194. Tartarus (2)
“Hey stranger. I am Melinoe, the guide of Tarotaros.”
The silver-haired woman greeted us with a polite bow of her head. In a whisper, I asked Yoon Ah-hyun if he knew someone.
“They say he’s the administrator of Tartarus, right… ?”
“I think Mel is right… . maybe… .”
He also said that he couldn’t remember the name of the character he had created.
“maybe? You don’t even know the name of the character in your work? Are you a writer?”
“no… . How do you even remember the supporting role?”
“Hey… .”
While I was exchanging conversations with Yoon Ah-hyun, Melinoe tilted her head.
“there… . What are you two talking about?”
“no. I am Ethan from the Ignis Empire. This one… .”
“This is Seir.”
“okay. And those two are the spirit king of fire and the spirit king of ice. Welcome to Tartarus. Two strangers and two spirit kings.”
Runthar was satisfied with being called the position of the Spirit King.
“By the way, Tartarus is a place isolated from the present world. To come from the Ignis Empire… , It must have come through an underground labyrinth.”
I nodded.
“Yes, that’s right. So please. Please let me out of here.”
“That is not for me to decide.”
Isn’t it an easy place to get out of?
“Wait a minute, could you wait a moment? Melinoe?”
I left those words and immediately grabbed Yoon Ah-hyun’s wrist and dragged her. Heading to a distant place, I asked Yoon Ah-hyun.
“Hey, is it okay to trust that Melinoe?”
“uh? What are you talking about?”
“The manager of Tartarus. Anyway, this is the famous world. In other words, the underworld. So, isn’t it leading us to somewhere in the underworld and beating us up?”
At my words, Ahyeon smiled.
“It won’t hurt to be careful, but… . Is there any other way to get out of here?”
That was right.
The darkness is so deep here that I have already lost my sense of time, and if it had not been for the flames of Runthar, I would have lost my sense of direction long ago.
“Can I trust you? According to the setting, can I trust the person named Melinoe?”
“You can believe it. According to the setting, the only people who can lead the way in Tartarus are the people involved.”
“Then do you believe?”
“Perhaps Melinoe is a supporting character whose name has not been set.”
After the conversation, we approached Melinoe again.
By the way, is it Melinoe?
I think I’ve heard that name a lot… . But nothing immediately came to mind. maybe i’m mistaken
“I’m sorry. to Melino. I thought of something to discuss.”
Melinoe smiled leisurely and nodded. The feeling of intimidation he had when he first appeared had already disappeared.
“Anyway, nice to meet you. Ethan. This is Tartarus. Will you please follow me?”
We nodded and walked along Melinoë. Even in the dark world, Melinoe led us by relying on a single lamp as if she could see everything.
After walking for a long time, we were able to reach the huge stone gate.
In front of it, a huge watchman was guarding the stone gate with a dignified figure. Covered in black fur, it was the three-headed guard dog of the underworld, Cerberus.
“Actually, when I set up that Cerberus, I was actually going to make those three heads Ziz, Behemoth, and Leviathan, respectively. But Leviathan was omitted because it overlapped with the demon king.”
This time, Yoon Ah-hyun’s TMI did not stop.
By the way, Ziz, Behemoth, and Leviathan… ?
Isn’t Jizi the monster of the sky, Behemoth the monster of the land, and Leviathan the sea dragon of the sea?
What, you tried to fuse the three into Cerberus?
“But it seemed irrational, so I just set it.”
“You really… , You’re doing parkouri here and there… ?”
“Pakuri? They are all motifs.”
While they were exchanging such conversation, when Melinoe approached, Cerberus fell flat on his stomach and immediately exposed Baladang to his stomach.
Guess who isn’t a dog, the watchman of the underworld is gone and there is only one dog left.
Melinoe gently scratched Cerberus’ stomach several times.
The huge stone gate, which seemed unlikely to open soon, slowly opened as it dragged the ground.
Even then, we walked along Melinoe for a while. Where we arrived, a huge banquet hall was spread out.
The table was full of all sorts of rare food. It was as if the table had been set for us.
And at the end of the table stood a man with a gray beard. The man opened his mouth.
“Come on. Gentiles. This body is Zagreus.”
Zagreus?
It was a name I had never heard of before. But I didn’t remember. I glanced at Yoon Ah-hyun, and she was staring at the richly set table.
“You must be very hungry. Alright, let’s all sit down first. I need to hear where and how you got here.”
Ahyeon and I sat down at the table first, as Zagreus recommended. As we sat down, the bottle floated up from the table and filled the empty glass with wine.
