I jumped.
"What?"
"You always look so sure of yourself and tell us what to do like you already know this place…"
Taehyun grabbed my arm and squeezed it.
"Yeah, without you we'd probably already be dead!"
It was true, it made sense for them to think that. But I didn't know much more than they did. All because of those damn memories.
"Let's just say an old acquaintance of mine used to tell me stories like this a lot, so when the apocalypse started I just followed their advice…"
Yoon Jiyeon stared at me for a long moment, eyes full of questions. I looked away. It was getting uncomfortable.
"That doesn't explain everything. How did you know you had to ring that bell for someone to come get us?"
"I just know the myth of Charon."
"I know Greek mythology too, but I wouldn't have thought to ring that specific bell."
"..."
"Answer me!"
"..."
"How can we trust each other with our lives if you're hiding things from us?"
"The truth is…"
I had to come up with something.
"...I'm not lying. This friend used to tell me about a game they played, and the story was pretty similar to what's happening. The rest, I just followed my instincts."
Yoon Jiyeon and Taehyun kept listening closely.
"The bell was the only thing we could use to call Charon. I didn't know if it would work. In his game, monsters dropped gold coins when they died, so I figured it might be the same here."
"I see."
The suspicious looks faded. They'd probably come back later though, especially after what I was planning.
The rest of the crossing took about ten minutes. The other shore looked exactly like where we came from, except this side had no bell.
Charon let us off the boat one by one. As I passed by him, he muttered something I couldn't quite understand.
"Goodbye ■■■■■■■■■."
By the time my mind processed what had just happened and I turned to ask what he meant, Charon was already drifting off into the mist.
From now on, the path was simple—just follow the main road to the gates of Hell.
"So I guess we just trust our instincts and keep following the path?"
I grumbled back to the sarcastic young woman.
"Exactly…"
This side of the Styx looked the same—the landscape unchanged, though monsters and creatures were becoming scarcer. Probably because we were nearing the heart of Hell.
After two hours of walking, just as we were about to reach our destination, I had a bad feeling and turned around. I looked behind us, but no one was following.
Still, the feeling didn't go away. No matter how many times I looked, we were alone. Once, I thought I saw a huge shadow in the corner of my eye, but when I turned toward it, it vanished.
I was getting paranoid, and Yoon Jiyeon and Taehyun were starting to give me weird looks every time I checked behind us.
A few hundred meters later, a large door—at least four meters tall—stood there in the middle of nowhere.
At first glance it seemed pointless, with no walls on either side—someone might think they could walk around it. But if you tried that, you'd find nothing. In fact, the path ended at that door.
Beyond it, you'd go in circles and end up right back at the start.
In other words, this was the real entrance to Hell.
Just as I was about to step through, Taehyun's voice called out to me.
"H-H-Honja-ssi…"
He pointed at a massive dark shape watching us from the rocks with six eyes.
I knew something had been following us.
"Stay behind me."
I opened my inventory to find what I needed.
Meanwhile, the creature slowly climbed down from its perch, revealing itself in the lava's light. It was gigantic. Its powerful legs clung to the rocks, claws digging in as easily as into paper.
Its three heads moved forward slowly. Teeth bared, the beast growled.
Yoon Jiyeon whispered, "Cerberus—"
I searched my inventory as fast as I could, but I had collected too many items fighting all those monsters.
Cerberus brought its central snout close—barely a meter from us.
I clicked the magnifying glass icon to activate the search function and typed in what I was looking for. One result.
I quickly clicked the confirmation icon and the guts appeared in my hand.
"Ewww!" My two companions stepped even farther behind me.
I extended my arm and slowly placed the meat on the ground.
Cerberus sniffed cautiously, then began licking it before snapping it up in its jaws.
"Owww…"
"He's so cute."
You'd think they'd forgotten that this beast could've killed them moments earlier.
"Hurry up, that won't hold him for long."
I started running toward the door. I glanced back.
"What do you mean it's not done with us?"
"W-Wait for me, Kim Honja!"
They bolted after me, eyes wide in panic.
The gates of Hell were dimensional—meaning they were two doors linked by ether. I ran my hand along the door, channeling ether into the mechanism.
The door's engravings turned a glowing blue and a dull sound echoed.
Clack
The door was unlocked. I grabbed the handle and pushed it open, the hinges creaking. Beyond it, a completely different world unfolded. The sky was dark and menacing.
A long garden stretched out, filled with ruby roses and topaz-flowered hedges. A stream flowed in the distance, crossed by a small bridge.
Behind us, Cerberus growled again—his meal clearly finished.
"Hurry!"
I passed through the gate and instantly felt like my mind was being splashed by a thousand drops of water. Dizziness overwhelmed me and I collapsed to my knees on the garden's stone tiles.
I heard two splashes—Taehyun and Yoon Jiyeon had joined me. They fell beside me.
As we caught our breath, Yoon Jiyeon asked,
"Where are we?"
"In Persephone's garden. Or at least a representation—nothing's real inside the Tower."
"So Persephone doesn't actually exist, right?"
Exist, not exist… In this absurd world, it no longer mattered.
"No, Persephone doesn't exist here."
I stood up with difficulty and looked toward the immaculate white palace ahead.
"He does."
In front of us stood the palace of the 'King of the Underworld'.