The man's body lay in the snow for some time, completely untouched.
Suddenly, footsteps were heard.
"Oh my, ain't this an unusual case?" a charming voice said.
SOME TIME LATER
The man's eyes opened. He saw a concrete ceiling above him.
He was lying on a shabby bed.
He had brown eyes with dark circles around them. His black hair had fully grown out, and his body was a bit buff. His light brown skin showed almost no marks from his previous injuries.
"W-Wait... I'm not dead!? A-And my other eye, it's back!?" the man thought in shock.
He quickly sat up and looked at his body.
It had been completely restored—without a single scratch.
He was wearing grey, ragged clothes that weren't at all suitable for the cold weather.
"Finally awake, huh? Thought you were in a fucking coma. After all, you were asleep for a week."
The man turned to his left and saw another bed. On it lay a skinny, shabby-looking man in his 30s. He had orange hair and was about the same size as the man who had just woken up.
"Name's Antonio. Also, welcome to prison—just in case you missed the memo on Earth," Antonio said with a smile.
The man looked around and realized they were in a small cell together.
There was a small door with iron bars in front of them.
Beyond that were several other cells, each holding either depressed, half-dead, or completely insane people.
"So, what crime did you commit?" Antonio asked.
The man was still shaking from shock.
"I-I escaped... a cauldron filled with lava," he said.
Antonio's smile instantly shifted into a look of fear and disbelief.
"You escaped the Sin Furnace? What are you, a comedian!?" he mumbled.
"I-I ain't lying!! I escaped with most of my body torn apart! I should be dead by now, but somehow, I'm fully recovered!!" the man exclaimed in panic.
He jumped out of bed and asked anxiously,
"T-They're going to torture us again, aren't they!? I don't want to suffer again!!"
"Relax, man. No one gets tortured here. I've been here for two years, and look at me—just as ugly as I was when I got in," Antonio said with a smile.
"But still... escaping the Sin Furnace? That place is meant to torture the worst of sinners forever," he muttered, confused.
"If sinners go there, then why does prison exist? And why are you here?" the man asked.
"Can't blame your ignorance, mate. After all, you've been in that hellhole for all your time in the Aether Realm," Antonio said with a light laugh.
"A-Aether Realm? The fuck is that!?" the man asked.
"Aether Realm is where you go after death. It consists of billions of worlds, and depending on how you lived on Earth, you get sent to one of them. And the world we're currently in... is Hell," Antonio muttered in a grave tone, looking down.
The man sat down and took a deep breath.
"Anyway, prison is for crimes committed in the Aether Realm. Sin Furnace is punishment for sins committed on Earth," Antonio explained.
"You know a lot, don't you?" the man asked with a small smile.
"Of course I do. I've been in this realm for about 200 years. Plus, my job forces me to travel from world to world," Antonio replied.
"What do you do?"
"I'm a herbalist. I go around selling medicinal herbs and other... illegal stuff," Antonio said with a silly laugh.
"And you got caught," the man teased.
"Yeah, I did. Got sent to the Hell world since prisons only exist here. No clue how long I'll be stuck," Antonio muttered sadly.
"You've been in this realm for 200 years... So, we don't age here?" the man asked.
Antonio nodded.
"Your name... how do you remember it? Do you remember your past life on Earth?" the man asked.
"Nope. I made a new name and a new purpose. Tried getting help in the world I was born in, but nobody gave a damn. I stole some medical books from libraries and studied until I knew enough about herbs. That's how I found purpose in this realm," Antonio said.
He lay back on the bed and stretched.
"Don't stress out, mate. You'll find your purpose soon too," he said with a yawn before turning to sleep.
The man sighed and slowly lay on the bed as well.
"My body isn't burning anymore. I can finally rest without constant suffering. That's a start, I guess," he thought, smiling as he closed his eyes.
A FEW HOURS LATER
The man was jolted awake as a purple-skinned monster grabbed him by the hair and threw him off the bed.
