Surviving Among the Entities

“Before we begin, I would like to explain the two hells.”

Countless goblins gathered on the street.
Since this was not an arena, the street was crowded, but they quickly formed an orderly line and rows.

“The first is the Western hell. The Western hell aims for repentance and salvation. Even if one commits sins and falls into hell, they can be saved if they repent amidst the suffering.”

Lucifer Company’s dimensional travel.
Baal’s mention of turning fallen humans into demons.
The reason one can be saved from the Western hell is thanks to the grace and forgiveness of the Creator God, but the Creator mentioned by Adam seemed far removed from grace and forgiveness.
Based on the above clues, it appears there have been many changes in the Western hell, but without definitive information, I did not mention it.

“The second is the Eastern hell. Yes, the very place you all work in. The Buddhist hell, representative of the Eastern hell, is centered around reincarnation and karma. Unless one repents or engages in practices to reduce karma during their lifetime, all sinners fall into hell.”

The goblins listened attentively to my words.
I don’t know if it was because I seemed to be someone of high standing, or because I was telling a story that allowed them to idle during work hours.

“The Eastern hell does not care about the sinner’s repentance. It determines the punishment and duration in hell based on the sinner’s accumulated karma, and executes it. Once the set duration passes, it sends them back to the cycle of reincarnation – it is a sort of purification facility.”

While the Eastern and Western hells were the same in making sinners suffer, they differed in the way of escaping.

“The Western hell has no set duration, but one can escape through repentance. However, if one does not repent, they must remain in hell forever. In your hell, one cannot escape even through repentance. But even without repenting, one is purified and reincarnated after a period of time.”

This was the reason my heart felt heavy.

“But you all have changed. I saw the guide signs here. And many signs stated that one can escape punishment through sincere repentance, is that true?”
“……”

No one answered.

“You there, goblin Geum-yuksik-sib-chil, answer me. Do the sinners here reincarnate after the set duration?”
“Ah, yes! That’s true!”
“And just as the signs state, if they sincerely repent their sins, is it the same?”
“Uh, they don’t immediately reincarnate, but the misdeeds corresponding to that punishment are erased.”
“Then if they repent in other punishments as well, their misdeeds will continue being erased. Ultimately, they would be able to reincarnate even before the set duration, correct?”
“Yes, that’s right!”

This was the reason my heart felt uneasy.

“But why do you not make efforts for the sinner’s repentance? I know you all are working diligently. However, sincere repentance does not come about simply by tormenting them. Suffering only brings forth empty echoes of self-justification, and incites hatred and anger, distancing them further from sincerity.”

The Eastern hell had changed.
Abandoning the past’s strict punishment principle for a more modern and friendly approach.
Through this field trip, I learned that they had even introduced the concept of repentance, but they had not established any system for it.

“But the Buddha said that practice is one’s own responsibility, and so is salvation!”

Goblin Geum-yuksik-sib-chil protested loudly.
I unintentionally lamented that the hell’s management did not properly understand enlightenment.

“The Buddha said, ‘Be a lamp unto yourself. Be a refuge unto yourself. Take yourself to no external refuge.’ This indeed means to find the truth through one’s own practice and effort. However, before that, the Buddha, recognizing that sentient beings had lost their way, propagated the Buddha’s teachings to pave the correct path to enlightenment. Do the sinners here know that path?”
“……”
“Answer me, Geum-yuksik-sib-chil.”
“……They probably do not.”
“Then how are they supposed to repent and attain enlightenment? It is foolish to question those unable to walk as to why they cannot walk……”

Then, a massive goblin came running over in a fluster.

“What are you all doing!? Not working!”

The goblin, several times larger than the others, seemed flustered when our eyes met but soon bowed his head.

“I meet the Preliminary King of Hell!”

“Is the tea to your liking?”

The gathering was disbanded.
Instead, I had the opportunity to have a meeting with the massive goblin, who was the manager of this place, in the break room.

“It’s delicious. Thank you for the hospitality.”
“Heheh, us goblins don’t know the taste of tea, but we’ve allocated a budget for when distinguished guests arrive.”
“What is your name?”
“Yes, it’s Du-eok-si-ni.”
“Are you working here?”
“This year marks my 500th year of continuous service.”
“I’ve seen the state of this hell. While the modern changes were good, I was not pleased to see a complete lack of systems for repentance.”
“Um, about that……”

After much hesitation, Du-eok-si-ni’s explanation was outrageous.

