The Hellish Regression Journal

This world would receive an extreme disadvantage, right from the beginning.

Before things truly started going to shit, humankind was destined to be whittled down to a fraction of its' numbers. International news wasn't common, but I remember hearing that almost the entire population would be killed before even getting to see their first official quest.

Why?

It was because of this. The damn 'tutorial'.

I ran through the gigantic, never-ending supermarket, hearing impossibly large footsteps thudding behind me. I didn't look, I just kept running with all my might, sometimes kicking products on the floor out of my way through my haste.

"Damn it, damn it...!"

"DeAr CuSToMeR, PleAsE WaIt!"

A voice spoke from behind me, scratching and tearing at reality and my sanity all at once. Lights flickered on and off around, occasionally plunging the shelves into darkness and then back into light. Sometimes, I swore I'd see the very aisles shifting around.

This was my tutorial - the same tutorial that I had last time.

Surviving in a supermarket that was full of 'Abnormalities', while the supermarket itself was also an 'Abnormality.'

If you think about endless supermarkets, a lot of things may come to mind. That one SCP entry, some PS1-style horror game you may have played...there are countless urban legends about shops that just appear out of nowhere, or even the concept of a supermarket itself. That was how 'Abnormalities' worked. They weren't just random monsters or unknown anomalies. The name was literal.

'Abnormalities' took perceptions, cultures, stories, and twisted them into a telling that was hard to comprehend. Sometimes in ways that broke reality.

Anything and everything could become an 'Abnormality' at any time. That was why they were so dangerous.

"Ha...ha....ha..."

I panted, vaulting over a nearby stack of boxes before swiftly hiding myself in the next aisle over. I crouched down and listened as whatever chased me turned the corner into that other aisle, and kept on running, not stopping to doubt it's prey for a second.

Funny enough, what ran past my hiding spot wasn't a creature, or some indescribable abomination. It was simply an angry man wearing what looked like a store uniform. Still, that man's face was twisted into an indescribable malice, and his every step made him seem heavier and larger than he really was. His hands were outstretched, rotten fingers looking to grab onto something - anything.

He was a simple 'employee'. One of this 'supermarket's abnormalities.

I sighed, closing my eyes and leaning back against the shelf. I had been running from him, and much more Abnormalities for this whole time. My mental clock was usually no good, but for some reason accurately counting the seconds was easier than ever.

It has been at least 15 minutes since I entered here. It was long, but no complaints came from my mouth or thoughts.

I was alone in having to endure this tutorial. That meant I was lucky. I didn't have to kill anyone or anything. 

I had heard lots of horror stories about the tutorials. People having to kill entire offices to escape as the only living employee...students committing genocide in their classrooms...families having to ruthlessly murder each other, just because of the apparent crime of living happily together.

I shuddered, just thinking of what others were going through as I lay down and catch my breath.

Like a mantra, I reminded myself of the simple requirement for this tutorial. All I had to do was survive. If it was something that the past me, still in shock and completely inexperienced managed, then I could definitely do it now.

I tucked myself deeper into my hiding spot, hiding directly under the shelf that was against my back.

Shame? There was none of that when I had to focus on preserving my life. I was still a weakling with not much to my name. Though if I thought of it positively, I was the same as I had been during the entirety of my last life. Minus the Perfectly Cowardly Running Physique™ that I'd perfected, of course.

This was what I had originally wanted to do, hiding in a good spot right from the start, but the damn thing began with me immediately getting chased. 

"..."

There was a lot on my mind. Namely, the fact that there was probably more that I could do here, other than just hiding and waiting...

In the end, I remained there until the lights went on and off again, and I was unceremoniously dropped onto the floor of the regular, dirty floor of the convenience store, like nothing had happened. Going from the impossibly large, endless supermarket, to this incredibly mundane store...it was impossible to get used to Abnormalities.

