You have defeated the Overlord of Hell!

As the first player to uncover the true story, and halt the plot of the Overlord, there is an exclusive option available.

Would you like to begin New Game +? You will be allowed to keep one skill from your current playthrough.

“Finally!” I shouted out, raising my hands to the sky. I had stayed up all night playing this game known as Layers of Hell, a popular game that had been out for nearly a year. Long hours and a solid theory had finally paid off, and I managed to defeat the hidden final boss.

However, to be declared the first person to find the clues in nearly a year, that was a pleasant surprise. I was even more surprised by the concept of the New Game + that was mentioned. This was a fairly uncommon feature in games, as many did not have the replay value that Layers of Hell possessed.

The concept of New Game + was fairly simple, you had the ability to start the game from the very beginning, typically with some extra help. This bonus would typically seem cheat-like at the earlier levels, but eventually would level out. Sometimes, these games would have an increased difficulty or bonus content that could only be found in New Game +.

Feeling the drowsiness from my long night of gaming kick in, I resolved myself to accept, go through character creation, then save in the tutorial so that I could sleep. Pulling up the list of options for skills to retain, I was unsure for a while. I mean, this wasn’t exactly an easy decision.

One of the ultimate skills, which was only found at the lowest depths of hell, could pause time in the surroundings. However, the mana cost was way too high for a brand new character to use, so that one was out. Hell, most of the skills required more in the way of stats than a new character could provide.

In the end, I had to select one, so I chose the skill which took me the longest time to grind, and which would be most useful to the earlier floors.

You have chosen to keep Equipment Mastery as your starting skill. With this, you will have innate knowledge of how to use any equipment you acquire to its fullest potential. Note: This skill does not provide access to magic-related equipment skills.

Nodding at my choice, I began customizing my character. Equipment Mastery was really one of the few things I could have picked. And, for the starting floors, it would be the most help. For my character, I used the same appearance and name as I had before, so that part was handled quickly. I really just wanted to get this over with, so that I could pass out.

Shortly after I finished customizing my character, and confirming that everything was the same, I felt the night’s exhaustion start to overtake me. I barely had enough time coherent to press the accept button before my eyes closed, preventing me from seeing the screen that appeared next.

You will now be transferred to the Tutorial zone. Please enjoy your adventures in the Layers of Hell.

Layers of Hell, a popular game released in 2029. Its concept, battle through the many layers of the underworld to get the skills and equipment you need to escape Hell itself. While it was not an easy game to win, it was an even harder one to lose. That was because, every time you died, you were sent to the next layer of Hell, with all of your abilities and equipment that remained on your body.

After a few weeks, people began to experiment to see how far down they could go. Unarmored, they challenged strong monsters on every floor, watching as the difficulty steadily increased. Eventually, they found the limit. Nine hundred and ninety-nine layers in total. After dying on the 999th layer, the save was marked. You could not play the game again with that character, even if you reverted to an earlier version.

Thanks to that discovery, the final layer in Layers of Hell became both a taboo and a mystery. People wanted to see if there was any extra content on this final floor, but at the same time, a single death would erase all of their hard work. And, don’t think that it is easy to get to the 999th floor, simply by killing yourself repeatedly. If you want to survive the floor, and explore to discover the new content, you have to spend time on each floor on your way down, gathering as many of the special abilities as you can find.

Finally, nearly a full year later, a man by the name of Jeremy Blake discovered a clue. On the 251st floor, he found mention of a supreme ruler on the lowest level. Following this lead, he discovered other references throughout the game. The one who ruled over the souls of the damned, gathering the truly fallen to wage a war against the surface world.

It should be reiterated, until this point the only known method to complete the game was to defeat the boss on the very first layer, and escape Hell itself. Few people ever had a need to go below layer 100 in order to accomplish this. However, Jeremy knew what these clues meant. There was a secret boss at the bottom, an alternate ending!

It took him weeks to get down there the first time, but he managed to find that final boss. In the end, his character was still destroyed, but he was sure of its existence! So, he went in again, and again. After his second try, he looked online and found a save editor for the game. Not exactly a legit way to win, but he was desperate at this point to learn that final secret.

Revising his save so that his character was playable again, he confronted the boss over and over, learning all of the tricks he could to the fight, before finally beating it. It could be said that he wasted those weeks of his life, all for the sake of a game. And, the people who said that would be absolutely right! All because of his obsession, his girlfriend left him. He spent so much of his time absorbed in the game that he forgot his social life. If he wasn’t afraid of the electricity getting cut off, he may have even stopped going to work.

But, now his dreams had been realized. A chorus of angels descended in his mind to announce his victory. The Overlord was dead. But what awaited him now?

I felt my body lying on a cold surface as awareness slowly returned to me. Fuck… did I pass out at my computer, and fall out of the chair again? However, that thought left me as I felt that the floor below me was not the hardwood floor of my bedroom, but rough stone.

“Finally woke up, Grim?” I heard a familiar, female voice speaking. Where have I heard that before? Slowly, I opened my eyes, seeing a blue stone floor beneath me. Hay was scattered around the small room, which only had one occupant aside from myself. In the corner was a single, small bed, one which I was obviously not sleeping in. Instead, sitting on the bed was a woman who made my eyes go wide.

Skin as red as fresh blood, a short, curvaceous frame. Ample breasts covered in torn rags. Her eyes were pitch black, though I could feel that she was glaring at me. Atop her head was long, black hair, disturbed only by the two red horns protruding from the tops of her head. On her back were a pair of small, black wings that flapped lightly, looking unable to carry her. Finally, protruding from her lower back was a red, spaded tail.

“Are you going to sleep all day? Inspection’s coming soon, and we have to be ready if we want to move.” She spoke, her delicate arms crossed below her bosom.

No way… This was undoubtedly the tutorial room for Layers of Hell, the prison of the first layer. And… sitting in front of me, was even more familiar to me. The demon who controls the life and death of billions of souls, the true Overlord of Hell, Lilith.

This can’t be real. I thought to myself, pushing up to my feet and walking towards her. She gave a small sigh of relief, until I was standing immediately in front of her. Then, the only sound she made was a pitiful squeal of embarrassment.

A thundering crack echoed through the prison, earning the laughs of dozens of inmates. Naturally, I was the cause, or rather my face was when it encountered Lilith’s hand. Looking up from the floor, I saw her pushed back to the far corner of the bed, both arms over her chest. I swear that her face was an even darker shade of red. However, I still clearly remembered that soft sensation between my fingers, and the pain transmitted through my skin when she reacted. What the fuck did I get myself into?