Chapter 5:

Fourth Circle. Shopping Center Greed

CRISPeR


Am I in reality after all? This question has already become eternal. Just a couple of moments gave me new hope. But when I returned to Hell, I began to lose it again and forget what I saw. Upon my return, I heard the blood begin to pulsate stronger, vibrating to my head. The sounds also changed from the usual fussy noise to the unusual hellish rumble.

I was sitting on the floor with my hands on the floor. When I stopped vomiting, the shadow rabbit helped me dry myself. The first thing I thought about was hands. I felt death approaching, and my arms suddenly transformed, giving me a tool to escape. I would say that this is part of a general illusion, but the sensations were too deep. Although not entirely true, because everything that happens has penetrated deep enough into me to become a new reality. But those sensations near death, the transformation of skin, body fluids into bone weapons were ... real? Real, unlike the reality that I see around. It was inside me, I felt. I hope I'm still real inside.

"Mikhail! What happened? You bit another burger and suddenly froze. You were in a stupor for a while."

"..."

"I thought you were lost in thought and did not want to interfere. Then your face was heavily contorted with anger, and you grabbed the table. And then fell to the floor and..."

"Rabbit, please tell me how much. is this rabbit hole deep?"

"..."

I noticed how the shadow rabbit hesitated and thought about this question. Even though the face was unreadable, as were the emotions.

"Hell has no boundaries. At least I've never seen them. Only I hit one wall, and another follows it. Day after day, pain after pain What can we do here?"

"But we're doing something, aren't we?"

"Yes. I wonder where this will lead? More suffering?"

"You yourself..."

"Maybe hope has blinded me a lot? You are very capable and perhaps we really have a chance. And it can always be worse, shaking with fear is useless."

"Cruel."

"I think you're full. Let's go down to the other floors?"

"Come on. Otherwise, everyone around me is looking askance at me."

We left the hall and began to descend the escalator. Its steps were set in motion thanks to a drum that rotated local shadows. Apparently, this was their place of work. that there are no punishments. By the way, the shadow-rabbit did not say anything about Cerberus. So, I was there alone, as I thought. The illusion reached a new level and penetrated into the depths of consciousness? At this rate, I can lose the only thing that is left of me - my Ego.

As we descended, I continued to explore the shopping center with my eyes. The whole environment was too unnatural for hell - a lot of light and joyfully scurrying shadows. The light was downright blinding, as if I was going on stage every second and dozens of spotlights greeted me.

"Heard the latest news, huh?"

"What are you talking about?"

"What are you doing! Announced the release of the game Hunt The Auto 666. Hell cars, girls, theft and murder! Wow, I hope the new graphics are awesome. It's just like reality!"

"Wow, seriously!? Give me a chance, would you move into this game, huh? Damn, I'll have to save money again. "

Ahead of us two shadows descended, which got so hot from the dialogue that I could hear them perfectly. Strange, before that I almost did not distinguish the speech of passers-by. Playing in hell is crazy, but so human.

If everything is as I suppose, then I am in reality, but with which I cannot act directly. What role does the shadow rabbit play in all of this? So quiet and kind. Or cunning? She noticed my gaze.

"Is there something wrong? It's probably stupid to ask, though. Apparently, you didn't like the hellish food?"

"No, it was generally edible, and sometimes even delicious. definitely incredibly weird. "

It was kind of embarrassing to discuss this. And what was it for us to communicate with if we were not familiar and were in Hell. I wonder why I really call it Hell that way? I could not get used to the fact that I call him that, realizing that this is an illusion. Was it easier for the brain to deal with it this way, or was there something I didn't know myself?

We went downstairs and walked slowly past the shops. Shadows entered and went out, but already with bags full of new things. They were all genuinely happy, although I didn't quite understand why. After all, they are in Hell, even if it were a part of reality. Hell is Hell. New rags that you can put on yourself to hide your shame, keep warm, stand out. So much materiality for the dwelling place of souls. Dante's sinners in hell were without clothes, as far as I remember. And Dante himself, being alive, was in clothes. This led to the next thoughts, but they did not lead anywhere. More precisely, they brought me to the same place - a dead end, beyond which I still could not get through. But that doesn't mean I gave up.

