SLPWT 02

Chapter: 02

Ever since my mother became pregnant with me, my parents built a palace in the Heavenly Realm called Sangra Palace, meant solely for me. After all, the Underworld wasn’t exactly a suitable place to raise a child.

After I was born, both of them began staying at Sangra Palace while commuting to their respective workplaces—Mother to the Heavenly Emperor’s Purple Palace, Father to Yama Palace in the Underworld. Before long, Sangra Palace had effectively become our family home.

But at its core, it was still my palace. Everything there was designed around me, and traces of me could be found everywhere.

If I suddenly disappeared, the emptiness would probably feel enormous to my parents. It might be easier if we lived separately, but they were the type of people who would never leave me behind to live elsewhere.

Maybe I should just move out?

It was an impulsive thought, but the idea of living somewhere else suddenly felt incredibly appealing.

After all, I’d lived in Sangra Palace my entire life.

Should I really move out? But where? And how?

While gently patting the still-crying Ansi and pondering the idea, the ferry carrying the silver-haired child reached the sandbank.

Hm?

Behind the little girl as she stepped off the boat, I noticed a faintly glowing thread.

Isn’t that a Lifeline?

A Lifeline connected the soul to the physical body. If it was severed, the body became a corpse, and the soul became one of the dead.

Why does a dead person still have a Lifeline attached?

The pale glowing thread shimmered as it stretched beyond the River of the Three Crossings, all the way back to the world of the living.

The grim reaper escorting the child seemed to notice it only then.

“No wonder you still had lifespan left.”

The little girl looked up at him in confusion.

The reaper pointed toward the thread extending into the mortal world.

“Hey. Grab that and go home. You’re not actually dead yet.”

Watching from a distance, I finally realized what had happened.

I’d heard that if a malicious spirit or evil deity killed a human using cursed energy, the Lifeline remained like that.

The victim technically died after being struck by the curse, but since their natural lifespan hadn’t ended, they could be revived if someone lent them a little help.

The blessings of ancestors… the desperate prayers of the living… or the power of a deity stronger than the evil spirit… something like that.

Since they’d died before their destined lifespan ended, the Underworld didn’t stop such people from returning.

In fact, Father had told me they actively sent them back.

In a way, it’s similar to how my parents keep bringing me back to life.

Still, cases like this were very rare.

“If you hold onto your Lifeline, you’ll naturally return to the living world. Hurry up and go.”

As the reaper urged her, the girl stared blankly at the glowing thread wrapped around her before slowly shaking her head.

“I… I don’t want to.”

“What?”

“I… I don’t want to go back.”

“If I go back… I’ll just die again soon…”

Her childish face became heartbreakingly desolate.

What kind of life has she lived to say something like that at such a young age?

Is she sick like me? Or does she mean she’ll just be cursed and killed again if she returns?

While I watched with mixed emotions, the grim reaper frowned.

“That’s none of my business. Just go already.”

“I… I don’t want to…”

“What rotten luck. Even if you enter Yama’s Kingdom, they’ll throw you right back out because you’ve still got a Lifeline attached.”

“Even if I return… I’ll die again soon… so… I’d rather not go back…”

“Then hurry up, go die one more time, and come back.”

“D-dying hurts… I don’t like pain…”

“Seriously? Why’d I have to get stuck with such an annoying brat?”

“S-sorry…”

“Want me to kill you again right now? Maybe if I hit you a few times, that Lifeline will snap on its own.”

As the grim reaper suddenly raised his fist, the little girl instinctively flinched.

Has this bastard lost his mind?

I shot to my feet.

Ansi, who had been crying too hard to notice anything, looked up in surprise.

“Princess?”

“Move aside for a second.”

I gently pushed Ansi aside and walked toward the grim reaper.

“You.”

“Hm?”

He looked at me before making an incredulous face.

“And what’s this supposed to be?”

“I’m your superior’s superior’s daughter.”

“What kind of nonsense are you talking about?”

“What exactly were you about to do to her just now?”

“Hah. Kid, ghosts don’t interfere with a reaper’s work. Where’s your assigned reaper?”

“A grim reaper’s job is to guide the dead, not threaten them. Answer my question properly. What were you trying to do?”

“You insolent little brat!”

He reached out to grab me by the collar.

Behind me, Ansi’s aura instantly turned terrifying.

But she never got the chance to step in.

“Who dares…”

Dark clouds poured down from the crimson sky like a waterfall, gathering behind me.

The pitch-black clouds immediately took the shape of a gigantic man.

“…lay a hand…”

A massive hand with thick fingers seized the reaper’s wrist just before it touched me.

“…on my daughter?”

Father had arrived.

The grim reaper’s face instantly turned paler than the souls wandering the Underworld as he stared at the King of the Underworld.

“Y-Your Majesty…?”

Of course he recognized Father immediately.

He might not recognize me, since I’d spent most of my life recovering inside the palace, but there was no way he wouldn’t recognize the highest authority over all grim reapers.

