A pouting Yama and the nonchalant Kangrim Chasa followed after Juseon Child.
“…….”
The Promotion Team, left behind, exchanged wary glances and tried to quietly slip away.
But it was no use.
“If you don’t hurry, there won’t be any food!”
Juseon Child shouted back at them.
- In the end, the Promotion Team could only lower their heads and follow.
Where they arrived, a lone tent stood in an open rest area.
The fare beneath it was simple, but the portions were generous.
Rice balls stacked in a basket, another pile of steaming sweet potatoes beside them, and bowls of well-fermented kimchi.
“Here, have some punch, too!”
Delicious smells and steam drifted through the air, and in their midst, the sinners’ moans had ceased entirely.
Mujae cautiously asked Kangrim Chasa a question, and he replied nonchalantly.
“All the punishers are here, after all.”
“…I see.”
He briefly wondered, ‘Is it okay for Hell to take lunch breaks…?’ but remembering he had nearly had his tongue pulled out here himself, Mujae said nothing.
‘If I don’t gather a hundred million Subscribers, might I end up back here again?’
That chilling thought sent shivers down Mujae’s spine.
Still dazed, Mujae was quietly served food by Zack.
“Ah, thanks, Zack.”
“You’ve made a friend. I’m Kangrim.”
‘Mujae told me about you. Thank you for saving us from trouble.’
Seeing Zack’s sign language, Kangrim Chasa’s eyes widened.
Mujae quickly explained.
“Zack can hear, but for some reason he uses sign language… I told him about you, Chasa. How much you helped us in Revelation Hell. You helped again earlier, too—thank you.”
“It’s nothing. Our Grandma can be a bit eccentric. Hope you understand.”
“That’s not true! I’m serious, okay?!”
Whether she overheard or not, Yama burst out in protest.
This time, all the Ice Prison Guards around them burst into laughter. Yama puffed up again.
“What are you laughing at?”
“Ahem, Your Majesty. It does seem you always get scolded when Kangrim’s around.”
A burly Ice Prison Guard’s caterpillar-like eyebrows waggled as he laughed. The others bowed their heads, trying not to laugh out loud, but Yama’s ears flushed red.
“Scolded?? Do you know who I am?! I’m Yama, King of the Underworld~!”
“Yes, yes, ‘King Yama~’ indeed.”
Someone had once said that Yama in Revelation Hell just tended the fields alone.
But to the Promotion Team, she seemed less like a tyrant and more like an unpretentious ‘human.’
Kangrim Chasa whispered in Mujae’s ear.
“Don’t let your guard down—she’s still Yama.”
“…….”
“You know that, right? Since you’ve stood before the Upgyeongdae.”
‘Upgyeongdae.’ At that word, a chill ran down Mujae’s spine. A forgotten Memory resurfaced.
Revelation Hell was the place that judged Sins committed with the tongue.
Yama would stand sinners before the enormous mirror called the Upgyeongdae.
-This mirror shows every deed from your lifetime.
Back then, unlike now, Yama’s eyes had looked at him without a shred of emotion.
At the time, he hadn’t even had a solid shape—just a faint, pale soul.
Standing before a mirror three times his size, feeling like a plucked chicken.
‘What did I see back then?’
But Mujae hadn’t been in his right mind at the time.
Always dazed, going wherever he was led, getting struck when struck…
So why, then, could he not remember what he’d seen in the mirror?
“Mujae?”
It was Hallakgoong who snapped Mujae out of his wanderings in the foggy past.
Mujae’s mouth fell open in surprise.
“Huh?”
“Why did you zone out while eating? Are you tired?”
Though blunt, Hallakgoong’s words were tinged with concern, and Mujae managed a forced smile.
“Ah, just thinking of the old days…”
“Is Mujae your name?”
Kangrim Chasa joined the conversation.
Only then did Mujae realize he’d never actually told Kangrim Chasa his name.
“Yes, the Ggotgam Officer at Seocheon Flower Garden gave it to me.”
“What does it mean?”
“Well…”
His friends, too, looked at him curiously—seems they’d never heard the story.
For the first time, Mujae felt his ears heat up.
“‘Mu’ for nothing, ‘Jae’ for existence.”
“What?”
Kangrim Chasa’s face changed instantly to surprise.
Yama seized the moment.
“That Flower Stone brat gave you a name like that?”
Despite her show of anger, Yama’s face carried a strange delight.
Clearly, she saw this as her chance to win Mujae over.
“If it were me, I’d have called you Golden Hand—Geumsu!”
“What’s with that Geumsu (Beast) talk?”
At Kangrim Chasa’s sharp retort, the Ice Prison Guards erupted in laughter once more.
Yama’s ears flushed even redder, but she refused to back down.
“Then you try naming him! Let’s see if you can do better!”
Amid the laughter, Mujae quietly looked down at his hands.
Hallakgoong and Zack glanced at him but couldn’t find the words.
Kangrim Chasa, too, looked at Mujae with a hint of sympathy, then spoke.
“Mujae is a good name.”
“…….”
“I don’t know what Ggotgam Officer had in mind, but to me, it sounds like ‘one without Disaster.’”
A mischievous smile crossed Kangrim Chasa’s face.
“You know how great a name that is in the Underworld?”
“But…”
It feels like Disaster follows me everywhere. Mujae barely swallowed those words.
Perhaps sensing Mujae’s mood, Kangrim Chasa went on.
“Just because you don’t remember your past life doesn’t mean you’re guilty, and just because you have a name doesn’t mean it explains everything.”
“…That’s true.”
“In the end, your Existence is something only you can prove.”
Kangrim Chasa winked.
“Who knows? Maybe someday your name will mean ‘one who comforts and cares for others.’”
“Haha…”
The Promotion Team managed awkward smiles.
For those who knew of Mujae’s [Brown Thumb] ability, that name felt a bit too far-fetched.
-Tap!
“Hmph, Golden Hand is still the best!”
“Oh, just have some more sweet potatoes.”
With Juseon Child’s playful comment, laughter filled the tent again.
Their warmth reached even to Mujae’s fingertips.