//------------------------------// // 12- Hell for you -E // Story: The Royal Gamer // by SleepyBear //------------------------------// PAIN TOLERANCE has level up! to level 56 VITALITY +1 After a few days of walking, each day being easier thanks to my constant level up of my pain tolerance. I find myself wandering along a light field tunnel towards a brilliant white light; it’s warmth and beauty pulling me in like a moth. I kept moving forward, vainly trying to reach for the light with my own two hands only to press on with each failure. In mere moments, I was at the end of the tunnel. To my surprise, as I stepped into the light, I found myself overlooking a small town within a cave. However, I didn’t have long to ponder on this strange turn of events as I found a griffin, with noticeably longer wings, standing before me. Said Griffin was currently giving me a rather hard stare, made more unnerving by the fact he was letting off a noticeable glow of dark purple. And it was around this point my screen decided to appear again. Follower of the great - Mao the Demon Lord Ark the Quimera LV-49 HP 12000/12000 MP 55000/55000 CAPITAL SIN: LUST The revelation that my new acquaintance was a demon lord made me hesitant to move towards him. However, current circumstances didn’t give me much luxury to be picky, so guard up and ready, I got closer, earning another glance. “You may be slightly disoriented right now. That will pass with time. As you no doubt have guessed, this is indeed Hell, and as I’m sure you can surmise, that means you are dead.” The griffin took several steps towards me, his eagle-like eyes looking as though they were peering inside him, able to look beyond my body and into my very soul itself. The sensation was cold and unpleasant, like feeling ice pressed against your skin. He continued to stare at me, circling around much like a vulture over a dying animal, “I’m fully aware that you intend to escape from here, hardly a rare occurrence for this place and one that none have succeeded in prior. Fortunately for you, I have received permission from the Demon Lord of this circle to make you an offer. An item of great importance has been stolen, and my lord very much wishes it returned. Thus, If you are able to recover the item, he will let you advance to the next circle.” “Why me exactly? I’ve only been here; I believe a week?” I asked the demon perplexed, more than a little uneasy at such a generous offer. It was Hell, after all. “The disappearance of this item could result in an embarrassment to my lord. What I am offering... what he’s offering you is the opportunity to go to the next circle of Hell for free, why you? That’s something only my lord knows.” The Griffin stated calmy. “And what, I just retrieve this item, and that’s it? It seems a little too simple, especially coming from a demon lord.” I said raising an eyebrow. “Be that as it may, all he asks in return is for you to locate this stolen item and return it to him. You are, of course, free to decline this offer. Of course, doing so would mean the only way you can leave this circle is to defeat my master in battle. As such, most would find this quest the safer choice.” Despite all forms of logic saying this was a bad idea, fighting a demon lord in his home territory also sounded suicidal. It didn’t seem like I had many other options, something the demon seemed to take note of. “Be advised, this mission has no set time limit, so you can take as long as you wish. All my master requires is the item returned and the one who took it dead. He also would prefer you to bring some proof of the thief’s demise, I’m certain his head will do nicely.” “I’m in... but you still haven’t told me what I have to recover,” I was somewhat off-put by the whole “bringing his head back” part of the agreement, but otherwise it seemed simple enough. “Can’t exactly bring back something if I don’t know what it looks like.” “The item is a small golden ring with a demonic rune carved in the middle. It was stolen by a gang of devils and sinners, who fled to the center of this circle, where the vilest of beings are kept.,” The Griffin said before heading to the cave to exit the town, “Be advised, I have no idea what they plan to do with that ring; thus I advise caution. Also, keep in mind….” The demon turned, his eyes glowing a menacing dark purple as dark flames erupted around him, “My master is not one who grants such favors often. If you fail, I assure you your suffering will be legendary, even in Hell.” And with a final flash of fire, he was gone. “Well isn’t that ominous,” I sighed as I started making my way towards my destination, or should I say my doom. And my adventure began...by asking for directions. Yes, it seems that either through ignorance or sadistic pleasure, the demon hadn’t seen fit to tell me how exactly to get to the center of this particular circle of Hell. Thus I’d started by hesitantly asking what demons and sinners I’d come across about what direction to go. It was during this brief stint of gathering information e I noticed that every being I came across had a capital sin in their name, some even having two. ’ I wonder...’ I thought, curious as to what my capital sin was. Jack LV 44 HP 10000/10000 MP 15000/15000 CAPITAL SIN: GREED STATUSES: HELL LAW, THE PAIN OF HELL (30 MIN LEFT). 'Hm, I suppose it’s not completely inaccurate, though I was half expecting it to be Pride or maybe Sloth. Wait, Hell’s Law? What exactly is that?’ I quickly clicked to get more information. HELL LAW AND THE PAIN OF HELL ARE BOTH STATUSES. Purgatory, Hell, Tartarus, no matter what it is called, this is a place of chaos, where mutilated souls and predatory monsters seek prey. The air is scorching hot and freezing cold at the same time, and the earth is toxic, together destroying the flesh and bone of any living being unfortunate enough to find themselves here. The more time you spend without the chains, the more pain you will feel. The fear and suffering for many is so agonizing; many refuse to leave the very spot they entered. Yet this does little to aid them, as time in this place is warped. A single hour in the real world corresponds to a year in Purgatory. Once the soul is sent to this place, the soul gets to curses during its stay, one is beneficial, and the other one isn’t. HELL LAW: Blocks all magic, meaning any external magic is useless. THE PAIN OF HELL IS A MOMENTARY BUFF: This buff helps to deal with the real pain of Hell, controlling