This couldn't be real. This must have been some sick joke, right? Where was I? How did I get here? Was I dead?

I instinctively stopped moving and just stared around with wide eyes and slack-jawed. I didn’t even notice that the guy I was supposed to follow was looking at me with increasing confusion. He started talking to me again, but I only noticed him when he touched my shoulder which scared me. I took a step back and looked at him with huge eyes.

I got surprised by his touch, but he got surprised by my reaction. He quickly took back his hand and said something that was most likely an apology considering his tone. He did another “follow me” motion.

I touched my face in frustration and followed the guy. I couldn’t get lost here. I had to stick close to my only friend… more like an acquaintance… or just a guy I met a minute ago, but he was still my only pillar in this unfamiliar place. On the other hand, he could be leading me to my slaughterhouse, too.

As we walked in tow through the hall, I took a few glances at the people present. There were countless humans with weird hair and even more bizarre clothing, but the most disturbing fact about them was their beauty. They were all 10/10 models. How did they manage to get this many beauties and handsome men together? This was ridiculous, I felt like a frog among these people. Also, many robots were floating around the place. Some of them just followed people carrying luggage; some were just carrying luggage by themselves. They looked like metal centaurs. The torso was quite humanoid except the metallic parts and the rectangular shapes, but their behind was just a flat area to place things on. Upon closer inspection, they were more like mini pickup truck transformers stuck in the middle of their transformation.

Some of the humans looked suspiciously synthetic, too. I had a feeling they weren’t 100% flesh and bones.

So far it could have been some cosplay convention, but sadly the creatures, monster or aliens mixed in the crowd were more than realistic. They were all over the place. Dudes with long robes and transparent heads. I couldn’t even see the shape of their heads correctly. Furry creatures with different colored dust clouds that rolled around them, covering their entire bodies. Blue scaled fish people with super long fin-like ears and breathers on their faces. Distorted spaces in red dresses. I didn’t even want to question this at this point.

Just taking a glance around made my head hurt. This was too much. This wasn’t really happening to me. This had to be a hallucination.

Where the hell was I? How did I get here?! Did I die? Was I in heaven? Nah, I would never go to heaven. Was this hell then? Was this guy leading me to my special, personalized torture chamber? Or was it something else? Did I reincarnate like in those endless novels? Nah… I was pretty sure this was my own body. Thank god, I wasn't in a newborn’s body! Virtual reality could have been another popular idea, but not in my case. The VR technology was still in its initial stages, plus I was way too poor to buy equipment for it. Was it time travel or teleportation? Was this the same time, but a different space or the same space, but different time? It could very well be both different space and different time to maximize my fuckedness.

Deep in my thoughts, I didn’t realize I was absentmindedly staring at a particularly outstanding figure to the side of our path. The little creature must have noticed it because it was waving towards me with the smile of the century. The ugliest smile of the century that is. The small creature looked mostly like a goblin from RP games. Little body, lanky hands, long ears, dark green skin and crooked pointy teeth. Contrast to this his… her… hmm, I couldn’t even assume its gender. Whatever... Contrast to the body; this person was wearing pink leather clothes with a matching pink tomahawk styled hair. The little disco goblin looked so ugly, it reached the point where it started to look good again in a disturbing way. Was there really a point where the ugly became so dense, that it began to look good? Anyway… at least I wasn’t the most hideous creature here. Silver Lining FTW!

Meanwhile, it seemed like we reached our destination at the side of the hall. Above the door, there was a sign that read who knows what. Probably something like: “Nail ripping stations”. Behind the sliding door, there was another white corridor with several doors on both sides with a red door at the end. It was eye-catching because it was the only red door, and we were definitely heading towards it.

The hell theory looked more believable by the minute.

Reaching the door the guy pressed a button on the side.

“Blah blah blah,” he said something similar.

The door immediately slid open, and we entered.

The room was strikingly different from the rest of the building I’ve seen before. This place looked like a lawyer’s office from a commercial. Wood, leather, and books everywhere. Behind a huge table, I saw a middle-aged guy with a magnificent, pointy mustache. He was wearing black, suit-like clothes, but the style was slightly strange. It was kind of baggy in an elegant way. Both his clothes and hair looked quite normal compared to the people in the hall. I don't even have to mention his handsomeness, right? I felt so inferior. I should have gone back to the disco goblin.

The man waved away a hologram-like thing above his desk and stood up to greet us.

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Nice! He didn’t flinch when he looked at me. So refreshing.

He said something while pushing out his chest.

“I don’t understand you dude,” I said impatiently.

He furrowed his brows and started talking to the table guy. Both of them had expressions like they were constipated. After a while mustache guy turned to me and smiled. Oh boy. This guy looked dangerous. That smile wasn’t normal! I had a terrible feeling about this.

