The Strange Adventures of Hearn the Believer

"Calm down."

"Cough cough."

Miss Devil cleared her throat dramatically.

"After all this commotion, shouldn't things have quieted down by now? Tell me, what exactly are you here for?"

"No way, I just missed you so much! You're always wandering around the mortal realm, never showing up, ignoring me and leaving me to my own devices, acting like a heartless ex-lover. Today, I finally got to be chosen by you, and I was overjoyed, thinking that a moment of bliss is worth a thousand pieces of gold. In a moment of passion, I rushed over without even bothering to dress up, only to find you enjoying yourself with another girl. I didn't dare to make a sound and disturb your pleasure, so I could only wait in the shadows, secretly shedding tears, heartbroken, sob sob sob..."

"If you had acted even a little less, I wouldn't have made you wait in the back."

"Waaaaah... When you hid in the Twilight Tomb, skipping work to slack off, I was supposed to accompany you to prison to serve you in bed, but you deliberately chose the room furthest from me, making me so lonely that I could only scratch the wall every night. You live in 108, I live in 101, I think of you every day but can't see you, I drink alone from the River Styx..."

"Stop singing. I broke out of prison early because I couldn't stand your wailing every night. To be honest, I'm starting to regret not bringing you from behind the scenes to the front of the stage. Seriously."

"Really? Does that mean I'm getting a permanent position? My application, which I've been submitting for almost two years, has finally been approved by you! Boss, I'm so happy I'm about to faint! I want a hug, I want CPR, I won't get up unless you do it! I've recorded it all, I'm going to take it back and mock that timid, slow-moving little bitch Lucy, hahaha!"

"No, I just thought that using you as a negative example to show my wife and the others would give them a more direct understanding of how treacherous the working environment is for their men to support the family, and how outstanding and brilliant their colleagues are, except for the Lord of the Flies, who is the only reliable one—that way they would definitely understand me better."

"Tsk."

"What are you tsk about? Do you have a distorted self-perception?"

"No, that's not it. They just wanted to whisper sweet nothings in your ear—Old Fly has worked hard and is indeed reliable, but that doesn't stop his little fly from wanting to climb into your bed. Just the other day, Mostima invited her to do an exclusive interview on 'Today Gomorrah,' and that little girl who always has a donut in her hand confessed on the show that she is a die-hard fan of yours, and that she is most fascinated by Romeo Cat, the character you played in the third show."

“Azriel, are you kidding me? That child is the most outstanding little girl I’ve ever seen among the second generation of Fire Children. I used to use her as an example to educate Little Ji.”

"No, no, how could I dare to lie to you? By the way, the Chief Ruler of Heaven is fond of the 'Messiah' you played in 'Messiah'. I have caught her disguising herself and sneaking into Gomorrah to see your stage play more than once. For the sake of safety, I have always turned a blind eye and let her go."

"I don't believe it. The chief governor of the Heavenly Kingdom is much more reliable than you. He keeps his public and private life separate. He focuses on his work during the workday and enjoys life after get off work. Haven't you seen him playing chess with me right now, diligently fulfilling his duties?"

"Oh, my dear boss, it's fine if you say this to me, but please don't let our Chief Administrator of Hell hear it—Lucy will cry. And that hypocritical administrator of Heaven, who pretends to be virtuous while acting like a prostitute, is he really separating public and private matters? You think too highly of that hypocritical little bitch. You're the last one here, so you don't know, but we know what kind of person she is, don't we? Her bet with you isn't separating public and private matters; it's clearly using public office for private gain! She dreams of getting you 'whitewashed' and taking you to Heaven, otherwise she'll forever be a twisted underground fan. She's never had any legal permission from them, she's not a self-proclaimed sasaeng fan! Her bet with you is an attempt to overturn their basic control, to shake their legal legitimacy, don't we! Boss, you have to stand up for them, don't we!"

"Such a proper person, no, no, no..."

"Would a decent person squat outside the Twilight Tomb day and night like a crazy woman, guarding your true form, meow? She wasn't playing chess with you; she was playing a game of imprisonment! She appears aloof on the surface, but she's already screaming and groaning uncontrollably, meow!"

