[Hela's POV]
"F*cking hell. I swear, I want to kill myself."
I've been in this place for more than 2,000 years. Well, technically, it's been just one. But trust me, even one day here is enough to make someone go insane.
I mean, come on. I'm the kind of person who couldn't eat without my phone in hand. Walking, eating, sleeping—whatever. It was always there.
I hated being bored. To fight it, I touched every entertainment medium known to man.
I was a connoisseur of distractions—anime, manga, movies, webtoons, novels, games, music, sports—you name it, I binged it.
It kept my mind occupied, kept me from feeling the endless void of emptiness biting the edges of my consciousness.
But now, I'm stuck in a place where there's no entertainment, no distractions, no escape.
Just... this nothing.
Now imagine someone like me—someone who used to be glued to a screen or plugged into a song—suddenly trapped in an endless expanse of darkness.
I mean, it's not like I was one of those 'perfectly zen' types who can meditate for hours.
Hell, I could barely sit still long enough to finish a book for school, and now here I am, unable to do anything but sit in this oppressive silence, with nothing but my own mind to keep me company.
It's... maddening.
I've counted every crack on the floor. I did it more than once, precisely before I started ranking them.
Crack #27 is my favorite because it looks like a dragon, and then there's crack #12, a traitor. It changed shape when I wasn't looking.
I've also examined every inch of this place, memorized every curve on the... skulls, and the texture of the stone beneath my feet. I've touched every rock, giving them names.
Yeah, I know how pathetic that sounds. One of them's called Rocky. I swear to God, he's a judgmental bastard.
Sometimes, I talk to him; he's got some personality. But he doesn't respond, unfortunately. None of them do.
"You're judging me again, aren't you, Rocky?"
"(-_-)"
"Yeah. That's what I thought, little bastard."
I've lost track of how many times I've spoken to myself at this point. It's like I'm looking for some semblance of interaction, some proof that I'm not truly alone.
I kick the ground sometimes, but it doesn't hurt, although I wish it did.
I lie on the floor trying to hear my heartbeat and speak to it, even if I don't need to.
And no matter how much I scream, how much I imagine, nothing happens and nothing ever changes.
I could tear this realm apart with a thought—I even tried—but it will grow back.
Adding this to the fact that there's no sun, no moon, no time, and no clock. Just this endless, suffocating nothing.
Just silence—crushing, ever-present silence that irks your mind, pulling at the threads of sanity, inch by inch, until you're left wondering if you even existed before this.
I don't know. I slept, or maybe I didn't, because I woke up in the same position. I don't know if seconds passed or centuries.
I don't even know what's worse—the physical emptiness, or the overwhelming psychological weight of the silence.
[The host has survived 365 days in the Marvel Universe. Current threat: Odin. Reward: Astral Projection Information.]
"Sh*t. Another seemingly useless skill," I muttered to myself, reading the notification that had appeared in front of my face.
This is my so-called 'cheat'. For every day I survive in this godforsaken place, I get a reward based on how dangerous the day was.
You'd think after a year of endless isolation, I'd get something truly powerful, something that could help me escape.
Maybe a goddamn seal-removing technique, or at least some kind of useful communication device to make contact with someone—anyone—just to remind myself that I'm not completely insane.
But no, I get... Astral Projection instead.
I roll my eyes and throw my hands up in the air. "Really? Astral projection? The ability to leave my body in a place where there is nowhere to go."
Let me back up a second. Over the past year, what haven't I gotten? I mean, the system is generous in its rewards.
Among the most useful were: the Hito Hito no Mi (the fruit that grants the ability to turn into a human), the Super Soldier Serum, Capsule Corp that I opened, stared at the empty inside before closing it...
At first glance, they sound amazing. Who wouldn't want to turn into a superhuman, right?
Who wouldn't want access to capsules that could hold practically anything? But... honestly?
When you can crush Thor's hammer with your bare hands, what good is the Super Soldier Serum?
And as for the Capsule Corp stuff? What the hell am I supposed to do with capsules that could store infinite amounts of stuff when there's nothing here to store? I don't even have food or water. What use is it?
Hell, the Hito Hito no Mi might've been cool if I had an animal to feed it to. There's literally not a single living being here.
No, all I've got are these goddamn cracks in the floor and my so-called rock 'friends'.
Oh, right. Did I mention that I'm in Hela's body now?
Yeah. That's a fun little twist.
Was it due to a miracle or a curse? I don't know. But somehow, I ended up in this godforsaken version of Hel, the realm of trial.
It's not Hell as humans know it—the fire and brimstone stuff.
This is Hel, a place supposed to be a punishment for the wicked and a reward for the righteous. But now, there's nothing here apart from emptiness.
Everyone else is gone, well, erased. Every single soul that would have been here was obliterated by the original Hela.
As the one who ruled over Hel, she had no need for anyone else here. And as for me, well, my arrival here wasn't exactly planned.
If anything, I suspect it was more of a cosmic joke—some mistake, or perhaps, a cruel twist of fate. A twist that would trap me in the body of someone as powerful, as terrifying, and as lonely as Hela herself.
I can still remember how I died. It's like it happened yesterday.
I was living in the modern world—just a regular person, with regular ambitions, and a regular life. A life filled with distractions, yes, but a life nonetheless, until I was killed.
As for how and why I was killed? Well, that's kinda embarrassing; I couldn't help but blush recalling it.
Anyway, I never got the chance to finish what I started and never got to say goodbye. And I never expected to wake up here.
Here—in the cold, empty halls of Hel, with Hela's memories and power flowing through me, and her body, too.
I remember how she'd felt when she stood at the top of her domain—fierce, untouchable, and utterly alone. It's almost like I'm living in a shadow of a shadow now.
The memories from her life, her reign with Odin, everything has mixed with mine, and it's hard to separate the two.
But there's no escape. No way to undo what's been done.
I get up from where I've been sitting, dusting off the nonexistent dirt from my still beautiful dark green attire.
I hate it here. I sit on the throne of Hel. Ruler of nothing and Queen of nobody.
....