There was land everywhere.
“Ugh!”
Seocheon Flower Garden, and the various hells they had visited so far.
“Huff! Huff!”
Even the very center of Revelation Hell was land.
“…Your Majesty.”
But unlike the soft soil of Seocheon Flower Garden, the earth in Revelation Hell had a very different quality.
“Why, you punk.”
Yama didn’t even turn his head at Mujae’s call.
Mujae shouted out in utter frustration.
“Why are there so many sharp things here?!”
Dragged out to the center of Revelation Hell at the crack of dawn, the Promotion Team looked bewildered.
With Yama handing out rain suits that came up to their chests, landing nets, and shoulder nets, the real work began in earnest.
Wading into the sea that came up to their waists, they swung their tools, and sure enough, the “debris” got caught.
The Promotion Team diligently scooped up debris with their landing nets and shoulder nets, hauling them to the shore.
The problem was that the “debris” was extremely sharp, and it was mixed in with the sand at the bottom of the sea.
“It’s because there’s Criminal’s Tongue Debris mixed in.”
“It can’t be helped.”
Yama calmly lifted her shoulder net. Her net held at least twice as much debris as the Promotion Team’s.
The pieces were pointed and elongated, looking like fish bones enlarged a hundred times over.
Letting out a small sigh, Yama set down her net and put her hands on her hips.
“Think about it. What kind of bastards end up in Revelation Hell?”
“Bad-mouthing…?”
“Blaming others, gossiping, lying, cheating. All of them committed Sin with this very mouth, didn’t they?”
There was a weariness in Yama’s voice as she counted off the Sins on her fingers. Hallakgoong and Zack had stopped working, their eyes fixed on her.
“So what’s that Sin like? They’re like sharp daggers, aren’t they?”
Yama stuck out her tongue and tugged on it with her fingers.
“Those guys used something this soft to make something this sharp. Even after endless ages, rotting and wearing away, becoming one with this land, the sharpness still remains.”
As Yama spoke, Zack stumbled, a shard stuck in the sole of his foot.
“Gah…!”
“Jeez, what good is a young guy if all he’s got is size? There’s still a mountain of work left.”
Hallakgoong approached Yama cautiously as she clicked her tongue, beginning to ask questions.
“Then how are these debris pieces used?”
“They’re buried in New Ground.”
She was a bit brusque, but Yama answered questions pretty well.
“I told you, Revelation Hell keeps getting bigger, right? For the newly stretched-out tongues to rot ‘properly’, you have to make Compost out of this debris and bury it.”
“But aren’t those tongues already rotten?”
Hallakgoong’s eyes sparkled as he questioned Yama.
“They were the medium through which the sinners committed Sin, so aren’t they already rotted beyond repair?”
“You’re right. That’s why I said ‘properly’.”
The more Hallakgoong asked, the gentler Yama’s tone became.
It had been a long time since she’d seen a kid like this.
“It’s not about rotting and decaying from Sin, but about letting it decompose back to its Original Process, to return to its fundamental nature—the cycle of life growing, dying, and becoming earth.”
“Aha!”
“And when you bury these in new soil, it enriches the nutrients and improves aeration, so farming goes better too.”
Yama gazed at Hallakgoong with a soft look.
As if seeing someone from long ago, her eyes were distant and nostalgic.
“Everything has its use.”
“Your Majesty! What’s this?!”
Mujae cried out, stepping gingerly to avoid getting pricked with every step.
His landing net held something that looked quite different from the rest of the debris—a mass of smooth, round, shining lumps.
“Oh, that?”
Yama approached Mujae with delight and picked it up.
“That’s a Tongue Sea specialty. Among the debris, the tiny ones roll around in the seawater for a looong time, getting all their edges worn down until they’re perfectly round.”
“What do you use it for?”
“The Afterlife Officials love to use them as Prayer Beads. They make your words kinder.”
Mujae’s big eyes rounded in amazement.
“Really?!”
“Who knows. I never needed to use one. Hahaha!”
“Then can you make Compost out of these too?”
“Why would you?”
Yama, who had been laughing heartily, suddenly stiffened her face and answered seriously.
“You have to collect those and sell them.”
“Sell them?”
“Even Yama needs pocket money, you know.”
Yama winked mischievously with one eye. The unexpectedly down-to-earth side of her made Mujae and Zack burst out laughing.
‘But why are there so many?’
Staggering with each step, Zack tried to use sign language. His boots kept him from getting hurt, but he was always on the verge of tripping.
‘We’ve pulled up so much already…’
“If this old lady’s working alone, what do you expect?”
Hearing Zack’s meaning, Yama’s brow furrowed in mock injustice.
-CRACK CRACK…
Every time she loosened up, her joints sounded like they were breaking.
“More sinners, more work! But there’s only one worker! And I only improve the soil once a year. That much just piles up over a year.”
“Come to think of it, why isn’t there anyone else here?”
