Fumay was one of the domains in the purgatory. What was known about Fumay was its deep valley and its steep hills and mountains. However, the valley and the mountains in this place was not the only thing that was feared but it was the nature of the terrain itself. The terrain in Fumay was too muddy, swampy and marshy. It was not bad for a place to be muddy but in Fumay, one could die in easily because it was not just the terrain that could gobble up the criminals but it was also the abundance of overly hungry, vicious and powerful beasts that could detect the presence of a criminal from miles away.
Of course, in Fumay, light had never shone upon this place, there was no moon or the stars either which made the place to be completely dark every time. However, each beast that was found in Fumay had evolved to fit into this environment and to them, the environment of Fumay was a perfect one.
Finally, in Fumay, it had never stopped to drizzle and this was what made the place too muddy. The ground could easily sink in with a criminal or a beast if they were not careful.
Anyway, at a place where it was flat with only a few hills popping out of the ground, the muddy ground started to bubble. Steam escaped from the ground that was boiling and the beasts that were around cried in agony, others were terrified while others became agitated but all of them chose to run away from the bubbling ground to search for another territory to stay because they felt a domineering presence engulfing the land. Fearfully, they didn't have a choice but to relocate from that area.
However, it continued to drizzle and there were a few flashes of lightening which lit up Fumay in a moment but in that mere moment that lightening flashed, one could clearly see a few beasts with horrific appearances trying to hide themselves from the light of the lightening while other beasts growled and snarled in displeasure.
The ground bubbled up madly and it made most of the hills and protruding rocks to sink further into the ground.
The air around the bubbling ground changed and it was as if this part of Fumay became isolated. No beast or any being could feel the presence of the area that was bubbling and in the next moment, humans or to be more specific, the criminals started appearing. One by one, disoriented and fearful criminals appeared in Fumay.
As they appeared, they were all different and no one was looking the same way as before. This added to the fear and hopelessness. Some of the criminals gave up and knelt on the muddy ground while some of them cried, some laughed and others were calm. They all lost something.
The arrival of the criminals continued and it could be seen that it was not just the criminals of R'lyeh who appeared here but there were also criminals from other cities.
All in all, the criminals didn't appear while wearing the claddings that the hell fire burnt away. Instead, all the criminals were wearing pink sports wear which comprised of a pair of trousers, a shirt, a windbreaker, a pair of sports shoes and different types of head coverings for a few.
Fortunately, the criminals were not mixed up as those criminals from R'lyeh were together while the criminals from other places stood at separate places.
When one looked at the number of these criminals, they could see countless people who were more than a hundred million. After all, these criminals came from every city of their world and they had come here to be castigated.
Nonetheless, even among the criminals who came from the same place, there was still antagonism existing between them.
On the contrary, the antagonism was not what these criminals considered as a problem, but it was what had happened to each one of them when they appeared in the purgatory.
No one was calm, they were all agitated, mad, fearful and apprehensive.
To each one of the criminals, they all lost a part of them. There were some among them who lost their arms, some lost their limbs, some lost their eyes, some lost their ears and so on but even if they had lost a part of them, no one was injured during the process, it was as if they had been cripples all their lives and their stumps had healed a long time ago. No one was bleeding or feeling pain for loosing a limb or two because this was a natural process and they all knew that this was going to happen to them after they saw the condition of the criminals who returned from the purgatory after breaking the sigil of death.
The criminals received consequences according to their crimes. If one committed crime with their eyes, then, they would lose their eyes, if one committed crime with their legs, then they would lose their legs, if one committed crime with their hands, then they would lose their hands.
"It's over for me! How am I going to break the sigil of death without my legs?"
"Shut the fuck up! I can't even think straight with all the noice around me! I will kill anyone that cries in this group of ours, Yes, most of us have lost our limbs but so what? We just have to break the Sigil and that is all."
"We have to think of a plan. To break this sigil, we need to spill some blood, this blood might be ours or the blood of our enemies..."
As the chaos and despair continued, all the criminals heard a voice speaking into their minds;
[Everyone has an equal chance to survive and return to their world after breaking the sigil of death. You have to kill the beasts and drink their blood essence to level up.]
