1 Proposition (1/2)
My room is disgusting. I've been a denizen of filth for a while now, but this is getting ridiculous.
Most of my clothes haven't been cleaned since I moved in. What has been cleaned is trapped in a constant cycle of re-use, never getting a chance to rest.
My housemates wonder where all the plates have gone. If they dared to brave the stench of my room, they'd find them. Eventually.
Once white sheets have turned a putrid yellow. The colour of the grime that encrusts my skin.
I stopped using an ashtray a long time ago. Cigarettes crumple underfoot on the only path I regularly travel. My bed to my desk. My desk to my bed.
Am I going to do something about it? Probably not. No-one expects me to do anything, so why should I?
The days all seem to merge into one. I wake up, I make a coffee, I smoke, then wait until the hunger pains force me to eat. I don't shower, I don't do any university work, I don't talk to people, I just read.
Cultivation stories are my only respite. They bring me to better places, to worlds of fantasy. Worlds where one man can change history. But in this world, everything seems meaningless.
What is the point of living out your days just to be a fleeting memory? Even if I made something great that people remembered, I wouldn't be there to see it. Why can't we become great ourselves?
Why can't we cultivate?
These days of monotony have brought me to this. No, I won't sort out my life. I will write a cultivation web novel. I don't care if no-one reads it. This is just for me. I will make my own world and carve my own path in it.
”A futile exercise.”
”Yeah, it's stupid isn't it. Wait who… ”
I spun in my chair and fell off, scattering dishes.
”Who the fuck are you!? Get out of my house!”
The old man in front of me chuckled and stepped back. His robes swished as he raised his hands in mock defence.
”Calm down child. I am not here to hurt you.”
I got to my feet and brandished a plate in one hand.
”Alright if you don't get the fuck out of here right now, I'm bashing your head in old man.”
He sighed and the humour slipped from his face.
”That is enough, child.”
Then he was gone. A hand appeared on my shoulder, and I felt a trickle of breath pass my ear before the low hum of his command.
”Sit.”
That word filled the room before he crumpled my body under his hand. He spun me around and stepped back. I made a move to jump up, but the chair shot backwards, pulling me with it, and I was pinned against the door.
With panicked breath I strained my muscles but could not move an inch. I looked at my wizened assailant with fury in my eyes. He had long white hair streaked with grey, and his sweeping robes shimmered more than the dim light should allow.
”The fuck was that?” I spat out, ”Who…”
Before I could continue, the old man raised a ringed finger to his lips.
”Silent.”
He only whispered it, but it howled like a scream in my ears and my breath was stolen.
”I thought you would be excited,” his low, calm tone sounded ominous, ”I even dressed the part.”
Dressed the part? He was dressed like a cultivator, and these powers… My heart leapt a beat of excitement.
”As I said I am not here to hurt you. My name is Sirius and I have a proposition to make.”
He waved his hand, and a mirage of afterimages seemed to follow it. The pressure on my body lifted and I slumped down.
Sirius had unbelievable power. He could be what I had dreamed of. And even if he wasn't, I still had to play his game.
”A proposition?”
”Yes. I have been looking at your world for some time now. I noticed that many individuals have begun to desire cultivation. I find this interesting and wish to test a hypothesis.”
”What do you want to test?”
Sirius let out a small breath of a laugh.
”Hmph. You study matters of the mind do you not? Or…” he looked around the dishevelled room, ”you should be studying such matters.”
I gave him a snide look.
”You should know that I cannot bias you toward my opinion. For you shall be a participant.”
”Do I get to consent?”
He leaned forwards slightly, and his gaze pierced through me.
”You mean to tell me that you wish to turn down the opportunity to live again, in a world of cultivation?”
I was taken aback. What Sirius was capable of was beyond this world, and I desired cultivation more than anything. For this opportunity, I would throw all caution to the wind.