Episode 212 Nastrond (2)
“Nastrond is the largest prison in Niflheim, imprisoning those who have committed the three ugly sins.
The first is a hell where reserved venom drips down to those who commit adultery. This is Gate 1 right here.”
Hella’s explanation was clear at a glance.
Jaehyun took a closer look at his surroundings as he walked through the first gate.
As she said, the theme of hell here was poison.
Countless figures of sinners came into his eyes, except for those bound in chains.
As Jaehyun walked past the criminal, he heard the scream of the dead man.
[Ahhh… freedom for me… give… .]
[I am… Didn’t do anything wrong… .]
Jaehyun looked at the criminals who were chained and screaming terribly.
The hideous appearance with rotting parts of the body was hard to see even if the stomach was strong, and the stench that pierced the tip of the nose was also terrible.
The hell common people think of.
And should I say the miserable words of a sinner who committed a serious crime?
Jaehyun frowned as if he was displeased.
“Hella, did Nidhogg say that you can reach this end by going through three gates?”
“That’s right. In order to go to Hvergelmir, you have to pass through all three gates he said.”
“What are the conditions for passing each gate?”
At Jaehyun’s question, Hella thought for a moment and then opened her mouth.
“Every time you pass through that gate, you are confessing your sins. Unless, of course, you have committed a sin.”
confession of sin
Hella told me that the purpose of each gate was to confess the sins of those who had committed the corresponding grievous sins at each gate.
In that sense, Jaehyun had nothing to worry about at this gateway.
A felony dealt with in the first pass. This was adultery.
However, Jaehyun is not even married yet to commit adultery. Even before returning, he had never been in a proper relationship, let alone married, so there was no place for him to be guilty.
‘I don’t know why, but I feel sad… .’
Jaehyun felt somewhat bitter and approached the person guarding the first gate.
A man of great height and excessively purple skin.
Hel explained that he was the ‘Covetous One’, one of the triplets of Nastrond who serve as the gatekeepers of each gateway.
A person who can be feared more than anyone else by those who commit sins.
However, Jaehyun had nothing to shy away from. He walked proudly and stood before the gatekeeper.
‘The person who coveted others’ glanced at Jaehyun, then nodded and opened his mouth.
[You are innocent. Go to the next gateway.]
Greung!
Jaehyun took a step towards the door to the next step, with Papi following him toddling.
There was a fairly long passage inside the door, but I thought it was a bad taste to have the faces of criminals stuffed on the wall.
I was walking through such a long, empty rectangular space.
Suddenly, Hella smiled and spoke up.
“I’m glad though. not having a spouse
I don’t even have a girlfriend in the first place.”
“… Are you excited about something?”
Jaehyun got angry at the strange teasing voice, but Hella didn’t stop.
Jaehyun let out a deep sigh and walked back to a deeper place in hell.
Two gates appeared before long. Jaehyun had no choice but to pause for a moment.
“… what? these are?”
* * *
As soon as I arrived at the second gate of Nastrond, the first thing I noticed was a snake.
An innumerable number of snakes bit the sinner, and fountains of blood gushed out of them.
[I, please… Get some of these off! Boo, please!]
[stop… go away! Go away!]
The frightening screams of the dead are heard.
As Jaehyun looked at this with a depressed expression, Hella opened her mouth.
“The second gate here is a hell where sinners who break their oaths are bitten by snakes, and blood is poured out to make them suffer.”
“The one who broke the oath… .”
Jaehyun pondered over whether he had such a sin.
From before the return until now, of course, I have not lived perfectly. In the meantime, I have come this far with mistakes and reflections.
In the process, it may have been a breach of oath and trust.
Jaehyun gulped and asked Hella.
“If the gatekeeper of this gate finds me guilty, what will happen to me?”
Looking back, I don’t remember committing such a major sin.
However, in the worst case, there was a possibility of getting caught or dying here.
“You have to face your sins.”
“Facing sin?”
“That’s right. You must see the sin that is inherent in you from the depths of you. And then you really have to realize it.
If you do, the gatekeeper will let you go forward.”
Hela said that those who do not cross the gates of Nastrond have failed to face their sins.
Because he didn’t admit his mistake, and because he was imprisoned and suffered every day because he was imprisoned.
She explained it that way.
“All right. I can’t help it. I have no choice but to hope that I will be the one who doesn’t come out with anything.”
Jaehyun said so, and this time as well, he passed the dead who paid respect to Hella and headed towards the end of the gateway.
There, as before, a man who appeared to be a gatekeeper was standing tall.
It was almost the same as the one I saw at Gate 1, but the skin was a normal color.
However, he had a strange appearance with snakes tied around his waist and legs.
[I am the ‘one who broke the oath’, the gatekeeper of the second gateway. Will it pass?]
“okay.”
[I will see your sins.]
After speaking in an overbearing tone, he began to scan Jaehyun’s entire body.
It is the job of the gatekeeper to identify the guilty and to ask for the appropriate crime.
A little time passed like that.
The gatekeeper opened his mouth while looking at Jaehyun.
[I can’t say I’m not guilty. You have already broken your oaths with others many times.]
“okay? That made me sad.”
Jaehyun said that with a sly smile on his lips.
