It took 100,000 years to set the framework of Hell and make it function without my constant intervention.
But the problem was that there were still 900,000 years left before the original story began.
Shall I be honest? I just wanted to close my eyes, get myself sealed somewhere, and ask someone to wake me up in 900,000 years.
Human beings find a single year long enough, but 1,000,000 years? The sheer scale of that number is f*cking ridiculous.
Still, after passing the 100,000-year mark, spans of 10 or 100 years started to feel like a joke.
While that's an unfathomable amount of time for a normal human, to me, it felt like no more than a day or two.
That‘s probably proof that my sense of time has been completely shattered.
I blinked blankly, let out a long yawn, and smacked my lips.
"Maybe I worked too hard..."
Currently, Hell is about 90 percent complete.
First off, the 26 sectors—including the courts of the Ten Kings and the combined Eight Cold and Eight Hot Hells—are fully operational. I‘ve even finished the Nether King Palace and the Pure Spirit Hall, so all they need now are people.
The Pure Spirit Hall, in particular, felt like playing The Sims or Minecraft while I was building it, so I put quite a bit of effort into it.
I dug waterways with pickaxes and shovels, cut and refined wood to erect wooden buildings one by one...
But once I finished, putting aside the sense of pride, it looked like a total mess.
The waterways I had worked so hard to create were flowing with lethal toxins from the Hell Trees instead of water, and the wooden buildings stood like hollow eyesores because there were no inhabitants.
Of course, with Kagaya‘s help, the river of toxins became a real river, and the wooden structures crumbled to become fertilizer for the garden where flowers eventually bloomed. It looked more like a paradise than Hell... but it felt a bit hollow.
So, for the Nether King Palace I built next, I just threw it together.
It was barely the size of a one-room studio. Just a bit larger than the hut Nimaiya lived in.
Thus, it was smaller than the palaces of Jomon, Shiryu, Rasatsu, Myoren, and the other Ten Kings.
Despite the grand name of 'Nether King Palace,' it ended up with the title of the smallest building in Hell.
The Ten Kings would complain, saying, 'How does it make sense for the Nether King's palace, the de facto master of Hell, to be smaller than our halls?' and urged me to expand it. But since I live there alone, I didn't see the point and just left it as is.
'It's not like I care about that stuff anyway.'
Besides, I have to do all the cleaning myself. Making it pointlessly large would just increase my chores.
I'd have to be insane to do that to myself.
Anyway, having finished all the tasks, I had nothing left to do.
'So, what now?'
I dunno.
So, I‘ve been doing absolutely nothing.
Unless someone visits, I just lie down all day and blink my eyes.
To a stranger, I‘d probably look like a patient with total paralysis.
Of course, it‘s not just because I hate working or because I'm lazy.
It‘s just that burnout finally hit me after working so hard for 100,000 years.
To be perfectly honest, if you had to pick the five hardest-working people over these last 100,000 years, I am certain I‘d be on that list. Truly.
"Haa..."
You might think the busiest beings in Hell would be the Ten Kings who judge the sinners?
Not at all. Surprisingly, the Ten Kings are quite leisurely.
Because it's the Kushanada, not the Ten Kings, who actually punish the sinners.
The Ten Kings are only briefly busy processing the incoming workload; if anyone is truly busy, it's the Kushanada.
Then again, the Kushanada are effectively inanimate, so they probably don't even know if they're busy or not.
I yawned deeply, my mind drifting through an endless sea of thoughts as I blinked my eyes open and shut.
Lately, every day has been like this.
Lying down and doing nothing, thinking about how the world is turning, grumbling if some work actually pops up, and tending the garden at the Pure Spirit Hall. That's about it.
"Are you busy doing nothing again today?"
At the sound of the door opening, I turned my head and met the eyes of Jomon, who was entering my one-room Nether King Palace.
Because it was a face I saw every day, I immediately scowled.
"Ugh, I'm sick of you."
"Shouldn't you be used to it by now?"
"I'm past being used to it; I'm sick of it. You've lived for 100,000 years, so go get reincarnated already, kid. You and those other three... shouldn't you be taking off your Ten Kings' hats after 100,000 years?"
Even presidents get impeached or shot after three or five terms, but what kind of crazy bastards serve ten consecutive terms? Wait, more like a thousand.
"What can we do when there's no talent fit to succeed us? It's not like we can just pluck a successor from the Soul Society."
"You can if there's someone worth bringing over, you know?"
"How could I have the audacity to do that?"
Well, I guess those 100,000 years weren't a total waste of time for him.
I nodded and stood up, cracking my neck from side to side.
"So, why are you here today? If it's to pester me about expanding the palace again, go home. I'm not doing it."
Ugh, listen to my neck. That's nasty.
"I don't even hope for that anymore. If a ten-thousand-year persuasion didn't work, I should just give up."
