I was in an ocean of shit, searching around with my hands, but all I found was a sticky mess. I looked around and noticed a small, football-sized bump in the middle of the floor, with shit oozing out of it like a pot of overcooked, stinky cornmeal mush.
I suddenly realized that I had a pretty strong ability to adapt. In just half an hour, I was already able to think clearly in this place. Back in the day, if I had just bitten the bullet and curbed my lazy nature, I might have been a big shot on Wall Street by now. But hey, who am I kidding? I ain't got that kind of luck.
I slowly started walking towards the source of the shit. I noticed that none of the other people had come over here to look for the key. As I stood next to the "spring," I couldn't see anything special about it. I stuck my hand in and reached down as far as I could, only to realize that there was no bottom!
Whoa! I had found the truth! I'm a goddamn genius! "Jack! Jack!" I shouted at the old man. Everyone turned to look at me, some with blank faces, some looking like they wanted to kill me, and some even with a stupid grin on their faces. I thought to myself: What kind of people are these? Or rather, what have they been turned into by this hell?
Jack glanced at me, then looked up to see if anything was happening above. Seeing nothing, he walked over to me. "What are you shouting for? Are you trying to get us all killed?" he said.
"Like that would be a bad thing. You guys are always looking for ways to die. So, guess what secret I found?" I replied.
Jack pointed at the "spring." "Is this the secret you found?"
I was overjoyed. "You're good! You guessed it right away!" Jack rolled his eyes. "This is a secret that we discovered long before you were even born."
I didn't like his attitude. It's not easy to achieve something. "What do you mean? You should at least investigate before dismissing it like that," I said in a low voice.
Jack rubbed his temples. "This is a piece of crap secret. We found it ages ago."
I grabbed the front of his shirt and shouted, "You bastard! What the hell are you saying? Are you looking for a fight, old man?"
Just then, a huge hand grabbed my neck from behind and threw me several meters away, like I was a stinky cockroach. I got up groggily from the shit and saw a giant of a man standing next to the old man, glaring at me menacingly.
I looked him up and down. The guy was at least 2 meters tall and had muscles like a WWE wrestler. Most people had been bent over searching for the key, so I hadn't seen their builds before. I couldn't believe I had run into such a guy! What bad luck.
Then, a few more people gathered around the old man. They all had unfriendly looks, clearly on his side.
What the hell? Even in hell, people are forming gangs? I looked at Jack, and he looked back at me. I didn't know what to say. We were enemies now.
"Teach this kid a lesson," the giant said. Jack sighed and waved his hand. The group dispersed and went back to searching for the legendary key in the shit.
I was still upset. When I was alive, I was always bullied by street punks. If it weren't for my cousin's connections, I probably would have taken a few bullets. I never thought I'd get bullied in a place like hell... Of course, I was also in the wrong for starting it.
This old guy really had some skills! He was a big shot even in this place. I had underestimated him.
"Hey, come over here," the old man called to me. I didn't dare go over, afraid he'd have someone else beat me up.
"Come on, don't just stand there like a lamppost," he said. I had no choice but to walk over slowly, keeping my guard up in case someone tried to attack me. I stopped about 2 meters away, which I thought was a safe distance.
"I'm not going to hurt you. I'm not a bad guy," Jack said.
"You sure don't look like a good guy," I replied.
"That's not very nice," Jack said, taking a few steps closer. I held up my hand to stop him, and he looked annoyed.
"You think we're all bad guys," he said.
"Well, your guy almost strangled me," I said, touching my neck. "Everyone here is suffering, helping each other, and supporting each other through these tough, maddening days. You just got here and can't understand it yet," Jack explained.