Pizza

Yes, pizza.

Have you ever had a perfectly made crust with various toppings of vegetables arranged in a beautiful pattern, and on top of that, the final layer of cheese?

Just imagine the taste of spinach mingled with crust grinding against your teeth and the melting cheese sinking into your taste buds.

It's almost a heavenly feeling, isn't it?

Well, that aside, have you ever thought about the person who is responsible for delivering that to your doorstep with safety and in perfect shape?

How many obstacles has he had to go through so you can enjoy a slice in your safe home?

Exactly the same Kiesh, a young boy, was hurrying on the highway on his motorbike to deliver a similarly made pizza.

He accelerated in the middle of the path, dodging cars and bikes left and right, changing lanes quickly without any care for legal actions against him.

This delivery was strange because the city of Dwarka, where the restaurant Kiesh worked and the place where the pizza had yet to reach, is around 20 blocks away.

In this entire area, there are dozens of pizza shops, but no, that person had to order it from 2 miles away without any shame

"If I don't make it in time, the manager will cut the cost from my salary," Kiesh said.

"Weeeeee. Wooooooo."

"Great, now the police are on my tail."

The sound of a police siren and the engine of a bike filled the place. Kiesh didn't stop.

Instead, he increased the speed more.

He reached a crossroads.

Suddenly, a truck emerged from the right side.

Kiesh's heart sank, pounding against his chest.

The surroundings seemed to blur while the passing vehicle slowed down.

Beep…

His bike passed in front of the truck.

And boom…

Swish, a rush of air was generated when the truck and a car collided with each other, Kiesh's bike erupted at the front while in the background, gushing flame and debris floated around.

He barely avoided an accident.

Not stopping in his trail, he rushed.

Another police car came from his right side with a woo siren.

"Shit, shit, shit, what have I done now? Officer's gonna take me into custody."

Kiesh observed the surroundings; there, in the middle of a crossroad, a truck was stuck still with a dented car.

A police vehicle took a detour and rushed toward him.

Vroom, vroom…

He gave up and waited for the police to come out of the car and confront him. After all, he knew running away from the problem was never an option. Sooner or later, they will come back to haunt you.

Kiesh removed the helmet, revealing his pale oval face, black eyes, and black hair. Putting the helmet on the mirror of the bike, he turned back.

Witnessing a large building 50 meters away from the road, this is the place where his pizza delivery was meant to be, but now he can't finish the order in time.

"You!"

"Officer, I had an un…"

"What are you doing here? Don't you know this area is dangerous!"

"Officer, I had a pizza delivery in that building. That was why I went over speed and somehow caused the accident," Kiesh said.

Boom, suddenly an explosive sound erupted in the same building Kiesh had pointed towards.

A glass window broke out, and a weird creature jumped out. It was half lizard and half humanoid, jumping and landing on the ground.

Thub…

"You got it wrong, young man an awakener has lost control as a result turning into a dreading full monster and infecting others."

"Right now There is no one in that building, everyone is evacuating. See, all the people are out of there," the officer said, gesturing toward a horde of people standing outside that building in an open area. 

Previously, Kiesh had ignored it as he was in a hurry, but now it seems otherwise.

Maybe someone from them has ordered the pizza?

"Believe me, brat, forget about the delivery and go back… see the accident that just happened there the infected mana is rushing out from the building, causing people to lose their balance and mind you were lucky to avoid it in time."

"I'll be careful, but officer, can you tell me if a lady named Freya is among the evacuees?"

"No, there is none, you can ask if you want."

After that, Kiesh thanked the officer and decided to go back as there was no one to receive the delivery, meaning it had been cancelled.

"I needlessly rushed here; I should have checked the number."

Kiesh brought out his phone, and checked the delivery address; upon seeing it was the same building, which is now a territory of monsters, he informed his manager of the exact situation.

In a situation like this where an accident has happened in a place where delivery was meant to be, it automatically gets cancelled.

