The Love That Remains 78 There Are No Rules.

After what feels like an eternity, we finally manage to reach the sh.o.r.e. As soon as I climb off the sh.o.r.e, the boatman spreads his skeleton hand for the coin. I give it the silver coin and bow to him respectfully. He never speaks, but he leaves a certain impression that he must never be messed with.

When I lift my head, the boat and the boatman are already gone. I take a breath of relief. The river is also gone. I am the only one standing in front of a black door with no doork.n.o.b. There is no wall or anything around the door. This must be the entry to the h.e.l.l. I can wait here for eternity, but the door won't go or change. I push the door and enter.

"Welcome to the Limbo!" Someone shouts as soon as I enter the office. It's a man dressed in corporate clothes. He is short, fat, and wearing thick gla.s.ses. His eyes are brown. He looks quite human to me.

I can't help but feel weird. Is it supposed to be like this?

"Let's see." The corporate man sits opposite to me and puts my doc.u.ment on the table. "You are a special case, aren't you? That's why the higher up decided to send me."

"Who are you?" I ask.

"My name is JJ. I am your counsellor. " He winks at me "We do not share our true names in h.e.l.l."

"You know my name?" I point at the doc.u.ment.

"That's not your true name. It's your given name. Unlike us, you humans have many names. So, you can tell your name or not. It's up to you."

He picks up the first sheet and adjusts his gla.s.ses.

"You have died once, but you were taken by a G.o.d before you could go to the afterlife. Then, he decided to turn back time and chose you as his representative. You do not have any original sin. Just a minor here and there, nothing that can't be resolved in a few hundred years of h.e.l.l. But you didn't die this time. You came here to challenge h.e.l.l to achieve immortality?"

He raises his eyebrow. I shake my head.

"I didn't come here to challenge. I was sent here without my permission."

"I see," He pushes his gla.s.ses again. "In any case, you are enlisted as a challenger. Since you do not have any original sin, You will start here. But there is one complication."

"What might that be?" I sigh.

He narrows his eyes at me. "You are also a part demon. We don't like to hurt our kind. We can ignore your human part and accept you as one of us, but the child in the womb is also a blessed by the heaven."

"Child in my womb?" I look at my flat stomach. When did I get a child in my womb? How did it happen? It's only been a few days that Sung Jun and I...Ah! Last time, I got pregnant after one night.

"I am pregnant again?" I ask in horror. I am in h.e.l.l while I am pregnant. c.r.a.p! This is too bad.

"Ah, yes." JJ looks at me solemnly. "I guess, I am the first one to give you this news. Did your sponsor G.o.d not tell you? He might not have known it at the time."

"How could he not know? Isn't he a G.o.d?" I press my palm together.

"He sent you here in a hurry. He might not have noticed. Besides, times run differently in h.e.l.l. In the human world, it might have been a day, but here it can be months or years."

He glances down at the paper thoughtfully.

"As a challenger, your body is frozen in your current state. It means that neither you or your child will grow as long as you are a challenger and do not fail. If you fail, nothing is guaranteed even if you are a part demon."

"I can't lose this child again. Please send me back."

JJ becomes quiet. He rereads the papers and says, "You have lost your child in your previous life. I am sympathetic with your case, but...um...there is only one way out of the h.e.l.l. That is, you have to cross the nine circles of the h.e.l.l and achieve immortality."

"What will happen to my child?" I touch my stomach. I can't lose my baby again.

"You can give up on being a challenger and become the citizen of the h.e.l.l," JJ speaks in a solemn voice. "You child will lose the heavenly blessing. You and your child will be given a home and a job here. See those doors?" He points behind me. I find five grey doors on the wall.

"Four of them goes to the four cities of Limbo where demons and the souls are currently residing. You will find your kind there. You can also stay there with your son and live a good life. In h.e.l.l, Limbo is only placed where there is no violence or pain."

"Is it like heaven?" I ask him mockingly.

"Of course not, it is just like any other human city. The citizens of the cities vary. Your child will become a demon here and have a life like any other human. He will be born as a lower demon. You will also slowly turn into a full-fledged demon. But your lives will be good. Limbo demons are more accepting than the demons of the deeper levels of h.e.l.l."

Giving birth in the h.e.l.l is out of the question. I have to get out of here as soon as possible. I cannot let my child grow up with freaking demons.

"Thank you for the offer," I close I have decided that I will cross h.e.l.l and go back to my world."

"I see." JJ takes back the orange tag and gives me a black one. "You and your child will be in a frozen state. If you survive and cross h.e.l.l, you and your child will achieve immortality. If you fail, you will lose your body and soul to the depth of h.e.l.l. If you are lucky, you might become a lower demon. Your child has no chance in this case. I will inform you about the rules of the contest."

He pauses for a moment before he tells me,

"There are no rules."