The Cycle of Fate

Chapter One: The Stranger

"I am a failure. I barely notice whether the sun is shining or not, because I have no time.

"My parents can't support me, and I don't have much education. I'm alone in the city, looking for a future.

"I've looked for many jobs but haven't been hired. Maybe no one likes someone who isn't good at talking, doesn't enjoy socializing, and hasn't shown enough ability.

"I spent three whole days eating only two loaves of bread. Hunger kept me awake at night. Luckily, I had paid my rent a month in advance, so I could continue living in that dark basement without facing the biting cold of winter outside.

"Finally, I found a job as a night watchman at the hospital morgue.

"The hospital nights were colder than I imagined. The corridor lights weren't on, and it was dim everywhere, relying only on the slight light seeping out from the rooms to see my way.

"The smell there was unpleasant. Occasionally, a body would arrive in a body bag, and we'd help move it into the morgue.

"It wasn't a great job, but at least it allowed me to afford bread. The idle nighttime hours could be used for studying, since hardly anyone came to the morgue unless a body needed to be delivered or taken away for cremation. Of course, I didn't have enough money to buy books, and I saw no hope of saving any money either.

"I had to thank my predecessor. If he hadn't suddenly quit, I wouldn't have even gotten this job.

"I dreamed of taking on daytime duties, but now I always slept during the day and woke at night, making my body weak and giving me occasional headaches.

"One day, the workers delivered a new corpse.

"I heard it was my predecessor who had suddenly quit.

"I was curious about him. After everyone left, I pulled out the drawer and quietly unzipped the body bag.

"He was an old man, with a face both blue and white, covered in wrinkles, looking quite scary in the dim light.

"He had little hair, most of it white. His clothes had been removed, leaving not a single scrap of fabric.

"For such unclaimed bodies, the workers never missed a chance to earn a little extra.

"I saw a strange mark on his chest, a bluish-black, though I couldn't describe it well due to the dim light.

"I touched the mark. There was nothing special about it.

"Looking at my predecessor, I wondered if I would end up like him if I continued down this path...

"I told him I'd accompany him to the crematorium the next day and personally take his ashes to the nearest free cemetery to avoid those in charge of such things dumping him in some random river or wasteland out of convenience.

"This would cost me a morning of sleep, but it was okay since it was almost Sunday, and I could catch up.

"After saying that, I zipped up the body bag and put it back in the drawer.

"The room seemed even darker...

"Since that day, every time I slept, I dreamt of a thick fog.

"I had a premonition that something would happen soon, and that something, not necessarily human, would come for me. But no one believed me, thinking I had become mentally unstable from working in such an environment and needed to see a doctor..."

A male customer sitting at the bar turned to the storyteller who had suddenly stopped:

"And then?"

This male customer, in his thirties, wore a brown coarse wool coat and light yellow trousers. His hair was neatly pressed, and a simple dark round hat lay beside him.