Welcome to the Netherworld

Bai Wei pushed open the dilapidated door, and a strong smell of blood hit him.

"This is truly... horrific."

Looking at the scene inside, Bai Wei clicked his tongue and shook his head.

The walls inside were covered in bloodstains, broken furniture lay scattered haphazardly, and the half-decomposed body of an old man lay in a corner, the wooden stick piercing his chest indicating the cause of his death.

"Home invasion robbery?"

This was Bai Wei's initial assessment.

This is just an ordinary family living deep in the mountains, several kilometers away from the nearest village. If Bai Wei hadn't had eyes that could see far enough, no one would have discovered that someone in this family had died.

Hmm... it's hard to say.

Bai Wei noticed a small door behind the old man, and a series of bloodstained footprints extended outwards from the door. He looked further away but didn't see any more corpses.

It seems someone did manage to escape. Was it the old man's son?

No, judging from his age, he should be his grandson.

In other words, this family living deep in the mountains was ambushed and attacked by thugs. The old man held off the thugs, allowing his grandson to escape, but he himself was tortured and killed by the thugs.

That should be it.

Bai Wei made a judgment.

In that case, choosing this location should be fine.

So he walked to the old man's body, whispered "Excuse me," sat down, and began to close his eyes to rest.

The reason Bai Wei chose this location wasn't because he was bored or had any strange quirks, but because it was the best way to enter the Underworld.

A week ago, Bai Wei, having regained his body, used the rule of his eyes—which required no price to be paid—to take away the Star Relic God.

The ability to kill a god in an instant—that is Visas's true power.

In this way, Bai Wei only needs to find other gods and glare at them one by one to directly conclude the story, right?

Unfortunately, the answer is no.

Bai Wei has only regained her body, but she hasn't truly come back to life yet.

Bai Wei pulled open his collar and looked down at his chest.

All that could be seen was a wide-open wound on the left side of his chest, and inside the wound... it was completely empty.

Yes, he has no heart.

Without a heart, no bodily function can operate. While Bai Wei hasn't reached that level, he's close; at least he can't freely use the rules.

To give a simple example, if Bai Wei were to use the rules on a host's body, he could use them continuously without considering whether the host would die. He could simply switch hosts when he ran out. Of course, for most hosts, using one or two powerful rules (such as the eyes) would be fatal. However, this current body does not require any sacrifice, but because it is too incomplete, it cannot use the rules continuously.

Just like an ordinary person who gets tired from running, their heart beats twice and they catch their breath, and they recover.

But now Bai Wei is exhausted from running, her heart has stopped beating, let alone panting, and she has no self-healing ability at all.

They barely manage to get by, relying solely on the soul's own restorative abilities to repair and mend their way through life.

Of course, as long as it's not a major rule like using both eyes at once, this repair speed is sufficient. In any case, it's better than other people's bodies, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to kill the Star Relic God.

On the other hand, even if he could now freely use the rules of his eyes, killing the other gods would not be an easy task.

With their defenses in place, the gods, given their abilities, would never be foolish enough to appear in Bai Wei 'Bai Wei sight and be taken down by his combo attacks.

After all, they were survivors of the war against Visas a thousand years ago, and no one knew Visas's abilities better than them. If the Star Relic God hadn't been so unlucky as to descend upon Bai Wei, it wouldn't have been so easy for Bai Wei to kill Him.

Therefore, retrieving the heart is Bai Wei's primary goal now.

The heart is not just a means for Bai Wei to recover better; it can truly bring Bai Wei back to life, transforming him from a corpse back into a physical body.

The difference between "corpse" and "body" is only one word, but the difference is vast.

A living body means functional recovery, meaning that every piece of Bai Wei's body is no longer just a body part, but a real body part. In that case, it's not as simple as one plus one equals two.

So where is Bai Wei's heart located?

The answer is the Lord of the Netherworld.

The underworld is arguably the most unique of the Eight Great Churches, because it belongs not to the living, but to the dead.

The world of the dead is certainly not a specific city, the kind you can enter by simply knocking on a door.

