"HEY HENRY! Over here!" Daniels shouted over the chatter of the restaurant.
I walked over trying to apologize for my friend's shouting on the way to their table.
My coworkers from the company were seated at the table. I sat across from Daniels and Cathy, who worked in the same advertising department.
It was a final send-off. I worked here for 20 years, and I'm already past 50. I have no relatives to talk to, and even my coworkers, whom I consider friends, don't have it in them to complain to upper management.
Hell, they're the ones who went with the idea of sending me off after a nepo-brat complained about me being 'aggressive' and 'rude' after I corrected his mistake.
A couple of complaints from other 'friends' and I was let go, but not before a final celebration.
"Have one more drink. C'mon! Today's all about you!" With smiles that didn't seem to care that I practically lived at the company and could barely afford housing bills.
But what do I know, I'm just a man past his prime that got the short end of the stick.
Some Hours Later
*chatter* *chatter*
"Have you seen the—"
"Didn't it say that—"
"Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if they—"
I tuned all their blabber out of my ears and tried to focus on the chicken parm in my mouth.
It was sudden. I felt a sharp pain in my chest as soon as my neck started clogging up and my airways being shut due to something blocking it.
I held my hands toward my throat as I tried to breathe but the pain from my chest stopped my hands midway. It wasn't until I started looking bloated that people took notice of me.
"Quick! Someone call the ambulance!" A man's voice said as he tried to clear my airways with the Heimlich maneuver. I was blacking out and couldn't check if it was a coworker in my department. 'My chest hurts so much…' was the very last thought I had before I blacked out.
***
"#$*$&#^@#^$&?" An old man's voice boomed.
My eyes were closed and the voice wasn't one I recognized.
I felt something formless pick me up when I opened my eyes trying to look at my surroundings.
"Where…?"
'Wasn't I just at the restaurant?'
Confusion swept over me as I looked at a hall with books and a giant open door leading to an open area with people flying on floating swords and swinging swords without holding onto them.
My eyes widened until I noticed an old man standing below me. I looked below me and saw I was lying on nothing but air.
"Gah!" I blurted out while flailing my arms in the air.
*chuckle*
I turned towards the man who chuckled looking at me.
'Where am I?' was the sole question in my mind.
"@&#^&@? Hmm… @*@&#&^. *#&@! &^#^^#@." The man with long hair and a clean-shaven face called out in an unfamiliar language towards someone.
Immediately, A person appeared on his right with a bead bracelet. The man held his finger on one of the beads and started to make his finger glow.
The bead had a character etched onto it. After taking his finger off, the character glowed for a bit before returning to normal.
He pulled me closer with whatever he was using to keep me afloat. He forcefully put the bead bracelet on my wrist.
"#(#@(#. @*@&— Understand?"
"Huh?" I blurted out at the immediate switch between whatever language and English.
"Can. You. Understand?" The man said slowly to make sure I got it.
I kinda felt insulted, but brushed it off.
"Yeah. Yeah, I understand you. But before that, Where am I? What the hell is this place?" I asked trying to hide the nervousness behind my voice.
"You don't know? Hmm… That's shocking. We're in the most famous sect in all of the lower realms: the Heavenly Palace!"
'That settles it… I'm either having some sort of dream before I die or I got transported into this weird world… I wish my junior forced me to read more of this 'reincarnation' genre. It'd surely help me right now.' I mused.
'Well, I guess I can get more information about this world from this young man.'
"Heavenly Palace? Young man, I'm not sure what that is. Could you further humor me and explain what it is?" I asked trying to sound humble and sincere.
"Oh, I think you have a misconception about my age, but I'll tell you all about our glorious and prestigious sect." The man said while chuckling lightly.
"For the past 700 years, the Heavenly Palace has been the pioneer of cultivation spells and spirit techniques."
"Spirit techniques?" I asked, hoping to get as much information as I could about this place.
"You're a lone cultivator and you don't know about spirit techniques?" He asked with his eyebrows furrowed.
Another person barged in through the door.
"Senior brother! I challenge you to another duel! I stake my position as Second Class on this!" A woman with a fiery aura and brown hair shouted while charging towards the clean-shaven man.
*Clang*
The man blocked with some sort of spell while the woman continued bombarding the shield with her fists.
Each hit generated a sound akin to a heavy metal hammer hitting an anvil.
Every hit was blocked with a precisely placed shield.
The woman started flying and dashing around the man, hitting the shield as she went and eventually found an opening when the man blinked.
In those hundreds of milliseconds, the woman somehow phased through the shield. Her glowing fist was a few centimeters from the man's face.
Suddenly, they both stopped.
"It seems it's my win." The woman said while grinning.
"It seems so, Junior sister. The younger generation really are all monsters in their own right, aren't they?" He said while glancing over to me.
'How the fuck am I supposed to answer that! I don't know shit about this world or cultivation!' I thought.