"Ha, where in the world am I?" Those were the first words that Jude mumbled upon opening his eyes.

He found himself lying down, looking at nothing—literally nothing. He tried his hardest to focus on what was above him, but he could find nothing in fact. But for some reason, it kinda felt peaceful to him. As if a big burden was off him or something. That is, until he felt all nauseous and realized that he was in a boat.

"Can you stop rowing now, please?" He asked as he sat up and tried his best not to puke.

"Well, that's kind of a stupid question if you were to ask me." The person across him with the row in his hand shrugged as he spoke. "I mean, think about it. Even if I stopped rowing, the boat would still rock because of the waves." He spoke.

"Hmm, I guess you are right about that." Jude nodded his head in agreement at that point. "By the way, where the hell am I? And who in the world are you?" He asked, getting straight into the point.

"That's disappointing! I expected you to catch on to the signs by now." The man sighed.

"What are you talking about?" Jude looked a bit confused at that point.

"Well, you are on a boat in the middle of a river. And you are sitting beside a person wearing a really large black robe. What do you think is even happening?" He asked.

"Boat... River... River Styx. Black robe... That would make you Charon. Holy—I'm dead, aren't I?" Jude asked.

"Correct! Hmm, weird. I thought you would be freaking out once you realized that you were dead. I mean, I can see your soul, you know? It looks like you were yearning to live a bit longer and all. And a person who's soul is crying out loud like that usually ends up doing the same as well. However, you seem different for some reason. Why is that so?" Charon asked back.

"Well, it's not like I didn't expect myself to die. And what's the point in crying out loud now? I mean, what's done is done. It's not like I can go back and change my death or anything, can I?" Jude asked.

"Yea, you're right. I just wish that more people took that approach, you know? It would've made my journey across this river easier. Like, do you know the sort of people that I have to deal with on a daily basis?" Charon cried.

"Well, I guess you deal with the people who get all shocked after realizing that they died and the ones with a lot of regret and all, huh?" Jude shrugged.

"The first ones, yes. The guys with regret and unresolved hatred and all... Well, I never get to meet them because, rather than ending up on the shore of this river, they end up beneath the river, trying to pull the people traveling in this boat into their little group. So, just be careful if you're thinking of dipping your head into the water or something. I mean, you can, only if you are confident of pulling yourself out of the mess." Charon warned him.

"Humm... I'm not that interested in wrestling with them, you know? But then again, does this water make you immortal? I mean, if it did like it did with Achilles, then I'm a bit tempted by it." Jude shrugged as he spoke.

"There are a few things YOU in particular need to consider. First thing is that no one has survived a full dip in the river. I mean, even in the case of Achilles, he had to be held by his heels so that the souls of this river wouldn't consume him and all. And you know where that led." Charon spoke.

"Well, Achilles was a kid back then. And I'm a grown man! I'm pretty sure that I can resist a few hands trying to pull me down." Jude sounded awfully confident while he looked like he was this close to jumping.

"I mean, I appreciate the confidence, but it's not just a few hands, you know? Millions of souls are gonna tug at you and then weigh you down exponentially, which is actually the reason why you're gonna be pulled down. And before you say something stupid once again, let me ask you this. What's the point?" He asked.

"Huh?" Jude tilted his head in confusion.

"Well, imagine if you actually succeed in what you are planning to do right now. Then what? It's not like you'll become immortal or something. I mean, you are dead, after all." Charon shrugged as he spoke.

"Ah..." Jude sighed as he realized that one important fact. "Well, I just got excited by the possibility of immortality that I forgot the fact that I'm actually dead." He mumbled.

"Happens to the best of us." Charon nodded his head.

"I guess so..." Jude replied.

The rest of the journey was rather silent. Charon looked like he wanted to talk about something, but when he looked at Jude, who seemed like he was in some deep thought, he felt like it would be better if he wasn't disturbing him. After all, Jude had just died. The least he could do was to provide him with some space.

"So, here we go! We are finally here at the end of the Styx. I'm happy that I got to have a rather peaceful journey this time around." Charon smiled as he spoke.

"Well, the pleasure is all mine." Jude gave him a smile back as he stepped out of the boat. "So, what am I supposed to do now?" He asked.

"Ah, if you were to walk straight, you'd meet up with someone and that someone would be taking you to my master, the God of the Underworld, Hades." Charon replied.

"And then?"

"Well, that's not something that I can disclose. You'll see what's gonna happen in due time. Until then, I bid you adieu. I have more souls to guide, you know?" Charon waved his hand as he slowly rowed away from the shore, leaving Jude all alone.