Wasn’t it the same with Sara? Even as the Heavenly King of the Underworld, she didn’t have a single Ice Prison Guard—she did all the farming alone. Yama’s expression turned exasperated.
“Who says there isn’t? There are plenty!”
“Huh? But you said you work alone….”
“I meant I do the farming alone, not that there’s no one else around!”
As she explained, Yama suddenly fell into thought, stroking her chin.
“Hmmm… By the way, how long are you all staying here?”
After a while, Yama’s voice sounded oddly suspicious.
The Promotion Team sensed an unknown danger and exchanged wary glances.
“Nothing’s set in stone yet.”
After a short silence, Mujae spoke up. In truth, their goal was ‘until Hallakgoong could ask Princess Bari his questions’, but it was too personal to share with Yama.
Hearing this, the wrinkles on Yama’s face smoothed out in a bright smile.
“Reaaally~?!”
Seeing her more elated than ever, the Promotion Team froze in place. Yama, beaming, slung a net as big as herself over her shoulder and dashed inland.
“Hey, Juseon!”
She called someone on the phone.
Zack gestured nervously to Mujae and Hallakgoong.
‘Something’s off here. We really need to set our goals…’
But it was already too late.
Whatever the reason, Yama hung up the phone with a grin and came back to them.
“Good, good! Since we’re busy, let’s finish up quickly!”
“What was that call about?”
Mujae summoned his courage to ask, but Yama’s smile never faded.
“Se~cret!”
Yama pressed her finger to her lips and smiled. The gesture made Mujae think of someone familiar.
“…Flower Stone, huh. No wonder they were friends…”
Muttering with a gloomy face, Hallakgoong seemed to be thinking of the same person.
Soon, the debris was piled as high as Zack on the beach.
To the unknowing eye, it looked like a mound of fish bones and shell fragments.
“As expected! Four people are much better than one.”
Yama was satisfied, and Hallakgoong began another round of questions.
“So how does this become Compost?”
“These are the remains left after the tongues have decayed. So, all the vast fields we saw—that’s the debris that flowed here after rotting away and turning to sand.”
Yama was especially gentle when answering Hallakgoong’s questions.
Mujae and Zack exchanged uneasy glances.
‘Do you think she’s really taken a liking to him?’
‘No way…’
Mujae’s face said he wasn’t so sure either, but the academic enthusiasm between Hallakgoong and Yama only grew.
“…These debris, as I said, blend well into the ‘Original Process’ that becomes earth. But you mustn’t bury them directly into new land, like the Prisoner’s Tongue.”
“Why not?”
“They’ll make a fuss, saying it hurts, and reject it.”
“But isn’t that a good thing, from Hell’s perspective? Since it’s the Prisoner’s Tongue….”
“That’s true, but the problem is, they won’t decay together. The tongue and the new debris just don’t merge.”
“Oh, so you need some kind of medium to buffer them.”
“Exactly! You really are Flower Stone’s son.”
Mujae felt chills run from his toes to the top of his head as he listened, but Yama and Hallakgoong looked fresh and cheerful after finishing their discussion.
Yama slung the net over her shoulder and said,
“Alright, now that we’ve gathered enough, let’s go and try it for ourselves!”
“Try what??”
Mujae blinked in confusion, and Yama shot him an exasperated look.
“I just told you! We’re making Compost!”
“Oh.”
“Don’t just stand there like a fool—come on, get in.”
Yama, carrying a net bigger than herself, took the lead.
She quickly crossed the beach and vanished into a gap covered by thick palm trees.
“…We’d better hurry.”
Realizing the gravity of the situation, the Promotion Team hurried to gather their things. They grabbed their cameras and nets filled with debris and rushed after her.
‘If we lose Yama now, we’ll be totally lost!’
It was all too easy to imagine the capricious Yama saying, ‘Oops, I forgot about you guys~!’ and paying the Promotion Team no mind. Sadly, the team had no hope of finding their way back in the pitch-dark dawn.
“You young folks move slower than snails.”
Fortunately, the goddess of fate didn’t strand the Promotion Team on a deserted island for a year just for her own amusement.
As the team huffed and puffed, pushing through the thicket and up the hill path, Yama was waiting, clicking her tongue.
“Hurry up and load it. The sun will set soon.”
The ruler of Revelation Hell, where only night or sunset ever shone, urged them on.
She was sitting atop a Red Tractor with giant wheels. Once the Promotion Team had loaded all their stuff and taken their seats, Yama donned her sunglasses and spoke.
“All set? Let’s go!”
“Where are we going-?”
Mujae asked, and Yama gave a sly smile.
Apparently, they were headed to a secret spot to make Compost.
“Children, prepare yourselves.”
-VRRRRRRR-!
“We’re off to the end of the world.”
With a roar, the tractor’s engine fired up, and its massive wheels began to roll.
As the Promotion Team sat among the cargo, the center of Revelation Hell gradually receded from view.