At the End of Hell (2)

Hell.

The underworld prison where the souls of sinners are dragged, the final destination of the spirit. A prison where crimson flames burn and burn the soul again, bestowing eternal torment.

In the Pantheon, the scriptures explain Heaven and Hell thus: Hell is always a subterranean prison of roaring fire, and Heaven is a land of everlasting joy that exists above the clouds.

In recent days, accounts from Antonio, Ruel, Demonic, and others who have visited the Holy Land have begun to reshape the description of Heaven—but Hell remains, as ever, a burning prison.

"Hell... is that what you said?"

"Yes. Hell. Have you heard anything about it?"

"Well... Sir Tigrius only just regained consciousness, so I merely checked his condition briefly and came out."

"...I see. Understood."

Lionheart nodded in silence.

"Is something the matter?"

Hell.

Of all places, it was the one least suited to paladins and priests.

"...Hahaha! It's nothing of consequence. As you well know, I've been committing more than a few blasphemies of late. I've been negligent in a paladin's duties as well. So it weighed on me a little, that's all!"

"Ah."

The middle-aged priest's face took on a look of mild understanding. Lionheart's wandering habits were, after all, famous throughout the Pantheon.

"Well. If an old man lives out his remaining days in as much atonement as he can manage, the gods might look kindly on him yet, no? Ahahaha!!"

"How could that be blasphemy? If a paladin takes his rest, the gods will surely keep a place ready for him."

"Yes... I hope so."

Finished with the conversation, Lionheart turned away. The expression on his face as he turned was hidden deep in shadow—or perhaps there was no expression at all.

"Thank you for telling me."

"Ah, of course."

Step by step.

Lionheart walked in silence. He left the Pantheon and headed beyond the Holy City.

Gradually, the footsteps of people grew sparse.

Trees outnumbered people, and the well-kept roads gave way to dirt paths as he walked on.

At last he walked through a forest where the traces of beasts outnumbered those of men.

Rustle.

Pushing aside a branch that brushed his face, he arrived at—

"This place never changes."

—a small clearing.

A low, flat clearing in the heart of the forest.

Something was packed densely into the packed earth.

Small nameplates carved from wood. On each nameplate driven into the ground was written someone's name. Crude lettering, as if scratched in with something sharp.

Worn and faded by rain and years, the writing was hard to make out.

Their number filled the clearing and then some.

Lionheart bent at the waist and stroked the nameplates one by one.

"...I've come."

This was a small cemetery he had made with his own hands.

Swoosh.

He brushed away old cobwebs and began clearing fallen leaves and scattered debris one piece at a time. Tasks far too humble for a paladin of the Pantheon.

But they were tasks he chose to do.

In silence he bent and cleaned the clearing. He snapped off protruding branches one by one and pulled up the weeds that had grown with his bare hands.

He had done this for a long time; his movements were practiced and sure.

Pat, pat.

"Oof."

Lionheart rose, dusting off his bent back, and looked at the nameplates with a bitter smile.

"It seems I've grown rather old myself."

A sharp ache.

Whenever he came here, the scar over his left eye throbbed. Even a mere wound, it seemed, could not forget that day.

With a trembling hand he fumbled along the scars of his eye. Though one eye could no longer see, the memory of that day was as vivid as if it stood before him.

Master...

Lionheart, paladin of the Pantheon.

The secular name he had used before receiving his baptismal name: Leon.

Here, Lionheart returned to Leon—the greenhorn holy knight. To the days of a hot-blooded fledgling whose zeal outstripped his skill.

Inhale—exhale.

But his shoulders were not light.

An invisible weight of the heart pressed down upon him.

Its name was guilt.

"No way—the Backrooms show up here?"

I'd picked the Back Room Trial and gotten dumped into the Backrooms. What a deranged plot twist.

I'd watched a few Backrooms and urban-legend videos on YouTube lately—was the algorithm leaking into the game now?

When I realized the Back Room Trial was a Backrooms map, I'd figured I was done for. But of course—the Empire's Finest Sword.

Even with the debuffs stacked on him, he'd somehow managed to escape.

