As Gii was enveloped in the flash of light that came with his death, the scenery that unfolded in front of him changed completely. What was once a quaint little temple that was sprayed with blood morphed into a dark red dirt in an open expanse. Slowly the world formed around him and the dirt was populated by volcanic rocks with Lava flowing at various places in the distance. There was a dull maroon haze that seemed to hang in the air and the smell of blood and sulfur permeated the space.
As he looked around he could see that he was standing at the bottom of a massive hole and various spectral entities walked around aimlessly like zombies. As he looked around he could see that there were dark clouds in the sky that also held a red hue. As he had never played an evil character even in his past life, this was actually the first time he was seeing this scenery. Right now the only thing he had to go off of was his experience in the other afterlife locations and what he remembered people said about this one.
In the distance he could see the rim at the top of the massive hole he seemed to be standing in and located along that rim were a series of buildings that he could barely make out at this distance. leading up the side of the hole were a series of staircase like structures that he could see the spectral figures making their way up. He looked down at his body and could see that he was also one of those spectral entities but had retained some of the elf like features from his real body.
Knowing what he would have to do, Gii began to make his way toward the staircases that led upwards and it was at this point he remembered one of the most annoying aspects of the spectral form, the abhorrently slow movement speed. As a spectre the players movement would be halved, and on top of that he no longer could benefit from any of the equipment buffs he had. Even though his equipment would be stored in his inventory, there was no way to put it on with a spectral body.
Since it would be a painfully slow and boring walk towards his destination, Gii took the time to open up his chat log and check the messages he had received from M.
[Mountain Maniac: Hey! what the heck is going on? this guy is going nuts over here]
[Mountain Maniac: dude what the hell are you doing this guy is mad enough!]
[Mountain Maniac: Is THIS what your quest was!?]
There were a number of different messages coming from M and showcasing his confusion at the whole situation
[Gii: Sorry, I had to focus so I couldn't answer you. Didn't i mention i'm playing an evil character?]
[Mountain Maniac: You finally answer! I know you mentioned that but what the heck man!? this NPC seriously doesn't trust me at all now! I thought I had a chance to get some hidden quests!]
[Gii: yea, sorry about that. I can make it up to you some other time]
[Mountain Maniac: I wish you had told me before, that way I could have prepared myself!]
[Gii: truthfully i meant to tell you but I forgot and by that point we were already running across the field]
[Mountain Maniac: So what happened, did you go back to your last Gate? I was able to register the one here]
[Gii: Actually my soul energy ran out so i'm in the afterlife. i will probably be here for a little bit]
[Mountain Maniac: Ouch, I heard that place is a pain in the ass. Well, good luck. I'll leave you to it. I'm going to continue traveling now that I have a new checkpoint!]
As the two said their goodbyes, Gii had finally reached the bottom of the large stairways and as he approached he could see a figure standing at the bottom. It stood on 2 goat-like legs and had a height of about 7 feet tall. On its head were 2 pointed horns about 6 inches long and its red skin was accentuated by the long black claws on its hand and the sinister looking tail that swished around behind it. By every definition this creates looked like the stereotypical devil you would read about in books. Above it's head, Gii could see the green text of an NPC
[Lesser Devil Teryx: Level 75]
As the devil saw Gii approach with a group of other spectral entities he grinned and flashed the pearly white incisors in his mouth. Then there was a flash as he brandished the whip in his hands and whipped one of the spectral entities right next to Gii.
"AGGHH!!"
There was a yell from what sounded like a woman and the spectral entity vanished in a puff of smoke. As she vanished, the smoke drifted upwards and formed a stream of smoke that led towards the buildings at the top of the stairs.
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"Hehehe what fine soul energy is coming from this one, the boss will have fun with you!"
Gii could tell that the devil was directing its words towards him but he paid it no mind. The first time a player made their way to one of the afterlife locations there would always be atmospheric scenes that would play like this. Origin entertainment seemed to love creating scenes like this to set the tone of the area you would be entering. Gii continued traveling up the staircases that meandered back and forth until he reached the top where he turned to look back down on the area he had just come from.
