He woke up with a gasp, as if someone had yanked him back to life—except life didn't seem to be where he was anymore. His heart raced as fragments of memories crashed into his head. Skydiving... the rush of wind... then... blackness. Now here he was, on his back, staring at an all-white ceiling that looked almost... too white. It felt unnatural, like the walls had never seen a speck of dirt.
He sat up, groggy,confused and naked,when a voice cut through the silence.
"So... how did you die?"
He blinked and turned to the side. There, casually sitting in a chair beside the bed, was a man. He looked to be about his age, give or take, with a bored expression, flipping through a file like it was just another Tuesday at the office.
The man in bed blinked again, his brain taking a moment to catch up. "I... wait. I died?"
The guy in the chair rolled his eyes. "Oh boy. Another one of these. Yup. You died. Welcome to the land of the dead, or whatever. So... how did it happen?"
"Skydiving... I think?" The newly dead man frowned. "But I don't remember hitting the ground."
The man in the chair gave a dismissive shrug. "You wouldn't."
Before the naked man could even begin to process that, his eyes landed on a massive figure standing by the door. The guy was huge—towering over everyone else in the room with muscles so big, they looked like they could tear through his shirt at any second. The giant was watching the scene unfold with an amused expression.
The guy in chair muttered, "Great. Another idiot."
The big guy by the door bristled. "Why the hell are you looking at me when you say that?"
The man in the chair finally glanced up, totally unfazed. "Relax, Hulk. I wasn't talking about you. My head just casually turned that way."
The giant blinked, then shrugged sheepishly. "Oh.... Sorry. Thought you were calling me an idiot."
The guy in the chair pinched the bridge of his nose, muttering under his breath, "Unbelievable."
Meanwhile, the newly dead man was still trying to make sense of his surroundings. The entire room was blindingly white, from the floor to the walls to the minimalist furniture. It was as if someone had forgotten that other colors existed. But what really grabbed his attention was the woman standing casually in the corner. She was watching the conversation unfold, arms crossed, a knowing smirk playing at her lips. And she was... well, beautiful. Stunning, actually.
His brain temporarily shut down as he stared at her, forgetting his surroundings entirely.
She tilted her head and raised an eyebrow. "Why the hell isn't this pervert saying anything?"
That snapped him out of his trance. "Hey, I'm not ,,pervert"
The room let out a collective sigh.
The man in the chair didn't even look up. "You sure about that? Might wanna check below before you go making that claim."
"What do you—"
And that's when he realized it. He was naked. Completely and utterly naked. And to make matters worse, he was definitely reacting to the woman's presence in a way he hadn't intended.
His face went crimson as he scrambled to cover himself with the blanket. "Oh, come on!"
The giant cracked a grin. "Rookie mistake, man. Rookie mistake."
Before the embarrassment could sink in any deeper, the door slammed open. A disheveled man stumbled into the room. He had a bottle of whiskey in his hand, his shirt half-tucked, and the look of someone who hadn't seen a sober day in a while. His eyes scanned the room lazily, landing on the naked man.
"Why the hell is he naked?" the man slurred, squinting as if that would help the situation make more sense.
The guy in the chair gave him a deadpan look. "I think you forgot to give him clothes, Captain."
The disheveled man blinked a few times, then groaned, taking another swig of whiskey. "Oh... right. The clothes." He pointed a finger at the giant by the door. "Hey, go get him some pants or something."
The big guy rolled his eyes but lumbered out of the room, clearly used to this kind of chaos.
The naked man pulled the blanket tighter around himself. "What the hell is going on here? Where am I?"
The captain took another drink before lazily gesturing around the room. "Well, kid, welcome ,,to,,,,,," He looked like he was trying to focus, but halfway through his sentence, he just gave up and waved his hand dismissively. "You're here now. That's all that matters."
"That's all that matters?" the man sputtered. "You're telling me I died, I'm naked, and I have no idea where I am, and that's all that matters?"
The captain squinted at him, then shrugged. "More or less."
The big guy returned, tossing some clothes at him with a grunt. "Here. Get dressed."
With a sigh of relief, the man quickly threw on the clothes, trying to ignore the bizarre conversation happening around him. Once dressed, he stood and wandered over to the large window at the back of the room. Outside was a sprawling, colorful world, completely different from the sterile white room he was standing in. Outside place stretched as far as the eye could see, people busily working on something far more important-looking than whatever was going on in this room.
"Why's this place so... empty?" he asked, frowning as he turned back to the group.
"Points," the captain mumbled, waving his bottle in the air. "We ran out. No points, no color, no fancy office."
The man in the chair leaned back in his seat. "Basically, we're broke."
The woman in the corner snickered. "We're also kind of a mess. But you'll get used to it. Or not. Doesn't really matter."
The newly clothed man stood there, dumbfounded. "And... what am I supposed to do here?"
The captain finally stood up straight, wobbling a bit as he did so. "You're one of us now, kid. Consider this your initiation. Don't worry, we'll break you in nice and easy."
The guy in the chair stretched and cracked his knuckles. "Yeah, newbie. We've picked something light for your first assignment."
He raised an eyebrow. "Light?"
The captain flashed him a tired grin. "Yeah. Let's go! hunt some vampires."