The young man walked through the silent streets, carrying a bag of groceries. His eyes were fixed on the ground, and his footsteps echoed softly in the quiet of the night. The darkness around him seemed deeper than usual, but he barely noticed, lost in his own thoughts.
— I should have bought that new game... — he muttered distractedly.— But... there's something more important I need to do, right? I don't know... sometimes I just keep putting things off...
Without realizing it, the street ahead kept getting darker until he noticed he had entered a narrow alley. The only light came from a distant street lamp whose bulb flickered weakly.
— Huh? Where... where am I? Did I... get lost?
He looked around. The alley seemed narrower than before, and a strange feeling of discomfort began to grow inside him. His heart started beating faster, as if something was watching him.
— I'd better get out of here...
Suddenly, the sound of cans falling echoed through the silent night.
The young man quickly turned around, fear on his face.
— Who's there?
The sound echoed again, coming from different points of the alley and bouncing off the walls around him. The fear slowly started rising in his chest, while the darkness seemed to close in around him.
— Who is it?!!
The noise suddenly stopped.
A heavy silence filled the place.
But something still felt wrong.
A shadow appeared to his left.
Startled, he fell to the ground by instinct, frozen in fear.
— Don't hurt me!!! — he shouted, squeezing his eyes shut while waiting for the worst.
When he finally opened his eyes, he saw something completely unexpected.
A small black cat was sitting in front of him. Its green eyes shone like emeralds under the weak light of the lamp.
— Meow...
Relief took over the young man, and he let out a nervous laugh.
— I can't believe I got scared of something as cute as you...
But before he could relax, the sound of cans falling returned.
This time, louder.
Closer.
He quickly turned, trying to see where the sound was coming from, but there was nothing there.
Trembling, he looked back at the cat.
Then his expression changed.
Relief turned into pure terror.
He looked at his own hand.
It wasn't there anymore.
— AHHHHHHHHHH! MY HAND!!!
Panic took over him. He tried to stand up, but the pain and terror made him fall again.
When he looked down, he realized something even worse.
His left leg was no longer attached to his body.
— AHHHHHHHHHH! HELP!!! SOMEONE HELP ME!!!
He began crawling desperately across the ground, his screams echoing through the empty alley. Tears ran down his face as he looked at the night sky between the tall buildings, the distant stars watching everything in cold silence.
Suddenly, a shadow appeared in front of him.
Someone stepped out of the darkness.
He tried to scream for help again, but his voice failed.
— H... help...
The figure slowly moved forward, holding a sword that looked more like a rusty pipe.
The mere presence of that thing made the young man tremble with fear.
He tried to crawl backwards, but he had no strength left.
The shadow spoke with a cold and merciless voice.
— I finally found you.
The weapon was raised.
— Now... I'll send you back to where you should never have left.
The blade reflected the weak light of the street lamp before coming down quickly.
The young man's vision went dark before he could understand what was happening.
Everything went black.
He woke up.
In a different place.
In a different world.
In front of a homeless man near a market.
Shizu looked around in confusion, trying to understand where he was.
When his mind began remembering everything that had happened, he fell to his knees and started vomiting. His eyes trembled and his head hurt intensely.
He was about to faint when the homeless man shouted:
— Hey, damn it!!! You threw up on my bed!! You're going to pay for that!!
Still feeling sick, Shizu looked at what the man called a bed.
It was just a dirty cardboard box opened on the ground.
— That... is your bed?
— Of course it is, you idiot!!
Regretting the question, Shizu reached into his pocket, took a coin, and handed it to the man.
The old man's expression twisted with anger.
Without warning, he punched Shizu in the face, sending him flying into an orange stall.
— W-what the hell?! Why did you hit me??
The homeless man, who had been sitting, slowly stood up.
— Bastard! You throw up on my bed and still give me fake money?! I'll teach you a lesson!
The boy stood up again.
— You want to fight? Then come on! Just because you're old doesn't mean—
Before he could finish the sentence, the man disappeared like the wind.
He reappeared right in front of Shizu and punched him straight in the face, sending him flying into another stall.
— Agh... h-how... can he be that fast...
Shizu said while trying to stand up.
He rushed forward trying to hit the old man, but the man easily dodged and punched him in the stomach.
