Karma Chain (1)
The Other World.
This place called Hell was as vast as the real world and its society was as structured as any human civilization.
The difference was that human society was a product of reason, while Hell's society was born of emotion—the whole system ran on a different axis.
Most notably, if the real world's base was water, Hell's base was fire.
The sky was covered in clouds of flame; instead of cold rain, hot fire-flowers fell. Fires that struck the ground flowed like molten rock into enormous rivers of flame.
Cities had sprung up along those rivers' tributaries, and without exception each one had devices called purification facilities.
Lava dams to control the volume of fire, soul-treatment plants to regulate its quality, griddles where Hellfire boiled day and night.
And overseeing all those purification facilities was the Fire Resource Management Corporation—the highest authority in Hell.
"Aaaaaah!"
A scream that seemed like it might tear the room apart rang out from the president's office of the Fire Resource Management Corporation—known simply as the Fire Corp.
It sounded like pain, but threaded through the syllables was a note of pleasure.
The door burst open.
"President! What is it?"
The president—legs propped up on the table—hunched inward as she turned.
"Kyaa! What the—!"
Monoras, the chief secretary, replied casually.
"I just heard a sound and came to check."
Lete, president of the Fire Corp, narrowed her eyes and gave Monoras a cold once-over.
Deep reddish-brown skin, a pig's head, and the intelligence of a rock—utterly abysmal.
Why on earth was a creature like that… serving as the head secretary of the Fire Corp?
"Sniff, sniff."
Monoras sniffed the air as if tracking something, and Lete's face went stiff.
"What are you doing?"
"Nothing. Huh—ha. Huh—ha." His nasal, clogged voice grated on her nerves, but what annoyed her most was that he was Hell's most shameless bastard.
"Monoras."
"Yes, President."
Lete flicked her finger.
"Come over here for a moment."
"I should be working. I'm busy."
When the dull creature didn't move, she nodded as if she'd expected it.
"All right, I said come over here for a moment."
Monoras blinked and, putting every ounce of reluctance on display, walked to the desk.
"Why? For food or something—" Before he could finish, she planted a hand on the desk, vaulted over it, and punched Monoras straight in the jaw.
"You useless—!"
The pig's body tore through the office wall and thudded against the corridor.
Lete sprinted after him, kicked him in the gut, then began rhythmically stamping him into the floor.
"How many times have I told you not to come in here? Over three hundred million times! Are you ignoring me right now?"
With each of Lete's blows the flesh made the same squelching sound as when kneading meat.
"Squeal! Squeal!"
Monoras rolled down the corridor like a slaughtered hog and Lete followed in long, heavy strides.
"How many more beatings until you learn? I'm the president! Got it? Answer me! Who's the president?"
"I—I'm the president!"
"Aaaah! You're driving me crazy!"
A kick to his belly sent his massive body slamming into the ceiling before it dropped vertically.
"Hah! Hah!"
Lete caught her breath, glaring down at the pig's tear-streaked face as he clutched his gut.
"I'm the president! Me! So for you, it's not that I'm—it's that you are—!"
"President."
A voice came from the end of the corridor.
A voice refreshingly out of place in Hell.
But this was their job.
Informer.
A woman with goat-like horns hugged a file to her chest and padded forward like a cat.
"You two are still getting along great." Lete, panting, looked at the dazed Monoras and then raised her head.
"What is it?"
"Ah, yes. Two living corpses have appeared. Baramaon Sector Seven—the Tomb of Spines. It's a different type from the True-Voice sacrifice."
Lete sighed, remembering when the purification system had been thrown into chaos by a sealed psychic zone.
"What kind of type is it?"
"A Taeguk phenomenon."
"What!?"
Lete's eyes widened.
"A massive emotion-entity! No, no—this won't do! Most purification facilities across the country are already crippled. We can't purify this." The Informer shrugged.
"Even so… from the Fire Corp's standpoint, this is something we must drop everything to handle."
"Damn it! What kind of insane human—!"
The Informer explained: Taeguk was a phenomenon where two concepts that referred to each other merged into one.
Usually it was temporary, a single occurrence, but the very fact they'd arrived in Hell was the problem.
"Most taboos can't even cross Hell's threshold. How the hell did they get here?"
"Well, the Karma Chain's category is chromatic. Through the amplification of good and evil it reached the First Origin."
"Ugh."
Lete made a sick face.
"This is a total mess. Fine if the evil side ran rampant, but how did the good accept it?"
"It seems it was intended as a method to block evil."
"Hmm."
As Lete rested her chin on her hand and thought, a loud snore rose from the floor.
Monoras had fallen asleep and was talking in his sleep.
"Hehehe, President, that tickles."
The color drained from Lete's face and a few strands of hair stood on end.
"Ugh! Seriously?"
Before she could stop herself, she kicked again and Monoras's face smacked into the wall.
"Mmm, mmm."
Lete turned away on the verge of tears.
"That creature is my chief secretary! I can't fire him, and I can't quit. Is there even a god?"
Just as Taeseong manages the resources of the real world, Lete managed the resources of the Other World. The difference was that her company offered no rest or retirement—only crushing, endless stress.
Baramaon Sector Seven.
Bones lay scattered with spines ripped out; the place had been named the Tomb of Spines.
