《Death over Defeat!》


 Chapter 1: Resignation.

    Satin pressed the enter key, and the file was sent. He peeked through the side opening to see if the boss was in the cabin.


    After exactly three minutes, the boss¡¯ secretary came to him and asked to report in his cabin within five minutes.


    Satin got his tie right and combed his hair. He stood and with confident steps moved towards the cabin. He knocked on the glass door.


    ¡°Come in.¡± He was sitting on the chair with his back facing him.


    ¡°Mr. Satin, I trust my employees. I trust them to finish the work that I¡¯ve assigned them. There are times when they fail to live up to my expectations, but those are times I let them be.¡± He placed the glass of rum on the stool beside him, ¡°Do you know why?¡±


    ¡°Because you are the boss?¡± Satin replied, his voice cracking.


    ¡°No, but yes, what you are saying is true. But I see this differently. I have been in this business for almost 40 years. You know what my father did?¡± He turned to Satin.


    Satin had heard rumors.


    ¡°He ran a crime syndicate. I betrayed my family and ran away. He followed me. He tried to pull me into the family business for ten years, yet I didn¡¯t go.¡±


    ¡°You know what he did next?¡±


    Satin shook his head.


    ¡°He sent a hitman behind me. But he was found dead. You know where he was hit with the bullet?¡±


    Satin shook his head again.


    ¡°Here.¡± The boss placed his finger in the middle of his forehead.


    ¡°They never found the weapon, which was obviously a gun.¡±


    He placed a gun on the table. He took out a tissue from the box and began rubbing the muzzle.


    ¡°You are leaving us. You have to face a trial,¡± He tapped the bell on the desk.


    The door was opened and a buffed man walked inside. He pushed Satin aside.


    ¡°Move away weakling.¡±


    Looking at this man, Satin bowed to him and stepped aside. The man eyed him and snorted.


    ¡°Rico, this man standing here is betraying us.¡±The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    Rico looked at Satin again, ¡°I sense fear.¡±


    ¡°Please impart some pain to him.¡± Boss turned his chair back to the window and took the glass.


    The buffed man grabbed Satin from behind and gave a German suplex.


    Satin felt hands on his chest and his feet were in the air. The next moment he was slammed on the concrete floor. He felt something rising in his stomach. He gulped and it went down. He touched his tongue with the finger. There was blood.


    He stood and after bowing he left the room.


    Everyone turned to him. The secretary came to him and pulled the ID card from his neck.


    He walked to his desk.


    ¡®I never got her number.¡¯ He smiled.


    There were not many things that he had to take with him. Just some papers and a framed photograph. It was from the time when the whole office went on an adventure trip. That was a good day. He sighed and took the frame and placed it in his box.


    He grabbed his bag and held the box in his embrace. His steps turned to the exit door. These were the same doors and lifts that he had walked every day for the past three years. He reached his car and placed all the things on the backseat.


    He looked at the building one last time and then pulled the car to the exit of parking.


    It was evening, Satin came back from the grocery store and placed the supplies in the kitchen and quickly made a cup of tea.


    He checked his emails to see if there are any favorable replies from the companies he had applied in. While going through the mails, his eyes stopped on one.


    He smiled. There was an invitation for face to face interview. He checked the address. It was nearby and the pay they were offering was a bit above what he was getting in his current job.


    As he has to wake up early the next day, he had his dinner earlier than usual late nights. He set the alarm and went to sleep.


    It was the morning. Satin was going through his wardrobe and thinking of what to wear. He finally settled on to the good old suit.


    The road was not crowded, or he has not visited this place in a while. He used to come here when he was in high school. He saw the shop where he was beaten by the boys from another school. His lips curled. He should visit here more. Well, if it goes well today then he will be traveling by this route.


    He stopped in front of the building and drove his car to the parking in the basement. The floor mentioned in the email was eighth. He stepped out and went straight to the reception.


    ¡°I¡¯m here for an interview. It would be great if you can show me the directions to Eageroff solutions,¡± The receptionist looked at him and calmly showed to door.


    Satin thanked her. He waited till she went back to her place. On the door, it was written in bold letters the name of the firm.


    He knocked.


    ¡°Please come in,¡± A man opened the door and stepped aside to let Satin walk in, ¡°You must be Mr. Satin. Please make yourself comfortable on that sofa.¡± He pointed towards the Sofa.


    There was a television in front of the sofa. Satin was told to wait for some fifteen minutes as the manager was busy on a call. He could hear someone talking in the adjacent room.