All of these stores looked the same at the same time, even though they were very different. Their light did not evoke a response in my soul, and this alone was suffering in itself. I continued to walk sadly forward, looking at it, and did not notice how the shadow-rabbit left me. I looked around and saw her. Like a moth, this pernicious light captivated her. She stared at the luxurious dress adorned with familiar flowers. For some reason, this angered me: the inability to remember or the fact that my only friend here is just as simple a sinner. In the ordinary world, this would all be commonplace, but here for some reason such purchases made it sickening. It turns out that the mundane covers the sin, like clothes for us?

The Shadow Rabbit, enjoying the sight of the dress, but perhaps not being able to buy it, turned to me and immediately caught up with me.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I was distracted. Such a beautiful dress that I couldn't do not stop. How I wish I could put it on ... "

Then the rabbit-shadow abruptly died down and went into her thoughts.

"Oh, it doesn't matter. Let's move on. Do you like it here? At least calmly."

"By Hell's standards, yes, although during my lifetime I rarely visited shopping malls. "

"Why? It's so great here: so much to buy, lots of entertainment, food and..."

"Money. I was from a not very wealthy family for us, almost everything around is a luxury. I could only get here for one of two reasons: today is a special day or just to watch."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to offend."

"It's okay, I'm used to it. Apparently, hell isn't that different from reality. By the way, didn't we get too much attention by what happened above?"

"Are you talking about Minos and his servants? Still, such places, albeit under supervision, are peculiar. They benefit from the shadows being in good shape for future suffering. "

"Or is the treasury and purse of demonic entrepreneurs more important to them? "

"Hah, are you joking? Are you feeling better? It would be nice to gain strength... Further it will be much more dangerous."

The voice, movements and everything else in the shadow-rabbit calmed me, as if my soulmate was nearby. It strongly reminded me of someone, but at that moment I was more interested in the words that I heard from one of the windows. It was an electronics store, there were many TVs on which probably Hell News was shown.

"...Then he returned to Hell, what a fool! It is true that the dumb dies twice. Now the soul of Provalny is rotting in a cage - this will be a lesson for all of you who think that you can get out of Hell alive!"

The leader's speech caused more perplexity in me than from Hell itself. Nonetheless, the information was intriguingly interesting. Someone tried to get out of Hell and it looks like it worked. But why did he come back? What is so important he forgot in Hell? I decided to go ahead and not focus on it, because this is part of the illusion. Although the interest did not leave me completely.

Suddenly my peripheral vision noticed something, and I involuntarily stopped. I walked over to one of the glass cases and froze. I was just speechless. My crazy imagination was already unstoppable. But to do it or not - only had to be decided. It was a virtual reality store.

I leaned my face close to the window, examining the interior of the store. It was filled with virtual reality helmets and everything needed for a complete immersion experience: various input devices, headphones, seats, running platforms and more. During my lifetime I could not afford such a thing, even temporarily. But I'm in Hell, right? What is left for me to lose? Except for the eternal soul, of course.

"Oh, have you liked computer games before? If it helps you to relax and tune in - go for it!"

"Yes, because games..."

I wanted list what I love them for, but the first thought was negative - escapism. Games helped me avoid the harsh reality: a poor family, drinking from the same bad life of parents, aggressive classmates and people in general. And from their own powerlessness to change something.

"... give a lot of positive emotions from the process itself, they can teach a lot."

"Apparently, not only that. But don't worry, I'll look after you, don't be afraid!"

Even a shadow rabbit is understood. But apart from all of the above, now it was a truly unique opportunity. Play virtual reality in a hellish version of reality. I opted for the Mine.Os Eyes VR headset, two gamepads for each arm and a platform that supported my body so I could move freely.

"How many things. Sure, you can handle it? Especially considering recent experience?"

"Yes, I just have to do it!"

"Wow, this is fervor!"

Then I didn't understand exactly what she meant by recent experience. Maybe this helped me in the end. I was finally set up and ready to launch the game. The moment I pressed the button, my brain made me doubt again and started to become paranoid. What if the ultimate plan was to lead me to a similar place and take control of my mind? After all, full control over visual information, which is what the helmet was, before my eyes are a key factor in directing my thoughts.

"Aaaaaa-"

"What is it, Mikhail? Is everything okay?"

"Y-, yes."

I answered automatically. Frightened by the total darkness, I screamed, but quickly calmed down. Under these conditions, I could no longer think of the previous thought. There was darkness in which various geometric shapes were drawn. And then there was the burning out light of the screens, I blinked and found myself in the game. It turned out in the literal sense: there were no wires, no helmet in front of my eyes, my hands were not busy, and I moved freely. I immediately tried to do something, like transforming the hand again, but nothing happened. Then I paid attention to the environment. I was in a cave with a very high ceiling. So tall that he could not be seen. It was supported by stone vaults and pillars, some of which were very thin and looked unreliable. They looked more like peaks for torture, rather than load-bearing pillars. However, it was not dark here, since the whole cave was filled with gold, the entire floor was glowing. Strangely, there was no light source, but the gold glowed. The developers did not bother, apparently. Okay, this is a game - you need to have fun!

I saw moving objects in the distance, so I immediately ran there. In the game, it was quite simple and fast. I hid behind a pillar just in case and overheard a man in armor talking to a girl holding his hand.

"You don't have to do this, let's go!"

"No, Veronica! I have to figure it out with this, so that we can all live in peace. The lives of the townspeople depend on it!"

The knight, I called him that, resisted and, due to his strength, was still able to break away from the girl and fled. When he turned, I could see him. For some reason he had my appearance. The girl then disappeared, so I followed the knight. I arrived in time, the knight ran over the gold and shouted, calling for someone. At that moment, something large began to rise from under the gold and threw the man back, I was nearby. It was a dragon! A battle ensued immediately. This is a classic battle, I watched it for a while, until it got bored. It was not clear what to do in this game. I decided to approach the fighters, but they did not pay any attention to me. I just passed through them as an observer.

"Damn, is this one of those VR games where you just watch the action? Like roller coasters, skydiving and stuff like that?"

What was really interesting was that the game looked almost completely normal. There were visual distortions, but completely different and weaker. I decided to wander through the golden cave in search of something else. I wasted a lot of time and got tired. In addition to gold, there was nothing else in this cave, no other characters, no enemies, no objects. I just sat on the gold, leaning on a stone pillar. The gold was very hard, so I couldn't even swim in it. Quack-quack.

"It must be very exciting, deep, and in the end, I do not know what to do. Looking at the dragon and the knight? Boring. Though maybe he started interesting tests next?"

But I was already too skeptical. In fact, I was more pleased with the familiar images and silence. I did it again. Escaped from the brutal reality into the game and just am at peace. Unfortunately, this did not last long. Suddenly I began to gasp, then instinctively grabbed my neck with my hands. Something with hard skin and hair was wrapped around the neck. The grip was strong, this leather rope wrapped in several layers, and then began to lift me.

"How many lives have I got here?"

I tried to squeeze this out of myself, realizing that not a word would come out of my clamped neck. However, I heard this phrase from myself, which caused an additional feeling of depersonalization, which began with the meeting with the knight. I could no longer joke, as I was dying again. And again, the same sensations, the same thoughts and everything else, but as if something insignificant is changing in me.

"Of course, one. And it's already over."

far above. If not for the thin and mocking voice, I would have thought it was an angel. I hung in a noose and gradually climbed up, floundering and trying in vain to free myself. The vertebrae of my neck were fine as I was being lifted slowly. Therefore, I did not die immediately, but gradually suffocated. The person is relatively weak and fragile, and in this situation, I could do nothing except instinctive movements. The brain, which had to find a way to escape, was in a panic and could not think sanely. The limbic system of the brain, obtained by humans from animals, was turned on. Finally, I was lifted to the very top. A demon with an incredibly long tail was squatting on a stone peak, and he hung me up with it. I tried to kick him, but the demon kept me at a distance.

"What kind of NPC are you? Boss?"

Still, there was still the strength to joke, there was nothing else to do. Deep down, I hoped that it was still a game, and my memory serves me right. After my question, a sign appeared next to the demon that said: "Corrupt is a demon of greed. His tails are as long as the consequences of corruption."

"I am what will destroy you from the inside."