It is almost impossible for the living to enter the world of the underworld. Even among the dead, only a very small minority are accepted by the underworld; the ordinary dead can never find the entrance to the underworld.

Yes, the underworld has its own set of standards for selecting the deceased, and these standards are unknown to outsiders.

Of course, Bai Wei is not an outsider.

If gamers can't even find the entrance to a dungeon, then they're really not up to par.

But all Bai Wei knew was the entrance.

As the final map in the game, the Underworld map is almost inadequate in terms of content. Players barely had a chance to experience it before it ended too quickly, as if it were rushed due to budget constraints. As a result, players didn't even understand what the Underworld map was all about, nor did they encounter the Lord of the Netherworld.

The only thing known is that the Lord of the Netherworld possesses Visas's heart.

Therefore, for Bai Wei, the Underworld was like a swamp full of fog, with no experience to guide him on how to proceed.

He must use these eyes to pierce through the fog, bit by bit, to find the Lord of the Netherworld.

Entering the underworld is naturally the first step.

Bai Wei sat quietly in the blood-stained room, waiting like a real corpse.

I don't know how much time passed, but finally footsteps sounded outside the door.

He half-opened his eyes and saw that a faint, eerie green mist had risen in the room sometime during the night.

The footsteps grew closer, and then an eerie light shone from the tightly closed door, gradually penetrating inside.

It's finally here.

Bai Wei saw a pale green lantern-bearing spirit enter the house.

Aside from his translucent body, he appears to be an ordinary, unremarkable middle-aged man in a crowd.

But Bai Wei knew that he was the messenger of the underworld, the "Soul Guide" who accepted the dead into the underworld.

"Oh?" The Soul Guide showed a remarkably human-like bewilderment upon seeing the two corpses inside the house. "Why are there two people?"

"What's wrong?"

Another voice rang out from outside, and shortly after, another female Soul Guide floated in. Upon seeing the two corpses inside, she also showed surprise. "Two people? What happened?"

"I don't know. The revelation we received should only pertain to one person," the male Soul Guide said. "But since we're already here, let's summon their souls and ask them."

The female Soul Guide nodded in agreement, and the male Soul Guide then raised the lantern in his hand, its eerie green light instantly intensifying.

"Wake up, innocent people," he whispered.

Before long, the old man's soul emerged from the corpse and floated in place, looking completely bewildered.

"What... happened to me?" he murmured.

"You are dead," the male Soul Guide said. "We are messengers of the underworld, here to guide you to the afterlife to begin a new life, but before that, you need to tell us the cause of your death."

"The cause of my death..."

"Yes, don't rush, you can think about it slowly," the female Soul Guide said considerately. "We have plenty of time."

The old man frowned as he pondered, then slowly recalled something, and his previously confused eyes gradually cleared.

"Ai Na! My granddaughter!"

Similar to Bai Wei's deduction, the old man did indeed die from a home invasion robbery. The only difference was that the child who ran away was his granddaughter, not his grandson.

"It's definitely him." The male Soul Guide nodded slightly. "We haven't come to the wrong place. So... who is this person?"

The two Soul Guide turned their gaze back to Bai Wei. The female Soul Guide asked, "Is it that thug?"

"It shouldn't be." The male Soul Guide raised his lantern again. "Let's just ask."

Under the bright green light, Bai Wei opened his eyes at the opportune moment.

"Who are you?" the male Soul Guide asked bluntly, "And why did you die here?"

Bai Wei had already prepared his answer, "I was a traveler passing through this place. I witnessed the atrocities and tried to stop them, but I was killed along with them."

"A passing traveler?"

"Step in and stop it?"

The two Soul Guide looked at each other, clearly not having received such a revelation, but a spirit in this state could not lie.

So what's going on?

The two Soul Guide had no choice but to ask the old man, "Is that so?"

The old man was still not fully conscious, and he kept muttering, "Ai Na... my granddaughter... she's so young... what am I going to do..."

Only after the Soul Guide repeatedly asked did the old man raise his head in confusion and look at Bai Wei.

