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"And there's more. All those protagonist-only perks like 'just sitting at home when a beautiful girl falls from the sky,' 'talk-no-jutsu so strong it's terrifying,' or 'as long as you're fired up, you're unbeatable'… you get to enjoy those too."
As if she thought Wu Liuqi and the others still weren't shocked enough, Robin casually added that last line.
Wu Liuqi: "Sitting at home and a beauty drops from the sky? Damn it, I really want that kind of corrupt, decadent life… (envy, jealousy, hatred.jpg)"
Kurama: "Compared to what came before, that stuff's honestly nothing special."
Thinking of her innocent, carefree younger sister, Elsa quietly shot Sam a look.
Looks like I absolutely cannot let him come to my world.
"Extracting a small Hell plane. Growth-type."
After the extraction, Sam focused and carefully sensed it. To his surprise, he really could feel an entire world now, and it responded to him as naturally as moving his own arms.
Wu Liuqi watched him curiously and asked, "So? How is it?"
Kurama and Elsa were also staring at him with interest.
"How is it?"
Sam clenched his fist. "Right now, I can easily open the gates to this little Hell I pulled and enter it. And I can feel it. Everything inside is under my control."
Everyone sucked in a sharp breath, doing their part to contribute to global warming.
This guy… did he seriously become the Lord of the Underworld?
"Want to come with me and take a look around Hell? Don't worry, there's nothing in there yet. It's basically a blank slate."
Wu Liuqi and the others exchanged glances. In the end, curiosity won out, and they nodded.
This was sightseeing in Hell. How many chances like this do you get in a lifetime?
After shutting down the anti-magic field, Sam snapped his fingers. The world blurred for a moment, and then they realized they were standing somewhere completely unfamiliar.
"Th-this is Hell?!"
Wu Liuqi stared at the barren scenery before him, too shocked to even find the words.
Not because it was terrifying, but because it was so far from what they expected.
There was literally nothing here.
Hell? This was more like a wasteland.
Elsa said softly, "It's desolate, but I can feel a strong aura of death…"
With Elsa's ice talent being absurdly powerful, the moment she arrived, her instincts went into overdrive, screaming warnings at her. She could clearly sense a force unique to Hell itself.
And as someone capable of creating life from ice, the Ice Queen was especially sensitive to the presence of death.
"So this really deserves to be called a small Hell plane, huh?"
Even Sam couldn't help smiling wryly at the sight.
It might be small, but it was still a plane of existence. It was just… really small. About the size of a country.
Roughly the size of China, to be precise.
A truly pocket-sized Hell.
That said, small didn't mean incomplete. It had everything. The Naihe Bridge, the Yama King's Hall, the Eighteen Layers of Hell, all of it was there.
Whether those places still functioned properly was another question.
As for how Sam knew all this the moment he arrived, the answer was simple.
He was the master of this plane. The ruler of the realm.
Anything he wanted to see or know here was just a matter of a single thought.
That's right. In this place, Sam was a god. An all-knowing, all-powerful god on an OAA level.
Once he left, though, he went back to being a weakling.
Well… maybe not a weakling exactly. He was still pretty strong, all things considered.
"There's really nothing that impressive here."
After wandering around for a bit, Wu Liuqi lost interest as soon as the novelty wore off.
As always, imagination was beautiful, but reality was brutally plain.
"Hmph. It's a bit shabby right now, sure, but don't forget, this thing can grow."
Kurama shot Wu Liuqi a disdainful look and snorted before continuing.
"Give it enough time, and it could grow even bigger than your world."
Leaving everything else aside, even a being like Kurama, formed from chakra energy, felt distinctly uncomfortable here, as if its vitality were being slowly eroded.
Still, Kurama didn't mention it out loud.
For now, it was just a faint sensation. Thanks to the Super-Dimensional Mercenary Guild's rules, the effect could probably be ignored entirely.
Wu Liuqi suddenly looked enlightened. "Ah… right, I forgot about that…"
Elsa nodded as well. "Me too. I forgot this place can still grow…"
It was terrifying. Even in its initial state, this Hell already put immense pressure on her. If it really grew stronger in the future…
Anyone who faced it would probably have a complete mental breakdown.
After finishing their Hell sightseeing tour, Sam led everyone back out.
"So what's next? Hurry up and show us!"
Now Wu Liuqi and the others were even more curious about the rest of Sam's rewards.
"Extracting item: Four Beasts Cauldron."
After confirming, an ancient-looking bronze cauldron about a meter tall appeared before them. It was clearly meant for alchemy.
On its four sides were carvings of the legendary Four Divine Beasts: the Azure Dragon of the East, the White Tiger of the West, the Vermilion Bird of the South, and the Black Tortoise of the North.
The body of the cauldron was covered in complex, mysterious runes. No one present had any idea what they meant.
"It looks insanely powerful and high-end, but… this thing is for alchemy and forging, right?!"
Sam's mouth twitched.
I don't even know how to refine pills or forge weapons. Why give me this?
"Whoa! Does that mean you'll be able to make immortality pills in the future? Boss, please let me cling to your leg!"
Wu Liuqi shamelessly hugged Sam's leg, looking like a kid terrified his dad was about to abandon him.
"…"
Kurama and Elsa looked on with pure disdain.
We don't know this guy.
"....."