I stopped in my tracks, a chill crawling over my skin. Beneath my feet, black, segmented shapes writhed and twisted, resembling the back of a centipede. Shrouded in thin mist, these things squirmed and undulated, like the escalators in a shopping mall. I kept leaping from one writhing section to another, trying not to fall.
Then I ran toward the sound of rushing water. Although I could hear it clearly, no matter how fast I ran, all I saw and felt were those twisting, tangled black shapes beneath my feet—the sound of water was always just ahead, but nothing changed.
Fear gripped my heart. The scene made my hair stand on end. I kept leaping forward, when suddenly I seemed to hear a cry, very close, coming from above and to the side. I looked up, searching, but saw nothing—only the roar that rumbled from the sky.
The sound was like a herd of wild cattle stampeding. I kept looking around, on edge.
A creaking sound came from beneath me. I had to keep jumping—if I stopped, the writhing black strips underfoot would trap me.
A sharp crack echoed nearby. I hurriedly jumped over, and instantly, the writhing black strips beneath me stopped moving, as if a gear had jammed.
A whimpering sound. A pale hand reached up from the gap between the writhing black shapes, followed by a head and a whole body—it was a ghost. I’d seen these in the hells of the underworld: dressed in tattered gray-white clothes, faceless, with eyes like black holes, able only to utter pained whimpers.
More hands reached up from the ground, and more ghosts began to crawl out, struggling as if trying to escape the centipede-like black strips covering the earth.
I watched as the ghosts slowly climbed upward, their bodies emerging bit by bit. More and more appeared, their whimpers rising in a mournful chorus—an endless sea of suffering. Their agonized cries chilled me to the bone.
Suddenly, the roar thundered again, and the black strips on the ground began to writhe. The ghosts were swept back down, and in an instant, green blood splattered. The writhing mass crushed them into pulp. I screamed and leaped up in terror.
At that moment, something grabbed my foot—a ghostly hand clamped tightly around my ankles. The whole body of the spirit was being squeezed into pulp by the writhing black strips. Its head looked up at me, as if hoping to hold onto me and escape from the torment below.
"Damn it, let go!" I shouted. With a wet splat, green blood splattered all over me. The ghost's head was swallowed up, leaving only a hand, slowly being crushed down—and I was being dragged in with it.
I struggled desperately, but the ghost's hand wouldn't release me. In my panic, I saw another spirit fly overhead. Without hesitation, I grabbed its foot and hurriedly pulled off one of its shoes.
Clinging to the ghost, I soared upward. Looking around, I saw several spirits escaping, rushing upward as fast as they could.
With a whoosh, I pierced the thin mist overhead. Instantly, I was stunned—above me, directly overhead, was a massive blue-purple sphere, like a giant ball with no end in sight. Inside, white dots floated, slowly drawing closer. I cried out in shock.
All around were ghosts, only their heads visible, seemingly stuck to the giant blue-purple sphere. Their agonized screams echoed from within.
As soon as the ghosts reached out, I saw waves of heat rising. Their outstretched limbs instantly caught fire and melted. The spirits tried to escape, reaching out again to support themselves, but their bodies would ignite and dissolve into slime, leaving only their heads exposed on the surface.
"What on earth is this?"
I muttered in disbelief. The ghost carrying me flew toward the right side of the blue-purple sphere. In the air, countless spirits drifted in the same direction, all with the same destination.
I had no idea how long we’d been flying. My eardrums were nearly shattered by the ghosts’ wails. Finally, I saw something different—a pale blue sphere ahead.
At this moment, aside from the whimpering, I heard bursts of animal cries echoing through the air.
As I drew closer, I saw all kinds of creatures inside the pale blue sphere—everything except humans—each wrapped in green light, rising upward. At the top of the sphere, a hint of golden light shimmered, and the animals entered it one by one.
The ghosts flying ahead, upon entering the pale blue sphere, transformed—some into pigs, some into birds, some into fish. I stared in disbelief.
