The room was dimly lit and dominated by a bone-chilling coldness. It was mostly empty, except for a solitary metal chair at its center. Old and new bloodstains were on the ground and some on the old, dusty, and insect-filled walls. By no means was it a place someone could live in, yet, a man was imprisoned here for a year, or more precisely, 13 months and 21 days.
The man had long and greasy raven-black hair, an unusually pale complexion, dry and scarred lips, hollow eyes, and looked unbelievably skinny. Only a bit of skin was covering his stiff bones, making him look no different than a corpse. He was breathing silently, his head dropped and his emotionless eyes were staring fixedly on the ground. This man, who was tortured and isolated from the world for more than a year, was Arthur Bilgart.
He is, or used to be, a successful Businessman. An entrepreneur and the chairman of one of the biggest conglomerates in the world. Alas, his life went downhill since the second he was kidnapped by a bunch of ruffians. Technically, it wasn't kidnapping, no, it was better to call it poisoning THEN kidnapping. Unwittingly, he was fed sleeping pills then taken here, by the aforementioned gangsters. A bunch of burly tanned men of unknown ethnicity had tied him to the very chair he was sitting on for a very long time. Additionally, they were also the ones who tortured him, or at least those who did most of it.
The one behind all of this? None other than his wife, Claudia. She is his wife and was after his money and power, to put it simply. That wasn't all, however, for she repeatedly and quite elaborately said that everything that has happened to him was entirely his fault.
'Because you weren't a loving husband! Because you didn't love me! Because you married me to gain power and money so I'm just taking back what was rightfully mine.'
Honestly, after just the first month, Arthur grew tired of her complaints. He had accepted his fate and no longer resisted. Partially, Claudia's words weren't wrong, but that did not give her the right to kidnap him and subject him to inhumane and barbaric torture.
Actually, the torture wasn't the worst of it. He was subjected to worse things; Forced into a cramped hole, where he could only stand there without doing anything. He couldn't lift his arms or sit down, it was- literally- impossible. He shat and pissed on himself, starved for a prolonged period of time, and tasted the very definition of despair. With all of that, it was to be expected that his demeanor would change, and dramatically, at that.
Humans were ever-so-terrifying creatures and Arthur got to learn that firsthand. He did yearn to live and resume his relaxed and relatively easy-going life but that was only in the beginning. When it had become clear that he would rot in this room until the end of his days, he no longer resisted the torture or tried to convince his wife to let bygones be bygones. He became numb to the pain, to the mocking of the gangsters, to the unceasing and obnoxious complaints of Claudia, and, especially, to the hope of getting out alive.
'Ah… what I wouldn't give to have a glass of wine.'
The man chuckled and jerked his head backward, examining the eerie and dark room for the thousandth time. His hands and legs were tied to the metal chairs and it was futile to try and escape. Yes, he already knew that.
Time passed slowly, like ever before, he could only hear his quiet breathing and the rats, which would tentatively approach him whenever he was motionless only to frantically scurry away when he hisses at them.
As he had more than enough time alone, Arthur would think about everything. Literally everything. But, more often than not, he'd wonder about his company and what became of it. Did it announce its bankruptcy? Or did it rise to greater heights?
His conglomerate, composed of several companies, was Arthur's pride. It was also all he thought about in the past. True, when he was young, he was interested in romance and dating girls but that didn't last long. Ironically, he never dated anyone before Claudia, and when he got married, he didn't feel excited or happy. There was an inexplicable emptiness, a gaping void in his chest, much like what he was feeling now. It was a mix of boredom and uninterest in what was happening around him.
"Greetings."
The sudden echoing of a cheerful voice made Arthur twitch and turn his head ever-so-slightly. Before him, merely the distance of a meter away, stood a man in a jet black suit, resting his weight on a silver cane with a creepy skull on its top.
The man's face was shrouded by a grey mist. Arthur did not speak, he silently scrutinized the man then lowered his gaze, deeming this strange occurrence as a product of his imagination.
'It's about time, huh.'
After all, he had gone through, it wasn't surprising to start seeing things, no matter how wondrous or ludicrous they might be.
