Chapter 13
Chapter 13 - Realm of Infinite Hell (無間地獄) (3)
Kwakwagwang!
Something that grazed past my hair mercilessly destroyed the ground. A deafening explosion shook my entire body. Through the cloud of dust, I caught sight of whatever had come flying toward me.
"... Th-that..."
What flew over was a massive iron sphere.
Good Lord. The sphere was the size of my upper body. The kind of size that would fit giant prisoners in a fantasy movie. The blood and flesh stuck to it felt eerily realistic.
"Did you dodge? How?"
Chwareureuk! The iron sphere was sucked back into the darkness beyond, as if its heavy weight was a lie. Its owner had pulled it back.
Suddenly. Cold, gleaming eyes flickered in the darkness. They were filled with a puzzling expression.
"You actually predicted my attack. What exactly are you?"
He? Or she? In any case, the assailant's voice had noise mixed in as if it was modulated. It seemed like actual voice modulation. And the location perfectly enhanced the horror atmosphere.
Oh, for heaven's sake. I'm going crazy with frustration. What on earth is this situation? Unlike a typical isekai harem fantasy where women are chasing me, I've got a murderer hot on my trail.
'Some hero I am. What kind of hero is this?!'
Why have I become the protagonist of the classic thriller 'The Shining'?
Why am I repeatedly experiencing near-death in this other world, waking up in a stinking sewer?
What's with this guy that he's so desperate to kill me when I've done nothing wrong?
"Ha. Hahaha..."
Countless questions arose and disappeared repeatedly. What came out of my mouth was not any question, but a hollow laugh. After all, this guy won't answer any of them, nor would he want to.
"Hmm?"
The assailant let out a low breath, interpreting my laugh somehow. Then he started swinging the iron sphere threateningly. A chilling voice flowed out.
"You're laughing? What confidence is this?"
"It's not confidence. I'm just giving up."
As I shrugged my shoulders and spoke, the assailant's eyes in the darkness narrowed.
"... Don't you want to live?"
"Are you going to let me live?"
"Absolutely not."
"Then why are you asking? You're just messing around, you bastard."
As I deliberately tensed my neck and spat out the curse, the assailant flinched. The look in the assailant's eyes contained more than just questions - there was some confusion.
"This reaction is quite fresh. Are you not afraid of dying?"
"It's like a lion worrying about a deer and getting knocked down. Am I not afraid? Hell yes, I'm terrified. What are you going to do about it?"
I raised my middle finger at the assailant.
Of course, the assailant doesn't understand the meaning of this gesture. It just feels like swearing in Korean to an annoying foreigner.
Come to think of it, this was the first time I've talked with this assailant for so long.
This was the first time in this life that the assailant's surprise attack had failed. I was always getting my limbs cut off without knowing, getting hit by iron spheres. I'd usually just scream until my breath was cut off.
'At least one important fact I've learned.'
This assailant is not a completely emotionless, tearless psychopath.
They are a human who can communicate.
This is a significant discovery.
"Well, there's nothing good about understanding your thought process."
And the assailant seems to have finally realized the conversation is pointless. After nodding, the assailant's hand swung towards me.
Whoosh! Before the sound could be heard, an iron sphere filled my entire field of vision.
"Ugh!"
I desperately threw my body. But I absolutely couldn't match the speed of the iron sphere.
Thwack! The familiar sound of flesh tearing. A burning pain erupted in my right shoulder. Simultaneously, my body soared into the air, spinning wildly.
"Krahk!"
I was thrown to the ground according to gravity.
My whole body was throbbing. There was no sensation in my shoulder. A surge of blood welled up with my groan.
"Cough! Hack!!"
As the situation unfolded, the fading sense of reality tightened again.
Damn it all. Here I am having a casual chat with a murderer trying to casually eat me. I must be completely out of my mind.
'... A letter... at least this..!'
Only then did I think of the cloth fragment in my hand.
I hastily opened the box of the deceased with my other hand. The slick lid opened softly with a pop.
And I immediately frowned.
'What is this?'
Something was already inside the box. I quickly pulled it out.
It was a piece of paper. Something was written in crooked letters, with two seal marks that looked like they were stamped in blood.
Is it a fragment of a contract? It definitely looks hastily made. Did the me from a previous life put it here? That might be the case.
Anyway, I have no time to worry about this right now.
I don't know what the me from a previous life wanted, but for now, let's just try to survive this life!
I carelessly threw the paper scrap into the sewer and quickly put the blood-written cloth inside.
"Any last words?"
Geureurung. After finishing my task, a sound of a blade being drawn had approached nearby.
