It was finally five. All of Ryan's colleagues at his office got up. Ryan would usually resist the urge to follow them and continue working until nine. But today was different. He decided to log off his PC, get up, stretch and sigh with relief. Because it was valentine's day. He wanted to head back home quickly so he could spend more time with Vanessa.

He always felt guilty for spending so long working and spending less time with her, but he also didn't. She struggled to find work after getting fired from her graphic design job. Ever since then she'd been unemployed, spending her days sending out job applications and receiving rejection after rejection for months on end. He had to pay the bills somehow. He only felt happy when relaxing at home with her. But unfortunately you can't pay rent with happiness. So he had to work.

He felt slightly hesitant about working normal hours on that day though. One day of that wouldn't have a catastrophic financial impact. But it was a slippery slope. If he let himself make exceptions on valentines day, then why shouldn't he make exceptions on other days? He already made exceptions for Christmas and birthdays. Would he resort to taking weekends off as well? That wouldn't do.

Ryan pulled his phone out of a pocket on his navy blue blazer and looked at the background image of his home screen. All hesitation vanished. It was a selfie he took of himself and Vanessa when they took a vacation to Paris a few years ago. They were in front of the Eiffel tower. It was a sunny day. Blue sky. No clouds in the sky. They just finished travelling back from les cerfs-volants de Dieppe, the nearest beach to Paris. It was the best time of his life. Money didn't cross his mind for a single second over the course of that week. Not a scent of stress wafted in the air. Ryan couldn't help but smile like an idiot every time he looked at his home screen. Which was a lot because it was his damn home screen. Especially on a day such as this.

He hoped that one day he'd be able to save up enough money to replicate the experience. In order for that to happen again, he had to sacrifice some good feelings and work a bit longer than either he or Vanessa wanted to. But he also had to make her happy in the meantime. And in order to do that, he had to spend a bit more time with her. Not too much, but some.

Just as Ryan finished packing up his things and walked out of his cubicle, he noticed his co-worker called Luke resting his face in his hands and rubbing his temples, appearing stressed out. Whilst that was the norm in such times, especially in such an office, and even more commonly with his co-worker, he thought that most would cheer up on such a day. At least those in relationships. Or in healthy relationships. Actually, that narrowed it down to quite a small few now that he thought about it. "What's going on, Luke?" Ryan asked, stepping into his office cubicle. "You're not looking too good."

"I'm not," Luke said. He shoved a ring binder into his briefcase, and zipped it up. "It's a special day. How could I be?"

Ryan stepped out of the way of Luke as he walked out of his cubicle. "You having issues with Catherine?"

"No." He sighed. He walked onwards and towards the office floor's exit. Ryan followed. "I'm just not entirely sure what I should do today."

"It's not hard," Ryan snorted. Making such a simple thing a big deal was exactly like Luke. "Just buy some flowers. Maybe some chocolates. Some wine if you're feeling fancy. Most importantly, spend time with her. That'd be more than enough."

"It's not that." They both approached the floor's elevator. "Catherine and I have been together for five years. I'm thinking of taking it further."

"You gonna propose?" Ryan pushed the elevator's top button.

"Perfect day to do it, right?"

"It is. So what's the problem? " The elevator pinged as it rose to their level. The doors slid open. "You bought a ring?"

"I have." Luke grimaced as he and Ryan walked into the elevator."But what if she rejects me?"

"She won't." The elevator doors slid shut. "She loves you."

"I know she likes me, but how am I supposed to know if she loves me enough to marry me?" The elevator descended towards the office's ground level.

"I've seen how happy she is when around you. You said it yourself, she'd been with you for years. Why wouldn't she love you?"

"She is happy." Luke nodded. "But I bet she'd be even happier if she was with a taller guy, with bigger arms and a higher paying job."

Ryan chuckled. It's normal to feel insecure sometimes but Luke took it to the next level."You're not a bodybuilder, but It's not like you're a twig or anything."

