1 The Beginning.

For eons, man has worshiped deities, regardless of age.

A popular war was once waged between religion and man, but what if the outcome was the complete victory of man?

A god will starve without praises, or sacrifices being offered up to him/her, A man known as Jian knew just this. He hailed from one of the dominant States in the warring era of China, Qin.

He had slicked-back white short hair, which was thick and lustrous. His eyes were sunken and spotted a pitch-black cornea, iris, and pupil, giving off the illusion of a demon. His face was strong and defined, his features molded from granite. He had white eyebrows, which sloped downwards in a serious expression.

Jian was a rather tall man among his peers, reaching an impressive 6'1, but his athletic build could fool one into thinking he was a soldier but, he was a noble that was quite close to King Fui, and shared his ideas with this King.

The thought of going up against the gods would send a shiver down anyone's spines and the drought that occurs soon after did not help his case. King Fui blamed all this on Jian.

Fui: You fool! Look what you have done!

He barked.

Jian: What do you mean, King Fu-!

He was struck mid dialogue by the back of the King's right hand as he ordered his guards to take him away for, he was to stand trial for treason against the kingdom. Defying the gods was considered such and of course, a council personally picked by the King was always going to do his bidding.

Jian was found guilty of treason was to be executed by burning on the stake.

King Fui believed this would end the drought, sacrificing the man that supposedly made the gods angry but a blood-curdling cold air crawled up each and everyone's spine upon hearing Jian's final words.

"You do not get it, do you? Gods need us to survive but WE DO NOT NEED THEM! HAHAHAHA!"

The execution ground fell silent for a second, but this second felt like an eternity as the fire was lit and instead of grunting in pain, Jian just kept laughing as he burnt away. Rumor has it that the flames did not purify his soul, but he became the flames.

[Narration Ends]

"Man, stop reading those Chinese fictional books and let us go to a PC room. There's one right around the corner." Said an attractive individual who is approximately 6'4 in height, the body was fairly built and fair-skinned. He has dyed blonde hair with bangs that perpetually cover his eyes and a dark undercut, who was sprawled ungracefully on a couch, wearing a black tank top with green shorts. This seemed like a three-room apartment that these individuals shared with no television, just basic furniture and necessities-that includes laptops.

"PC room? But it is dark outside, Cho. Besides, this book is pretty darn good!" replied Kwan. Kwan is 6'3, a very well-built man with fair skin. He has a slender face and jet-black hair. He parts his fringe in the center. Kwan has light, blue eyes with thin eyebrows, and thick lips.

He had on worn-out blue sweat pants with a loose short-sleeved grey shirt.

Both men were in their early twenties and their looks made otherwise difficult aspects in life rather easy, they were models that made a reasonable income but unlike them, their last roommate was not so blessed in terms of facial features.

He worked at a convenience store around the corner, he had to put in extra shifts to carry his own weight in terms of shared financial responsibilities.

SFX: Creak

"What the f*ck! I am tired of this f*cking job!"

Kwan and Cho gave each other a familiar look and said at the exact same time. "The ogre is back!" before bursting into a fit of laughter. Getting up, they hurried to welcome Byung.

Byung is a young man with grey eyes that looked lifeless and bushy white hair, the sides of which are shaven and black in color. He had somewhat of a gruff demeanor and approximately 6"0. He was dressed in his work uniform that complimented his rather above average physique, unlike his friends, he had a face only a mother could love.

"Byung, I am hungry." Complained Cho.

"You two lazy f*cks, did you pick up the order at Jang's Restaurant? I sent you both a text, after all."

Asked a clearly irritated Byung but the puzzled look shared between Kwan and Cho gave Byung his answer as he slowly takes out his phone but to his anguish, he didn't hit the send button.

"AAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!" He screamed in anger with Kwan and Cho laughing their asses out but he composed himself quickly.

"Well, you guys shou-!" but Byung was interrupted by Cho and Kwan.

"Thanks, Byung. You're the best!" Cho smiled sheepishly, running to his room.

"Remember to get extra Kimchi," Kwan instructed, with a blank expression as he lazily walked to his room.

Two distinctive door clicks sounded soon after, leaving Byung on the verge of exploding with rage.

But the growling within his belly was like a battle cry. Defeated, he turned around and headed for the door. It was pretty late but this neighborhood, Myeongdong, was a rather peaceful place but had recorded a sudden spike in murders as of recent times. It was exactly 7:23 P.M when Byung left home and he had arrived, walked in, and out the restaurant shortly, in exactly 15 minutes.

Walking back home, he spotted a bald man sitting on the side of the road, dejected and clearly malnourished. It was weird but Byung found himself drawn to the man but not before checking his time, it was 7:39 P.M.

"Could you spare something for this p-p-p-oor old man?" The shriveled-up toothless bald individual, who looked to be on his last legs, begged. He had black eyes, although sunken.

"Could this day get any more complicated?" he thought to himself as he crouched down, putting the bag that contained his fresh orders on the floor, as he rummaged through it to find the extra ramen, he had ordered for himself but not before a unique tattooed red pentagram depicting a bleeding eye in the center, was seen on the right wrist of the aging man with the man taking note of this and a hidden smirk followed.

"There you are…" He said in a low-pitched tone but upon looking up, the man was nowhere to be seen.

