The Love That Remains

After what feels like an eternity, we finally manage to reach the shore. As soon as I climb off the shore, 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 doorknob. There is no wall or anything around the door. This must be the entry to the hell. 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 glasses. 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 document 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 counselor. " He winks at me "We do not share our true names in hell."

"You know my name?" I point at the document.

"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 glasses.

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"You have died once, but you were taken by a god 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 hell. But you didn't die this time. You came here to challenge hell 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 glasses 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 blessed by 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 hell while I am pregnant. Crap! 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 god not tell you? He might not have known it at the time."

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

"He sent you here in a hurry. He might not have noticed. Besides, times run differently in hell. 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 hell. That is, you have to cross the nine circles of the hell 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 hell," JJ speaks in a solemn voice. "Your 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 hell, 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 hell."

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Giving birth in the hell 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 tell him. I have decided that I will cross hell 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 hell, you and your child will achieve immortality. If you fail, you will lose your body and soul to the depth of hell. 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."