“Haaaa… ”

‘Finally!’

A black-haired black eyed young man thought while sweating profusely. He seemed to have finished an intense spar if his current state and the dojo he was in was any indication.

Abruptly standing up while swinging a towel over his shoulder, he walked to the section marked ‘Shower’ as well as a ‘♂’ sign to show that this was indeed the right place. He didn’t want to become a harem protagonist, especially not in a taekwondo dojo. Taekwondo focused mostly on kicks, and he didn’t want to be on the receiving end of angry girls while wearing loose pants…

*Shiver!*

‘Best not think about it…’

It wouldn’t have been the first time for his private's to have been damaged. He would be the first in line to tell you that even toy guns could hurt if shot at point-blank.

Opening the door to the shower, he immediately discarded his clothes and hoped into the nearest curtain. It was late at night anyway, he didn’t have to check if anybody was there. Quickly turning on the water to a cold setting, he let it run down his hair and onto his toned body.

——————————————————————————————————————————

“Oh! Noah! Good afternoon!”

An over-enthusiastic girl said, she was currently wearing what seemed to be a red-coloured tracksuit while tying up her unruly brown hair.

“It’s already past ten Sofie. Also, the sun has been down for over three hours.”

The girl’s green eyes blinked, genuine confusion could be seen within them.

“Uh...? Really? I thought it was only eight tough?”

“It isn’t, and even then, the sun would still have been down for roughly an hour.”

“I see, my bad then! Are you here to clock out?”

The young man, now known to be called Noah, nodded in confirmation.

“Yeah, I’ve worked out for two hours today, which is more than I usually do.”

Sofie entered a thoughtful pose for a moment, before nodding and mumbling softly to herself.

“That’s true… Alrighty then! No need to worry! As the receptionist, I’ll do it for you!”

Noah nodded gratefully, dense and insensitive she may be, Sofie was a reliable person.

“Good night Sofie.”

“Yeah! Good night to you too, Noah! See you!”

Noah nodded, before adjusting his coat and putting on his hat. It was winter, the air was chilly and the streets white with snow.

“See you.”

He finally said before opening the door and walking out. His destination? The nearest bus station.

——————————————————————————————————————————

*Beep!*

The sound of his bus card being verified sounded out. Waiting to see the light turn green, he immediately turned to the nearest seat before dropping his bag at his feet.

This was his routine, after school he would always eat before going to the dojo to work out his frustrations or simply to keep in shape. He wasn’t the richest, he was a college student, for God’s sake! I’d be a miracle for him to afford any more than what he had now. At the very least, he wanted to keep his savings for when he really needed them. His mysticism hobby was no exception!

[“Next stop Bethel Avenue.”]

That was his cue, he hoisted his bag over his shoulder before pressing the ‘stop here’ button.

The bus slowed to a stop, and he waited for the door to open before stepping out.

Walking in his apartment building and into the nearest elevator, he pressed the key with a glowing nine next to it, signifying he lived on the ninth floor. He closed his eyes, waiting for the elevator to stop moving.

*Swoosh!*

Seems he was here… Swiftly walking out toward room 132, he inserted his key into the lock and twisted it. Opening the door to his apartment, he flicked the light switch to his right before dropping his bag on the floor.

‘I’ll sort it out tomorrow, it’s Friday anyway.’ He thought fully knowing he would regret it later, his bag was full of sweaty stuff after all. Staring at it for a moment, Noah debated if he should at least hang his clothes so they wouldn’t smell.

‘Might as well.’

Bending down to pick up his back. Noah unzipped it and took out his clothes. Holding them in his arms, he walked toward his laundry room. Which was on the right of his kitchen, as far to his bedroom as possible. Throwing his dirty clothes in the washing machine, he walked into his living room and slumped on the sofa.

Noah laid there for a while, simply listening to the sound of his own heartbeat, letting his tense body relax. Opening his eyes and standing up, he picked up a box under his coffee table, took out a piece of paper and started drawing a symbol representing a brilliant yellow star. After placing it on a small altar, he took out from a compartment under his couch. Noah immediately took out a small gem box, and took out an emerald, a keepsake from his mother.

“I can’t believe I’m doing this…” That was a lie, he could and did. Even if everything were a sham, even if he could never truly get what he wanted… He would still try! For that was his goal! To be unbothered and unshackled.

