Down With The Gods

“Now what? Tell us now, you bastards!” Mira demands, still sobbing.

“Give us a second here,” one of the demons replies, then smacks the other on the back, causing it to cough out a key with a sharp tip.

“Bring your bands to us.”

The cat presses the middle button on Wyn’s band for a few seconds. In response, the strap color shifts to gunmetal gray on one half and dark chocolate brown on the other. Yu’s strap turns navy blue, and Mira’s becomes fire red.

“I hate mine. They don’t mix,” Wyn complains.

“It looks like it fell into poop!” Yu mocks.

“Fire red suits me,” Mira says, satisfied with her new color.

“Ahem. To proceed, return to the dojo and speak with Catito. He will guide you.”

As Wyn steps onto the elevator, he pauses and asks the demons a question.

“Has anyone ever tried attacking you guys?”

“Yes. We cut off their heads and send them back to the dojo for punishment on other levels later.”

“Duly noted.”

The trio return to the surface, and the light above the lever turns green.

“We good? Do we want to head to the dojo now?” Yu asks.

They spend a few minutes searching for a suitable surface to open portals. Eventually, Wyn smacks himself on the forehead and suggests using the mostly smooth stone wall. Moments later, they’re back at the entrance of the dojo, emerging from the floor.

“It’s you guys! Hi again!” A familiar blue-haired soul greets them.

“Ohhh. The betrayers,” Yu remarks.

“Ouch! Come on! We were exhausted and would’ve just slowed you down,” the soul responds.

“Who taught you to fuse powers?” Wyn asks.

“The master, of course! We just asked.”

Wyn hits himself in the face, frustrated he hadn’t thought of that sooner.

“We’re so glad to see you again! Have you completed the test? We came back here to find someone to team up with,” the blue-haired soul says.

“It’s a solo test. We can’t help you. Where’s your male friend? Maybe ask him to rejoin your party,” Wyn suggests.

“Him? Pardon you, but that ‘him’ is a ‘ze/zey’. And while we’re on this topic, my pronouns are ‘they/them’, and the lady next to me is ‘she/her’. Please address us correctly.”

“‘Correctly’? Alright, good luck! Bye.”

“Are you a bigot?” The ‘they/them’ creature starts charging up for an attack, while the other tries to calm them down.

“You sure you wanna go? You couldn’t even defend yourselves against tiny chickens.” Wyn’s expression turns serious.

The blue-haired creature fires the attack into the ceiling, then screeches in frustration before storming off, giving Wyn the finger.

“Love this side of yours, Oppa!” Mira teases.

“He’s scarier than when he’s fighting!” Yu adds.

“I’m not a bigot! I SHOULD be triggered when someone uses that term on me! They WERE the bigots! Mop dammit!” Wyn mutters, spiraling into a rant.

Catito returns to his station after guiding a new group to the back of the dojo. He greets the trio.

“Hello there.”

“Ha! General Catito,” Yu greets back.

Wyn places a hand on Yu’s shoulder, shaking his head. “Never do the same skid twice, kiddo.”

Catito recognizes them. The CATOTO family has excellent memories, capable of recalling faces and specific details, like elements and weapons, even if they don’t remember names. He asks the three to wait for him in the first room to the right. He joins them shortly.

The bearded cat explains that the bands have been successfully updated since the moment they returned to the dojo, and there are new features to address. For the first time, Wyn can now access the map of the first floor of the seventh level. The floor is divided equally into four sections. On the map, a gray and brown marker with a bubble showing his face hovers over the dojo, which is located in the bottom right. To the north is the Abandoned City, to the northwest is the Dark Forest, and to the west lies an area called Hell’s Ride, which Catito describes as a theme park. The Dojo is unique in that it is the only area with stone walls, or “barricades” as indicated on the map, separating it from the other areas.

Encased in special glass and situated in the center of the floor is a gigantic shalmali tree with “(Top)” under its name. Additionally, there are twelve safe campsites marked along the floor’s walls, four in each area, numbered in a counterclockwise direction. With the new interface, Wyn can now travel to any of the campsites or the dojo entrance via portals. There's also an emergency portal option that can be activated with repeated taps on the band button, instantly transporting him to a preselected campsite.

By adding Yu and Mira to his team, Wyn can now see their locations on the map. As expected, Yu’s marker is blue, and Mira’s is red. Currently, all three markers overlap. If a marker disappears, it means that the member has either perished or moved to another floor. For now, the former is Wyn's primary concern. Due to the new Hell’s Data Privacy Protection Policy, or HD3Ps, implemented by the nerds, only team member locations are displayed. This update also allows Wyn to communicate with his teammates via the band should they get separated.

For the next test, the team is required to defeat a champion creature from each of three areas. The champions are marked by blinking red exclamation points on the map. Since several champions roam each area, Wyn and team can choose which one to engage. Because these creatures are significantly stronger, their movements are closely monitored by demons who follow them to keep them in check. To initiate an encounter, they simply need to speak with one of these demons. It’s important to note that there are no penalties for fleeing from a battle, and as long as the party emerges victorious, the task is considered complete. The challenge is a team effort and will be judged by the demons. In addition to defeating the champions, each party member must collect a minimum of ten thousand essence. Once both conditions are met, they should return to Catito.

