On a long, narrow, and winding road, stone bricks paved the street, enduring the constant wear of passing carts, horses, and pedestrians struggling to survive another day in this world. Houses and buildings lined both sides, their brick walls casting large shadows on the street, where merchants often set up their makeshift stalls.
With the sunrise, life also emerged on the street. People from all over the city gathered here to buy goods from the merchants and socialize. The noise of children running and playing, people talking and laughing, combined with the sounds of blacksmiths working in their forges, artisans practicing their crafts, and animals moving from one side to the other, all blended into a single overwhelming symphony.
When all these sounds mixed with the delicious aroma of freshly baked bread from the bakeries and the not-so-pleasant stench of open sewers — proof of a poor, nearly nonexistent sanitation system — the distinct and unmistakable atmosphere of medieval cities became apparent.
But well, calling this environment "medieval" might be historically incorrect, after all, millennia had passed since the true medieval period.
In fact, even the contemporary age had ended centuries ago. But who cared? It had been a long time since any historian bothered to count the years in this cursed world. No one cared about such things anymore, so he could call it whatever he wanted.
Normally, he wasn't allowed to walk through the city, so today he wanted to make the most of it just to observe. That's right, he only wanted to watch people living. After all, he himself was never granted that luxury at birth — he never had what people called life. He survived. Day by day, he merely survived. But even that was coming to an end; after all, anyone who "worked" in his line of business had their days numbered.
"Can I help you, sir?"
A rough, raspy voice — one that seemed to belong to a middle-aged man who had smoked too much in his life — reached his ears, snapping him out of his thoughts. But he didn't lift his head to look at the source of the voice; he wasn't allowed to do that. So he simply remained still, staring down at the long, ragged piece of fabric that covered his body, hiding even his filthy, bare feet from the eyes of others.
"Give me a beer."
A second voice reached his ears, this time a bit thinner — it sounded like a young man's. Immature, spoiled, short, fat... No, he didn't know these things just from the voice. After all, this voice was familiar. He knew this person very well. Well, maybe "knew" wasn't the right word... He hated this person.
But that didn't matter much; he didn't have the right to feel things like hatred.
"Of course, sir! And something for this... thing?"
He heard the smoker's question and felt an overwhelming urge to laugh at himself. Why? Because he already knew the spoiled brat's answer. Who the hell would order something for a "thing" like him? He really was pathetic.
As expected, the spoiled brat simply let out a cheerful laugh at the smoker's joke.
Since his head was lowered, he could only see the brat's legs walking forward and settling onto one of the bar stools to enjoy his beer. Naturally, he didn't even think of moving. "Things" like him weren't allowed to sit. And so, he was forced to remain standing, listening to the brat's conversation — at least until something more interesting caught his attention.
And it didn't take long for a little girl's voice to do just that:
"Tell me a story, please!"
He turned slightly to his right, trying his best not to attract the spoiled brat's attention. After all, he wasn't supposed to be looking around either.
A few meters away, he saw a little girl with black hair tied in a ponytail. She wore a small pink dress and had an excited smile on her face. But what truly caught his attention was the fact that she was handing a silver coin to an old woman sitting on the ground, wrapped in colorful blankets.
The old woman had long white hair tied into multiple braids, dark skin marked with sunspots and wrinkles from constant exposure to the sun, and along with her dusty, dirty clothes, it seemed she hadn't bathed in months. She was homeless — he had no doubts about that. But when he looked at her face, more specifically into her large, deep, completely white eyes, his perception of her changed. Those eyes... those were not the eyes of an ordinary person.
For an instant, he felt his gaze lock onto those mysterious white pupils, and he saw the old woman flash a strange smile in his direction. Startled, he barely paid attention to the missing teeth in her grin. He quickly averted his eyes and looked back down — he didn't want to be recognized here and cause trouble. After all, that would mean going back to that place.
"Ohh! A silver coin! Thank you, little one. With this, I can have a proper meal! So... What story do you want to hear?"
However, when he heard the old woman's cheerful voice thanking the little girl, he let out a sigh of relief. It seemed he hadn't been recognized. He was probably just being overly paranoid.
"Tell me about God's Path!"
The moment the little girl mentioned God's Path, he ignored all concerns about being recognized and turned his full attention back to the old woman and the child. After all, he was like the little girl — he, too, was full of curiosity about the path that changed the world.
