Why Men Have Shorter Lifespans
The goddess Thetis.
As the greatest beauty among the Nereids—the very one who set the hearts of countless male gods aflutter in the original myths—she possessed a beauty that far transcended any mortal woman I had ever seen in my past life.
And yet...
To be completely honest, looking at her right now, I didn't feel even a flicker of excitement at seeing such a beauty.
Part of it was because I was a true alpha male who didn't easily flutter for women... but there was a much bigger reason.
"So, what brings you here today?"
"Do I need a reason to visit? I just came to hang out."
"My forge is not a playground."
"There are so many toys here! If this isn't a playground, then what is?"
"Haa..."
I couldn't help but sigh as usual at her words, accompanied by the rhythmic clicking sound of her twisting a Rubik's Cube.
Ever since I began being raised by Eurynome, I had seen Thetis almost every single day.
Though they were technically aunt and niece, Eurynome and Thetis felt more like mother and daughter. Naturally, that led to me and Thetis treating each other like real siblings.
And the result of that?
"Hey, don't you have anything else besides this? That Jenga game you had before was fun. Let's play that instead."
"I still have a lot of work to do."
"Ah-ah! Didn't you say listening when an elder speaks is basic manners? If you keep acting up, I'll flood your forge with seawater!"
"...Haa."
Lady Thetis had officially reached the level of a real-life annoying older sister.
Over the past three years of living together, I had occasionally shared stories containing the Three Bonds and Five Relations—the ideological foundation of my past life as a Korean alpha male.
I had told her those stories hoping that, in this chaotic world, her young mind might grow up with proper morals and discipline.
Yet, the very sword I handed her had become a self-inflicted disaster, now being used by Lady Thetis as a handy tool to nag and badger me.
Besides, a true alpha male naturally had a slight weakness when dealing with an older sister figure.
"Ah... wait. This one's stuck..."
"No switching."
"Come on, just this once..."
"Rules are rules."
"Th-then can I at least use divine power?"
"No."
"Ughhhhh..."
Clatter!
And so, while playing the Jenga game I brought out at Thetis's persistent nagging... err, request.
I suddenly remembered something and asked her as she slumped beside the collapsed Jenga tower.
"Lady Thetis, are your preparations going well?"
"Preparations? What preparations?"
"...Did you forget? There's less than a week left."
"A week?... Ah."
At that moment, a look of belated realization washed over Thetis's face.
Having expected this reaction to some extent, I let out a deep sigh.
"Didn't you say so yourself? That you were going to prepare a grand gift for Lady Eurynome's birthday this time?"
"Uh... um... th-that's right. O-of course I remembered."
"So, where is it?"
"I only... remembered it."
"...Haa."
Watching Thetis stammer out her excuse, I let out another heavy sigh.
And what came next was exactly as I predicted...
"Hey... little brother?"
"No."
"Aww, don't be like that~"
Thetis began acting cute, even putting on a nasal, whining voice.
Combined with her breathtaking beauty, her aegyo possessed a destructive force powerful enough to make any other man hand over his very heart on the spot...
Unfortunately for her, she picked the wrong opponent.
A true alpha male does not sway for a woman's cute act.
In fact, given that I viewed her as an annoying older sister, her display had quite the opposite effect.
"Gross. Get away from me."
My firm rejection cut her off cold.
For a split second, Thetis's face froze solid...
However, she was not an older sister who would back down so easily.
"Waaaaah! Little brother! Please don't be like this! Save your big sister just this once!"
The nagging goddess from moments ago was nowhere to be found; instead, she grabbed onto my forearm and began begging pathetically.
Watching her swiftly throw her dignity as a goddess into the trash bin, I had no choice but to yield, just as I always did.
While an alpha male was immune to cute acts, giving in to a woman's tears was also part of the alpha male code.
"...Fine."
"Really? Thank you, Hephaestus~!"
With those words, Thetis pulled my head into a tight hug against her chest, which had grown quite voluptuous, much like Eurynome's.
It was skinship a bit too intense to be considered a simple gesture of gratitude, but as a true alpha male, I remained completely unfazed... ahem... and calmly pulled her away.
"That's enough. We don't have much time, so we need to start preparing right away."
"Chee... Fine. So, what do I need to do?"
Thetis asked curiously.
In response, I stood up and brought over the jar I had been working on until moments ago.
"What is... this?"
"This is the birthday gift I prepared for Mother."
With those words, I reached into the jar and pulled out the object inside.
Immediately...
"...! Wow..."
A gasp of genuine admiration escaped her lips.
Watching her reaction, I suppressed a smirk and carefully placed the object into her hands.
It was an orb about the size of a duck egg, glowing with a soft blue light as if it held the ocean itself inside.
The raw material was alumina (Al₂O₃)—sapphire—which I had obtained earlier with Thetis's help.
However, during the crafting process, I had used divine power to carve out the shape of the sea from within, then teleported liquefied pearls and various other minerals into the cavity...
Simply put, it was an item completed literally through divine power, completely inexplicable by modern science.
A gem that served as the culmination of Hephaestus's transcendent divine authority, my modern knowledge of minerals, and a deep understanding of blacksmithing.
I bestowed the following name upon this precious treasure:
Europearl.
A gem crafted in the image of its sole worthy owner—the 'Mother' who had embraced me for the past three years.
This was my token of gratitude and birthday present for her...
Unfortunately, while it was complete as a gemstone, it was still incomplete as a gift.
"It's so pretty, and it's still not finished?"
"Indeed. As the old saying goes, 'Even three bushels of pearls are worthless until strung together.' No matter how beautiful a gem is, it cannot be considered complete until it is crafted into jewelry."
