Grey.

A grey ceiling. Boring in many ways.

This was what he saw. A youth of short dark hair, a faint stubble peeking. His eyes were lacking the light that so many possessed.

He looked on, and so for a few hours. He always did it. Too lazy to move in the morning, or in his case, the afternoon. Taking hours to finally find enough strength, just to instead gaze upon the blemished walls. Each of his squirm made the bed creak.

Kicking the bedsheets away, unsuccessfully, the young man was trying to escape the torture of softness.

His skin was cracked and in poor condition all over, his eyes still lost in the dreams of perfection. A perfection he could not attain.

Finally standing up after some struggle lasting another hour, he directed himself to a bland bathroom with a hunched back.

Brushing his teeth absentmindedly, he turned his head, looking at a window. But since he did not have one, he just stared at the boring wall instead.

After putting on some clothes, he exited his apartment, his shoes now pressing against old concrete from the sidewalk. He enjoyed a little walk once in a while, under his favorite grey, cloudy sky. He always loved it, this grey suitable for every colors. The bright yet gloomy Heavens were a contrasting gift to the shades below, accentuating each of them.

So, contrary to the thought of some, he enjoyed bright colors. Which was why he loved this often shunned weather. But his attention spreading across the horizon was soon captivated by something else.

"The Human rights have once again changed, what are citizens supposed to do facing this oppression?! I demand for it to be modified, I refuse to believe this year to be 2036, where humans are no better than cattle!!"

These words sparked a conflicting debate inside his own mind. He always fought an invisible enemy, as did everyone else.

'An outdoor television... Probably a store... But what that politician said was only half correct.'

'Change it? Does it matter? The day we received these damn rights was the day we lost them. Who are they to decide what humans do? If I want to give someone a gift, is it different than wanting someone dead? Maybe on the surface, but beyond that, these actions and thoughts are the same, they are things we humans can do.'

'So why hate and banish such thoughts and actions? Because they are scared? Terrified to be their victim? It is understandable, but also a shame. How can people grow when such a huge chunk of their potential is being sapped dry like this? Living longer to what? Suffer? Living a shorter life but fulfilled is better than a long one where despair is the only source of light.'

Done with his rambling thoughts, he looked to the side, where a giant glass panel gave view inside a relatively spacious room.

'A classroom... I won't even ask why these idiots let a classroom be viewed from the outside, a little window, sure... but this...'

It was with expectation that he peeked at a few faces, but ended up shaking his head soon after.

The students' faces were beyond empty. Unfortunately the same as usual. Hollow eyes, appearance of a corpse, their minds probably rotting already...

'School, the best robot maker in the world, I must admire their genius... They bait you in with proper and useful education for what? The first decade or even more of your life? And then, once you are deep within, bam! They hit you with brainwashing...'

Citizens, humans, turning into mindless slaves, offended by every little thing.

Spitting on the strong, revering the weak... Pathetic is too kind for them...

'Where are those days... where we humans had drive, ambition..? When we looked at the sky filled with burning desire, wanting to soar higher and higher, covering the sky with our hand.'

'The world became boring... No more were the beautiful days of contrasting sceneries, rivers of clear water meeting ones of blood, flooding the land. Mountains of corpses proof of one's superiority... Where we weren't scared of everything... But what can people do now? You complain, you are locked inside a little prison cell for the rest of your life. You say something controversial, you are beaten to death. It's impossible to even defend ourselves, when a sea of angry slaves try to end you...'

'Since when was it a sin to be unique? Nowadays, the true humans are scarce and in danger of extinction.'

'Can't we be set free from all of these regulations? They are slowly ruining our future!'

'This is just bullshit!' Smashing his fist on a wall again and again, it pained him greatly. However, he did not care so much. His drive felt much more sensitive, much more desperate.

His little burst of inner rage was not left unnoticed.

"Honey, don't look at him. Remember to never trust weirdos like him, alright?"

"Tsk! Another crazy fool. They keep coming these days..."

'They always hate when people escape their clutches! Instead of pursuing these so called evil people, they should wipe their own shit first! Who said murderers are evil?! The only evil in humans is locked inside their regrets! It is the only true determining factor of evilness! It is what makes one free and another shackled.'

'If a murderer went, and killed people in a heart wrenching fashion, but did not regret it... what can you call evil?'