and filtering the real deal, this buff only lasts eight days. This buffs only blocks 99% of the pain of Hell and the conditions in it. “I swear I will kill God... that bastard... I will send you to the world of MLP, so you can experience terror in ways humans can’t!” I shouted, getting the attention of every demon in the surrounding area, noticing this, I started to move. At the moment, I had 29 minutes before the buff protecting my body expired, so I ran as quickly as I could ask every demon, monster, and sinner I could find before my time and likely myself expired. Sadly for me, even with the sheer volume of creatures within this circle, I was met with no success, and I could only watch as the last few seconds of my timer ran out. “Shit, this is gonna hurt.” DING! BUFF EXPIRED I had thought in spite of where I was; I could perhaps endure the pain, push past it like I had in the past...how wrong I was. Simply calling this pain would be the grossest of gross simplifications in the history of creation. The sensation was beyond anything I’d ever perceived even in my darkest dreams, my mind unable to even process what was happening. My hands started to liquify, my lungs were boiling with the air, and my feet already melted in the ground. My mind was under such strain I couldn’t even form a thought, focus on anything other than praying I would fade away and let this moment of agony finally cease. Finally, after what seemed like centuries, everything went black, and my mind finally quieted. PAIN TOLERANCE has level up! PAIN TOLERANCE has level up! PAIN TOLERANCE has level up! PAIN TOLERANCE has level up! PAIN TOLERANCE has level up! PAIN TOLERANCE has level up! PAIN TOLERANCE has level up! PAIN TOLERANCE has level up! PAIN TOLERANCE has level up! PAIN TOLERANCE has level up! PAIN TOLERANCE has level up! PAIN TOLERANCE has level up! PAIN TOLERANCE has level up! PAIN TOLERANCE has level up! PAIN TOLERANCE has level up! PAIN TOLERANCE has level up! PAIN TOLERANCE has level up! PAIN THRESHOLD has level up! PAIN THRESHOLD has level up! PAIN THRESHOLD has level up! PAIN THRESHOLD has level up! PAIN THRESHOLD has level up! PAIN THRESHOLD has level up! PAIN THRESHOLD has level up! The first thing I noticed when I woke up was a high ceiling, then the hard and slightly hot floor under me, and finally....the smell of pasta being cooked? It took me a few seconds to realize I was lying on the floor, something I had not been expecting at all. I bolted up in surprise, quickly recalling I’d passed out once my buff had expired. Yet now, that didn’t seem to be the case anymore.tI still felt pain, but it was more akin to a mild muscle ache then feeling as though my body was melting before being violently ripped apart in every direction. Now up and my mind clear again, I finally took notice that I was now standing in what seemed to be someone’s home. The house itself was pretty small, about ten feet across with a sliding door for an entrance. Standing up slowly, I go to the door, sliding it wide open, only to be blinded by the welcome glow of the sun. Outside, to my growing shock, I could see some flowers and animals I’d never seen before. The sounds of birds filled the air, leaving me even more confused that such beauty could be found in Hell of all places. I quickly turned my attention to another door across the room and decided to see what was inside.e. Opening the door, I found another room with a wooden table in the center. Curiously, there was a chessboard along with a still-warm plate full of pasta and ribs atop the table. Despite the obvious red flags, I couldn’t help but stare in delight at how lovely the food looked. It went without saying that food of any kind was nonexistent, so to see such a thing here was like finding a spring of water in the middle of a desert. Yet, I couldn’t forget where I was, a place where the temptation of any kind always led to ruin. Thus I needed to approach with caution. ‘Observe’ I commanded, wanting to see what had changed and, more importantly, any dangers that were nearby. JACK LV 44 HP 25000/25000 MP 15000/15000 new PAIN THRESHOLD LV 251: Pain Threshold is the lowest stimulation that is judged as painful, and is assessed by a series of ascending and descending stimulation intensities, right now you can cut your own arm, and it will feel like cracking a knuckle. new PAIN TOLERANCE LV 561: Pain Tolerance is the maximum level of pain that a being is able to tolerate, right now you tolerate pain 561% better. 'How is this possible, to level up these skills to that level, this is crazy,’ I thought. A shadow appeared behind me, turning around I found It was an old demon man, though most of his body was hidden behind a long black robe, the only thing visible being a short white beard and a pair of glowing blue eyes. Strangely enough, even though I couldn’t see his face, I could tell he was smiling at me. Yet it wasn’t the kind of sinister smile laced with treachery or harm one would expect from a demon; it actually felt welcoming, which was only helped by his friendly tone of voice. “Ah, young man, you are awake!” The old man sat down right in front of the table. “You’re the first one that I’ve seen wake up so soon. Usually, it takes thousands of years to be able to have enough strength just to open your eyes and think straight, but it only took you five! I knew when I picked you that you were a special kind of guy.” Five years, I’ve been unconscious and had my body perpetually torn apart for five years? “It can’t be... I don’t remember.” My head was hurting a lot by just trying to remember. “Give it some time, kid; the memories are repressed for now to help deal with the trauma. You should be grateful you can even speak right now, most lose their minds completely when they wake up. Can’t handle the strain, after all, they’ve been through and just wander around, little more than animals at that point,” The old man said, gesturing to me to sit down and eat. “I know you want to escape, and I can’t do much but give you some advice and tricks,” The old man said with a smirk, “I might be a weak demon in the ladder, but I have lived a long time kiddo,” Reluctantly I sat down and started to eat as I inspected the man and the pasta. Braum the blacksmith HP 450000/450000 MP 25000/25000 This is a Spaghetti bolognese It consists of spaghetti served with a sauce made from tomatoes, minced beef, garlic, wine, and herbs; sometimes minced beef can be replaced by other minced meats.