As the knife penetrated Null's stomach, ripping apart skin and organs alike, Null was completely frozen in fear; it wasn't his first fight, but it sure as hell was his first time being stabbed. What snapped him out of the trance was the words spoken by his killer.

"Fuck this guy must've been a low-crime sinner, I won't be getting much out of him."

"What are y—" a knife pulled out of Null's stomach cut him off.

Null dropped to the ground as he watched his killer slowly walk away; only fifteen minutes ago, he had found himself waking up on an abandoned road. The city loomed around him as if bombed repeatedly.

But he had died before when a drunk driver hit him, and now a shark wearing a fucking suit had just stabbed him.

Trying to make sense of his situation, he ultimately gave up and accepted his fate.

As he lay there on the cold cement, he wondered if heaven or hell was real and which of the two he would go to. Memories surged into his mind, each one a reminder of the past. As he sifted through them, a dull ache surfaced—his life felt remarkably bland.

But as he was reminiscing about his past, his thoughts were interrupted when a sharp pain surged through his body, like he was set aflame.

Weakly lifting his head, he sought the cause of his pain. A surreal scene unfolded before him. First, he watched as his wound healed itself, closing as if with a mind of its own. Next, he noticed his skin had taken on a lifeless gray tone. Lastly, he was entirely naked.

Not getting the chance to explore the new information, immense heat started to engulf his lower abdomen as the wound began to quickly patch itself together over the following hour.

As soon as the pain subsided, he checked the wound which had completely healed laying there for a moment, he couldn't decide if he should be happy or not that he didn't die.

After all he wasn't exactly chasing a goal or fueled by ambition. If he had to name his goal, it would be simple: happiness. Discovering what brings fulfillment.

But, while laying there a piece of glass caught his attention. He decided to worry about his goals later. So, he slowly stood up, unsure if the wound was healed.

Slowly walking over, he swiftly picked up the glass piece to hold up to his face to look at the new body in which he found himself in.

Here's what he found out.

1. His body is entirely gray.

2. His head and face are missing almost every feature. Only his mouth, ears, and hollowed-out, pitch-black eyes remain.

3. He sported two thumb-sized, branch-like horns poking out from both sides of his forehead.

4. He also seemed to have cracks or marks on his body, but he wasn't sure what they were or what their purpose was.

Luckily even though he had all these changes, for the most part he had a human body.

Null dropped the glass shard, eyes wide at the distant explosion. That's when he knew it was time to find shelter. The last thing he needed was a run-in with crazed, homicidal sharks.

It took him a couple of hours of careful walking in the bombed city, until he found a lively strip of buildings. It was a complete 180 from the destruction he had been in.

As he approached, he could see some signs of buildings. Various languages appeared, with English being the most prominent. Luckily, a clothing store had a sign in English.

However, he was low on cash. He was quite literally, naked. So he decided to go to the bar to find a job or some info. It wasn't the best plan, but he didn't want to stay outside any longer than he had to.

As he walked down the street and into the bar, various creatures looked at him with different expressions. Null, on the other hand was disgusted he never really liked sea creatures much; he always found them revolting, and now he was walking past various humanoid sea creatures.

Eventually arriving at the building he swung open the bar door, he settled onto a counter stool. Almost immediately, a shark humanoid bartender walked over.

A wave of disgust rolled through him, but he fought to suppress it. With an unsettling grin, the bartender prepared to take his order.

"Oh, a new face? That's quite a surprise... well, what can I get for you?" the bartender said, a cautious smile stretching across his face.

"I'm a bit low on cash. Is there any work I can do for some money?" Null said, forcing a friendly tone while eyeing the hideous creature before him.

The bartender stops of a moment before a grin starts to form. "A job you say? Well, I got the perfect one for you."" Lifting his arm he points to a table with a sizable shark sitting downing a liter of beer.

"I'll fork over enough to cover your clothes and a meal if you can take down that big ol' bastard."

"And why would you want me to do that?" Null said with a gaze of distrust.

"Well, that idiot has been making me lose business, so it would be welcome for someone to take him out."

Null glanced over at the imposing shark and reluctantly agreed.

"Alright, but I'm not covering anything that breaks," he remarks, casually stepping toward the looming shark.

Quite frankly he had no idea how the hell he was gonna pull this off The shark stood like a leviathan, a massive 9 feet tall, with arms as thick as mini fridges. Null was 6 feet of solid muscle, undeniably fit, but it's hard to compare to such an opponent.

The shark, silently listening, caught every word of their talk. A slow smile unfurled as he turned to face Null. "Ah, finally," the shark said.

"Another poor bloke wants to challenge me?" The shark lifts both arms in a bold gesture, ridiculing Null's choice of confronting him.

"Well have at it then."

Null had been in his fair share of brawls, but nothing like this. Sure, he could block a punch and swing back, but that felt basic. In this fight, he felt that he could die if that was all he could do.