The only one that the demon himself answered. Being hanged wasn't fun at all, and part of me was praying to God again that the game wouldn't end for me. At that moment, a sword escaped from inside the demon's chest so quickly that the whole face was covered with blood.

I soared high up, hurrying to cries for help. There I saw a demon torturing a man. Not slow at all, I pierced this demon from behind and ironically ended his last sentence.

"The sword of justice is what will destroy you from the inside."

Judging by the voice, it was that knight who looked exactly like I am. I did not see him himself, as he was covered by a demon. But you could see the wings with which he got so high - the loot from defeating the dragon?

"Yes, above the dragon. It happened quite recently, how could I forget? No, this is something else ..."

"I hear two voices in my head."

Something strange was happening. At first, I heard a second voice inside my head, and then my consciousness began to split, and I became two people. Who he was and that knight? Knight and those he saved.

"Why am I still hanging in the air if the demon is killed?"

"Really!"

"Is he alive?"

The voices were talking among themselves to make sense of the situation.

"He's dead."

A third voice sounded within; it was the voice of a demon. At that moment, with his other tail, he crept up to the knight and pierced him, just as the knight did with the demon. Now I was all three. I was a killer, victim and savior all rolled into one. But my feelings told me that there was only room for one, otherwise I would have gone crazy. The knight was bleeding and could not move, his consciousness faded.

"No! Not me, why me!? I'm a savior, I don't deserve such a fate. And this is a game, isn't it?"

"Silence."

The demon moved with one tail, and the knight's consciousness disappeared, and I felt incredible pain, as if something had been ripped out of me. He began to spin me around with the other tail.

"Quiet."

It was a deadly carousel. I didn't know what would happen first: I would pass out from the pain or centrifugal force would break my neck. The demon rotated me with great speed for a while, and then there was a pop. As if both the tail and my neck came off, and the body flew away somewhere very far. To another dimension, where there was only darkness and I. Although not entirely true, because there was still pain. I think it was the most important there, because I was thinking only of her.

"Pain. Pain. Pain..."

" Game! The game! Exactly! It's a game! How to get out of it? There is only darkness and pain. Hah, and from the very beginning there is no interface. How to get out of here!?"

It was not like a game. In the game, the player is a god and he controls the virtual world. Here I was under control. Not knowing what to do, I completely indulged panic from the realization that I could stay here forever. Remembering the game, I also remembered about the shadow-rabbit, which was supposed to look after me. What's wrong with me on the other side of reality? Or is this what she wanted?

"Shadow bunny! Shadow bunny! Shadow bunny, can you hear me? Get me out of here! Please!"

I screamed into the darkness, into myself, into the virtual world, into Hell, into reality. But I don't know where my scream is heard. There was no answer, I was all alone. The feeling that I have already been here for an eternity. Therefore, I thought about the eternal, about the most important for me, which at least warmed my soul in the cold darkness. I turned my prayers to her.

"Lily ... I never got there..."

Light. Or did I begin to regain consciousness? Rather, in his usual by hellish standards of the norm. Everything blurred before my eyes, but it was approximately clear - I returned to the virtual reality store, there was like a shadow rabbit nearby, again fussing with care. It looked even too familiar. But now I realized what the shadow-rabbit then meant by the previous experience. I vomited wildly again. It seemed that after the previous time there was nothing left, but something still came out of me, which made it easier. After me, this shopping center should have been renamed the emetic center. Although this was a bit of news to me, in fact I was counting on it. I knew that virtual reality caused dizziness and nausea. And not in vain, judging by what I saw next.

Reality. The one in which he lived all his life, except for the last days. I don’t know how long I’ve been here.

"Mikhail! Mikhail, can you hear me? How are you?"

A young unfamiliar girl was standing nearby - apparently, she was a shadow rabbit. And the store turned out to be an ordinary virtual reality game store. I quickly ran my eyes, there were ordinary people together. Despite the pain and dizziness, I began to fill with euphoria from the realization that I was right and alive. This time this state lasted much longer for me to understand it. I need to run from this stranger. Even though she helped me a lot - perhaps that was her intent. Why else is she walking around Hell with a stranger? After a few seconds, I returned to it.

"Awful. Let's get out of here."

