The First Day of Eternity
Day 1. I must imagine Sisyphus happy. This isn't some philosophical musing or a joke meant to elicit a laugh. I mean it literally. Because I am Sisyphus. And right now, I am facing the greatest crisis of my life, one that goes far beyond mere misfortune.
No one dislikes a windfall of money. Everyone would want to be struck by that kind of luck at least once. But I can say with absolute certainty: if the opportunity ever arises, you must avoid a literal "thunderbolt" of money at all costs. If you get struck by lightning, you die. It hurts enough to kill you.
"Gah, huff..."
"Are you finally coming to? It seems you no longer have the strength to wag that boastful tongue of yours, Sisyphus."
The rugged, handsome middle-aged man with golden hair standing before me shouted, his eyes flashing with a murderous glint. In his hand, a lightning bolt crackled, the same one he had been raining down upon me. Sisyphus—that is my name. The name of a pathetic human, neither god nor hero, possessing no special abilities. My limbs were bound by ropes made of golden ram’s wool, rendering me unable to move an inch. I had lost track of how many days or weeks I had been subjected to this torture under the guise of punishment.
"The fellow has finally gone quiet; he’s quite a sight to behold now."
"No matter how much he flailed about, he is, in the end, nothing more than an ordinary human."
"The crime of mocking the Twelve Olympians must be answered for with certainty."
It wasn't just the man holding the lightning. Twelve men and women sat upon thrones, surrounding me. Their faces were filled with various negative emotions: rage, contempt, and mockery. The place where I stood was a palace lined with marble pillars, and catching glimpses of clouds between them, I gathered this must be the heavens. Yes, this is the age of myth, where gods live and breathe alongside humans. Ancient Greece, the backdrop of Greek and Roman mythology, was the era I lived in.
"Don't pretend to be unconscious. You cannot deceive the eyes of a god, Sisyphus!"
CRACK! A lightning bolt struck above my head once again. Agonizing pain engulfed my body. My vision flickered, and so did the synapses of my brain cells. The golden-haired man who had been smiling leisurely while striking me with lightning since earlier—he was the pinnacle of the Greek pantheon, the King of Olympus, Zeus.
'My memories are in chaos.' Perhaps it was because I had been subjected to all sorts of torture without even being allowed the mercy of death, but my mind was a jumbled mess. I had clearly spent twenty years of my life as Sisyphus. In this era where gods dictate human fate and trample upon lives, I had lived as diligently as I could just to survive. But...
'It’s not... a delusion. I am definitely...'
I had been reincarnated. I clearly remembered the civilization of the era called the modern age, the Republic of Korea. It wasn't a delusion or a fantasy. I had some knowledge of Greek and Roman mythology—not perfectly, but enough. In my childhood, there were hit comic books that every household owned, and I remember reading them until I lost track of time.
'I, Sisyphus, am the human who was punished for mocking the gods with my cunning eloquence.'
I snapped to attention. The content of that punishment was terrifying.
'Sisyphus is punished for his sins by being forced to roll a heavy boulder up to the top of a mountain for eternity.'
Once you push the boulder to the summit, it rolls down the other side, forcing you to start all over again. It is a punishment that continues infinitely. There isn't even a conclusion where Sisyphus is liberated. This is what is about to happen to me right now. Could there be any future more horrific than this?
'...Absolutely not.'
I had caused quite a serious incident, yes. But if one were to weigh the responsibility, it wasn't entirely my fault. I could state with absolute certainty that I did not deserve a punishment of eternal suffering. 'From the start, something is wrong.'
I thought back on the life I had lived, the history I had heard, and the state of the world. There was a significant discrepancy from the original Greek myths. My own life had quite a few differences from the original story of Sisyphus, and this world had a level of civilization closer to the Middle Ages than to antiquity.
'Could the life I lived after being reincarnated be... not the past of my world or within the myths?'
