Chapter 6: Guided Tour
Micah cautiously brought the spoonful of potato slurry inside his mouth. And he was more surprised than revolted. The potato was somehow burnt, overcooked, and undercooked at the same time. He barely had enough time to wonder how it was possible to burn a potato while it was submerged in a liquid before the grainy texture and sour taste of the slurry itself filled his tongue.
Micah hurried to swallow the food down without even chewing the potato anymore. When the slurry finally made its way down his throat, Micah shivered and shook his head. Unfortunately, he couldn't even sigh in relief since the taste lingered in his mouth.
"You know what? I just arrived in Hell. I'm not even that hungry yet."
Micha pushed the bowl away from him as he spoke. His words elicited some chuckles from around the restaurant. Rego also smiled as he spoke.
"Well, as long as you have pol, you won't ever have to eat unless you want to."
"That's a relief."
Micah shivered again, and the extreme dislike of the food was more than apparent on his face. As he waited for Rego to finish, Micah wondered how it was possible to mess up that badly with so few ingredients, especially when one of the ingredients was potato. It was one of the best foods known to man. One could prepare it a thousand and one different ways, and it contained almost all the nutrients a person would ever need. Not to mention how cheap and easy it was to grow.
Micah was thankful that there was no place like Potato Pot on earth since a restaurant like that could easily have ruined the good reputation of potatoes. While Micah thought about how unfortunate the potato was to have been used in such a way, Rego's spoon hit the bottom of the bowl.
After Rego emptied the bowl, he grabbed the bottle and began downing the bottle's mysterious contents in big gulps. It didn't take long until Rego set down the empty bottle on the bar with a deep exhale.
Rego threw a questioning glance toward Micah.
"You gonna try that?"
"I'll pass."
Micah slid over the glass bottle to Rego, who proceeded to down it in a similar manner as the first one. Eventually, he slammed it down on the bar and burped.
"Ahh. That hit the spot."
Rego put both hands on the bar and stood up.
"What do you say we get a move on?"
Micah also stood up.
"Sounds good."
Micah followed Rego out of the diner.
"There's not much to see around here, but what about a tour of the town?"
"Lead the way."
Micah smiled and followed after Rego as he began pointing out various buildings and people. A lot of the houses were just empty and open for anyone who wanted to sleep inside for a change. Other buildings belonged to special people who had saved up enough pol to buy them from Hell. The only thing that changed when owning a building was the right to control who could enter. If one wanted to change the inner decor or the facade, one would have to use even more pol.
Eventually, Rego led Micah to a place with an array of special buildings that couldn't be purchased by humans since they belonged to Hell and had a specific purpose. The special purpose of the buildings being to torment humans and help them reflect on their sins and repent.
Of course, people didn't enter those buildings because they wanted to repent. If anyone willingly stepped into those torture chambers, it was because they wanted pol, which they got by enduring the torment.
Since people only entered the buildings if they got pol, it seemed that it was used as an incentive to make people want to reflect on their sins and help them repent. However, its efficiency was dubious.
But considering that some of the places seemed like places to do chores, maybe it was more than torment for humans. It could be a way for Hell and demons to dump menial tasks and jobs on humans who were nothing more than cheap labor.
As they walked through the Torment District, Micah and Rego also spotted a few low-level demons. Most of them looked similar to humans but with a few traits that showed their real identity, such as horns, tails, or red eyes.
Micah was curious about the existence of demons since it was apparently his job to help them regain power and control over Hell. There was also the four-winged eye. He wanted to find out its weaknesses before the next time they met. However, Micah didn't show or express more of his curiosity than what would be understandable of someone seeing demons for the first time in their life.
After showing Micah the buildings and places of torment, Rego brought him back to the Residential District.
However, they took a detour instead of returning to the main street where Potato Pot was.
Rego led Micah into a dead-end alleyway between three poorly aligned brick walls that were part of three similar estates.
Rego turned around and looked at Micah with an empty smile.
"I gotta say, it's a shame you wasted your pol on that shit food. But that won't stop me from taking the rest. Hand it over, and I won't have to kill you. You seem smart, so you should know what to do."
Micah threw a quick glance back toward the alley's entrance, only to see a thug-like man with a bullish nose-piercing block it.
"Heh. Don't even think about escaping. You won't make it past Bunt. Even if you do, there's nowhere to go."
Bunt grunted in agreement as he crossed his arms and seemingly dared Micah to try and escape through him.
"Don't worry. I have no intentions of running. And I hope you don't either."
Micah smiled as he stood in place while he began taking off his suit jacket.
"I guess you're curious about what happens when you die in Hell, then!"
Rego shouted and lunged forward with a fist toward Micah's face.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone