Before he could even react, more text appeared.
IIIIIIIII
You have acquired an ability from one of the Seven Deadly Sins. With your insatiable hunger, consume the world!
Gluttony: Absorb the beings you have slain.
IIIIIIIII
Even though the message was simple, it left him confused.
Was he really gaining a superpower just by arriving here? Or did everyone who ended up in this place receive unique abilities? That thought made sense. Otherwise, how else would they fight those demons?
But something still felt off.
Before acquiring this ability, there had been something about a seal…
He wasn't going to fool himself into thinking he was the protagonist of some grand story. He wasn't Harry Potter, nor was he King Arthur. He had never been special in any way, so he wasn't expecting to gain some supernatural power out of nowhere. Then again, he also hadn't expected to wake up in a place like this after dying.
Still, he wanted to consider other possibilities. Something had to have triggered this…
And then it hit him.
Annie had mentioned something before she left. A gift that could be obtained under specific conditions.
"Was it something about memory?"
Arda frowned as he recalled her words. It was about regaining his memory, but… he had never lost it in the first place.
"Wait…"
A wild thought crossed his mind.
What if he had actually fallen here a long time ago? What if he had been wandering this place for ages but had only just now regained his memory? That would explain why the seal had only just broken.
With that thought, he quickly checked himself. His sweat-soaked shirt clung to his body. His pants were torn in several places, letting the wind carry dust inside. But these rips weren't new—they had been there before he arrived. His clothes were exactly as they had been on the day he jumped from the hotel rooftop.
If he had lost his memory and wandered aimlessly for who knows how long, his condition would be far worse. He would look even more worn out. Even more broken than he already was.
Then another thought struck him—Annie and her fake father.
He should have realized it back then.
Why hadn't they reacted to his appearance at all? Right now, he looked like a homeless man, yet they hadn't even batted an eye.
Piecing everything together, he understood—he had broken the memory condition the moment he arrived.
But how?
His reasoning was actually correct. Annie had indeed set a memory-related condition, and Arda had fulfilled it the instant he came here.
When Annie first encountered him, he wasn't human. He had appeared before her in the role of a demon. That was why she had been able to grant him this special ability.
But Annie hadn't known he was actually human. So the condition she set was related to memory—because when demons were devoured by someone with the Gluttony ability, they truly died, losing their memories as they fell into Hell.
Arda had fallen into Hell both as a demon and as a human. But once he arrived, his previous role ended, and his demon status was erased, leaving only his human self.
That meant he never needed to lose his memory in the first place—so he unintentionally bypassed Annie's condition.
Normally, since demons lose their memories upon arrival, fulfilling this condition would be incredibly difficult. Annie had assumed only highly skilled and special demons could achieve it. In her mind, this was meant to be a test for Arda.
Yet, without even realizing it, he had passed the test in an unconventional way—and as a result, received Annie's rare and special reward.
He had also been right about one more thing—he had gained this ability purely by chance.
Even though he now had something resembling a superpower, Arda still felt aimless.
He looked around.
He was standing in the middle of a road filled with abandoned vehicles. At its center lay a wide-open space where four roads intersected—and he had landed right in the middle of it.
As he stood in this car graveyard, realization struck him.
This was Sampi Junction.
It made sense for this place to be overrun with vehicles. This was Antalya's laborers' road, the route connecting the working-class Kepez district to the tourist-heavy Lara district. Some people commuted for work, others for leisure.
Arda thought about his home. He couldn't help but wonder what it looked like now, in the middle of all this destruction.
He started walking.
The vehicles around him were rusted to their cores, as if they had simply been abandoned. There were no crash marks, no signs of violence—just a random scattering of cars, as if someone had placed them there deliberately.
As he walked, his footsteps stirred up dust. His eyes wandered toward the ruined buildings in the distance.
Under the crimson sky, they stood as the only remnants piercing the heavens.
There were no old ladies hanging laundry on their balconies.
No relentless old men strolling the streets.
No children hurrying to school with their backpacks.
And yet, strangely enough, the emptiness of this world didn't disturb him.
On the contrary, it felt… peaceful.
Arda had always loved landscapes.
The deep blue sea. The endless green hills. The hidden waterfalls, like secret paradises.
But this? This was something entirely new.
A world built by human hands, now abandoned by humans.
At night, it would surely be terrifying.
But right now, under this crimson sky, it gave him a strange sense of serenity.
Of course, he was probably the only one who would feel this way.
For others, this would be pure despair—a world where everything they once knew and relied on had vanished.
A hollow shell, devoid of the light of the past.
No rules to protect them.
No goals to strive for.
No reason to move forward.
As he walked, he didn't feel the need to be overly cautious.
There were demons in this world—he had been told that.
So what?
Was he supposed to hide?
How? Did he seriously think he could outrun supernatural creatures?
He hadn't even been able to see that thing when it stepped through the door.
How was he supposed to defend himself against something he couldn't even see?
Not that he cared much about defending himself anyway.
He was just going to keep walking.
Until—
A sound echoed from a side alley.
It was the first sound he had heard since arriving.
A loud noise in a world that had been devoid of even a bird's chirp.
He couldn't see the source.
It had to be coming from another alley, connected to this one.
Arda stared in that direction for a few seconds.
Then, he turned back around… and kept walking.
Whatever it was, he wasn't interested.
"HELP ME!!"
A scream.
This time, he turned toward the alley—whether he wanted to or not.
There was someone there.
A girl, running in fear.
Her torn and tattered school uniform suggested she was a high school student.
She was running toward the main road—toward where Arda was standing.
Two figures emerged from the alley behind her.
They were bald men, dressed in ragged clothing.
Arda narrowed his eyes.
He had planned to ignore everything.
But there was no way he could turn a blind eye to this.
He assessed their expressions, their clothes—he immediately understood the situation.
With a determined look—
He turned his head forward…
And started running!
His destination?
The main road.
Not the alley where the girl was.
He sprinted as fast as he could, never once looking back.
But if he had…
He would have noticed—
The girl was chasing after him!
"Help me, you son of a b**ch!"
The girl shouted angrily from behind.
The other two kept chasing as well.
Surprisingly, the two men even outran the girl they were chasing.
After what happened with Annie, Arda had become more cautious. He wasn't planning to trust anyone easily.
The moment those people showed up, he knew something was off.
A scrawny girl outrunning two grown men? Impossible.
Men are physically stronger than women. If a man and a woman were to compete under equal conditions, the man would win. Let alone these people weren't even under equal conditions. A high school-looking girl against two bulky men? The outcome was obvious from the start.
Sure, if the girl was trained in speed-focused sports, that might make a difference. But even so, something wasn't right.
The men were running at a slow pace, yet they didn't even look tired. Their acting skills were terrible.
Even if he ignored all of that, Arda still wouldn't have trusted them. Because this was Hell.
Now that he wasn't in sightseeing mode anymore, he ran out from between the abandoned cars and onto the sidewalk.
He had no idea why these people were chasing him.
Was this related to that kill-or-be-killed mission? But one person wasn't enough for three of them. How would they even split it? And if killing was the goal, wouldn't it have been enough to just kill the girl?
Besides, how did these people even form a team? Was it possible to come to Hell together?
His mind was filled with questions, but this wasn't the time to answer them.
While running as fast as he could, he tried to recall the streets. This was his city. He knew where each road led.
A plan formed in his mind, and he turned into a side alley.
The girl and the two men were still following him. They looked a bit exhausted, just like he was.
The ruined buildings and devastated streets made it harder to navigate, but he quickly found his way and emerged from the alley.
In front of him stood the Old Industrial Zone.
He dashed into the street beneath the fire station.
Even before, this place looked chaotic. But now, it was a complete junkyard.
The shop shutters were torn apart, as if attacked by wild beasts.
The few trees that once added a bit of life had been ripped from the ground and scattered randomly.
Strangely enough, despite this being a place full of mechanics and car repair shops, there were barely any vehicles around.
The narrow streets were relatively empty.
That disappointed Arda. He had planned to use the maze-like streets to escape. But the lack of vehicles made it less confusing.
The only silver lining was that the whole place had turned into a scrapyard… though that was also bad news for him.
This place was now unrecognizable, turning it into a maze for him as well. He could easily get lost.
Arda darted through the backstreets, moving diagonally.
He ran for fifteen minutes, pushing himself until he was completely out of breath.
When he finally stopped in front of the police station at the edge of the industrial zone, he hid behind the stone barriers and looked back.
He kept watch for a few seconds but saw no one.
Then, he let himself relax against the stone barrier.