The blow made him fall to his knees.
Right after that, a kick hit his face, knocking him down again.
Holding him by the leg, the man threw him into another stall, destroying it.
The old man approached to see if he had fainted.
But suddenly Shizu turned quickly, grabbed a piece of wood from the ground and hit the man's head.
— Idiot! That hit well! Wait... does this count as elder abuse...?
The man slowly stood up, looking at him with pure anger.
He knocked Shizu to the ground and started punching him over and over.
Once.
Again.
Again.
Blood began running down the boy's face.
The people around, who were already uneasy, began to panic and shout for the guards.
But the old man didn't stop.
Shizu was losing consciousness.
Then the man shouted:
— SO WHAT?! ISN'T IT WRONG TO DESTROY SOMEONE ELSE'S BED?! I'M ALREADY STARVING, AND NOW WHAT?! DO I HAVE TO SLEEP ON THE GROUND?!
He threw the final punch.
The strongest of all.
Everything went black.
"Am I... going to die...?"
— Hey, kid—
"I don't want..."
— Hey!
"I DON'T WANT TO DIE!!!"
— HEY, KID!!!
Shizu suddenly opened his eyes.
He was once again in front of the homeless man.
— Hey, kid, are you okay?
Shizu looked at him, confused.
Nothing made sense.
— What? Are you just going to stare at me? Am I that handsome?
Startled, Shizu quickly stepped back.
— S-sorry...
He slowly began walking away, with only one question hammering in his mind.
"Did I... die?"
After walking for a while, he saw a guard near the city wall and decided to ask for information.
— Um... hi... I'm kind of... lost. Do you know the name of this city? Or somewhere I could spend the night?
Without hesitation, the guard grabbed him and slammed him against the wall, pointing a spear at him.
Shizu immediately raised his hands.
— Are you crazy?! Do you even know where you are, kid?! You're not from here!! How did you get here?! Answer me!
Frightened, Shizu stuttered:
— I-I'm Shizu Ma-Mark.
The guard narrowed his eyes.
— Right, Mark. Where did you come from? And how did you get here? Speak.
Afraid, Shizu closed his eyes and answered quickly:
— I-I'm not from here! I come from a very, very distant place! I just came to visit and... and I was... robbed! That's it! I got robbed and now I have nothing!
The guard asked, now with a bit of sadness on his face:
— Were you robbed here... or outside the city?
— O-outside...
The guard lowered the spear and sighed.
— Kid... you're an idiot...
"Idiot?" Shizu thought.
The guard sat down, his face now heavy with sadness.
— Kid... this city is called Babadar City.
He paused.
— Or rather... the Prison City.
— P-prison city...? — Shizu asked.
The guard began to explain.
The guard rested the spear on the ground and let out a heavy sigh.
— This city… wasn't always like this.
He looked at the streets around them, where some people walked quickly, avoiding eye contact.
— A long time ago this place was just a village. Small, but peaceful. People lived well.
He paused briefly before continuing.
— Until the goblins appeared.
The protagonist frowned.
— Goblins?
— A whole horde. — the guard replied. — They invaded the village, killed people, burned houses… entire families disappeared that night.
Silence fell for a moment.
— And nobody did anything?
— They did. — said the guard. — An army arrived later.
He raised one finger.
— Led by a woman named Ana Izius Babadar.
— She exterminated the monsters one by one.
The guard gave a small bitter smile.
— Back then, everyone thought she was a hero.
He kicked a small stone on the ground.
— After the battle, she took control of the village. She said she would protect the people… and turned the place into a city.
He looked around again.
— And at first… it actually worked.
But then his expression changed.
— But over time… something changed in her.
The protagonist remained silent.
— Taxes started going up.
The guard began counting on his fingers.
— Ten percent… fifteen… twenty…
He closed his hand.
— And no one could refuse to pay.
— And if they refused? — the boy asked.
The guard answered without emotion.
— Execution.
He paused before continuing.
— Or worse.
The protagonist felt a chill.
— Worse?
— Being handed over to the goblins.
Silence returned.
Some people walked by the street without looking at them.
The guard picked up his spear again.
— Many lost everything.
— Others died of hunger.
He shrugged.
— That's the reality of this city.
He looked directly at Shizu.
— Welcome to the Prison City.