I wanted to apologize to the store owner and even help with cleaning, but I was unable to do so. We ran out of the store and hid among the crowd of the mall.

"Well, how's the game, if you ignore that you were very seasick?"

"At first there was a dragon in a cave with gold, but a battle with I was kind of boring to him. And when the demon appeared, there was no time for fun. He almost burned my brain. "

We began to go down the escalator. I began to think about how to escape from the shadow rabbit. There was some kind of annoying light from above, and I looked over there. It was another escalator on the floor above, the bottom of it was mirrored, and light was coming from there.

"You looked more or less, but when you started calling me, I stopped the game and pulled you out of there."

"Yes, I called for your help when there was nothing left to do."

I continued to look up, staring at my reflection. Another copy of me in the mirror, as in the game.

"It's good that she has no consciousness either. That would be quite tough." I thought to myself.

"Are you so sure about this?"

It came from the mirror and I was scared. I quickly looked around: there was darkness everywhere, as if the entire shopping center had evaporated along with its inhabitants, who were not even on the escalator.

"I'm alone again." a thought flashed through my head.

"Oh no."

A copy from the mirror replied. I turned and started running up the escalator. This reacted to my actions by accelerating the movement. I sped up and turned to look back. The escalator lengthened so far that you couldn't see its end.

"Now you are going to the deep corners of Hell."

"Into my subconscious mind?"

Where else could my other selves dwell? The escalator accelerated so much that I was pressed against it and I could not move on. From such overloads, my head began to ache greatly, and I lost consciousness. The outlines of the escalator blurred, as if I were approaching light speed. After that, the escalator stopped abruptly, and it was as if my soul was thrown out of my body. I was standing on the escalator and the mall returned to its place, having undergone some changes. There was not a soul in it, and the building itself turned into a mirrored multi-level labyrinth.

"Damn it. Is this such a mess in my head?"

"Well, why a mess? A neatly built maze of many of your personalities, which are not destined to go outside - into real life. All of this is illuminated by your own bright mind. "

It was even brighter here than before. Not only showcases were now mirrored, but also the floor, ceiling, in general, almost everything. Except perhaps the escalator steps. From so many mirrors, my head was spinning, my brain was thinking even tighter, and my vestibular apparatus began to rock. I went downstairs and started looking for a way out. One of my voices spoke to me, but it was not part of my consciousness, as in the game. More precisely, I heard his voice, but did not see him. The countless reflections and bright light made me sick again, but this time there was nothing to do with it, so it was easy to hold back. This is good, because I didn't want to puke in my own subconscious. In all fairness, it was really beautiful here, but the mind was going crazy. I noticed a gap in the reflections and hurried to it in the hope that this is the way out.

"I don't think it will be that easy to get out, but ..."

And so, it happened. It was also a mirror, but it reflected the imaginary life of one of my personalities. There I was a famous manga author. Manga for me is one of the best arts in the world, so many of my fantasies were associated with it. I liked coming up with my different stories, especially after lectures at the university. But I drew badly, and there was no time to develop in this direction. It was one of the tough choices I had to make. I looked at his life and doubted that I did everything right.

I felt someone else's presence and looked to the right. One of my copies was sneaking up on me from below. He looked like a spider. One of my spider-man fantasies? He jumped at me, trying to grab.

"I am your friendly neighbor in mind, do not be afraid of me!"

I jumped back from him. But there my copy in the form of the Japanese god of big hands was waiting for me. Better not ask me about this fantasy. And that's not what you thought. Because of him, I lost my balance a little, stumbled a couple of times, but regaining control, I dodged his grip. They locked me in a ring, and I retreated to the mirrors.

"So, who is the real one, guys?"

Unanimously, they pointed to me. An attempt to act out a scene from the retro series on Spider-Man failed. They could not be confused and there was nowhere to run. I should have tried to break through them, but I got too close to the mirror. A copy from him grabbed me and began to drag me inside his world.

"Well, you butted me! Your arms are so pumped up because you draw a lot?"

He really had a strong grip; I could not break free. I started hitting the mirror with my hands and feet, but it was too hard. A familiar tail appeared from somewhere below and began to twist around my legs. As I fought off the tail, the mirror pulled me more and more. That voice rang out again.