Malformed children wandered the graves, sucking marrow from the bones.
They were a species called limbo: weak in combat but unmatched in cruelty.
Their gaunt legs were folded as they hunched over, eyes merciless as they sucked marrow.
"Aaaah!"
At a sudden crackling noise from the air, the limbo flung bones and scattered in all directions.
The space rippled and a man and a woman, tangled together, fell atop the tomb.
"Ugh!"
Etella gasped as a sharp bone pierced her, and Shagal's face contorted as well.
"Huff. Huff."
When they collected themselves and looked around, they realized they were not where they had been.
"Where are we?"
"Probably… Hell."
Etella, still lying below, said calmly when Shagal looked back.
"This is where you're meant to go."
"Kik!"
Shagal shuddered and laughed.
"Kuhahaha! So this is it, huh? All that talk of mercy was just to drag me down to Hell?"
"Disappointed?"
His laughter snapped off.
"No."
A hail of hidden blades rained down; Shagal caught one midair.
"Are you the disappointed one? Someone like me falling into Hell—that's something. But what now? What you're about to experience isn't Hell—it's me."
Shagal's tongue ran along the blade.
"You're already dead, so you can't be killed again, right? Or can you? Want to try an experiment?"
A hidden blade lodged in Etella's shoulder.
"Ugh!"
Feeling the same pain as the blade pierced his own shoulder, Shagal instinctively recoiled.
"Damn! What the—?"
Etella sat up, frowning as she checked her chest.
"What is—?"
A chain started from where her heart should be, passing through Shagal's clothing to connect to his chest.
"Damn it. Annoying."
When Shagal tugged the chain, a shock like a soul being wrenched from its body washed over Etella.
"Ugh!"
Etella lurched forward, and Shagal, feeling the same shock, sagged to the ground.
Both of them realized the same thing.
"We're connected."
Wanting more information, Shagal drove a hidden blade into his own thigh.
"Ugh! What are you doing?!"
Etella clutched her knee and cried out, but the action confirmed it.
"Hmm."
Shagal needed control. He pulled the chain again, and this time Etella mirrored him.
Clang!
When the chain strained taut, both convulsed as if struck by electricity.
"Argh!"
Hunched over, they waited for the pain to subside and their thoughts to clear.
"Well, we're badly caught. Is this my sin?"
Etella glanced at Shagal with a helpless look.
'It works! It works!'
The scenery of the real world vanished and Rian's vision flooded red.
At that moment the burning pain receded.
"Gah!"
He felt the extreme emotion cool rapidly, but he didn't return to reality.
In a sense… he was dead.
"All right then."
Rian checked the handle of the Idea to make sure it was safe and looked around.
Everywhere were aguk—vicious, wolf-like things—and they were so hungry they'd been gnawing on stones.
"Kehk! Kehk!"
An aguk with a stone stuck in its throat coughed, then froze when it spotted Rian. Thousands of aguk, drawn by the scent of fresh flesh, turned to look.
The sulfur stung and the air was hot, but at least this wasn't the same burning as real fire.
"Loosen up a bit?"
Watching the aguk already closing the distance, Rian drew his great sword.
"Kyeeee! Meat! Meat!"
The aguk shrieked unintelligibly and surged in from all directions like a rising tide.
Rian took a confident step forward and swung the great sword horizontally—
"Guhk!"
Heat seared his heart and his whole body suddenly lost strength.
What the—?
Rolling on the ground to avoid an attack, Rian pushed the sword forward and checked his chest.
It felt as if his torso had been pierced by a frame.
Where his heart should be floated a red stone, and endless small iron chains coiled around it.
'Is this why?'
Trying to push through, the chains wound faster and caught fire.
"Argh!"
As the burning pain hit, the aguk seemed to cheer.
"Gehenna! Gehenna!"
He didn't know their words, but he had a rough idea.
'I see. The fire isn't gone. Real-world fire works differently here.'
This was probably Gehenna.
"No matter."
Rian set his jaw and stood.
"Bring it on."
The aguk surged again, and despite the pain he swung his sword freely.
The weaker ones were no match, but with every movement the fire in his chest flared hotter.
Smoke rose from Rian's mouth.
"Argh!"
The aguk realized their opponent was strong but didn't relent; they bought time.
Chains uncoiled from Rian's chest and suddenly fixed themselves into the ground.
Rushing forward without noticing, Rian felt his torso jerk back and his knees buckle.
"Ugh!"
His strength evaporated.
As if they'd expected it, the aguk howled and leapt at him all at once.
"Meat! I'm gonna eat him!"
Sharp teeth sank in, but Rian bit down and pushed himself up.
"Fire be damned…"
The chain anchored in the earth drew taut and, as if heated, glowed a blistering red.
"Gehenna! Gehen—"
The aguk froze and looked around.
The ground had turned to lava that rippled, and the bodies of their comrades flowed like porridge.
"How could Gehenna—!"
Divine transcendence.
As Rian pushed forward, the red-hot chain slid free and set the air ablaze.
"Eek! H-Hellfire!"
The aguk wailed as pure mana flowed along the chains into the red heart.
"Argh!"
At the same time, smoke poured from Rian's mouth as if his lungs had caught fire.