POV David
"Argh... My head... it hurts like a dog... I whispered as I struggled to my feet, my legs wobbly, my vision still blurry.
"Where am I?" I whispered before my gaze fell on the dozens of decomposing corpses that surrounded me, spread out in a death painting.
And then, as my vision cleared, everything came back to me suddenly, brutally. The memories of the bloody fight. Savagery. The desperate struggle for my survival.
"BEEERUK!" My stomach tossed violently, unable to contain any more of the bile and horror that was rising within me.
I collapsed to my knees, my chest on fire as I vomited all I could.
"I... booark... I couldn't even speak anymore, the actions I had committed were certainly for my survival. But I did not imagine that my ardent desire to live would disgust me
After several minutes of vomiting, I finally managed to regain some semblance of calm, although my legs were still shaking and my heart was pounding.
'My right arm is still in a pitiful state, but... My left hand seems functional again. It hurts a little, but I should be able to use it.' I thought, quickly inspecting my body before picking up my spear tip lying on the ground.
I took one last look around. The sight of the mutilated corpses left a bitter taste in my mouth.
"Go to hell, you shit... I said hoarsely before turning away, dragging my weakened body toward the towering door of the queen's tomb.
Staggering forward, I leaned on my makeshift weapon to move forward.
"How long... How long did I remain unconscious? I asked myself in a low voice, my head heavy.
My gaze fell on the decomposing bodies. Their condition and the foul smell that filled the air helped me to make a rough estimate.
"I wasn't an expert, but given the stench and the maw of the corpses... three, maybe four days. I've been in this miserable state for three or four days. »
But then a thought struck me.
"Three or four days... unconscious in Sin Realm ? Impossible. You can't stand still for so long without being attacked or eaten. »
At that moment, only one explanation quickly came to mind.
"It's the effect of restful inertia... I declare in a reassured tone
The Restful Inertia ability, unique to Sloth Capital, is one of the most cheatedly cheated skills in this game. When enabled, it makes its user completely invulnerable to any type of attack, as long as they remain completely inactive.
Seen like this, you might think that you just need to sleep to survive a near-death situation... but this is false.
First, if I face an opponent of a higher level than me, the invulnerability effect is reduced by half. Luckily, at the moment, I'm only at the lower level, so I can still rely on this skill without fear for now.
But it's not that simple. If a player abuses this ability, whether in combat or in a critical situation, they end up paying a high price with excessive consumption of their mental strength and life energy.
Clearly, voluntarily using Restful Inertia repeatedly is like signing a delayed suicide.
When this ability is activated unconsciously, especially when sin enters a state of rest. But when they wake up, the user finds themselves in a state of extreme weakness, often accompanied by fatigue or even semi-paralysis.
"That's why I'm in such a fragile state right now... Even though all my wounds, except for my arm, seem to be healed, I feel drained. I sighed, irritated by my own situation, as I continued to speak out loud to motivate myself.
If I want to take advantage of this ability without experiencing the side effects, I would have to reach the Archdemon stage or be able to activate my [Domain]. But in my current state, it's still a distant dream.
It is for this reason that veterans generally avoid playing Sloth. This sin is far too complex to master. Most players give up before they even reach the middle zone.
…
No longer paying attention to my state of weakness continuing to walk in the dark, I suffered from the lack of balance caused by the loss of my arm, I had still not gotten used to it. Falling multiple times.
I looked down at my right arm, still torn off, and a bitter grin appeared on my face.
Of course, Sloth also has an advanced regenerative ability, capable of healing small wounds quite quickly. But let's be honest: it's by far the worst performing of the seven.
'Tch... if it was Pride, his arm would have grown back in a day,' I thought, frustrated.
And to make matters worse, my empty stomach slows down my regeneration even more. Without energy, there is nothing to do.
'Why didn't I shoot Anger or even Envy? Any one would have been enough for me! But no, I had to deal with the most useless.' I gnashed my teeth, cursed my fate, and then sighed.
"Phew... In any case, the damage is done. Now I just have to survive as best I can. I said aloud, my resolution renewed.
Despite the throbbing pain, I continued to advance, one step at a time, until I finally saw the entrance to the tomb.
…
It was long and painful because of the side effects of Restful Inertia and my missing arm, but I finally made it. Here I am in front of the entrance to purgatory, in front of the massive door of the tomb.
It was a huge and majestic door, adorned with a colossal fresco representing the annihilation of humanity by the deadly sins.
Taken by a sudden admiration for the fresco, I freeze for a short moment, admiring it from top to bottom.
"This fresco... it is sublime in itself. I remember looking up his story on the internet at the time. The game has no dialogue to explain its lore, which intrigued me. But... Damn, I completely forgot what it was about. Well, it must be a cliché thing, as usual. I said casually, as I walked toward the light in the door.
The door was slightly ajar. Not enough to be welcoming, but wide enough for me to slip into without any problem.
Once on the other side, I opened my eyes again and was immediately struck by the landscape that was offered to me.
