"What is it this time? Do you realize how late it is? Better be important." Jeremy looks at me annoyed from behind the metallic bars.

"So, could you order me a new mattress, bed cover and bedsheets, and get me another pair of socks if there are any left if possible?"

He raises a brow, clearly puzzled. "What happened? Did you shit the bed or something? Don't tell me you used a sock to wipe your ass, there's toilet paper in the damn-" "I didn't! It just so happened that..."

He frowns this time. "That?"

"That... well... a... pickaxe. A pickaxe... happened... to... hum..."

"What?"

"Well, as I was saying, a pickaxe... fell. It fell onto the bed. As for the socks, one of them got, how to put this... mmmh yes! Caught into the action!"

He looks at me dumbfounded. "A pickaxe... fell? Where did you put it so that it could fall on the bed?!"

I cough a few times, and appear to be in a pinch. "It... well I kind of... sort of... threw it? And you know, gravity and all that..."

"..."

"..."

"Next time just say you shit the bed, it's less embarrassing."

He's not wrong...

"Cause on one side it's an unconscious accident most likely, the other is just you being retarded."

Yes, once again, it's true, but no need to say-

"Like, do you realize how stupid you must be? For this to happen? No, but seriously, like really, really~ stupid. You get me?"

I swallow with a wry smile, grabbing the bars, pulling my head in between two. "Yes. I get you. So could you order me a new bed and pair of socks, please?"

He lets out a chuckle and exaggerate a sigh before turning his head back to the distant wall ahead of him. "I'll have it done, you can ask Ted when he's here next time for the socks. He's the one who distributes them, not like you need them right now, right?"

"Well, can't you just gi-"

"Dude, we gave you like twenty. You're fine." It's my turn to grumble as I push myself away from the bars and retreat into the sea of pillars. I can hear his distant, withering voice laughing. "Fucking idiot. Ted is gonna laugh his ass off. Actually... ...might... te... ...vy..."

As his voice dissipates until I cannot hear anything coherent, I blush, sitting on the bed. I can feel the hole, patting it a little. "Hmph! Never liked you anyway." Holding my right foot up, I sigh and open the panel. The stats are still blinking with the dark light. Once again, I look at the sock, letting two toes through, before pressing on one stat. "Of course it had to be heads twice." I feel even dumber knowing that I could've slid the sock better, so that it wouldn't get impaled at different spots.

"Fuck the rules, this isn't on the wrist anyway, it's the sign of the great sock!" Laying onto the bed, I watch my status with a tired gaze.

[Jack Heltros]

Age : 26

Class : Immortal

Title : Immortal Initiate

HP | ⦿⦿⦿⦿⦿⦿⦿⦿⦿⦿ | (215 / 215)

MP | ⦿⦿⦿⦿⦿⦿⦿⦿⦿⦿ | (215 / 215)

STR (G) : ▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰

SPD (F) : ▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰

END (G) : ▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰

MND (B) : ▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰

LCK (E) : ▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰

Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

Skills : Tech Eye - lv.2 [+], Crimson Arts - lv.1 [+], Qi Manifestation - lv.7 [+]

"Didn't budge on the other one. Sad. I'm sorry bed, you were a casualty while the sock fell in battle for not much."

Ignoring the blatant hole across the sheets and cover, ending in the mattress, my eyes close and I finally let go of my daily resentments.

When I wake up, I'm lost. "Where the fuck..." No matter how much I look, I don't remember much. I went to sleep, then... then that's it. Great. "Was I kidnapped or... hey! Hello?! Someone! Fucking hell there's echo in here." A too common sigh comes out of my mouth, turning in every direction like a madman. "Why is it so foggy in here too, can't see shit." At a loss, I start walking in a small circle, just regaining my footing more than anything as I look wildly around. My feet land forward, left, right, and... nowhere? "Huh?!" A sudden pull of gravity grabs hold of my flesh. With widened eyes and constricted pupils, the fog turns distant, a maw of darkness engulfing me.

I panic and scream, falling down an unknown abyss. I fall for what feels like minutes before a shock brings me back into horror. I see my body split in half from the waistline, landing face first into a dirty puddle. As I look into it, my reflection is glitched like a broken video game. "What, what, what..." I mumble before opening my eyes despite them remaining wide. I see the brown ceiling of dusty earth.

"Oh... oh... fuck." I huff, hurrying my back upright. I'm sweating all over, which is rather disgusting. "Nightmare?" As I recall the content, I exhale my annoyance and remaining fright. "Fucking hell, that's twice already."

It's still night, judging by the turned off lights. With another heavy sigh, I collapse back and fall asleep once more. At least this part mostly feels good. Would've been better if I wasn't all sticky at the time.

This time I wake up in real life, stretching when I take out my phone. "I slept that much?" Guess I was tired. Making my way to the lucky tunnel, I see both of them there. "Fuck off? That's mine. I called dibs, remember?"

Rick only chuckles. "Come on man, it's just a mine, there isn't your name on here as far as I'm aware." Scoffing, I take my pickaxe and run it through the wall. "Here, I put a J, it's mine. Why don't you just go back to your own? You got good stuff from there." I feel a tug at my arm, noticing Jenna with puppy eyes. "Come on! His mine collapsed and I got scared. But my tunnel is shit, so we came here."