'He was free to do what he wanted, free of regulations, free of guilt, free of slavery! Can you call this person a demon?'

'Why?'

'Because you are angry, sad and scared?'

'Because he is a threat to you? Until I see with my own two eyes someone be struck by lightning for killing another human, then I will not believe all of them to be evil, no, I will believe them to be saints.'

'Life is fair, if you wish to survive a murderer, then kill them first! Life does not care about your ideals, your life or your will. Life does not care about your age or gender, your dreams or hopes. Life only cares about itself! Because it isn't a human being! Because it does not need to follow our paths! It does not need to bend its rules for lesser entities!'

Stolen novel; please report.

'Personifying everything is a root for mental bias! Judging the world by your human point of view is both intelligent and silly. To gather the best of both human and the world's vision is optimal. To not live by following the ideals of others but by the ones of oneself instead is a necessity. But to never forget to widen this exact view through the world is still most important!'

'Gods ad Goddesses won't care for you either, believing in them is a waste of time... Powerful beings are by nature thriving for the title of strongest. Not because of aspiration, but because of obligations. Being the strongest means being the winner, the true winner. Not only a necessity, but a way of life and a reason for existence.'

'Because being weaker means to be doomed to perish in agony. Because being weaker is not a way of life. Because being weaker is synonym of an existence near as horrifying as the great unknown itself.'

Walking erratically, as if drunk, the young man noticed a few people praying at a beautifully carved statue. It was one of a woman holding an exquisite book, chanting toward the distant sky.

'Again with the same bullshit... No, no, no, NO!! Praying won't give you shit! Nothing but contempt from superior beings if they even do exist! The only way a kind deity could exist is by design. Do you all not understand?! Only if a single deity is present since the beginning of time can it happen. Otherwise, the strongest, most ruthless one, will eat the other. Isn't it so simple!? Why is it so hard to grasp? Why is it so difficult for anyone to understand me??' Unable to bear it, the man began to smash his head on a random wall again and again, without even sparing a glance at the grossed out crowd.

'Why?! Why do they all follow the paths of others!? Why follow a path already shown to have failed? Can't anybody find me? Can't a single soul believe in something other than some old fantasy book or damn hallucination?! Why even bother being good if they are so sure about it! Why do you all have to keep talking about your kind god! What god would want to watch you eat, shit and sleep twenty-four seven?! What kind of divine being would enjoy that over a more unpredictable and unique lifestyle?! Wouldn't the murderers and so called crazy people be more entertaining? More worth their time? Worthy of reaching the gates of your damn Heavens?!'

'How could a kind, benevolent deity even exist?!'

"Fucking pieces of lamb sheep follower garbage!"

"Look at him, back at it again..."

"Didn't the mental hospital take him in last month?"

"Apparently he isn't crazy, just a bit emotionally unstable."

"Ha~ Young ones are truly full of energy."

"Grandpa, please get back inside, it's cold out here."

'An asteroid colliding with another is a good example. They are both inanimate objects, but they can still be stronger than the other, with only three outcomes possible. Being weaker, equal or stronger. The way to know how such deities think this way is because of this example. Yes! Why can't anybody understand this! Ahh!!' Smashing his head even harder, some of his skin broke, blood tainting the wall.

'Even inanimate objects unknowingly fight to be the strongest, everything does, even if they are equal. Even if they do not move, do not live, do not exist, they still do.'

'But what can I say? It doesn't matter anyway! It never does! I am a random weak, pathetic human! Hoping time and time again to escape this shitty slavery, fucking year of 2036, you're a real pain to deal with, you know that? The older I get, the worst it gets. I feel stuck, chained down by other people's ideals, no, brainwashed ideals. You are all brainwashed!'

Suddenly stopping as if his self-harm never happened in the first place, the young man resumed his steady walk.

Caressing his face, he realized the need to shave in a few days. Random thoughts of empty goals thrived again, submerging his hazy mind.

Saving the man from the mundane world of everyone should be happy and safe was another store with outdoors televisions.

"...we can..."

"...reach closer to a new world using our latest technology, the MK-Y13 spaceship! This is..."

"...revolutionary..."

"..."

Passing by, he managed to hear the gist of it.

'Another stupid rocket. Yeah... cool. Go and crash it in orbit once again, it's not like we're nearing the point of no return by now...'

