The boy stepped back, trying to run away from the shinigami. As the shinigami looked at him with amuse.
"W-who are you?! What is this?!"
The boy shouted while backing away.
"A priceless boon, the greatest and most divine existence in the world."
Shinigami pointed at the book.
"Divine or Cursed, you undead bastard of the hell?"
Suddenly a voice whispered.
The boy backed away from the Shinigami, unknown to the truck that was waiting for him to take a step on the road.
And the boy did take the step, the moment that happened, however, a beep from a truck came from behind the boy.
*Crash*
...
..
.
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me?!"
The boy shouts in terror as he realized he has transmigrated into a fantasy world.
Sadly, the reality is that he died and went to hell, not the fantasy world everyone was expecting, the end.
...
..
.
However, that was not the end of his story.
*Ding*
[System welcomes host to Hell System]
"What the fu-" The boy muttered as he read the descriptions of the system
It turned out, he had gained a system called the Hell system.
He had the power to enter and exit hell at will, and to banish others there. He quickly dismissed the text that appeared in his sight by tapping the 'X' icon. Then he selected the option to return to earth from a menu and pressed it without hesitation.
He had the opportunity to realize his twisted dream of snatching the bully's girlfriend away from him. He had already devised a scheme for how to exploit his power. He would force her to love him against her will, …or rather, he would break her spirit and turn her into his obedient slave.
But little did he know that by pressing the x icon he had chosen to stay in hell.
Marco was shocked to find out that he couldn't leave anymore.
'Huh. what went wrong?' he thought to himself. 'A minute ago I just read that I could come and go at will. Did I imagine that?'
He was genuinely perplexed that the system wasn't working anymore. Or did he imagine the system too? He must have hit his head hard. There is no way he is walking freely in hell. There is no way he died. The freaking Corona Virus couldn't kill him even though he got it three times, how could he just die that easily getting hit by a truck?
Nah, he must be still dreaming. He couldn't remember anything except seeing a truck so maybe he's just still in his bed.
Marco shook his head trying to imagine a better future for himself. All around him lay acres and acres of land filled with lava and human bones. But the land he was standing on was lava too. He realized that his feet weren't getting burnt.
'Well, that's good, I can sell feet pics once I get up from this damn dream. Maybe that was the purpose of this dream! To make me realize I've nice feet and I don't need to worry about bills anymore...
With a smile tugging at his lips, Marco started walking. He walked for a long time aimlessly, hoping to wake up but realization started to creep up to him. All around him, he saw no familiar face, no resemblance of any of his day-to-day life. Just a hell space filled with bones of various once-lived species and lava-filled ground with a bad stench from something he couldn't identify. So, he did the last thing he could do and that was trying to sleep in the hope of waking up.
But suddenly he heard a ping that made him sharply lookup
[Hell system reloading...]
[Hell system malfunctions due to electromagnetic field interference from other systems. Since the user's level is too low, other systems suck up the current user's energy.]
*Beep*
(Short-Term Quest)
[Task 1: Avoid all the other electromagnetic fields for 3 days]
Reward: Safe Zone Field
(Long Term Quest)
[Task 2: Build a suitable hell space within 5 years]
Reward: Bloodline Evolution
(Main Quest)
[Task 3: Become the king of the underworld]
Reward: Able to go back to Earth and come to Underworld at any time
'Whatttt?!'
Marco couldn't believe his eyes. His brain was functioning on his last two brain cells as it was. Now, what is this crap his dream was spewing?
There should be a limit to the crap a dream could produce and what is this "Become a King of the Underworld" thingy? He should become the King of the Underworld for what? There is no soul, no breathing body around. Is he supposed to play pretend right now?
He bitterly laughed to himself. He couldn't believe the audacity.
"I'm not alive anymore, am I?" He said out loud, then abruptly stopped laughing.
"No, it can't be." he muttered silently
Suddenly, he started slapping himself and resorted to punching, pinching, and biting himself. But no matter what he did, he wouldn't wake up, and he also felt pain, a lot of pain from doing that.
He now knew for sure that he was really dead because he could never hurt himself or feel pain in a dream before.
With nothing better to do, he commanded the system to appear, and it materialized as a blue hologram in front of him once again.
He read the messages he had received before.
(Short-Term Quest)
[Task 1: Avoid all the other electromagnetic fields for 3 days]
Reward: Safe Zone Field
(Long Term Quest)
[Task 2: Build a suitable hell space within 5 years]
Reward: Bloodline Evolution
(Main Quest)
[Task 3: Become the king of the underworld]
Reward: Able to go back to Earth and come to the Underworld at will and at any time.
"So, I can... go back to Earth?"
Marco's eyes sparkled with hope. He held onto that hope and continued reading the other messages.
(Short-Term Quest)
[Task 1: Avoid all the other electromagnetic fields for 3 days]
Reward: Safe Zone Field
(Long Term Quest)
[Task 2: Build a suitable hell space within 5 years]
Reward: Bloodline Evolution
"So, I have to build hell? It sounds full of nonsense but strangely, I feel that I can do it." he said enthusiastically.
'Surely, I can, that is if I don't run into other system users.'
Raising a flag was Marco's bad habit that he couldn't stop, so, of course, someone had to appear the moment Marco thought that.
Raising a flag was Marco's bad habit that he couldn't stop, so, of course, someone had to appear the moment Marco thought that.
Right after Marco thought of not bumping into other system users, a being appeared in his vision.
Beyond the lifeless grayish rocky plain Marco was in, a creature that had huge wings that were disproportionate to its small build, horns that extended upwards and downwards, and teeth that were jutting out looking like its face had been scarred by submerging under acid.
Marco froze the moment he caught sight of the creature, cursing his stupid habit of always making jinxes.
The creature which had felt someone's gaze land upon it, turned its head over to Marco's direction.
"Shit"
Marco turned around and ran for his life the moment the creature lifted up its wings.