“AHHHH DON’T KILL ME!!!”
The monster merely tilted its head.
Then, its jaw closed around his torso, tearing his body in two.
The lower half slowly fell, leaving a bloody pool and a satisfied monster.
“Boring.”
A crunch echoed through the room as a piece of popcorn was tossed into a man’s mouth.
“The plot is predictable, the CGI is horrendous, and what the hell is that acting?!”
He shouted, throwing a single kernel to the monitor.
The popcorn soon disappeared into the darkness of the room.
“Is this what movies have devolved into? Tons of budget for the marketing and getting overused names just to deliver nothing?”
“What a disgrace.” He snorted, taking a big chug of his beer.
The man leaned back on his chair, downing all its contents, and threw it behind him.
A loud clang resounded as the can hit the pile he had stashed unknowingly.
The man then leaned forward, opened X, and was about to leave a scathing tweet about the movie when his eyes caught something.
@DailyNews: BREAKING: Apartment building collapses in Milan; officials investigating possible terror attack.
“...What the fuck?”
He zoomed in on the picture. If anyone had told him that there used to be a building there, he would have told them they were crazy.
There was a conspicuously vacant space between two high-rise buildings, like the gap left by a missing baby tooth. Even the rubble was surprisingly minimal, with only a few remnants of stone proving that something was ever there.
Something exhaled.
“She can be a handful sometimes…”
His head snapped back, and his entire body went still.
A figure sat on his couch, veiled by the darkness. The only thing visible about it was the glowing, dark-red eyes staring lazily at him. The voice itself was distorted, with layers upon layers of different pitches grating his ears.
The man shot up, his chair falling from the abrupt motion.
“W-Who the hell are you?! How did you get in my room?!”
He frantically rummaged through his desk, trying to find his phone.
“Fuck! I can’t see shit! Alexa, turn on the lights!”
The room was soon illuminated, revealing a room that seemed to also serve as a trash can, and the panicked expression of an unremarkable man.
He glanced back, expecting to see the face of the intruder, only to have his eyes almost bulge out of their sockets.
Even in the brightly lit room, darkness still shrouded the figure and its surroundings, now with one of its blood-red eyes raised in amusement.
“Oh? So it’s like an invisible servant, huh. I wonder if I can convince Bea to get one for me…”
It chuckled, the sound scraping his eardrums. “Yeah, she definitely doesn’t want the competition.”
Suddenly, the eyes looked up.
“Alexa, my dear, can you please turn off the lights again?”
The man scrunched his brows.
Then, a hesitant chuckle left his mouth. “Heh, that won’t work. It’s programmed only to my—”
In the next moment, the room went dark.
“What?!”
Even his monitor and all other light sources on his desk were snuffed out, as though shadows had invaded them all.
“How did you do that?! I didn’t—mrgh!!”
“Ugh, you’re so obnoxious. Mouth, can you stop moving?”
His eyes widened in horror.
No matter how many times he tried to speak, his lips would never open. Even as he clawed his mouth apart, they still wouldn’t budge.
“Much better.”
The being began to move, the dark-red eyes approaching the man.
“MRGHRMGRH!!” He tried to scream.
The man scrambled backward into his desk, knocking the keyboard off the edge. It landed squarely on his foot, the impact so painful he collapsed onto the floor.
The eyes never stopped.
His body trembled uncontrollably as he crawled backwards, clawing the floor until his head smacked the wall.
“HMRGHMGHHR!!” He stuck to the wall, looking around frantically for a way out.
There wasn’t one.
Soon, the eye arrived in front of him. At the same time, he felt his lips finally parting.
“NO, PLEASE DON’T KILL ME!!”
He curled his head around his arms, dreading the impact…that never came.
Silence returned to the room, save for his loud breathing.
Slowly, he peeked between his arms and saw the eyes still floating in front of him.
“W-Why haven’t you killed me yet?”
The eyes seemed to tilt. “Why should I kill you? Have you done something to warrant that?”
“NO! No, I haven’t! I’ve never broken any law in my life!”
“Really? What about the things you like to say on the internet?”
“I-I’m just brutally honest with my words since people nowadays only spread fake compliments toward each other!” he stammered, defending himself fervently.
“Then you’re safe,” the eyes gleamed. “Why should someone who does good deeds on the internet be punished?”
The man’s eyes turned hopeful. “T-That’s right! My presence is necessary in the online ecosystem to combat those fake hypocrites!”
“Of course,” the voice said flatly.
“Ah, where are my manners?”
Suddenly, the darkness dispersed, and a faint light emerged from unknown sources all around them, finally illuminating the figure.