"Is that enough?"

Ryan burst into laughter. "There's a lot of married people out there. Not all of them are bodybuilders."

"What if she wants that, though?"

"You're being ridiculous. You have something that no one else has."

"What?" Luke asked as the elevator finally reached the ground floor of the office and the doors opened up. They exited the elevator and walked into the office's lobby.

Ryan pointed a finger at Luke."You. She loves you for who you are. And as long as you're yourself, and no one else, it'll stay that way."

"So just do nothing?" Luke asked as they walked through the lobby and towards the office's main exit.

"No." Ryan shook his head and patted his shoulder. "Just be yourself. Then It'll all go smoothly."

Luke smiled. "I hope you're right."

"That's the only thing we can do," Ryan said as he pushed through the office's main exit's doors, stepped outside and walked onto the city street. "Hope."

----------------------------------------

Ryan made his way back from the train station and arrived at his apartment building. After taking the elevator up to the ninth floor, he walked down a hallway that led to his apartment, struggling to juggle a bundle of roses, a shopping bag containing a box of chocolates, and a few bottles of prosecco. Merely approaching his apartment and knowing who was waiting inside for him spread a smile-spreading warmth throughout his body. Albeit, she probably wasn't expecting him to arrive so soon since she'd usually expect him to come home at nine. But maybe she'd trust him enough today to expect him to get home by six. Whilst he did work a few extra hours on the last valentine's day, he promised her he wouldn't do it again. She'd trust him, right?

He walked past his neighbour's apartment and was surprised to not hear trashy club music rumbling through the door. Or atleast the moans and orgasms of women. He didn't even hear any shouting or fighting. It didn't seem like anyone was in. That was a relief. Ryan hoped that it stayed that way. His neighbour, Dan, was always a pain in the neck to live next to.

Within the first few days of him and Vanessa moving into their apartment, the guy tried to talk them into buying cocaine from him. The creep also stared at Vanessa at the wrong places for the wrong amount of time.

But after that, Ryan fortunately didn't need to interact with Dan much at all. The annoyances mainly came from him regularly bringing home dates or prostitutes who he'd have orgasming late into the night. Or he'd be hosting wall-rumbling house parties containing dozens of people. Not only were these house parties loud, but fights would also start between the people there.

It was disconcerting to leave for work in the morning to see men laid out on the floor unconscious. Or walk down the hallway to take down his trash at midnight to see rough and dodgy guys hitting each other with frying pans. They were aggressive and dangerous guys. No wonder no one else except him did much about it.

Ryan sighed as he thought about the stress of it, reaching into his pocket for the key to his apartment. After the useless and lazy landlord failed to do anything about Ryan's many emails, phone calls, and in-person meetings, he was forced to call the police. But when the police would arrive, they wouldn't arrest anyone. They'd just warn them about making noise and leave, unable to find any evidence of fighting because Dan would just hide the people who fought. And it's not like the police would do a thorough check of the place, they had better things to do than deal with noise complaints. Which meant that after a few weeks of the police's visit, Dan would start up again, rumbling Ryan's walls with awful music. So Ryan would call the police again and the cycle would continue to spin.

Eventually, Dan found out about Ryan's phone calls and accused him of snitching. The accusation involved a lot of shouting and a lot of fake fist swinging. Vanessa was pretty intimidated by him since he appeared like quite an emotional and impulsive guy, screaming about a situation that didn't matter. But it didn't take Ryan long to realise that Dan was all bark but no bite. By simply crossing his arms and staring the guy down, not showing a hint of fear, Dan eventually backed off and retreated into his apartment.

Whilst he wasn't a difficult chump to deal with, it was frustrating. It only made Ryan that much more happy to see he wasn't in today. It was gonna be a perfect valentines day for him and Vanessa. He felt sorry for the woman that he was probably spending the night out with.