He motioned towards the chair in front of his desk. I took the hint and sat down.

He followed suit and sit down after me. He said something to table guy who responded with a question by the sound of it. A second later he left, leaving me alone with creepy mustache guy.

He looked down at his table and pressed something. On my side of the table a part of it flipped over, and at first glance, something similar to a series of torture devices appeared before me. I nearly jumped out of my chair, but the mustache guy told me something with a smile. Probably to calm down? Or maybe he just told me there was nowhere I could run. Who knows?

The little platform that flipped up in front of me had three parts to it. I couldn't ask what they were for, but at this point, I was pretty sure I was going to get tortured and interrogated here. My damn 6th sense. I knew this would be the nail ripper station… or something even worse.

The guy at the other side of the table said something again while pressing down another button on the table. The result this time was a green hologram of a hand, above the leftmost part of the platform in front of me. The third part was a simple, vertical metal ring. The holo-hand was going back and forth through it, probably indicating for me to do the same thing. I looked up at mustache guy, and he motioned with his eyes and head towards the ring.

I wasn’t in a position to joke around, but that holo-hand was doing something awfully suggestive… sexually suggestive. Did no one notice this before? Seriously?

So, what could I do? Should I have tried running or refusing him? But he looked like this was the most normal thing in the universe. I hoped this green hand wasn't foreshadowing my future.

I restlessly moved around in my seat a little, but in the end, I slowly started reaching my hand towards the ring. I hesitated and looked up at the mustache guy. He was just looking at me with a friendly smile. He even winked at me in a friendly manner, like telling me not to worry about anything.

The lack of guards, weapons and handcuffs were a good sign. Why wouldn’t they use those if they had bad intentions towards me? Also, I was pretty sure that running would have been a death sentence. I wouldn’t even be able to leave this building. I couldn’t even read the fucking signs. Perhaps my best option, for now, was cooperation.

What was the worst that could happen?

I reached through the ring. Huh… Nothing happ…

Just as I wanted to celebrate that nothing was happening, several syringes shot out of the ring into my arm. My eyes became full circles, and I could feel the cold sensation in my body as adrenaline shot through it. I took a deep breath in preparation for a scream and my muscles tensed up so I could jump back. However, before I could do any of that, I felt a strong grasp on my shoulders, and the syringes disappeared, too. It was done in less than a second, but my heart was beating so fast I could feel it in my chest.

Mustache guy was standing behind me holding my shoulders. Holy shit… when did he get behind me? A second ago he was sitting in front of me. I looked up at him, and he was smiling.

As he patted my shoulder, I could feel a kind of numbness in my mind. I also felt dizzy. My hand didn’t hurt which would have surprised me under normal circumstances after what happened to it, but now I had a whole lot more to stress about than the lack of pain in my hand.

They drugged me, and I was going to wake up in chains with my ass raped. Why me?! I wasn't even good looking. They had so many beautiful people here, why did you have to pick me?! Maybe it wasn't sexual, and I would just wake up in a prison work camp.

I tried standing but he gently pushed me down, back to the chair. After that, he slowly walked back to the other side of the table while talking to me. He poured a yellow liquid into a glass and put it in front of me.

Fuck your drink! You want to drug or poison me even further?! Like I would drink your piss! I lifted up my hand to my head because a dull ache started to spread out from the back of it.

“What the fuck did you do to me?!” I growled.

Pointless question. I wouldn’t understand the answer, but he was signaling with his hand that I should calm down. Why the fuck would I calm down when he just injected me with something?!

I tried standing again, my head hurt like a bitch and the room was going in circles around me. In the end, I crashed back into my chair and held my head in my arms.

“.... sorry…... necessary….. while.”

Great, now I’m starting to hear random words. If I wasn’t hallucinating so far I was for sure now.

The dizziness coupled with a headache made me almost puke. I clutched my stomach and leaned forward a little.

Meanwhile, the guy’s expression turned troubled. He stood up again and walked back to my side.

“Are …. okay? It shouldn’t…. severe….”

I looked up at him. I was sure this time. I understood a few words from what he said.

“What’s happening man?” I asked him in a pained voice.

The guy’s worried expression turned into surprise immediately.

“.... already? … supposed to…..,” he said with a frown and pushed me back into the chair before I fell out of it.

“... relax….. breathe.”

Yeah, he was right. I needed to breathe.

I closed my eyes and tried to regulate my breathing while mustache guy sat down in the other guest chair next to me. Before I closed my eyes though I saw his worried expression which was reassuring. One wouldn’t be concerned about someone he was going to lock up in jail or something. At least I hoped.

After a few minutes, the nausea disappeared, and I felt like both the dizziness and the numbness lessened, too. I took a deep breath and reopened my eyes. He was still sitting by my side.

“Are you okay?” he asked me.