Nil was bored of life. Every day, every night — it was all a blur of mediocrity. Really, he thought, why couldn't I be somewhere more exciting?

That's not to say he was doing poorly in life. He was in a fine position for someone in his position; good enough grades, relatively active social life, a mostly normal family, and no issues with money. Just a very average life. What else could you wish for?

And yet, when he read his books, watched his anime, there was always a nagging feeling; a yearning. If he took a step back, he would recognize that the lives of the characters he looked up to really weren't that great. But he didn't care. It was the kind of irrational thinking that people his age did.

He never let his dreams leak into his life. No, he kept it all bottled up. He was lucky, he really was, and he knew it. But sometimes, the mediocrity, the boringness, the sameness started to wear on him.

This was one of those times. He was sleepily watching the pilot of a new anime. From what he could tell, it was the very epitome of genericness. A fantasy setting, with heroes and villains cast very clearly black and white, and probably a harem to go with it. Trash, essentially.

I wouldn't even mind trash, he contemplated. Just something different.

He sighed and stood up, mumbling to himself. "But there's no way that would—"

Wanna try?

His vision blinked out. There was nothing, and then static. Did I pass out?, he wondered.

Just when he was about to get worried, his vision came back to him. What did not come back, however, was his room. Instead, he was surrounded by rugged stones and a very blue sky.

He recognized his surroundings immediately: it was the show he was just watching.

"No way," he mouthed, awe in his voice. It was exactly what he had wanted. Questions were quickly appearing in his mind, but he silenced them all; he was here, and that's all that mattered.

He looked up at the sky. "I do want to try. I'll play your roles, but don't expect me to be a fool." He waited for a minute. "No response, huh?"

He turned his head; he heard screams coming from a cave etched into the one of the great cliffs that spanned across the area.

"I get to play the hero already? Well, I have no complaints," he mumbled, whistling as he waltzed into cave, not a single worry in his mind.

The cave was pitch black, but Nil jaunted forwards, knowing that the Gods or the writer would set him on the right path. Sure enough, he felt a hand grab onto his shirt and drag him into a crevice.

"Hi. Are you trying to kill me or not?"

"Shhh!" the figure hissed, putting a finger on his mouth.

He nodded in understand and began to whisper.

"So, are you male or female?"

"What? T-that's not important! What are you doing here?"

"Given the situation, I'm assuming there is a monster or some sort of enemy here. I am therefore here to rescue you. Please be a girl."

"Rescue? Are you a warrior?"

"Nope."

"A priest?"

"Nope."

"Then how do you expect to be able to kill a darkling?"

He thought for a moment. "Who knows. By the way, are you a girl? I mean, it's fine either way, but..."

The figure sighed and sank back against one of the walls. "If you truly wish to know, I am a maiden of Corvo." She sighed again. "I never expected to die here and with an idiot."

"Do you have a name? It'll make the writers job easier if they don't have to write 'figure' every time."

"Writers? What insanity are you blabbing about..." She sighed again. She felt that she'd been doing that a lot recently. "Alice. It's Alice."

"Of the Wonderland variety?"

She ignored him.

"...anyway, where is this monster of yours?"

She thought for a moment. "It... it should be down the tunnel somewhere. But it will likely sense us the moment we exit this crevice."

"Okay, can you be more precise than 'somewhere'? Like point in the direction?"

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She pointed to his left.

"Alright, see ya."

"Wait," she said, grabbing his arm. "What are you doing?"

"What do you mean? I'm going to kill it, of course."

"Kill it!? You have no chance! You will most assuredly die!"

"Ah, but that's where you're wrong," he said, pulling her arm off. "I can't die."

"Huh...?"

"See, this is the first episode. I can't die until at least the penultimate one."

She continued to stare him blankly.

"Yeah, I don't expect you to get it. But that's alright. Just sit tight, I'll save you."

He started running in the direction she pointed at.

"Hey, stop," she protested, but by the time she had reacted, he was already gone. "Geez, what a lunatic," she mumbled, sitting back down. "Well, if he dies, it's his fault. Not my problem at all."

She contemplated for a minute.

"Definitely not my problem."

"Definitely."

"Ah, damn it! It's my fault for pointing in the right direction," she screamed, pulling at her hair. She stood up and started running after him.

She found him scrunched against a wall, blood and scratches covering his body. He looked up and said, "I was pretty quick, huh?"

"What are you talking about, you're about to die!"

"Exactly. This is one of those shows where I need to lose before I can win, so I needed to get beat up as quickly as possible."

She heard something roar a little ways away.

"This is no time for your stupidity, get up. We're going to make a run for it."

"If you could just run away from it, then you wouldn't be in this predicament in this first place."

She bit her lip. "That's true, but..."

"Oh, it's here."

"Damn it," she murmured, turning around.

She could see the darkling's grotesque figure stalk closer, dragging it's great club along the ground. She could see only one way out of this; it wasn't likely to work, but there would be no hope for either of them if she didn't.

She stood in front of him and spread out her arms. "I am the one you want, am I not? Kill me and spare the boy."

Nil laughed. The scenario was perfect. Any second now, any second...

His mind was enveloped in a white light.

Does thou wish for power?

"What if I said no? ...I'm just kidding, sure, I want power."

Then sign the contract, human...

"Can I get professional legal counsel first? Does this thing make me evil? Ah, whatever. Sure, I'll sign the contract."

The pact is bound. Thou shalt be given a weapon suitable for thy heart.

The light retracted and the darkness of the cave returned, but he felt something in his hand. It was... a handgun. He frowned.

"Does this thing even have a caliber high enough?" he murmured as he turned it over in his hand.

He shrugged. If it didn't, he would die, so it must be special or something. He staggered up and placed a hand on Alice's shoulder.

"It'll probably be fine now. I made a contract with God or something."

"Shut up and run!"

He ignored her and took aim at the lumbering figure ahead. He pressed the trigger.

Nothing happened.

He took a look and sighed.

"Seriously? Even guns made by God have safety locks, apparently."

He turned the safety off and tried again. This time, a bright beam of light shot out from the barrel. It pierced through the monster, a gaping hole appearing in it's torso. The thing screamed and thrashed in pain.

Nil continued to fire, aiming at the head, but it's erratic movements proved landing a shot to be difficult. Finally, one landed, and where once the thing's head stood, there was nothing. The monster went limp and quickly crashed into the ground.

Alice looked over with shock. "You... you actually—"

"Oh, it's about time for me collapse. I think I lost too much blood. Please catch me—" he said, as, sure enough, he collapsed onto Alice, who also fell down with the sudden weight.