I Am A Ghoul

My name is Joe Mzalendo. Mine country is Credonia, a third-world country. Born and raised here, I loved my country just like every other patriotic citizen. As I grew up, all I ever wanted was a good degree and a good job with the government. All that I looked forward to so that I could help others and see to it that things went the right way. I had a dream of transforming my country through fighting and nipping Corruption by the roots. I thought getting in was the right move and the only way to make a change. In the end, I was all wrong. I found myself imprisoned by powers I couldn't control and forces I could not break. Without options, I watched people suffer as I did nothing. It was a stab through my heart. I had to live with the knife through my heart and in pain. It was either that and try to help those I could or die. I not only walked with death but saw it most of the time. It was then that I learned; some things are better done from a distance. I learnt never to put out a conflagration from inside a blazing house.

I thought Sofia was a faithful wife. She was always gentle and acted as if I was the only one. But when I went to surprise her on our anniversary, I was more surprised. I saw her making love to another man in our room. They even continued making love after they saw me. I was heartbroken and completely humiliated as a man. And what broke my heart even more was the reason she gave for cheating on me. She said I was just a poor man who couldn't make her happy. We divorced on the spot and I left angry and disappointed. On the way I passed through a very thick white fog and was instantly transported. I was in Smoky Hollow, a place in another dimension. I was given a system that changed my life. I had to hunt around Smoky Hollow to get coins that could be exchanged for money. I was suddenly a billionaire and I was going to make everyone who insulted me regret it.

I hated being locked up like a damsel in distress. Like I was some princess that needed constant protection, but deep down I was grateful. I was still struggling to summon my powers, so if I was attacked alone I would be defenseless. I understood why Valerian wanted me to stay confined within the walls of our home since there was a protection spell suffocating the entire atmosphere that surrounded it. But I was so bored. Valerian was not there to take me out and keep me occupied with his cocky smiles and quirky comments. The only thing I could think to do to pass the time was to take a stroll around the castle grounds. I exited out into the courtyard and walked past the beautiful wooden benches and vibrant trees. Roses of every colour confiscated the grounds and it was like I was walking through a rainbow. My fingertips caressed the petals and I inhaled the sweet scent of their exquisiteness as I walked through the trails. I was so mesmerized by the area that I didn’t realize where I was going. I gasped as I reached for the next rose in my path, and it crumbled from my touch. The rest of the walkway was filled with black and decayed roses that tumbled to the ground like ash from a horrible wildfire. My frightened eyes glared out into the distance as I realized the dead flowers led to a shadowy tunnel made from black brick. A sign barely dangling from a broken chain at the top of the entrance read ‘dungeon.’ My body cringed at the sight. This was the dark side of Valerian that I knew and wanted to avoid as much as possible.

No one came any closer to me since I began to hear voices. It was as if I possessed some kind of aura that attracted everyone, like a field that attracted people. I was either insane or a monster, which I suppose I could be, according to everyone at school. I was able to hear what others were thinking, but no one else seemed to be able to, and some of them remembered me from first grade, when everything first started. I was able to focus better on school because I was isolated, and I loved to do well in school. Since I learned how to silence the voices, at least it had. Before that, I was unable to think in light of the consistent clamor of every other person's brain pounding me constantly.

I never thought betrayal would hit me this hard. I caught my girlfriend cheating on me with the most popular guy on campus. I stood there, frozen, watching as she laughed in his arms—like I never even existed. And when I confronted them, I was the one who got blamed. Me. Because I was poor. Because I had no influence. She didn’t even try to defend me. And when I was at my lowest, when I thought I was about to die, something impossible happened. A screen appeared in front of me, glowing with strange letters. [Spend one million dollars within three days to unlock a greater prize.] It was a system—one that could give me unlimited wealth, but only if I played by its rules. With this, I could have anything. I could crush the ones who humiliated me. I could make them pay. But I quickly realized that money alone wouldn’t be enough. The man I was up against wasn’t just some rich playboy—he was dangerous, and he wasn’t going down easily. If I wanted to win, I had to be smarter. I had to use every trick, every advantage, and push the system to its limits. The question is—do I have what it takes?

I was the last one left, I watched as humanity's greed took over, as brothers killed brothers and fathers turned on sons. I watched humanity end and with nothing left to live for, I ended my life. Now I'm back to a month before the apocalypse, I've been given a second chance and I will not waste it. I'll prevent the death of those I love and make sure humanity survives. If the world can't control itself, then I'll conquer it and lead us to survival.

They call me Julian Mercer and I keep my head down because I learned the hard way that a name can be a target. I answered an ad for a rental and signed a paper I promised myself I’d never sign: a marriage contract. The job was simple — be the son-in-law for thirty days, take the money, be gone. The family needs a “son” to secure a heritage grant and I need the cash to buy a clean slate. What I didn’t plan for was the way Lila Ardmore looked at me like she already knew what I was hiding. Another thing I didn’t plan for was the ledger in an old piano and the way a neighbor called my mother’s name, and the knot in my gut that felt like an alarm the night someone tried to burn the past into ash. I came to act. I stayed to fix what I broke, and the longer I stayed the more I realized the man I was taught to be will not survive who I have to become. If you want my story, read it from where the dark starts.

I was a disgrace to the Prestwick family—a poor, unwanted son-in-law they wished their daughter had never married. She had chosen me for my looks, but now, even that wasn’t enough. She wanted out. A divorce. To erase me from her life and marry into wealth like her family had always intended. But I loved her. Despite the insults, the humiliation, the way they treated me like dirt beneath their feet—I refused to let go. That was my biggest mistake. Frustrated by my defiance, my brother-in-law took matters into his own hands. He killed me, tossing my body into a cold, dark river, leaving me to sink into oblivion. I should have died. I did die. But before I took my final breath, a man appeared before me, cloaked in shadow, his voice like a whisper from the abyss. "What is your last wish?" I should have begged for revenge. I should have cursed their names. But all I wanted was one more chance. One more chance to live. And so, I was granted life again. But I was no longer the same. My soul was no longer my own. My body was no longer mine to control. Because I had been reborn as something far more powerful. I was no longer John Prestwick. I was the Devil himself.

On our third wedding anniversary, I lit candles, cooked her favorite meal, and waited. She said she was working late. I went to surprise her. Instead, I found my wife walking into a hotel with another man—laughing, kissing—while I stood in the street like a fool. That night, I filed for divorce. The next day, her lover shoved me into traffic. The car should have killed me. Instead, I woke up with a power I can’t explain—five frozen seconds where the world stands still, and only I can move. Five seconds to expose a lie. Five seconds to ruin an enemy. Five seconds to make them choke on every ounce of humiliation they gave me. They took my love, my trust, and the life I built. Now I’m taking everything from them—slow enough that they’ll see it coming, and fast enough they can’t stop it. She betrayed me. They tried to bury me. But I’m not the man they remember. I’m the man they’ll regret ever crossing.

After I took asleep in reality world, then awaken in dream world. I took asleep in the dream world, in the reality world I'm awaken. Since then, I don't know what the sleep is anymore. I slept, only to transfer my consciousness to the dream world for completing missions. The sweet days I met her only to staring her smile, that dream is caused it all gone. Encouraging myself to against The God who holds Miho as the hostage, I’m following his game to be a hero in another world planning growth my own strength to deal with slowly. On the time, I’ll punish The God with my hand as what The God did. “Miho, my dear. Wait for me, I’ll save you!”