2 Chapter 2: The 24th Birthday

'Fuck. It must be that money-grubbing landlord again. Did I not already pay him half of the rent for the month? What does he want now?' Jason cursed.

He got out of the bathroom and started wiping his body. As he had no time to exercise on weekdays and spent all his free time on weekends reading novels, he did not have any six-pack abs or thick biceps to be proud of. In fact, he could feel his belly growing into a pot day by day. But now was not the time to think about all this.

"Tring Tring" The bell sounded again.

"Coming" Jason shouted as he put on his color faded t-shirt.

It was not that he could not save a few dollars to buy a new one, but he just felt that there was no reason to. He always felt that he just had to survive for some time and soon one day the old man from the orphanage would come and take him into the world of cultivation.

'Ah, how great would that be. I can leave behind this shit hole and become a god in the cultivation world. Then I shall come back and teach fat-face a lesson. But wait, he would have already died. After all, he is just a mortal.' mused Jason.

'Never mind, I shall extract his soul from his grave and torture that instead. Hahaha. Fatty, you are doomed. You shall rue the day you crossed me' thought Jason with a demonic smile.

"Tring Tring"

"I said I am coming damn it." shouted Jason as he came out of his beautiful dream back into the harsh reality.

"What took you so long? Don't you know how cold it is? It is not like you were doing something important, right? Ah, I forgot. Your entire existence is unimportant. How can you do important things? Haha" laughed the fat landlord.

"What brings you here? Don't tell me you want money again. I don't have anything for you right now." Jason ignored the landlord's ridicule as he did not want to waste any time on this nonsense.

"How dare you talk to me like that? You… Never mind. You won't be talking to me like this anymore after this." Said the landlord with a sly grin.

"What do you mean?" inquired Jason. He had a foreboding that the next words of the landlord were going to be anything but pleasant.

"You have three days to vacant this house. Pack your things and leave. I don't want to have you in this place anymore." said the landlord.

"Ah but why? Didn't you say it last month when you increased the rent that as long as I pay the increased rent, I can continue staying here without any issues?" screamed Jason.

The house in which Jason lived in was shabby. But at least it was close to the metro station. Also, the rent was still something that he could afford. Also, no matter what, it was impossible for him to find a new home in just three days.

"That was last month when I said that" The landlord said nonchalantly. "Things have changed now. Anyways you need not bother about what I plan to do with this house. And don't worry. You don't need to pay me anything else for these three days as I am very generous. Haha"

"How can you do this to me? I have been living here for the past two years. Even if you must make me leave the house, at least give me some more time. I also have office and I don't have time to go and search for a house" cried Jason.

"Shut up brat. Anyways, I should not find you here after three days. Otherwise, I will call Axle and ask him to break a few of your bones before throwing you out. You won't want that, now would you?" threatened the landlord.

Jason immediately shut up. Axle was a local gang leader who had some good relations with the landlord. Once Jason had a fight with the landlord regarding some repairs in the bathroom. The landlord had called Axle who had ten people surround him to beat him up. Thankfully, before they could start beating the living daylights out of him, a police siren was heard as a patrol car was on its rounds and the thugs left. But the psychological impact of being ganged up and about to be thrashed had left a deep impact on Jason. That day, he had sworn never to offend the landlord or Axle ever again.

"It is a good thing that you know your place. Well, I am leaving. Have a good night" said the landlord as he left the building.

Jason walked inside with a heavy heart. He subconsciously went and stood before the mirror and took off his t-shirt. 'Why is all this happening to me?' he sighed to himself. He looked at the calendar on the wall. 'Today is 21st September. In three hours, it will be my birthday and I will be 24 years old. Aren't birthdays supposed to be special? Is this how I am fated to live my entire life?' he lamented, his eyes full of sadness and hopelessness.

Unbeknownst to him, under his t-shirt the maroon colored skull tattoo was slowly changing its color to a pitch-black shade.