"So, let me get this straight. His tunnel is fucked, and yours is ass. So you crash on mine? Pun non intended." She pouts. "Pun clearly intended! And no, I got scared. I don't want to waste time at my house, especially since he doesn't want to tag along."

I'm dumbfounded. "Your house? Why would you even think of going back, maybe think about getting through security first?"

They both laugh, nudging my stomach. "We're serious dude. How are we supposed to escape from here~?"

I scratch my head, because compared to their attitude, their words feel strange. "What do you mean? Have you found a way or something?" They look at each other and I feel like I'm about to hear something stupid. To which I turn my head to Rick, as Jenna already made her way to him. "Dude I said we're serious. Can we really not stay here? Going back to her house would be a waste of time. And time is money."

"But I am serious though?"

"Jack, just walk out??"

"..."

"..."

"..."

"What do you mean walk out?"

Jenna chuckles. "Well, of course it means to literally walk out. They never close the gate in the main hall."

It's my turn to state the obvious. "Yeah, but the guards aren't blind??" Rick puts a hand on my shoulder with an apathetic smile. "Dude, they don't care. We're not prisoners, we're temporary free labor. A debt doesn't equate to prison, especially not like this. It's all a roleplay game? Don't you know this?" "Yeah, we thought you knew. Didn't the guard explain anything when they brought you in?"

Since I was experienced with mining and how unfair people treat others, I told them there was no need to explain... I also realized that I never asked either of them when I first came in because said unfairness seemed so obvious.

"........"

"Mother."

"Mother?"

"Fucker."

"Ah, that makes more sense."

"So why are you guys here then?" They stare at each other for a moment before turning their attention back to me. Speaking at the same time with overlapping words.

"Because we don't have a job?"

"Because we don't have a job?"

"So..."

"I got fired from my job as a customer service specialist and, though rarely, chef. And she never had one to begin with."

I slowly turn my head from Jenna to Rick, back and forth before settling on Rick again. "You were a what?"

"I packed the food and gave it to customers, sometimes flipping patties and rarely putting ketchup on buns when I worked at Elbiaz."

"So, being a customer whatever specialist and chef just meant you worked at a minimum wage fast food?"

"Yup, basically."

I nod and clap. "I should ask you to make my resume." He nods as well. "You should, but it's not free." I laugh and he does the same. Soon enough Jenna follows. My exaggerated banter drops flat when I point at the tunnel's dead end with fish eyes. "If you want to mine here, you better make my resume for free whenever I ask."

His laughter stops, while Jenna's only accentuates. "Yes sir..." "Pfff! Hahaha! He got you good! Look at you all depressed! Are you gonna cry little baby?" I leave the duo to their bickering and continue to excavate cash in the multiple forms this place offers. Soon enough, they follow.

.

.

.

"Phew!" My back is a little sore, but it's fine otherwise. Stretching a lot more than when I woke up, I see Jenna come to my cell. "Hey Jack, Jeremy called you." She disappears into the corridor as I make my way to the hall filled with pillars. When I reach the gate and bars, I see Jeremy looking at me with a bunch of bags and boxes behind him. "Since you never specified the brands or how many, I got you everything I could. So yeah, pick this shit up and fuck off back into the mines." My eye twitch visibly, wanting to choke him out, as I grip the bars tightly. You spent how much?!

"Jeremy, hey... hahaha, just a quick question but..."

"What is it? Better be quick."

"Jeremy, my good friend-" "I'm not your friend." "-did you purposefully spend a shit ton of money because it was mine? For example, to trigger me and my empty bank account I still haven't recovered?"

He looks bored, as if he heard this everyday. "Yeah, pretty much. Was funny when I bought that big one over there, was five grand. Some luxurious gold shit or something. Also is that why you always sell your loot for cash and pay off your debt instantly? Because you're poor? Next time buy this shit yourself, you'll save quite a bit more."

"Haha, Jeremy. And I also heard that we aren't actually held captive here?"

"Pfff! Of course? Hey Ted! You won't believe this fucker! He thought he was kept here captive! Hahahaha! Fucking hilarious, am I right?!" "Yeah dude! I- hahahaha - I can't believe it! This idiot is fucking dumb as shit!"

Jeremy looks back at me, after laughing in my face with his friend some distance away, and smiles. "Jack, your IQ has to be room temperature. This is fucking hilarious man I swear... haha... HAHAHA I can't! Look at your dumbass face! I haven't laughed in this shithole so much in years! What a godsent!"

"Ha~" He exhales loudly, removing his smile, before limping back onto his chair. "Anyway, come grab all this crap and piss off."

I slowly turn my head to the left, hearing it creak like a rusty robot, before clutching the bars there. I pull a little and watch with a frozen expression as the door made up of metallic bars just opens like it's nothing.

Haha...

I take a step past it and watch the mood remain indifferent. They really don't care. I could just come out, and you still treat me like shit? Jeremy seems to be playing on his phone while grunting. "Come on Jack, pick that shit up. It's all messy everywhere, there's like thirty boxes and a dozen bags. Go faster. And don't open them outside your cell! I'm on cleaning duty today."

I swear I'm gonna punch you all in the fucking throat!