The way he sighed and shook his head was very reminiscent of Shiryu. Even a guy who didn't hesitate to murder for his own ends changes after 100,000 years.
"Then what is it?"
"I've come today because a civilian complaint has been filed from the Soul Society."
Wait, did I hear that right?
"Why are they filing a complaint with Hell?"
Hell isn't a community center. Why are there 'complaints'?
Seeing my puzzled expression, Jomon let out a deep sigh and continued.
"Technically, it's not a complaint against Hell, but one addressed directly to the Nether King."
"Me? Why? I haven't even gone out lately because I've been busy with the garden."
"It's a complaint that‘s been building for a long time. Well, rather than a complaint... it's more like a plea, or a prayer. Here, see for yourself."
Jomon held up the Johari, the Mirror of Karma he had brought along.
The mirror reflected a scene from the Soul Society—specifically, the spot I used every time I broke the boundary of Hell to leave.
There, a considerable number of people had gathered and were performing a ritual sacrifice.
While I watched, wondering what was going on, several people suddenly collapsed, vomiting blood.
The people nearby dragged the collapsed ones away, and the scene in the mirror faded.
"What was that?"
"They say it's a ritual to purify land contaminated by the miasma of Hell. Those vomiting blood are the ones who couldn't withstand the toxins."
"I could see that much. What I‘m curious about is why those idiots are doing that there. No one used to live in that area."
You might be mistaken because people are gathered there now, but that‘s a craggy mountain made of nothing but rock, with such steep terrain that people rarely visited.
I‘m certain that back when I was coming and going for blacksmithing business, I never saw even a shadow of a person there.
"That was in the past. As the population in the Soul Society grew, that area became known as the Eastern Rukongai. All of it, except for that specific mountain."
"And those guys performing the ritual are trying to use that mountain now?"
"Yes. But the miasma of Hell is no ordinary poison. They‘ve been performing rituals for decades, but the toxicity won't subside, and those who settle nearby keep dying. It's reached the point where people fear to even go near it, calling it Osorezan—the Mountain of Fear."
"Haa..."
Population growth... I didn't think about that.
Wait a minute. Does the population really increase that rapidly?
Of course, looking at how the human population exploded after industrialization, a sudden increase isn't exactly strange. But this isn't the Human Realm; it's the Soul Society.
It‘s a place where 'souls' who died in the World of the Living come.
A sudden spike in the Soul Society's population means that something has happened in the Human Realm.
"Did something happen in the World of the Living?"
"A devastating, severe famine has struck. It's gotten to the point where some are boiling and eating their own infants."
He spoke calmly, but the content was horrifying.
"What about the Balance? Isn't the Balance totally wrecked right now?"
"Because the Six Realms of Reincarnation house souls not only in humans but in other creatures as well, there's no issue with the Balance itself. This too is thanks to you, Nether King."
"Stop trying to flatter me."
"It is simply the truth."
I might deserve some credit for the idea, but saying it's all 'thanks to me' is a bit much.
Not that he‘d listen if I said so.
"Well, fine, if there‘s no issue, then whatever... so, what are you suggesting?"
"We intend to create a gate that connects to Hell."
"Oh, right. I completely forgot about making the Hell Gates."
I'd been thinking about making Hell Gates for ages, but since I was the only one leaving Hell, and it was easier just to break the boundary whenever I wanted, I had totally spaced it out.
You might wonder how I could forget for 100,000 years, but when smashing through dimensional boundaries becomes your daily routine, you eventually forget that there‘s a proper way to do things.
"So what are you asking me to do?"
"Please stop the humans from approaching Osorezan. While we build the gates to Hell there, we will also eliminate the surrounding miasma."
"So you want me to pull guard duty."
"Yes. Rather than just lying around with nothing to do, wouldn't it be better to get some fresh air?"
"Are you judging me for lying down all day?"
"I think you know the answer to that better than anyone."
This little brat‘s attitude...
I looked at Jomon with half-lidded eyes, wondering if I should smack him, then I smirked.
The concern reflecting in Jomon‘s face made me laugh despite myself.
"Are you actually worried about your master now?"
"It would be most troublesome for us if our master were to lose his mind to depression."
"If you're worried, just say you're worried. Why be so dishonest?"
"Yes, let's go with that."
He let out a long sigh, and I chuckled, patting him on the shoulder.
"Disgusting, you little bastard."
"Haaa... I knew you'd say that. That's why I didn't say it."
"Ugh, gives me goosebumps. Anyway, I‘m off. Don‘t slack off just because I'm not here."
"Yes. If you wait at Osorezan, I will send our people shortly."
"Yeah, yeah."
I gave a half-hearted wave and punched a hole in the air, stepping out into the Soul Society.
It was my first outing in roughly 40,000 years.
"H-He appeared...!"
Oh, right.
Those guys hadn't left yet.