Chapter 4: Welcome to Hell
Waking up, I felt sore all over. Although the bed was soft, everything else looked minimal.
Wasn't I a prince? Why the bad treatment?
I crawled off the bed, getting used to my body as I took my first steps in this life. The curtains were already open. A red sun watched from the sky, and black crows perched by my window. Unlike yesterday, when everything had been blood-red, the sky today carried a pinkish hue.
Using the bedstand and the walls for support, I left my room—only to be greeted by a forest and a letter lying by my doorstep.
I fell as I bent to pick it up, but still managed to open it.
Black mist rushed out and entered my head.
The unfamiliar letters on the page twisted and became readable.
"Congrats on your first awakening.
As for your name, it's still being decided, but for now you'll go by Dercilla. That will be your demon name."
A purple aura flared around my body, and a crest appeared on my palm. I recognized it—it was the same crest stamped on the letter.
It resembled the devil emoji from Earth, except the eyes looked like they were snickering, and the smile was far too wide.
"You are currently in Arkan Forest and are expected to return to the palace within a week. Enjoy your vacation."
After reading it, I realized there was no map.
So I had to explore and find my way back on my own.
I checked the house for clues, but after an entire afternoon, I found only a small book titled Basic Demon Knowledge. With no other options, I began reading.
Flipping through the pages, I learned that time in the demon realm worked differently.
There were only six hours in a day.
Seventy seconds per minute.
Sixty minutes per hour.
Seven days per week.
Three weeks per month.
Six months per year.
Ghan wasn't energy like I thought—it was money. The spelling was the same, but the pronunciation differed.
Ghan — money
Ghán (khan) — energy or strength
Energy existed in every living being. Without it, one would eventually die.
Demons were no different from monsters. Once a monster gained consciousness, it became a demon. When a demon lost consciousness or self-awareness, it became a demonic beast.
And the forest I was in?
A nest full of them.
Monsters were ranked as follows:
Rank 1 — low tier
Ranks 2–4 — mid tier, with elemental powers
Ranks 5–8 — high tier
The same applied to plants and demons.
I stopped reading when my body demanded food.
Exploring the house further, I discovered that aside from my bedroom, there was nothing else. No kitchen. No storage. Not even a toilet.
Sighing, I took the book and stepped outside to search for food.
The book was small and portable, filled with tiny notes. Each tag led to a different topic. It was my only chance at survival.
The sky had deepened into a darker pink, and the moon hid behind a heart-shaped cloud. I needed food quickly—even plants would do.
Opening the last page, I read the summary.
Magic is the process of using Ghan alongside incantations to create visual effects that affect reality.
After cramming four spells, I stepped out.
One defensive spell.
One healing spell.
One attack spell.
One movement spell.
I also used a tracking spell I hadn't learned. It took five attempts, and with every failure, my hunger worsened.
By the time I succeeded, monster cries echoed through the forest and my vision blurred.
I used the attack spell to create water bullets and drank them.
Then I continued into the forest.
Five minutes later, I found mushrooms—every single one poisonous. The book was only helpful to a point.
Soon, I encountered rank-one rabbits. They had yellow horns, and unlike Earth rabbits, they weren't easy to scare away. Not that I wanted to.
Hiding behind a large tree, I skimmed the book again but found nothing useful. I decided to attack, observe their reaction, and retreat if it got dangerous.
Whispering, I began the incantation.
"Water spirit, I beseech thee. Heed my call. Become my spear and demolish my foes—Water Bullet."
A messy water bullet formed slowly. I aimed my hand like a pistol and fired at a female rabbit.
It splashed harmlessly against her fur.
She shook herself dry, then aimed her horn at me.
I dodged just in time. The spot I had stood on was scorched by lightning.
Crash.
Pain flooded my senses, and hunger drove me half-mad. For a moment, the rabbit looked two meters tall and charged at me.
I rubbed my eyes.
Illusion.
It was still small—house-cat sized compared to my toddler body.
When it charged again, I tilted my head aside. Its horn got stuck in the tree trunk. I grabbed it by the waist, making it release a shrill scream.
Ugh.
Blood poured from my ears and nose. Still, it looked like tasty cotton candy.
With no weapon, I restrained it with my hands and sank my teeth into its body.
The moment I tasted blood, my teeth sharpened into fangs. The flavor was creamy—almost like milk.
By the time I realized it, the rabbit had shriveled up, completely drained.
Wiping blood from my face, I looked up.
Hundreds of rabbits stared back.
I smiled.
I'm going to have a feast today.
I was high on blood and didn't want it to end.
While I was feeding, the rabbits charged their lightning. By the time I noticed, they were ready to unleash a coordinated attack.
I grabbed the remains of my meal and used it as a shield while running, using my small body and the forest terrain to my advantage.
They were many, but their numbers worked against them. The terrain broke their formation.
I chanted again, preparing the water bullet—this time tweaking it.
The original spell hadn't worked. Expected. They didn't even give me a map. They probably never wanted me to pass.
I was on my own.
There was only one way to win—trial and error.