"I've never heard such an old saying before... but mm, I get what you mean."
"I need to craft this into jewelry, which requires additional materials. Just like with the raw sapphire, I would like you to help me acquire them, Sister."
"Oh... So you're saying we can present this as a gift made by both of us together, right?"
"Precisely. It is far better than preparing something half-baked on your own."
"Great! I accept!"
Thetis readily accepted my proposal for 'co-authorship.'
As expected of a sea goddess, she knew exactly what lay buried beneath the vast ocean floor. With her help, I could easily obtain rare materials not found on Lemnos Island, just as I had with the sapphire.
Of course, I had calculated all of this from the very beginning, but wasn't this truly a win-win situation for both brother and sister?
"I think I can gather the stones you mentioned in about two days."
"That is a relief."
"Ah, speaking of stones reminds me—I heard a rumor recently that massive sea foam has been churning in the southern sea."
"Could it be a volcano?"
An underwater volcanic eruption was naturally a dangerous disaster, but to me—the god of blacksmiths and volcanoes—it was nothing more than a rich farming spot.
Unlike Lemnos Island, whose volcanic activity was rather pathetic, magma spewing from the deep sea allowed me to extract various precious metals on the spot using my divine power.
As I showed interest, Thetis spoke with a hint of uncertainty.
"It might be, but we'll have to go check it out. My brother knows more about that area than I do."
"Nerites..."
Thetis's older brother and the only son born to the goddess Doris.
Recalling a familiar face, I let out a wry smile to myself.
Anatolia... the sea near Cyprus Island, located south of modern-day Turkey.
Backed by the divine authority of my companion, Thetis, I swam rapidly across the waters and encountered the 'god' I was looking for much sooner than expected.
"What is it, Thetis? Why so sudden...? Hephaestus!"
"..."
The moment he saw my face, Nerites rushed toward me with an intense reaction, unable to process the sudden turn of events.
To be honest, he was such a minor deity that I hadn't even known he existed in my past life, but to the current me, this handsome god was someone who made me feel slightly uncomfortable.
"Long time no see, brother! Have you been well?"
"Yes."
"I was actually planning to visit you, but Father has been piling so many chores on me lately. Out of nowhere, he tells me to maintain the chariot, polish the spears... Why does he nag so much?"
"That is unfortunate."
Nerites stuck close to my side, enthusiastically showing his affection.
With his pretty-boy looks resembling a gigolo, having him cling to me so burdensomely drained my energy as an alpha male in more ways than one.
In his own way, having grown up without brothers, he was probably just expressing friendliness toward me as a younger brother figure... right?
Given how rampant 'comradeship' was in original Greek mythology, I couldn't be entirely at ease.
Regardless, I knew exactly how to handle him, just as I did with Thetis.
"Take this."
"Oh! What's this? It looks so unique!"
"It is called a pinwheel. If you blow on it or hold it while moving forward, it spins on its own."
"Ooh!"
Nerites swam around holding the pinwheel, his eyes sparkling with wonder.
Seeing a handsome youth whose looks rivaled top celebrities get so thrilled over a simple pinwheel was a sight that crossed from bizarre to almost pitiful from a modern perspective.
Yet, in this ancient Greek mythological world devoid of entertainment, even something like this was bound to be treated as a rare treasure.
Setting aside how burdensome he was on a personal level, seeing Nerites genuinely rejoice over something I crafted gave me a small sense of pride.
"I feel this every time, but my little brother is truly amazing. You're so much younger than me, so how do you come up with ideas to make things like this?"
"Fufu. You only realized that now? Do you have any idea how incredible our Hephaestus is?"
For some reason, Thetis looked even prouder than I did.
Regardless, responding to Nerites's genuine enthusiasm, I offered him a gesture of goodwill in my own way.
"Next time you visit Lemnos, I will show you something even more entertaining. There are many games that can only be enjoyed on land."
"Really? I'll be looking forward to it!"
Nerites spoke with sparkling eyes.
Meanwhile, Thetis shot him a strangely sharp glare.
Feeling slightly puzzled by her rapidly shifting reactions, I followed Nerites's guidance toward the foamy area in question.
"Is it here?"
"Yeah. Sea foam suddenly started churning heavily a while ago, but since I didn't know what might be inside, I haven't approached it recklessly."
It was a location not far from where I met Nerites.
Looking at the place where foam was surging up excessively, just as described, I first activated my divine authority as the god of volcanoes.
And then...
"...It is not a volcano."
"Huh? It's not?"
"No. However..."
Unfortunately, I felt neither the heat nor the intense flow of energy I had anticipated.
Yet, apart from that, I could sense that something extraordinary existed inside that thick foam.
Something possessing an unusual power...
"W-Wait, Hephaestus!"
"Wait here."
"B-But it might be dangerous..."
"I will be right back."
Leaving Thetis's worries behind, I dove deeper into the sea.
At the center of the foamy barrier, something was softly resonating with the divine authority I radiated.
Anyone else might have approached with caution...
However, a true alpha male must forge ahead without hesitation, even in situations that explain why men have shorter life expectancies.
Driven by curiosity, I pushed forward through the foam.
The closer I got, the clearer the resonance became.
An alien yet strangely familiar presence finally stood right before me.
I reached out and peeled away the final barrier of foam as if parting flower petals.
Then...
Whoosh!
"!"
In an instant, the foam vanished like clouds clearing away.
And the scene that unfolded before my eyes...
Standing before me, without a single thread of clothing on...
...A woman?