As Null walked up to the shark, he noticed a glass of beer in the corner of his eye; a sly smirk appeared.

He knew he had no chance physically so before the shark could react, he grabbed the glass and smashed it into the shark's face, shattering it on impact.

Null without stopping, rushed at the shark who was still disoriented from the previous hit and stabbed him right in the stomach.

Just as he stabbed the shark with the glass, the shark surged back to reality. A powerful right hook landed with precision on Null's ribs, sending him sprawling into a nearby table like a rag doll.

"THAT LITTLE SLIMY FUCK." As the shark focused on its wounds, Null found his footing. He snatched a broken table leg, adrenaline surging through him. He rushed at the distracted shark. In one swift motion, he plunged the leg into the creature's chest, striking with all his might.

The force was enough to push the shark onto the ground while Null fell on top, quickly finding his balance. Null raised his arms and repeatedly stabbed the shark each thrust giving Null a sense of satisfaction; he kept going until a clear hole was made through the shark's chest.

Null had never taken a life before this moment. Perhaps he viewed the shark as a creature without a soul. Or maybe it was the thrill of combat that sparked satisfaction that made him continue. But it was most likely a mix of both.

As he stood over the corpse of the shark looking down at it, a wide smile broke out on Null's face.

But the moment was interrupted as a watery feeling enveloped Null, almost as if water had filled his body to the brim.

The bartender stood in shock for a moment. Then he broke the silence, saying, "Well, that was unexpected, but I'm thankful I'll be rid of him for a week."

Null turned his head. "A week?"

The bartender gestured toward an empty seat. "Here, since you've helped me out I'll give you a little advice."

Null took the man up on the offer and sat down, ready to listen to whatever the hell this man was talking about.

"Now to start things, if it wasn't obvious, you're in hell; we are referred to as sinners by hellborn demons. Other than the fact of our unique abilities, all sinners are granted immortality."

Null was intrigued by the immortal part; after all he only took an hour to regenerate from his near-death experience.

"Without drowning in the details, Sinners morph into reflections of their desires and personalities. If you choose to form a contract with a demon, you'll absorb some of their powers or lose some of your power. Taking them out fills your body with a watery essence. Once you're full, you're ready to level up which will happen once you sleep."

Null took in the information; it certainly would explain what his killer had said when he stabbed him.

"That felt very rehearsed," Null said with a questioning tone.

"Well, you sure aren't the first newly dead to walk bare-ass naked into this bar, but you are the first to take down the big guy," the bartender said with a slight laugh.

Before Null could utter a word, the bartender slid him a curious slip. It looked like earthly currency but was dubbed "souls."

"Here's your cash; go get some clothes. I've got a bar to clean, so I'll cut our little chat here."As the bartender said that he stood up and walked into a utility closet, Null quickly grabbed the cash and left to go buy clothes.

The minute Null stood up his whole body felt like it was broken and he immediately fell to the ground he was purely running off of adrenaline. How it lasted that long? who knows but he was sprawled on the ground gasping for air.

Struggling for each breath, he felt a strange movement from his body almost as if the bones in his body were moving around.

The more he focused on the feeling the faster they moved but he felt immense pain almost as if the bones were knifes shredding throughout his body.

Yet, amidst that pain, a bit of relief began to surface. After two long hours the pain had vanished completely, and he felt perfectly fine.

He let out a slight laugh, "That proves it." He figured out that he had regeneration and that as long as he focused on the wound it would heal. Clearly, there was more to grasp, but the pain was too intense to want to go testing it out.

The bartender gazed on, a look of pure disgust plastered on his face. A naked man flailed on the ground laughing, staining the atmosphere with awkwardness.

Null, too focused on his new discovery, rushed out of the bar to buy clothes, leaving the bartender behind to stand there for a minute reflecting on his choices.

Running through the streets past the disapproving gaze of onlookers, he arrived at the clothing store; the receptionists seemed to be unusually calm, but it wasn't Null's concern.

Unraveling the slip of money grasping approximately 120 dollars in hand. Wanting to save as much of his money as he could, he searched for discounted clothes.

He finally stumbled into some relaxed sweatpants and a gray sweatshirt. They hung a size too large, but at $60, it was to good of a deal to pass up on.

After paying and putting on his clothes, Null stood outside the building, staring blankly at the sky he wondered what he would do now. What is his goal?

But as if hell didn't want to give him a break, Suddenly everything had turned upside down.

"Is this the brat who killed our guy?" a shark in a black suit asked his partner.

"Should be. He isn't naked though, but he is all gray," another shark said sporting a blue suit.

"Ehh doesn't matter, let's call it a job well done and get ourselves a drink." Both sharks laugh as they pat Null down and take whatever he had valuable on him.

Null watched them make their way to the bar he had just left. A single, frustrated thought blared through his mind MOTHER FUCKER.