"Wow, congraaatulations." The Pixie appeared with a flash of light, its' tone obviously sarcastic. "You sure did a great job there, hiding like a coward. How did it feel, completing your tutorial like that?"

I slowly got to my feet, dusting my work uniform off.

"You can say whatever you want. But I've completed it. Hand over the reward."

I finally spoke to the creature. Why only now? Well, with me completing its 'quest', there was currently no reason for it to kill me. A little back-talk would be fine. Besides, there was no reason to be unnecessarily kind to these things. They'd be a part of the reason for the end of the world.

The Pixie flashed dark and bright, as if going between pleasure and displeasure. "Reward? I'm curious to see how you know there's one. But I guess there are also those humans who adapt really fast. Well. I'm not eager to call this a real 'tutorial completion', but a quest is a quest, so human...here's your reward!"

The room shone impossibly bright, as I was 'given' something. A bright white light emanated from my core, and-!

I felt...a distinct...nothing.

"Aaaaah, a dud? Oh, that sucks! Well, guess your life's just gonna be that much harder! Boring humans like you deserve it. Haha! See ya!"

With that barrage of words, the Pixie disappeared, leaving behind a trail of glittering particles that fluttered to the ground.

I brought my hand over my chest, finally taking my first relaxed breath since the creature had appeared. The presence of a Pixie was always a sign of more death and destruction to come. At least Abnormalities were random. Pixies were guaranteed suffering.

I looked around the store, and then nodded. The first thing to do would be to ransack this place for valuables that I could take with me. After all, until the strong players got together to form 'Guilds', everything would be shit.

I took the moment to organize my thoughts, while my hands mindlessly ran over the shelves, first picking up the important things - bottled water, energy bars, soups, that sort of thing.

That 'reward' I was supposed to receive...in my first life, I had really believed there was nothing. Not that I knew how bad it was to have 'nothing' in this world, but still, maybe I was just glad to have gotten away with my life.

I only learned later that the 'reward' for completing the tutorial alive was the attempt to awaken an 'ability' within a person. Whether you had an ability or not - you would find out before leaving the special 'tutorial' prepared for you.

'Need something to put these in...' I looked around before finding what I was looking for. I reached out and grabbed one of the cheap backpacks that were for sale, shoving everything inside carelessly. 

Well, yes. I had lived my whole life thinking that I was a part of the crowd with no ability. It turned out, however, that I did have one. It was just an ability that would not activate until I would surely die - at least, I assumed that was the condition.

After all, I had faced death a lot in my past life, but no such ability ever activated then. 

'Well...I'm here now. I'm alive...just what do I do?'

I scanned along the other sections, with my eyes much sharper. I needed weapons now. Nothing impractical. It needed to be light, and reusable.

I grabbed a mop and broke it over my knee, wincing at the pain. I tossed the actual mopping half away, keeping only the handle with a jagged end. I also grabbed a utility tool and box cutters that were behind the counter. Of course, I also had to pack a flashlight. Night was coming.

With that, I was done packing...

But I still had no real idea what I was going to do.

For now, I decided to head outside, grabbing some of my favorite gummy candies on the way out.

...what? A man can't live on practicality alone.

I wandered the streets of the city now, which were eerily quiet. There were vehicles of every kind on the roads, unmoving and abandoned. 

It was just unnerving...it was less like the world had ended, and more like everyone on earth had just disappeared at once.

In a way, that was the truth. Even if you were in a car, just being near other drivers would get you pulled into their 'tutorial'.

Many of these people were probably busy massacring each other inside some area, hidden away from sight by the nature of the Abnormality they were trapped in.

That was why, even amongst the gigantic skyscrapers and monolithic roads, it was quiet enough for me to hear my own heartbeat.

'Wait...' I stopped in place, as something came to my ears. 'What...is that?'

It was then that I begun to hear it. No, hear them. Sounds that slowly filtered in, one by one, from all around.

"NO!!! I DIDN'T MEAN IT! PLEASE...PLEASE FORGIVE ME!"