Honestly, giving him debuffs on top of everything had felt like overkill.

And he still got out.

Two trials done for the day, so I closed the Coliseum UI. All that agonizing over which trials to pick while glued to my phone had left my eyes a little sore.

A chill.

Maybe it was just my imagination, but I felt like someone was watching me from behind. Of course there was no one there.

"...Why do I keep getting the feeling someone's watching me lately."

Maybe I needed an exorcism soon.

Carrying that uneasy feeling, I switched over to the temple screen.

I stared blankly at the dwarves bustling between the mines, the tavern, and the forge. Little guys waddling around, working hard.

Watching them, the failed bows came to mind, and sudden irritation flared up.

"You useless little—"

What are you even good for, when you bring in less money than Monster Subjugation mode? All you know how to do is clank around making blades.

Whoosh! Whir!

Leaving the working ones alone, I grabbed one coming out of the tavern and yanked him into the air.

I spun him around once, twice on the screen, just to be petty.

Watching the dwarf flail after my finger, I felt a little better. Still, unlocking bows and then not being able to craft them was endlessly irritating.

No solution. No method. Nothing offered.

Is there some prerequisite?

I'd wondered if there was a building I needed to construct first, but nothing related to bows showed up.

So it wasn't buildings.

I sank deeper into the maze.

...Is it in the shop?

On a hunch, I opened the shop window. Flashy neon signs ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and all kinds of discount events dazzled my eyes.

Forcing my spinning vision to hold still, I headed for the weapons category.

Swipe, swipe.

There were various weapon packages, but nothing about unlocking bows.

If it wasn't in the shop either, then what was the problem?

"Ugh, seriously... what is it."

I raked my fingers through my hair as the irritation climbed.

My head was a mess.

Was it because they were dwarves? Or was there some other condition?

Screw it. I don't know.

I was about to close the shop window when a message window popped up and blocked me.

"Eggs?"

They were selling eggs all of a sudden?

What kind of item was this, and why the sale? It was on discount, and it was a type of item I'd never seen before, so I tapped for a closer look.

"It's a pet, huh?"

What game would be complete without pets? Pets usually help out in combat and the like.

This game probably wouldn't be much different.

Not buying this would make me a sucker.

On sale for under ten thousand won each—passing this up would be a massive loss.

My balance was a little tight, but I could spare about ten thousand.

Which one should I get...

Since I could only buy one, I had to choose carefully. I focused every scrap of attention on examining the eggs.

Four eggs total. Like the starter Pokémon from Professor Oak, these might be companions all the way to the late game.

Naturally, the choice demanded care.

I compared the descriptions one by one in detail.

The descriptions are... all pretty ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠similar.

The only differences were slight variations explaining the names.

The Rock-Laden Egg was an egg surrounded by rock. The Scale-Sprouting Egg was an egg with tiny scales growing on it. That kind of difference was all there was.

So I'd have to go by appearance...

The rock egg is probably earth-attribute, and the scale egg is a fish? If it's a fish, water-attribute maybe?

Looking at things like Feeble Flame, which enchanted attacks with the fire attribute, this game clearly had elements.

They just didn't explain them properly.

There were probably strengths and weaknesses between attributes too.

My deliberation deepened.

If there were attribute advantages, picking one I didn't already have would be the smart play.

The Eye-Studded Egg gave me zero sense of what attribute it might be, so I cut it from the candidates for now.

That left rock, scale, and frost.

"Hmm..."

Probably rock for earth, scale for water, frost for ice. Most of the skills I had were fire, lightning, or holy.

In the current situation, water or ice was the rational choice.

Time passed as the deep deliberation continued.

But as the saying goes, long deliberation leads to a bad move—deep thinking often ends in a blunder.

A decision needed to be fast and decisive.

Flash—!

"This one...!"

The egg I chose after all that deep thought. Once my mind was made up, payment flowed as smoothly as water.

Like a master of tai chi, I completed the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠purchase soft and fast, then checked the payment notification that arrived on my phone.

A message window followed ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠right after.

"What a steal."

A permanent pet—not even a limited-time one—for under ten thousand won. This was a steal, no question.