Prologue

After a New Year's Eve feast, he woke up as an ordinary guy, a second-year student of the agricultural academy, and felt absolutely disgusting. A headache and cats shitting in his mouth was the least of the evils of such a hangover in the morning. "Gotta find a drink... Mission nabe uan!", was all he could think about at that moment. Holding his aching head, he waddled over to the refrigerator and after rummaging around for a few seconds, pulled out a three-liter jar of pickles. He simply put the jar to his forehead to begin with, and after a few seconds he opened it and took a good swig of the brine. "Mmm... Cold brine is simply divine nectar on the morning of the first of January! Time to stop drinking it like that! Why did I even argue with those idiots? I should take a pill for my head." Said and done. The medicine cabinet is full of a lot of medicines, almost everything can be found. Finally, having returned to the room of the state-owned one-room apartment, the guy froze like a pillar, admiring the results of a friendly New Year's Eve feast.

"Fucking.... What a gan...! I have to clean it all up now! Fuck them, let's not celebrate at my place anymore. This shit is so fucked up, I'm fucking pissed off. There's a salad on the wall instead of a plate. The ashtray has moved from the table to the TV, without a can, just like that. Okay, it doesn't work, but still, the aesthetics suffered. Okay, somebody threw up by the window. I guess while everyone was asleep, some asshole tried to find a toilet near the window. It must have been Gray, that asshole can't find his fly when he's drunk, let alone a direction. Fakin' fakin' fakin'! Change the linens on the bed, clean the couch, wash everything and clean the table. Fuck that. I don't want to, certainly not right now. I'm gonna go get some air. And, at the same time, I'll add some freshness to the place.

Opening the door to the loggia in the kitchen, he took off outside. Insulated jeans, sweater, winter jacket, and knit hat. The bare minimum for temperate northern latitudes at this time of year. Although New Year's Eve was kind of weird. +2 outside, not winter weather at all. "Shop first! Beer won't come to us on its own!" Turning the corner, he went to the nearest convenience store. There was nothing to herald the arrival of the fox, but that furry beast comes without warning. Just around the corner there was a girl standing next to a blue-colored stroller. She dug in there a bit and took out the baby. I guess she was fixing this pile of blankets and diapers. It's winter after all. Where the fuck was she when she stopped under that pile of ice on the roof?! That's fucking dangerous! "Fuck!" - came out of the guy's mouth as a huge chunk of ice did break off the roof along with a good chunk of snow cap. He rushed forward like a doe from a cheetah, surprised at his own speed, with such a hangover. After gaining speed for a couple of meters of running, he pushed the mother and the child aside with all his might. He himself fell down where the deadly icicle should have fallen. She had the baby in her arms, so she wasn't hurt. She twisted in flight with shrieks and yelling and fell on her back three meters away. Our guy only had time to feel pain in his back when the rumbling and shrieking of his mother suddenly stopped. The whole body felt a strong pressure, and there was no way to breathe anymore. A throat full of snow. "Yes I'm just a superman... Just so long as my back isn't broken, I don't want to be a cripple! ... Call an ambulance quickly..." That's it. The small piece of ice that fell last broke through the hungover man's head, killing him on the spot. The snow in the place where the piece of ice had fallen gradually began to turn red. The girl with the baby sat in shock, rocking her crying son. She couldn't take her eyes off the hand sticking out of the snow and the red stain on the snow that kept spreading. The realization that someone had sacrificed their life for her and her son left a cutting pain inside, and tears spilled uncontrollably from her eyes. She would need to apologize to his family and do something to help them, she decided. But when she learned that he was a young student, an orphan without any relatives, the weight of guilt on her heart became even heavier.

There was only darkness and silence for the boy. But that was what was strange. "Why can I make sense of this darkness? I can't feel my body, I can't breathe, and there would be nothing to breathe under the snow. Am I unconscious? Then why can I reason about it?", - it was only as soon as he thought of this that everything around him lit up - "Starry sky!". He flew straight into the Sun, though he felt no movement or warmth from the sunlight. And strangely enough, even looking at the Sun, he felt no discomfort at all, though he should have been blinded at once.

- "There's nothing to go blind for, there are no eyes!" the voice sounded as if from everywhere.

"Fucking hell, I'm in space! Where's the sound coming from? It's a vacuum!"