"Greetings, Arthur Bilgart."
Repeated the man, elegantly bowing and tapping his cane on the ground. Arthur still did not respond, his hollow eyes kept gazing downwards.
"They messed you up real bad." Continued the man, cackling like a maniac.
"I know what you're thinking but I'm not an illusion. I am as real as those squeaking rats over there."
The man seemed energetic, walking closer to Arthur and crouching down to meet his gaze.
"What can I do to make you believe I'm real? Should I get you out of here?"
"..."
At last, Arthur raised his head again and opened his mouth. His voice sounded somber and cold.
"Leave me alone."
"Ah! That I cannot do. I'm here to offer you a deal."
"..."
"Sounds too good to be true, yes? Well, it is, lucky for you. Let me introduce myself, I am X."
"..."
"It will take too long to explain every little detail but I will do my utmost to please you, what do you think?"
As he said that, X tapped his cane on the ground one more time, using more force than before. As risible as it may sound, the restraints binding Arthur magically disappeared. With a stiffened and extremely slow movements, he moved his arms and legs as he kept looking back at X's shrouded face.
"So you're real." Calmly said Arthur, neither looking frightened nor surprised.
"I expected a better reaction. You don't look the least bit grateful."
"Why would I be grateful?"
"I did unbind you, you know."
Arthur displayed a hideous grin, flashing his row of yellow teeth- which was missing a couple- at X.
"I did not ask for your help. Everything comes at a price, even the tiniest of things."
"Err, okay?" X seemed confused as took a couple of steps back and looked at Arthur up and down multiple times.
Arthur tried to stand up but his body refused to obey him. Eventually, he remained seated while massaging his thin and clotted wrists.
"Anywho, look at this."
With a simple and nonchalant gesture, X manifested a spherical purple orb embedded with unfamiliar symbols all over it. It was smaller than his fist and released an eerie violet light.
"All I want you to do is swallow this."
"..."
"That's it, I promise. Swallow this orb and I'll help you tremendously."
"Again, I did not ask for your help."
"Yet I am extending my hand for you. Your misery pains me, Arthur. By helping each other, we'll both be happy. You'll get a new life and I'll have achieved my goals."
"..."
"You swallow this orb and, when you die, you'll reincarnate in another world. A magical and wondrous one. You'll live however you want and enjoy everything it has to offer. For someone like you, trapped in this ungodly place, it's an opportunity of a lifetime."
"That sounds too good to be true." Retorted Arthur, scoffing at X.
The mysterious X sighed, fiddling with the orb as he pondered. He was trying to convince Arthur but it didn't seem to be working out.
"I'm not swallowing anything." Arthur coldly spat those words and, after a momentary silence, added, "The way I see it, you're more dangerous than my wife and her dogs."
X clicked his tongue and hid the orb again. From his subtle movements, it was apparent that he was irritated and definitely not pleased with Arthur's response and adamance on compromising.
"Fine, then. Have it your way."
Without even waiting for a reply, X vanished into thin air, leaving Arthur alone again.
Fortunately, X didn't undo the little bit of 'help' he had just done so Arthur remained freed, at least for some time. When the gangsters came back to feed him, they were startled to see his ankles and wrists unbound, which led to a severe beating and loud cursing.
A month later, Arthur's body couldn't handle it anymore. He had a heart attack and died but no one grieved for him. Claudia didn't care and her men were the same. They simply dumped Arthur's body into the ocean.
..
One would think death is the end, however, after dying in that same cold and gloomy room, Arthur found himself in neither Heaven nor Hell. No, it was a totally unexpected place, to say the least.
First, there was a ringing sound inside of his head, closely followed by a fierce gale squashing his body, which felt very unnatural. He struggled to open his eyes and noticed that he was falling toward what seemed to be decayed skin, disgusting gore, and foul entrails.
He wasn't given any time to process the ridiculous situation. He tried moving his arms and legs but, to his surprise, found out that he had none. His body was minuscule, smaller than an ant, and he could do nothing but watch as he fell straight into the corpse.