The white void enveloped Juliana as the notifications sprang to life. This time, there were no options, no illusion of choice offered by this hellish place. This time, there was only that ominous message.
YOU HAVE BEEN CURSED BY A HIGHER BEING
What was that shadow? The devil itself? She never imagined that the devil could be considered a “higher being” than a human. If religion taught her anything, it was that those evil entities were meant to be beneath humanity. Whatever it was, it conveyed one crucial piece of information: she was not dead.
Questions flooded her simple mind, but Juliana had no time to waste on that. Even inside the weightless Core Room, she could feel the world shaking, trembling as if it were going to split apart. The brightness emitted from the glowing Core reached an absurd intensity; it blinded her, and somehow she could even feel the light surrounding her body as if it were physical.
Some time passed until the light dimmed enough not to hurt her closed eyes. When Juliana regained her bearings, she realized she was no longer in the white void. This time, she found herself in a strange place, reminiscent of that bloody place before the Core Room.
Juliana stood among a vast array of stone slabs protruding from the ground. They were arranged neatly, each no more than two meters apart on all sides. All of them were rectangular in shape and approximately a hand's thickness of eroded gray stone. Some stones were entwined with vines, while others had visible chunks missing. The only thing they had in common was their aged and deteriorated shape.
The ground was covered in lush, dark green grass, and aside from a few small vines, there was nothing else that drew attention. However, the enormous tree standing not far from her.
The hell is this place now? - she walked between the stone slabs, approaching some to see if there were any names or markings. On each stone, she found a few letters or symbols that were unfamiliar to her, yet she could somehow piece together their meanings. It was quite disorienting to be able to read letters and words so alien to her; the writing resembled a mix of cursive arabic and some random asian alphabet.
- “This one was Comendon? What kind of name is that?” She knew; her instincts told her it was a name and not anything else, but it was certainly an unusual choice. “Oh, this one was Tramadon. How lucky he was to have a name associated with a drug, huh?”
There was little to do other than checking the gravestones in the vast expanse of the cemetery. As she walked toward the tree on the horizon, she kept glancing at the nearby stones.
“Oh look, this one is Israel, or is it Asrael? …Hm, wasn't that the name of one bad guys in that cringe show we had back home?” - she hummed to herself before resuming her stroll - “I loved that show.”
Juliana did not forget her weapon, the meat cleaver. She dragged it along the ground as she walked, convinced that if that strange, blood-oozing metal room had a zombie, she was damned sure this place would have one as well.
“God, that shit probably came from here, right?” The thought alone was enough for her to rest the rusty blade on her shoulder.
She kept walking, remaining vigilant as she scanned her surroundings for any open holes in the ground or hand sticking out of the dirt. Nothing came for her. The area was surprisingly calm, much like the slaughterhouse had been.
Her anxious stroll came to a halt at the tree.
It was lifeless—a massive, dead tree reaching toward the sky, devoid of leaves and fruit, its dry, gray trunk standing stark against the night. As Juliana gazed at the tree, she became aware that it was nighttime, with stars twinkling above in the moonless darkness.
“Hmm… This one thing here…” She approached a specific spot on the dead tree. Carved into its trunk were some random symbols, similar to those seen before. “Rafel? Rafael? Oh, I see... Raphael.”
She took a step back; there was just this one name—no fancy heart carved around it, no other names along with it. “Well, that was weird.”
Juliana circled the dead tree, and behind it stood a steel door covered in rust. It was easy to recognize; it had the same layout as the slaughterhouse. However, the door was not embedded in the tree or any wall; it simply stood there in empty space. A door leading to nothing. The girl frowned, certain that if she pulled the handle, something as bizarre as her previous experiences would manifest. This left her conflicted between remaining in this infinite graveyard or returning to that nasty place.
Juliana took one last look at the scene: the towering gray tree and the countless tombstones. She opened the door. It was not surprising; she expected as much when she saw the door leading to a confined room where everything was constructed of rusted metal from floor to ceiling, adorned with blood splatters along the walls—some long dried, while others still oozed between the cracks on the walls.
“And that thing said I'm not in hell, pff.”
The girl continued walking. The area had not changed in structure, so she didn't waste time wandering aimlessly, and it didn't take many steps to find the chickens. They laid on the ground, decapitated still, with their heads not far from each body. It was not a pleasant sight, but she had encountered far more gruesome experiences while working in a market butcher shop. She took one last glance at their carcasses; she would have to bury them outside. This slaughter room was repulsive and smelled of blood, but it didnt smell like rot, and Juliana was certain that this place should reek like fucking hell if the red stuff was indeed real blood. Dead stuff however, took only a few hours for rot to kick in.
