- Welcome To Hell (Part 1)

Level 1:

Wind whipped around Hyunji as she tumbled through the air. Screams of people in pain surrounded her and she reached out, unable to help.

Level 2:

She descended into a deep blue light, and for a moment, she floated. Hands began to reach out, pressing up against her body. Squeezing her.

She spun around trying to remove the hands, but they were persistent, tearing at her clothes.

Level 3:

The air around her began to grow cold, and a frigid wind struck her, piercing her bones like knives.

Hyunji was surrounded by mountains. White-crested, looming mountains that towered over her. She could hear a deep rumble from them, as if they were speaking to her.

Hyunji cried out as her body was pelted with sleet, piercing every nerve in her body.

Then the cold disappeared. The pain disappeared. As if it had never existed.

Level 4:

She was still falling, now toward another world.

What is this? She thought, staring in astonishment. A giant golden statue stood atop the landscape.

Beasts, dog-like creatures roamed around covered in flames. Greed, she thought to herself. The malnourished rich wandered the land, forced to fight in an eternal war.

In their minds, the thought of gain pushed them forward.

Hyunji noticed she had stopped falling, and instead, had landed on the battlefield.

She was immediately rushed and attacked by a skeleton-like figure wearing a crown, a pike wielded in their hand. The figure lashed towards Hyunji, as she raised her hands against the weapon, breaking the power dampener that bound her hands.

The floor began to crack beneath her feet, and the fall continued.

Level 5:

Hyunji's body smacked onto a hard surface, planks of wood shattering around her body. She sat up, warily.

It's over? No…

A dark figure stood at the helm of the boat, staring off into the distance.

Hyunji stood carefully, slight waves making the floor feel unstable beneath her feet.

The figure, who she now could see wore a cloak, turned around to face her. He was nearly ten feet tall, his body extremely thin. And his face…was just a skull. Blackened bone, as if his skin had been melted away by fire. His eyes were hollowed out, yet somehow she could feel his gaze on her.

"You're not supposed to be here," he said in a deep, monotone voice.

He stepped forward, and Hyunji found herself pressed up against the side of the boat. The skeleton let out a breath so cold that she could see it in the air. It smelled of rotting flesh.

He reached out, wrapping his gnarled, bone-white hands around her shoulders.

Then, with astonishing force, he gave her a shove.

Hyunji flew backward and sank beneath a surface of dark, thick water. No, not water. Poison. She could feel it seeping into her like a parasite, quickly taking over every molecule of her body.

Screaming out in pain, Hyunji felt the poison reach her brain. And then, when it seemed like the pain couldn't get any worse, it subsided.

She broke through the surface, gasping for breath. She had made it to the shore now, where a stone platform stood.

Pulling herself from the dark river, Hyunji collapsed onto solid ground. She wished to lay there forever, but something was telling her to keep moving.

Her legs shaking, Hyunji stumbled to her feet.

In front of her was a staircase, descending hundreds of feet down. She took them two at a time.

Maybe this is the way out?

Level 6:

The steps ended abruptly, and Hyunji gasped.

In front of her stood walls of iron. Metal spires pierced the blood-red sky, and large winged creatures swooped around, screeching and cawing. She looked up at the creatures that had now set their sights on her, their red eyes peering down with curiosity and hunger.

Hyunji smiled, for the first time since she'd started falling. If this was what the warden thought would be a punishment, she would make sure it was anything but.

Her power dampeners were gone now, she realized again. Nothing stood between her and wreaking havoc on this place.

The scythe began to materialize in her hand, as it had when she'd first defended herself and Min-jun from the rabid monsters that infested Asentro's slums.

"Come on! Come and get me you motherfuckers!" She screamed, spinning the scythe in a circle around her wrist.

The winged creatures screeched out and dove down toward her. Large claws reached out, heading straight for her face.

In the last moment, she sidestepped, bringing the scythe upward. It cut through one of their wings, sending the creature spiraling toward the ground.

The second swooped away, deciding not to attack. Hyunji threw the scythe, watching as it spun through the air.

It made contact, just where she'd expected, slicing the creature's head off.

She focused on the scythe, willing it back to her. In midair, the weapon began to dissolve.

It appeared back in her hand a moment later.

A chill raced down her spine, and Hyunji looked instinctively over her shoulder. A woman stood there, a hood over a bushy head of hair. Behind her were two sleek, black wings. She kept her eyes cast downward, avoiding Hyunji's gaze.

"Who are you?" Hyunji asked.

No answer.

Instead, the woman stepped closer to her, removing her hood slowly.

Hyunji jumped backward as a barrage of snakes leaped out at her. The woman lifted her head, opening her eyes. Even from a distance, she could see the beautiful irises, pure gold.

They seemed to draw her in with their brilliance. Hyunji almost wanted to let them.

I…I can't move, she realized, looking down. Stone was creeping up her legs and arms. It wasn't just encasing her either. The stone was growing inside her, taking over her organs.

Suddenly, she could no longer breathe as her lungs became solidified.

Hyunji's natural instincts kicked in, and time began to reverse. When the world around her stopped spinning, the woman had her hood back on.

"You're Medusa, huh?" She said, breathing heavily.

The woman began to pull back her hood.

But this time, Hyunji was quicker, throwing her scythe like a batarang. She didn't wait to see if it collided. Instead, she turned and ran for the iron walls. She needed to keep moving.

At the end of the walkway was a small opening, which she crawled through.

On the opposite side was a city. Towers of black obsidian rose into the sky. There were broken crosses, destroyed temples, and burning churches.

The air was thick with smoke, and Hyunji coughed as she made her way down a street. It was empty at first, but soon she found herself surrounded by hundreds of thousands of souls belonging to humans, animals, and creatures that she'd never seen before.

They all seemed docile, besides a shove here and there.

Hyunji pushed through them, unsure of what her goal was.

"You're going the wrong way, y'know," a voice said behind her.

Hyunji turned to find a man with a top hat and a cane. He seemed normal, besides the dead eyes that couldn't seem to find her face.

"What do you mean?" She asked, noticing that everyone was indeed moving in the opposite direction.

"We are leaving the city. Why do you enter it?"

Hyunji paused for a moment. "Because I'm on my own path."

"You wish to…journey further down?" The man said, as if the idea was blasphemous. He looked down at his hands, which Hyunji noticed were dripping with blood. "What in the Devil's name is wrong with you?"

"I wish to see how far this goes. I'm trying to get out, you see," she replied.

The man sighed, removing his top hat. "There is a hole in the middle of the city. It will take you to the seventh. But you don't want to go there."

"Why? What lies on the seventh?"

"Pain, I'm sure."

"Perfect," she said. "Thanks for the advice."

Hyunji turned, leaving the man speechless behind her.

She reached the hole, which was surrounded by hanging upside-down statues whose hands were clasped together in prayer. Their expressions were sorrowful.

Are they…begging for mercy?

She could hear the terrified screams of the damned echoing off the walls. People climbed, hands bloody and scraped, from the chasm.

Hyunji approached the ledge, kneeling down carefully. A small girl was just a few feet below her, slowly making her way up. The child's face was coated with grime, blood, and tears.

"Help…help me up," the girl said, reaching her small hand up toward Hyunji.

The ground began to shake, and chunks of rock began to break off. The girl, already weak from the climb, lost her handhold and fell back into the darkness.

Hyunji looked around, watching as hundreds more plunged back into the darkness.

Where does the Warden not want me to go? Further down. That is the only answer.

She sucked in a deep breath, steeling herself. "Here goes nothing."

Without another second to think, Hyunji jumped into the void.