The assailant always finished with a final blow with that blade. It seemed this time would be no different.
I kept my motionless neck and somehow fixed my gaze at the assailant's feet.
A black shoe stained with blood and grime caught my eye. I smiled faintly and spoke my last words.
"Nice shoes."
"... Thanks for the compliment."
Thud!
My chest felt heavy. A foreign sensation rushed into my lungs, and immense pain poured out.
"Kraaaaaaah!"
And soon, consciousness was cut off.
* * *
"Kkheuk!"
Immediately after taking the gate in the white space, I opened my eyes as if having a seizure.
It felt like my breath was rising up to my chin. Desperately following my instincts, I rolled my eyes to assess the situation. The scenery of a damp sewer entered my vision. A foul odor ruthlessly pierced my nose.
"Whew... T-this is strange. Was it always this difficult when taking the gate before?"
I was disoriented for a while, trying to shake off the inexplicable oppressive feeling weighing down my entire body. I roughly wiped away the cold sweat that had soaked my body and gathered my rough breaths. Then I put all my efforts into organizing my murky thoughts.
"I feel a bit better now. So, where am I..."
I gathered my wits and tried to check my status using the skill 'Mimir's Eye' or confirm my items. Overall, everything seemed normal. The special item was exactly as described.
However, there were a few strange points. First, my level started from 2 instead of 1. And another thing was...
"What is this? It's flickering."
One of the special items I received, the 'Box of the Dead', was ominously flickering in a purple color.
As I stared at it quietly, a bizarre sense of detachment arose in my field of view, and Mimir's Eye activated.
[Item Information]
[Name: Box of the Dead]
[Notification: Item Update - The saved item from the previous life has been updated.]
"Item update?"
For a moment, my thoughts stopped.
I unknowingly dropped the box I was holding. Startled by the sound of the box rolling on the floor, I barely came to my senses and quickly picked it up again.
"... No way."
One hypothesis flashed through my mind.
But since it was such an unbelievable assumption, I kept tilting my head.
'Does this update mean... I've already died once?'
A chuckle escaped me with the thought ‘No way,’ but the legs that were full of enthusiasm just moments ago had already stiffened.
No way... but what if?
Such hesitation shackled me.
Goooooo. The sound coming from beyond the darkness of the sewer felt particularly loud.
"Whew."
I sighed. And carefully placed my hand on the lid of the Box of the Dead.
Let me first check what this updated item is. Whether I'm surprised or confused, that comes later. I swallowed a dry gulp and slowly applied force to my hand.
Pop. The box made of a strange material opened surprisingly easily. Inside was a creepy piece of cloth with blood-written characters.
I lifted it and fixed my gaze on the characters.
―Do not move rashly. First, J
It's in Korean. I even tried flipping it over just in case. Still Korean.
It's hard to read because it's written in blood, but judging from the crude handwriting, it's probably my writing.
After looking once, correcting, and looking three more times, I read aloud what I interpreted:
"Do not move rashly. First... X."
The previous life suddenly swore at me.
What was the intention? I twisted my head and thought for a long time, but no matter how much I thought, I couldn't understand the intended meaning.
But one thing had almost solidified into certainty.
"No... what? D-did I really die?"
Even after saying it, the hypothesis made me laugh in dismay. But I inevitably began to believe this absurd assumption.
When I touched the lantern at my waist just in case, it let out a gloomy cry and shone brightly.
'... It's activating.'
Izanami's heart is activating.
In other words, I am indeed already dead.
I lifted the lantern with trembling hands. Woong, woong. The lantern vibrated low and shot a bright light somewhere. I slightly turned my head in that direction. Surprisingly, the direction of the light was close. Too close.
As expected. My corpse was lying there. Perhaps I hadn't seen it due to the darkness of the sewer.
The torso was horrifically crushed, with the chest pierced through.
"Owaaaaah!"
I screamed and threw the lantern. By chance, the thrown lantern precisely hit my corpse and rolled on the floor.
Goooong.
The lantern resonated with the bloody magic circle drawn beneath the corpse. The body disintegrated without a trace, flying into the air. Signals continuously rang in my mind.
[Item Activation - Izanami's Heart]
[Acquired the residual consciousness of the previous life]
[Recovered 0 points of Strength, 1 point of Agility, 0 points of Intelligence]
[No skills were recovered from the previous life, so no combat skills could be restored]
[All memories from the previous life have been recovered]
"Kkaaaaah!!"
I had to scream in pain again, clutching my head.
This is exactly the twentieth time. Even in the midst of pain, I thought this.