The story begins with a man named arthur walking home, tall with an ebony colored hair, eyes as dark as the abyss, hunched over, having no fulfillment in life whatsoever.
"What's the point of life?" He thought to himself "the rich get richer and i get poorer" as he opens the door to his apartment.
"They worry about who to steal from next, i worry about if i'm gonna live tomorrow." he continues to rattle on as he removes his clothing.
"They can play golf and i can only play with myself." He exclaims while sitting in front of his desktop. Turning on the monitor getting to play his last source of joy, a dying game called...
Hell:Legends Of The Raiding Shadow
A once popular game on PC, having even an E-sports tournament yearly, and this man... was once a legend, now a myth.
And now, the servers are all going down, and in 2 minutes, everything disappears. As the man takes a sip of water.
One by one, the player's on the server starts disconnecting, even in the midst of conversations. As a man approaches arthur's avatar, clad in a mix of rose and gold colored armor.
"Thanks for everything you've done de-" as he was cut off, disconnected... one by one the players dwindled, disconnecting. As they were all reminiscing of the golden age...
Until only arthur remained, then so was he following them, as arthur was staring at the "failed to connect to server" screen.
A message popped as arthur closed click ok, saying "We, the Withered Legacy Studios. Wish to thank our loyal fans with a sincere thank you for you're long support, and wish to provide all the players with a farewell gift.
And just like that, arthur suddenly gets dizzy, a headache, and then the last thing he sees was the confirm button.
(8 hours later)
Arthur wakes up in front of him is a great scape of fresh greenery! It was his desktop's wallpaper.
"SHIT MY ELECTRIC BILL!" he exclaimed in horror. Then afterwards notices the time "oh, i'm almost late for work." He tells himself out of boredom.
Wearing the first formal shirt he sees and grabbing a pair of pants and a tuxedo, he now looks ready for a meeting.
As arthur was walking down the street only stopping at a spotlight, a ball flew past onto the street and a child comes rushing towards the ball.
When suddenly a truck comes flying towards the child, with only seconds left arthur rushes to the child "YOU IDIOT!" He shouts.
"With so little time left arthur can only choose between him and the child... and he chooses... both?" The narrator explains in confusion.
As arthur rushes towards the child he kicks the child before he could grab the ball sacrificing the ball but saving arthur and the child from possible lethal harm.
The child groaning from pain asked "why would you do that mister!" "I saved your life you stupid kid!" Arthur replies. As a bewildered audience gathers.
"He kicked a child!" "He saved the child!" "Couldn't he have just pulled him?" The crowd bickered.
As arthur ignored the crowd, a blue haired girl was quietly staring at him from afar. Soulless...
It started to rain heavily, arthur looked up at the sky at the perfect time, to see an air conditioning unit in freefall directly below him.
He tried to back away but it was too late, the unit hit him, and shattered his legs before creating a loud bang... he survived but his life is over.
Arthur looked and he could see his shattered legs, 1 of his foot is on the other side of the street. He then screamed in pain "AGHH!!"
A crowd gathered at the accident "Oh my god someone call 9/11!" "Holy shit i'm gonna go viral on tiktok for this!"
Despite the extreme pain coming from his legs, he tried to remain calm and focused. Watching his surroundings, watching the current event unfold.
He reached out for his pocket to pull out a phone, "it's cracked, broken, but still usable!"
Not wasting any time he quickly dialed a number, and not long after someone picks up. "hello?"
"Yes, my name is arthur and my legs are shattered because an air conditioner fell on my legs." He explained calmly"
"Does that mean you can't come to work today?" The man asked
Arthur looked off in the distance as if in a trance, wondering. "What is this braindead piece of shit telling me?"
"Of course i can't! My feet are 5 feet from where my legs are supposed to be!" Arthur exclaimed in frustration
"Understood, i'll notify HR." The man replies nonchalantly as he drops the call, arthur continues to lie down and stare at the sky.
"It's too fucking bright..." he mentions to himself, not long after the event. An ambulance arrives and takes him to the nearest hospital.
After 3 days of recovering, his legs were permanently amputated... a nurse arrives, "hello sir arthur, we're sorry to say this but it seems your insurance can't cover for this."
Arthur staring out the window off to the distance asked "and why is that?" The nurse, nervous, sadness in her eyes.
"On the day of the incident... it seems your company has replaced you... and they wanted us to tell you... that everything is for the company... And you will be released later, i'm sorry."
"Please leave..." as arthur said that, the nurse bows respectfully and leaves. As the door closes a blue haired girl passes through, it was the girl from that day.
"Why won't you die?" She asked, arthur noticed her presence and smiled. "So i'm guessing you caused this?"
Her silence said it all, "mind telling me why you want me dead?" He asked out of curiousity.
She stares at him indifferent, "hell needs power. Slaves for war."
"Well You should've just asked first if you need help." Arthur mentioned as if he was talking to a normal person, not an unknown entity.
"Would you... willingly die in a war, your not involved in? To a realm of giant monsters, murderers, rapists, racists. And fight for them?"
Arthur lost in thought, then in a moment said "i fight for nothing but my own interest, so how about a trade?"
Raising an eyebrow intrigued, "a deal with a devil has its consequence you know... but even so, hold my hand and we can start." And she walks close to him and offers him her hand.
Sitting on the bed, he held her hand like a gentleman, "i, arthur siegfield shall gladly accept thine fair maiden's hand." he tells her with a smile as she smiles back flattered. Until he proceeds to kiss her hand...
(Please read the author's thoughts)