''Friends, friends, we shouldn't fight. Let's vote on who will climb into the hole,'' Ahmed, the owner of the store, tried to come up with a peaceful solution.

''And what if this… wizard, God, or whatever he is, isn't telling the truth?'' Wiping the blood off of his nose, the nerd stood up, adjusting his spectacles. He was a tough guy, even if he looked like an ordinary geek.

For some reason, I knew that the only way to get out of this place without bloodshed was to support him.

"Look, no one has died yet, in spite of everything that has happened. Hell, one of us even rose from the dead. But I'm not sure that the person who crosses that line won't pay for it with their life,'' I tried to say calmly.

"Hmm... Maybe we just have to wait for the police?" The girls were staring at the four-eyed guy like he was a messiah. What a world. Why wasn't even one of them looking at me like that?

''I'd risk going through, but why do that when we have a hero willing to check the other side for all of us?'' With a victorious smile, the Poindexter gestured at the punk leader who still hadn't fully recovered from his recent bullet wounds. I noted that the nerd didn't miss an opportunity to exact revenge — I could respect that.

However, the leader of the punks didn't seem to appreciate his suggestion. He appraised the blade hanging over the hole in the wall, looked at the girls, then at the unconscious man who had pulled out the gun, and finally at the nerd.

"No, it's his store, let him do it," he answered, nodding toward Ahmed.

''Oh, friends, I have a family, children,'' Ahmed immediately became agitated. "We need someone strong and fast for this mission. As for me, if the blade starts to fall, I can hold it back with a crowbar.''

''Then you climb through, Dmitri.'' The nerd immediately turned to me. I grinned to myself. It had been the right decision to say my name at an appropriate moment as it had greatly increased the chances that they would choose me and not someone else. In the meantime, the guy continued talking. "If you want, we can arrange for a vote, but I'm pretty sure you don't have a chance. The guys over there won't let us choose someone from their group. The same thing with the girls. So only the three of us might be picked. However, our esteemed clerk is too old, and I'm not the strongest one here for sure. It's clear that you're the best choice.''

The gazes of the punks and the girls who were still picking up weapons from the heap silently confirmed his words. For some reason, they were looking at me aggressively. At that point, my eyes settled on the girl who had chosen the rolling pin as her weapon.

Even if I hadn't planned to be the first one to get out of here, it would've been really hard to refuse this mission.

"All right, all right, I'll do it. There's no need for violence."

Maybe it was just my imagination, but it seemed like everyone was looking at me as if I were some selfish jerk who had just tried to refuse a chance to save them all.

I waited until the guillotine was being held up with the crowbar, then I wrapped a chain around my hand, just in case, and went in.

The wall was surprisingly thick, no less than six feet, and the confines were very tight. I could hardly pull myself forward. I had to grip the small protrusions on the rock with my fingertips and dig the tips of my toes into the walls. Only then could I both pull and push in order to work my way through. It was a good thing that I had been keeping up with my morning exercises. However, even though I had kept myself fit, after a while, I started breathing heavily, and my heart began to beat rapidly. I didn't consider myself claustrophobic, but to be honest, before that day, I had never been in such a tight place. It felt like a huge weight was pressing down on me. The good thing was that, in spite of all these drawbacks, I was able to move forward. Just as panic began to overwhelm me, I finally found myself on the other side. I slowly got up and looked around.

Everything seemed to be quite normal. It was my city, down to the finest detail. Except for one thing — there was no one around. After a while, I turned back to the hole.

"Okay, I'm on the street, but there are no people here. I guess I'll try to call the cops,'' I shouted, stooping down next to the hole. It was a pity, really; for some reason, I thought that something like this would end this easily. "Wait, I'll get out too," came the nerd's voice. After a little while, I heard the rustling of a body kneeling down, then a loud cry, followed by a blood-soaked head rolling out of the hole.

''Congratulations on your victory,'' said a cold voice nearby. He was standing in front of me, smoothing out his jacket. ''Now I can finally introduce myself: my name is Abaddon, the Great Chaos.''

With an elegant flick of his fingers, the building I'd just come out was engulfed in flames. In an instant, even the steel beams and the concrete ceiling melted into slag and ashes. It all happened so quickly that I didn't even hear the screams of the dying people.

"That isn't your name,'' I said the words with a strange certainty and authority.

"Perhaps." My interlocutor immediately agreed. "I have had many names. To be honest, they don't matter. The conceptual understanding of a great truth is what's essential. I am a God of Cunning and Deceit. You have been blessed, Vasily Kotov from Earth. You have the honor of joining me in oblivion.''

Immediately, the world around us was covered in a haze that seemed to crush my senses and darken my mind with agony. Only Abaddon's voice came through.

"I give you two presents. The first is a tombstone — hide it in a good place, and you'll be resurrected next to it if you die. But be careful, if it's destroyed, your next death will be your last one. The second gift is a special ability. Choose any weapon, and I'll teach you how to use it. No, boy, I won't train you enough to become a real master. You'll only get a little, just one technique, but that will be enough to start your adventure.''

I was hallucinating. The world was filled with flickering images of swords, dragons, and… men who had real power over others.

"Help me master magic!" Since he had said that I could choose any weapon, I knew that I had to use every opportunity and resource to survive. I was going to do my best, and maybe that would help me forget, at least for a while, about the people that had been left behind in that store.

''That's impossible, child. In the world that lies before you, there is no magic.'' For the first time, I heard a note of surprised concern in his voice.

''Deal!'' I said instantly. I thought quickly, my mind spinning. ''I'll lie to everyone about my power, about magic. Isn't that what a true disciple of the God of Deceit should do?''

For a moment, there was silence, and then a deep, terrifying, and gut-churning laugh broke its way through the darkness.

''Agreed!''

A world appeared suddenly. Only, it was not my world. Everything was gray and lifeless.

Stop. The voice. Abaddon.

He said something about another world. What did he mean by that?

A portion of space folded and blossomed into a riot of colors. A man stood there, silhouetted by a shroud of smoke and fire. He shifted from one foot to the other.

''Hey, guys. Come out from the Gray Lands. That place is dangerous. Time is short,'' he said, his voice alarmed.

Lethargy had me wrapped up in a warm blanket of complacent comfort and ease. A small corner of my mind screamed at me to escape, to take this stranger's offer, and find freedom. There was no need for such a rush, was there? I just wanted to lay down and have a nice rest since I was tired. The day had been long, and everything was so confusing, muddled in a gray haze. I'd figure it all out in the morning.

Thin figures made of shadow and stardust slipped past me toward the flaming portal which began to shrink fractionally. Only then did a cold realization wash over me, banishing the fog from my mind. I knew that if I didn't escape, I'd die.

I looked around, and then back toward the portal. There was still time. There was an opportunity here, in this place, I knew it. If I could only figure out what I should do... I did the only thing I could think of. I stuffed my pockets full of the ghostly grass and herbs as I started moving forward. Suddenly, I tripped over a stone and almost fell. Shrugging, I picked it up as well and entered the portal.

The hazy, numb quiet of the Gray Lands was shattered by the cacophony of a new world. My bones turned into putty and muscles into water. I fell to the ground as exhaustion washed over me, crashing against consciousness like waves against the shore. I fell forward and rolled onto my back. The strange stone dug painfully into my side. But I didn't have the strength to protest as darkness took me.