The blinds in the young man's dim room hadn't been opened in days. The rotten odor of old chips and soda cans filled his room with a mountain of them on his desktop. Behind that mountain was Sorin Ren, who was sprawled in his chair while holding his controller. He blinked tiredly, realizing the faint light wasn't from his TV - he had been up all night.
Sorin walked over to the blinds and opened them, and light instantly pierced the room. It must have been around noon, but without paying it much attention, Sorin closed the blinds again and simply yawned.
Looking at the trash and mess around the room he paid it no attention and walked towards the bathroom to get ready.
He sighed and said in an annoyed tone, "I'll clean this mess up eventually there's always next time," Which was something he told himself everyday of the month.
This was his attitude towards life which was why he lived this way. His procrastination only made things worse.
Outside of his room he noticed a plate of food with a note on it. His little sister must have made it. The note read, "Please eat some breakfast and do something productive, you useless brother of mine, also GET A JOB :)". The rude tone used in the message was a little contradictory since a smiley face was at the end of the note but nonetheless he had a faint smile on his face.
He sighed and placed the plate on his desk to eat later.
In the bathroom mirror a stranger started back at Sorin, the sight of himself made his stomach knot. A thin goatee and mustache stuck to his chin and he looked incredibly pale, which made for an unsightly appearance on top of having dark circles under his eyes.
Because of this his younger sister usually teased him for being a vampire since he was a shut-in who never went outside. Sighing he closed the bathroom door and cleaned himself up which was a rare occurrence.
**
Later that day he was in the living room by himself playing some video games since he had no friends and therefore nothing to do. His siblings were also both in some form of school at the moment so he usually had the house all to himself on the weekdays. At that same moment his mother walked into the house carrying some groceries.
Putting the groceries down his mother looked at him with a concerned look on her face as if she pitied him.
Sorin scoffed, "What?"
"Are you really content with spending your days like this honey?" she asked calmly, while continuing to put the bags down. "You're seventeen and you should at least get a job or even a hobby. This lifestyle really isn't healthy... at all".
Sorin rolled his eyes.
"I know," he said in a flat tone.
"You have told me this a thousand times. I know you only say it out of concern, but I don't need people constantly reminding me how useless and lazy I am everyday."
Sorin's mom sighed, "We only say these things because everyone in this house wants the best for you, I know things have been hard on you ever since your father-"
"Please don't," Sorin cut off his mom and put his shoes on.
Sorin sighed after not wanting to hear more and walked towards the door, "I'm going to the store, I won't be gone for long".
**
After buying some drinks and other snacks Sorin exited the grocery store. He was lost in thought and thinking back to the conversation he had with his mother. Deep down in Sorin's heart he wanted to do better and turn his life around for the best but no matter how hard he tried he couldn't bring himself to change.
Sorin was a victim to one of the deadliest sins in the world.
Sloth.
No matter how hard he tried to change things he somehow found an excuse to avoid change and therefore gave into sloth. His procrastination on top of everything made for a truly deadly combo.
Sorin sighed, having come to terms that he would stay lazy for a while longer and whispered, "I'll find some other time to try." Sorin began walking across the street not even bothering to look both ways on the street.
Suddenly,
The sound of the truck horn rang, its deafening sound and endless, the world froze and his life seemed to flash before his eyes. Sorin never believed in such sayings but here it was happening before his very eyes.
And then only pain followed,
Sorin flew through the air with a dull look on his face. Strangely his final moments were peaceful and without panic.
However,
His final moments were also filled with regret and a longing for change. A teardrop fell down his face while he whispered the words, "I'm sorry".
Sorin had thought about the times he'd treated his mom and sister with indifference or simply ignored their kindness.
He was truly devastated and regretted every moment of his reckless behavior.
The fire that had ignited in Sorin's soul was extinguished and he closed his eyes as he lay on the cold pavement.
Darkness followed and what seemed to be an eternity passed.
Sorin opened his eyes or whatever allowed him to see only to find himself in a lifeless void. The darkness stretched an infinite distance and if he had a body right now he would have been trembling. Calming down, realizing that he was dead Sorin wanted to break down into tears. He could never see his family again.
However before Sorin could continue pitting himself, a loud and cryptic voice echoed through the empty void and seemed to be directed towards him.
"Do you wish to live?"
Sorin nervously responded, "Who- who are you"? The voice paused for a moment and then continued.
"That matters not but I sense vast potential sleeping within you, you must make a deal with me".
Sorin was bewildered, a deity had randomly appeared and was already trying to bargain up a deal with him. Even though he didn't have a physical body he responded with his voice trembling, "What do you want from me uh sir".
A multitude of questions popped up in his head. Who was the voice out there? Why did it want to make a deal with a random person like himself? Most importantly Sorin knew that nothing in the world was free so even though the voice spoke of a deal it could very well also be a threat.
The mysterious voice chuckled, "I want your strength, your pain, everything, I want you to shape the world in my image,".
A cold sweat ran down Sorin's spine but he still managed to utter a sentence, "I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news sir but I am long dead, my body was utterly crushed by a truck so I have no way of doing your bidding in the first place".
The voice remained silent for a moment but then the loud voice boomed in the dark void once more. "No matter, that won't be a problem whatsoever."
Suddenly, Sorin felt his blood burning even though he had no body, the pain was terrible and devoured his very soul. He felt as if his very existence was being invaded by something corrupt and yet he had no power to resist it.
The cryptic voice spoke once more, "Rise as my revenant, spread my will, and ascend to beyond mortality Sorin Ren".
"Wait how do you know my-", suddenly Sorin's world flipped upside down and everything in sight collapsed.
Sorin had just been forced into a contract with the unknown deity, and he had no clue how the conversation had escalated so fast.
He fell through the cosmos and saw the entirety of the universe and felt as if time was reversing. The scene was both beautiful but also filled him with dread seeing everything in existence.
Passing out within seconds, his mind had been completed and utterly rendered useless by the enormity of what he had seen.
Finally coming to his senses, Sorin awoke, lying down with the blades of grass underneath his hands.
The grass seemed to be glowing faintly, and the tall mountains surrounding him seemed to reach the very heavens crowned with enormous storm clouds of jade. Multiple moons shone in the night sky and Sorin felt as if each one of them was watching his every movement.
Sorin stood up,
His heart pounded with great speed as he realized that he was alive again and was in a different world full of many mysteries.
Sorin looked up at the dark azure sky with cold indifference, now that he was given a second chance at life he wasn't going to waste it.
Confusion was the only feeling permeating Sorin's head but one thing was clear.
He had to rise to the top of this world and gain the strength to make it back home one day. With his new found determination he raised a fist to the sky.
"Let's get started shall we?"