    The man who opened the door came back and offered some biscuits, Satin gladly took them and nodded as a thankful gesture. The man also served him a cup of tea.


    Satin ate some biscuits to kill time. After that, he checked through his resume if the print was good or not. He had forgotten to take a print of his resume, so he had to get it done on the way. He was skeptical about the paper they used, but it looked good and also had a glossy feel. He told the printer guy to use thick paper, but it was not in stock.


    It all turned to black after that. He found it hard to think, his breath got fast and his breath heavy. The last thing he remembered before collapsing was the face of the man who served him tea.


    ¡°Why?¡±


    The man shook his head went to the adjacent room. He switched off the recording that he was playing.


    XXXXXXXENDXXXXXX

 Chapter 2: Orientation

    The weather was good, the initial rain that had brought the temperature down was now gone. It would be good if Satin could have a walk outside, carefree and have a burger at some roadside small shop. This was the first thought popped in Satin¡¯s head when he woke up.


    His eyes opened. His hands felt heavy as if they were jammed. His torso was tied with the rope to the couch. He saw the guy sitting just a few steps away. He was watching TV. Satin opened his mouth, but the words didn¡¯t come out. There was an itch in his throat, he wanted to scratch it by coughing, but was not able to. It became unbearable. Tears came out of his eyes.


    ¡°You are awake. Quite a nice and cozy sleep you had.¡± The man dipped a spoon in the bowl in front of him, he twisted the spoon to get the maximum amount of noodle, he continued, ¡°Don¡¯t worry about the ropes. Once you listen to me and understand what I¡¯m trying to say I¡¯ll remove them.¡±


    ¡°Oh sorry, where are my manners?¡± He stood and quickly came to Satin. He shook his head and gave a bow. ¡°Sorry, I had to do this.¡±


    Then he ran to somewhere and after ten minutes came back with some needles and some pouch of blood, with weird setup.


    Satin¡¯s eyes went wide, he whimpered.


    The guy looked left and right, ¡°I humbly apologize again.¡± He took the needle and inserted it in Satin¡¯s arm, he placed the pouch of blood in the transfusion setup. After checking everything was fine, he went back to eating his noodle.


    ¡®What is this blood?¡¯


    He couldn¡¯t say a word. The guy had given him some paralysis drug, which is made him unable to move and talk.


    He looked at the blood that was pouring in his veins.


    ¡®What is this? Amy I lacking in blood? If so, then this guy checked the needles?¡¯


    It would be bad if he got an infection from this. Being kidnapped was a different thing, and being kidnapped and getting some weird infection was totally different.


    ¡°You must be wondering about the setup. Don¡¯t worry, the blood and the setup, everything is clean. I double-checked them.¡± The guy looked at him. He narrowed his eyes.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    He went inside and came back with a laptop, ¡°I will show you something. After that, you can decide what to do.¡±


    He plugged the projector into the laptop and switched it on, ¡°Let me give you some background info on this.¡± Satin could see some photographs of what looked like an old grocery store.


    ¡°This is called the ¡®Pledge¡¯, and this man here is known as Sigmund Charles.¡±


    Satin saw an old man, probably in his seventies was surrounded by burly figures in a semicircle. He was the center of it. The old man was holding a paper in his hands and a man was on his knees.


    ¡°Have you heard about El Dorado?¡±


    Satin tried to nod. El Dorado, The famous mythical treasure every adventurer talked about.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take it as an affirmative. This man announced to the world a few days back, that he got the map of El Dorado.¡±


    Yes, Satin had read about this in a magazine.


    ¡°A few days ago, this man sent a message to one of the biggest guilds of this country.¡± The guy stopped and went through the expression on Satin¡¯s face.


    Satin had seen some people who were adventurers. And he had also visited one of the guilds with his friends when he was in high school.


    ¡°This old man here has instructed them to organize a tournament. He wants to select a team from the winners of the tournament. He will send that team to get the treasure of El Dorado.¡±


    The guy switched off the projector, ¡°But he also proposed a condition. Only the ones who have the blood of kings can apply for these tournaments.¡±


    He looked at Satin¡¯s arm, ¡°I was looking for anyone who can enter the tournament. I had my reasons. And I found you. Of course, you don¡¯t have the blood of kings. So, through some of my connections, I was able to get some decent amount of blood from the underground. I have tested the concentration, it is 70% pure. Which will do the trick.¡±


    Satin wanted to slap this guy and smash his head with the cup of tea he was served. His savings were pretty low already. He purchased the car on loan, he has to pay that, there are also rent, his internet charges, his groceries and many more. There was just barely enough to cover his expenses for a month at most. He desperately wanted a job.


