This was surreal. No way was this happening! Just where was he? This was a story, wasn't it? And what was up with that game? Why was he the prey?

...and most of all, how did he get here?

Was it the system? Did the system teleport him here? It had to be that abomination right? It just had to be!

'Come out!' Eric screamed in his mind but got no response at all. After futilely wasting 10 precious seconds of his time, where the demons already started to cover the lonely 800m distance between them, Eric quickly figured out this wasn't his system's doing.

This here was real. As real as it could get, as real as gold bars a normal mortal could never get to touch in their life, as real as left in peace and never seen an OP room body parts.

This was the real deal. This was real life. Eric knew exactly where he was! In the Demon World! He was still in the Demon World! Not in a story or anywhere else!

Now, Eric remembered just before he passed out and found himself here, the last thing he saw, while hiding under the blanket, were the faces of monsters like those out to get him!

Hence Eric knew he was still in the Demon World! The monsters didn't look like the handsome demons Eric knew, these were the true terror of demons' true nature.

How did the Demon World work again? Eric remembered someone told him about it but in the face of this oncoming wild mob literally wanting to eat him, Eric's mind blanked.

Wasn't it akin to the tip of an iceberg? The place where the Demon Lord lived in was only the surface and the abyss as it looked to Eric was where the actual Demon World was. The levels! Fuck, was Eric in one of the levels?

Why? How? Just what grudge did these demons have against him? Why were they targeting him? Why the hell was there a game? And where the hell was that fucktard announcing the game?

What was going on? Eric had no idea, neither did he want to have an idea. This was absurd! Eric had no time to wonder about the absurdity of all extremes because after all, not even 900m away, were these drooling abominations waiting to tear on him and rip him into pieces!

Eric wouldn't take it lying down but the problem was he was tied to this fucking pole with a metal chain around his neck. It was heavy as fuck! And about to choke him!

Stop it, you inanimate object, stop trying to come to life and live out your damn kinks on me!

But no matter how tired Eric was, the demon chain around his neck didn't want to budge at all! More than that, it seemed like I wanted to mingle around Eric even more.

The oncoming force of brutality paired with the horrific screams and shouts, basically battle shouts announcing how they'd grill, saute and boil Eric made the hairs on Eric's sweaty nape stand up.

Although they could only walk like a human, they were jumping from one island to the next.

Hey, hey, hey! Didn't you say they're reduced to the limits a human has? So where the hell do you get the idea that humans can fucking jump 4m across bubbling and boiling lava?

Just where? This ain't no human! Objection! I hereby file a claim for a nerf!

Get these wannabe humans down to the level of a human! Go and do it now! Yet just like always, no benevolent deity wanted to heed the despair of a scum editor, so Eric had to use the card he loathed the most to get out of here alive.

And that was the cursed and much-hated plot device! Like what do you expect if you don't want your protagonist to die? To make an amazing, mathematical deduction to magically pull a sword out of their ass? That could act as an aphrodisiac by plugging it into other asses?

So behold! The plot armour is coming to the rescue though Eric thought it was due to his magnificent brain.

Since lava could melt metal, Eric just needed to carefully dunk that kinky ass into the S pussy and voila, the kink has been overcome.

Although the chain was still around his neck. The only good thing was that Eric wasn't tied to the pole anymore and could freely move.

But then the next hurdle appeared! How the hell should Eric get away from this island? More than that, where the hell was Eric supposed to go? Look around! Nothing but lava graced this hateful place! Should Eric jump into the lava or what?

Was this a trick question? But this Eric looked at the wild mob after his huge meat and thought, if even these demons avoided the lava, then that was bad news. Or maybe this was what they wanted Eric to think.

What if the lava was actually harmless to humans but deadly to demons? That was why they wouldn't step into the lava? But then Eric took a look at his melted chain and surrendered.

Well... It definitely wasn't safe for humans. Eric should stop playing big brain here. And think of an actual idea to get out of this sauna hell!

Should Eric just jump? The demons were coming for him, so it was obvious to get away from them, but he felt that no matter how far he got, there would be nothing but the same scenery awaiting him and this thought made him almost faint from anger and wet his pants.

Here went nothing. Either Eric would try to jump from island to island like these demons, risk being smothered alive in the lava, or he would risk staying here getting caught by these monsters and turned into bits and swallowed by them.

If Eric had to die, it definitely would not be at the hands of distant relatives of cannibals. Demons weren't humans, so it doesn't really count as cannibalism right?

So, between both grotesque options and things, to endure excruciating heat was definitely the better one and so, plot armour number 2 made its way to Eric for the sole sake of infuriating everyone and have it rain down like rain in the dry desert. Basically never.

Just like the demons, Eric made his jump over the damn hole between islands and look at that! It worked! Eric made the jump! Ohoho, indeed humans could make it!

The willpower to survive and to persevere, actually could make a human go over their limits!

What a wonderful, unnecessary experience! Cursing underneath his breath and looking forward, Eric wondered just how long he had to do this.

There was no end to it! Did he really have to jump from island to island? Was that it?

In the end, yes, it was just that. What Eric had to do to survive and escape, was to risk his life by feeling the heat of the lava and the thrill of having its tiny spark almost reach his precious jewels in his crotch, while he covered the fucking 4-meter distance!

Curse these islands, curse this distance! Cure this lava world!

Never in his life, even in the stories has Eric been in this much danger! One misstep and he really would die! He was so powerless, he missed the time when he could just snap his finger and be the most OP person in the whole universe.

As if luck didn't already flirt with Hades and made Persephone angry enough to have Eric suffer like this, the demons weren't, sadly, unfortunately, unexpectedly, not dumb.

They closed the distance but saw that Eric was escaping! Although his speed was much slower than theirs, he still had a bit, a tiny bit of a head start.

But the demons weren't happy about it. They wanted their prey to stand still and eat it! What fun was it to have to chase after their running pry while they were reduced to mere humans?

It was a surreal feeling that their stamina started to slowly deplete!

"How exciting! The prey's legs and brains weren't just for decorations to be fed on! Everyone, you need to be faster than that to catch it! I assure you, humans are the most delicious delicacy for you all! You don't want to miss it!"

At this, howls shook the place and made Eric as fast as nimble as a mouse. Fuck, you bodiless voice!

Don't make me kiss goodbye to my life when I just resurrected it!

Fuck, what are you doing this useless thing for? Do you get off on it? Do you? Do you? How about you come down and –

"If the prey escapes for too long, it's also no fun. So, you guys receive a buff! Your stamina will be refilled!"

What are they? Game characters? You're literally treating this as a game, aren't you? And I already said this many times before! Stop! Raising! The! Stakes!

Fuck! Like a gracious swan with its own feathers up its ass, Eric received no buff, but he didn't need one because the adrenaline of his life flashing past him was the biggest boost until... until... Eric really fucking hit a damn dead end in this seemingly vast level! What should he do?

He stood on the last island and there was a stone wall in front of him, and behind him the demons were only about 10 islands away, meaning less than one minute!

Damn, Eric didn't think about it, he prayed and prayed and made the final jump. He hit the stone wall and actually glided through, only to be falling endlessly... down.