CHAPTER 45: THE CURSE OF SLAVERY.

The red sun glowed over the earth, painting not only the sky red but also the land and everything it touched.

Perched atop a lonesome mountain was Jayhan, his clothes soaked with dried blood, his face carrying the aura of a warrior who had been fighting for thousands of years.

The head of a monster rested beside him, its jagged mouth open, allowing its tongue to loll out, and its empty eye sockets leaving a path for darkness to seep in. Its skin was grey; though dead, one could still tell it was a powerful warrior in life.

Strong as it may have been, death hides from no one, and it was just another unlucky one to fall under its radar.

Jayhan viewed down at the dry terrain. There, humans roamed like ants, but these ants were slaves.

They were bound with chains, forced to push giant statues of the goddess Amastarasu.

Most had been pushing the rocks for hundreds of years, some even longer, while others had just begun, scared and confused.

Running away was not an option, as beast-like monsters with humanoid bodies and bird heads roamed every corner. Those who tried to escape were killed on the spot. Since death was not a concept in this world, people were often left with only pain—pain that would never go away.

’How long have I been here?’

Jayhan stood, kicking the monster’s head down the mountain, letting it tumble into the blood sea flowing below.

’I’ve been here for about three years, but according to the system, it’s been only three hours in the real world.’

He sighed.

Upon his first arrival in this world, he was told he had arrived in Yomi, the underworld ruled by Amastarasu’s mother in legend.

Yomi was a spiritual plane where people from different worlds were sent to repent for their sins before moving to the afterlife to start a new journey.

It didn’t take long for Jayhan to understand it was his curse from using the [Child of Flames].

Amastarasu was a goddess who did only perfect in every way, so much so that the other gods respected and served her.

It was only logical that her curse would involve servitude with punishment, considering she never faced any during her time alive. No one dared to complain; they loved and feared her.

Unlike others who entered this world and were immediately put to labor, Jayhan had been hiding, watching from the shadows.

There were multiple times when he was caught and had to kill the monsters that encountered him, but before doing so, he would gather information from them.

From everything he gathered, the only way to truly exit this world was to head toward the Heavenly Garden, where every slave was pushing their statues.

As such, all he needed to do was follow them, and he’d get there.

He had been doing this for the past three years.

’My divine protector is a high rank; I’m not surprised that my curse is a bit overboard.’

He turned around, his eyes immediately picking up on the individual sitting on a rock with her legs crossed.

She wore a long red garment and a mask over her face, her pink hair parked in a ponytail.

"Oh? Are we moving now?" she asked teasingly.

For the three years Jayhan had been in this world, this woman had followed him throughout, despite his rejection of her.

Her name was Rockie, and her identity was unknown.

Jayhan had considered using his [Lord of Information] or [Game Log], but neither skill had any effect in the Yomi realm.

"What do you want this time? I thought you’d finally given up."

Jayhan walked away, following the people below from atop the mountain.

Rockie watched as he walked away.

"Come on, are you saying you didn’t miss me?"

Her body turned into burning ash, and then she appeared in front of him, her arms wrapped around his neck.

"Not even a little bit?"

She smirked.

"Maybe if you tell me who you are, I’ll think about being nicer to you."

"I am not your enemy."

"Words can be lies. I don’t put much faith in them."

Rockie smiled even more.

"If I were your enemy, would I have helped you kill over a dozen soldiers closing in on your location?"

Of course, Jayhan wasn’t taking a single word from her mouth seriously.

While it was true she had helped him with the soldiers, her reasons for doing so were still unknown.

So far, she was the only human he had seen in this realm who wasn’t chained up and pushing giant statues.

The thought that she might not be an NPC crossed his mind, but that would mean she was somehow linked to the Yomi realm.

"Okay, then where are you heading?"

"Wherever you’re heading."

Jayhan stayed silent for a while.

’What the hell is wrong with this girl?’

Jayhan couldn’t do anything to get rid of her, so he had no choice but to continue his journey with her, as he always had.

So, they began tailing the slaves. While Jayhan walked with purpose, Rockie was more playful, ranting behind him.

It took another couple of months until, finally, he saw it.

The Heavenly Exit.

His eyes widened in shock, as though he had just found a treasure.

The gate was a white beam of light, stretching from the core of the earth into the red clouds, large enough to fit over a thousand people at once.

’I can go home... Kara.’

A smile found its way onto Jayhan’s face as he prepared to leap down from the hill and charge toward the light, like the people below.

That was when Rockie grabbed his arm.

"Wait."

Jayhan didn’t bother to look at her face.

"I’m not staying here with you."

"You didn’t even let me speak! How did you know what I was going to ask?"

"It was obvious," he said, slowly turning around. "If I go, you’ll be lonely here, unless you have more people like you that I’m not aware of."

Rockie sighed.

"That would be a no to both assumptions."

"Sorry?"

"I’m the only one who isn’t tormented to pull giant rocks, at least until you showed up, and I wasn’t going to ask you to stay. I was going to ask if I could follow you."

Jayhan was quite shocked by the twist.

"You want to follow me?"

"Yes, staying here by myself can be pretty lonely. I want to know what’s beyond the white light. You’re from there, right? Beyond the light?"

’She’s not from my world, then. If so, who is she?’

"If you want to go beyond the light, why haven’t you?"

"I’ve tried, but if I touch it, I end up getting burnt really badly because I don’t have the aura."

"Aura?"

"Yes, the thing surrounding you. I’ve been trying my hardest to get it, and while I did find it in a few rocks, the best I could do was cover my arm. Only my arms could go through the light. You seem to have a large amount of aura. If we go together, I could pass through with no problem."

Jayhan listened. Along the way, he had realized he was covered with a strange energy. He had assumed everyone had it.

Still, if what she said was true and his aura could let her pass through the light as she claimed, would it be wise to take someone unknown back to the real world?

Which was the real world?

"And you still don’t intend to tell me who you are and how you ended up here?"

"I told you, I’m Rockie, and I don’t remember how I got here." Rockie had her arms folded.

She sounded sincere, and there wasn’t a hint of malice or deceit in her voice. Jayhan was fairly sure he could trust her.

"Alright then, I agree, but first, there’s something we need to clear up. One, I don’t think there’s any way for you to return to this world if you choose to do this, and second, if you do this, you don’t know me, understand?"

Rockie tapped her left breast with her hand and nodded.

’I can already tell I’ll regret this.’

He grabbed her by the arm, and with her scream, he leaped down.

As soon as he landed on the ground, he charged toward the light, ignoring the multiple soldiers who spotted him and gave chase.

Rockie held on tight, matching his pace with her own.

Their footsteps pounded against the cracked, blood-red earth, kicking up clouds of dust as they sprinted toward the towering beam of light.

Jayhan’s heart thundered, not from fear, but from the tantalizing promise of freedom. The light pulsed, its brilliance cutting through the crimson haze, beckoning like a beacon of hope. Rockie’s grip tightened on his arm, her breath ragged but determined, her eyes fixed on the radiant exit.

As they neared the gate, the heat from the light washed over them, warm yet not burning, as if recognizing Jayhan’s aura.

The soldiers’ shrieks grew louder, their clawed feet scraping the ground, but Jayhan didn’t look back.

With a final, desperate lunge, they plunged into the white beam. A surge of energy enveloped them, blinding and weightless, as the world of Yomi dissolved into a kaleidoscope of light and shadow.