    ¡°Sorry, I didn¡¯t get your approval for this. I talked with some people before, but they all refused. I even talked with adventurers, but they were already associated with agencies.¡± The guy checked the setup again, ¡°The blood transfusion would be complete by the time you would be able to move. Remove these things then. And if are worried about the money, I¡¯ll also pay you. Think about it and let me know.¡± He placed a card on Satin¡¯s belly. There was only a contact number engraved on the card.


    He grabbed a bag and placed his laptop inside it. He looked again at Satin. He nodded and left the room.


    Satin closed his eyes, ¡®I¡¯ll find you and then..¡¯ He tried to clutch his fists but couldn¡¯t.


    Fuck this shit!


    He didn¡¯t know who that man was. After spending the whole day in this room and listening to his talk, he had no clue who that guy was. If Satin could guess, then he must be desperate. All he felt was anger towards this person. Sure, if what that man was talking is true, he would get a lot of money. But the odds and not in his favor. He was not ready to take the risk.

 Chapter 3: Rejections

    Satin was asleep. He woke up after eight hours. He checked if hands were working normally or not. Yes, they were. He proceeded to remove the bandages and the needle from his arms and untied the ropes. He checked through the window, it was late in the night. He exited the room. There was no one at the reception. The shift must be over.


    He pressed the button for the lift and was glad it was still working.  He was eager to visit a hospital for a quick check-up of his blood. In the basement, he saw his car still parked where he had left it. He pulled his cit and began to look for a hospital.


    After a few minutes of driving, he found one.


    It was small, mainly to deliver the babies and small diagnosis. the emergency ward must be there. He asked the nurse on the way and she took him there.


    Another nurse came to him, ¡°We would like you to fill this form.¡±


    He grabbed the paper and quickly filled it, ¡°I¡¯m here to do the basic test of blood. Just all the basic test you do.¡±


    The nurse nodded and came back with a few small containers and a needle.


    Satin saw the needle, he almost thought of running away. The nurse took his arm and applied some spirit. She pushed the needle inside his arm. And slowly pulled the blood out.


    Satin saw the chamber of syringe filling up. The nurse kept the needle in his arm, she pulled the syringe and poured the content into a container. She repeated this two times.


    ¡°We will mail you your report by tomorrow evening.¡± She handed him a paper which had mentioned the bill and everything. He nodded.


    While driving to his home, he kept looking into the rearview mirror. It was a relief that no one was following him.


    He got to his home. It was quite. All the residents of the apartment were sleeping. He opened the door to his. A sense of relief dawned onto him. He removed his clothes, just threw them away here and there and went straight for the shower. He took a long and cold one. After that, he took some juice from the refrigerator and some bread. He got to his laptop and begin to see if any recruiter has sent him any favorable replies.


    He saw few. There was one who had called him for the meeting in morning. He didn¡¯t take any chances and searched the website quickly, it seemed a legitimate business. He went to his bed after sorting everything.


    It was early morning, and Satin was on time for the interview, the man looked at him, ¡°You were working for ¡­¡­.¡± He looked at the resume and called someone. He came ten minutes and sent Satin away, ¡°We¡¯ll inform you of the result.¡±


    This was really weird for Satin, he was not asked any questions, the man just read his resume and sent him away. Well, he still waited for the result.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!


    He waited till evening, there was no word from them. He picked up his phone and called the recruiter instead.


    ¡°Sorry, your feedback is negative. Although your credentials were good, we chose to move on with the candidate who better suited our needs.¡±


    ¡°Okay, thanks.¡± It felt bad. He sat on the chair, looking at the ceiling. He should check his email again. He went to his laptop and opened his email. He went through the emails quickly and there were three favorable replies. He quickly called the contact person and scheduled his meeting for the next three days.


    Spending time while getting some topics refreshed was a good idea. He searched a few.


    After three days.


    Satin was in his car. He had just called the last recruiter for which his interview was scheduled. It was also negative. Something was wrong here. He called the recruiter back.


    ¡°I know this is unprofessional. But I know there is something else working into this instead of me not suited for this job. Can you just give me a hint?¡±


    ¡°There is no other thing.¡± The recruiter replied with a sigh.


