Translator: Haruto.

This is a mass release (Ch19-24).

Here’s chapter 19.

I open my eyes and I’m welcomed by an unknown ceiling.

There’s a person, who could only be described as “The King of Darkness”, standing in front of me while furrowing his brows. It seems he’s worried about something.

His hair is tainted in both green and black, and his cool, western-style clothes are all black as well.

His overcoat looks tattered but that actually makes it kind of better.  

He’s got two black horns coming out of his head.

It’s obvious he’s not a human.

Even his skin is dark blue, like a demon’s.

“Um, didn’t I die just now?”

I decide to ask the question looming in my mind.

“Not exactly, you’re only half-dead.”

“Are you Yama?”

“Nah, man, that guy’s territory starts from the next town over. I’m Hades.”  

“Ohh.”

So, Yama also exists? But like, why are there two kings of the underworld anyways?

“It’s simple, kid. Just like humans, we’ve got borders down here as well. We’ve divided our territory according to earth’s tectonic plates, but since Japan sits on such a peculiar spot, we ended up with two different underworld administrators in the same country.”

Huh, is that so?

Wait, you just read my mind? That’s kind of creepy.  

“Didn’t I tell you that you’re half-dead? Your soul is currently residing in this realm which means that I’m able to hear your every thought. Just think of it as you having to say everything that crosses your mind.”

In other words, I can’t lie to him.

There’s no privacy in hell, huh.

“That’s right. It makes things way easier when judging criminals.”

Again, because they can’t lie…

Yeah, I can see how convenient it is for him.

“Now then, let’s get down to business, shall we…? You’re currently in a half-dead state because of the cleric spell you had on you.”

Aah, the sacrificial cleric spell.

It’s supposed to take your place whenever you’re about to suffer damage that can cause your instant death.  

“Yeah, that’s the one. The cleric spell activated and it protected your soul but since your body was almost beyond repair, your soul was sent here with me. The thing is, this has never happened before, so I had no idea what to do. I talked to HQ and they said that the surface was in trouble or whatever and that they needed you to revive as soon as possible.”

For real?! Dope!

Although, it feels like they didn’t give it much thought.  

“Well, it’s just that with so many calamities on the surface these days, things have gotten kind of messy around here too, you know? At any rate, we do want to revive you, but there’s one tiny little problem.”

“The wounds in my body?”

“No, we’ve got that cover. The problem is that your vessel is too small for the kind of soul you have.”

“My what now?”

“Your vessel. The soul is composed of both a vessel and a source. Let’s see. We’ll use this cup as an example,” Hades said while pulling out a cup that could easily contain around 500 ml of water.

“What you were doing was like forcing a liter of water—your source—into this little cup.”

Hades begins to pour water into the cup.

“The water’s definitely going to overflow.”

And as I just said, the water spills out of the cup.

“Uh-huh. The vessel was just too small and that created a whole mess.”

I wonder what happens exactly when your source overflows.

“Your body explodes.”

The cup breaks with a bam.

Damn! How did I stay alive for so long?

“Without realizing it, you were strengthening your vessel with life energy. Something that took about half of your life energy reserves.”

Hold on, I’ve only been using half of the life energy I’ve got?

“That’s correct. The real reason why you “died,” is that you used the life energy that was strengthening your vessel and it broke.”

Then, the sacrificial cleric spell activated and preserved my soul, huh.

“Well, you would have died eventually because of all the wounds you had, though. It just so happened that your vessel broke first. Anyhow, I’ve never seen a vessel break like that so I’ve got to ask, are you a reincarnated soul?”

“Yeah, what of it?”

“I knew it. That’s why your source is so big. You’ve got enough energy in your soul for two people.”

“Aah, I see. I mean, whaaat?!”

“We should put that aside for now. What matters here is that your vessel is too small, so to fix that I need you to go over to that river there, gather ten rocks, and pile them up.”

I see, I see. Gather ten rocks and… Huh?

“Excuse me, are all ten rocks supposed to be as big as that one?”

“Yeah? The bigger the better!”

No way! That ain’t a rock! That’s a boulder!  

It’s as big as the one Eren from Attack on Titan used to seal the wall right after his iconic “tatakae!!”

So like, are you telling me to become a freaking titan?

“I’ve got no idea what the heck are you talking about, but you should know that your strength here is equal to your spiritual strength. So, you just have to strengthen your spirit, and boom! Problem solved. Also, silly me, I almost forgot. Whenever you pile up the boulders—rocks a bunch of calamities will come rushing to break them, so you’d better protect them.”

Hold on! You definitely said boulders just now!

This task is getting more and more complicated!

Why can’t I just pick some small ones?

“You can but the blessing you’ll receive will also be small.”

I don’t care. I just want to revive as soon as possible!

“Haa, I’ve got no choice. Normally, I’m not allowed to tell you about what happens upstairs, but whatever. Listen, it’s taken three years earth-time for your soul to arrive here.”

Huh?! Three years?

“Yeah, and in that time, that chick, um… What was her name again? Ah, right, Amane! Ahem. Amane has come in contact with some dude called Kusanagi Hayato.”

What?

Kusanagi Hayato.

That’s the name of the Eroge’s protagonist.

“Also, the contest to become Amane’s betrothed is about to begin.”

The Engagement Event.

Infuriated by the fact that a shrine maiden had stayed single for so long, one of the leaders of the Purging Mask came up with the Engagement Event, which was really just a way to get the shrine maiden to pass down her strong genes to the next generation. And strong men from all over the country came to participate in the tournament hoping to marry the shrine maiden.

Wishing to save the heroine, the protagonist enters the tournament as well.

Whenever you lost, you’d have to watch a NTR scene. The problem was, the whole event was freakishly hard! I can’t even imagine how many dudes’ hearts broke playing it.  

And what’s worse, the protagonist would then receive a video letter every month, depicting how, little by little, the heroines would lose their minds to pleasure.

Those scenes kept me in good company on some lonely nights…

Anyhow! The tournament is insanely difficult! You have to fight a bunch of stupidly strong men and if you don’t take it seriously from the start, you’ll end up seeing the heroines’ ahegao over and over again!  

I remember that after I had my fun, I hit reset on the tournament to clear it properly. I challenged the first dude, got killed instantly, and bam! NTR!!

It was a nightmare.

So, if that were to happen in real life…

Yup, I’d just kill myself.

Not to mention, in this world, it doesn’t matter if the protagonist wins or not, I still lose!! I’ve got no choice but to go and solve the issue with my own hands!

Aaaaaaaaaaaagggghhhh!

The event is set in motion by either the closest heroine to the protagonist or the second closest.

It’s the event where the protagonist and the heroine officially become an item.

“A day upstairs is equal to one year here. I don’t know what you plan to do, but the ceremony begins in two weeks. In other words, 14 years underworld-time.”

“Alright, I’m game… Like hell I’ll let you steal Amane from me. I’ll crush you and that engagement event, my little protagonist!!”

Unbeknownst to me, a wicked smile was plastered on my face.

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