No longer being myself was something that scared me more than death itself. But thinking about it, I didn't even know who I was. My brain was empty of any memory. I couldn't lean on my past mistakes or victories to compare myself to who I was. To be sure I was still 'me.'

I was 'born' less than two weeks ago, would it be such a great loss to disappear?

I felt like I was fighting and chasing a goal that wasn't even mine, but rather one that had been implanted in me. I didn't like Hell, but I felt more at home there than in a place I knew nothing about, like Earth. So why try to return? Surely because I didn't want to stay in Hell. Everything here sought to take my place in this body. An empty EP bar, an empty DP bar, or simply one of the many horrible trials that awaited me.

The conclusion was that to keep my place, I couldn't remain kind and naive. But was I even still that? I was no longer the person who had arrived in Hell over a month ago.

What a mess. I had to change to stay myself. It made no sense.

I kept moving in this endless hallway, my torch was starting to fade, as were my legs. My EP was rapidly decreasing. I was scared I'd have to level up to 14 already. Yav was always near me, from a reassuring presence he was now a vulture waiting to seize my lifeless body. What would he do? How long would it take him to empty his EP? And once he had finished, what would become of my body?

There were too many doubts, too many questions. I refused to lose control. I hated being at the mercy of events.

My chains felt so heavy. This power was of no use to me here.

Enlightened? What a joke. What do I know now? What am I better at?

I regretted not being able to choose my class. If I had the choice, I would have been a Merchant. I would have stayed at the back of my dungeon, protected by machines. Or an Assassin, I could easily hide.

I was lost in thought when I saw a glimmer at the end of the hall. I hesitated for a moment and stopped. Light here? What could it be? I waited a moment to see if the light moved, I had a doubt that it might be an enemy. But the light seemed still, I resumed my walk cautiously. Soon, I realized that this light was a reflection on a piece of glass.

The walls were slightly lit, I saw that the tunnel ended a few meters away. My heart pounded hard at finally seeing the end of the tunnel. I moved forward and had trouble believing what I saw. The tunnel led to an immense space, there were buildings everywhere, some made of wood and others of stone.

It was an underground city, lit by some kind of huge crystal at the top. The light allowed me to see around me, but it remained dark. My visibility was limited to a few tens of meters, except in the direction of the crystal. This let me know that the height must easily be more than 200 meters. I hadn't realized I was so deep underground.

"What a surprise," Yav simply said.

"What is this place?" I asked.

He shrugged without saying anything. I moved on a little further, all the while keeping an eye on the poison's progress. I had 20EP left, I still had a little time before I had to level up.

Around me everything seemed devastated, there was debris on the ground, glass, pieces of wood, stones. There were numerous wooden stalls, as if many merchants had set up shop there. Large stone buildings were a little further away, towards the center. Roads had been marked out by rocks the size of a human head, they passed between the stalls and one of them led to the center. I followed the road looking for anything of value still there.

Stolen novel; please report.

At first glance, I thought I saw an underground city, but the more I advanced, the more I noticed it was something else. There were too many stalls, and the stone buildings were not numerous enough to house inhabitants. It looked more like a huge underground market where merchants met to do business, then returned to the surface. If the wooden stalls welcomed these passing merchants, what then were these stone buildings in the center for?

Yav interrupted my thoughts with his usual wit: "A ghost in a ghost town, I should feel at home, but I just want to leave."

He wasn't wrong, I didn't feel at ease, even less so than in the tunnel. I was exposed, if there were Drifters they would easily see me. I decided to head towards the center, along the walls and stalls. Being in a space that offered better visibility, I realized there were many entrances to this city. Large stone arches opened up there, I counted more than a dozen.

I turned around and looked for markers to easily find the tunnel I had arrived through.

The destroyed wooden stalls with part of the tunnel entrance collapsed. That should be enough.

I turned around and continued my way to the center. My plan was to enter one of the stone buildings, to find a well-sealed room. I hoped to find non-contaminated air in such a place.

There was a larger building than the others, all of stone, with windows barricaded with planks. It looked like a very wide tower. I looked at it, then I saw a ghostly hand. Yav was pointing at something. I turned my head in the direction he was pointing. I saw something moving in the distance, something shiny.

"Do you think that's something valuable?" I asked Yav.

"Nothing valuable has been here for a good while. If something moves in a place where everything is dead, it's definitely hostile," he said in a serious tone. I nodded and decided to speed up towards the tower.

I was about a hundred yards from the target, there was only a wooden building, which looked like a two-story stall, between me and the tower. And before this building, there was a road, which would leave me exposed. The entire way was surrounded by stalls. I had to cross.

The shiny thing that moved was a little further down the road, too far for me to see what it was.

One, two... Three. Then I advanced while being stooped. I quickly crossed the road, and arrived at the building with the open facade on the dirt road. I turned my head to see if the thing had moved. Apparently not.

I began to climb the small wooden stairs of the building to get a view of what awaited me in front of the tower. The wood of each step creaked under my weight, each time I feared someone, or something would hear.

I reached the top, there were several small holes in the back wall that allowed a view through. I brought my face close to one and observed the path. The area appeared clear, leading up to a wooden door that served as the entrance to the tower, which seemed intact.

Okay, I would go down, circle this building, and by sticking to the walls I could make it over there.

It felt like I was taking unnecessary precautions. So far, I had encountered no enemies, the only threat had been the poison. That poison continued to drain my energy. A quick glance revealed that I was left with only 10EP.

I needed to hurry.

I turned to descend when I heard a noise.

A heavy, metallic sound. Footsteps.

Yav signaled me to crouch and keep quiet.

"If this place hosted Merchants, there must also have been their renowned defense system. Drifters, or something else," he said, his eyes scanning towards the right side of the road, near where the stairs were located.

The noise was getting closer, very slowly.

I checked my profile once again. I was left with 9EP. And I probably had enough PP to only level up twice.

Ideally, I would level up in a place where I would have a hope of not being poisoned, otherwise, it would be a waste. So, I had to rush to the building. But if I was spotted by whatever was lurking, my problem wouldn't simply be the poison.

The metallic noise suddenly stopped.

I strained my ears, crouched behind the small wooden bars of the second floor railing, which barely hid me.

There, in the corner near the stairs, I saw something looking at me.