That aside, he had luck on his side that the officer mistakes the accident as the doing of mana surge.

He sat on the bike, donned the helmet, and prepared for the bike to start. He turned it on and revved the engine, ready to race.

But as he had travelled a meter distance, suddenly, a blue light flashed in front of his eyes with a ding sound.

[ Ding…]

The bike, which had gained some momentum, stumbled, causing Kiesh to lose his balance and fall.

Thud.

"Hey, young man, what happened?" The police officer, who previously informed Kiesh about the accident, rushed back, trying to learn the reason for his fall.

But Kiesh's focus was not on him; his attention was in front of his eyes, where a blue translucent window floated, containing words.

[ Awakening event detected ]

[ The rotation of celestial bodies and the transition of stars are in favourable positions.]

[You will be transported into the world of Mrityu in 108 minutes.]

**

"W-what!?"

"Am I infected?"

"What did you say?" The officer who had come to help him out asked, although he had heard it correctly.

Kiesh quickly regained his composure, standing up from the ground and accepting the bike from the officer. He said, "I lost my balance and fell, so I cursed out loud, thinking the Maya spell had infected me. Hey, but it's nothing, it's all because of that stone," Kiesh pointed toward a random small stone situated near his bike.

The officer became silent and glared at the stone in question, then again at Kish. Surely, he was struggling to believe Kiesh's claim.

"Is he suspicious of me?" Kiesh thought, quickly brainstorming a way to escape his situation, or at least he tried.

"O brave officer, I wanted to convey my gratitude for how you work in scorching summers, chilling cold, whatever it may be, you are always here to help people, even in front of these disgusting monsters.

" You are so inspiring. I want to offer you something. Oh yeah, I have the perfect idea. Why don't you keep this pizza as a thank you for your service? It's all because of you we can sleep peacefully," Kiesh said, quickly pulling a box of pizza from his large bag and handing it to him.

The officer was brimming with happiness upon receiving the compliment. He had just been accepted in the safety department, and seeing citizens praise him was heartwarming. He said, "Yes, yes, young man, the work is quite tiring these days, but you shouldn't joke around about being infected with Maya."

The officer held the pizza in his hand, accepting it. He knew this was already a cancelled trip so it would have gone to waste. Continuing, he said, "You know, it's been a decade since that spell graced the earth and completely changed the hierarchy. This spell randomly selects people, transports them into the world of Mrityu, and when these people die in that world—it..."

The officer stopped his explanation, understanding he was going out of his way to inform a citizen about a secret matter. He was also observing Kiesh for any signs that might convey he was infected, such as stuttering behaviour when talking but all in all, it was not there so he was glad.

"What I am saying is watch out for what you say. If you really would have been infected, then you'd be locked into prison for public safety."

Kiesh smiled at the officer. He had already sat on the bike, starting the engine. He said, "I'll be careful from now on."

With that, Kiesh disappeared into the horizon, racing toward his home.

At the corner of his view, he could witness the timer decreasing with each passing second.

[101:51]

Everything that the officer had said was true, but it was not the whole truth.

While the spell is dangerous, and yes, those who are chosen are held under custody for their safety, there was a whole other perspective to it. 

The major one is that Mrityu is another world with more types of resources. 

It also has animals and beasts capable of tearing the sky, inciting earthquakes, or summoning tsunamis in the desert. 

Simply said, it's full of mayhem.

Soon, Kiesh reached an apartment, parking his bike nearby. He ran toward the door and knocked loudly.

"Mom!"

In the next second, a lady came to open the door, wearing a red Indian sari and holding her hand.

"Kiesh, you're early today," she said.

Seeing her, Kiesh calmed down. Initially, he wanted to explain the entire situation, but now he didn't know what to say.

Kiesh glanced at the timer; 51 minutes were remaining.

"I bought some pizza!"

"Oh, good, Rin is also here. You wash in the meantime, I will prepare the dishes," his mother said.

