《The Difference of the Future》 Chapter 1 It was supposed to be just a regular day in Walmart. He would put on his uniform, the blue shirt with a yellow sun and the hazelnut-creamy trousers, brush his teeth, and set off to his most favorite shopping place in the world where he would both go shopping and work. It all went well for quite some time. He chatted with customers, explaining to them which hair dryer was better and way, advising to better buy the organic milk than the GMO milk that is full with extra poison put in the cow feed, and circling around the greengrocer¡¯s stands to help the customers choose and weigh their veggies. No one asked him anything about beekeeping or honey, but he always tried to put some biology into groceries and food. It gave him the necessary fuel to push through the day. Any day. Every day. For two years. Then this day happened. He had just helped a lady to pick between two inflatable pools that were on sale when the manager told him to help arrange the grapefruits at the greengrocer¡¯s section. He immediately went on to do the job. During the-so-interesting exhibition and rearranging of the grapefruits, he had a vision. Everything around him froze. People, pineapples, coconuts. Even bananas stopped going bad, which happens like never. If you looked at him from the point of view of the other shoppers, he would be in a blurry, dazzled state for only three seconds, but to him, it seemed like a lot more. At first, everything around him seemed too bright. Nothing could be discerned. Slowly, the picture before his eyes started clearing up, and he saw a big wooden door. Oak, it seemed. For a split of a second, he thought about what it would be like if the door would be of pineapple wood, but then he realized that pineapples don¡¯t have a wooden stem. They are like an extraordinarily beautiful aloe vera with a lumpish fruit in the middle. People gotta love it. Anyway, in the vision, he was opening the door, and, somehow, he was pushed towards by someone or something so he took her along while falling down. At the moment when he fell, he woke up from the vision and was brought back to reality. Everything felt crazy and uneven inside him, but he had to continue working and pretending like nothing was affecting him. So the work continued, and he kept being engaged in life-or-death decisions when buying some trifles in Walmart were in question. He went back home, took a nice warm shower, and prepared two sandwiches from a piece of an octopus he had bought earlier. That was his first octopus, and he cursed like hell for not having chosen salmon instead of the chewy old marine tentacle. But life continued flowing just as usual, not stopping for anybody¡¯s ventilation of frustration, and he went to bed at 10 pm. In the morning, he felt odd concerning the unpleasantries from yesterday, and it was so puzzling how such a thing could have happened to him. I mean, visions? Not an everyday commodity that everyone hopes for. But what to do, it just happens sometimes, he thought. Well, the work was waiting as usual, at 10 am. Put on the uniform, willingly refuse to spray a perfume as a sign of protest against the cruel, slavish, capitalistic system that exploits young, whenever-I-want-I-can-fart talents, and head on to the greatest job of all times. Entering the shop and working in it for a quarter of an hour, an impediment occurred. He was summoned by his superior to come to the manager¡¯s office. There he got the sack like it was nothing. And I thought the pigeon shitting me was supposed to bring luck. If I¡¯m not the luckiest man alive, I don¡¯t know who is! When he asked why he was fired, the manager told him he¡¯d been reported by a customer to have ignored him when he asked him something. ¡°The customer said you were staring blankly into space with a grapefruit in your hand, Max.¡± the manager said. ¡°I don¡¯t know what¡¯s gotten into you, but you can¡¯t provide the best customer service anymore. I¡¯m sorry,¡± he added. So that was it for our ex-Walmart worker. One little mistake, one very short period of absentmindedness, and you¡¯re made redundant. Apparently, he wasn¡¯t enough, not sufficient, not an appropriate exploitative cog for the well-oiled machinery of capitalism. Ah¡­ You just have to keep your chin up, I guess¡­ It¡¯s not the end of the world. And there he was. Home at 11 am. That hadn¡¯t happened in a long time. He had a long shower. To the length of it mostly attributed a long contemplation what to do. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. And there wasn¡¯t really much to do except keep on living. And about the money problem... He decided to look for a job online. There was this application for finding jobs online ¨C UwannaWorko? ¨C and, after browsing through it for a few minutes, he found something that seemed moderately okay. Categorization of books in a public library. That seemed doable. I can do it. How hard can it be? He was lying on his bed when he applied for the job offer. And he was accepted in a few hours. Just like that. He was supposed to go working at 9 am tomorrow. This seems incredibly refreshing. I just got fired and now I¡¯m off to go to another place to work. Everything is good in the world. Or so he thought. After an amazing dinner of turkey in soya sauce with too much rice (if there is such a thing), he went for a fresh evening walk. After all, being July, it was ideal to go outside after the sun went down. The sun would set at about 8, and he was now on the streets around 7.30. He thought the area would be more buzzing with activity, but it was somehow pleasantly tranquil. The Linden Avenue was sparkling with the hot summer spirit slowly blazing in every leaf high in the crowns of the linden trees. The leaves would accumulate the daily heat, and then they would be slowly releasing it throughout the night so that in the morning you would still feel the freshly cooked vapor of the previous scorching day. The pavement felt nice and comfortable to walk on. There wasn¡¯t trash anywhere. Except in the trashcans, of course, neatly put at every walking mile. He was passing by a beautiful set of three tennis courts, thinking how it would be nice to play tennis from time to time, for a change. He had never played it, and he wanted to do it as long as he could remember. It¡¯s just never been the right time, I suppose. Walking like that in a leisurely manner for some time, he noticed something odd. In front of him was a felled trashcan with garbage spilled out of it all over the pavement. There were some deranged-looking Coca-Cola cans, a few rotten cabbage heads, a couple of torn dirty magazines, and so many cigarette butts of different colors and sizes. He just neatly hopped over that nasty pile, and kept on walking as if he hadn¡¯t a care in this world. For some strange reason, he imagine how it would be if the surrounding linden trees had cigarette ends instead of leaves. It would be much stinkier than it is right now, that¡¯s for sure hahah. He walked a bit more and returned home. After brushing his teeth, he jumped into his bed. Tomorrow is a new day. Let¡¯s start it fresh and clean. New day ¨C new me. He set the alarm for 7.30 and left his phone on the bedside table. Books. Shelves. Reading tables. Silence. It seems nice. Fine by me. It was easy enough to fall asleep. 2 hours passed and he found himself in the state of sleep paralysis. At least he thought that was the case because he had never experienced such a thing before. Only some of his friends mentioned it to him. Supposedly, you are unable to move a muscle while your eyes stay open. It is a battle between the mind and the body. Able to think but unable to move. A chaotic state of mindless turbulence. Well, he had the sensation similar to that. Only, besides being awake and not moving at all, he heard something, too. A sort of scratching on the floor. Like claws being dragged over wooden planks. Then, after a few seconds, there was the sound of quick thumping of feet like someone was dashing to him. And he felt a shaking of the mattress. Somebody was on his bed with him, but he couldn¡¯t see who or what. He felt a warm touch along his left ankle. It slowly went caressing him along the inner side of his leg, all the way to his groins. He felt long sharp nails when it pulled down his pajamas together with his underwear. On the pulling down of his underpants, his swollen cock catapulted to the upright position. Shortly afterwards, he felt the soft, wet, and warm feeling of the sexual heaven. Two light but flabby and fleshy cushions went slowly up and down in a constant rhythm. A vein on each side of his forehead was relaxingly throbbing with every hop, each time delivering a dose of serotonin, dopamine, endorphin, and oxytocin to the every cell in his body. It was all one big whirlpool of happy hormones, racing and chasing each other through the bloodstream. It lasted about 4 minutes. Then he had an orgasm and released a part of his juvenile, energetic, and relentless spirit into this inexplicable someone or something. He then felt his pajamas being pulled up. He was confused but happy. Everything seemed perfectly placed and orchestrated in the world. He never saw the mysterious someone who rode him that night, only part of its long serrated tail with a hairy arrow at its end had briefly flashed to his eyes. He woke up around 3 am with sticky and damp boxer briefs. He tried to remember what he had dreamed, but he couldn¡¯t, the dream had dissipated like dust carried away by the wind. He tried to fall asleep