1. Black Haven (i)
CRASH!
"Gah," A low groan whimpered out as a young boy tumbled back into a dark alleyway, trembling on the ground with blood slowly trickling out his mouth and nose. His greatly shredded white t-shirt; now stained red barely fitted his body as bruises and scars littered his waist and torso. The trail of blood splotching onto the similarly torn loosely fitted jeans.
"Fuuu-" he raised his head and sighed, wiping his hand across his mouth, removing the white sticky substance that remained on his lips.
Tinngg, the sound of metal being tossed to the ground echoed behind him as multiple small coins could be seen rolling over.
"I thought you'd be good with your mouth, but I guess all you have is a pretty face." A man's voice snickered from the alleyway entrance, his silhouette clearly zipping up his black formal trousers as the dim silver glow of the moon shone brightly behind him.
"Ha," a chuckled rang out from the boy's lips as he slowly turned his head, "Don't blame me, I'm not the one whose dick's shorter than a finger." He painfully raised his fist and sprung his third finger up in the air, slowly waving it around.
"You bitch!" The middle-aged man fumed, his ears burning red as he charged towards the boy, his hand clenched into a tight fist.
"Ah, don't hit the face," the boy mumbled aloud as he felt the man grip onto his dirty almond hair, ripping at his scalp.
"I'll punch you til not even your regulars would recognize you anymore, you fucking bitch," The man screamed, thrusting him against the alleyway wall and began throwing punch after punch.
"Ouuft… ouuft…" The boy grunted, feeling the man's entire body weight atop his chest whilst the man's left hand pinning both his arms above his head.
…
"Ow…" the boy faintly croaked out as he laid spread out on the ground, his face completely red and black while a thick dark purple hand mark circled his neck. His swollen eyelids barely opened as he wandered in and out of consciousness.
'At least the stars are kinda pretty…' The boy peered at the stared sky of the night through the slit of his eyelids. His eyes slowly closed as he let his consciousness fade, the reel of his life playing back in double speed.
…
He wasn't given a name. Since the day he was born, he was repetitively reminded he was a mistake. Born from a prostitute and a random client, his mother never really cared for him, simply addressed him as 'hey', 'you', or 'brat' to the point he had once thought those were his names. Then at the age of 13, his mother ran from the confines of the brothel into the arms of a pimp, leaving behind all her debt him.
Being underaged, he resorted to illegally selling his body to willing clients; old degenerate from the upper echelons of society.
For years he continued to wander the streets, taking part in the deepest, darkest, and cruelest aspects of society, and thus that was what he did till his dying breath.
—
"Where?" The boy slowly felt the pain and heaviness of his body lifting, his eyes opening as he looked around,
All around him was a plain depthless white void, except for a single book floating a few meters away.
Its cover was completely black with no title and only a thick, ghastly, raven black chain binding the pages tightly shut.
The boy slowly walked over, reaching out his hand to pick it up, but the moment his hand came in contact, it began phasing through like a ghost.
Then the book disappeared.
[Entity Detected.]
[Scanning Entity…]
[Entity Identified.]
[Logging into Profile...]
[!!Entity Error!!]
[!!Profile Error!!]
[Generating new Profile.]
[Profile Created.]
[Welcome to Black Haven - User: 444]
Multiple screens began rapidly popping up one after another before they all suddenly disappeared and a larger holographic computer screen-like projection took its place.
Its appearance was somewhat imitating that of a giant forum page with the words [Black Haven] printed in bold as the heading.
Placing a finger on the screen and dragging it up, he slowly scrolled down through the page; a number of colorful threads entering his vision.
[Manifesting Cursed Lands. Help wanted!]
[Low on miasma. Bored out of my mind. Want a friend T.T]
[Apocalypse Party!. All welcome! Join. Join. Join. Join]
His eyebrow raises as he continued to scroll down.
[Introductions! Newbie Spotted! @User: 444 say hi!]
He saw a newly created post directly addressed to the user number assigned to him, so he tapped at it curiously, causing a new window to flash open above the previous page, displaying a new page with a large chat room.
User: 227 - Newbie detected!! Spam time!!
User: 391 - New Member!?! Newbie Introduce yourself!!
User: 210 - Newbie? Where? Newbie! Newbie!
- User: 444 joined the chat room -
User: 391 - Newbie Summoned!!!
User: 227 - Yo! Newbie, type something! Some of us don't bite! :)
User: 210 - Some.
The boy glanced at the holographic keyboard which suddenly popped up below the screen,
User: 444 - Hello.
User: 431 - It haseth spoken!!
User: 227 - First newbie we've had in so long!! Spread the word!
User: 443 - I'm no longer the newbie! I've been promoted!! Whoooo!
User: 227 - No, no. You're still a newbie. Now we've got 2 newbies.
User: 443 - Fuck off.
User: 227 - Respect your elders, you child.
User: 443 - Apologies, Great Sire. I have wronged. Please spare this little one from your wrath!
User: 227 - Fuck off.
User: 443 - Don't quote me. Oh, Great Wise Elder.
User: 444 - Hello…?
User: 444 - Who are you? Where am I?
User: 431 - Newbie has askethed a question!
User: 227 - Me!
User: 277 - Tur gide!
User: 227 - I volnter mislf!!!
User: 391 - Tsk
User: 210 - Tsk
User: 443 - Oh such greed, Wise Elder. Does doth not look upon your subjects? How doth dare fight for such position. Does thou not fear the repercussion of thou actions?
- User 277 Votes to kick User: 443 (1/2) -
User: 443 - I am prepared to leave even without you interfering, Insufferable Elder. Adiu~.
- User: 443 left the chat room -
User: 227 - Newbie. Accept my link.
[User: 227 requests a Link. Accept/Decline]
He tapped the Accept option causing the screen to close and a wider one to pop up in its place.
[Hello? Can you hear me?] A robotically modified voice called from the other end. [It's me, 227. You must be 444 — the newbie!]
The boy tilted his head, "Hi?"
[Hahah! You must be completely confused! Welcome to Black Haven! The perfect paradise where beings like us reside!]
"Like us?" The boy frowned,
[Hm. How do I put it nicely…] The voice paused, a light tapping sound and a short hum sounding out, [Evil incarnates…? I assume that's a suitable word.]
"Evil… Incarnates?" He raised an eyebrow in confusion, "What does that mean?"
[Oh… you must be one of those….] 227 said with pity,
"Those?"
[Those who do evil acts in the name of good.] 227 explained, [But no matter. We don't discriminate here! In fact, that's why we address everyone as numbers! With this system, no one's true identity can be revealed! I mean, it'll be utter chaos if we could see each other's faces, hahaha! Anyway, since the introductions are over, let's get back to the tour!]