"PPPFFFFFFFFF* One man spat out his drink like a sprinkler volley before he started uncontrollably choking on some liquid stuck in his throat, tears coming out of his eyes as his choking turned into maddening laughter. "Did you hear that! No fucking way! That guy's name is BallsDeep69!"

"Wait really!? That has to be a joke right?"

"No! It's real! I heard it with my own ears. Why else would the secretary be acting like that!"

The secretary had said his name loud enough for some of the nearby tables who had their eyes trained there to listen, and they all at once lost their minds. The word spread like wildfire and the entire room of drunken men began to absolutely lose themselves laughing like this was the funniest thing they have ever heard in their entire life.

The sudden contagious laughter of the room got to Jenny and she could not help but burst out laughing herself, she had held it in for too long and this was the final straw that pushed her over the edge.

"I-I'm sorry…" She exclaimed putting her hands on her mouth to try and once again hold it in before ducking down under her desk out of embarrassment.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAH!! His name is Balls! BallsDeep69! How much did his parents hate him for them to name him that!"

"Yeah! man, man! I can just imagine this… He came out of her vagina and they immediately frowned! he looked ugly as shit! They didn't want to kill him so they named him fucking Balls and abandoned him!"

"Mate! Please stop! You're killing me! Now I'm actually imagining that in my mind!" He held his hurting stomach tightly and rubbed the sudden flood of tears in his eyes.

"Yeah! No wonder he's wearing a mask! At first, I thought he might be some rookie assassin or wanna be renegade but this makes a lot more sense!"

The masked man simply stood still, taking all the insults and laughter head-on like nothing happened. He simply stared straight ahead in silence, only God knew what he was thinking and it was probably nothing pleasant.

"Hey! Hey guys! Watch this!" One man stood up tipsily out of his seat.

He was a man of tall stature, his shoulders were broad and his constitution was like that of a mountain. His blonde hair was tied into a bun at the top of his head and he wore what looked like a standard set of brown leather armour and a bastard sword sheathed around his waist.

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But, what stood out the most out of his attire was an iron plate worn proudly dangling around his neck.

"Hahaha! Go get him Ron! Give him a newbie's initiation!"

His rosy face was smiling unnaturally wide and the mood it exuded was that of confidence and amusement as he strolled over towards the front desk where the masked man stood, people making way when he came past him as they cheered him on all the way.

"Hey there Balls! You gonna just stand there like a statue or are you gonna talk back!?" Ron leaned casually on the desk as he tried to take a peek under his mask, his speech was heavily slurred and his movements felt heavy, it was more than clear that he was drunk out of his mind.

"..." The masked man did not react and simply stood silent, not moving an inch as the crowd praised on.

"Still nothing to say? Damn… I must have really scared you or you must really be ugly as hell!"

"..."

"Huh!? Are you listening to m—"

"Hey, Lady! Is my registration over? How much is it for a room upstairs?" The masked man casually interrupted Ron like he was not there or even worth his time.

"Go Ron! Don't let him do you like that! Teach him a lesson!"

"BEAT HIS ASS!"

"EXPOSE HIM!!"

The cheers from the crowd continued and only served to even further boost his inflated ego. Ron smirked with more confidence than ever before as he brazenly walked directly into the masked man's face.

"HEY! Listen here… BALLS! I don't think you know how things work around here… You will do what I want you to do… AND FIRST THING I'LL HAVE YOU DO IS TAKE OFF THAT STUPID MASK AND SHOW US HOW UGLY YOU REALLY ARE!!" And with those words, Ron lunged and thrust his hands forward toward's the masked man's face as the crowd exploded in the back.

"HAH! GOTCH—"

"Shut up…"

*SMAAAASSSHHH*

"..."

'What… What just happened…' He thought to himself. It only felt like an instant ago that his hands were touching his opponent's mask… And in the next, he felt a crushing, iron grasp squeeze his face before he felt like he flew like a rag doll.

The entire world in front of him was nothing but a blurry half-white half-black mess, his body feeling like it was run over by a carriage.

Nothing felt real and reality had yet to set in… The sounds all around him were muffled and the world was only slowly coming back into view. It almost felt like he was in a bad dream… But, it did not take too long for him to realize that it was more like a nightmare.

The world slowly came into view, and he found most of his vision was covered in black that he later recognized as his opponent's filthy gloves. The only light that was entering his eyes was from the tiny slits separating his fingers.

But, the light was not so bright… It was shrouded by a cold, unforgiving darkness. The man's mask was clear, but through that laid two dormant eyes that felt like it was peering into his very soul… There was no light in them, no colour, no hint of it at all, but his entire body was screaming at him with every fibre to look away. But, from the way he was being held, there seemed to be no escape.

In that instant, time froze… The feeling of death and dread had never loomed any closer above his head until now. He had to do something, and his first instinct was to reach the sword sheathed around his waist, but his entire body felt far too broken from the initial impact.

His desperation even further intensified. With frantic and shaky eyes, he went into a full frenzy trying his best to hang onto dear life… He began squirming around like a worm and screening as he began biting his opponent's gloves like a dog.

That was when he heard a cold, distant voice that put an end to all of his futile efforts.

"I said shut up…"

Sparks of orange began to flicker in the previous darkness of his fingers that put an end to the cold atmosphere of the air…

"AHHHHHH!!" He screamed like a banshee, noticing his teeth melting right before his eyes, tears welling up in his vision only to evaporate the second they left them.

The increasing flickers seemed to last an eternity slowly increasing in pain, power, and intensity as he pushed his aching body even further to escape the ticking time bomb…

But, no matter how much he struggled, he was not able to run away from the burning hell and smell of his own burning flesh... The pain was too intense to the point it didn't feel real... It was far too much for him to handle... And thus... his vision went blank...