[After a level up. Seek the origin and return to your world.]
[You only have 90 hrs to level up to the peak. Only those players (criminals) who have reached saturation (drunk a hundred drops of blood essence) will be accepted by the origin and given an opportunity to return to their world while those who fail will become the beasts of the purgatory and be a part of the purgatory.]
[This is an opportunity to grow stronger and it's not a death sentence and therefore, any player can be lucky to obtain a revival chance after killing a beast. Remember, these revival chances can be shared between friends.]
[Finally, you have to kill a beast to receive a chance to live after thirty hours. These chances are called lives and just like revivals, lives can be shared between friends.]
Those were the words that were uttered in the minds of the criminals. The voice was expressionless and indifferent as if it was talking about what these criminals wanted to eat.
Anyway, no one talked as they muled over what they had just heard.
Among the many criminals, there was a criminal who had worn a pink cladding with the number one etched in his shirt and windbreaker. After all, all the players (criminals) were numbered. He was scratching himself madly and seemed to be uttering words that could not be heard clearly by anyone. This criminal was of course Shi Chang. Unlike the other criminals who had lost an arm or a limb, Shi Chang had lost a half of his weight. However, this had not made Shi Chang a scrawny person but it made him to look perfect and not everyone could remember him because of this change. Just like Shi Chang, Li Yi had also changed and she was lucky just like Shi Chang because she didn't lose a limb or an arm but instead, her age regressed and she became a young girl who was at the age of 15. Li Yi didn't just become young but she became extremely beautiful, the crime that she committed to render her this way, only herself knew that. In the darkness, Li Yi was not talkative as she examined her body with her arms covering her chest. She would take a glance at Shi Chang as if she was expecting him to glance at her and say something but Shi Chang was absentminded and murmuring words that didn't make sense.
"That voice! It's as if I have heard it somewhere. That voice is cruel and all that was said is not true. First, we don't have an equal chance as it had been said. Some people are literally crippled, how could they have an equal chance as those people who have a perfect body? Secondly, the voice said that we only have ninety hours to reach saturation and be accepted by the origin. Is the trial so easy in that it could be completed within ninety hours? I doubt that. Finally what the voice said at the end is what will make each one of us to either stay together or betray each other and killing each other. Sharing something important like lives and revivals is like a trap. One could easily torture and kill their fellows to force them to give out their revivals or their lives. We are all damned. Only the perfect individuals and the strongest will be the only people who will manage to break the sigil of death. The other people will only be used as stepping stones. To the voice, we are not criminals but we are merely players. To the voice, this is a game, but to us, our lives are on the line. I think I now know what the voice means, I just have to be the strongest to break the sigil of death and get out of this place. However, I don't have friends to help me to break this sigil." Finally, Shi Chang squinted in the dark and turned to Li Yi who was frowning and said.
"You have to follow me. We can only stand a chance of survival if we work together. But please... Don't talk too much." These were the first words that Shi Chang said to Li Yi.
Li Yi stared at him questioningly but Shi Chang glanced aside quickly and he didn't say another word. He was expressionless and focused to what was about to come. His hands held the glaive firmly, his eyes were sharp like swords.
Li Yi was disappointed after realizing that Shi Chang didn't even see her change. It was as if the new Li Yi and the old Li Yi were the same person in his eyes.
Beside the two, the solo guy who was holding a saber surveyed the two with an unreadable expression. He was carefree as if what the voice had said didn't have anything to do with him. He was so carefree and it looked like he disdained everyone and everything. It was as if he was greater than all.
On the other hand, Zhen Hai was trying to calm down the members of his group as most of them were irritated.
"Calm down guys. Most of us have lost our dicks but this doesn't mean that we are fated to die. We have a very much better chance than those idiots who have lost their arms and their legs. You all know that when we break the third sigil, it will fix our flaws so, let's cheer up." Zhen Hai hollered.
While everyone was still talking to their fellows about how they were going to survive, an interface surfaced in everyone's mind.
Name: Shi Chang
Age: 15 years
Lifespan: 100 years
Number of Revivals obtained: 0
Number of Lives obtained: 0
Drops of blood essence obtained: 0
Duration of the quest: 90hrs