“It lacks a lot, but please take it comfortably.”
After speaking, Zagreus first raised his knife and cut the steak gracefully. I was salivating when I saw the steak dripping with gravy while I was hungry.
I wandered in Tartarus with my sense of time messed up. In the meantime, the only thing Ahyeon and I ate was the biscuit-type emergency rations we had stored in the shadows.
I would be lying if I said I wasn’t hungry.
Zagreus even nodded like a YouTuber in a mukbang.
“As expected, veal is delicious. Huh? What are you all doing? Maybe it was poisoned, but?”
Hearing Zagreus’s smile, Ahyeon carefully raised the tableware.
“no. It’s not like that, it’s because it’s polite to not lift a spoon before the original owner does. I will enjoy this food. Mr. Zagreus.”
Ah Hyun had a wide smile on his lips. I sneakily kicked that Ahyeon under the table.
“ah… . why?”
“ha… . Are you a real writer?”
“Why are you doing this… ?”
I forced myself to hold back a sigh. As a writer, Ahyeon seemed to lack basic common sense. I lowered my voice and whispered.
“Don’t you know you shouldn’t eat food from the underworld?”
“ah… . That’s right.”
Then, as if remembering something, Ahyeon slowly put down the spoon.
This is Tartarus.
If this place is really like the Tarotaros I know, it is the lowest level of the underworld in Greek mythology.
In other words, this place was no different from the underworld.
And in mythology, there is an unwritten rule that food from the underworld should not be touched. Isn’t there a myth that Persephone ate a few pomegranates and ended up in the underworld?
“Zagreus… . Is that the monarch who rules this place?”
If my guess is correct, Zagreus was most likely Hades. Zagreus smiled vaguely before opening his mouth.
“Ha ha, yes. Did they say that a hero recognizes a hero? Stop doing third-rate plays like this.”
Zagreus slowly got up and introduced himself.
“I am Hades, the owner of this underworld. Welcome back, Ethan. I’ve heard a lot of stories My wife is also a fan of that.”
Is your wife a fan too?
I was puzzled by those words and only blinked my eyes. Hades’ wife, Persephone, daughter of Demeter and queen of the underworld.
“Oops, I’m puzzled. After all, it must have been all I watched through Reus’s channel.”
oh
Only then did she remember who Melinoe and Zagreus were.
Although it depends on the tradition, there is a legend that Melinoe and Persephone are identical, and Zagreus and Hades are identical.
Anyway, since the abyss of the underground labyrinth is connected to Tartarus, it was like I was now in another dimension.
Melinoe, who was by Hades’ side, lowered her head slightly and gave a gentle smile.
“I am Persephone, the mistress of the underworld. Nice to meet you. Ethan. He is a hero who is popular with the goddesses. Even now, messages clamoring for one Ethan are pouring in.”
The messages were pouring in, and the Constellations came to mind. I asked as if I didn’t know anything.
“A message?”
“Oh, there is such a thing.”
Persephone was about to slip away. From the side, Ahyeon quietly added.
“Actually, a lot of the Greek goddesses are a bit of a gold digger.”
“What, is that a setting?”
“So what… . No, actually, isn’t this the part of the original work?”
Well, Greek mythology is notorious for a lot of revelers.
I left Ahyeon behind and walked toward Hades. Fortunately, among the misfortunes, the present goddesses supported me.
“I ask the Master of the Underworld, Hades-sama.”
Hades waited for me to speak.
“I want you to send me from this underworld to my original world.”
Perhaps, if the goddesses were supporting me, countless messages would be pouring into Hades’ channel.
Especially, because Aphrodite was such an ardent fan that she came to see me in person. I wonder if everyone is sending me a message telling me to get me out of the underworld right now.
“Heh heh, as I’ve seen, he’s a bold friend.”
“I still have work to do. So, I want you to return to the surface.”
Persephone looked at Hades’ complexion.
Whereas the Greek gods were famous for their revelers, Hades was famous for his pathetic love. Hades struggled to avoid his wife’s eyes.
Hades, who had been silent for a long time, opened his mouth.
“Is there a condition instead?”
“Conditions… ?”
“Your adventures are quite famous among the gods. However popular you are, our gods couldn’t help but peek into your adventures in a certain way. so… . We want you to show us your adventures in person.”
At first I didn’t understand what you meant. However, I soon realized the meaning of the words.
“You mean I’m giving you my channel.”
channel transfer.
In other words, it was a story that I should take the castle like Achilles.