A world of desolation. The air was hot, the sky dark and stormy. Steep mountains stretched as far as the eye could see, battered by violent storms, while an ocean of flames roared and never faltered, even in the torrential rain.
"Damn... It's no joke here. I whispered, hissing in admiration, a mixture of amazement and fascination at this apocalyptic view.
"Officially welcome to hell, David," I said to myself, a nervous smile at the corner of my lips.
I was standing there, on top of a hill swept by a fierce wind. My legs were shaking with the effort, my strength was weakening after this long walk, and my missing arm only added to the difficulty. I knew that the rest would not be easy. Still, the thought of giving up didn't even cross my mind.
My stomach suddenly twisted. A dull, throbbing pain, which brought me back to reality.
"I really have the slab... I whispered, stroking my belly.
I hadn't eaten anything for three or four days. My regeneration, although slow, drew on my energy reserves. And to make matters worse, I had vomited earlier, which didn't help my situation at all.
"Well... Priority number one: find food. I said, scrambling to my feet and walking away from the tomb.
Before leaving, I took one last look at this monumental door, engraving in my memory the entrance to this hell. Then, without another word, I entered this world of chaos, determined to survive.
…
In Sin Realm, capital has three ways to feed itself.
The first is to devour demons. But it's not a viable option for me, I'm not yet strong enough to kill them, and even if I could, it's impossible to feed on demonic flesh alone. Excess causes a necrosis effect, slowing down regeneration may even stop it and resulting in unbearable pain.
Worse still, a capital that eats too much of its fellow human beings ends up sinking into extreme madness. Some end up killing themselves, unable to bear the physical and mental suffering caused by necrosis.
The second way is to consume human souls. But there is also a problem there. On this floor, souls are rare. And the few souls that remain become the object of fierce battles between hungry demons.
The third way, finally, is to eat ordinary edible foods. But here, on this floor of purgatory, finding "normal" food is almost impossible. If it were that easy, demons wouldn't be desperately fighting to devour each other.
However, I, a veteran of this hellish game, know a trick. A bug I discovered when I was starting out allowed me to get unlimited food.
"This bug could save me... I thought, a confident smile stretching my lips.
But the problem is that the location where this bug is located is too far away. To get there, I would have to take a main path where the dangers are far too numerous. It would be a real suicide.
"I'll have to take a detour," I thought, looking both impatient and worried.
My stomach rumbled loudly, reminding me of the urgency of my situation.
"I hope I can bear the hunger for a while longer," I thought, trying to remain optimistic regardless.
But what I had completely forgotten was a crucial detail. A detail that would make this trip even longer and more difficult than expected.
…
A few days later, merchant feebly, finding myself in a deep valley.
The trip was longer than I had imagined. I intended to head east using a shortcut I used to take when I was playing the game.
I never imagined there would be so many variables on the way. The trip, which I estimated should have lasted two days, had lasted more than a week.
"Damn, damn shitty body, I'm dragging myself around like a corpse," I thought, annoyed.
One of them was the distressing weakness of my body. I was moving at two miles an hour, my legs having almost given up on me.
Grrrrr... Grrrrr...
A thud was coming from my belly.
"I've got the slab, shit! I'm starving, I can't take it any longer! I shouted.
"Calm yourself, David, save your strength. You're here soon! »
Sure, I was desperate and hungry, but I hadn't given up on the idea of the bug yet.
"I can't give up after I've come so far," I said, using my spear like a cane.
However, despite everything, I have to thank the variables I have suffered. I was able to experience purgatory better.
"I almost got torn apart by hurricanes, struck by lightning and made many detours because of the flames. Shit, it pisses me off, we're really in hell," I said, tearful.
I kept a low profile, avoiding my encounter with demons as much as possible, and my small size had helped me a lot.
Here, it's the law of the jungle: the highest in the food chain feed on the weakest.
But hey, despite all these adventures and my relentlessness, I was finally able to arrive at my destination.
A small crevasse at the foot of a mountain in the most remote region of the center.
At the time, I had lost myself in purgatory, unable to find my way back. I had taken shelter in this little crevasse to protect my character. That's when I discovered this bug.
A small dusty chest placed there, at the bottom of the crevasse.
Gold does not exist in purgatory, at least not on the lower level, so there was no reason to excavate it.
But out of pure curiosity, I had decided to do it when I saw that this chest was actually a food chest that filled automatically every time it was emptied.
I remember the first time I discovered it: I was too excited because food was almost impossible to find on this floor.
At first, I thought it was normal, but after checking, it was indeed a duplication bug that the developers had forgotten to fix.
"Anyway, let's stop daydreaming, finally some food, hihi!" I say, rubbing my hands.
Without hesitation, probably because of hunger, I put my hands on the lid of the trunk, caressing it gently.
"Beautiful and pretty trunk darling, I missed you, you know. Daddy will be able to use what you have to offer him... I said with a mischievous but tired smile.
"Well, let's see what we have here..." But to my surprise, the trunk was unfortunately empty, filled only with dust.
"Shit..." I'm fucked. »