So with hopefulness, optimism and love in his heart, he stepped in front of his apartment door. He could hear noises from inside. Was it Vanessa walking towards the door? Was she really waiting for him? But after inserting his key into the lock, he listened to the noise some more. It wasn't the sound of the floorboards creaking that he was hearing. He was hearing something else.

It was the creaking of their bed. Was she making the bed? Getting straight to it then. Not what he intended, but that sounded good. He hoped they'd chill out and watch Netflix for a bit before getting straight to business, but he wasn't gonna complain. But after hearing the noise a bit more, it didn't really sound like the creak you'd hear from making a bed.

The creaking was too fast. It was too loud. What was she doing? Jumping on the bed? What for? Or would that just be his wishful thinking?

So Ryan gulped as he twisted the key in the lock, unlocking the door to his apartment. He made sure to push open the door slowly. He looked to the side of the doorway. He stared at the shoe rack.

He saw it. What he dreaded was right there in front of him. But why with him? Why him of all people? Who in the world would be attracted to such an imbecile? He frequently had women coming over to his apartment, but most of them had to have been prostitutes, right? Did he not pay them? Were they dates? Were women really attracted to such an idiot?

Was Vanessa? Was she really that desperate due to Ryan spending so much time working?

He saw Dan's shoes sitting on the shoe rack beside the door. He never paid attention to Dan's shoes, but he knew it wasn't his or Vanessa's. It was too dirty, torn, and beaten up to belong to any of his or her friends. The sight of the shoes fit Dan's bottom of the barrel existence down to a 'T'.

Ryan shivered. He clenched his fists tight, letting his apartment key dig into his palm. Too much adrenaline surged through him to care about the pain. Whenever he'd see people burst into a fit of rage and start screaming and smashing things, he could barely understand why they did that instead of just dealing with the situation calmly and rationally. But Ryan finally understood them as he stomped through his apartment's foyer and into the living room.

The sound was even louder, zapping even more rage and fury through his body. He ground his teeth as he marched towards his bedroom door. He scowled as he snatched the door handle.

He still heard the bed creaking. She was so into it that she didn't even hear him stomp into his home. How could she like him so much?

With fury ravaging every inch of his body, all thought vanished from his mind. Only rage was left behind as he rammed the bedroom door open. He let it smash against the wall, rattling a nightstand and the lamp on top of it.

"Get the fuck out!" Ryan shouted at Dan. He hunched over Vanessa's back. His bare ass pointed towards Ryan.

Both Dan and Vanessa lurched and turned towards Ryan. Both of them naked. "What!?" Vanessa shouted, eyes snapped wide at him. "Why are you home so early!?"

"It's valentine's day!" Ryan snatched Dan's clothes off the floor and threw it at his shit-eating face. How could any woman find such a punchable face handsome!? "Why wouldn't I be!?"

Vanessa kneeled on the bed, facing Ryan. "I'm sorry, ju-"

"I don't want to hear it!" Ryan turned away from Vanessa and scowled at Dan. "Get out!"

Dan chuckled and turned back to Vanessa, crawling across the bed towards her. "Could you wait until we're done?"

"No!" Ryan pointed to the door. "Leave!"

Dan sighed, sat down on the bed next to Vanessa and tried to wrap his arm around her shoulder, but she pushed his arm away. He shrugged. "It's hers as well."

"I'm the one paying the rent!"

"Just leave," Vanessa said to Dan. "Please don't escalate."

"I'm not escalating." Dan smirked up at Ryan and crossed his arms. "You invited me in. I'm staying."

"Leave." Ryan pulled out his phone. "Or else."

"Look at you!" Dan laughed. He stood up from the bed. "Once a snitch always a snitch. Grow some balls and settle your issues on your own."

Stolen story; please report.

"You really want me to?" Ryan unlocked his phone and tapped onto the phone dial screen. "Trust me, you'll leave here today with a lot less cuts and bruises if you let the police handle this one."

"You can't do shit to me," Dan marched towards Ryan. Fists clenched.