"AHAHAHAHA!!!! I KILLED THEM ALL!!! I KILLED THEM!"

"YOU CAN'T BLAME ME , RIGHT? IT'S SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST, AFTER ALL!"

"I-IT HURTS!!!"

The silence was broken by screams. Incessant shouts, groans, whimpers, and yelps. Words and sounds admitting guilt, anger, insanity, and pain. 

It was the sound of the 'tutorial' ending for everyone else.

Hearing those noises of pure suffering, I couldn't help but think.

'Ah, I really was lucky to have been alone.'

The voices were far less plentiful than imagined. Out of the hundreds of thousands, maybe millions of people that had once populated this city, on the cries of a few hundred could be heard around me.

Some people's voices were heard from buildings in the distance. Other times, they appeared right next to me on the street. I even passed one or two in their cars, banging their heads against their steering wheels or windows.

I bit on a gummy worm, managing to keep my focus about me despite everything. After all, even in the midst of all of this suffering, there were chances. No, maybe because of this suffering, I had a chance.

I had thought about it for a while, and I realized what my next action was - I needed a 'companion'. Not just an ally, or a group to leech off of. I needed someone who I could trust, someone who could help me to survive, thrive, and act as a second mind.

After all, in just a month, 'Guilds' would thrive. Working alone in this soon to be hellscape of a world just wasn't feasible.

Luckily for me, I already knew the type of person I needed. Someone who would come out of the Tutorial fine...unscathed...maybe even an 'ability user'. 

So, while I crossed through, every time I passed by the occasional person, I looked.

'That one looks too weak...too scared-looking...that one's probably gone insane already...no, no...'

I crossed off a mental checklist each time I passed by someone. 

That's right. I was basically going off of my intuition. I was a regressor now, but I didn't have too much knowledge on the specific pasts of the bigshots-to-be. I didn't know where they'd show up after their tutorials, or just what they'd be doing now. 

My 'regression knowledge' really only applied to big events and general stuff that most people already knew. These sorts of decisions really were just coming off of the top of my head.

Not to mention...it was slowly getting closer to nighttime. Once night hit, then people would start dying again.

I was about to give up and just try to find a place to shelter for the night, but then, I saw...

Her...

Her appearance was incredibly striking. She was breath-taking, in a way that made your heart stop...

Long, curly blonde hair, and piercing blue eyes...no, what stood out about her was her demeanor. Other than her clothing, which looked like something I'd see a goth girl wearing at a cosplay convention.

In this city of people returning back from playgrounds of death, she was the only one I'd seen so far that looked completely calm. She looked at ease, even.

Seeing that, I knew that she had to be the sort of person that I was looking for.

I approached the girl, stowing away my makeshift weapon (read: jagged mop handle).

"Hey. You just made it out of the tutorial, right?"

It was a pretty blunt, and not-too-friendly way to approach someone. I was usually like this with people I met for the first time, unless I was trying to suck up to them.

"...yes. I believe that's what that floating light called it." She replied almost instantly, turning her level gaze to meet mine. "I have to admit, I'm still a little dazed. But you look...well prepared."

"Well, you need to un-daze yourself." I gestured towards the quickly fading sun. "Once sun sets, things are only going to get worse. Of course, you could always try to survive on your own. But...how about we work together?"

It was ridiculous. In my past life, I barely trusted anyone. Still, I couldn't live this life the same way. I didn't trust this girl, not one bit. But I did trust the look in her eyes.

The girl was silent for a while. Honestly, the fact that she was treating our conversation like this, taking pauses only to analyze me and my words, was enough to tell me that she wasn't normal.

"That sounds like a good idea. I'm not sure exactly what to do now, after all."

For a moment, her expression weakened, but she almost immediately pieced herself back together again. I saw it, but I didn't bother asking.

"Alan."

I offered a hand to her, which she smiled, and gladly took.

"You can call me...Liliana."