“We don’t know how to go about it either. We just made the outward appearance look plausible with the support we received from above.”
“……You don’t know what to do?”
“Well, they talk about a peace policy, a reformative approach, a new punishment principle, and whatnot, but we have to be able to understand it, right? We’ve at least transformed into our current state with the support they provided, but they didn’t specify any operational methods.”

He showed me an official document.

[Respected goblins, as we usher in the new millennium and face changing times, the time has come for a transformation in hell’s trends and environment……(omitted).]
[We wish to uphold hell’s autonomy. From now on, the headquarters will provide support, but all other matters will be left to you.]
[However, please adhere to the following.]
[1. Introduction of a reformative approach. We leave it to your autonomy.]
[2. Erasure of misdeeds upon repentance. We leave it to your autonomy.]
[3. Modernization of hell, we will provide support, but the details are left to your autonomy.]
[4. Modernization of punishments, we will provide support, but the details are left to your autonomy.]
[Regular inspections will be conducted every 50 years, and those failing to meet the criteria for these matters will be subject to punishment, so please make efforts.]
[Jin-gwang-dae-wang (seal)]

The specter of neoliberalism was alive in hell.
No wonder it felt somewhat off.

‘The Hell Train must have also been part of neoliberalism.’

They introduced privatization and autonomy to practice small government, but did not make any preparations necessary for it, so problems were bound to arise.

In the end, the issues with the Internet Hell were not the goblins’ fault.
It was the adverse effects created by desk-bound administration that only listened to the good parts and forcibly implemented it.

“How many years has the Internet Hell been around?”
“It’s been 48 years now.”
“So you haven’t received an evaluation yet.”
“Yes…… We want to adhere to the contents of the document, but we simply don’t know how to go about resolving it.”
“I understand. Even if they order you to be autonomous, if the higher-ups are not satisfied, all responsibility falls on the lower ranks. So you can’t properly attempt anything, and even existing duties cannot proceed properly.”
“That’s exactly how I feel!”

Du-eok-si-ni, seemingly with a lot pent up, poured out many stories.

“For thousands of years, they told us to torment the sinners, and now they suddenly talk about a reformative approach and whatnot, but what are we supposed to do? If they’re going to order us, give specific instructions, or just dump the problem on us and tell us to figure it out ourselves? We need to know something before we can do anything!”
“They’re probably just passing the responsibility because they themselves don’t know how to resolve it, right!?”

It was not a matter of criticizing them.
But it was also difficult for me, as the Preliminary King of Hell which was itself uncertain, to meet the Kings of Hell and enforce reforms.

‘In the end, I am only the Preliminary King, and even that is uncertain.’

I do not know where I will go after death.
The Eastern hell is merely one uncertain possibility, not a certainty.

“By any chance, what are the Preliminary King’s authority?”
“You can intervene in all administrative and personnel affairs, including authority over the hell you are visiting.”
“Then let me ask you this – did you goblins create the unrealistic laws that defy physics here?”
“Yes, it’s a phenomenon we created using the machinery provided by the higher-ups.”

Following Du-eok-si-ni, we headed somewhere.
It was a vast and dark space like the boiler room of the Hell Train.

“This is the Reality-Virtual Implementation Device we acquired for hell’s modernization.”
“Reality-Virtual Implementation Device?”

The massive glass dome machine was filled with countless semiconductors, pipes, and unidentifiable components inside.
It looked like a gigantic mechanical brain, with various cords extending from the dome connected to computers, VR devices, keyboards, printers, and more.

“How could we possibly keep up with the constantly changing internet world of humans? So we used this machine to implement the sins and consciousness systems committed by humans in reality as punishments.”
“No wonder the punishments and environments seemed similar to internet memes – it was all because of this.”

If ordinary VR implements reality in the virtual realm,
then this machine implemented the virtual – internet memes, trends, environments, etc. – into reality.

‘There’s a mark.’

I discovered a mark at the very top of the glass dome.

[WK-Reality-Virtual Implementation Device]

Du-eok-si-ni guided me to where I could operate the machine.

“If you intend to introduce new punishments or systems to the Internet Hell, you can attempt it through these.”

The usage was no different from an ordinary computer.
Search for what you want, then print out the relevant details, and a new arena or law would automatically be implemented in the Internet Hell.

“However, the size of the arena depends on human consciousness. Matters that attract a lot of human attention become large, clear, and distinct arenas and laws, but the fewer believers, the more it fails to properly output or becomes impossible to output at all.”
“That’s how memes work, after all.”
“Ah, you shouldn’t use this.”

Du-eok-si-ni pushed the VR device aside.

