「Current location: Unidentified village」
「Dimension: 1st, Nullity」
Teetering off the edge of the windowsill, warm light bounces off the broken shard of glass, its iridescent rays streaking along the wooden walls. With each dip of the glass, it nears its inevitable descent to the floor.
Until it finally gives up, slipping away and plummeting to the floor—
Clatter!
"Christ!" A man yells, jolting upright.
The rusted bed squeaks and groans beneath his weight, threatening collapse with any movement.
"Good grief, where am—?" He questions, only to fall silent.
Cold hands rush to his face, brushing stubble, eyebrows, and dried lips.
"I'm...I'm alive!" His excitement surges. "I've bloody made it to the first dimension!" Then it flatlines just as quickly.
'Why is everything so blurry?'
Gently placing his hands at his side, he shifts his weight on the bed, feet crashing onto the floor on what he hopes is wood.
'Have I also become blind in hell? Ironic.'
He moves his leg and hands around, searching for glasses or anything he can use.
"Bloody hell, doesn't hell have any specs?" He grumbles, swerving his knee quickly to the side in frustration, wincing as it impacts with a solid object. "A..." He swipes his hands across the top. "A nightstand!"
'It should be here, right?'
He moves his hands about and finally locates it.
'Found it!'
"Glasses!" He beams, picking it up and sliding it over his eyes.
'This has to be the first time I've become so excited for glasses.'
The haze of his vision swiftly clears; the cracked glass of his specs slightly distorts the spaces, but nothing he isn't accustomed to.
'So this is the first dimension of Purgatos hell.'
He surveys the area, eyes locking onto every detail of the medieval-style room, where the dim light casts shadows on the stone hearth, a prominent feature in the era's architecture.
"It surely isn't a hotel or any modern-day style room I've ever seen. It more aligns with the old archives, much like the Tudor-style beams that crisscross the ceiling."
Taking his first steps, he uses the wall to balance his first few wobbly steps. Yet, once he removes his hands, a thin coat of moisture clings to his palms, and the scent soon follows. The suffocating, earthy, stale stench fills his nostrils.
"Ughh~... What's that smell?" He advances closer to the wall and realizes it's the source. "Gosh, how can anyone sleep here?"
He backs away, moving towards the window instead, spotting the glass that awakened him and the gaping hole of the shattered window from which it emerged.
'This should be useful as a weapon.'
He bends down, picking it up, safely tucking it into his pants before switching his attention to the world outside the room.
"Nullity…" He utters to himself, staring absentmindedly at a world he had only known through classified books. "Nullen, what have you gotten yourself into?"
「...」
The panel pops up, and he steps back from the window.
'It's about to begin.'
「Welcome, sinner #660 to the first dimension of Purgatos, Nullity.」
'A historian witnessing a treason nobody in history would dare commit.'
He thinks to himself; the sheer unrealness of his situation sends a cold sweat down his forehead.
「You came to complete a promise, to punish those above who made you do it, and for that, you need power and experience. 」
「I, the Covenant system, am willing to give it to you. However, you must work for it, build yourself brick by brick, even if you crumble. 」
「Forget companionship and kindness; a blissful heart only falls. In Purgatos, only the strongest survive. Your life from here on out is set to Hell mode; expect the unexpected and believe none, you are all sinners after all.」
"Right, sinners." Nullen swallows the rising bile.
「Now that I've warned you. We shall begin. For your admission exam, I'll spin the wheel of difficulty to see what level of difficulty you'll be on.」
"The admission exam." He tightens his fist.
「The levels of difficulty are: EASY/NORMAL/HARD/NIGHTMARE/HELL MODE.」
'I hope it's at least normal.'
His fingers crossed, looking on as the wheel spins, their fates are threaded to whatever comes next. The wheel slows; every time it hits Hell mode, his pulse jumps until it finally stops.
「Results: NIGHTMARE!」
"Blood hell." He hisses. "I'm fucked!"
「Congratulations! You have landed on Nightmare. 」
<<
<<
Nullen holds his breath.
___________________
Missions category: Nightmare
Objective: Uncover the name and history of this village and eliminate six skinwalkers
Skinwalker count: 0/6
||Reward hidden||
____________________
"Discovering the name and history of a village is already a grueling task, especially in Purgatos." His fingers find his chin. "Furthermore, we also have to discern skinwalkers from actual civilizations."
'Not an easy task.'
「Your time limit is five hours. To aid you in this challenge, you will be granted temporary personas.」
'Personas. I recalled reading about them before.'
<<
__________
「-Persona (Uncommon)-」
◦ Your persona: The historian
◦ Persona type: Support
‣ Resonance level: 25」
◦Magical artifact: Glasses of discernment
—Explanation—
The user can perceive what is not obvious or what is veiled.
‣ Eminence level: 25」
‣ Eminence 25 + Resonance 25 = Power level: 50
__________
Nullen's eyes widen as his glasses shimmer a gentle gold.
「Good luck, sinner. Guidebooks will be distributed shortly, but be warned. If you fail in this trial, your journey to godslayer will promptly end, and your soul will become no more.」
Nullen gazes at the panel intently until it disappears, and for a split second in the corner of his eyes, he sees the small black figure of a child, standing eerily still before vanishing.
"I…" He stumbles back, inhaling a shaky breath. "I can't fail this." His head shakes vigorously. "I'm going to finish this trail and fulfill my promise." Sweat trickles down his face as his breathing picks up. "I have to! I don't have a choice!"
'I can't waste any time.'
His eyes land on the ticking timer in the right corner of his vision.
「5:59:39」
'Calm down, Nullen, you haven't lost the trial. Nightmare shouldn't be that hard.'
"Right now, I should focus on finding the others." Wiping the sweat, he adjusts his glasses, then scans the area around him. "With these glasses alone, I can't possibly take down twenty skinwalkers."
'I wonder how these glasses work—'
「⦾Nearest player: three rooms west⦾」
"Great."
Hurriedly advancing to the door, he spots a pair of old boots, which he slips on. With a ghostly shrill, the door opens, and the atrocious aroma envelops him.
'Bloody hell, it's worse out here than inside.'
He thinks, hands finding themselves over his nose.
Turning left, he follows the direction the panel gave. Every step of his boots against the withering wooden floors feels like a disaster waiting to happen, but he doesn't stop.
'1…'
'2…'
'3…'
Passing the third room in the barely lit hall, its cream walls eroded with black mold creeping down from the ceiling, almost reaching the wall candle. Reaching the last room, its dark oak door looming a few inches above him.
"This might be a bad idea." He recognizes with a whisper.
'This is hell; I'm on a quest to create god killers. I have no clue what they're capable off.' With trembling hands, he reluctantly twists the knob and opens the door.
Walking in confused, he looks around and sees one. "Nobody?" His muscles relax. "I guess the panel lied?"
"It didn't." A raspy voice follows after the shrill of the door; something sharp presses against his neck.
'Shit!'
Nullen's body tenses.
'I should have looked behind the door before making assumptions.'
Panic sets in.
"Name?" The voice is so hoarse it's almost inaudible.
Nullen! The historian!" He shouts, flaring his hands up. In a moment of realization, his fingers instinctively tighten around the shard of glass he tucked away, a spark of quick thinking flickering in his mind even as he speaks in desperation. "I'm just a basic historian; I'm not dangerous, I promise!" He rambles, hoping to diffuse the threat.
"Innocent." He states coldly, letting go of him. "Nobody's innocent."
Spinning around, eyes landing on piercing crimson eyes. "Carnage."
「Persona: The Keybearer」
「Power level: 70」
"The keybearer." He finishes.