"Stop it, Dan!" Vanessa ran up to Dan and put her hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry," Dan pushed her hand off him. "I'll get rid of him."

"I don't want you to!" She grimaced as Dan walked away from her. "Just leave!"

Ryan tapped 911 onto his phone. "Last chance to back off." Ryan glared down into Dan's eyes.

Dan scowled up at Ryan.

Ryan brought his finger down to his phone, heading towards the call button.

Dan snatched a lamp off the nightstand with his left hand, lunged at Ryan, and swung it at his face. Ryan shoved his phone into his pocket. He grabbed the lamp with both hands, stopping it from hitting him. Dan punched him in the face with his right hand. Ryan staggered backwards. Blood trickled down his nose. Dan ran at him and slammed the lamp into his face. His head flicked to the side. He tripped to the floor.

"Dan!" Vanesssa screamed. She grabbed his arm and tried to pull him away. "Stop it!"

"Get off me!" Dan yanked his arm out of her grip and pushed Vanessa away from him. She fell back onto the bed.

Dan stood above Ryan. He held the lamp up high. He swung it down. Ryan rolled out of the way. The lamp slammed onto the floor and rattled from the impact. Ryan jumped to his feet. He lunged at Dan. He tried to swing the lamp at him, but Ryan tackled him before he could.

They both fell to the floor. Ryan crawled on top of Dan, holding his shoulder to the floor with one hand. He clenched his other hand into a fist. He raised it up high. He then swung it down into Dan's face. Blood splattered out of his mouth and nose. He punched him again. He felt the crunch of his knuckles smashing against bone. The skin of his cheek tore. Dan shouted and moaned with agony. Ryan punched him again and again and again until his fist was covered with blood and the carpet below was dappled with it.

Dan's eyes misted and rolled in a daze. So Ryan jumped to his feet. He crouched down, snatched Dan's hair with one hand, and his left arm with the other. He pulled the scumbag up, and over his back. He pushed him up and onto his shoulders.

He stomped out of his bedroom, through the living room, through the foyer, and then stood in the apartment's entrance doorway. He threw the scumbag off his shoulders and out of his apartment. He screamed as his back hit the concrete floor of the hallway. His body tumbled and rolled across it. Still naked.

Dan tried to stagger up to his feet with wobbly arms and legs. But Ryan grabbed Dan's shoes from the shoe rack and flung them at his face. He fell back to the floor. "Stay down!" Ryan shouted.

He stomped back through his apartment and into his bedroom. He grabbed Dan's clothes and belongings, ignoring Vanessa's pleading to not hurt him too much. He marched back to the front of his apartment and threw Dan's belongings back on top of him.

"Get back in your apartment!" Ryan shouted down at Dan as he once again tried to stagger up to his feet. Even though he felt like continuing to kick him down, he thought that he already did enough to teach him his place. He felt like grabbing a knife and stabbing the scumbag to death, but he knew that'd be way too far and just counter-productive. He took a deep breath to calm himself down a bit. Whilst he was angry, he didn't want it to pull him into doing something too ridiculous. "Don't ever speak to me, come near me, or this apartment ever again!"

Ryan stared down at Dan as he finally staggered to his feet, waiting for him to do as he said. After Dan glared at Ryan for a bit, blood dripping down his nose, mouth, and the wounds on his cheek, he finally grunted, turned away and staggered to his apartment. Ryan slammed his own door shut.

He sighed and shook his head. Definitely not how he expected his day to go.

He turned to see Vanessa approaching him. She finally threw some clothes on. "You alright?" She asked, stepping towards him hesitantly. Eyes wide and anxious. "He didn't hurt you badly, did h-?"

"I don't wanna hear it," Ryan said. "You betrayed me. I'm not gonna forgive you."

"Bu-"

"There are no buts. This is over."

Tears rolled down her face. Why in the world was she the one crying? She was the one who betrayed him, damn it! "Look, nothing's gonna come from us talking about this." Ryan walked past her and into the bathroom.