again, but some shadows on the walls were constantly dancing in front of him. He opened his eyes and saw them clearly, quite aware that what he was now seeing wasn¡¯t a dream. Chapter 2 A spacious classroom with walls covered in white wavy paint, half covered with purple stars. Too many eyes pointed toward Konny. And they were solely focused on the movements of her lips, disregarding her flared cowboy jeans and the nicely contoured rear in them. Not even the pair of shiny little yellow Saturn earrings with conspicuous rings that she boldly wore were noticed. And definitely not the yellow crop top adorned with two adorable green ice creams. She was in front of everyone, presenting something. The professor was listening so carefully that you would say she forgot to blink. One girl with purple glasses in a pink shirt with a rainbow-colored unicorn was avidly listening to her colleague. Konny''s face turned red as she passionately expressed her opinion about the movie Deeply in Love but Dove Set Us Apart: ¡°While it is true that Johnny never wavered throughout the entire psychological tyranny she inflicted upon him, I do not believe that he ultimately did the right thing. Lucy acted that way solely because she was confronted with a very difficult challenge, and undoubtedly, she did not know the best way to handle it. Well, how would you, professor, react if your horse, which you had personally delivered from its mother''s womb and raised to become a beautiful white stallion with an admirable temperament, got bitten by a venomous snake 10 kilometers away from any urban area; for THAT time! I must emphasize that.¡± The professor agreed that she would also be in fierce doubt, and ultimately, the inclination towards attempting to save her beloved white stallion with a silky mane would likely prevail. Veronica, her best friend, congratulated her on the well-argued debate that was as engaging to listen to as it was to present. With a smile and a sense of contentment, Konny invited Veronica for a creamy milkshake topped with 3 cherries. The two girls were sipping on their creamy shakes through a straw and gossiping about the new teaching assistant they were both dying to meet when Konny noticed that the waiter had come to their table twice in a row, asking them what they would like to order. She responded both times that they had already ordered their milkshakes and didn''t need anything else. Then she noticed that there was nothing in front of her. There were no large glasses with milkshakes on the table. There wasn¡¯t the cute tiny black ceramic ashtray with a little white skull on the table anymore. Even though they didn¡¯t smoke, she fancied it. Let¡¯s be real: a bright mahagony table with a nice ashtray looks much nicer than the one deprived of it. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. Or so she thought. She raised her hand intending to call the waiter, and after a few moments, he noticed her. One thing, though, seemed quite ridiculous. The waiter moved so slowly that it was unbelievable, as if he was in slow-mo, with pauses where his arms, legs, and even his whole body would momentarily disappear. At times, she only saw a floating head in space, slowly and seemingly laboriously moving towards her with a smile on its face. She tried to think carefully about what she was seeing, but her thoughts were jumbled, jumping over each other in her mind, not allowing her to gather herself and focus on any logical explanation. She simply couldn''t find it. When she redirected her attention back to the waiter''s floating head, she saw that it was now frozen in place, like a gelatinous mass in the freezer. It wasn''t just his head that was peculiar; all the other people in the pastry shop were frozen as well. Suddenly, she felt sick, whether from the sight or something else, she couldn''t tell at that moment. Her head dropped and hit the table. Beautiful wings, feather-like and elegant. She felt the strength of the hands that were carrying her. She felt how they both landed, very gently, without any resistance from the air. The intense light prevented her from seeing the face of the person holding her. It was... an angel. In a long white dress with a silver trim. Suddenly, she felt the urge to vomit. ¡°Yes, I will reduce the brightness of my radiance, I forgot, I''m sorry,¡± said the gentle voice full of comfort. ¡°I''m sorry... Who are you? Where am I? Is this heaven?¡± ¡°No, not at all. I am in your mind. Or on your shoulder, whichever you prefer. To be semantically clear, you see me now because you are allowed to, because I am trying to warn you of a danger that I cannot directly influence...¡± ¡°Danger? Can''t you prevent it? Am I going crazy? What is going on here? I must be ready for a psychiatric institution. Oh well, definitely!¡± ¡°Don''t be afraid! Just listen to me carefully. The outcome depends on your upbringing... go to the public library and look for the book about Devon, page 87, towards the end of the page. Try to remember the recipe. Farewell... and take care!¡± the angel said and disappeared at the spot in one bright starry implosion. ¡°A recipe? What kind of recipe?! For what? How can you say goodbye like this? Angel!¡± ¡°Hey, Kon! Wake up, girl! Don¡¯t do this to me. Wh at happened? Kon!¡± She then felt Veronika''s gentle shaking on her shoulders and lifted her head from the table. She didn¡¯t have time to pay attention to Veronika''s concerned questioning, but she opened Google Maps and started typing ¡°Public Library¡±. Veronika, with a pale face and a sweaty forehead, watched her colleague as she rushed out of the pastry shop in an unreasonable haste for books, or so it seemed to her at that moment. ¡°That girl must be on something¡­¡± Veronica said in disbelief. Chapter 3 They moved too fast. He couldn¡¯t keep up with them with his eyes. Just when it seemed they had caught one direction, they accelerated and rushed towards him. The shadow swallowed him. He felt alternating waves of heat and cold, like a fever. The inside of his body tickled as if someone were lightly passing a feather over his organs. The sensation was far from butterflies in the stomach; on the contrary, it was completely the opposite¡ªunpleasant sensations that couldn''t be shaken off. Like being locked in a spacious room with tied limbs. His body stiffened and slammed against the bedsheet, stretched like a candle. His eyes remained open, with the eyeballs rolling quickly from left to right. Grayness. No light. He couldn''t see anything. He felt a force pulling him forward. In a matter of seconds, he was sucked into a patch of slightly brighter shade compared to the surroundings. A sandy beach. Powerful waves, several meters high. He turned around to see a tropical forest behind him. Before he could fully turn, a huge wave engulfed him and dragged him into the foamy water. His head ached. He sat in a chair in a softly blue-walled room. He saw a rocking crib in the corner of the room. He also saw a girl in the kitchen behind the counter. She smiled at him and blew a kiss. He stood up, waved back, and formed his hands into a heart shape, then walked to the nearest window. He moved the curtain and saw the naked wilderness outside the house. Tall sequoia trees, roots lifted from the ground, providing security with their strong curves. At that moment, he remembered thinking of utilizing their height and curves to create a slide. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. But for whom? Do I have a child? I don''t even have a girlfriend! But yes, then she must be my wife... Thoughts surged in his mind until a sudden cry startled him, and he immediately turned towards the crib. His facial expression twisted into a horrifying mask, resembling a person with hair standing on end. His heart momentarily stopped, feeling the blood in his veins turn cold. Cold droplets of sweat gathered at the back of his neck. A devilish creature sat next to the crib, soothingly rocking it. It had black fur all over its body and wore no clothes. It rocked the crib with long black claws. On its head were two twisted horns with jagged ends, running the entire length. It turned towards Max and stared at him with wide yellow serpent-like eyes and a gaping mouth. Although fear had completely overwhelmed Max, without thinking too much, he rushed towards it with the intention of grabbing and removing it from his child, for whom he still wasn''t sure even existed. The demon stopped rocking the crib, spreading its hairy arms towards Max, ready to embrace him. The moment Max touched its burning fur-covered shoulder, he jerked awake instantly and found himself in his own bed again. It was daytime. One o''clock in the afternoon. Chapter 4 She frantically turned the pages, trying to find that infamous eighty-seventh page. No, she didn''t see any recipe; this must not be the right book. She threw herself back into the search. And again. While eagerly expecting to come across a recipe, she saw a shadow on the page. She looked up and saw her friend. For some reason, her friend seemed dissatisfied. "Hey, V! What are you doing here?" she asked. "What am I doing here?! You left me hanging alone in the pastry shop! What''s gotten into you, K, all of a sudden?" After remembering that hasty, blurry moment, a wave of shame covered her face. "Well... let me explain once I find what I''m looking for, okay? Help me, please. You see, I''m looking for the book ''Devon,'' specifically the eighty-seventh page. It''s about a recipe..." If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. "What? A