In the worst-case scenario, he intended to meet Nidhogg by fighting the ‘Breacher of the Oath’ here.
reinforcement of equipment. This will be a great power to fight Aesir.
There was no thought of going back from here.
[but.]
It was at that time when Jaehyun was preparing for battle.
It was the gatekeeper who suddenly got lucky.
[You are also entitled to pass on.]
“… huh?”
what do you mean all of a sudden?
Why is the guy who just said he was guilty suddenly saying that he deserves to pass?
Jaehyun blinked at the quick change of attitude and looked at the ‘those who broke the oath’ in front of him.
It was then.
[But just because you deserve it, you can’t help but ask for guilt. I will punish you.]
“What is that… .”
Jaehyun tried to say something, but ‘the one who broke the oath’ continued.
[From now on, I will show you a fragment of the past.
Come back after seeing that memory and confess your sins about what oath you broke.]
At that moment, a group of snakes suddenly poured out from under his feet and began biting Jaehyun’s limbs.
“Big… ! What is this!”
With the fountain of blood gushing from his body, Jaehyun felt as if his mind went black for a moment.
Voices and scenes immediately came to mind.
Jaehyun’s eyes narrowed, and his body began to tremble.
Memories that are slowly being drawn in front of your eyes.
This was very familiar to him.
* * *
“Run away!”
The owner of the voice that came at the same time as consciousness was blurred was a familiar person.
Jaehyun looked at the young faces of the two in front of him.
And I looked back at my memories.
This is a dungeon. And those in front now are Kim Jin-ah and Park Seong-woo.
they now… You are sacrificing for me.
Goosebumps all over my body and I felt my mind go blank.
Jaehyun intuitively knew.
This is the illusion shown by ‘the one who broke the oath’. It was a memory of the past, and it was his own sin.
‘At the time of the mock dungeon… This is the past when two people were sacrificed.’
The day before the return, there was a mock dungeon. Kim Jin-ah and Park Seong-woo sacrificed themselves for Jae-hyun.
Those who were kind like idiots were in danger due to Gu Ja-in’s witchcraft in a simulated dungeon, and judged that they were already late, and pushed their backs, saying that they would survive at least re-enactment.
Hearing those words, Jaehyun ran away without hesitation. She didn’t even have time to feel grateful for them.
have to live
You have to survive.
That alone was the driving force that kept Jaehyun’s legs from stopping at the time.
It wasn’t until a few days after the accident that Jae-hyeon recalled that day and realized the foolishness of his choice.
I couldn’t save it, and I ran away.
It wasn’t just that he was weak.
Still, he ran away alone.
Jaehyun thought.
How big of a sin is this?
* * *
The background suddenly changed, and fragments of memories continued to flow.
Likewise, the place where Jaehyun was located was a dungeon, but the atmosphere was completely different.
Also, this was the place where the last memory of reproduction before returning was located.
‘At the time of the dungeon raid with the meteor guild… On this day, I got Odin’s lost eye and returned.’
Jaehyun looked around.
Countless meteor guilds and hired freelance raiders.
Purple smoke penetrates between them.
Poison Mist.
It was only then that Jaehyun realized what the oath the ‘those who broke the oath’ had just talked about.
The bond you shared with that person.
This was a kind of history accumulated with others.
However, he gave up on this because he couldn’t trust others.
Even in the worst way.
Jaehyun continued to contemplate his memories without averting his eyes.
A thick purple fog spreads, and soon people start to scream and fall one by one.
Wild screams and moans from the mouths of those paralyzed in action. The raging fountain of blood further subsided the heavy fog.
Among them, Jaehyun could see one person.
The face of a very dear person.
‘… Myeongho hyung.’
Myeongho Lee.
As a fighter radar, he was a grateful person who took good care of him when he was struggling to find a job.
Jaehyun betrayed that person at the last moment.
he said.
[Jung Woo-min. I’ll do something that didn’t happen today. therefore… … .]
Those words were an obvious betrayal, and an act of disloyalty.
Jung Woo-min was the one who killed Lee Myung-ho.
However, Jaehyun begged him for his life. for his own life.
my sins.
Jaehyun felt the bitter taste of blood on the tip of his tongue and kept an eye on the continuing memories.
People’s voices could be heard, and the fog continued to deepen.
An explosion was heard and the place was noisy.
Jaehyun aloofly watched as the white blade pierced Lee Myeongho’s chest.
Think again.
crime. what is my sin
A desperate longing for life? Can you say it’s my fault?
‘no.’
It was only then that Jaehyun realized clearly as he watched Lee Myungho collapse.
My sins that ‘the one who broke the oath’ said.
It ended up… .
with chaeng.
At that moment, the illusion that covered the whole field of view was shattered.
Along with that, a voice pierces Jaehyun’s ears.
[Now, what is your sin?]
Before long, a quiet voice came from Jaehyun’s mouth, who returned from seeing his memories.
“My sins. It is ‘running away in front of a colleague’.”
It was also a sense of guilt deep in Jaehyun’s heart.
At Jaehyun’s words, the corner of the mouth of the ‘one who broke the oath’ went up.
As soon as he opened his arms, the door to the second gateway opened wide.
[Pass by. Opponent of prophecy.]