Even though he already knew some things, it wasn't like he could just go around asking everything he didn't know to the people he lived with. After all, they probably didn't know much either. No one had time to think about the Path while desperately trying to survive another day in that hell.
"God's Path, huh? Why does everyone always want to hear the same stories? I know far more interesting ones, you know... Well, whatever. Since this is what you want, I don't have much of a choice, do I? Your wish is my command, little one!"
He was a bit confused by how much the old woman complained before telling the story. What kind of tale in this world could be more interesting than God's Path? Well, he didn't care. He just stayed quiet and listened as the old woman continued speaking:
"A long time ago, this world we call Earth was at its peak. Thanks to technology, humanity had no trouble facing any challenges. Nothing could threaten us within the planet, and with the unification of the world and the great government leading us, we soon began to explore and dominate space as well.
It was an almost perfect society, where everyone worked for the prosperity of humanity. Hunger, poverty, prejudice — all those terrible things no longer existed. Everyone had the security and confidence that they could raise their families and live in peace. However, on one fateful and singular day, that paradise turned into hell.
The sky turned red, and massive natural disasters of unprecedented scale erupted around the world simultaneously, without any logical explanation. Even humanity's greatest weapon, technology, was powerless against these calamities and was nearly completely destroyed. Gigantic structures collapsed one by one. The families that only lost their homes were considered lucky, as most lost the lives of some of their members.
Billions of people perished, yet the disasters did not stop until everything was obliterated. The world built by generations upon generations of people was almost entirely destroyed in just 24 hours. That day became known in history as the day the world ended.
But... amid so much chaos and despair, after exactly 24 hours, a new beginning, filled with dreams and hope, was presented to humanity. As the vibrant and clear blue returned to dominate the sky, a gigantic black serpent descended from the heavens in a mystical manner, and all the humans who had survived the disasters heard its voice.
'God's Path has been opened! Everything is possible... For those who wish to become God!' Those few words were the only ones the serpent spoke before disappearing as mysteriously as it had appeared.
In its place, a grand golden gate materialized, and soon, driven by the serpent's words, the survivors of the calamities began to rush towards the gate, blinded by the opportunity to become God. Without a second thought, they abandoned this ruined world behind, embarking on a journey to reach the end of that unknown path."
He watched intently as the old woman paused for a moment to cough. Without realizing it, he had become completely immersed in her story. Even though he had heard it a few times before, he had to admit — the old woman had a talent for storytelling.
"And what happened to the people who entered the path?"
To his surprise, the little girl's question was almost exactly what he had been thinking. It was a well-known fact that no one had ever returned to Earth after passing through the golden gate. Because of this, information about the path was extremely limited. In fact, it was difficult to even call it information, as it was mostly made up of beliefs and assumptions.
But even though no one had ever returned, even though no one knew what truly lay beyond that golden gate, people never stopped crossing it. Why? It was incredibly foolish to dive headfirst into something entirely unknown and dangerous. So why did they do it? Well, he never had any desire to cross that stupid gate, so he wasn't exactly the best person to answer that question.
But... if he had to think of a reason, escaping this cursed world for an adventure that could make you God — a being who could do anything — that... that seemed like a tempting offer for normal people.
'But how would I know? Unfortunately, I'm not a normal person. I don't know how they think.'
He was pulled out of his internal reflection by the old woman's loud coughing. It seemed like she wasn't in the best of health. Not that it was surprising — she was homeless, after all. But after a few seconds of coughing, she finally managed to breathe again as she recovered. After a few more moments, she seemed ready to answer the little girl's question, but... before she could say anything, a shiver ran down his spine. He felt an eerie weight in the air, as if someone was watching him.
Then, a firm hand landed on his shoulder.
In an instant, he saw the face of a bald man with a long red beard appear in his line of sight. The grin plastered on the man's face made it clear — he was in trouble. He sighed.
'Fuck...'
This time, he was sure — he had been recognized. Unfortunately, it seemed like he wouldn't get to hear the end of the story. And as soon as the bearded man opened his mouth and shouted excitedly, he knew his fun was over.
"I knew it! It's the Demon! It's really the Demon!"
'Son of a bitch!'