book? What recipe? You don''t even know what it''s about, and you reacted like that... You got me worried, girl. Okay, fine. I''m stupid for jumping in to help someone who left me high and dry for some book, but that''s just who I am. Go get us some coffee, and I''ll start searching." Veronika clearly saw the words written in uneven white letters on the book - "Devon." Brown leather covers, a golden bookmark, she reached for the book, feeling its weight. This must be it, she thought. She sat at a reading table and looked for that eighty-seventh page. Mhm... So, this is what it''s about... But why on earth does she need this? What kind of trouble has she gotten herself into? She heard a piercing sound in her head. She fell to her knees and dropped the book from her hands. With her face bowed towards the floor, she couldn''t see, but she felt the darkness surrounding her, suffocating her. In a swirling vortex of crimson, dark energy sucked her in, and she vanished from the library. Chapter 5 He walked uncertainly as unpleasant thoughts flooded his mind. He couldn''t shake off the nightmare he had dreamed. He wasn''t sure what it was; maybe it wasn''t even a nightmare. Everything seemed so real. One thing he was absolutely certain of was that he had lost his job. But life goes on. Always. It doesn''t wait for anyone, not even a lonely former Walmart employee. There were the doors on the right side of the hallway, just as the guard had told him at the entrance of the building. And it said clearly, "Public Library of Greatorror Villa." He tightened his tie and decisively reached for the door handle. The door clicked. Butterflies fluttered in his stomach, and in that moment, he forgot what he had planned to say, how to introduce himself. But he didn''t have a chance to fully open the door because he felt a strong force behind him, pushing him inside. He hit the door, heard a thud from the other side, and clumsily fell next to it. He grabbed his throbbing head and looked towards the exit. But there was no one there. "Oh!" a voice came from the other side. He saw a girl on the floor, and next to her, two spilled coffees. "Oh my goodness! I''m so sorry, I don''t know how this happened... I''m really sorry for hitting you with the door!" he stood up and reached out his hand to help her. He collected the cardboard cups and looked at their emptiness. "I feel terrible... Let me make it up to you with this coffee. This should never have happened..." Then he had a flashback ¨C as if this had already happened before. And then he remembered that he "dreamed" this back at work. At his now former job. Although he wasn''t sure how to describe that experience, his eyes were wide open, and now he saw this scene, from the future, he now realized... "It''s alright... It could happen to anyone," she said with a smile, lightening the situation and lessening his internal guilt. "Thank you for understanding, thank you so much! By the way, I''m Max," he said, extending his hand with a sense of relief that he hadn''t embarrassed himself further and worsened the situation. "I''m Konny, nice to meet you." "Well, Konny, let''s go get some coffee then, before I mess something else up," he said shyly but determinedly, smiling as they approached the coffee machine. "Are you always this clumsy, or just on Mondays?" she asked cheerfully. "Well... I don''t know... usually only before meeting a beautiful girl," he replied, scratching his head. They both blushed. "Ah, I see. Is that so? Haha." He took three coffees and unconsciously followed her. He didn¡¯t question the third coffee. They started talking about the new taste of coffee with lemon and mint as they reached a table. There was nobody at the table. "Hmm... That''s strange. My friend Veronica was here. We were looking for a certain book, you know... Where did she go..." "Maybe she went to the restroom?" "Well I would have definitely seen her if that was the case. The restroom is right by the coffee machine. I couldn''t have missed her... Oh, look at the book on the floor, man! V surely wouldn''t leave it like this. Something must have happened..." "But what could have happened? I mean, we''re in the middle of a library. It''s not like someone kidnapped her or something? Hahaha¡± As he said this, an image appeared before his eyes. He saw a crimson vortex and a girl with purple glasses being sucked into it. He noticed it was right next to the book they had found earlier. The vision abruptly ended, and in the background, he saw Konny frozen. Everyone in the library was frozen. He felt like he couldn''t escape from this strange moment; he felt trapped - alone, in blurry nothingness, just now, when he had met such a charming girl. Was it possible that all of this was happening to him of all people? He placed his hands on his face and released his accumulated frustration into them, screaming at the top of his lungs. After he finished venting his anger, he felt that he was no longer alone. He moved his hands and saw a yellowish brightness approaching him from a distance. It seemed... like some kind of angel. He saw large white wings and... something resembling a kimono... with a golden trim? ¡°Who are you? And why are you wearing a kimono?¡± he said, while the dazzling end of the kimono blinded him. "You see me for the first time, and you immediately criticize my clothes... Ah... humans. A strange species. It doesn''t matter who I am; I''ve come to help you. You see for yourself that you''re stuck in an interdimensional space," the angel said as he tried to scratch near his spine on the wing. "So, that is what this blurry wasteland is. What''s going on with me now? This has happened before at my former job. I saw some doors then... Never mind. Tell me, are you my guardian angel, as you came to help me?" "Something like that. It''s too complicated to explain the hierarchy and relationships among us and between us and you humans right now. But listen to me carefully¡ª" "Oh, why is everything so complicated? It¡¯s always the easiest way to get away by saying it''s complicated. ''It¡¯s complicated.¡¯ And that¡¯s it. It¡¯s always that easy. How do I know who you are and if you really want to help me or do something bad? You may well enough want to hurt me, how would I know? Would you believe a stranger who doesn''t introduce themselves and then expects you to listen to them and probably do something else?" "Okay, man, humans can really be annoying, uuh. A thorn in the wing, for God¡¯s sake. My race is called horosh. Think of us as angels. I have nothing else to compare us to. I want to help you get out of this dead-end you''re currently in. If you''re okay with that, of course. If not, I can leave," he started to walk away. "Okay, okay. Wait. Go ahead and get me out of here. I don''t want to linger here any longer." "First, listen to me, and then we''ll go. Deal?" Max nodded his head. "Here''s how it is. In that little book," he pointed to the book lying on the floor, "there''s a nicely written recipe for a little potion. You''ll get the ingredients, mix it up, and then give it to that frozen girl over there to drink it all at once. Okay?" "What kind of potion is that? What is it?" "I don''t have time to explain what it is and where it comes from. The important thing is that the ingredients are simple, but you have to be careful with the preparation. Follow the recipe on page 87 carefully." "Alright... I don''t know what''s going on in that book, and I don''t understand why it''s so important, but fine. I''ll do as you say... By the way, do you know anything about a girl with purple glasses? I saw her in a vision before you appeared. She seems to be a friend that te frozen girl mentioned, and she''s really worried about her." "Oh, yeah. She''ll come back when Konny drinks the elixir. One more thing. My colleague told me you messed up his fur when you tried to reach for him... Not nice of you. You don''t mess with horosh¡¯s fur, it''s playing with your life. Alright then, that''s done. Now, I''m off," he said and began to slowly disappear. Max paused, bewildered, thinking about what this being had said. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. "What fur... How do you even know that her name is Konny?" Then he realized what fur it was, remembering the crib and the giant sequoia roots. "Who are you?" he shouted as he watched the ominous smirk on the wondrous horosh''s face slowly fade from view. Then things returned to their normal course. This doesn''t bode well. Not at all. "I don''t believe someone kidnapped her, hahah, but then again, who knows..." Konny said casually. Then she noticed that Max was standing in a slightly different place than a few seconds ago. He was now two, three steps further away. "Wait, how did you get there? No, I''m telling you, I must have gone crazy. Nothing else can be happening. First, that angel, and now you''re teleporting in front of my eyes... You were just standing here a moment ago, man," she said, astonished and with a hint of disbelief, putting her right hand to her forehead. "Well, you''re not far from the truth, actually. But wait. Did you say an angel? What angel are you talking about? Did you see him too?" Max asked excitedly. "What do you mean? You¡¯ve seen one too?" "Yes, large white wings, a white kimono with a golden trim. A strong flash. Does it ring a bell?" "That''s it. Except mine didn''t have a kimono, more like a long white dress. And the trim was silver, not golden. But the flash nearly blinded me. It looks like they both have that in common. They don''t know how to use low beams; they just go for high beams and blind everyone, hahaha." She is good at cars. Very nice; with a smile, he contemplated. "Hahahaha, who gave them a driver''s license, am I right? Hahaha." "Exactly. Anyway, let me find that damn page already," said Konny as she bent down to pick up the book from the floor. "Go ahead, let''s see what it''s all about," Max replied, and they both sat down at the reading table. She began flipping through the book, searching for that specific page. "Do you know what it''s about? My ''angel,'' or whatever you want to call it, mentioned the book and some kind of potion that I have to drink." "Potion? So, it''s a recipe for that..." Konny said when she finally found the page. "It''s hard to believe I''ll drink anything concocted by an old book like this... But let''s see what''s written here..." Page 87 You must prevent the impending disaster. It''s coming, and no one else but you can stop it. "Yeah, for sure," Konny said. Save the person who was taken as a pledge for you to fulfill the given instructions. Drink the Elixir of Salvation. Only you can free humanity from the upcoming calamities. "Sure," Konny said. "I guess Victoria was really kidnapped," Max said seriously. "I never thought someone could be kidnapped in a library. It seems my tasteless joke was more tasteless than I thought. I had no idea something like this could happen. I''m sorry this happened to your friend." "Ah, me too. It seems I''ll have to drink this concoction after all." Ingredients: Combine and mix the ingredients with a dry radius bone of a bat for 3 minutes. "Where am I going to find a bat in Prettistown, seriously?" Konny exclaimed. (For the bone, see the last page of the book) Then boil for 5 minutes, let it cool, and drink it all at once. "Dear goodness, what am I going to find now?" Konny said as she flipped through the book to the last page. "Look, look, they''ve thought of everything..." Max said as he saw the bat bone glued with resin on the leather cover of the last page. "You can say that again... Someone really went to great lengths so that I correctly concoct and drink this murky potion... It surely doesn''t bode well," added Konny. "It says that you have to use it to save people from the apocalypse. But I don''t know..." Max replied. "I... I save myself every morning when I manage to get up when the alarm rings. I mentally fight with that, and now they expect me to do some physical saving of the world, too? The world has gone crazy, and now I''m suddenly expected to save it. Who am I for such a job? Someone miscalculated here, and pretty badly, hahaha." They both laughed, their outward expressions radiating amusement while inside, seriousness and fear battled. "I know we just met, and I don''t know much about you, but you shouldn''t put yourself down and underestimate your abilities. I believe you''re capable of handling this rescue task, hahaha," Max said with a confident grin, causing a slight smile to appear on her face. "But, yeah, believe in yourself. I believe in you!" he boldly proclaimed, and his cheeks blushed a cherry-red hue. "Thank you," she replied, with a touch of shy satisfaction. "No problem at all," Max proudly added, grateful that his encouragement had a positive effect. "All right then. There''s a health food store next to the library. We''ll find everything we need there." "You ask them about the bat wing; maybe they even have that one, too, hahaha." "With the experiences I''ve had so far, I wouldn''t be surprised if they didn''t, hahaha." And so it was. They bought the necessary ingredients, borrowed a stove and a pot from the librarian on duty, and set to work making the much-needed elixir. "If only she knew what we''re putting in this pot; I''m not sure she''d lend it to us so easily, hahaha." "You''re not wrong, hahaha. Better keep that to ourselves and clean it thoroughly with a sponge afterward." "Definitely. I hope the bat wing wasn''t contagious. That our little bat friend wasn''t a bloodsucker. We don''t need any vampires or infections right now," Max said. "That''s true, we don''t need another calamity on top of the ones we already have in order. We''ll fill the apocalypse schedule too quickly, and nothing will be left for the next month, hahaha." "Hahaha, good one, good one," Max replied with a slightly shy grin. "Thanks, thanks," Konny said, confidently encouraged. "Thank you, thank you," she said proudly encouraged, continuing to stir the elixir soup with the bone. "How long does it say to stir, 2 minutes?" asked Konny, the head chef of the Magical Department of the Rescue Unit Responsible for Defending Against Incoming Apocalypses. "Three, three," Max replied. "I don''t know why the temporal accuracy, but okay." "I have no idea. Although, the kitchen and its wonders are essentially chemistry." "You''re right, it''s possible." After 2 minutes. "That''s it, now let it boil for a bit," Max said in a managerial tone. "Yes, yes. Let''s do that," Konny responded. "If someone had told me that I would be cooking an apocalypse elixir with a guy I just met after just a few minutes of stumbling upon him, I wouldn''t believe them, no way, hahaha." "Hahaha, you know, I wouldn''t believe it either if I had received a similar tip," he blushed a bit as he replied, recalling the vision he had had in Walmart. They finished cooking. It cooled down. "Should I drink it, what do you think?" Konny asked hesitantly, contemplating her actions. " No way, throw it out the window, hahaha." "Seriously?" Konny asked, with a questioning look tinged with slight surprise. "I''m just kidding, of course," Max added. "It''s better if we go up to the top floor of the building, if possible, and sprinkle it on someone''s head, hahaha." She looked at him with a half-smile, scanning him to see if he was serious. "Just kidding, of course." And then they both burst into laughter, so much so that she accidentally spilled some of the mixture on the library carpet. "Oops, " said Konny. "That''s going to leave a mark, for sure," added Max. And then they looked at each other seriously and burst into laughter again. When the laughter subsided, Konny finally gulped down the elixir in one go. "Yuck! Disgusting as I presumed. Now, if I die, I''m going to kill--" Before she could finish her sentence, her eyelids drooped, and she began to collapse onto the stained library carpet. Fortunately, Max caught her just in time. Chapter 6 "Konny? Konny? Can you hear me, Konny? Wake up! Konny!" he yelled while shaking her shoulders. Everything went dark for her. She saw a few crimson sparks here and there. She felt a stirring inside her body. She thought she had been standing all the time, but then she found herself in a lying position. She gently lifted her head and saw her bare feet. Above them, exposed knees and a soft, white silky nightgown. Well, this is something I don''t have. Where did this come from? It looks nice on me, though. "Hello? Is anyone there?" she exclaimed, feeling her slightly altered voice echo back. Then the voice continued, a different, gravelly, deep voice. "Don''t be afraid," he said in an oddly rough, deep voice. At that moment, her whole body stiffened. She couldn''t move any muscles, joints, or limbs. Her heart started pounding rapidly, and tiny droplets of sweat began to gather on her forehead. "I... I don''t know who you are. What am I doing here?!" she asked, feeling utterly helpless and immobile. She didn''t get an answer. "Can you hear me? Who are you?!" she asked again. "Don''t be afraid," he repeated. A few moments later, she felt some hairs brushing past her foot. Now she couldn''t lift her head to see who or what it was. Before he turned her onto her stomach, she saw long black claws brushing over her right cheek. She heard and felt the sudden tearing of her nightgown. "No! What are you doing!?" she cried out, but she couldn''t move an inch. Although he entered abruptly, she didn''t feel any pain. On the contrary, to her surprise, she found it pleasant. She no longer hesitated. She didn''t resist. She surrendered to the strange pleasure. But everything happened so quickly. In less than a minute, it seemed to her, he let out a pleasant moan, and she felt a moist warmth deep within her. She turned onto her back. Now she could move; she was no longer stiff. There was no one behind her. 13 months later "Hold him, please," said Konny. "Pass him over. Who just pooped, huh, Koygo?" Max uttered in an endearing tone. The child looked at him with a smile for a few seconds, aimlessly glancing around the room. And then, he burst into tears. "Oh, come on, little one. You''re just whimpering. Let''s clean you up," said Dad. Konny went to sit on the couch, watching her two boys successfully collaborate. Her heart was full of joy. 7 years later "Did you take all the gear, Dad?" "Yes, son, everything is here. Don''t worry. Did you bring yours?" "Yes, yes! I packed the hooks, sinkers, float rubber bands, spare floats, spare line, fish keeper, folding chair. You have the fishing rod and the worms in the little box. I also brought some corn, just in case," Koygo cheerfully listed his fishing essentials. "Bravo, bravo. So, everything is here. Excellent. Let''s go then," Dad replied and left a note on the table with the message, "Gone fishing. Will be back around 7 pm. Enjoy your time away from us J." And so the fishermen set off to the river Sylva, 5 kilometers from Bringsborough. There, they found a nice spot under a weeping willow, and a convenient little oakwood boat