《Aurae Gehenna》 Prologue In the middle of a relatively quiet highway lies a small humble durian store with a couple of wooden chairs and tables that, with one glance, one can interpret that it¡¯s old and barely stable. There was nothing nearby except mother nature, which meant no competition.

2022 October 11th [6.07 PM]

Ali parked his deteriorating rented Proton Saga nearby the durian store and sat down to prepare for his favorite food as it¡¯s been a long time now. He was practically drooling when his Musang King was finally served. His brain was feeding him dopamine from the anticipation of the heavenly taste of the Musang King. He begins eating it and compliments them on how delicious it is to Pali, the durian seller there. Ali was a 45-year-old chubby little man and gave the first impression of a baby being born elderly that grew into the body of a 16-year-old teenager. Abruptly, a young muscular bald lad, having a face resembling a lost sheep and, ironically, a lost sheep¡¯s tattoo on his biceps and wearing casual clothing, called out to Ali like a foreigner finding his kin in an exotic area. ¡±Woah, holy! You also like Musang King too?¡± ¡°...¡± A bit took aback, Ali froze in time, then politely replied with an awkward smile. ¡°...Ye, my boy, It¡¯s been quite some time since I ate my favorite.¡± The lad, Jin, grinned after that confirmation, sat down with Ali without his permission, and began ordering a Musang King for himself too. ¡°It¡¯s been quite some time since I ate my favorite too! Uncle¡­?¡± ¡°Ah! Ye, I am Ali, you?¡± ¡°I am Jin, nice to meet you!¡± Jin offers his hand, and Ali shakes it firmly. ¡°I am from Melaka, what ab-¡± ¡°Oh ye? I am also from there.¡± ¡°Woah, what a coincidence that is!¡± Jin exhibited an expression that rivaled the likes of a devotee meeting its deity. Jin thanked Pali, began eating his Musang King, and suddenly had a shift of mood from bliss to affliction. ¡°...Ma boy, are you okay?¡±Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. ¡°...¡± ¡°¡­Ma boy?¡± With a durian in his hand, Jin¡¯s eyes started getting red and watery then he sighed exasperatedly. ¡°Actually Ali.. I-I mumble mumble.¡± ¡°Sorry?¡± *Sigh* ¡°I-I¡­ My girlfriend c-cheated on me¡­.¡± Jin choked the words out. Ali was taken aback and was cornered to fake console Jin. ¡°Ah¡­ I see¡­ Must have been hard eh?¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°...¡± Ali felt uncomfortable with Jin¡¯s awkward silence and blank stare on his durian. This kid needs to forget about his troubles¡­ Ahh¡­ What can I do to let him forget about it? Ah! Gambling! ¡­Sigh, fucking Babi¡­ Mm¡­ What about Alcohol?? But there isn¡¯t any here¡­ ¡°W-What about drinking alcohol at a bar nearby here? Surely it can make you forget!¡± Ali suddenly shouts to break the silence. Jin shifted his eyes from the durian to Ali¡¯s eyes and started contemplating in silence. After a moment of awkward silence, Pali cut in and started wheezing with a shine in his eyes. ¡°...Sorry Jin, the nearest bar from here is 20 km away, however! I can offer an alternative. I have here coincidentally *wheezes* some Vodka bottles for you to achieve the pinnacle of pleasure and forget your troubles at the same time!