"It's time to take back what you stole - body control."

"Guys, what about you? This mangaka will take everything for himself now!"

"It doesn't matter, the main thing is we will avenge our lost lives!"

"Then we'll take it from him."

"You bastards. Listen, Peter. I mean, I'm in a spider suit. I wanted to be more than a mangaka! Free me and we'll think about it! "

"Don't lie. We are you."

"Not completely, since you need something from me."

The mirror did not break in any way, the legs were already completely entwined with the tail, which began to reach for the hands. The body was half drawn in by the mirror, and the process itself accelerated, since I could not resist. I vainly beat my hands on the glass until blood poured out of them, but this did not stop me either. What is the loss of blood in the face of the death of my personality? For a second, I wondered if it was really worth giving control to this mangaka? But what if this is an illusion behind which something else was hidden?

But I wasn't going to die. Something clicked in me again, I immediately recognized this feeling. The tail had already braided one hand, but the other was free. She began transformation and turned into a bone in the form of a mace. I hit the mirror several times and by the sound with sensations I realized that it was not a bone, but something else. It looked more like a mineral. The mirror shattered into pieces, and I freed myself. Then I turned my hand from a mace into a blade and cut the tail. It came out intuitively, I myself did not expect it to work.

"Get away from me, I have a knife!"

"..."

"Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!"

I was bluffing, but actually I was still scared. I couldn't hide it from myself.

"Of course, you can't. Everything here is you. But here's your transformation ... This is something new! Interesting! Grab him, everyone!"

I burst through one of the spears, swinging my knife. They sent after me in pursuit along with the tail. Several more of my copies appeared in front. Suddenly, other tails of that demon flew out of the neighboring mirrors. I dodged awkwardly, nearly falling, but kept running. The mirrored floor was very slippery, not me clumsy. I turned onto a small bridge and continued to run.

"Maybe it might be worth turning your hand into ..."

"Something else? Come on! We're interested in seeing your potential! What we'll get our hands on soon."

There were a lot of spears ahead and tails were flying at me from all directions, they stretched from almost all the mirrors. Including from the floor, so I had to ride. Among the copies, I saw some very strange ones. I don't remember ever imagining them. This distracted me, and one of the tails in the floor managed to grab my leg and I fell.

"Damn! The subconscious continues to amaze."

"If this surprises you, what do you think about it?"

My mind split again like it did in the game. Only instead of three there were countless numbers. I felt like a fly with compound eyes, in the cells of which my copies were reflected. It literally drove me crazy, and I lost sight of myself. The copies came close to me to grab, and the tail did not allow me to get up. Seeing the whole picture as if outside, I found the only way out.

"This is not an option. I have a lot of tails!"

I began to roll abruptly on the floor until I rolled under the railing of the bridge and fell down.

"It doesn't matter if I uproot him!"

At that point, he seemed to realize that he had lost. Apparently, he did not know only my last thought.I was rapidly approaching the floor, I was about to be smeared on it, turning into a bloody cake. But at the last second the tail stopped, there was a pop and numerous cracklings, I was jerked away, and I successfully landed on my feet. It was my leap of faith.

"That's why I'm in charge of this body, he-he. Uh, what?"

I looked up. It was raining from shards of mirrors. Probably, my subconscious knew the exact length of the demon's tail, which it calculated from the height of the pillar from the game where the demon grabbed me by the neck. Thanks to this, the tail was stretched to the limit and, unable to withstand my weight, was pulled out along with the root, to which the other tails approached. So a chain reaction started, the tails jerked back and shattered all the mirrors, and the copies disappeared.

The fragments flew slowly, and then I noticed that it was an optical illusion, and they practically did not fall, but rotated in every possible way. If we abstract from the madness that happened, it was a very beautiful sight. And it reminded me of a digital art museum in Tokyo. Gradually, a new image began to form in the mirrors. In a few moments, the entire shopping center returned to its original form. More precisely, his hellish version. On the upper floors I saw a bewildered shadow-rabbit.

"What, am I already downstairs? Exactly, it means it's time to run!"

And I ran again, but this time alone. So, I successfully escaped the shadow rabbit and left the mall.

Real Aire
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