#

"Straight ahead, huh?" Jude mumbled as he looked at the long road ahead of him.

The underworld was not as Jude expected. The sort of thing that he had in his mind was straight up hell and all. And yet, that wasn't meant to be. In fact, the underworld was quite similar to the Earth. The city looked quite developed. Well, if there is one thing different about this place, it would be the fact that the face of a single person was plastered all over the place. No matter what the product or the building was, it had that person's face. It wasn't that difficult to guess who that was for Jude.

"Hades, huh..." Jude mumbled as he looked around.

"So, I guess you are Jude, huh?" All of a sudden, a person popped out of nowhere to greet him.

"Ah, yes. And you are?" He asked.

"Well, I'm someone who's tasked with bringing you to my boss." The guy spoke.

"Hades' underling. Got it." Jude gave out a thumbs up as he replied.

"Yea. Anyhow, there's a car waiting for you over there. So, if you could just follow me..." The man pointed towards the rather luxurious car as he walked towards it.

"Hmm, I didn't know that you guys got luxurious cars for escorting guys like me!" Jude was honestly surprised when he saw that. Rather than riding in a car like that, he fully did expect to get beaten all the way until he reached Hades. However, reality tends to be different at times.

"Well, this is how things usually go." The guy smiled as he replied.

Jude felt like there was a lump stuck in his throat or something. Well, he was not usually someone emotional, but the fact that the underworld was treating a person like him like that, honestly made him sad. He wondered about why someone should do good in the normal world if they were to be treated like that, no matter what they did in the other world.

"We don't usually do this, you know?" The guy tracked back on his words at that point.

"What are you talking about? Weren't you the one who said that this is how things usually go? Then why are you changing your statement now?" Jude asked.

"I mean, I didn't want you to get the wrong idea about the underworld, to be honest. Good people are the only ones that are rewarded here. Based on the good merits that you collected in the other world, you know?" The guy shrugged.

"Then why am I treated like this? Shouldn't I be whipped or something like that?" Jude asked.

"I don't know. It's not like I'm the one judging your sins and all. And the guy who does has asked me to bring you over to him with the utmost respect. So, I'm gonna do exactly that." The guy replied.

"So, I guess I won't be getting any more answers from you then," Jude sighed.

"Well, not about this. If it is something that I can answer, then I'm fine with talking about it and all, you know?" He shrugged.

"Fine, let me ask you something else then. Where the hell are all the people?" Jude asked, as he looked around. The one thing he noticed about the place other than Hades' face was the fact that the place was insanely empty for some reason. He could see no people or hear no noise from anywhere, which made him incredibly suspicious of this entire setup.

"Ah, you seem to have a knack at asking me questions that I can't answer, huh?" The man sighed this time around.

"I mean, rather than me being skilled at that, I feel like you are unable to answer any questions in general." Jude spoke.

"Hmm, I got no comments on that." The man mumbled.

"See? Mandem, you can't even hold a normal conversation at this point." Jude chuckled as he spoke. "Never mind, I understand where you are coming from, so I'm not gonna ask you any questions."

"Oh, I guess I should be thanking-" Before he got a chance to finish his sentence, the man was interrupted.

"Instead, I'll just be making a rough guess of what might be happening over here, and you just have to nod your head or something if I come to the right conclusion," Jude replied.

"I would do no such thing, but you can guess stuff. No one's stopping you from doing that." The man spoke. "But it would be much appreciated if you were to enter the car, you know?" He asked, upon which Jude nodded his head and hopped into the car.

"So, back when I was a child, I used to hear stories about how sinners are shown nice scenery only for them to be tricked into getting punished. I mean, sinners are innately greedy, so it would only make sense if they followed after their greed, right?" Jude asked.

"And you think this is a similar case as well?" The man asked.

"Possibly. I mean, the eerie atmosphere tells me that just might be the case." Jude spoke.

"Well, you just might be right." Jude was about to rejoice since it looked like he was right about what he said, before he was cut short. "Or it could be hello wrong as well. Who knows?" The man had a smirk on his face as he said that.

"Yea, you look like you're having quite the fun confusing me like that." Jude looked really annoyed at that point.

"Well, to be quite honest, you are the one confusing yourself. I did nothing that you accuse me of." The man replied. "Also, if you are in dire need for answers, you just have to wait for a bit, you know? After all, you're gonna be meeting my boss right about now." He spoke.

"We're here already?" Jude looked quite surprised, since it seemed like quite a short journey for him.

"Yes. From here, you're gonna have to go at it by yourself." The man smiled as he opened the door to reveal the massive building to Jude.