- "No surprise there. I can do anything. At least like this," the voice came from everywhere at once again. There was no direction to catch. But that was the least of the bullshit that was happening to him. Hanging in the void next to the sun, he could see the thermonuclear ball quite clearly. And that thing smiled at him! IT FUCKING SMILED! I mean, literally, a natural mouth, with lips and black teeth. This glitch of a fucked-up junkie even talked to him.

- "Hey, dopehead, I see you're slowly starting to get into the depths of the asshole you're in," Sun spoke like many of his drunken acquaintances. "I'm lost in space, who am I talking to right now?" my thoughts were getting a little confused.

- "Who are you?" - was all his whacked out brain could produce at this point.

- "Like who? Can't you see that? I'm Sunny!" replied the thermonuclear ball.

"Does he take me for a moron?! It's clear that this is the work of some god. I don't know which one, but I'm not crazy. I refuse to believe I've been hit by an icicle so hard that I'm having these wild visions. I've never even done drugs before, and this," what else is there to say? It was the hope of reason for some logical explanation. People always try to give an explanation for everything.

- "Believe it or not, you got hit by some icicles. You even fell back. In fact, that's the only reason I'm talking to you right now. Well, not exactly because you reclined, but because you sacrificed yourself, saving a young mother and a newborn baby. Not everyone would do that when they're hung over from a beer. And how did you know that?" Sunny smiled her black-toothed smile again. Brrr, that was creepy.

- "So I didn't have time.... Somehow it worked on autopilot," he slowly calmed down, and began to realize what was happening. It was a lot easier to think when there wasn't a terrible headache pressing on his consciousness.

- "That's a hell of an autopilot you've got, I wish everyone had one. How many alkies would do good deeds. For such dedication, I just have to give a reward to the soul. Even I obey the rules of the game," the Sun spoke again.

- "Game? What game?" - The boy was a little confused, "I hope we're in reality and not in the fucking Matrix!?"

- "A simple but interesting game. It's called Life. Though I invented, and created this world, I too have unalterable rules of the game. But that's not important. What's important is that according to the rules I can let a distinguished soul play this exciting game again. And not necessarily on the same terms. Now think about it and tell me, what game would you like to play?" and that nasty smile again. "He's obviously up to something. What kind of special treatment for me shallow? He'll stick me in some 'fishbowl' and watch, amused. I'd better give up while I have the chance, maybe I'll get to some paradise?" - my heart was troubled by such a prospect, and by such a god. The ass of a former student sensed possible problems.

- "I'd like to decline, if I may. If I've lived my shitty life, it's time to rest. I don't want to solve any more problems, it's very stressful," he answered the god honestly.

- "That's your right of course, but your idea of life after death is wrong, just like all other people in general. If you refuse, oblivion simply awaits you. Your soul will dissipate into the world sphere, and you as such will be gone. The chance to retain your individuality and continue the game is for the few. So, what's it gonna be? What will your answer be?", the smile did not fall off the surface of the sun, and the tone was clearly mocking. Did he really enjoy putting people in front of such a choice?

"Well, that's a bummer. I can't get out of this, can I? So, what do we have? I seem to be off the hook, although not without a bonus. There's no heaven, and there's no freebies to be had. So I can choose to live my second try. And if it is, as god said, a game, then I would like to play something at least a little familiar and entertaining, without these gray dull everyday life. So, what do we have in our arsenal? Plot? Gameplay? Uh, graphics? It's gonna be maxed out. Story's the wrong question, too. It's not a solo game, it's real life. That leaves Gameplay. Shooters are out of the question, because everything is so simple. RPG or RTS...? I know! The second one! I've already played the first two episodes of Tyrant and Zerg ten times! I know! I want to be like the original Zerg. Hunting and evolving, adopting the useful genes of the prey. And a fantasy RPG-like world, with dragons and goblins and stuff. Classic!" I had a mental picture of what I wanted to experience in my new life, and I was about to voice it to Sunny.

- "I heard all that, don't stress. There's a place in mind. You'll love it. Since you have such a potential for development, you'll start from the bottom. It wouldn't be any fun. I don't promise to make you a microorganism, but you'll feel helpless at first," he said with that nasty smile again.

"Oh, I can feel it in my gut that he's going to get me in trouble. Just as long as I don't die right after revival. Or I'll blow my last chance!", - although it was not the best option, but maybe these changes will be for the best? He didn't even want to remember everything that had happened to him before.

The guy was pulled right into the open maw of the sun, and the whole place was filled with endless light. "Well, wait for me a new and terrible world. I certainly shouldn't expect anything beautiful from this god." My consciousness faded away. Darkness and oblivion again.