Swiftly, he looked left and right but to no avail. This unsettled Byung…. No, this terrified Byung. Byung was a very superstitious person and believed in the most absurd things

"You look confused, child." The old man said, and to Byung's surprise. There he was, at the exact same location! Byung was momentarily lost in a moment of confusion.

"That definitely looks delicious, you sure I can have it?" this question from the frail old man brought Byung back to his senses as he recollected his thoughts just as quickly.

"Sorry, here you go." He gave with his outstretched right arm and upon collecting it.

"You, that face… I see you are just one whole bag of ugly. Looking at you reminds me of my dead wife…..." He paused for effect before continuing. "….. 20 years after her death, of course. You are by far the most hideous human I have seen…" pausing once more but just before Byung could flip out, tears came rushing out the eyes of the old man, which surprised Byung.

"That's why I cannot understand why you are the brightest light to me right now." He said, sobbing profusely. Byung stood there with a blank expression. This was as awkward as it gets.

"That's nice and all, except for the ugly narration. That was dead a shitty thing to say but I shall overlook it due to your advanced age and I really have somewhere to be so…."

Getting up, he inched back a few dozen meters before turning around and walking. Flashing a look back a few short moments later, and the man was no more.

Byung was more confused than ever, checking his watch to see how much time he had wasted but to his greatest shock, it was still 7:39 P.M. Suspecting his watch had a problem, he would not pay too much attention to it but couldn't shake off this uncomfortable feeling.

Returning to his dorm, where he lived with his friends, they rushed out their rooms the moment the door was opened. Like dogs, waiting to greet their owner.

"Wait, you f*ck heads should hold up." He warned as Kwan and Cho halted in anticipation.

Slowly, he brought out each dish, distributing them accordingly. "Kimchi Fried Rice for Cho, with extra Kimchi, of course. And, Ddukbokki for Kwan, extra spicy." Said Byung as he tried to sneak off to his room with the remaining of what was ordered but just as he was about to enter his room, he was ambushed by the two men.

"Where do you think you're going? Do not think we will allow you cart away the extras without a fight." Cho questioned, flexing his right arm.

"I agree with Cho for the first time, why do you think I started working out? It was for times like these. Now, hand over the food and no one gets hurt." Warned Kwan.

"I see, so you got past my illusion. As expected of people I see as equals. Come, we shall battle to the death and only the winner, shall claim the spoils of war!" Byung shouted before rushing towards them and a few minutes of a hard-fought battle was all in vain for the food had been spilled and stepped on.

In the end, they had to share what they had with Byung, with none nowhere near satisfied and with the extra food they thought was in there, not present.

After eating and cleaning up, each and every one of them returned to their rooms, calling it a night.

Byung checked his socials but as usual, the picture he uploaded on Istagram got 0 likes and a few negative comments. "Well, damn! At least today I got comments…"

Getting ready for bed, he suddenly felt a sting on his left pectoral muscle and rushed to the mirror to see just what was wrong.

Byung's mouth hung open, the exact same tattoo he had spotted on the elderly man was now on him but how the hell was this even possible? Clearing his eyes but the image before him failed to vanish and just then, his phone would buzz.

He had a message on Istagram, his very first. He opened it quickly but to his surprise, it was a vague message from 'Bo*tyeater69'. Looking left and right with a perverse gaze, he was all but in the clear. Getting his tissue and lotion ready but due to his lack of interaction, he could not identify spam and one could only imagine his disappointment upon opening the message but the disappointment soon turned to horror as it was a picture of the old man with a toothless broad smile and thumbs up, with a short follow up message.

"Hahaha! I knew you'd open it with that username, a horny little runt, aren't you? I have passed down a unique tattoo unto you and something else that I hope never awakens. I have set up a little surprise for you tomorrow. Thanks for the ramen once more, it was indeed delicious but next time, find me something a bit spicier." And Byung could not reply because the account got deactivated the moment he pressed the reply icon.

"AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!! WHAT THE F*CK IS GOING ON!!??" but another tattoo had appeared unknowingly on his left shoulder and disappeared just as fast.

Two cloaked individuals were seen approaching the elderly man, who was barely standing with a cane.

"So, you have finally come." The old man said

"Where is it..?" A hoarse-voiced male asked but got no reply. The old man already knew this was as far as he went. He took a battle stance, balancing his cane behind his neck. The next thing he did was lunge at the unknowns with his cane suddenly taking on the shape of a serpent, stretching over 377cm.

"Got ya!" The old man exclaimed as his serpent was mere inches from taking off the heads of the enemies but it was blown to smithereens upon reaching a certain proximity from the unknown that had asked the question.

The old man suddenly experienced an overwhelming paralysis, as if bound by invisible metal strings, unable to move even an inch.

What followed soon was an unnerving sight, his neck was twisted a full 360 degrees inadvertently snapping it. This instantly killed him but only one of the cloaked strangers accomplished this feat, with the other not partaking.

The physique and appearance of these strange beings, perfectly hidden by their overlapping hoods.

"It is obvious what our next course of action is, we need to find whoever he passed on his stamp to. Perhaps, he also passed on information concerning that as well." Said the high pitched unknown, presumably a female by the tone of the voice but one thing was certain.

Whatever Byung inherited, was definitely something coveted in a world he had yet to experience.