'Apparently in a few years, the sun will be dimmed by the amount of space junk and debris present in orbit... Amazing!'

'I mean sure, go ahead, slave of your predecessors, go and continue their dreams of reaching space when you yourself do not really care about it... Is it important? To go from one big rock to another? To focus on science when it has already reached its peak?'

'The soul, why not focus on that instead? Science has already proven its existence in the last decade, but because it's hard, they don't try. Well, at least I do, but am I being hypocritical? Sure I myself am interested in this topic, but not because of pure interest or curiosity, because of potential!'

The youth walked with his head hung low, dripping blood from time to time, still talking to himself as he always did.

'The body, and even emotions are related to the fleshly vessel, which is bound by space. Time is not a problem for now, but space is. This is what is holding everything back. This is what is holding me back!'

'The Universe is vast, a vast prison that is. Nothing to do, nothing to gain, just live life so bland you need to dream to escape it. Well, I guess that's only valid now, the past looked interesting, even with diseases, lacking comfort and short lives. At least being born at this period would make you somewhat immune to their negative influence. And it looked more fun since, while rules still existed, not only were there more free spaces to live a life of choice, but also less rules when were present.'

'I'm probably just bitter... But I don't believe it makes it less valid.'

Scientists were going so far not realizing that to break the Universe's limitations, something beyond it was necessary.

So, this man chose the soul, the only thing he could think of that somehow was not restrained by anything but the body itself, theoretically.

Walking back home, he sat on his messy bed, cross-legged.

'I still can't feel anything...'

'This is boring... I wanna eat a muffin...'

'My dear hopes of escaping this boring, sad Universe are getting out of hand. Meditating for hours each day... I'm getting desperate...' Wiping his forehead, he still gripped tightly on this desperation.

A few hours later, as he was about to give up, again, he felt something pull him.

Opening his eyes, he swiftly realized that he did not really open them. Because he did not need to.

Floating above a collapsed mortal vessel was a blue, translucent soul.

Laughing in his mind, that he somehow could still use, he thought of many things. But the first that came to mind was a joke, thinking how he went against the Heavens. Maybe he did so as a defense mechanism his character had grown when facing strange, mind numbing happenings.

However, he could not stop himself from feeling pure freedom, he felt light, a given, and... stared at?

Sweating if he could, shaking if possible, he would run, once again, if available. But no, he could not move, his soul frozen in place, as he sensed a being stare daggers at the vulnerable him.

'So that's what it is, the Universe is mad... yeah, great way to die! But I fucking did it! Or did I? I can't tell!'

Cursing again and again, he felt the fear of death, when...

'Wait... hold on!'

A blue portal formed to his side, and next thing he knew, the Universe was forcing him inside...

Then... he technically ascended...

A soul sucked inside a bondless, beautiful place, the scenery of colorful space was all around.

'But why is the dominant color yellow, no... yellow and green... well never mind.'

His soul could feel the thrill that the place he was in experienced, as if letting him know how welcomed he truly was.

A great sensation he had to say. But the thrill was suddenly dampened by his own fright.

The soul sucked by a nearby planet, at a random spot on its surface, a young body formed out of nowhere, as if created by God.

As if drawn to it, his soul entered the empty vessel, the Heavens gifting this man a new body.

.

.

.

Fifteen years later, he was a cultivator! Yearning for the path of potential. He had decided to name himself Alexander. The world he was within was peaceful, people somehow kind, maybe because it was a remote location... He stood there, on the lonely and peaceful whiteish dirt road, surrounded by bright green plains, themselves hugged by tall white-grey mountains under the clear blue sky...

Here he stood contemplating his cultivation, Qi Refining Realm fourth layer... he very was happy, relaxed...

But, he wanted more... his instincts screamed at his mind, to go higher, always higher...

And so he did... Subject to a fair share of pain, sorrow, happiness, fun, greed and many others...

And here he stood...

Sixteen million years later...

He sat there, on a throne, inside a gigantic white hall illuminated by mysterious-looking arrays, filled with beautiful pillars and statues...

Here he sat, his long silver hair similar to his silver eyes, contemplating his cultivation.

Ascension Realm ninth layer... he still desired more... he was so close to the absolute summit of this Universe...

Then...

*Groan*

...he woke up.