"Still pretending to be asleep!? You were out for weeks! How much more rest do you need!?" the monster snarled.
The man got up and backed away, shaking.
"Just like those monsters in the abyss... I-Is it here to drag me back!?" he thought, inching toward the cell wall.
"Relax, man. I think you're getting released. Lucky you," Antonio said from the bed, smiling.
"He's not being released. His fate still lies in our hands," the monster growled.
"What are you waiting for!? Bring him out already!" another monster outside the cell yelled.
"Now move before I forget what mercy means," the first monster muttered, brandishing his claws.
The man nervously stepped out. Another monster wrapped his wrists in chains.
Together, the two monsters led him forward, the chained man following in dread.
"W-Where are we going? Please, at least tell me that," he pleaded.
"You're going to be judged by the Lord of Sins himself. Feel honored, you sinful vermin," one of them muttered.
As they marched down the prison corridor, the man heard screaming from several cells, which made him even more nervous.
As they passed one cell, a prisoner reached out and grabbed his thigh.
"Help me, please!! They'll skin me alive!!" the woman cried, tears streaming down her face.
Immediately, one of the monsters sliced off her arm with a single swipe.
She screamed and collapsed.
The man froze in terror, but his chain was yanked forward, and he was forced to keep walking.
They finally reached the prison lobby. In its center was a giant circular platform surrounded by chains.
The three of them stepped onto it.
"Ascend us!" one of the monsters shouted.
Slowly, the platform began to rise.
"Watch your step, boy. One slip, and we'll be feeding your shattered skull to the prisoners," one monster said with an ugly grin.
The man looked away in discomfort.
As they ascended, he saw tall-skinned monsters flying overhead.
Some were escorting human prisoners, others chatting, and a few were even cleaning the walls and ceilings.
"Hygiene? In fucking hell? This place is way different than I expected," the man thought.
Suddenly, his eyes widened in shock.
"I-I remember the knowledge I had on Earth! So why can't I remember my identity!? There has to be a way to get it back!" he thought, looking down in distress.
"But... do I even want to know who I was? I ended up in Hell. I must've been a real piece of shit," he thought, his heart sinking.
The platform rose toward the prison ceiling. A circular panel opened above them.
As they emerged, cold air hit him like a wall.
Heavy snow was falling from the sky. Everything was buried in white.
The platform kept rising—higher and higher—until the man looked up and saw massive black chains leading to a colossal castle.
A castle suspended above the prison itself.
Its shadow blanketed the entire snowy landscape.
"Heard you managed to escape the Sin Furnace. That sounds like bullshit to me," one monster said grumpily.
"Total bullshit. He's just a weak, ugly human," the other muttered.
The man stayed quiet, avoiding eye contact.
Eventually, the platform reached the bottom of the castle. A circular opening yawned wide, and they stepped inside.
They arrived in the center of the castle.
It was pitch black.
The man looked around—he couldn't see anything but the red glowing eyes of the two monsters.
"Walk straight ahead, human. One wrong step, and you'll be crawling with your lower half missing," one of them warned.
The man gulped and walked forward. His footsteps echoed through the silent palace.
"As if I'm scared... What's the worst that could happen at this point?" he thought, gritting his teeth and speeding up.
Suddenly, the massive doors ahead creaked open.
Dust rose.
The man stepped through.
The doors slammed shut behind him.
He had entered the throne room.
It was even darker.
He kept walking.
A voice finally came.
"That's a fine spot to stop at."
The man froze and looked around, anxious.
Two red eyes appeared before him.
He looked up at them and muttered with a nervous smirk,
"So... you must be the boss of hell, huh?"
No reply.
The man tried stepping back.
Suddenly, purple glowing chains lashed out and pinned him to his knees!
The voice finally spoke.
"A sinner who sinned again in the Sin Furnace. How amusing."
Torches along the throne room walls lit up one by one.
The man gritted his teeth, heart pounding, as he stared up at those glowing red eyes—eyes that stared right through him.