The pit erupted with grotesque laughter—thousands of souls mocking me, their hollow eyes locked onto mine. Their jeers twisted into words I couldn't escape:
Failure. Failure. Failure.
The voice joined them, a chorus of malice.
"Do you think you are stronger than them? Every soul here was given the same chance. All failed. What makes you different?"
I pressed my hands over my ears, but the sound carved straight into my skull. Tears streamed down my face as I screamed back into the void:
"Because I have nothing left to lose!"
The laughter stopped.
Silence.