Soon, Kiesh was sitting on the sofa beside a teenage girl who had a pizza box all for herself.

This was Rin Kiesh's little sister. She had brown eyes and black hair tied tightly in a ponytail, wearing an oversized hoodie and skirt. She grasped a slice and started eating.

There was not much difference between Rin and Kiesh's mother; both looked identical. 

The major difference was age, where Shilla, his mother, was in middle age and Rin was like a younger version of her.

Three of them sat in the hall on the sofa, enjoying the pizza treat and watching a show on TV.

Kiesh was anxious with the ever-descending countdown On the corner of his vision. Right now, it has reached 21 minutes.

Sighing, he asked, "Mom, how's your health?"

"Huh…what will happen to me? Have you ever seen a lady healthier than me?" his mother replied.

"Yeah, I saw it, it was grandma. She can take you on whenever she wants."

"Humph, go then, live with your grandma. Why are you here?"

Rin, who had been observing her brother for some time, came to know that something was wrong with him.

Like those subtle side glances at the side where nobody was standing, it was like there was something present there which made Kiesh uneasy.

"Mom, can you give me the ketchup?" Rin asked.

"It was here, wasn't it? Let me get it from the kitchen," his mother replied.

Soon, Shila stood up and walked into the kitchen.

While Rin waited for her mother to disappear after determining her mother was in the kitchen, she turned to her brother, who was sitting on the other side of the sofa.

While the middle was empty where her mother was previously sitting, she said, "What happened?"

Kiesh snapped out of his trance, observing the countdown, which had reached the last 9 minutes.

"Was it that obvious?"

"You can fool Mother, but you can't fool me, brother. First, you come earlier than usual, and then ask mother about her health. It's odd," Risha said.

Kiesh didn't answer; instead, he shook his head. It was pretty obvious for him too.

"So what's it?" Rin asked.

Kiesh took a deep breath and decided to confess.

"I am infected with Maya."

"What! Are you serious? That's not a reason to be sad; it calls for celebration."

"You can finally enter that world of Mrityu, and gather a lot of resources. You know how large enterprises are in need and hungry for the resources that can only be found in the Mrityu lok."

"Just be careful to avoid the battles that are not worth fighting, and we will be rich in no time."

"But…I can't leave both of you alone...not the same as that old man…"

"Ah, so that's what it's about…see, That old man of ours had some nerves to make an excuse to buy milk and then never come back."

"Anyway, how much time do you still have?"

"1 minute."

"What!"

Kiesh leaned back as if the words he spoke held no value. Surprisingly, he remained calm, whether it was to give his sister a strong shoulder or to act tough, only he knew.

"Yes…"

"Are you stupid…" Rin halted her next words in her throat, realizing why her brother was there.

In the excitement of her brother gaining an opportunity to be a rich boy, she forgot the fact that opportunities are always accompanied by danger.

Suddenly, Kiesh's vision blurred.

"I-I... don't." It dawned upon Rin that this might be the last time she would witness her brother because all the individuals who have been kidnapped by Maya rarely return, and if they do, they are completely changed persons.

What if the same happened to her brother?

"Don't go..."

Kiesh's body started to glow with brilliant white light as he said, "Don't worry, I'll be back."

In the next moment, his entire form crumbled into glowing sand particles that floated around Rin, petting her head.

His mother came out from the kitchen, scanning the entire hallway with her eyes, trying to find her son. After not finding him anywhere she turned to only person present her daughter and asked, "Where's Kiesh?"

Rin still trying to understand her brother's sudden disappearance, regained her focus and answered, "A friend of his called him for a short trip, and said he will be out for a few days."

________

"Okay, guys, first of all, thank you for giving this book a chance. I assure you it's worth your time.

Second, it would be great if you could give me some criticism and comments here and there. This would fuel my drive to write more chapters.

Third, this is a prologue chapter.

See you in the next one."