    Satin sighed, ¡°Can I meet you in person?¡± He wanted to have a one to one conversation with this recruiter. She seemed she would answer his queries if pushed a little.


    They decided to meet in a little coffee shop in an hour.


    He was early and she was ten minutes late.


    He welcomed her.


    ¡°Okay Mr. Satin, why are we having a meeting?¡± She directly came to the topic.


    Satin was not able to hold in and just told her his circumstances, that he was not able to find any job and everyone was just rejecting him.


    The woman sighed, she shook her head. She looked at him, ¡°I know I might get into trouble for this. This all is happening because of your previous employer."


    Satin heard it. He was shaken. He was thinking, ''Why that would matter?''


    The woman watched Satin, he was lost in thought, she finished her coffee and bid farewell to him. He just nodded.


    ''The old man was pulling strings from behind and taking his revenge?''


    It seems like it. He took out the card from his pocket. ''Should he call the man whatever his name was? Or should he give some more tries to get a job?''


    His head was hurting. He wanted to drink and relax for a minute. He was already wearing a suit and it was around 8 PM. He decided to go to a club. The nearest one was a mile away. He paid for the coffee and exited the restaurant.


    This club was more of a traditionally styled one. It had the cultural mix of Thailand with China. The women wore revealing clothes. They were nearly naked and adorned traditional ornaments. The many smells of liquors and smoke attacked Satin¡¯s senses as soon as he arrived. The atmosphere was dark. There were only a few neon lights. There was an old song playing with new beats mixed, men and women, dancing. He could feel the rhythm through his legs.


    The cigars were emitting smoke. The red haze coming from the lights and cigars induced subtle drunkenness into Satin. He went to the counter and ordered rum. He saw two men beside him, they were smoking a big joint which from the looks of it appeared to be freshly rolled.


    ¡°Your order sir.¡± The man behind the counter passed Satin a glass.


    Satin nodded and took it. He turned to the crowd again. His eyes fixated.


    "You sly bastard. I didn''t expect you to get the rights for the adventure in Focado." One of the two men sitting beside Satin spoke.


    The other man, who might be in his forties, took the joint, ¡°Yeah, it was such a pain the ass. They kept rejecting me. But it appears they had fewer men to go with, so they reluctantly took me in.¡±


    ¡°Stop being moderate. I¡¯m already jealous, bet they are paying a hefty sum for this single mission.¡± The previous man shook his head and snorted.


    "I¡¯ll rather not talk about it. What about you? Are you able to land any adventure?" The smirked and asked back.


    ¡°I have been trying, but it seems my luck is no good.¡± There was a sigh.


    Even if Satin wanted to avoid their conversation, but something inside him told him to hear keep listening. He built up some courage and asked them, ¡°Are you guys not going for El Dorado?¡±


    The two stopped talking and turned to Satin.

 Chapter 4: Sabbatical

    The music was loud, but the two men somehow managed to listen to the question asked by Satin. They turned to him, ¡°Who are you kid?¡± One of the men, who was in his forties asked with a smile.


    Satin shook his head, ¡°I¡¯m no one special, and just heard this somewhere. So aren¡¯t you guys going to join the tournament?¡±


    The younger of two men, tapped the table, ¡°Not everyone can join the tournament. We don¡¯t stand a chance. You have to be a part of a big guild to be there. There¡¯s no way you can stand your ground in there if you are ordinary adventures like us,¡± He paused and sighed, ¡°And we don¡¯t have a death wish.¡±


    Satin was not hearing any music, the man was not speaking aloud, but he was able to hear and understand most of it. He was right, there¡¯s too much unknown there and it was too dangerous to be there. He was better searching for the job in some product based company or if the current situation persists, service-based will also do for him.


    A woman in nearly naked attire came to him. She twisted her waist and touched Satin¡¯s face. She came close to his face, ¡°Why you roam in valleys like a stray dog?¡± She was lip-syncing with the music playing, ¡°Come stay in my heart, your humble abode.¡±


    Satin took the glass and took a sip, the woman took the glass from him and finished it in a single go.


    She winked at him. He turned to the man behind the counter and waved at him to fill the glass once more.


    His phone vibrated, he took it out and saw the name. He put it back. It rang again. And again after a few minutes. He clenched his fists and took it out, ¡°Why are you calling me?¡±


    ¡°My mom, she is in hospital. She collapsed suddenly and I didn¡¯t know what to do.¡± A woman answered him.