A man. An unfairly attractive man.
He was like the personification of the sun. Radiant and warm, a source of life for people.
“My name is Julius,” he smiled. His voice turned masculine yet soothing. “And I’m here to grant you a wish.”
The man was still flabbergasted by his appearance, a far cry from his earlier presence.
“A-A wish?” he finally asked.
“Yes. Anything you want, I can give it to you.”
He smiled warmly, spreading his arms. “I mean, you probably have guessed that I possess some means, no?”
He hesitated, but the man couldn’t deny that Julius was not ordinary.
His entrance was a little eerie, but no monster would be as charming as him. Most importantly, what if this was the chance that he had been waiting for?
In the next second, he slowly nodded. “I do have a wish.”
“I want you to make my girlfriend fall madly in love with me.”
Julius raised an eyebrow, pursing his lips as though holding a smirk.
“Oh? If she’s already your girlfriend, why do you need her to like you more?”
The man exhaled. “It’s complicated, but—”
“Eh, I’ll just find out myself.”
Julius then lazily extended his right hand towards the man, as his eyes gleamed in crimson blood.
He opened his mouth, but the distorted voice returned.
“Who gives you the most pleasure?”
A thread of crimson light pierced his forehead, and he felt a splitting headache as though parts of his brain were being scraped out and extracted with a spoon.
The process only lasted for a second, but to him, it felt like an eternity.
The man collapsed on all four, gasping for air as his clothes were drenched in sweat.
“W-What the hell was that for, you bastard?!” He looked up, only to meet his smirk.
“...Interesting. So you feel qualified talking about others' appearance just because you have a girlfriend?”
Julius met his eyes, his amusement apparent. “Even when you know deep down that she only does so out of pity?”
“T-That’s not true! She loves me for who I am!”
“Then why did you wish for her affection?”
“That’s—!!”
Julius chuckled at the man’s inconsistency.
“Rest assured,” he continued, nodding affirmatively. “I will grant your wish.”
“Your girlfriend will fall madly in love.”
The man’s lips parted, and a smirk began to form when Julius spoke again.
“Unfortunately, it won’t be for you.”
Julius slowly tilted his head.
An unnatural grin stretched across his face, as though the abyss itself had learned to smile.
His crimson eyes gleamed.
The man’s whole body stiffened, as though any twitch would rip his head off.
“...W-What do you mean?” he carefully spoke.
“What else do I mean?” Julius licked his lips, already imagining the hunt.
“I’m going to take your girl for myself.”
The man froze, but soon the adrenaline kicked in.
“YOU BASTARD!!” He rose, his hand ready to throw a punch.
“Body, stop.”
Immediately, his body ceased to belong to him. Only the essential organs were allowed to move, although it was most likely not out of compassion.
Julius chuckled. “...How typical. I always find it funny how humans tend to get reckless whenever their little pride is hurt.”
Then, even that trace of amusement vanished.
“Listen well, human.” The words struck like a physical blow. The room trembled.
“You’ve insulted my wife’s appearance.”
Julius calmly pointed a finger at him.
“Let’s see how you will like yours after this.”
To the man’s horror, his arm slowly crept toward his face. At that moment, his dull nails looked sharper than any knife he had ever seen.
He wanted to scream, to make his body stop, to do anything to prevent what was about to happen. But his eyes couldn’t even look away from the fast-approaching hands-turned-executioner blades.
“Oh, right. You can move your face and mouth, but don’t make it harder for yourself.”
At the same time, his nails raked across his face, peeling skin away in ragged strips.
“GYAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!”
He irrationally wished that it was with a knife instead. The dull edge of his nails made it so that every inch of his face was scrubbed many times over before any blood was ever shed.
“AGHHHAHHH MAKE IT STOP MAKE IT STOP!!!”
In the midst of his deafening cries, Julius exhaled in satisfaction.
“That’s more appropriate.” He closed his eyes.
Suddenly, the door to the room opened, shining more light into the torture chamber.
“Ugh, Takuya, you’re being so noi…sy?”
A brown-haired woman stood at the entrance, her amber eyes froze at the scene.
“AHHGGHG MIO HELP MEE!!”
Julius opened his eyes, looking at the newcomer.
He faintly smiled. “Are you his girl—”
“Oh my gosh!” She suddenly shrieked.
Strangely, there were no traces of fear in her tone. Only admiration and wonder, all directed at him.
“Are you Lord Nerovana from Dragon Crown Legacy?!” The woman squealed giddily, her hands cupping her cheeks, barely containing her excitement.
Even the pained screams of the man quickly faded into the background.
“...Who?”