Through the sea of fire and thick fog, a massive ring of spectator seats stretched endlessly, filled with rising boos.
A few grotesque, barely human-looking demons from hell cursed loudly.
"Fuk! How'd that idiot Jason sneak out again?!"
"Dammit! He's hogging all the good stuff!"
"Rigged! It's rigged!"
"Screw this, I want a refund!"
"…"
At that moment, on the highest platform of the arena.
A new contender stepped up.
Wearing a dark brown cowboy hat, a red-and-green striped sweater, and a razor-sharp claw glove on his right hand, the gaunt, low-body-fat, heavily scarred evil uncle glared enviously at his two old rivals ascending back to the human world.
He barely paid attention to the unremarkable cursed soul in front of him, only raising a hand, imagining he could grab them and catch up with Jason and Barry to escape this hellhole.
He looked up, his face twisted in regret, muttering, "Hey! Wait up, your Uncle Freddy hasn't hopped on yet!"
…
Silent Hill, hospital, an ordinary ward.
A basketball-sized gray cocoon rested on a yellowed, worn-out hospital bed.
Three days ago, the surrounding ash stopped being absorbed, as if it had reached its limit. Back then, the cocoon Barry had formed had grown from palm-sized to its current basketball bulk.
Now, the cocoon hadn't stirred for days.
It was so still, it seemed like the soul inside had quietly died.
Crack, crack!
A faint, mosquito-like sound of breaking suddenly echoed.
Cracks appeared, spreading like dominoes. In a blink, the cocoon was covered in a web of fractures.
Rebirth from the cocoon was happening now!
Snap!
A fist broke through, punching a hole at the top of the cocoon.
Then, the thing inside hammered the gap wider with a few more punches and crawled out.
Pale yellow skin, a body woven of tangled straw, a faceless head with two black voids where eyes should be, and a body lighter than ever before.
"Jie jie jie! I'm out!"
Barry leaped down, knees bent, fists planted on the ground, striking a Terminator-style pose.
My will's so damn strong I won the resurrection game again?
The heavens are too good to me. Sign me up for the next life!
Wait, what's a resurrection game?
He slowly raised his head, confusion flooding his hollow eye sockets.
Who am I?
Where'd I come from?
Where am I going?
A chaotic flood of memories surged into his mind, like he'd just woken from a thousand-year nap. Barry felt like he'd lived a millennium-long dream.
He stood frozen, stock-still.
His mind raced, and after a long while, he slowly pieced together the jumbled memories.
"Who… who am I? Am I the Scarecrow?"
"No, I'm Barry."
"I'm the real Barry!"
Barry slapped himself twice. What the hell was he thinking, spouting such sappy nonsense in his head? He was straw, not grain!
"I came from hell. Everyone there's a freakin' rockstar, talks smooth as hell. I loved it there."
"Yeah, right, right."
"Wait, no, that's not right."
After a few rounds of mental ping-pong, Barry finally remembered—he'd crossed over from Earth.
"Where am I going?"
A pipe smashing bones, searing flames burning flesh.
Broken bones piercing skin, organs rupturing and bleeding, flames tearing through his body.
His hair ignited, skin charred, his body like a roasted duck, the savory smell of grilled meat mingling with the sizzle of boiling oil.
His body burned to ash in excruciating pain.
Barry got it. Seeing the horrific memory of his death, endless rage and hatred erupted from the depths of his soul.
"One bag of rice, climb how many floors? One bag, two floors…" (Embrace the pain, feel the pain.)
Still brewing his dramatic pain-fueled monologue, Barry was cut off by a sudden voice.
"You're awake? Heh, you're looking pretty lively."
Who's talking? You wanna dance too?
Startled, Barry whipped around to see a little girl in a blue dress standing behind him, having watched his entire awakening.
Good thing he'd only done his evil-laughing Soul Hall Elder impression and muttered a couple of lines.
Dark Alessa looked at him with three parts scrutiny, three parts curiosity, and four parts delight. Her words carried no malice—quite the opposite. This local was polite, checking on his health, unlike those heartless church folks.
Kill, kill, kill, kill, KILL!
The thought of them almost sent Barry's bloodlust into overdrive, but he reined it in.
This was a critical, high-stakes interview moment. Even though he suspected Alessa had saved him, until he was sure, he'd better not act reckless.
Who knew if the dark power in his body was stolen, like when he'd secretly fed on the faith's light?
Barry decided to play it safe. If he died again, he wasn't sure he could win another round of the resurrection game.
Hell was packed with powerhouses, each a wildly talented badass with extraordinary pasts.
Having faced death once, Barry's personality had grown more cautious.
"Who're you?"
The straw in his throat rustled as his new body let out a low, raspy voice.
Barry pretended this was their first meeting, acting like he didn't know Alessa. Lucky for him, his scarecrow body meant no one could read his expression.
"Alessa. You can call me Alessa."
Dark Alessa spoke slowly, her gaze confident, like she had everything under control.
"Alessa… that's a beautiful name," Barry repeated, laying on the charm.
"Did you save me, you adorable little girl?"
Barry didn't hold back on the compliments, and he meant them, at least a little.
From the outside, Dark Alessa always appeared as a grimy-faced girl with dried blood near her eyes and messy black hair—a pitiful look. But even so, it couldn't hide her innocent, adorable appearance.
Was she trying to gain sympathy? Did demons just like dirty vibes? Or was Silent Hill just short on water, forcing her to conserve?
Of course, Barry kept these mood-killing, awkward thoughts to himself.
Hearing the praise, Dark Alessa didn't react much, just giving him a meaningful look.
No one had ever spoken to a demon like that.
She continued, "When your soul fell to hell, I stepped in."
Just as Barry suspected, Alessa wasn't here to catch a shameful thief—she'd willingly given him power.
Barry let out a huge sigh of relief and said solemnly, "I'm Barry. I can't thank you enough for saving my life."