This message kept popping up in my vision. “Blood Cubes? What the hell is that?”

“What the hell is what? I don’t see shit, man?”

“Hm?” Rodent confirmed that I was the only one capable of seeing the flashing interface. I desperately wanted to carry out my vengeance on this traitor but these alerts kept on getting in my way. “For fuck sake quit it already!”

“Quit what? I’m not doing anything man?” Rodent genuinely thought that I was talking about him. I told him to shut the hell up so I could concentrate.

“This alert is flashing more than usual. It could be very important for me to keep on living.” As I pondered this over and considered my next course of action, I could feel my bloodlust gradually slipping away. I instinctually understood that if it faded completely then I would have died.

Having to choose between carrying out my revenge or safeguarding my health, placed me in a mental state of confusion. I wanted Rodent dead right that second but I also wanted to take my time with him so he could experience agony like no other. However, these alerts were compelling me to locate the manifested Blood Cubes that were supposed to be close by.

“Where could they be?” The moment I asked myself this question, I started perceiving a smoky trail of red hue that led to the 3 dead bodies lying in the alley.

“Why is it coming from them?” I needed to find out the reason, so I released my grip on Rodent and told him not to go anywhere.

“I won’t, I promise.” He fell onto his bottom with his body surrendering to my intimidation. I gave him one last glare before I moved from there to go check out the closest body.

“This big guy right here.” I turned Byso over on his back and observed a blinding mist of red emanating from his chest.

“Is it in there?” Becoming more curious about this crazy shit that was happening, I pried the pocket knife out of Byso’s fingers and used it to open his chest. I stabbed just below the sternum then slit it downwards to his stomach. When I opened his chest I saw a weird moving element coming from within his heart.

“Do I need to go in there as well? It seems like it.” After I used the knife to cut open the heart, my eyes were met with a 2x2 or 24-block crimson Rubik’s Cube.

Wondering what it was, I took it out and held it in my hand. Judging by its texture coupled with the faint stains on my hand, it was made out of pure blood, a sort of jelly but at the same time had a rigid texture. I don’t know how else to explain it. All I can say is that it felt bizarre holding that thing in my hand for the first time. Another message soon popped up shortly after I took out the crimson Rubik’s Cube.

“What the… Ah!” When the last alert popped up, I started feeling something twisting around in my heart. This experience was the first for me so I overreacted by ripping the covering off my chest to see what was going on in there.

“What the fuck are you man?” Rodent got a glimpse of my chest cavity and became so frightened that he vomited a second time on himself. What a coward. But his question resonated with me.

“I want to know who I am as well.” As the pain in my chest started to subside, the Blood Cube I had in my hand twisted its faces around until they came to a stop when the correct pattern was formed.

As soon as this message popped up, the Blood Cube separated and immediately began releasing a rush of blood into my chest. What surprised me the most, was that my wounds were being healed while this was happening, moreover, my Dying Man’s Bloodlust was losing its effects. I wasn’t feeling as bloodthirsty as I was earlier.

It seemed this Blood Cube alone wasn’t enough to restore my health fully. I needed to find another one to test my theory. Therefore, I got up and went over to the other corpse that I stuck the broken club into.

His chest was partially impaled so it didn’t take much effort for me to gain access. I just ripped out the club and viola, I was able to see another Blood Cube situated closer to the lungs. “The club must have caused it to shift a little.” I dipped my hand inside and pulled it out.

Another burst of blood flowed into my chest. My heart absorbed all of it until there was nothing left of the Blood Cube. I watched as most of my injuries were mending themselves. The most noticeable wound that I had was the gaping hole in my chest, however, a fresh layer of skin was gradually formed until the hole was concealed.

“Loading window?” I had no idea what this all meant at the time, so I ignored it while it was loading and went over to the remaining corpse to see if I could score another Blood Cube.

“Let’s see here.” I dragged Mr Han’s corpse further in the alley out of preying eyes before I opened his chest. What I discovered inside his swollen heart wasn’t another simple Blood Cube, but rather a complicated structure with many rigid faces.

These messages told me that the strange Rubik’s Cube that I was holding in my hand was unable to unlock. Still, I tried manually twisting it around for a bit to see what would happen, but nothing occurred.

“This one is useless.” I was about to toss away the Megaminx Rubik’s Cube when suddenly a larger interface popped up in my vision. It was impossible for me to ignore it.

The moment the last massage showed up my head started to spin and was getting dizzy. I had the feeling that I was falling unconscious.

“No! Not right now! I can’t falter here…” I tried to fight against it but I was getting my mental ass kicked by this inexplicable system.

“Goddammit! That traitor will get away if I pass out.” I didn’t want Rodent to slip away from me again but that was exactly what happened. Looking down the alley past the dumpster, I saw Rodent staring at me strangely while backing away in a scared retreat.

“I don’t know what the fuck is going on with you, Smoke Pac and I’m not sticking around to find out.” After saying this, I watched as Rodent turned and started fleeing the alley in a hurry.

“Get back here you bastard!” I tried using my brusque tongue to intimidate him but that backstabber kept on scurrying away down the dark alley until he vanished out of sight.

“Fuck!” There wasn’t a damn thing I could do to stop him. No matter how hard I tried to command my body, it just wouldn’t listen to me. Eventually, I lost all manner of sensation and fell completely out of it.