awaited them. Their spot covered a river branch that formed a small lake¡ªa perfect, yet not so well-known fishing spot. Fishing wasn''t as popular in this area, much to the delight of our anglers. Due to the secrecy of the location, the lake was always teeming with fish, and they rarely returned with less than 5 kilograms of catch. Since they set off at dawn, the sun wasn''t a problem for them. Max couldn''t wait to settle into the boat and test his skills in the middle of the lake. Comfortably seated on small, but adequately cushioned pillows in the boat, wearing fishing hats with plenty of hooks on their heads, they awaited the first tug on the fishing rod. "Ah, son. Me, thirty, you, seven years old, two guys spending quality time together. A true bonding moment between father and son, don''t you agree?" "Yes, Dad. I love fishing with you," the little boy replied, with his cap occasionally falling over his eyes, prompting a comical reaction of slight annoyance as he quickly pushed it back up. His father was so happy that he could almost reach for the clouds. After a few minutes, Max caught his first fish¡ªa 45-centimeter pike. "You see, this fish has teeth. Do you remember what we learned? What fish does it remind you of?" "Is it a zander? It looks like a zander to me." "Close, but not quite. It''s not a zander. A zander has easily recognizable dorsal fins with spines sticking out. Do you remember what I''m talking about?" "Oh, yes, yes. Then it''s a pike?" "Pike, exactly. That''s it. So when you take a pike out of the water, you must hold it by its eyes to open its strong jaws and immobilize it. Otherwise, you might lose your fingers. You have to handle this fish very carefully. No joking around with this one," the experienced angler said, hoping to pass on some knowledge to his inexperienced young fisherman. "Yes, Dad. I understand." They fished like that for the next two hours, and then they decided to take a break for a snack. They paddled to the shore and beached the boat on firm, stable ground. They opened the bag with sandwiches that Konny had packed for them the previous night and started eating. "How do you like yours?" the father asked. "I like it, I love this cheesy spread that mom puts on it. It goes so well with the bacon and pickles," Koygo replied, after which everything around Max froze. "Oh no, not again!" I haven''t had any visions for 7 years. Ahh... I hoped they were gone. Why again?! Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. This time the vision was different. He felt it more from within rather than experiencing it through sight. He felt sudden weakness, as after vomiting. Unexplainable swirling in his stomach. He felt nauseous, but the pain was in his head. As if his blood vessels were about to burst inside his skull. In simple terms, he felt impending death. At some point, sharp pain occurred, and then he felt nothing. He saw a whitish frame leading into some dark tunnel. He was moving toward it. He thought it was long, but he came out of it in no time. After the tunnel ¨C a vast expanse of vivid colors full of nature. Plains and mountains, celestial dome and waters on the ground, treetops blooming with various bird chirps, vines hanging from trees adorned with flowers of the most diverse shades, the babbling of swift clear water streams, the living world pervaded the aquatic, terrestrial, and aerial environment ¨C paradise. There were people too. A multitude of different faces he didn''t recognize. They all harmonized with nature. They socialized with monkeys, rhinos, giraffes, flamingos. They caressed eagles, falcons, vultures in their hands. They helped ants by giving them fresh honey taken from huge natural hives attached to thick high trees. It was an indescribable harmony woven from the collective work of all living beings. There was no sense of predation in the air. There were predators too, but they were never hungry. Herbivores ate plants that would instantly regenerate. People ate whatever they wanted, there were self-service tables with endless supplies of anything they desired. If they didn''t want to eat, they didn''t have to. If they didn''t want to drink, they didn''t have to. They did whatever they wanted, but it never endangered other creatures. This seems a bit unreal and unfeasible. But okay, who am I to question anything? I probably died since I¡¯m here. It didn''t take him long to find Konny. She saw him from the midst of the bustling crowd and started running towards him with open arms ready for an embrace. And it was an incredibly passionate and fiery hug. Like fireworks on New Year''s Eve. Love sparks were flying everywhere, occasionally reaching people who happened to be there, and with each spark, they would feel a new surge of love and closeness. Unfortunately, he didn''t get a chance to say a word before she pushed him strongly back from the embrace, causing him to lose his balance and return through the tunnel into the interdimensional space. On his way back, he vaguely saw a man standing next to her with a contented farewell expression on his face. Both of them stood there so motionless, wearing that expression almost like a mask. The man seemed incredibly familiar, but he couldn''t figure out who he was. "Ahhh, no. Why did you do that, Konnyy!?" The expression echoed through the hollow of the tunnel, which rapidly narrowed to a point in the middle before completely vanishing. "Dad? Dad?" Koygo asked, sounding worried. "Tell me, son, what happened?" Max replied, looking bewildered as if he had just woken up prematurely from a dream. "Well, nothing, really. You just looked weird, staring at a point, and it scared me," the seven-year-old said innocently. "Nothing was wrong, darling. Don''t worry," Max reassured, trying to comfort his concerned son. And they continued having their sandwiches. Max occasionally commented on the beautiful nature surrounding them, reminding himself to spend more time in it as it made him feel fulfilled and free. "An extraordinary feeling, isn''t it, Koy?" "Yes, it''s nice." After finishing their meal, they continued fishing from the shore, under the shade of a sprawling, melancholic willow tree. "I need to pee," Koygo announced. "You can go behind that bush over there, see?" Max pointed while speaking. "Yeah, I''ll go then." "Alright." Ten minutes passed, and Koygo still hadn''t returned. Max got lost in fishing, but when he realized how much time had passed, he became very worried. He called out Koygo''s name, but there was no response. He left his fishing rod on a branch and headed towards the bush where he had directed his son to go. As he got closer, he heard a muffled murmur. "...so they bandaged it then?" a voice he didn''t recognize said. "Yes, there was no need, though. It was already healed the next day. They were surprised how fast it healed, but I didn''t feel any pain, and I knew it had fully healed." Max had come close enough to see the unfamiliar figure. It looked terrifyingly familiar ¨C black fur, long black claws, yellow snake-like eyes, and jagged ram horns ¨C it was the same creature he had seen in his vision back in his bed, with the sequoias and the slide, rocking the crib with a baby. "Run, Koygo, get away from him!" he shouted and ran towards the ominous creature. The boy didn''t have time to react before Max reached the horned creature and knocked it down to the ground. "I never intended to harm him... But your wife... Hahaha," it uttered through its sharp, long brown teeth and then smirked maliciously before turning into crimson dust, carried away by the wind. "What are you talking about?! Don''t you dare touch her!" Max stood up and caught his breath. "What did you talk about?" he asked, still panting heavily. "Nothing special. He asked me how I was doing. We also talked about the time when I injured my hand on the stairs. Remember when we went to the doctor, and they put a cast on my hand, and it was completely healed the next day? Do you remember?" "Of course, how could I forget. Was there anything else?" he inquired with a serious, probing look, hiding immense concern that filled his mind. "He said something strange to me, something I couldn''t believe." "What?" "He told me not to worry about Mom." "Why about Mom, what happened?" "He didn''t say anything else about her. Just not to worry." "Alright, son. Let''s get back home quickly. Pack your things as fast as you can and put them in the car. Let''s go, quickly." A heavy rain started soon after they left. They drove as fast as they could along the road. They parked the car by the entrance. They ran in the downpour and within seconds, they were soaking wet. They jumped over the polished wooden threshold and rushed into the house. "Wait for me here, please. Okay?" Max told Koygo in the hallway next to the entrance. "Take off your wet clothes and shoes, sit on the stairs, and wait for me for a minute." Carefully, he tiptoed into the kitchen. No one was there. The living room ¨C empty. The bathroom ¨C the same. He climbed upstairs. He saw white claw marks along the orange-brown wall, reaching deep into the plaster. The marks were so deep that they reached the mortar. All doors except for the bedroom were closed. He approached the bedroom cautiously, prepared for anything. Or so he thought. Inside, he found Konny lying motionless on the carpet in the middle of the room. He was not prepared for this. He approached her and took a closer look. Her face was turned towards the floor, surrounded by a pool of blood. He knelt on the blood-stained carpet, tears in