You know...
People always wonder how they will eventually die in the future.
The golden question, a question that most didn't know the answer to, and for which even more had no control over the outcome of.
As for my answer to this useless question?
I always thought I would die of old age.
And in hindsight... that may have been a bit hopeful of me, but throughout my life, I was fairly average.
Good job, good pay, and a decent social life.
I was the definition of a normal and upstanding citizen.
So... you can't exactly blame me for being more than surprised by the fact that I died because people mistook me for a member of a crime syndicate!
Shot and ambushed while I was driving my car on a highway, listening to music, no less!
And the bigger surprise...?
[Welcome, sinner]
In the vast expanse of the void where I now lived after my life had been taken, where neither sound nor light existed.
I couldn't even tell how long I was here... days? weeks? months?
Nonetheless... something had finally changed.
A mechanical red panel appeared, and despite my clear lack of eyes, I was able to see it clearly.
Like something you would find in an open-world RPG.
I wasn't dumb enough not to know what was likely going on.
I'm about to be pulled into something I didn't ask for at all..., in fact, I would have preferred that the afterlife didn't exist if I knew this was going to happen.
At least I wouldn't have to deal with something like this. I would have much preferred just floating into nothingness until my consciousness faded.
And what in the world did it mean by sinner!?
[Are you ready for your new life in hell?]
'...'
Guess that answered my question.
But most importantly... why in the world am I being sent to hell!?
I've never recalled doing something so heinous that it would warrant me an eternity of punishment...
Even if I did steal or lie, it wasn't even enough to get me arrested; a simple penny or lighthearted misdirection shouldn't condemn my soul to eternity!
[Preparing transfer...]
The panel echoed, seemingly unbothered by how I felt.
At least... I get something with me.
Even if gaining a system in exchange for going to hell was a completely unfair trade.
[Transferring To 101st Circle]
101st...?
That's... a lot of circles...
I thought to myself, but not for long, because in an instant... I was no longer in the endless void.
CLICK!
And now into somewhere much... much worse.
"W-Where am I...."
I looked around, and it all felt like a dream; not even a nanosecond had passed before I was immediately transported to this entirely new realm.
The walls were a rusty black, chains surrounding me.
The room was a cube, no windows, no doors, just gross walls with a ton of chains...
Was this my punishment...?
I was still a bit disoriented from not having a body, not realizing that I could now move again.
But my body was far from normal; in fact, I looked like a human without skin, a walking mass of muscle with veins and arteries that looked as rotten as a zombie.
I tried to take a step forward, but instead, I couldn't.
And it just dawned on me that I was slowly sinking... the chain that was supposed to be just eye level from me now barely reaching my forehead.
"W-What's going on!?"
I looked down, seeing the bloody floor start sprouting hands that looked similar to mine, pulling me down, somewhere that I know instinctually would be bad news.
[Task: Prevent yourself from becoming a husk]
[Rewards: System Integration]
Even without this new system butting in, I knew I had to try and prevent this from happening somehow.
And even if I didn't have any tools with me, at least this room had something useful.
Chains...
I could use it to pull myself back up, or at least, stop myself from being pulled down into the depths of nothingness.
"Come on!"
I grunted, yanking on a chain that was vaguely in reach, and as expected from a skinless body.
Each point of contact I made with the rusty metal chains was painful... like alcohol on an open wound.
An average person like me couldn't even hope to stay sane after feeling pain like this... but, God knows I would regret it if I stopped now.
"Hraggh!"
I cried out in pain, pulling myself higher and higher, the weight of my body and the force of the arms pulling me down making it harder.
But even if this body was certainly not human.
At least it had its own version of adrenaline.
"G-Got it!"
I managed to pull myself up fully, escaping the grasp of the arms as I climbed the chains, putting one leg on one of its holes as I used it to support myself.
But... what now?
Like before... the room had no windows and no doors.
And the floor was clearly a no-go; it'll be game over for me the moment I touch the ground again; even adrenaline wouldn't be enough for me to pull myself back up as I did right now.
It wasn't enough to completely mask the pain, even now... just holding on was torment.
I couldn't even imagine doing the same thing again.
And just as things felt absolutely hopeless...
[Tip: Head Above]
I looked above me like the system ordered, and to my surprise... the chains were being supported by absolutely nothing.
At first, I thought it was due to the lighting, making the roof look like the void itself.
But no...
The roof itself was literally void.
And...
Maybe...
Was it the entrance to the 100th floor?