Starting on hell difficulty

Starting in Hell Mode

In May 1991, a once-in-a-century superstorm swept across the entirety of Kedrona Island. Trees were uprooted and toppled, scattered rocks and withered branches danced wildly in the gale, and marble-sized raindrops slammed against the boulders with dull, drumming thaps!

Rumble, rumble, thunder shook the heavens, and the light of blue lightning illuminated the entire island—naturally including the half-meter-wide gorge spanning the eastern and western shores.

If anyone were to stand at the edge of the gorge and use the lightning flash to make out the scene at the bottom, they would inevitably be frightened until their legs trembled.

At the bottom of Kedrona Gorge, there were no surging torrents, no sharp, jagged rocks, and no whitish bird droppings; there were only countless... corpses?

The corpses piled up like mountains. Some had decayed to the point that only white bones remained, some still had strips of flesh clinging to the bones with peck and gnaw marks, some were swollen into massive black balls with dark water churning ominously within, and some had stiff limbs with skin that still retained its natural color...

Clearly, they had not all been thrown in at the same time!

Suddenly, a soft grunt came from the corpse pile, which should have been dead and silent. Immediately following that, the little black-haired boy piled at the very top actually moved his fingers. Good god, was he actually still alive?!!

Luo Bin, having woken up, tried to prop himself up to survey his surroundings, but he could not manage even so simple an action. His entire body felt as though it had been run over back and forth a hundred times by an overloaded steamroller; his bones were crushed into tiny fragments kneaded into his flesh, and every falling raindrop brought him bone-deep agony.

Breathing was a human instinct, but to Luo Bin at this moment, it was comparable to running a marathon. Every inhalation felt like countless barbed hooks violently scraping his windpipe, and every exhalation felt like a thousand tiny scalpel blades tearing and cutting his lungs.

Where was this?

Wasn't he crossing a pedestrian crossroad?

Did he get into a car accident and get thrown out into the wilderness?!!

Where was his phone?

The absurd guess flashed and vanished. He clenched his back molars, gathered his strength, and half-propped himself up. Rumble—1.34 seconds before the thunder pealed, the blue lightning flash illuminated the gorge once more.

Luo Bin, who made out the scene before him, nearly had the wits scared right out of him. The soft-yet-hard object his buttocks were sitting on and his palms were bracing against was not withered grass and scattered rocks, but thoroughly chilled corpses!

He desperately wanted to escape the terrifying gorge, but the moss-covered cliff face, once dampened by water, was as slick as if it had been smeared with beeswax.

He had barely climbed two meters when he slipped and plunged right back into the freezing pile of bodies. After a few repetitions, he abandoned the idea of free-hand rock climbing. "Hey! Is anyone up there? There's a living person down here~!"

His shouts were so thoroughly muffled by the howling wind and torrential rain that not even a scrap remained. Soon, Luo Bin realized this fact as well. He picked up a fragment of stone from beside his foot and hurled it upward toward the top of the gorge.

At the top of the gorge, two figures in black robes were pressing forward through the rain!

"Hendry, did you hear a strange sound?"

"James, it must be the days of experiments causing you to have auditory hallucinations. Kedrona Base has already been exposed, and those damned Auror are likely to descend upon us at any moment. We need to leave right away—oh, damn this weather, it's terrible!"

"Fine, you're right, we need to hurry..." Thud! Thud! Thud! The sound traveling up from the gorge cut off his words. "Hendry?"

"Yes, exactly. I heard it too. Before we leave Kedrona, I think it's necessary for us to take a look at the 'failed product'. Who knows, there might be a pleasant surprise!"

Down in the gorge, Luo Bin picked up six more stone fragments, preparing to throw them again. When he raised his head, he unexpectedly discovered two beams of light appearing at the upper edge of the gorge. He was sure—absolutely certain—that those two lights had not been there before.

The joy of being "about to be rescued" made him overlook many suspicious details: for instance, the corpses underfoot with pale skin and hair of three colors—gold, red, and brown; for instance, his hands, which had shrunk to half their size; and for instance, what kind of people would go walking about in the middle of a storm?