His chest rose and fell rapidly, reminding him that he was still alive.
Even though he had fallen into the depths of Hell, he was still breathing.
If he had really lost those three, then maybe—just maybe—he could keep breathing a little longer.
Cough
Cough Cough
Cough Cough Cough
COUGH
He was so exhausted that he couldn't even breathe properly.
His lungs felt like they were about to burst. His heart was pounding furiously.
Now, he was paying the price for skipping out on physical activity.
Even a short run had nearly finished him.
He wanted to gather his breath before thinking about why those people had been chasing him.
But something cold pressed against his temple, forcing him to put those thoughts on hold.
Still breathing heavily, he slowly turned his head towards the hard object.
It was a gun barrel, aimed directly at his head.
The muzzle was so close that he could see inside the barrel, and he could almost catch the faint scent of gunpowder.
His eyes shifted slightly, following the weapon to the person holding it.
It was… a young girl.
But not the school-uniformed girl from before.
This one had short black hair and a petite frame.
Her striped, oversized jacket made her look even smaller.
With the black sweatpants she wore, she looked more like she was heading to a sports class rather than holding a gun to someone's head.
Her expression was stern.
"If you move, you die, Scavenger," she said.
Her voice was sweet, contradicting her harsh words.
Still catching his breath, Arda responded briefly.
"You look like my little sister."
The girl's face hardened further.
"If you're imagining your sister in Hell, you must not have been a very good brother."
"Hahaha."
A laugh came from beside her.
A moment later, the source of the voice stepped into view.
It was a tall man, seemingly in his early twenties like Arda.
His buzz-cut hair gave him a serious look, but the smile on his face softened that image.
His tight black t-shirt highlighted his muscular build, and his camouflage-patterned pants were relatively clean.
Compared to Arda's exhausted and disheveled state, these two looked much better off.
The man studied Arda for a moment before reaching out and pushing the girl's gun aside.
She shot him an annoyed glare.
"What are you doing, Bulut!?"
"Calm down, Sergeant," the man—Bulut—said with a grin. "This guy isn't a Scavenger."
Arda was surprised by the nickname.
Sergeant? Was he calling this tiny, sweet-looking girl Sergeant?
"How is he not?" she snapped.
But despite her anger, her voice still sounded cute.
Even in this dangerous situation, Arda felt the urge to pinch her cheeks.
"Look past the clothes. This guy's been through some trouble before coming here. This is his first time in Hell."
The girl's expression softened. But only a little.
Her brows were still furrowed as she lowered the gun and took a step back.
Now that the barrel was no longer aimed at his head, Arda could see them more clearly.
His breathing had finally steadied.
"Yeah, I'm fresh out of boot camp. Are you my senior officers?"
Bulut was about to answer, but the girl cut in.
"What the hell are you talking about!?"
Arda scratched his head sheepishly.
"Well, since he called you Sergeant, I made a military joke… You didn't get it?"
"Haha! I thought it was pretty funny," Bulut said, extending a hand toward him.
Arda took it without much thought and pulled himself up with the help of the man's firm grip.
He glanced at the girl again.
Now that he was standing, the height difference was more obvious.
She couldn't be a centimeter over 150.
Then he turned to the man.
He never thought he'd be able to have a normal conversation with someone here.
When he found out he had arrived in Hell, he assumed all that awaited him was chaos.
"Is there actually a military base in Hell? The government's reach is even longer than I thought."
The man gave a sheepish smile.
"You misunderstood. We call her Sergeant because she acts like a tomboy."
The girl shot him a glare but said nothing.
"Then what's with the buzz cut and the camo pants?"
The man shrugged.
"I was a soldier before I died."
Arda's expression darkened.
"So, you were killed in action…"
"Nope. My girlfriend caught me cheating, then stabbed me to death."
Arda blinked in shock.
That was not the kind of death he expected.
"Then why are you dressed like that?"
"The girl I cheated with was into military roleplay."
"Ugh! Can you two stop with the stupid talk!?" the girl snapped.
"Haha, Sergeant's right. Let's not run into any Scavengers and make things worse. Wanna come with us? We don't have a military base, but we have the coziest place you'll find in Hell."
Arda thought for a moment before answering.
"Sure, man. But just so you know, I don't have any money for the hotel bill."
"Ugh, your jokes suck," the girl muttered.
And with that, they started walking together.