his eyes and adrenal packs ready to be pumped into his bloodstream, and he began shaking her by the shoulders. "Konny, my love? Konny!" he shook her, then stopped. Carefully, he turned her face towards him. The horrifying sight forever etched into his memory. Bloody claw marks had created deep grooves across what was once a beautiful face, with pools of semi-coagulated blood filling the furrows. Her face was completely disfigured, unrecognizable. The right eye was marked by a deep gash, while the iris of the left eye was a bright red, filled with blood from burst blood vessels. Traces of blood-stained cartilage were visible on her nose. The skin of her cheeks, chin, and forehead hung precariously on one side of her face. Her lips were torn apart to the point that it was impossible to recall their previous appearance. He didn''t even bother to check for a pulse. Before, he couldn''t see through the shock, but now he saw clearly. The blood vessels in her neck had been torn. Blood was still flowing slowly as he held her head slightly elevated. The blood created a small, coagulated pool around her neck. He was utterly and completely shattered. Every cell in his body soaked in grief, helplessness, and rage. He knelt beside his dead wife, feeling overwhelmed by sorrow and anger, causing his face to alternate between a furrowed brow and a blank expression, eyes aged a hundredfold in seconds. Happy memories flashed in his mind, drowning him in overpowering emotions that swirled around and within him like an abnormal invisible whirlpool, unseen but felt by his heart. In this abnormal vortex, he knelt motionless as waves of emotions crashed and churned around him. He didn''t know where to go or what to do. He didn''t know if all this was real or just another vision. Did this truly happen to him? He began slapping his cheeks, forehead, and chin, trying to snap out of the shock. He failed. Time still passed, and the metallic scent of congealed blood mixed with faded fabric softener continued to linger. The tightness started from within him. Colors swirled before his eyes. His airways constricted. It felt like he couldn''t breathe. A lump formed in his throat, accumulating like a small snowball on fresh, quality snow. It grew bigger and bigger until it seemed like his esophagus would burst, unable to swallow. He clenched his jaw tightly, squeezing his fists and forearms, then pounded his fists into the bloody carpet, splattering himself and the surrounding area with the ejected blood. Chapter 7 This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. Chapter 8 Ah, another anniversary of her death. Well, here''s to you, he thought as he sipped his glass of whiskey. "Man, I''ll never get used to this sharp taste. How do people enjoy this?" he wondered while sitting on the brown leather couch, leaving his glass on the round glass table placed on the shaggy white carpet. "Once again, you''re drinking!" Aunt Elayza scolded him. "How many times have I told you that alcohol will melt away what''s left of your brain cells?" With a lump in her throat, she realized that she had gone too far and once again projected her accumulated negative emotions onto the vulnerable young man. "I''m sorry, dear. I didn''t mean to say that. You know how difficult it is for me to see you like this." "I know, aunt. I know life goes on and I shouldn''t drown in sorrow, but I just can''t. I simply can''t!" he blurted out, on the brink of tears. "Oh, I know, child. You''ve grown up and matured too quickly. You were never allowed to have a normal, carefree childhood with mischievous pranks and nonsense." After saying this, she went to the couch and offered him a comforting hug. With tears in his eyes and the intensity in his throat that had already passed, he said, "Thank you, aunt. Thank you!" "Oh, boy, you don''t have to thank me." "How can I not? You''ve always been there for me," he added tearfully. "You''ve always cared and made sure I''m okay. You''ve been like a second mother to me all these years. I want you to know how incredibly grateful I am, even though I don''t show it often." "I wanted to watch my favorite mother''s movie. Do you want to watch it with me?" "God, how many times have you watched that movie? Okay, we''ll watch it again," she said with a smile and compassionate indulgence. And Konny had always loved the movie "The Golden Eye of the Ancient Pharaoh." The pleasure of the blend of mystery and hope that this movie provided had always seemed perfect to her. She could watch it every year, and this mother''s tradition was diligently continued by the boy. The movie The wind that blows dry sand into his eyes had gotten on his nerves. The scorching sun that burned his hat and baked his scalp was tiresome. The wavy mirages of oases and water all around him. The sweat that bathed him and made him all sticky. He had grown weary of searching for something he was slowly starting to doubt even existed. He was fed up with waiting for a major discovery that could propel him to the top of the list of esteemed archaeologists and Egyptologists. He wanted to be on the cover of "Egyptoday," but this was just too much. For the past two months, he had been touring the pyramids and snooping around to find something new and groundbreaking every day. And now he was circling around a smaller pyramid. He did so in the early morning, when the icy transition from night to day was still palpable and called for a thicker jacket. His glasses would often fog up from sweat and blur his vision, and he had to keep wiping them. It was only in the morning that it felt nice and comfortable. For a brief moment, you might think this was not a desert but a fortunate, cool place with too much sand. He walked and kept his caffeine-energized eyelids open, searching for something unusual. However, take a thousand walks down one path, and by the tenth, the whole area would melt into a monotonous, homogeneous, tedious mass of roads, and the landscape would seem like a nightmare rather than a rest for the eyes. He walked and thought about his job when he stepped on something that made a creaking, barely audible sound. He bent down to see what he had stepped on, and upon moving the sand, he saw it was a faded greenish leaf of the velvichia plant. "Weird. How did I not come across this earlier? It must have been well buried in the sand," said the diligent archaeologist, Percury. He began to excavate it further when, at one moment, the plant started to retract into the sand, pulling him down as well, creating a hole in the ground. "What on earth is this?!" he wondered, looking around and trying to figure out where he had ended up. He felt something hard and stable beneath him. Like a plank. And after uncovering a bit around himself, he saw that it was a well-preserved wooden cover. "Ah, the Egyptians, what did they put on wood for it to have survived the ravages of time and sand so well? Yes, definitely sand. It''s the worst, no doubt about it. The ravages of time can''t be as painful as this damned sand. Fortunately, it hasn''t started to burn, blow, and sting the eyes too fiercely. But it will soon... " The walls of this pit were made of solid sandstone, and somehow, he managed to create footholds to climb out. Then he took his trowel, brushes, and cloths and started the cleaning process. He truly loved this part of the job. One of the main reasons he chose to study archaeology. The unexpectedness, the simultaneous rush and carefulness, the anticipation. That energetic treasure that occupied the "cleaner" as they meticulously brushed the dust, ensuring they didn''t damage anything. All that "waste" that was trash in the eyes of others represented a protective shell hiding long-unseen, secret wealth, which had its story, its mystery. Something that represented the essence of what he was really doing. Revealing the veil of secrecy, understanding the past, presumably an advanced era with a certain, likely slave-driven hierarchy, living (or probably suffering) through its daily life. All these things consumed his mind as he was doing what he loved the most¡ªgradually reaching the truth. He felt he was just a small step away from it. He couldn''t see it, but he could definitely feel it. It was there, within reach. Just a bit more, and he would be reading the magazine with no one else but himself on the cover. Half an hour later, he had finally cleaned the plank enough to see the carvings and hieroglyphs etched into it. It read, "The path to the sun is promised to all." He took his chisels and attempted to lift the plank, but it proved to be quite heavy. He then used a silicone-enforced crowbar and gently pried the plank open. It was a coffin lid, and because of the effort required to move it, it appeared to have been sealed with propolis. Upon moving the plank, he saw two larger and one smaller mummy. It seemed to be a family with a child. At their feet lay a small chest with gold-plated edges. He was immediately intrigued by it and knew that he shouldn''t touch the mummified bodies to prevent them from deteriorating without the proper atmospheric pressure. Therefore, mummies were "unpacked" in a superbaric chamber with precisely adjusted pressure. But he could definitely play around with the chest. There was no keyhole; it was an exceptionally beautiful wooden chest with rose carvings and a golden border. The roses descended to the golden rim, with exquisite details of thorns, stems, and leaves. As for the flowers... Such beautiful swirls of finely detailed, feathery notes on the petals that you