"What do you want then?" Vanessa mumbled between sobs, following behind him.

"I'm gonna go for a walk and clear my head." Ryan turned on the tap and splashed his face with water, rubbing and washing off the blood. "I'll be back in a few hours. Whilst I'm gone, I want you to pack your things and get out." Ryan rubbed and washed the blood off his hands. "When I'm back, I don't want to see you here."

"No, please!" Vanessa approached Ryan again. "I can explai-"

"You can explain anything if you try hard enough," Ryan marched around her and back to the foyer. "You've lied to me for years, saying you loved me. I don't want to hear anymore of it." Ryan walked to the front door and grabbed the door handle. He turned to her. "You are gonna pack your things and leave, right?"

Vanessa nodded, and then turned away.

"Good." Ryan grimaced and opened the door. "I enjoyed the time I spent with you. But you don't seem all too interested in me. So I guess this is it." Ryan walked out the front door and slammed it shut.

----------------------------------------

Ryan wandered through his neighbourhood, gazing at his surroundings. The same thoughts kept rampaging through his head. What was her problem with him? Was she just a selfish asshole? Why didn't he notice such a thing earlier? There weren't any suspicions at all. There weren't even any hints that she disliked him.

There was the odd occasion when she mentioned how she didn't like that he spent so much time at work, but it's not like he had a choice. She struggled to find work after she got fired from her graphic design job a year ago, and stayed at home. She was unemployed. She spent her days sending out job applications, receiving rejection after rejection. How else could they make ends meet other than him working extra hours? If she was so bothered by it, then she could've talked it through with him. If she wanted to break up with him, he could've talked it through with him. Why play him like that?

Was it vengeance for something that he did? What did he do wrong? Was he the real monster in this situation? There was no way of knowing. There was no reason to hope for any answers. He hoped that if he worked hard enough then they'd be able to spend more time together. And where did that hope get him? She'd been lying to him for years, pretending to love him. But how could you love someone and betray them like this?

She never loved him.

Any other conclusion was just naive wishful thinking. It was that naivety and optimism that prevented him from noticing that simple fact.

Just be yourself. She never loved him. He wasn't good enough for her. He was pathetic.

Ryan sighed and shook his head, regretting saying such naive nonsense to Luke back at work. Hopefully he didn't propose to Catherine. Hopefully she let him down easy.

But she probably didn't. The only thing either of them could do was keep moving forward towards the future. Whilst his relationship with Vanessa was a disaster, there were plenty of other women out there. There was still plenty of love to be found in the world. Maybe he'd have to settle for a woman less fun and attractive. Maybe he wouldn't feel as strong of a connection with them as he did with Vanessa. But that didn't matter. Not everyone could be a millionaire. Most have to settle for imperfection and mediocrity. That was life, but he was just too stupid to see. He wouldn't shoot for the stars or the moon, he'd be fine staying safe on the surface, not flying at all. That was good enough for him.

He tripped, and fell, but he didn't die. He could always get back up. He could always try something else. There was still air in his lungs.

All was fine.

A black car sped beside him on the road. It screeched to a halt in front of him. He didn't know who was driving, but he could already tell that he or she was an asshole. Looking at all the dents on the car, and all the paint rubbed off of the plates, it was clear that reckless driving was the norm for its owner. Whoever was driving such a vehicle shouldn't be anywhere near a road, in a car or out of it.

All of the doors of the car opened. Five men piled out of the car, on all sides. They all wore masks. They turned towards him. They marched towards him. Some cracked their knuckles, some cracked their necks, and some just clenched their fists.

What was going on? Who were these people? Were they coming for him? They were glaring at him, so they had to be. He glanced behind him, and there was no one there. Just an empty pavement and an alleyway.

Ryan glanced at the licence plate. He recognized it. He didn't have a car of his own, but he'd usually walk past his apartment building's car park. He recognized that car plate from there. Then a memory of seeing the owner of that car flooded his mind.