¡± Pali suggests confidently, darting his eyes around but standing his ground patiently. Jin displayed a doubtful look, but the opportunity was too good to dismiss, so he asked Pali to bring the drinks that was on full display. Pali flinched but immediately went to his store and took the three bottles of Vodka that were on display already, 1 was blue color while the others were red. He placed it as carefully as he could to Jin¡¯s table and started rubbing his hand. Ali noticed the 3 bottles were arrayed in a reversed-triangle position and 2 bottles at close quarters was nearby Jin, the one nearer to Pali was a red Smirnoff Vodka bottle. All of them had loose caps. Jin drooling from anticipating the taste, stared at the blue color bottle that was nearest to him with a whimsical look and pointed at its price tag ¡®RM280.20¡¯ and took out cash to give to Pali. He rubbed his hands more vigorously and started to flash his yellowish teeth disgustingly. Subsequently settled the glass cups, snatched the cash with the bottles and then shuffled away in a flash while leaving with an expression of anticipation and anguish. Jin twisted the cap and started to pour himself a cup while Ali was gulping while staring at the bottle with a wistful look. He began drinking and eating Musang King simultaneously and kept flashing looks of ecstasy as if he was climaxing. Concurrently, Pali was also imitating Jin and flashing looks of extreme confusion mixed with intense pleasure. ¡°You want one?¡± Jin offered after noticing his expression. ¡°H-har? Oh¡­ No thank you¡­¡± Ali murmured wavingly. Jin started patting Ali¡¯s back and smiled warmly. ¡°Your mouth may say that but your body is contradicting itself, hahaha!¡± ¡°I-is it eh? Ma boy, I think it¡¯s a bit too¡­ Riskyto do that¡­¡±. Ali replied weakly as if trying to convince himself. ¡°You''re convincing no one man, look at Pali.¡± Jin points his finger behind him. Ali glanced towards Pali and as if a psychic, he turned at the same time and beamed like he was in a dream. ¡°Don¡¯t worry *wheezes* Ali! I been doing this fo them past 5 days, there is no *hiccup* risk except for maybe diarrhea, hahahaha!¡± ¡°I-is that so? I¡­-¡± Jin made the decisive move by gifting him the last bottle of Vodka with the price tag of ¡®RM201¡¯ and Pali clasped his hand together and did not even try to hide his greediness. He immediately passes the bottle to Jin. Jin smirks at Ali¡¯s shocked face and pours Ali a drink himself. He lifts his own cup up and starts announcing. ¡°Today *coughs* is a sad day, but it does not have to be¡­ Let us embrace the pleasure till we become brain-dead!¡± Pali aggressively raised his cup and flashed a dreamy smile. Ali, afraid to be left out, without 2nd thoughts, raised his cup too and chugs it together with everyone. ¡°...¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°...¡± In synergy, everyone laughed like they were best friends and everyone began wolfing down the drinks & durian and complaining about their horrible lives. It was the birth of new besties¡­ 35 minutes later, Pali and Ali simultaneously went limp from intoxication. Jin nonchalantly called out to both of them, teasing them about their weak alcohol intolerance. ¡°...¡± ¡°...¡± When he was met with silence, Jin started to panic a little bit and called out both of them even louder. ¡°...¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Fuck¡­ Are these guys in a coma or what¡­¡± Jin shot to his car, eyes urgently flickering around his car mechanic equipment and scrambled for his black nitrile gloves and shot back to check both of their pulse from their neck and hand. No pulse¡­ Jin removed his gloves carefully and put his finger near their noses while counting mentally for 1 minute and no breathing was detected. Oh no¡­ I think they are already dead¡­ He shot to the store to take something, called somebody, raced into his car and jump-started the engines. Chapter 1

