Alex woke up and stretched, feeling stiff after a long sleep. He walked to a window in the room and opened it.

  ‘Same old view.’

  Alex saw a thick, hazy cloud roaming the sky. It was grayish black, standing out against the red backdrop of the ceiling. There was no sun, but the sky shone dimly with red light.

  Tall peaks stood off in the distance—the hive mountains, the locals called them. This was a dangerous zone where a creature resided, taking root and puppeteering other abominations.

  A few Soul Walkers had ventured there before, but not all returned. Despite being accustomed to death, Alex was not used to the hollow look in the eyes of returned hunters.

  From what the Soul Walkers described, the further you went into the hive mountains, the more risky the dangers became. At first, it would simply be monsters that could destroy your physical body.

  For veteran Soul Walkers, reforming a body was a simple matter. But the further they went, the more they encountered tendrils. Those things would latch onto a soul walker and turn them into a mindless thrall.

  Alex shivered, glad it wasn’t his task to go into those mountains.

  After making a deal with that god, Alex took over five years to reach the underworld. Compared to some of the soul walkers, he only died twice trying to figure out how to descend without being killed. The locals referred to the god as Death because what else could have dominion over their lives so absolutely?

  After being killed by the MagLev car, it took some time before he could feel his soul and realize he was still alive to some extent. After focusing on the brand on his soul, he felt something ripped out of him. Something vital was lost. He could feel it, but he couldn’t remember what it was.

  His eyes were the first thing to form, followed by his head, which connected to a torso. His legs grew from the bottom, and he landed hard on the concrete. He looked around and saw he was still in the city, but the world seemed off. He was by the wall where the hitmen nearly killed him.

  The stars hung high above the buildings, filling the sky with a tapestry of beautiful crystals. The buildings loomed high above him, towering at least 200 meters into the sky. The building he stood in front of had a logo on the front that read ‘Life Corp.’

  ‘Ironic.’ Alex thought to himself, remembering how it was at this building that his life nearly ended.

  His arms finally formed, shooting out like bamboo and ending in his fingertips. He looked down in his utter horror to realize he was stark naked. At that moment, he heard someone speaking not too far from him. A pair of police officers was walking toward Alex at a brisk pace.

  The officers were wearing navy blue uniforms and had a standard state-issued firearm. The officer on the left was slightly taller than Alex, while the one on the right was shorter and had a thick beard covering his facial features.

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  “Officers, I can explain. There was a god. Wait, okay, yes, I know that sounds crazy, but—” Alex stumbled over his words but stopped when the police walked through him and stopped near the end of the street.

  The taller man stopped and pointed towards the wall. “This is where another encounter occurred. The rain washed away any blood, but they made a mistake and left a hand behind. You can also see the dent in the building here.” The officer continued explaining the situation to the shorter man, who nodded along.

  Alex stood still and looked around. He put his hand on the wall of the ‘Life Corp’ building, but it felt solid. Then he approached the officers and realized his hand passed straight through them. His hand started shaking as he tried to think of what was wrong.

  A pounding sound resounded on a door near Alex. He opened his eyes, shaking out of his trance. Picking up a sledgehammer, Alex tossed it on his shoulder and headed for the door. The hammer felt overbearing in his hands, but after months of grueling work, he grew accustomed to the feeling of being overweight.

  “Shut it, will you? I’m coming!” Opening the door, Alex saw a short man. He was stocky with a beer belly. A thick beard hung from his face, tied into braids. His face was weathered, and his hands bore the marks of many hard days of work.

  “Get a move on, Alex. You gotta earn your keep. Time to get paving the road.” Alex rolled his eyes as he went out the door to follow instructions. The short man continued going down the street, pounding on door after door, waking up the residents and sending them to work.

  ‘That dwarf better watch out before he finds himself on the wrong side of a hammer.’

  Ever since coming to the underworld, Alex had found a civilization spanning large chunks of the safer regions. He had come to find out that the first Soul Walkers had braved the dangers of the underworld without any help and were able to carve out a safety zone in the desolate region slowly. While none of the originals remained, King Virel was one of the early settlers to the area.

  ‘I’ll also have to thank the bastard for all the work I’ve been tasked with.’

  “Yo Alex!” a shout from behind called Alex’s attention. Turning around, he saw a man running towards him. A goofy grin was plastered on his face as he patted Alex on the back hard. The man had olive skin and a lean, athletic build, like a swimmer.

  A toothy smile plastered Alex’s face as he recognized the man. “Hey Leo, long time no see. For a while there, I almost thought you got caught by a Soul Eater.” Leo had become a Soul Walker almost at the same time Alex had. They had stumbled into each other while Alex was exploring the city, looking for clues to the Underworld's entrance. “What job did they have you on?”

  “I was the bag boy. It isn't fun, but all things considered, it's a relatively safe position compared to the others. They even taught me how to wield a sword in the downtime.”

  “Find anything interesting?”

  Instead of responding, Leo fished around in his bag and retrieved a golden shard. It was a crystallized soul essence. Alex’s eyes turned as wide as saucers.

  “Where the hell did you find that!?”

  Leo grinned, “It got a little dicey out there. We encountered a couple of ghouls. I got lucky and killed one, and this was my reward. I was able to hide it before the other hunters noticed.” Alex nodded, following along.

  “You wouldn’t have happened to obtain another one of these shards for your closest friend in this big, wide hellscape now, would you?”

  Leo shook his head, tucking away the shard. “I’ve told you countless times you should join the hunters. The benefits the King bestows are vast, and they put us closer to our goal.”

  Everyone’s goal here was the same. Death had tasked them with retrieving a soul from the underworld, but that was easier said than done. Veteran Hunters had found what they dubbed the ‘Castle of Hell’ in what was believed to be the center of the underworld. It was described as massive beyond belief, with several entrances around the exterior.

  When someone died, their soul would wander down into the underworld and travel towards the castle. However, if their soul were captured or wandered for too long, they would become distorted and form into a monster. Ghouls were one of the simpler manifestations that a distorted soul could take.

  Alex stood there thinking, rolling the question over in his head a few times. Turning to Leo, Alex asked, “Aren’t you afraid of dying again?”

  Becoming serious, he stated, “Of course, I’m afraid. I’m terrified of the thought of death. However, I think it’d be more hellish to be forced to toil down here till my mind falls apart.”

  Looking at his friend, Alex sighed deeply before deciding on his answer. “Fine, I’ll go on an expedition, but you’ll be my meat shield if shit hits the fan.”

  Leo grinned and responded, “Then it’s settled! Ditch that hammer, and let’s enlist you to join the hunters.”