could almost feel their silky softness at a touch. After more careful and patient dusting, he reached the moment to open it. He wasn''t surprised that there wasn''t the slightest creak as he opened the hinges; after all, the Egyptians knew their craft better than anyone. Or perhaps it was another race that had come to this planet and passed on all these building and craftsmanship secrets. Be that as it may, the chest''s contents did not impress him. On the contrary, it deeply disappointed him. Inside were simple clay jars and brass goblets. At least that''s what it appeared to be at first glance. However, what he couldn''t know before he delved into these objects was the existence of many other, far more valuable items. Among them were various things, from gold coins with eagle heads, irregularly shaped gold nuggets, silk threads with golden beads threaded through, to gold buttons of different shapes and sizes. All these items were tucked inside the seemingly ordinary jars resting in the chest. He realized that all these items must have belonged to a wealthier family in ancient Egypt. Percury slowly began to grasp the priceless value of his discovery. But this wasn''t the end. Inside one of the clay jars, he found a carefully rolled-up scroll. Upon opening it, he realized it was encoded, and he would need to delve further into deciphering this script. He carefully collected all the found items, loaded them into his jeep, and drove back to camp, where he would meticulously work on cracking the code within the scroll. This discovery would further assist him in unraveling the distant history of the ancient Egyptian civilization. This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. Some time later, at the camp "Mhm... So, this is how," the scientist mumbled to himself with a burning curiosity. It took him 10 hours, but he finally succeeded. He decided to leave everything as it was overnight and work on connecting the threads in the morning to get a broader, more complete picture of what he had discovered. The items he had found were of immeasurable value, not only because of their composition of the highly-prized metal but also due to their incredible historical significance for all of humanity. What appeared to be insignificant trinkets, those golden baubles concealed a map to the lost tomb of the famous Pharaoh Khufu. Inside the tomb lay the secret of returning from the dead, which had its cost: opening Pandora''s box, and unleashing apocalyptic horrors. Now he was certain of what lay on the table in front of him, which had previously been hidden in the jars. More precisely, he understood the function that each item carried, and together, they were crucial to deciphering the real truth. In fact, the eagle-headed coins were used as tokens to enter the underground realm with a thousand steps. But to find the entrance to the underworld, one would first have to find a contemporary guardian who held the secret location. The contemporary guardian had a long tradition of protecting the sacred and secret information passed from father to son since the time of the Great Pharaoh. But where to find the contemporary guardian? Well, the papyrus mentioned that the guardian was at the "oasis of imagined desires." Yes, it had to be a metaphor. I¡¯ve never heard of such an oasis before, the archaeologist thought. He pondered for another hour about this mysterious location that felt very close but eluded his recognition. Hmm... A man in the desert has only one wish¡ªto find an oasis with water and quench his thirst. I wonder if a mirage that causes the appearance of an oasis could lead me to the guardian of the underworld. It¡¯s worth a try. And so, our archaeologist embarked on what initially seemed like a senseless adventure, which began with a rejection of water and brought him to the brink of death from thirst. He soon reached a point where his lips cracked like the shell of a boiled egg, and he continued aimlessly wandering the desert, following his untested theory, which could cost him his life. This just goes to show how dedicated this man was to his work and how fervently he wished to make it to the front page of a scientific journal. Oh, the lengths people go to for fame, right? However, the truth was always just beyond the next sand dune. And so, Percury experienced the unimaginable. The sand in front of his eyes began to ripple like molten concrete in the first hours of a hot July day. He felt a strong urge to lie down in the searing-hot sand and melt into its depths. He didn''t know where all this would lead or what it was all about, but he knew that the pressure in his skull was so intense that melting into the sand would relieve him of all his agony in no time. And while he bid farewell to life like this, out of nowhere, he suddenly bumped his head on a palm tree trunk. He collapsed on the ground. His head didn''t hurt, and his vision was restored, clear and sharp. As he sat on the ground, he noticed that he was leaning on the soil, not sand, which was quite bizarre. Then he heard the sound of flowing water, like a small waterfall rushing into a little pond. He got up, determined to satisfy his vivid imagination. He knew his brain was prone to playing tricks on him, but he decided to go along and see for himself how much he had gone insane. What was he to lose anyway? However, he wasn''t so insane. As he stood up, he realized that this place was not just about one palm tree; there were about twenty of them. And not just palm trees, but all sorts of strange bushes, among which were pineapples, bananas, dates, mangoes, and even oranges. This was beyond his wildest expectations. All this fruit cooled his previously boiling heart, and he was relieved of the sunburned skin. But the most pleasant surprise was the water that inexplicably flowed from the spring at the top and cascaded from the large stones, flowing into a small pond. It was so clear, so irresistible that he immediately rushed towards it and drank like he''d never drunk in his life. He thought that perhaps this beautiful fantasy would now break, and he would return to that cursed sandy wasteland with the unfriendly sun and endless dunes. He had wanted to try all the fruit that was available here. But no, he remained in the fantasy. He didn''t waste a moment but hurried to the pineapple, the mango, and all the other fruits, tearing them apart and eating as if he''d never seen anything like it before. All that fruit sugar flowed into his insatiable throat, making his eyes pleasantly burn as a rush of happy hormones flooded his brain. After experiencing this feast, which he was extremely glad for, he decided to look for the man he had initially embarked on this dizzying and, one could say, dryly futile endeavor for. Finding him wasn''t difficult because the man was on the other side of the small pond, sitting on a bamboo stool, dressed in dry grass and leaves. It was more for decoration; he didn''t need clothes, but he liked a bracelet or a belt more for pleasure than for any clothing function. At least that''s what our archaeologist thought as he approached the man, considering how to introduce himself and explain why he had come. But there were no unnecessary words because the guardian already knew why he had come. He didn''t allow him to utter a word; he began, "For the eagle''s head, you know the entrance they provide, and the sunny stones, have you brought them to me?" He paused for a moment to collect his thoughts and understand what the man was asking for, then realized, "Yes, of course, here you go," as he handed over the golden nuggets. The guardian picked them up, looked at them briefly, and swallowed them like a handful of pills. The archaeologist watched as the man''s Adam''s apple moved, then he trembled and stopped. At that moment, his eyes began to glow a bright blue, a shade between the wave that was about to crash onto a sandy beach and the distant mountain peak that stood out with its blue in the pale sky. The blue light flared up so intensely that it appeared as a flame shooting out like a laser from this hermit. It lasted for several seconds and then faded. He spoke some strange words, which the archeologist recognized to be Hebrew, and then the ground began to shake. A gap appeared in the sand, revealing a staircase. It led into darkness. "Just go down, and you''ll figure it out from there," the guardian said. With a lump that wouldn''t go down his now parched throat, he nodded and started descending. As he descended, which seemed like dozens of steps, he wondered how he would see in the dark because he hadn''t noticed any torches. Just when he thought about it, torches began to light up one by one on the sandstone wall of the basement. "Would you look at that..." After a few minutes, he reached the bottom and found himself in front of a door with two circular indentations. Above one was carved an eagle''s beak, and below the other a bird''s wing. "This is where the eagle''s head tokens go; it must be like this," he thought. He took them out of his leather bag and placed them in the indentations. He heard a heavy sound, and the door slowly began to open, leaving a trail on the floor and dust in the air. Great. Let''s see what''s next... When he passed through the enormous door that was three times his height, and for a man of 6''1", that wasn''t small, he was stopped by the sight before his eyes. He saw a passage covered with scattered tiles of different colors and sizes, with walls concealing circular openings covered in cobwebs. There must be