6 Days Prior¡­ 2022 October 5th [1 PM]

¡°Finally a good one¡­¡± A deep yet soothing voice murmured. A jar of glass water was in front of him and his obsidian-colored gloves were inside the water and no hints of fingerprints were being exposed. Next, he grabbed 5 red bottles of Smirnoff Vodka from the box that had been sun-dried for 10 days now, threw half of all the Vodka in them and filled all of them with 500ml of water each and mixed it together to dilute it heavily. He went through a fridge, taking 1 new red Vodka bottle and a blue one, diluted them then smiled in a malicious manner. He contemplated a bit while staring at the bottle and reached out to take out a very cheap red bottled Smirnoff Vodka and diluted it. So all in all, all of them was diluted¡­ *Grins*

3 Hours Later¡­

2022 October 5th [4 PM]

¡°Hey.¡± ¡°...¡± Algard, a mid-30s man wearing white grand clothes that showed off how wealthy he was, taper with deep side part hairstyle, yellow skin, teeth so white it gave the impression that he goes to the dentist periodically and had a bit of belly fat. He instantly recognizes his benefactor with the belly fat and the same shrouded outfit then starts showering him with compliments. The shrouded man waved his hands in an annoyed manner and spoke with a low voice. ¡°I know your birthday is soon and I got a gift for you¡­¡± Algard¡¯s eyes started shining and began grinning uncontrollably. If it¡¯s this man, he definitely will give me the best gift, he saved me millions of ringgit from a stock before, no way it¡¯s going to be subpar! ¡°Oh, If you insist, I shall look forward to it!¡± ¡°Mm¡­ Follow me Algard.¡± From the outside¡¯s perspective, the shrouded man was very calm, stoic even and advancing in a nonchalant manner, however, on the inside, he was a bit nervous as he couldn¡¯t mess this up, a single blunder could cost him a fortune or his life even.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. The man brought Algard into a small cabin that smelled of rats and rotten eggs. It looked like a construction company was demolishing a building partially but stopped midway and called it a day. Algard pinched his nose and covered his mouth with a handkerchief. He questioned worryingly with a high pitched voice. ¡°Er¡­ What are we doing here?¡± ¡°...¡± Instead of answering, the man with his obsidian-colored gloves, took out a couple of bottles of alcohol from a defective shelf nearby and settled them all on a miraculously firm lumber table. The man stayed laconic yet his eyes were gleaming. ¡°Er¡­ So, you are giving me murmur murmur¡±. A hint of disappointment in the voice could be heard. ¡®¡¯As if I would give you alcohol for your birthday, I wager you have thousands at home, but the real gift is¡­ this.¡¯¡¯ The man conscientiously took out a piece of paper with hints of a picture on it. He arrayed it on the table and strolled a few big steps backwards, yanked out a dart and thrusted straight into a picture of Pali¡¯s forehead. ¡°W-what is the meaning of this?¡± Algard was on his guard and scanned the picture in horror. ¡°I found the perfect target for your revenge¡­ You hate conman¡¯s don¡¯t you?¡± Algard stopped scanning the picture and rather scanned the man¡¯s face that was shrouded in darkness. How did this man know I hate conmens? And where did he find him¡­?! ¡°What about a little fun in your life? I have formulated a plan to make this conmen suffer. Though it will cost quite a bit, I believe you would give your utmost approval.¡± ¡°...¡± Algard started contemplating in silence, his businessmen instincts on steroids. He knew it was a risk but concurrently a very good risk at that, and he knew this man was intelligent, far more intelligent and meticulous than he was. He needed to gawk only for a moment at the floor to judge the weight of those actions. ¡°I¡­ Want to know what you get out of this.¡± Finally, Algard spoke out. *Cackles* ¡°...¡± The man brought out a polygraph and emphasized it on the table with a loud bang. He started to struggle conforming himself in all the equipment, shifting around and a robot voice beckoned that it was prepared. ¡°You¡¯ve seen this before, no?¡± The man caught Algard without any changes in expression and no surprise was detected on his face. ¡°Yes I have.¡± ¡°So you must know it works 99% of the time, right?¡± [Truth] *Sigh* ¡°I wonder what you have to tell me to use this kind of drastic equipment.¡± ¡°Well¡­ The truth is, what I get out of this is¡­ Paradise.¡± ¡°...¡± Algard peeks at the polygraph¡¯s speakers and a robot voice rang out in the room. [Truth] ¡°¡­Wow, you gotta be joking¡­ So let me get this right, the only benefit that you get out of messing with that conmen for me, is that you get euphoria¡­?¡± ¡°Of course *coughs* I take pleasure in using stratagems to destroy the trash of our society¡¯s hierarchy.¡± Once more, Algard eyed nervously at the speaker and the anticipation broke a sweat out of him. [Truth] ¡°Why am I the one nervous here while you are the one who should be?¡± Algard grumbled. *Smirks* ¡°Because I¡¯m telling the truth, If a victim went to court being accused as a criminal, but the victim knows it did nothing wrong, what is there to fear?¡± [Truth] ¡°Well¡­ One last thing to confirm¡­ Whatever you will be doing would NOT hurt me or my family in any way right?¡± ¡°If everything goes according to plan, you are right.¡± Algard seems to have increased his intensity in staring at the robot¡¯s speakers. [...Truth] Algard narrowed his eyes and still looked doubtful, rightfully so. As he could basically be in danger if things go sideways. The man exclaimed nonchalantly. ¡°No harm would fall to you at all, don¡¯t worry, isn¡¯t punishing criminals just? They can con others and they don¡¯t get caught at all. Who else will give the victims justice if not you?¡± Algard only fixated at the speakers without moving a muscle. He exhibited extreme tension that implied he perhaps was in a mental fight with his brain. [...Truth] Algard immediately had a change of expressions and took a few deep breaths that implied he wasn¡¯t breathing properly for quite some time. The man instructed what Algard had to do, which had something to do with recording the conversation when Algard was going to give the box of diluted Vodka bottles with altered price tags pasted on it. The man promised to record everything, from start to end and send it to Algard. Algard was in euphoria while visualizing the things that were unfolding in 5 days, getting the best birthday gift in his whole life. He subconsciously took the dart the man threw and groped it like it was his most prized treasure.