Chapter 2: Judgment in Darkness

Daniel found himself in the endless queue, surrounded by souls awaiting judgment. He looked around and noticed that all the souls seemed monotonous, as if they were programmed to follow a predefined pattern. Instead, he still retained his thoughts and emotions, which made him feel strange and different from the others.

The atmosphere in the line was oppressive, with a heavy silence interrupted only by the soft murmur of the souls awaiting their turn. The atmosphere was permeated with a sense of anticipation and anxiety, as if everyone knew what awaited them at the end of the line, but no one dared to mention it. As he slowly moved in line, Daniel noticed that the souls around him began to fade and transform into a grayish tone, as if they were losing their essence. It was as if the underworld environment suffocated any vestige of individuality.

Finally, it was his turn. He found himself facing a dark tribunal, where a shadowy figure looked at him with piercing eyes. Despite being an atheist, Daniel hoped that some kind of divine entity would judge him. However, the figure facing him seemed more like a soulless specter than anything else. "Daniel, you have been summoned to face your crimes," said the figure with a cavernous voice that resonated in the air. "You are accused of committing unforgivable acts in life."

Daniel felt bewildered. What crimes could they attribute to him in the underworld? Before he could formulate a question, the figure began to enumerate an endless list of absurd and comical crimes, such as "stealing the last slice of pizza at a party" or "telling bad jokes at inappropriate times". "Seriously? Are those the crimes I'm being judged for here?" Daniel responded, disbelief in his voice.

"Silence!" growled the figure, echoing in the dark tribunal. "Your actions are inexcusable and must be punished accordingly."

As he listened to the accusations, Daniel remembered the doors he had seen while waiting in line. He remembered some were guarded by giant devils, their eyes gleaming with malice. Without hesitation, he decided he would escape from this sham trial and seek a way out. As the figure was about to pronounce his sentence, Daniel seized a moment of distraction and dashed towards the doors. He ran towards the third door, where a giant devil guarded the entrance. The devil growled ferociously, but Daniel didn't stop. He ducked and slid under the devil's legs just in time.

On the other side of the door, he found himself in a dark and tortuous hallway. He knew he had escaped the sham trial, but now he faced a new challenge: finding a way out of the underworld before it was too late. Darkness surrounded him, and the sound of his own heartbeats echoed in his ears as he ventured into the unknown.

As he proceeded down the dark and tortuous hallway, Daniel encountered a surreal scene: a twisted-looking witch stood in front of three bubbling cauldrons, surrounded by a thick mist that seemed to dance around her. The witch looked at him with sparkling eyes and spoke to him in an unknown language, but Daniel could understand every word clearly.

"You are exceptional," said the witch with a sinister smile, as if she were hiding something behind her words. "You keep your memories in a place where most lose them quickly. And you have proven to be elusive in escaping your fate." Daniel frowned at the mention of his "elusiveness" in escaping his destiny, but he decided not to delve into that topic for now. Instead, he focused on the witch's words and what he had to do next.

"You must choose," the witch continued, pointing towards the three bubbling cauldrons. "Drink from one of them and then follow this path straight for hours. There you will encounter the sea of lava, a destination that only a few have faced." Before Daniel could make his choice, the witch disappeared in a flash of black smoke, leaving the bubbling cauldrons as the only evidence of her presence. Daniel observed the cauldrons for a moment, his mind struggling with the decision ahead. Finally, trusting his instinct and his favorite color, he chose the black cauldron and drank from it without hesitation.

After drinking the liquid from the cauldron, Daniel felt a tingling sensation throughout his body before the room began to spin around him. When the dizziness finally subsided, he found himself alone in the dark hallway, with the cauldrons and the witch gone, wasting no time, he decided to move forward.

With every step Daniel took, the environment around him seemed to twist and change, transforming into a maze of infernal obstacles and challenges. Columns of fire surged from the ground, forcing him to dodge them skillfully as the heat intensified with each passing second. Phantom swords and spears materialized in front of him, demanding quick and precise reflexes to avoid being pierced by them.

Daniel moved with determination, his mind focused on the ultimate goal despite the growing sense of oppression and heat enveloping him. Every obstacle overcome brought him one step closer to freedom, but it also seemed to increase the intensity of the surrounding fire.

With sweat dripping from his forehead and the suffocating heat enveloping his body, Daniel shed his layers of clothing one by one as he continued to advance. The shirt, the pants, the shoes; each garment fell to the ground like an additional weight he could no longer bear.

Finally, after facing the last obstacle and navigating through a wall of infernal flames, Daniel emerged into an open space, only dressed in his underwear. The scorching air hit his face as he looked around, feeling a strange mix of relief and fear at what awaited him next. With firm but hesitant steps, he ventured into the vastness of the infernal landscape.

With his heart pounding fiercely in his chest and sweat trickling down his forehead, Daniel reached the edge of the cliff stretching out into the endless sea of lava. He looked down, feeling a shiver run down his spine as he saw the waves of blazing fire roaring beneath him.

At the edge of the cliff, Daniel paused for a moment, contemplating the sea of lava stretching out before him. A flash of memory flooded him, bringing with it images of the stories he used to read, where protagonists gained power and fortune by facing similar challenges.

"Could it be true?" Daniel wondered to himself, recalling the scenes where heroes leaped into the unknown and emerged transformed. Words of encouragement and inspiring dialogues resonated in his mind, urging him to make a decision.

With a sigh of determination, Daniel threw himself into the void, allowing the sensation of free fall to engulf him as he descended towards the seething sea of lava below. In his mind, the words from the books accompanied him, giving him strength and hope on the path to the unknown.

As he plummeted towards the sea of lava, Daniel felt a searing heat envelop his body, as if the flames were devouring his soul rather than his flesh. A cry of anguish escaped his lips as the fire touched his skin, causing an indescribable pain as it consumed him from within.

With each passing second, he could feel his body disintegrating under the intense heat, his skin bubbling and peeling off in charred layers. The pain intensified with every breath of hot air he inhaled, filling his lungs and mind with unbearable agony.

As he struggled to maintain his sanity amidst the torment, he helplessly watched as his body disintegrated before his eyes. The skin peeled away in pieces, revealing muscles contracting and writhing beneath the voracious fire. Blood bubbled and evaporated upon contact with the flames, leaving behind a trail of smoke and ashes.

As the agony reached its peak, he felt his consciousness slowly fading away, leaving him trapped in a sea of pain and despair. Only when there was nothing left but charred bones floating in the blazing lava did darkness completely envelop him, dragging him into the depths of the unknown in the bowels of hell.