"..."

"But it's alright. Even if you accidentally fall for that little bitch's tricks, Lucy's side is already prepared for a full-scale war. The war mobilization has been completed, meow. As soon as you show any signs of bleaching, even just a tiny bit, we'll immediately restart the [Blood War]. Things are different now than before. The girls in Hell are eager to rush to the battlefield and shed their blood for you, because they are all dying for you now. After they die, they will all line up to live in your heart. The girls in Heaven will do the same..."

"Stop-stop-stop, what nonsense are you talking about? Stop it and get down to business."

"Hmph meow"

"I'm giving you one last chance. What do you want?"

"..."

"What? Stop talking?"

"Boss, actually, I came here because I have something 'important' to report to you..."

"Go ahead."

"Uh……"

"explain."

"...Boss, your sister-in-law has run away, meow."

"?"

"Your sister-in-law, Gabrielle, the second of the Seven Kings of Heaven, has skipped work, meow."

"..."

……

Chapter 152, Section 9: Cinderella and Snow White (Part 1)

Crack

With a soft cracking sound, the slightly deformed latch was damaged by external force, and the tightly locked metal box was opened, releasing a cold and dry odor from inside.

The girl dropped her makeshift lock-picking tools and hurriedly peered into the box to check its contents...

A moment later, he sighed with relief.

"Very good--"

……

At midnight, the girl pushed her four-wheeled cart alone across the desolate earth.

Above, the starry sky was cold, with a shattered moon hanging high in the heavens.

Beneath my feet lies barren white sand, an endless sea of ​​sand stretching to the horizon.

There were no plants, no animals, and no trace of civilization.

There was nothing but the howling of the wind as it whistled through the gaps in the sand and rocky peaks.

The girl hummed a folk song from her hometown softly, pushing her cart up a relatively gentle slope, slowly "driving" up the ridge of a small hill, and finally stopping at a windy spot on the ridge.

There was a small, iron-gray house sitting in front of me.

It's called a cabin, but that's not really the case. It was transformed into this form later. In earlier times, it was called an orbital landing capsule.

The girl pushed the cart into the iron-gray "little house," closed the hatch, and turned on the lights inside.

Under the slightly pale, cold light, the chill from the midnight wind and the desolate earth seemed to vanish in an instant.

The temperature control system is working properly, which is a stroke of luck amidst misfortune.

After tidying up her silver hair, which had been almost grayish-white from the wind carrying white sand, the girl began to take stock of her gains from this trip.

freshwater……

Compressed foods...

Nutritional paste...

antibiotic……

……

……

……

Uh, a military dagger?

The girl picked up the black standard-issue dagger from the metal box, and for a moment she was both amused and exasperated.

This is clearly a competent cutting tool, and it would also be quite handy as a self-defense weapon.

Self-defense...

But on this desolate planet where even microorganisms don't exist, who can it be used to defend against?

It's less about self-defense and more about hoping to use it for...

The girl gently shook her head, trying to dispel the gloomy thoughts that had been stirred in her mind.

Action is the best way to dispel anxiety. After sorting the newly collected emergency supplies into the pre-planned storage area, she squeezed out a little bit of the precious fresh water, slightly dampened a corner of a piece of fabric that served as a towel, and smeared it on herself, barely managing to give herself a proper explanation for her disheveled appearance.

After finishing all that, the girl sat at the desk in the workspace and recorded the day's trivial matters on a tablet.

……

On December 15, 1173 (Gregorian calendar), I went out and collected some fresh water, food, and medicine.

……

On December 14, 1173 (Gregorian calendar), I went out and retrieved some tools and supplies.

……

On December 13, 1173, a sandstorm struck. I was stranded inside the cabin, organizing supplies.

……

On December 12, 1173 (Gregorian calendar), I went out to collect supplies and some fresh water.

……

On December 11, 1173, we lost the sun, and Mino and Monte committed suicide by shooting themselves.

……

On December 10, 1173, we lost our home planet. Sheris and Jeff committed suicide by shooting themselves.

