Noah Hale lay sprawled across the narrow bed of his one-room apartment at the top floor of Riverside Heights, staring blankly at the stained ceiling.
If someone were to look at him now, they would think he was already dead.
Dark circles clung stubbornly beneath his eyes looking deep and sunken, as though sleep had abandoned him weeks ago.
His brown hair was a mess… it looked unkempt, sticking out in every direction like it had survived an explosion in some forgotten laboratory.
The pungent stench of alcohol clung to him, thick and sour, mixing with the stale air of the room. Empty bottles littered the floor, some tipped over, and others rolling lazily where they had fallen.
He hadn't taken a bath in days.
Noah didn't care anymore.
A soft ping echoed through the room.
The sound cut through the haze in his head.
For a moment, he ignored it and his eyes were still fixed on the ceiling. Then, slowly, he pushed himself upright.
His body protested in response then he swung his legs off the bed and stood, swaying slightly.
His reflection stared back at him from the darkened window… he was thin and hollow. He looked like someone who had already lost.
Noah shuffled toward the small drawer by the wall where his phone was plugged in, the charger was vibrating softly.
He yanked the cable free and squinted at the screen.
The message glared back at him in cold text.
…
[@NorthbridgeSolutions | HR Department]
[Subject: Leave Request Status]
Senior Individual Contributor / Analyst Noah Hale,
This message serves as formal notification that your request for a one-week leave of absence has been reviewed and denied due to operational requirements.
Your presence is expected at your workstation during standard business hours effective immediately. Failure to report to work as scheduled tomorrow will be interpreted as a voluntary forfeiture of your position.
Regards,
Human Resources
Northbridge Solutions
…
Noah didn't finish reading it.
Something inside him snapped.
The phone slipped from his hand and smashed against the floor, the expensive Samsung exploding into shards.
Noah pressed a hand against his chest, breathing hard, then brought his foot down.
Once.
Twice.
Again.
"Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you!" he screamed, his voice cracking as he stomped on the broken remains until the screen was nothing but glittering debris.
A loud knock came from the wall beside him.
"Oi!" a voice shouted angrily. "I know you're a drunkard, but shut the hell up! Unlike your unemployed ass, I've got college exams to study for!"
Noah froze.
Slowly, he turned his head toward the wall, his gaze burning with an intensity that scared even him. For a moment, it felt like he could tear through it… through the thin drywall, through the neighbor and through the world itself.
But the feeling faded. He exhaled shakily and slumped down onto the bed instead.
He hated this feeling.
He hated the helplessness, the tightness in his chest, the way everything seemed to press down on him at once.
He hated the world. He hated the systems. He hated himself for still feeling anything at all.
His eyes drifted to the floor.
There, among the broken glass, lay a shattered photo frame.
He picked it up with trembling fingers.
The glass had cracked, but the image beneath remained clear… a smiling woman with warm eyes and carefully styled hair.
Aliana who as his wife.
No… his ex-wife.
'Why?' he thought bitterly. 'Why did you have to do this to me?'
She had filed for divorce a week ago.
Not because they had drifted apart. Not because of years of resentment or abuse. But because Noah had found out the truth.
She had been having an affair with a popular musician.
A man who had money, fame, charm… and everything Noah wasn't.
When Noah confronted her, she hadn't even denied it. She had looked at him calmly and told him he was denying her the right to be happy.
As if loyalty had been optional… As if the years they had spent together meant nothing.
They already had a child at home then. A daughter Noah had loved, raised, and protected since the day she was born.
Or so he thought.
The divorce proceedings had been swift and merciless and the truth that followed had shattered what little of him remained.
His daughter wasn't his.
The musician was the biological father.
The affair hadn't been recent… it had been going on for years. Long enough that the child he had tucked into bed every night, the child who called him "Dad," had never truly been his.
And yet…
Because Noah had signed the birth certificate and because the court valued "stability" over truth…
He was ordered to pay child support.
His legal responsibility.
The words echoed in his head like a cruel joke.
He had lost the marital home… the house he had worked for years to afford, the place where birthdays had been celebrated and promises made.
He was forced to move out with what little money remained, downsizing his life into this cramped apartment.
And that wasn't all.
Aliana had filed for temporary alimony, citing reduced earning capacity due to childcare. The court approved it.
So Noah paid.
For a child that wasn't his… For a woman who betrayed him and just thinking about it made his stomach twisted violently.
'There's no point,' he thought numbly.
His gaze fell on another bottle of alcohol near the bed.
It was a King's Alcohol bottle and he glanced at the label which mocked him with its slogan.
"Giving You The Bravery."
Noah let out a hollow laugh.
He uncorked the bottle and drank it down in several gulps, the liquid burning all the way down. He dropped the empty bottle, letting it shatter on the floor without a care.
The neighbor was probably yelling again.
Noah didn't hear it.
He pushed himself up and walked toward the small balcony, sliding the door open. Cool night air brushed against his face and the city sprawled below him like lights glittering like distant stars.
It was beautiful.
For the first time in days, his chest felt light.
He stepped forward.
There was no hesitation and no second thoughts as well.
The world rushed past him with wind roaring in his ears as his body fell. He spread his arms instinctively with his legs spread as well..
"It feels… peaceful." he murmured.
His thoughts began to fade.
He wondered, briefly, whether Heaven or Hell awaited him.
Then…
PLAT!!!
There was darkness.
[Initializing…]
A blue screen flickered into existence.
Noah's consciousness jolted.
He was surrounded by nothingness… endless, suffocating black and the only light was the glowing screen before him.
'So hell it is,' he thought dryly. 'I expected flames.'
[You have won a once-in-a-lifetime chance!]
The calm he felt shattered instantly and the darkness peeled away, as though reality itself were being rewritten.
[Welcome to a New World…]
The silence broke.
Noah found himself looking down at a vast swamp, greenish waters stretching endlessly beneath him. He expected the stench to be unbearable but instead, the air felt… normal.
It was comfortable, even.
His body felt wrong.
He tried to speak, but his mouth didn't move.
Looking down, all he saw were slimy, amorphous hands formed from the same sludge that churned below. He immediately began panicking.
[You have two new notifications.]
A translucent interface appeared before him.
[You have received Three Unique Skills.]
[You have received a Main Mission: Expand Your Territory.]
Noah stared at the screen, his new form rippling softly.
'What the fuck…?'