It was Dan's car.

Beneath the mask of one of the masked men he saw black and blue of bruised skin. That must've been Dan. And the guys surrounding him must be his buddies. Probably wanting revenge for what Ryan did to him. Why wouldn't he expect that from such a stupid and petty man, who also seemed to have an unfathomably large number of friends? No one would believe in karma if they took a quick look at Dan and his life and saw how good he had it despite possessing all the worst qualities a person could have.

Ryan turned and sprinted away. But he was too slow. Two of the men ran at him, snatched him by the collar of his blazer, and dragged him into the shadows of an adjacent alleyway. They threw him to the ground. He splashed in a puddle, wettening his suit. He scrambled up to his feet, and backed away from them. They covered the width of the alleyway. They marched towards him, glaring at him and snickering.

"Hi, Ryan," Dan said before letting out a little chuckle. Probably wanting to say something to make sure Ryan knew it was Dan that would be responsible for his upcoming beating. Or death. "The bruises you left me with are still stinging. Do you wanna know how I feel?"

"No, I don't," Ryan muttered. He tripped on a pile of loose bricks. His back hit a wall. He reached a dead-end of the alleyway. The five stooges crowded around him. Fear ravaged every inch of his body. Would he make out of this with a single unbroken bone? Would he even make it out of this with his life? Should he kneel on the floor and beg for mercy? It wasn't like he could fight them off. Not every day is a time for heroics. Sometimes you just need to give up and know your place. But then a pang of rage zapped through his chest. A thoughtless hope for more than mediocrity consumed him. He scowled. He clenched his fists. "Especially not after this!"

Ryan shot to the floor. He grabbed two loose bricks from the pile he tripped over. One of the thugs rushed at him. Ryan threw a brick at his head. The sharp point of it crashed against his face with a loud thud. The masked man stumbled, and fell to the floor. Blood soaked into his mask. The brick fell to the concrete and rattled against it.

Dan leapt at him and swung at his face. His knuckles crashed against his cheek. Ryan stumbled backwards. His back hit the wall again. Blood dripped down his mouth and nose. Dan rushed at Ryan again. But Ryan threw a brick at his face. It smashed into his temple. He dropped to the ground. The brick rolled across the floor beside his unconscious form.

The other three goons ran at Ryan. But he crouched and grabbed another loose brick. They stopped. They slowed down.

"Fuck it!" one of them said. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a knife.

Another one of them sighed, shook his head, and pulled out his own knife.

Terror whirled in Ryan's stomach. Did they really have to escalate this petty squabble so far? What did he even do wrong to deserve a shanking? Dan was the one who fucked his girlfriend, refused to leave his home, and attacked Ryan first, damn it!

"Are you sure?" The third one of them asked. "We didn't come here to kill anyone."

"We didn't," the two with knives approached Ryan. They eyed the bricks in his hands. "But it looks like he had a change of plans."

Ryan grabbed two more bricks off the floor. The masked men with knives ran at him. Ryan threw a brick at one of their faces. It smashed against his head. He staggered backwards. He fell to the floor. His knife rattled against the concrete along with the brick.

Ryan rose his second brick to throw it at the second thug. But just as Ryan swung his arm-

Cold steel sank into his neck. The masked man shoved him against the wall. Blood splashed out of Ryan's mouth and nose. The thug shoved it into his chest, stomach, his stomach again, and then he couldn't keep track. His vision faded. Stinging and aching pain so intense that he never felt before spread throughout every inch of his body in equal amounts. There was nothing he could do at this point. His life was over. It wasn't a calm death where he reflected on his past with no regrets and goals accomplished with loved ones surrounding him and holding his hands. It was a lonely death; killed for a pointless reason in the middle of nowhere.