“To get started, make your way to any of the campsites. Talk to a cat for more information,” Catito instructs.

“All this just to prove we’re worthy? It feels counterproductive,” Wyn says.

Back in earlier times, souls with innate abilities were forced into battle against Heaven, but none ever made it past the first level. According to the nerds’ analysis, forcing souls to fight against their will was detrimental, especially without proper training. Since then, Hell has experimented with different methods. The current structure owes its existence to Hell’s first and only hero, whose training methodology led him and an army of one hundred souls to reach the third level.

“But you’re still forcing us to fight.”

“Yes and no. Again, talk to my relative at a campsite,” Catito replies. “And before you go, in your profile menu, you can adjust your age and change your outfits. We understand that fighting may cause wear and tear on your clothes.”

“Age?” Wyn asks, intrigued.

“Outfits?” Mira echoes, equally excited.

The three open the profile menu, located at the top right corner of the first page. There, they see their details: elements, weapons, total collected essence, selected age, and current apparel. The team agrees to check the apparel menu first.

“Please wear something less revealing. We don’t want to die from distractions,” Wyn suggests.

Every outfit they ever owned in their past lives is available. Wyn selects the same outfit he's wearing, and it materializes in place of the old one, replacing from top to bottom. He's pleased to see his favorite outfit in mint condition. Yu makes a slight change, switching from a beige shirt to a long-sleeved white t-shirt. Mira, respecting Wyn's request, redresses herself entirely. She’s now in a hot red plain t-shirt and ripped jeans, having traded her boots for a pair of denim sneakers.

“See? You still look great! It’s you, not the clothes,” Wyn compliments Mira, with Yu nodding vigorously in agreement.

“My precious isn’t showing as much now. I have mixed feelings,” Mira says, glancing down at her bust.

In the age menu, a soul can adjust its age using a slider. The minimum age is sixteen, while the maximum is the soul’s age at the time of death.

“I’m only nineteen, so this is as prime as I get,” Yu says.

“I’m happy with my age,” Mira adds.

“Which is…?” Yu presses.

“I’m not telling!”

“You promised to tell us your story, remember?” Wyn reminds her.

“At a campsite or another private space. I promise!”

“What about your age, ‘Oppa’?” Yu teases Wyn, mimicking Mira’s term.

“What about what? You have no business knowing my age,” Wyn replies, turning his screen away from their view.

As he slides the age slider back and forth, Yu and Mira quietly sneak behind him.

When Wyn finally confirms at “24,” Mira asks, “You’re thirty?”

“Nani? When did you get here?”

“But he’s twenty-four now. Is he still your ‘Oppa’?” Yu wonders.

“He’ll always be an oppa to me, regardless of age!”

“So, I guess you’re older than twenty-four. Should I call you ‘ajumma’?”

“Don’t you EVER dare!”

The age reversion doesn’t change Wyn’s physical attributes. He looks the same, but now, inside his thirty-year-old body, he retains the agility and strength of his twenty-four-year-old self.

“You were already amazing, and now you’re even more capable! Can’t wait to see you in action!” Yu says.

Wyn seizes the opportunity to ask Catito about what the other demon said regarding directing attacks with his eyes. Catito, well-versed in the dojo's teachings, has the answer – it’s simply another form of a more advanced offensive style. A soul can summon a ground attack anywhere it wants by looking at the target without having to touch the ground. However, doing so results in a weaker attack. To match the same power and consistency, more essence is required.

“They also mentioned tolerance to our own attacks. Does that mean we’re more tolerant to someone else’s attacks of the same element?” Wyn inquires.

“Only if you collect more essence,” Catito replies. “Imagine smelling your own fart versus someone else’s. Which one are you more able to tolerate?”

“Well said.”

“Umm…since there are a number of you guys, can we do the cats here?” Yu asks.

“Do what? Mate with us?” Catito responds with a straight face.

“Oh curry no! Never mind.”

Catito exits the room as the trio deliberates on which campsite to visit. While Catito hadn’t mentioned any difficulty differences, Wyn assumes the creatures in all areas are equally strong.

“Let’s start with the city,” Mira suggests. “Hope my sister’s there.”

“What’s wrong?” Yu asks Wyn, noticing his long sigh.

“I still can’t control my cyclone dashes, and they’re even stronger than before…”

“You’ll be fine. Maybe we should find a new wind member to coach you,” Mira suggests.

“The blue-haired ‘they/them’? Not a chance!” Wyn responds.

“I meant someone else, of course!”

“You know what? We should ask every potential member how many genders there are as a preliminary question,” Wyn says.

“I love it when you’re mean, Oppa!”

Using the room’s wall, three portals open. Wyn grabs Yu’s and Mira’s hands tightly – and they grasp his in return.

“Let’s see this all the way through. We won’t stop until we take down doge!” Wyn declares.

And with that, they disappear into separate portals. As they arrive at a campsite, a cat with a heart-shaped nose welcomes them.