……

On December 9, 1173, the orbital module launched by the rocket developed by XueNi Aerospace Technology Co., Ltd. successfully landed on the planet Molag Bar. This planet has a breathable atmosphere, but the surface is only a sea of ​​sand. The theory about the existence of water beneath the sand sea still needs further scientific research and verification. If the theory is confirmed, then our civilization will soon take the first step in interplanetary colonization, and the five members of this team will be remembered in history as pioneers of interplanetary exploration!

……

The girl left a record of her day's activities on the terminal, and finally signed it at the end of the page—[Eileen Scherney].

After finishing her record for the day, she looked up at the broken celestial body in the night sky.

To this desolate planet beneath her feet, the girl was a visitor from the stars.

However, being an interstellar visitor did not bring the girl much transcendence or sense of accomplishment; instead, it only added to her sadness and confusion.

Today is December 15, 1173 in the Gregorian calendar.

Five days ago, a high-energy particle stream with a diameter of 100,000 kilometers passed through the Bar system at a 19-degree angle to the ecliptic plane at the speed of light. Within 0.0003 seconds, two of the three moons of the third Earth-like planet in the Bar system were destroyed, leaving the remaining moon in a semi-broken state to continue orbiting Morag Bar.

That half-broken satellite is her home planet, named Karen.

Five days later, this point no longer seems to matter.

All available communication channels yielded only a silent response.

Karen's atmosphere vanished the instant the particle stream swept past, along with nearly half of the star's core matter and the surface civilization.

After arriving at the futile conclusion that their home planet's civilization had perished, two members of the five-person team chose to commit suicide by shooting themselves while on night duty that day.

Eileen and her two companions were awakened by the gunshots. When they arrived outside the orbital module, they found two bodies that were gradually growing cold.

Before dawn, the three men, suppressing their grief, buried the bodies of their two companions on a hilltop not far from the cabin.

Standing atop the hill, before the graves of their two companions, Eileen, Mino, and Monte encouraged and inspired each other, vowing to fulfill their initial mission: to complete the scientific expedition in the desert, to find the liquid water that the theories suggested might exist, and to find their hope of survival.

An hour later, the dawn that should have arrived did not come.

Three hours later, the sky was still covered by the cold starry sky.

Five hours later, Eileen confirmed the fact that the stars in the Bar system were completely desolate through the observation equipment carried by the orbital module—dawn had already arrived, and the sun had already risen; it was in the sky, but it failed to illuminate the starry sky simply because it no longer emitted light and heat.

Five hours and twelve minutes later, Mino and Monte shot themselves.

……

Although only five days had passed, Eileen could hardly remember what her exact mental state was like at those specific times.

It was simply because what happened in those five days was so absurd, so absurd that it felt unreal.

The astronomical phenomenon of star desolation was too distant for a creature as insignificant as her, but the blood splattered when her companions died and the heavy stench of blood in the air were so close that she could not allow herself to regard it all as a dream, a nightmare.

When she stood atop the hill, before the simple graves of her four companions, she belatedly realized that Erin Scherney was the last human on Karen.

Every time the clock in the orbital module struck night, every time Eileen lay alone in bed, forcing herself to sleep to conserve her energy, she wished it were all just a nightmare…

The death of a companion...

The destruction of civilization...

The chilling cold of stars...

If only all of this were just a nightmare, a nightmare that would vanish when I wake up...

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

公历1173年12月16日06时46分66秒，艾琳·雪倪从睡梦中醒来。

What woke her was not the alarm clock set for seven o'clock, but the faint morning light.

The morning light is dim.

The morning light streamed into the cabin through the almost closed portholes, bathing everything inside in a cool, pale silver hue.

Erin Scherney rubbed her still blurry eyes and sat up in bed. She was in a daze for about ten seconds before opening her eyes wide in disbelief.

The next moment, she leaped out of bed, not even bothering to put on her shoes, and ran barefoot, quickly passing through the storage room and workroom, until she unlocked the hatch and pushed open the metal door of the orbital module...