Is this a world inside a reinterpreted game or novel? Based on the clues, that was highly likely. The world of the original Greek myths was relatively peaceful, but the earth I actually lived on had no day of rest due to the invasion of demonic beasts and wars between territories.
'Anyway, I have to escape this situation first.' If I just stay here, I will be sentenced to the punishment of rolling stones for eternity. I unbent my knees and slowly stood up. My trembling legs almost gave way.
"You still had strength left?"
"Hahaha! A fine spirit indeed."
These were the Twelve Gods who had tortured me to the point where it wouldn't be strange if a person had died a hundred times over just to shift the blame. I wanted to jump out right now and punch those mocking faces, but before a god, a human is no different from a bug. I had to bow my head with difficulty to show respect.
"I offer my greetings once again to the great master of Olympus. Sisyphus, son of Aeolus Hippotes, as a wretched sinner, I humbly request a review for the verdict before the Twelve Gods once more."
"Did you say a review?"
THUD! A god slammed his armrest with overwhelming intimidation at my request. It was Hades, the God of the Dead. "Zeus, my brother. You don't intend to let that detestable human wag his tongue again, do you? He deceived me twice with that three-inch tongue of his. I advise you to pull out his tongue right now."
Hades held a great deal of malice toward me. The reason I was called here had much to do with him. "The verdict is already decided anyway. Why not listen to what he has to say?" A woman with elegant hand gestures spoke. It was Hera, the Goddess of Marriage. As Zeus's legal wife and the second-in-command of the Olympian palace, her voice carried significant weight. However, Hera wasn't showing mercy; she was just looking to play with me. Thinking back to the torture, that woman was clearly a supreme sadist. Hades, perhaps displeased with Hera's suggestion, quietly radiated hatred.
"Sisyphus. First, you committed the grave crime of kidnapping and binding my messenger. With that silver tongue, you lured the messenger and locked him in your polis. During the time the messenger was gone, death disappeared from the world, and the 'Ten Days of Immortality' occurred."
"It was a major incident."
"People couldn't die in war, so nothing could be done!"
"Even the threads of fate were all tangled up."
The other gods chimed in. "Even in my underworld, the souls of the dead could not be found. This sin cannot be repaid with the life of a single human."
That was my first ill-fated connection with Hades. There was an incident where the messenger who reaps souls stayed in my territory. "As I said then, the truth is different. I did not bind the messenger. My family, whose time to die had not yet come, was written in the register, which caused a problem, and the messenger, expressing his dissatisfaction, declared a strike."
"In any case, it is true that you were keeping the messenger, is it not?"
"That is true, but it was the messenger's choice to stay in my polis for sightseeing. He is a great god, after all; I could not simply turn him away without hospitality, could I?"
That was the truth. The messenger had a falling out with Hades and declared a strike, and I merely hosted him during that period. "The cause of the incident lies in the underworld. The unreasonable work the underworld had been imposing on the messenger accumulated and finally exploded. I made a choice to protect my family."
The responsibility for that incident lay entirely with Hades, not me. I couldn't say that directly, so I alluded to it by mentioning the underworld. Hades couldn't refute my statement, but perhaps feeling humiliated, his eyes glowed even brighter.
"...However, secondly, when I called you to the underworld to hold you accountable for that, you deceived me and returned to the mortal realm."
"If I had stayed still, you would have taken my life, wouldn't you?"
"That is... a matter of course."
"It is not a matter of course. I have not yet met my fated death. Furthermore, the Ten Days of Immortality incident is not something I should be held responsible for. You must find the cause in the underworld."
"......"
Because I spoke rationally, Hades could not answer. "I am a lord responsible for one territory—a polis. As Hades, the King of the Underworld, you are responsible for the underworld, so do you not understand the sense of responsibility?"
"...This fellow still wags his tongue like that. Zeus, this is why I said to pull out his tongue."
