The Rise of the Urban God

“Brother, I’m telling you the truth, so listen to me,” Kristy said, yelling and pleading simultaneously. “Look at that woman’s hand carefully. She has all her nails looking sharp and fine, except the middle fingernail. Do you know why? That’s because she definitely masturbates. That’s what women do. One of my friends does the same! So, your girlfriend isn’t as pure and holy as you think!”

“You’re lying!” Ulmer refused to believe his younger sister’s words. “Brianna would never do such a thing! She’s pure as a diamond! You’re just trying to separate us because you’re jealous!”

“Huh? Why would I be jealous?”

“Because she’s a gem!”

A few hours after the siblings had that conversation, on the dark cold night, at around two o’clock, the 23-year-old Ulmer was standing right in front of his girlfriend, feeling more pain than a man with many bullets in his chest would.

She was having sex with many men like a vulgar beast in heat.

Ulmer was so shocked and disgusted by it that he dropped the bouquet and ring box and ran away in tears. It was hard to believe that the angel he had met online long ago turned out to be a demon in disguise instead.

Ulmer didn’t know how far he walked. Before he knew it, he was walking down a long bridge.

“You were right, Kristy,” Ulmer’s eyes were clouded with hot tears. “You always teased and tricked me, so I thought you were trying to break my bond with Brianna, but what you said that day… It turned out to be true. I should have been more careful. There were clues, but I did not see through them. Now, it hurts so badly.”

His girlfriend, Brianna, was his first love, and his only love. Though it was a long-distance relationship, he met her eight times. The ninth time was supposed to be a big surprise for her on her birthday, but he was utterly heartbroken to see her naked with many men in her own flat.

His heart collapsed at that moment, and he couldn’t even digest what he saw. His feet didn’t want to walk back to his home, as he felt like he had no one else left in this world to live for.

Just then, his mobile rang. It was Brianna calling.

He didn’t want to wake up first. However, he wanted to ask her just one question, so he answered the call and asked quickly, “Why?” he sniffled. He loved her unconditionally, so he found his current situation utterly disheartening.

Suddenly, he felt a surge of electricity pass through his brain. And then he heard her voice, “Where are you right now?”

“On a bridge,” he looked like he was being mind-controlled.

“Then jump from there,” she said.

Like a possessed person, he went to the edge of the bridge and stared into the abysmal river.

“Good bye, Ulmer,” her voice still reached him. “I don’t think anyone will cry over your death, though, because you’re the most useless person I’ve ever met in my life. Your pathetic life is going to come to an end because of me, so you should thank me.”

Even though Ulmer’s expression didn’t change, a lone tear leaked from the corner of his eye.

He tossed his mobile and purse behind him. Without any hesitation, he jumped without even closing his eyes. He crashed into the river.

At the same time, not too far from that bridge.

Ulmer’s long-distance lover, Brianna, was standing on the balcony of her duplex house, wearing a woolen coat with nothing else inside. In the background, there were seven men lying lifelessly on the floor, looking like mummies that were drained of all their life force.

Brianna was looking into the distance with a faint smile on her face. “I was planning on making that virgin my thousandth meal. My ultimate experience. I spent two years manifesting his sacral energy by acting like I loved him. But he appeared out of nowhere and saw everything. But what’s interesting is that I tried to put him under hypnosis, but my seduction skill didn’t work on him because of the shock he was in. I had to use my voice to trick his brain into submission. I didn’t want to kill him so abruptly, but I couldn’t let him talk to anyone about what he’s seen.”

She called someone on her mobile and told him, “Deal with Ulmer’s family. I’ll send the address.”

“Got it.”

The phone call ended, and Brianna removed the sim card, broke it and then tossed the mobile away. “It’s a pity that I couldn’t have him, but my visit to this world ends here. Time to return to Syslon.”

She glanced back at the dead bodies of the men, and they all caught on fire and disintegrated into bits. 

She then raised her hand to her face and moved it downward, which made her become invisible.

At seven in the morning.

Ulmer suddenly woke up and found himself on a hospital bed.

Trying to forget what happened last night, he lay there motionless for a while before finally sitting up. He then realized that a locket was hanging by his neck.

It was a golden dove locket.

“What’s this…” he quickly took it out and closely observed. “Is this real gold? How did it end up with me? Wait, come to think of it, how did I even end up on a hospital bed?”

Even after thinking about it for a few seconds, he didn’t get anywhere, so he put his thoughts aside, hid the gold chain in his pocket, and got up from the bed.

After taking a few steps, he took out the gold chain and put it in his underwear instead.

Now, he felt safe.

“If I give this to Brianna…” as he was saying, he stopped midway, remembering what he had seen last night at exactly twelve o’clock when he entered Brianna’s home. Just thinking about it gutted his stomach. “That’s right. She’s not the Brianna I knew. She’s a liar. She was probably lying to me from the beginning. She must get pleasure from fooling people like me.” His heart ached as the only woman he loved in this world turned out to be a fake. Now, whom should he live for?

Ulmer then traveled 440 miles back on the train to get to his home.

However, to his shock, there were police officers and two ambulances there. He rushed over to the scene, only to see the four dead bodies of his parents and two sisters. Their bodies were messy as their house had collapsed on them.

“They are really so unlucky.”

“Yeah. It’s not really an old house, but the ceiling just collapsed on them.”

“At least they died in their sleep. Not everyone get to die like this.”

As the locals talked about their deaths, Ulmer silently stood there unable to process what he was seeing.

“It’s him!” one random man in the crowd pointed at Ulmer. “He’s their son!”

“What?” the officers were shocked by it. They came over to him and started asking him questions, “Where were you last night?”

Ulmer completely ignored them as his heart was gripped with sadness. “Mom… Dad… Kristy… Grace…” tears flowed nonstop to see his family members lifeless and covered in dirt. He was the most useless person in the family. He should have been the one that died, but why was his whole family dead?