The tweak failed. I only summoned a small rain cloud, but it distracted them long enough for me to visualize a rain of bullets.
Using physics from my past life, I imagined compressing the water by removing temperature from each drop.
Snow fell on some rabbits. Scalding water poured onto others.
Fortunately, they were only rank one. If they had intelligence, I'd be dead.
Seeing how tough they were, I really hoped I could survive the next seven days.
The rain drained me quickly, and hunger returned.
Growl.
My stomach betrayed me. More rabbits gathered.
Hop.
Hop.
Hop.
I was surrounded. One hit could roast me alive. A swarm would erase me.
There was only one option.
Climb.
I had camping experience in my past life—otherwise I'd already be dead.
I tried climbing, forgetting the kind of body I had now.
If this were my old body, it'd be easy. But this body had been born yesterday and learned to walk today. Dodging attacks was already a miracle.
Despair crept in.
The crows on the tree laughed.
I screamed at them.
"I wish I could fly! Then I'd make you regret laughing at me!"
Whoosh.
The ground shrank beneath me.
What—?
Looking over my shoulder, I saw two small wings. Unlike the lady's feathered wings, mine resembled a bat's.
I tried flying higher. Three feet was my limit. Every movement required focus.
Lose focus, and I'd fall to my death.
The rabbits jumped uselessly below. I needed a strategy.
After annoying them with fake water bullets, I led them toward an area filled with small stones and mushrooms.
Picking up stones, I waited. Their sizes had decreased, and corpses littered the ground—trampled to death.
I swooped down, drained the dying ones, then rose again.
Food shouldn't be wasted.
They chased me, but being airborne gave me control. One by one, I thinned their numbers until they fled.
Boom.
Boom.
Booom.
At first, I thought the rabbits had fled because they feared being eaten.
I was wrong.
From the sound alone, something massive was moving—or two monsters were fighting.
Staying any longer would be suicide.
I flew away immediately, and it was a good thing I did. A moment later, a massive golem collapsed right where I had been standing.
The ground trembled.
From the shadows, spiders poured out and began devouring its body. At their center was one far worse—a spider as large as a three-story building. Eight legs. Six eyes. In the darkness, it looked like pure horror given form.
Using my small body to my advantage, I quickly weighed my options.
Running meant capture and death.
Hiding depended on luck.
Fighting meant certain death.
I chose stillness.
I retreated into the shadows and forced myself to breathe quietly. The darkness swallowed everything. Without the moonlight, I was nearly blind.
The only reason I survived the rabbits earlier was the light. Now it was gone. I had lost my sense of direction, and carrying trophies back was impossible.
One wrong move here meant the end.
I stayed hidden.
By morning, the forest finally went quiet.
When I returned, my home was gone.
Crushed flat—probably stepped on by something far larger than me.
What shocked me wasn't the destruction.
It was the stench of blood.
Activating defensive magic, I gripped a sharpened twig and searched through the rubble.
Inside, I found them.
Two demons around my age.
One was already dead.
The other was still breathing.
I salvaged what I could first—a mattress, a bedsheet, and an extra pair of clothes. After that, I turned to leave.
Then the living one grabbed my leg.
"Please help me."
I looked down at him.
"Why should I?"
He said nothing.
After a moment, I crouched down and removed the broken wood pinning him. His injuries weren't fatal, but his ribs were fractured and one bone was twisted badly.
I grabbed it and forced it back into place.
"AHHHHHHH—!"
His scream was sharp and raw. He passed out immediately.
For some reason, watching him writhe in pain pleased me.
With a demon's regeneration, as long as Ghán and the brain were intact, healing would come. That was why mid-tier monsters could recover so quickly.
Judging by the speed of his regeneration, this one was strong.
So I decided to take him.
I wrapped him in the bedsheet, tied it to my waist like a carrier, and set off.
"…Water bullet."
Splash.
"…Water bullet."
Splash.
Carrying him was exhausting, but I practiced magic as I walked.
Haaa… haa…
I was hungry again—and this time, so was he.
Fortunately, I remembered the route back to where I had fought the rabbits. When they saw me again, they fled.
Tch.
Using moss on stones as guidance, I continued forward.
Whoosh—
Moist air brushed my skin. Fog gathered lightly.
When I tried another water bullet, its size was noticeably larger.
A waterfall.
I stripped both of us, washed away the blood and grime, and dried us with my shirt. I didn't change clothes afterward—saving the spare pair for later.
Behind the waterfall, I spotted a cave.
Perfect.
I set him down and checked his injuries again.
They were fully healed.
"You can stop pretending now," I said. "I know you're awake."
He didn't respond.
I tied his hands anyway.
I'd learned enough already.
Never trust anything you haven't confirmed yourself.
Demons are selfish.
So you must be more selfish.
In this world, it wasn't give and take.
The strong took from the weak.
Friendship and comradeship didn't exist.
I sat by the lakeside and reviewed magic again.
Chant.
Ghán.
Visualization.
That was how it was supposed to work.
So why wasn't it working for me?
…Don't tell me this is fake too.