_Chapter Begins_
A world of pure darkness where nothing ever changed or moved—a world hidden from the eyes of mortals.
A world divine in nature, even though it didn't appear so.
A world meant for judgment.
But deep within this realm of unchanging darkness, there was a disturbance.
In the middle of it stood a lonesome figure that completely contradicted the stillness of the dark world.
He moved. He spoke. He thought. He felt all kinds of emotions.
In a world that never changed, this figure was different.
He was ever-changing—always moving—which disturbed the peace brought by the eternal stillness.
The peace of darkness was broken not only by the erratic movements of the figure but also by his voice, which boomed across the void as the man cursed his heart out.
"Get out of me, you vile thing!"
William was squirming in the darkness, clawing at his chest with all his might—so much that he had drawn blood from the deep scratches carved into his skin.
That damned purple orb had embedded itself onto his soul not long ago, and now he was desperately trying to get it out.
"Ugh, this is pointless!"
With a frustrated yelp, William stopped clawing at his chest and sat down on the invisible ground of darkness.
"That thing's merged with my very soul… there's nothing I can do to get it out now."
Countless bad decisions and strokes of bad luck had led him to this terrible moment.
Where could he even start?
Well, it probably began with him betraying his family, which led to him becoming not only homeless but also a criminal.
Then came meeting that weird girl named Elsa.
After that, being hunted down by a cult.
And to top it all off—meeting Death itself.
The entity that literally represented the concept of death.
William wanted to ask the heavens what he had done to deserve all this—but he decided against it, since the answer was pretty clear.
From betraying his family to planning to have an innocent girl killed by a cult, William knew exactly why he was in this situation.
"Okay, I know I've done my fair share of sins, but… doesn't this seem a little extreme?"
No one answered, of course. He was alone here.
Well, alone was still better than being in the presence of Death itself—so that was a bonus.
"Alright, I need to calm down and put my brain to work."
He didn't know how much longer he would remain in this realm, but he knew that at some point he'd be sent to Hell itself.
So, he needed to make a plan to survive—literally—Hell.
"How do I even begin to make a plan for that?"
William let out a long sigh, then immediately got to work.
He started by going over all the information he'd gotten from Adam.
According to Adam, this place of darkness was a realm used to judge mortals based on how they lived their lives—then send them either to Hell or Heaven.
Pretty simple so far.
Of course, it was only simple if you could accept the insane revelation that Heaven and Hell were actually real—and that there was a judgment realm deciding who was good and who was bad.
The other bits of information Adam had given him were so vague that William's brain hurt just thinking about them.
He was "favored by Fate"? What the hell did that even mean?
Was Adam joking, or was he serious?
If it was a joke, William didn't find it funny. But if it was true… wouldn't that make him unstoppable?
He waved a hand across the darkness.
"I'm getting ahead of myself."
Adam's words were vague—it could have easily been a metaphor, or just a cruel joke.
So no, he couldn't just count on fate to save him and carry him into the sunset.
"Well, that sucks."
William crossed his legs and rested his chin on his palm.
"Well, if fate won't help me, then maybe this weird orb might do the trick."
He had theorized that the purple orb embedded in him was one of the seven sins created by Satan… or the Devil, or whatever you wanted to call him.
If his theory was correct, then maybe his situation wasn't that bad.
He literally had an embodiment of sin inside him—if that couldn't help him survive Hell, then what could?
"Maybe Adam was right… I might just be favored by fate."
William smiled, resentment flickering across his face, and sat up.
But then he stumbled.
"What's going on?"
The darkness of the judgment realm began to convulse.
"Looks like my time here is about to end."
William let out a sigh.
"Well… I'll try my best to survive, I guess."
He stood motionless for a while, as if lost in thought.
Then, a faintly amused expression crossed his face.
"Adam proclaimed himself as a Pillar of the Universe… so now that I've merged with a sin, wouldn't that make me a…"
The darkness shook violently.
"Pillar of Sin?"
And then William was no more.
The quiet, peaceful darkness of the judgment realm returned—untouched, undisturbed.
Never changing. Never moving.
For eternity.
_Chapter Ends_