He could see that indeed it was a massive hole and although the red haze that filled the air made it difficult to see long distances, he could tell that it was actually a giant crater. From above he actually could not see all the way to the ground, at least not without squinting his eyes and focusing. He turned back around and faced the series of buildings that were here. Although he wanted to explore the other areas, there were a number of the same types of devils as the one at the bottom of the staircase and all of them were directing the spectres towards a certain building.
The building had the large words "Karmic Sentencing Hall" written on it and Gii knew this was where the the soul of the dead would be judged and given their "Sentences". For players this was where they would be given the quests they needed to do in order to be given the right to reincarnate back to the mortal world. Gii also knew that this would be the time he had been waiting for, as the judge in this sentencing house would be the NPC that would give him his desired race and class.
Gii stood in line and patiently waited for his turn to come up, which fortunately wasn't long at all. As he stood outside the doors to the main building he was suddenly pushed from behind by one of the lesser demons who grinned at him.
"Get going and meet your fate mortal."
Gii opened the double doors in the entranceway and made his way into the building. The first thing he noticed was that there was a series of 3 balconies that wrapped around the entire building and went up to the ceiling. On these balconies were numerous devil like entities of similar looks to the ones he had seen along the way here. All of them were laughing and sneering in his direction as if they were watching a lamb heading towards the slaughterhouse.
The middle of the large room was empty except for a large desk on the opposite side atop which sat a devilishly handsome looking man. While this person had similar features to the other devils he had seen, his horns looked much more ornate and curled around the side of his head. In addition he looked much more human and didn't have the animalistic lower half. Above his head Gii could see that the difference was not just appearance, as his level was much higher than the others
[Afterlife Judge of Hell Balaam: Level 175]
He looked indifferently over Gii as the chatter from the surrounding devils heightened and Gii could hear the mocking laughter start echoing throughout the space. Balaam seemed to pay it no mind as this was obviously a common occurance and he waved his hand to silence the crowd. Instantly the rest of the devils were silenced and Balaam used an exaggerated motion with his hands to make a scroll appear in front of him.
The silence was deafening as he perused through the scroll and Gii kept his eyes intently trained on the greater devil before him. As Balaam read through the contents of the scroll he seemed to suddenly gain an interest in its contents. As he read, Gii could swear that he could see a smile begin to form on his face. Indeed the smile widened as he read further until he reach the end and he let out bellowed laughter and looked down with curiosity at the spectral form of Gii.
"HAHAHA How interesting! For a mere mortal to piss off that curmudgeon old man Crassius this much!"
The surrounding devils seemed surprised to hear Balaam speaking jovially.
"Did you know? This Mortal here has performed the sacrifice ritual on 4 different altars! and most of them were using a member of the church themselves!"
As Balaam's words echoed in the chamber the surrounding devils also started to get excited and sparked their own conversations.
"What!? That mortal could do such a thing?"
"How great it would have been to see the faces of the victims as they were slaughtered!"
"Serves them right, he should have sacrificed the head of their church!"
Balaam waved his hand and the surroundings quieted down again.
"Mortal, these actions of yours are not only very amusing but have also aided us greatly. The Church of Crassius has been a thorn in our side for too long and it's very much time they were dealt a good blow like this."
"However, i don't believe you are aware but your actions will cause your own kind to hate you. You will be considered not only the mortal enemy of the church but those deities themselves will take it upon themselves to go against you. That old man Crassius was already petty enough to place a serious curse on you, what are your thoughts on this?"
"Like I care if the world is my enemy or some bullshit god!? They pissed me off so they should know that someone would fight back!"
"HAHAHA This is a good answer! An eye for an eye, this is the type of mentality that a devil should have! Mortal i have taken a liking to you. I will offer you a chance to shed your mortal skin and join our ranks. What do you say to my offer?"
Archdevil Balaam has offered you a chance to become a devil and join the ranks of Hell
The following effects will happen:
-Race will change to Lesser Devil (Demon)
-Will be given the opportunity to use unique devil related classes
-All Good alignment churches will mark you as an enemy to kill on sight
-Interactions with NPC may become impossible once they learn of your true nature
Will you accept?
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Gii accepted this offer as it was what he had been waiting on for so long and as the chance finally presented itself before him, of course he would sieze it! He tapped on the yes button without hesitation. As he did so his body was enveloped in a hazy red light and he heard the laughter of the various Devils echo throughout the chamber, led by the booming laughter of the sinister Balaam.