traps here. There''s no doubt. At the end of the passage, he saw another staircase, but this time it led upward. He couldn''t see where it led, just the ceiling that obstructed his view. Next to the door was an inscription outlined with slanting gold lines. It was written in Egyptian, something like, "The thread knows how to bark, keep it with you as it brings you salvation. It must be friends with pearl shells, lest it leads you to deep ailments." Mhm. I have something like this in my bag. He rummaged through his bag and found golden pearls with silk threads. He took them and checked that each pearl had a silk thread running through it, forming a golden bracelet. He tied the thread and adorned himself with this bracelet. He kissed it and went on, hoping for the best. He carefully stepped onto the first tile, which immediately sank an inch into the ground. A hissing sound filled the air as a crossbow emerged from an opening in the wall, with a dart dripping golden venom on its tip. Frog poison. However, the crossbow didn''t fire. Similar events repeated along the entire path until its end with the staircase. Sometimes a crossbow would appear, sometimes a spear, but neither one fired and killed our Egyptian explorer. Thank God, he thought as he reached the end and kissed the bracelet again. As soon as he stood on the first step, the bracelet''s pearls shimmered, and certain parts of all the steps crumbled. Without these pearls, I would never have made it through here. There''s no chance! He carefully climbed for a few minutes, then lifted the stone lid and found himself in a small room with a sarcophagus in the center, lying on a small pedestal. He approached it and saw a faded inscription covered in dust at the bottom, carved into the stone pedestal. Wiping off the inscription with his brush, he could now clearly read, "Guard his eyes, lest you dance with demons." Okay. Mhm, I know. Of course! The buttons! He knew about the buttons placed on the pharaoh''s eyes to gain entrance to the library from his afterlife. Otherwise, the lost soul would go to the dance of eternal suffering, the last and worst destination in the afterlife, where lost souls go. He managed to reach the sarcophagus, opened it, and saw the mummified body of the Great Pharaoh with a golden mask on his face. Between his crossed arms was a wooden staff, adorned with emeralds. He took the buttons that corresponded to the two eye sockets on the mask and placed them on it. The mummified body then raised its arms, allowing the archaeologist to take the staff, which represented the key to the White Library ¨C a place containing all the secrets of the ancient world. Taking the staff, he descended to the base of the sarcophagus and struck it three times. A passage opened, leading directly into the White Library. He couldn''t believe he was there, right beneath the sands of that cursed desert he had walked countless times. But now he was in it, with just a few shelves filled with unbelievably well-preserved scrolls that contained all the greatest secrets of the ancient world. He succeeded in his task, gaining recognition as one of the greatest, if not the greatest, scientist of all time. He found a cure for death, that is, the recipe for resurrection that Jesus himself used after he died on the cross. *End of the movie* After the movie ended, Koygo had a new idea for the first time: What if the movie contained a dose of truth? What if there was some way to bring back his deceased parents? Chapter 9 - THE END - He really wanted to be right. He plunged into the task of uncovering how much of the movie was real. How much of it could actually be achieved and MAYBE bring people back from the dead. Several months later And then, he tapped the curved staff, the pharaoh¡¯s crook, on the plate, and a tiny opening appeared. It was indeed the White Library. He couldn''t believe his own eyes. Could such a dose of truth be accessible to anyone who watched the movie? Admittedly, not everyone believes, let alone would someone actually try to verify or prove anything shown in the movie. It makes sense, but it''s still incredible. And now, he was surrounded by scrolls holding the greatest secrets of the world, although he truly longed for only one ¨C resurrection. Since it was written in ancient Egyptian, somehow Google Translate was doing the job properly. Where did it get the secrets of the ancient language? It didn''t matter; let''s just find it. Finding a parchment covered in dust, he learned that there should be a chest in the room containing the power of resurrection. After opening it, a person should loudly speak the names of the individuals they want to bring back to life and think of a happy memory that serves as a bridge between the underworld and the world of the living. It didn''t take much rummaging until he found it. Indeed, the feverish search for a solution to bring a person back from the dead sometimes yields extraordinary results. Yes, sometimes, let''s stick with that for now. For a small chest, extremely light, a bunch was attached with a key for its opening. A gracefully crafted key, appearing heavy but actually as light as a feather. He inserted it into the keyhole, and light appeared ¨C dazzling all around, strong enough to burn your eyes. He closed his eyes for a second, and then the light vanished. He saw three clouds of smoke emerging, white, red, and black, like snakes awakened by a flute. They slowly evaporated from it, intertwining all three, until they finally dispersed in three different directions and rapidly disappeared from sight, passing through the sandstone walls. Spellbound by the incredible sight, he remembered that he needed to shout names, so he did, with closed eyes, expecting the best. He kept them closed for a few seconds, clenched his fists, and opened them. No one was in front of him. With a trembling, stony heart, he stood frozen in place. And then... Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! "Koygo!" he heard his mother''s sweet voice behind him. When he turned around, he saw them both, smiling, with tears in their eyes. He ran towards them and threw himself into a huge hug. However, while the three of them were squatting in their soft embrace, Max seemed stiff, as if he wasn''t physically present with them. But that was just for a moment, and then, with a serious expression, he stood up. "Where''s the pharaoh''s staff, son?" his father asked. He pointed at it, amazed, unable to utter a word. He still couldn''t believe that both his parents were alive! Max walked slowly towards the staff, removed its lower tip, wrapped in fabric, revealing a shiny blade, ten centimeters long. Kneeling on the floor, he gripped the staff handle and decisively plunged it into his heart. He collapsed on the ground, facing the earth, driving the dagger even deeper into his body. The remaining two, still in a tight embrace, couldn''t believe their eyes. A minute earlier Max had a vision where a few minutes after their hug, three colored clouds of smoke ¨C white, red, and black, representing disease, bloodshed, and death, respectively ¨C would return to wherever they initially went and pass through Koygo''s body, absorbing all his life energy and leaving only his corpse behind. After that, the clouds of smoke would pass through the ceiling, echoing like fireworks into the heavens and dispersing across the entire planet. A great global earthquake would follow, from which invisible vapor would begin to evaporate, bringing plague, eternal war, and the death of every living human until the last human being dies. That was the price of bringing a person back to life, provided you don''t have an all-powerful father who would turn a blind eye, of course. Learning this, Max decided on this gruesome act, knowing that he was saving everyone around him, but primarily, and most importantly, his son and wife, his family. It was never easier for him to sacrifice himself, paying no attention to his own life, for the sake of the lives of his loved ones. "Keops'' dagger is really not for play..." Max''s spirit uttered as it once again plummeted at a dizzying speed into the underworld, ready to drink again from the waters of forgetfulness from the Lethe River. On that day in Walmart Max returned from the vision to reality. Now, he had a completely different perspective that would allow things to go their best possible way. He immediately apologized with a smile to the elderly man whom he didn''t notice earlier due to the vision and continued to work in his favorite store. The man, initially visibly offended, accepted the apology and smiled back. Max continued to carry out his extraordinarily important task until the end of the shift. The next day, he went to the public library and smiled at the reading table while watching Connie carry a tray with two coffees. For a moment, Max was afraid that Victoria had been kidnapped, but she had just gone to the restroom. Then, as they were browsing and searching for page 87, he passed by them and saw that when they reached page 86, the next page was missing because it had been somehow torn out of the book. He smiled again and exited the library. From his jacket pocket, he took out a clenched fist and opened it. In his hand, he held the crumpled page 87. He took a match, lit it, and threw the burning paper into a metal bin. "You aren¡¯t a pile of cigarette butts, but you could have messed up my life forever, hahaha." He went back into the library and reached out to meet his "future" wife and her non-kidnapped best friend. THE END