And it was all because of his own incompetence. If only he dealt with Dan properly when he first moved in, instead of thinking it'd all work out. If only he was humble enough to realise that Vanessa never loved him. If only he was strong enough to beat up Dan more severely and force more fear into his heart, or maybe was just cold enough to have killed the bastard. If only he was fast enough to get away from these thugs. It was survival of the fittest. If only he was strong enough to take control of his life, then maybe he would've been able to die a less pointless death.

Alas, he didn't. He fell. He died. There was no getting back up. There was no air in his lungs anymore.

He lost everything.

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Ryan opened his eyes. He thought he'd be happy to be alive, and maybe be given another chance in another world. But if this wasn't some idealistic dream his dying brain conjured up in its final explosion of random chemicals, it probably wouldn't be any different from the life he had before. And that didn't end all too well, did it?

He always thought that if there was a life after death it'd likely not conform to humanistic moral whims; A heaven and a hell felt too orderly to come after a life that was so chaotic and devoid of karma and morals. And fortunately for his ego, the sights that surrounded him conformed to his idea of an afterlife.

He appeared to be at the bottom of a rocky pit, submerged in shadow. A ladder leaned against its edge, leading to the top. Far above it was a rocky ceiling. It looked incredibly far away. The cavern must be huge. An orange lustre flickered over the stones. He must be at the bottom of some pit dug into a cave. How they dug such a deep and wide pit in a ground that was made of purely hard rock was a mystery to him. But he'd have to get used to such confusion for a while because existing at all was already bizarre beyond comprehension.

It looked too ugly and he felt too cold for it to be Heaven. His surroundings didn't look horrific enough, and he didn't feel enough discomfort for it to be Hell. It was neutral. It was empty. It was meaningless.

What was this place? Why was here? Was this the afterlife? Was it a dream? Was this just a result of some weird and wacky near death brain activity?

Ryan decided to not question it. He didn't feel any pain on his body. But his memories of his death were still clear and vivid in his mind. He did die. There was no doubt about that. Which meant that anything after this point was completely beyond his comprehension. He couldn't even make up some grand meaning or purpose for whatever he was currently experiencing, like he could, at least try to, on Earth.

Ryan looked down at himself completely naked, lying on the ground on his back. Why would he be naked in his own dream? And if it was the afterlife, did God not have enough love in heart to give him some pants? Such a mean old man.

Regardless, his body appeared quite different than what he was used to seeing. Many scars covered his torso. In real life he didn't have any scars, he had a mostly smooth body. But his body now was different. They must've been scars of the wounds he received when getting stabbed to death. At least whatever cosmic process that brought him here was kind enough to have healed his injuries.

But couldn't he get some clothes? The cold air scratched his skin and made him shiver. The coarse rocky ground felt like ice. Maybe if he could climb out of this pit somehow he'd be able to stand next to the cave's source of light, probably some fire or torches. That'd warm him up. Nothing better to do in this dull dream or bizarre afterlife. Ryan stepped to his feet.

He noticed that something shone next to him on the floor. It was a white and purple crystal ball. A small splatter of blood dripped down it. On one side of it, an empty circle was carved into it. On the opposite side, a full circle. And on the top of it, a few sentences written in what looked like a foreign and exotic language.

It glowed a bright white. The glow brightened and intensified. But after a second, the glow faded and the orb turned dull. Then it did the same thing again, but quicker, and then quicker, and then quicker.

As Ryan stared at this mysterious orb, wondering what it could be, a shining blue box appeared in front of him.

Item Name Mystery Summon Orb Description A magical item used to summon living entities. Effect (Activation)

In order to activate the effect of this item, you need to pour a sample of the blood of the race of being you want the neutral entity to be summoned as, stand within a ten metre radius of the item, and chant the incantation carved onto the item. Once you have activated the item, it will summon a random neutral being of the race you chose for the item to the right side of the orb (side with an empty circle carved onto it), and thirty seconds after that, it will summon a random hostile monster of a random species on the left side of the orb (side with a full circle carved onto it).