While forcefully hurling stones toward the lights, he shouted at the top of his lungs, "Hey! I'm down here! Hey, I'm down here~!"

"Hendry, did you see that?"

"James, I'm not blind! Good lord, the failed product has revived! We've taken another step closer to experimental success. I can't wait to crack open his brain and thoroughly study the mystery of 'returning from the dead'!"

Waving the wand in his hand, he chanted with forceful resonance: "Levitation!"

An invisible magic force drifted down to the bottom of the gorge, spiraling around the little boy. A dozen seconds later, Luo Bin, standing with his feet planted on a reef, had "shock" written all over his face.

Had Newton's laws failed, or was he dreaming?

What in the world was this red-haired, green-eyed man over two meters tall standing before him?

"Hendry, the little fellow seems to have been scared out of his wits. I don't mind helping him clear his head!"

Hendry, with his red hair and hooked nose, aimed his wand straight at the boy's glabella and chanted: "Cruciatus Curse!"

Out of the wolf's den and straight into the tiger's lair?

Realizing the two individuals before him were no benevolent figures, Luo Bin turned to flee, but it was already too late. He was blasted two meters away by the spell, and immediately following that, the pain of a thousand spikes piercing his heart caused his entire body to spasm. His blood-stained hand clutched at the edge of a reef; even though the pain was driving him to the verge of unconsciousness, he still wanted to escape.

"James, the experimental subject seems a bit disobedient! If he weren't still of some use, I'd really love to cast the Avada Kedavra!"

"Hendry, I have an idea. Let's take the little fellow to the altar. Once the experiment succeeds, never mind Auror—even if Dumbledore comes, he'll only be marching to his doom!"

"Oh, that truly is a marvelous idea!"

The two exchanged a grin, and then cast Apparition to arrive at the highest point of Kedrona Island.

Luo Bin, struck by the Full Body-Bind Curse, was tossed into the center of the altar, watching helplessly as the Dark Wizard bound the Ancient Magic Circle.

After the Cruciatus Curse lifted, an extra memory implanted itself in his mind: St. Mary's Orphanage, extraordinary supernatural abilities that set him apart from ordinary people, being captured by Dark Wizards to be used in experiments, being tortured until he was battered and bruised, and—just like countless experimental subjects before him—drinking a bubbling dark green potion before seemingly dying of poisoning!

Good heavens, a one-in-a-million transmigration opportunity had fallen upon him—a model youth from the East of Blue Star—complete with wizarding talent, yet the start was in Hell Mode. What was this nonsense?

Wasn't he going to be allowed to live?

"Oh, Hendry, look—what a flawless magic circle. The scene that follows is truly something to look forward to!"

James, his face covered in pockmarks, put away his wand and wore a ferocious, evil smile.

"Indeed, I'm looking forward to it as well!"

Hendry walked to the center of the altar, pried open the black-haired boy's mouth, forcefully poured a bottle of red liquid down his throat, and then retreated to the edge of the altar. Together with James, he chanted an incantation to activate the Ancient Magic Circle.

With a loud boom, the magic circle erupted with a dazzling blue light—a light even brighter than lightning. High above the very center of the altar, a red mist resembling raging fire gathered together. The red mist grew increasingly dense, and the surrounding temperature continued to soar.

In an instant, Kedrona Island transformed in appearance. What came with the gale was no longer torrential rain, but a heat wave. The island's vegetation withered at a speed visible to the naked eye, the reefs turned from black to red, rolling thick fog surged along the shoreline, and the seawater bubbled and boiled furiously.

As for Hendry and James, they were forced to cast protective barriers to withstand the assault of the heat wave. From their grinning expressions, not a trace of fear could be seen; there was only excitement—excitement warped to the absolute extreme.

At the very center of the altar, Luo Bin, with white smoke venting from his entire body, scored a "Little Red Man" look. From his toenails to the strands of his hair, everything was red. He felt as though his soul were being incinerated, his entire body's blood was boiling, and moisture was continuously draining away from his physical body. He figured that very soon, he would turn into... a dried corpse?