“Since the internet world is an ocean of information, using this to enter it will cause you to lose your sense of self, overwhelmed by the information. We only realized this after suffering three victims ourselves.”
“Lose one’s sense of self?”
“Well, they say it’s possible to process information using this, but there’s no need to go that far……”
“I’ll use it.”
“But I said it’s dangerous?”
“It’s alright. Just give it to me.”

It is proper to use a good tool when available.
Du-eok-si-ni expressed concern from behind, but I had something I believed in.

‘When it comes to my sense of self, I have no reason to worry.’

I donned the VR equipment and turned it on.
My consciousness was then sucked into somewhere, and I soon realized it was the ocean of the internet.

‘A flood of information.’

Countless information overwhelmed me.
As Du-eok-si-ni said, an ordinary being would have lost their sense of self and crumbled here.

“But I am different.”

The life I had documented in ‘My Notebook in My Head’.
Through it, I could maintain my sense of self and freely swim in the ocean of the internet.

‘What internet meme could guide the sinners to the right path?’

In fact, I had something in mind.
While waiting to come here, I came across a meme while browsing internet communities.

“Found it.”

However, being a relatively new meme, unlike the recently popular ones, its size was very small.

“A tempest in a teacup, was it?”

I thought there was no other meme better suited to reform and guide the sinners to the right path.

‘Didn’t I say I could directly manipulate information?’

What if I combined it with other information?
Then, I felt a discomfort from the tightness weighing on my chest.

‘The tightness was not from being displeased with hell’s current state.’

What I could not discern from the outside,
I could barely detect only after becoming one with the information in the ocean of information, following that discomfort, and reaching out.

The tightness dwelling in my chest could be extracted using the VR machine’s manipulation ability, appearing as a fist-sized white light.

‘This feeling is Adam?’

The light felt like the first time I encountered Adam.

‘It must be the remnants he left behind when he restored the information about me that had changed due to the Upside-Down Cross.’

Adam’s power is the power of the Creator, God.
If I combined it with the meme, could I perhaps raise its output to a realizable state?

“If you are the culprit who made the tightness even stronger, it means you too could not help but lament the environment that prevents the sinners from repenting. In that case, I shall combine you with this.”

The Creator’s power.
While I could use it to strengthen myself if utilized well, I did not particularly want to do so.

“My storehouse is already full, so I shall bestow it upon others.”

I combined the meme I found with Adam’s remnants.
Unable to take on a distinct form, the information became like mud, and I had to shape it directly.

‘The existing meme, and Adam.’

The powerful form of Adam I had witnessed took shape.
I also melted the existing meme’s appearance into it.

‘Adam’s power is the Creator’s power, and the Creator’s other child is Jesus Christ. This too is the Trinity.’

Before I knew it, another appearance had melted into it, but since it seemed fitting for the meaning of repentance, I steered the concept in that direction.

“Completed.”

I outputted the finished product through the VR device.
While I wanted to create more works as a law rather than just an arena, Adam’s remnants dwelling within me were only one.

“Still, it’s fortunate. With this, a law has been created for the sinners to sincerely repent and reincarnate.”

Even criminals in reality are aimed at repentance and reformation.
But we cannot accept it.

“Because we cannot know if they are sincerely repenting or truly reformed.”

It is impossible to peer into the human heart.
This is why the reformative approach faced much backlash and calls for strict punishment.

“When strict punishment in fact hinders the re-socialization of criminals and increases the likelihood of recidivism.”

But what if criminals could be truly reformed?
What if an undeniable being helped reform criminals?

“It’s a pity I couldn’t make another to bring to reality.”

Ah.

‘But is it alright to create an existence modeled after Western figures in the Eastern hell?’

[Hey!]

Yun Si-woo, a sinner in the Internet Hell, doubted his own eyes.

[Good morning, Yun-saekppi!]

The moment he revived after his soul was viciously torn apart by punishment, a giant stood before him.

[What are you staring at? If you keep staring into space like that, other People will think you’re crazy! Yun-saekppi already looks unwell, so you should at least act properly, Crazy Boy?]

Dressed in nothing but a tattered rag of cloth as pants.
But with a height exceeding 3 meters and an imposing physique covered in muscles sculpted like marble.
A masculine jawline and broad shoulders.

[Look at me, Yun-saekppi! We just met today, right? I didn’t even introduce myself, did I?]

The giant extended his hand.
In the center of his palm was a scar as if pierced by a nail.

[My name is Giga-Christ.]

Blood trickled from between the crown of thorns on his head.

[I have descended to save Sheep bastards like you!]