Father twisted the reaper’s arm while smiling pleasantly.

“I distinctly ordered every official working around the River of the Three Crossings to memorize my daughter’s appearance.”

“AAAAAGH! I-I-I’m new!”

“That is covered during basic training. It seems you slept through the lesson.”

Wait.

Memorizing my face was part of basic training for Underworld officials?

No wonder every grim reaper or official I met at the river recognized me immediately.

“I see discipline has become rather lax in Yama’s Kingdom if someone like you can become a grim reaper.”

Still smiling, Father looked at him with frighteningly cold eyes before casually flicking his fingers.

“Gangrim.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

A man wearing a black robe, a dark blue overcoat, and a black official’s hat emerged from the mist.

He was Gangrim, Father’s right-hand man and the commander of all grim reapers.

“Handle this.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Gangrim approached the trembling reaper with a cheerful smile.

“Hey.”

“Y-Yes! Grim Reaper No. 28, Park, Second Division, Northeast Branch, Yunseong District—”

“I don’t need your name and rank. Go gather everyone above you and everyone below me. Immediately.”

The reaper looked ready to faint on the spot.

His career is over.

Not that I felt sorry for him.

I’d just watched him threaten to beat up a little girl.

“Our little princess.”

Father scooped me up into his arms.

My viewpoint rose instantly, and I saw the moisture gathered in Father’s eyes.

He always cried.

Because of me.

My chest stung.

“Did you have to wait long, Father?”

“Not really. You came quickly.”

“Weren’t you cold?”

“Ansi came, so I was fine.”

“That’s a relief… Come. Let’s go home.”

“Wait, Father.”

I stopped him before he could carry me away and pointed toward the trembling little girl.

“I want to bring her with us.”

“Hm?”

Father narrowed his eyes after noticing the Lifeline attached to her.

I quickly explained.

“She has a Lifeline, but she doesn’t want to return to the living world. That reaper was threatening to kill her again because of it.”

Father’s eyebrow twitched.

“Gangrim.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“You know what to do?”

“Yes. The reaper in question will receive severe punishment. Furthermore, everyone responsible for Yunseong District—no, the entire Second Division of the Northeast Branch—will undergo additional discipline and case-study training.”

“Good.”

Gangrim had served Father for over a thousand years and understood immediately.

Collective responsibility…

That reaper would probably end up wishing someone would just kill him instead.

Gangrim kicked the petrified reaper forward and disappeared with him.

Father adjusted me in his arms before looking into my eyes.

“Heeyo, you want to bring that child back to your palace?”

“Yes. I want to know why she refuses to return to the living world.”

Father silently looked between the shivering girl and me.

“She really doesn’t have anyone her own age around… my poor little princess…”

I heard him mutter quietly.

No, that’s not why.

I’m just curious.

Was she refusing because she was sick like me?

Or was there another reason?

That was all.

Father gestured to Ansi to take care of the girl before whispering gently to me.

“She must return by following her Lifeline before the first rooster crows. Only then can she be revived. So you may play together until then.”

“…Okay.”

I wasn’t planning on playing with her, but I simply nodded and wrapped my arms around Father’s neck.

After leaving the Underworld, I opened my eyes to a familiar ceiling.

My bedroom in Sangra Palace of the Heavenly Realm.

“Ugh…”

My throat felt dry, and my arms and legs ached so much that a groan escaped me.

My head felt as though it were splitting apart.

Damn this body.

Being a soul in the Underworld had been nice.

Everything felt numb there.

Still, this wasn’t even the worst it could get.

Sometimes I’d wake up vomiting before I was even fully conscious.

“Heeyo!”

As I tried to sit up, Mother, who had been waiting beside my bed, immediately lifted a bowl of herbal medicine to my lips.

It was the pain medicine I always drank.

It tasted unbearably bitter, but without it I couldn’t function properly.

I obediently drank every last drop.

Mother quietly watched me.

“…Do you feel a little better?”

“Yes. I don’t think I need any other medicine.”

My tongue tingled and felt slightly numb as the pain gradually faded.

Soon I felt almost as comfortable as I had in the Underworld.

Mother slipped a piece of candy into my mouth before gently embracing me.

“Go back to sleep. I’ll keep holding you.”

“I’m okay!”

I smiled brightly as I pulled away from her embrace.

“It doesn’t hurt anymore, so you should go. You’re busy.”

“I’m not that busy.”

A lie.

The Jade Emperor was busy.

She had to watch over everything from the heavens to the lands below.

She was probably two or three times busier than Father, who only had to manage the Underworld.

And yet every single time I wake up, she’s right here beside me.

She always stayed with me, handling urgent work beside my sickbed and making up the delayed work later by staying awake all night.

That’s why I have to send her back myself.

“Um… I brought someone back from the Underworld this time. She’s a child who has to return to the living world before the first rooster crows.”

“You brought someone back from the Underworld? You did?”