Perhaps having nothing left to say, Hades requested it of Zeus. Zeus is the pinnacle of Olympus and holds the strongest voice. The only thing I could hope for now was his reasonable judgment.
"I clearly understand the sequence of events. Hades, my brother, and Sisyphus, son of Aeolus. I shall pass judgment on your crimes."
RUMBLE! Thunder struck from a clear sky. "For the crime of disturbing the underworld and deceiving the gods, Sisyphus shall be sentenced to the punishment of rolling a boulder up to the summit of a mountain in Tartarus for eternity!"
What? For a moment, I doubted my ears. Did he just ignore the conversation with Hades? "Lord Zeus, please wait a moment. That punishment is too harsh!"
"Harsh? Gods of Olympus, if you deem my judgment reasonable, raise your hands."
One, two, ten—hands went up. "The will of all is in agreement. The punishment shall be executed. Sisyphus, you shall be trapped in the time prison of Chronos. You shall not be liberated until you push the boulder to the summit."
"I cannot accept this. I only acted to protect my family, to survive. I did not directly harm anyone! Why must I receive such a punishment for the rest of my life?"
Zeus chuckled lightly, as if my question were laughable. "You are mistaken, Sisyphus."
"Mistaken, you say?"
"Reason only applies among gods. You are but a human."
Poke. Zeus poked my solar plexus with his index finger. For a moment, I felt a pressure difference akin to that between a child and an adult. "Humans are merely to be consumed for the gods' amusement. Your crime of displeasing the gods is very great."
"...What."
Zeus might be right. I had been mistaken all this time. The huge mistake of thinking that if I talked reasonably and rationally, they might understand. In this era, there was no such thing as human rights or fairness. The intensity of the punishment, the price—everything was decided by the gods' whims. When they kidnapped a person living a normal life and started with torture, the answer was already decided. Was it because my modern memories returned that I had the expectation of having a conversation like a human with these beast-like creatures? From the start, isn't Zeus himself a criminal who goes around raping other people's wives even though he has a wife, by modern standards?
"I'm getting bored. Let's drop him now." Zeus smiled handsomely, mocking me. "Hey." While he turned his head for a moment—THUMP! I threw a headbutt with all my remaining strength. It was a strike that hit Zeus's nose squarely. I thought I'd treat a beast like a beast, and I wanted to land one good hit, but...
"Hahaha, look at this fellow. A chick, isn't he!"
I couldn't even deal a sliver of damage; I only invited Zeus's ridicule. The laughter grew. It was the sound of other gods mocking me. I didn't know if blood was flowing because my head had cracked, but my vision was stained red. I don't remember much after that. After being beaten by Zeus a few times and losing consciousness, when I came to, I was a mess.
"End it here." Zeus stepped on my head into the ground and turned his body. When he lifted his golden cup, wine filled it on its own. Snap. As Hades snapped his fingers, my body was sucked somewhere. It was like falling freely through an infinite tunnel.
"Gah." My body suffered the impact of being shattered to pieces. When I finally came to my senses and stood up...
"...Whew." Before my eyes was a mountain, high and steep. A peak that couldn't even be seen, hidden by clouds. On the slope, all sorts of obstacles were maliciously designed to make a person fall. And above all else.
"...This damn thing."
It couldn't even be called a boulder. A pure circle shape that looked like it would roll down to the starting point without any resistance if placed on a slope. A neat sphere. A three-meter-diameter rock was sitting on an altar, waiting for me.
"There's a limit to how malicious one can be."
The surface was so smooth that one wouldn't even know the physical law of friction existed. It was polished enough to reflect my face in the shining sunlight. Even a bowling ball would roll less than this. The face of the golden-haired middle-aged man who had sneered and snorted at me flickered in my mind.
"That son of a bitch."
My stubbornness flared up. "So you're telling me to push this all the way to the top."
A dry laugh escaped me. Perhaps it was because of the defiance. "Hup." I blindly put my hands on the rock and pushed.
Strength has increased by 1.