    ¡°I don¡¯t care whatever happens to your mom or you. We are over, we have been over for a year. Do not disturb me again or I¡¯ll take tough measures.¡± Satin began to walk out of the club, the swarm of people kept blocking him, and he placed the phone away for a second, ¡°Get off from my face.¡± He pushed them away and went outside. He placed the phone to his ears, ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Satin, I know I¡¯m being selfish, but she will die. They are saying she needs to be operated soon. Her heart condition is back.¡±


    ¡°Get on to the point already.¡±


    ¡°They are asking for money. Too much money. They asked for half a million.¡±


    ¡°Why are you calling me then? How am I supposed to help you?¡±


    ¡°Satin, you are intelligent, you are smart and you know how to get the work done. You must have moved on, but I¡¯m still there. I¡¯m still there Satin. You must have found many people like me, but for me, there is only one like you. I can¡¯t go anywhere else.¡± Hearing the sobbing voice, Satin¡¯s hand shook.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.


    He ended the call and went to his car. He switched off the car light, ¡°ARGHHH!!¡±


    He covered his face with hands. And tried to calculate all his savings. They were no way near the amount she was asking. He checked his suit and found the card. He would pretend to join whatever that man was saying. He would ask the money upfront and when the time of joining would come, he would hide. This was the best he was able to think at this moment.


    He called the number mentioned on the card, ¡°This is Satin. I¡¯m ready to join.¡±


    ¡°Okay, come to the same office tomorrow and I will be there.¡±


    ¡°No, I want the money now. Have some emergency.¡± Satin said in haste.


    There was a pause on the other side. Satin could feel the sweat on his palms.


    ¡°Well, I can pay you right now. Where we can meat?¡± The man asked.


    ¡°In the parking of ..¡± Satin told the name of the club and his car¡¯s plate number.


    In an hour a man knocked on his door. Satin opened it, he was the same man, ¡°Take this.¡± He handed him a bag, ¡°Remember, tomorrow at 10 AM. Same office.¡± He smiled at him and walked away.


    Satin pulled the car. On the way, he asked for her address.


    He gave the bag to the woman, ¡°Don¡¯t call me ever again. I will not answer your call from now on.¡± He didn¡¯t wait for the reply.


    His legs paused. He didn¡¯t want to do this, ¡°Can I sleep at your house? You will be here for the whole night?¡±


    The woman nodded. She took out the keys and handed them to Satin, ¡°There is some food in the fridge if you feel hungry.¡±


    Satin took the keys.


    The house was the same as Satin remembered. Nothing had changed in the past year. He took out the food from the fridge and went to the dining table.


    He took one gulp. From tomorrow, he will think of something to return the money to that man and then he will go look for a job.


    He left the apartment early, she was already home. He bid a normal goodbye to her.


    His destination would be the interview he saw in today¡¯s newspaper. He needs to collect the money quickly and return it to them. If only he could quickly get a job.


    He gave the first interview and was going to his next destination. It was well past 10 AM. He was driving fast. A car came parallel to his. His phone ranged, he picked it up.


    ¡°Mr. Satin you were supposed to reach the office by 10 AM. Stop the car and follow us, or it will be bad for you.¡± The man on the phone said.


    Satin looked at the car beside him and pulled his car behind it. Well, He could only pray everything goes fine.


    They drove some ten miles. The car stopped in front of an under-construction building. Satin saw three men coming out. They waved at him to follow them.


    Satin stepped out of his car. They took him to a corner. One of them took a knife. Satin felt uneasy. The two others quickly grabbed his hands.


    ¡°What are you going to do?¡± He shouted. He could almost hear his heart beating.


    The man came near to his face, with a single clear movement he sliced Satin¡¯s left ear.


    The sensation reached to him after some seconds, ¡°What did you do?¡±


    The two who were holding him pushed him. He fell on his face. The ground in front of him, he could see drops of blood falling.


    He covered the wound with hand and looked at the man, he was holding his sliced ear.


    ¡°If you want this back, then you have to come with us and do as we say. Are you ready?¡± The man said, his eyes behind the glasses never leaving Satin for a second.


    Satin was clueless. They were serious. He had to accept this.


    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll do whatever you guys need. Just put it back.¡± He whimpered. The rusty and wet sensation was nauseating to him.


    The man nodded towards one of the guys who went somewhere and came back with a first aid kit. He took out a needle and some stitching thread. He took the ear from the man and began to stitch it back. The other two were holding his head and arms.


    Satin felt something piercing his skin, and the pain afterward. A tear fell from his eyes.


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