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
The next room, Juliana recalled, was the place where the two monsters had their clash, she just had to take a turn on the corridor and she would take in the scene. She waited a bit, trying to organize her thoughts before looking at that zombie corpse again, it had been nerve wrecking seeing that thing.
Entering the room, she found only the dead rooster on the ground. Poor thing; its head was nearly split in half by the dull blade of a meat cleaver, and its left foot was torn and shredded by a zombie bite. However, the corpse of the dead man was missing. This did not ease Juliana's anxiety; perhaps that dead son of a bitch was harder to kill. Nevertheless, there was only one room left—the Core Room, the strange white space where it was impossible to hide.
Juliana armed herself with the cleaver, as prepared as she could be to strike that dead thing again. She cautiously peered into the white void before stepping inside. The space contained nothing but the glowing orb, which, for some reason, seemed to be radiating even more brightly than before.
The room was empty, filled only with the familiar white nothingness. However, as soon as she stepped inside, a blue panel materialized.
Dungeon is still undergoing maintenance; however, direct repairs may only occur with a limited amount of Causality to avoid shattering this realm.
Would you like to initiate a Minor Purification?
- ERROR -
Minor Purification has been disabled due to the influence of a higher being: the Administrator of Fear and Hunger has cursed you, preventing the activation of the following dungeon's safety measures:
Danger Limitation - Disabled
Purification Schedule - Disabled
[*****] Incursion Limitations: Disabled
Safe Zones - Disabled
Time Limit: Disabled
Location & Floor Limitations - Disabled
WARNING
Purification has been initiated, and no limit on the number of enemies has been imposed. A random number of enemies may appear due to [*******] influence. You will be relocated to the first floor.
To halt the Purification, return to the Core Room after defeating all potential enemies.
The world turned dark once more; Juliana was swallowed by shadows as the Core Room transformed into a dark void, with only the core shining in there.
When the girl felt her vision returning, she found herself back in the graveyard. This time, however, the world was painted red—literally.
Everything around Juliana was enveloped in a soft red glow.
-
From the graveyard, hands emerged from the soft earth. She was right; this place embodied everything Juliana feared. Rotten limbs crawled from the ground, revealing dried corpses devoid of eyes, their skin hanging loosely.
"Oh shit." She wanted to run, screaming like a madwoman in this mad world, yet, she found herself unable to do so.
Juliana watched as the crawling dead free themselves from the ground below. They appeared weak and frail, but so had that swollen corpse, and it had wrought havoc on that rooster. A deep rage surged within her at the sight. Juliana gripped her meat cleaver with all her strength.
Before she could think, her body moved on its own. She felt entranced by her own movements as she lifted the rusty blade above her head and plunged the dull weapon into the nearest skull.
The impact was critical; the undead head split in half, crumbling from the blow. The creature disassembled, its decayed fragments falling apart as they lost whatever had kept them together.
JOY. She felt the sensation flooding her, almost like an orgasm; it was delightful. As she hacked away with her blunt weapon, the shambling monsters posed no threat, and waves of pleasure washed over her. The intensity of the feeling pushed her fears deep into the recesses of her mind.
Until one of those creatures approached from behind, in her blind spot, and bit her shoulder. The teeth were mostly missing, but the few that remained penetrated her flesh like a knife through butter, gnawing at her. The pain spread faster than the addictive pleasure.
Juliana screamed and struck the thing eating at her with the shaft of her cleaver. It offered little resistance; its bones were as frail as ever, but its biting strength was relentless. She barely glanced at her wound, a gash spewing blood down her arm. Dread filled her mind as she realized how hopeless her situation had become. There were not just a mere dozen undead against her; their numbers did not dwindle as she fought them off. Instead, they continued to rise from the ground, a relentless wave of them, all locked on her.
Juliana pressed her free hand against the gaping wound, her mind reeling. She glanced behind her and saw more creatures approaching. There was little time to think. She ran to the only place where she could think, at the back of the dead tree, where a strange door led to the slaughterhouse—or whatever that place was.
She ran as fast as she could; fear coursed through her veins, flooding her body with adrenaline and propelling her forward. The dead still attempted to grapple with her and bite at her, but she was quick enough to escape, though not without sustaining injuries as scratches accumulated on her skin. However, the sheer number of obstacles between her and the tree transformed a once-close destination into a distant goal, forcing her to waste precious time dodging and altering her trajectory repeatedly to avoid being overwhelmed.
There were fewer than 100 meters left. She was panting, her legs on fire, as the creatures circled her, ready to feast. Juliana closed her eyes; there was nothing else she could do.
And then it came, like an explosion—a wave of wind so powerful that some of the undead fell. Juliana felt the ground trembling, the wind shaking, and the sky pressing down on her with such force that it pushed her to her knees.
A voice akin to a thunderous roar manifested.
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