‘If I had the power to destroy everything in my way… Things would be easier I guess? What am I? An anti-hero protagonist?’

“Heh.” He chuckled self-deprecatingly, even if it worked, he thought. His fate would probably be worse than what it is now.

Finishing the set-up, the black-haired youth stepped back and admired his work.

The symbol he had drawn was now laid on the floor, the yellow star now had symbols of astromancy.

“And now for the finishing touch…” He whispered, placing the emerald in the middle of his makeshift altar. Honestly, he didn’t know of any deity who would respond to a person praying to them with the only offerings being an emerald and some of their favorite herbs.

“The Inextinguishable Light of the Spirit World,

The Embodiment of infinite knowledge,

The Yellow who wields reason and adaptation.

I wish for an opportunity to attain my desires, no matter how childish!” He finished, staying silent for a few seconds and seeing as nothing was happening, he opened his eyes.

Slowly standing up, he abruptly froze, his eyes glazing over. To an outside observer he looked like a lifeless puppet, its strings having been cut.

——————————————————————————————————————————

Blinking back into consciousness, Noah stood frozen for a moment. His head was swimming, all the colours around him just seemed more colourful than he remembered them.

“My apologies, with how things are now this was the safest way to pull you into the Spirit World. My name is Venithan, I am known as the Yellow Light of reason and adaptation.”

Noah stood confused for a moment, before realization dawned on him. This was the entity he had prayed to! The one had requested an opportunity from!

“I’m s-sorry, I didn’t mean to be rude. It’s just, I didn’t expect you to be so, so…”

“Normal looking?” Venithan added amused, he really didn’t take offence, it was his fault anyway. He was the one who pulled an ordinary person into the Spirit World, most Low-Sequence Beyonders would have reacted the same way. As for his appearance, he looked like a long-bearded old man wearing a yellow-lemon robe, if not for the strange situation he would have looked truly ordinary.

“Now I shall ask this once. Are you truly willing to walk a warped path filled with madness and chaos? Do you truly think the end result will be worth it?” The seemingly weak-looking old man said in a stern tone. Right now, Noah truly understood his answer would determine his future.

“I don’t know…” he started, “I can’t tell you that I won’t ever regret it. Because I don’t know what the future holds. At the very least, I can make a promise- no a vow. One that even if I fall to depths I never knew existed, I will be the only one to blame for the consequences of my actions.” He stated solemnly, every word he had just spoken was honest, he meant every one of them, and would do his best to never betray them.

“Good! Now boy, what are you willing to sacrifice for this opportunity?”

Noah thought for a moment, if he had to sacrifice who he was then what was the point? If he couldn’t even recognize himself by the end of it, was it really worth it?

“Not much honestly,” he finally said, “I would be willing to give up everything except my identity and memories. Everything else isn’t of much value to me.”

“So you are willing to give up everything, except what you consider to be valuable?”

Noah meekly nodded, ashamed. When he put it like that, he really did sound ungrateful.

Venithan grinned. “You know…” he said, “if you had offered anything more I would have killed you on the spot.”

The black-haired youth snapped his head up, appalled.

‘Wait… more?’ He looked at Venithan confused, if he had offered more? Shouldn’t it be less?

“You think you’re the only one who tried praying to me? In my eyes, those who have offered more value life less. If they cannot appreciate what they have, how can they wish for more? Although with how things are now, none of that truly matters.”

Reaching out into the air, Venithan pulled out a small yellow ball of light with wings attached to its back. It looked like a pixie.

“You can say… because of how you answered, you’ve earned my token.” The elder finished, flicking the pixie directly into Noah’s head, forming a small yellow coloured symbol on his forehead.

“It shall help you keep your reason in time of need, as well as provide you knowledge about the mysterious world. All I ask is for you to return it to me when you can, or when you believe it has no use anymore.”

“Now then, may you have a pleasant sleep.” Venithan finished, as Noah’s vision rapidly faded to black.

——————————————————————————————————————————

In an ancient-looking castle, shrouded in an eternally unperturbed grey fog. On a platform accessible by a staircase of light, a cocoon could be seen. Shimmering into existence, an upside-down black-haired blacked-eyed youth appeared, slowly being wrapped into the same greyish-white substance that made the cocoon next to him. What was inside, perhaps only the owner of this castle could tell…