"Don't go any further—let go!" The ghost suddenly turned to look at me. I stared back, startled.
"Who are you?"
"That's the Animal Realm. I'm about to reincarnate—unless you want to become a beast with me?"
Just as he was about to reach the pale blue sphere, he suddenly stopped.
"Netherhell's interference is coming." I still didn't understand, when suddenly a massive black strip shot upward, like a giant centipede rising to the sky, but headless.
Immediately, the ghosts flying nearby scattered in shock. The huge black strip rose with a deafening roar, stunning the nearby spirits and sending them plummeting. Then the strip retracted into the ground.
Just moments ago, dozens of ghosts had escaped from the ground and flown upward. Now, only the ghost and I remained. I saw him smile.
"Heh, after 1,039 tries, I finally made it. All thanks to you—until we meet again."
The ghost spoke, and just as he was about to enter the pale blue sphere, I quickly let go. My body began to sink. As he entered the glowing mass, I saw him transform into a large black dog, turning back to look at me, tongue lolling and eyes full of mirth.
I screamed—I knew I was falling back to the ground. My mind raced for a solution, but I plunged into the mist once again.
Just when I was at a loss, a black strip coiled around me. I cried out as a wave of cold pain flooded my body, dragging me toward the ground. The thought of that meat-grinder surface terrified me even more.
Deathbane Aura surged out, and gradually I could see the ground. Instantly, I conjured a Deathbane Aura Blade and slashed at the black strip beneath me. With a splat, a gush of black liquid sprayed everywhere, soaking me.
I quickly pulled the black strip away and threw it down. With a thud, I landed on the severed strip, feeling it sink beneath me as it writhed. I hurried to my feet and leapt up again.
Creaking sounds echoed, and black liquid splashed over me, drenching my body. The writhing black strip was crushed to pieces as it twisted.
I jumped up in a panic.
"Mr. Brown, that's enough! Hurry, come take me back—please!"
I ran frantically, the black strips beneath my feet writhing faster and faster.
"What do I do? What do I do?"
I felt my strength failing. It was like running on a treadmill at the gym, but at breakneck speed—I knew if I stopped, I'd be ground into pulp.
I stood on a black strip, running madly as it sped up beneath me. My breathing grew rapid, my heart felt like it would burst, and my lungs ached with every gasp.
With a thunderous crash, I stumbled and fell, my cheek slamming into the black strip. A wave of heat rushed over me—I screamed and flailed wildly.
After I calmed down, I touched my nose—it hurt and was bleeding. The black strips beneath me had stopped writhing. I sat on one, gasping for breath, but quickly stood up again, unsure when they might start moving.
Whimpers echoed from the sky. I looked up just as countless ghostly heads—only heads—fell from above like raindrops, thudding all around.
The heads landed on the black strips. I dodged frantically, but had no choice but to shape Deathbane Aura into a baseball bat, swinging at the falling skulls.
After a while, the rain of heads finally stopped. My face was pale as I stared at mounds of ghostly skulls piled high in some places.
"Save me, please save me."
With a gurgle, a head rolled to my feet, whimpering as it opened its mouth to speak.
With a thunderous rumble, the black strips on the ground began writhing again. I screamed and ran frantically, matching their rhythm.
Jets of crushed green blood sprayed everywhere. I screamed, my mind nearing its limit, and could only shut my eyes as the green blood splattered over me.
"Mr. Brown, help me! Help!" I shouted, feeling the black strips on the ground writhing even faster, my legs turning to jelly.
With a bang, the writhing stopped. My whole body was sticky. When I opened my eyes, the skulls had all been ground down.
With a creak, black strips rose up all around me, closing in.
"Shit..." I yelled, raising my Deathbane Aura Blade and slashing ahead. Black liquid sprayed out. After severing two strips, I dashed forward, stumbled, and collapsed to the ground.