"This gentleman... helped me?"

"We are the ones asking whether he helped you."

The old man and Bai Wei looked at each other, and his confused eyes cleared up once again.

"Ah, yes... he helped me," the old man said softly. "Without him, my Ai Na wouldn't have been able to leave... Thank you, sir."

The old man bowed deeply to Bai Wei.

Now the two Soul Guide were even more puzzled.

"Is that really true?" the male Soul Guide asked, puzzled. "Could it be that the revelation was wrong?"

"Revelation cannot err... at least it has never erred in the last thousand years," the female Soul Guide replied.

"But the facts are there, so what should we do now?" the male Soul Guide said. "Judging from the cause of death, this person was more suited to be a wanderer in the underworld."

"But he is not mentioned in the revelation..."

Seeing that the two Soul Guide could not make a decision for a long time, Bai Wei said leisurely, "Why are you two so hesitant? Why not just take me and this old gentleman with you?"

Taking them all with you? That won't do.

And how is this guy even able to talk to them?!

Sensing something was amiss, the two Soul Guide instinctively looked at Bai Wei, but were captivated by his eyes.

"I don't see anything wrong with doing this," Bai Wei said with a smile. "What do you think?"

The two Soul Guide opened their mouths, but the confusion in their eyes vanished in an instant.

"Yes, there's no problem at all." The male Soul Guide nodded. "You are all qualified to be our brethren."

"Yes." The female Soul Guide smiled and opened her arms. "Welcome! Bring your bodies with you, and let us journey together to a new world."

Ten minutes later, Bai Wei and the old man followed two Soul Guide onto a special path.

The reason this road is special is that it is still in the real world. Bai Wei can still see the mountains and rivers they came from, as well as human villages in the distance. But these things are all blurry, like a damp painting, with a hint of unreality. Only the road beneath their feet is clearly visible.

Clearly, this is the path to the underworld.

The old man beside Bai Wei (whose name is now known Faen) gradually recovered from his dazed spiritual state and began to act like a normal person.

"What is the underworld?" Faen asked the two Soul Guide.

"The realm of the dead, but not every dead person can reach it," the Soul Guide kindly replied. "Only those whom our Lord has recognized as dead can live there."

"What kind of person is he?"

"People of noble character, yet unable to meet a peaceful end." The Soul Guide smiled at the old man and Bai Wei, "Just like you and the gentleman beside you... Don't be nervous. Your suffering is over, death is the last obstacle in your lives. Now, enjoy your life after death."

Enjoy your life after death—that phrase has a strangely hellish feel to it.

Bai Wei smiled faintly. He could tell that the other party's kindness was genuine, a true welcome, and that they were truly considered compatriots. So, he naturally had to reciprocate that kindness.

Faen's heart remained heavy; he was still thinking of his granddaughter, repeatedly murmuring, "Ai Na... what will happen to my Ai Na... how will she live without me... my Ai Na..."

Seeing Faen's worry, Bai Wei couldn't help but glance at him again. This glance was noticed by the Soul Guide, who then reassured him, "Trust me, he'll recover soon."

"Yes." The other Soul Guide nodded slightly. "We will be going to a paradise where there is no hunger, no sickness, no war, and we will spend almost eternity there. These things can heal everything."

"That's right." The male Soul Guide stopped, smiling as he said, "We've arrived."

Bai Wei raised his head and saw a calm river in front of him, with a small boat slowly sailing towards them.

On the other side of the river, there was a world full of flowers, where countless dead beckoned to them from the opposite bank.

Welcome to the Underworld.

That's what they were saying.

The underworld, the paradise after death?

As the small boat stopped in front of him, Bai Wei thought to himself.

No, there has never been an afterlife.

This is merely the Divine Kingdom of the Lord of the Netherworld.

Even so, Bai Wei still smiled and boarded the ship, sailing towards the Divine Kingdom that had been fully revealed to him.

Deep within the Divine Kingdom, a pair of eyes slowly opened, followed by a leisurely and ancient sigh.

"After a thousand years, you've finally arrived."

"Visas."