#2 a little knowledge

Grim had been in the underworld for over a week now, yet he still hadn't found an answer to his question. He still didn't know what kind of life he truly desired. Even so, he continued searching while wandering through this realm. 

During his exploration, Grim had gathered various pieces of information, some useful and some not. One of the things he learned was that the underworld had no sunlight or moonlight. Despite this, the concepts of day and night still applied here. 

The transition between day and night was marked by a bell located not far from the grand palace of the underworld. When the clock struck 12:00, the bell rang four times, signaling that the day had changed—in other words, it rang precisely at midnight. 

Then, at 1:00, the bell rang five times, indicating that it was now daytime. This system allowed all the beings living in the underworld to know when the day had shifted, enabling them to resume their usual activities. Those who needed further confirmation could simply check the time on a clock. 

Despite learning about many aspects of the underworld, Grim still didn't know the name of the woman he had met. He was aware that she was a goddess, yet her name remained a mystery. 

Back when he was alive, Grim had visited churches and studied religion to some extent, but he had never heard of a goddess ruling the underworld. Besides, his interest in religion had never been about faith—he had never truly believed in God. 

From what he knew, God was supposed to be an omnipotent being, someone whose words and actions became reality without question. Grim found such an existence hard to believe. If a being like that truly existed, why would they allow faithless humans to continue living in the world they had created? 

Humans were creatures far more adept at destruction than creation or preservation. If God had created humans to care for the world, wouldn't it have been wiser to make them emotionless? 

Without emotions, humanity's natural greed, destructiveness, and other negative traits wouldn't exist. If that were the case, then the world God had made would be properly maintained, perhaps even resembling paradise. 

Grim had studied religion only to satisfy his curiosity. At the time, he had wondered if believing in God would allow him to feel emotions like other people did. But in the end, no matter how hard he tried, he never truly believed in God—not even to this day. 

Now, Grim was once again wandering through the underworld. He saw various forms of life—some were demigods, some resembled monsters, others looked like humans with animalistic features, and some appeared human but had partially decayed bodies. 

However, what intrigued him the most was a bridge made of wooden planks tied together with rope. Within a 50-meter radius of the bridge, there were no buildings at all. 

"She's still there, huh?" 

Grim's eyes landed on a young woman with long, flowing blonde hair standing near the bridge. He had first noticed her when he passed by this place with Hingel a week ago. 

As far as Grim could tell, she hadn't moved from that spot even once. If his assumption was correct, then she had been standing there for a long time, staring blankly into the distance. 

Curious, Grim walked toward the bridge. As he got closer, he noticed that some people occasionally crossed it. 

Once he reached the bridge, Grim placed his hand on its railing. He wondered where it led. His curiosity sparked a faint urge deep within him—a quiet voice whispering that he should cross it. 

Yet, the urge was weak. It wasn't strong enough to compel him. Instead, he simply gazed at the path ahead. However, no matter how hard he looked, he couldn't see the bridge's end. 

"That is..."

"Hmm?" 

Grim was slightly startled. The woman had suddenly spoken. Despite her words, she remained motionless, her gaze still fixed downward with empty eyes. 

"That is the path to the first trial."

"A trial?"

This was the first time Grim had heard of such a thing. Although he had gathered a fair amount of knowledge about the underworld, no one had ever mentioned a trial. 

Was discussing it forbidden? 

And if this was the first trial, that meant there were more beyond it. 

"How long have you been in the underworld?" the woman asked softly. 

"About a week."

"I see. Then it's not strange that you don't know about it."

Slowly, she lifted her head and looked at him. 

Her crimson-red eyes, void of emotion, locked onto his. If Grim were to be honest, those eyes didn't suit such an empty gaze. They were the kind of eyes that would belong to a cheerful girl. 

However, her stare didn't unsettle him. Grim understood that, despite the emptiness in her eyes, deep within her, she was searching for something—just as he was. 

He glanced down at her feet. 

The ground beneath them had a shallow indentation, only a few centimeters deep. 

Just as he had suspected, she hadn't moved from that spot at all. 

And yet, despite standing in the same place for so long, her body remained perfectly clean.