#

Jude was afraid. Even though the entirety of the events that just happened felt unreal to him, the fact that he was about to meet Hades, the God of the Underworld, was indeed a scary thought for him. However, it wasn't like he could postpone this meeting or something, so he decided to take a deep breath and just walk in.

There was a huge door blocking his path towards Hades, which looked almost impossible to open in the beginning. But, he was surprised when he was able to open it on the first go.

"Oh, you fell for it as well, huh? It actually isn't a massive door to begin with." A familiar face invited him in. Well, it wasn't as if he was all that familiar with that face to begin with, but he was forced to remember it after seeing that face all over the underworld.

"An illusion, huh?" Jude mumbled, as he turned back to see the door turned back into a normal one.

"Yea, welcome to my humble abode then." Hades jumped onto his throne as he said that.

"Well, it's a pleasure." Jude nodded his head as he spoke.

"Now, why do you think I called you here, huh?" Hades asked.

"Hmm?" Jude was confused upon being asked that question.

"Try guessing the answer. I might even reward you for guessing it right, you know?" Hades shrugged as he asked.

"I mean, isn't it because you wanted to judge my sins and all?" Jude felt like he was stating the obvious.

"Well, judging your wrongdoings is not part of my job, to be honest. I delegate that sort of job to my underlings. So, why do you think I brought you here instead, huh?" Hades asked.

"I don't know, man! Maybe it's because the sins that I committed are much worse compared to others and you had no choice but to deliver my verdict by yourself or something?" Jude asked back.

"I gotta give it to you. You are almost right in your guess." Hades applauded, which made Jude a bit confused.

"Are you for real? I mean, I swear to God that there were worse sinners than me back on Earth." Jude mumbled.

"Maybe. Maybe that's the case. But after looking through the profiles of tons of evil dead people, I've come to the realization that you are the most suited candidate for the job that I'm gonna give you." Hades spoke.

"What job are we talking about here?" Jude asked.

"Well, here's the thing, yea? There has been a surge of evil throughout all the worlds that the Gods have built. Initially, they planned it so that the good and evil would balance out each other and all. However, as time has passed, the evil has surpassed the good and this has really upset the balance of all the worlds. And since that has happened, all the Gods came up with the decision of sending down a mercenary of sorts to deal with all the evil there. And this mercenary that they planned on sending had to be capable of completely subduing this rising evil that I talked about before. And what better way of cutting the evil from the root other than sending a greater evil on their path." Hades shrugged as he explained.

"So, you're telling me that I'm that greater evil?" Jude asked.

"Bingo. You just have to be a better villain compared to the evil that we are asking you to subdue." Hades spoke.

"But wouldn't that make me the evil of that world? How are you guys going to deal with me then? Are you going to send an even bigger evil then?" Jude decided to ask the first question that came to his mind.

"Ha...." Hades looked quite stumped at that point.

"I guess that the Gods didn't think everything through, huh?" Jude chuckled as he said that.

"Yea, I guess so. That could really be a problem now that I think about it." Hades mumbled as he said that.

"Well, how about this? You could maybe assign some sort of governing body to me, so that I wouldn't go off my rails or something? I mean, that would be easier for you, right?" Jude asked.

"True that. But then again, it's not like I can assign any random person to you. You are the greater evil, after all. I feel like you will be able to trick the personnel that I might assign to you. So, it has to be someone that will see through your game and all." Hades spoke.

"And is there really someone like that in your knowledge?" Jude had more questions to ask than answers to give at that point, but it's not like he hated doing it or something.

"Well, there is. There is one such person in this entire place who could easily see through anything that you might try to pull off. I mean, that person could easily defeat you if you're planning to ruin the entire world. He's that powerful," Hades muttered.

"And who would that person be? I mean, I might not know the person, but it would be better for me to know now before you introduce that person to me." Jude spoke.

"Well, you're speaking to that person right now." Hades had a really proud look on his face as he said that.

"Ah, the fact that you talked so highly about yourself is the weirdest thing to see, you know? I wouldn't have been able to do it, to be quite honest." Jude shrugged as he said that.

"I mean, sometimes in life, you gotta appreciate yourself because no one else might." Hades smiled as he said that.

"I guess so. But wouldn't you getting assigned to me break the balance of this place?" Jude asked.

"Not really. I'm really out of the loop of judgment recently. So, even if I'm gone, this place will run smoothly as ever," Hades replied.

"So, does that mean that you are making this official?"

"Pretty much." Hades had a smirk on his face as he said that.

#