Transforming Succubus: Almost Doomsday

"The reason I know all this is because I have climbed the staircase, I have felt Harvey's memories!"

"When you also climb the staircase, you will feel such memories too. It's the magic power from the staircase. Only those who muster the courage to climb... might possibly feel Harvey's memories."

"And only those who truly have the courage to bear all the sadness... deserve to step on the staircase, otherwise they will fall off!"

"Sadly... I didn't reach the top, I only took a few steps before enormous grief shattered me."

"I am not like Harvey, Harvey was a man with a resolute mind!"

"When Harvey suddenly learned the truth of the ancient bell, his determination, that vast will, I still feel shaken by it today, hahaha..."

"He said that even real hell couldn't take away people's right to sadness, and he wanted to smash this kingdom! He wanted to destroy this fake joy here!"

"When he said this, his eyes gleamed like burning flames!"

"But how could he ring that distant and lofty ancient bell?"

"He didn't speak, he just raised his foot, and a staircase appeared beneath it! As if his will was already connected with the divine, his determination granted him aid from heaven!"

"It was with his godlike majesty and will that I was infected and could climb several steps, but I failed, hahaha..."

"Perhaps Boluke never imagined that among those slaves to laughter in area B, there were still people who could climb the staircase."

"So he let Aiou and Luo Zan, cut off my legs, hahaha, hahaha, I can't climb anymore, hahaha..."

Zhou Baiyu showed no interest in the old man's indignation, and he asked:

"Harvey Nierbas, how did he fail?"

The old man's eyes also held confusion.

"Yes, I've been wondering, how exactly did Harvey fail?"

"When he stepped on the staircase, Luo Zan and Aiou, not daring to even touch him, the aura he emitted, was like a king set to destroy this kingdom!"

"He was so brilliant, his majesty made Boluke kneel on the ground in fear, he carried the sadness of countless people, picking up bit by bit the heavy past they had discarded amidst laughter..."

"His body grew heavier, yet his steps quicker!"

"Harvey finally reached the top, he swung his fist and smashed it heavily onto the giant bell!"

"I didn't see that scene... but many who came later did!"

"They all hoped Harvey would swing his fist again, to ring the giant bell!"

"The resonant bell sound, spread like ripples, causing cracks to appear all around the floating island, those bubbles floating in the air... all of them became distorted!"

"Like soap bubbles, the frivolous joy, the joy built in the air without foundation... finally started to shatter little by little!"

"Hahaha, hahaha... but why, why on earth? Our hero Harvey, why would he stop?!"

"Cough cough cough... hahaha cough cough cough..."

When the moment in life closest to freedom becomes the past, that past will repeat over and over, lash at the "present" like a whip.

Humans, living like zombies, discover at the moment they fail when most close to freedom, that immense indignation turns into endless laughter.

Countless laughters tear through the quiet of the red earth hell, like bats hidden in caves, awakened by bright light, at the instant Harvey failed, at the instant they recalled that moment, the bats flew out of the caves.

"We will never know why Harvey suddenly stopped."

"Boluke was already kneeling on the ground, panicky and begging Harvey to stop."

"Aiou and Luo Zan did not even have the courage to approach Harvey."

"He was like a deity, constructing a staircase to heaven. Things as hard as ascending to heaven seemed effortless to him, yet he still... failed. Why on earth?"

"Harvey let out a mad laughter, he had become completely insane, carrying immense sadness, for some reason, he just kept laughing."

"His laughter had great infectious power, causing the people around to start laughing as well... not the laughter of joy, but smiles tainted with malice."

"The person who told me about that scene is dead now, but I still remember the way he imitated that smile… it was a bizarre smile... a kind of laugh only possessed by those who fall into madness, who lose their minds!"

"He told me that within the laughter, he saw his family members. Such laughter, I soon heard it in area B as well."

"No one knew what Harvey endured when he swung at the giant bell, all we knew was that Harvey gave up, hahaha..."

"He leaped down from the staircase, never again looking at anyone in the Land of Joy, he was uttering maddened laughter."

"At that moment, Boluke must have been overjoyed, Aiou and Luo Zan likewise relieved."

"The last thing Harvey did, was to come to area B, he picked up Aiou and with force so strong Aiou couldn't resist, he forced Aiou to activate the vortex..."

"He was the only one who came to area B and left successfully. When he got to area B——at that moment everyone in area B, including me, thought Harvey would save us."