The following morning, I woke up early and I went out while everyone was still asleep. I ate my breakfast on the road and I spend my time walking in a park. My mind was blank; I couldn't gather my thoughts after what happened yesterday. I killed a person, willingly. I enjoyed it; I felt bliss when I saw life escaping his body and his face. The shadow asked me if I was happy, and I said yes. It was beautiful. That corpse fit perfect in the poppies, with his blood tainting them. It could have been a perfect painting. I felt like an artist. I wanted to do it more; I wanted to fill this plain with corpses. They would have been my tin of paints. I looked at my hands; they were still soaked in blood. It was now my purpose. I would leave this world filled with black and I would create my own world, tainted in red.

During the following days, I observed how the community of the game was reacting to my killing spree. Many thought it was a fake, it was troll made up by the developers of the game. But the police was very serious about it. They exploited many lead but they were still clueless. They thought a killer was using the game as a decoy to kill those people. I also learned that the cause of the death of the player I killed was an exploded heart. They couldn't explain why they died. They tried to find some clues in the recordings made by the game's producer, but they found themselves unlucky when they saw that the recordings of the game weren't exploitable, with the screen being black for fifteen minutes, the whole duration of the two abductions and killings. Those who believed that the killer existed considered it as a shadow, a being that nothing could catch and who would continue to do as he wants to. They were right. I would do as I wanted to. I was the Grim reaper, the one that had the decision over life and death. A few fled from the game but those who stayed were at my mercy. From time to time, I sat next to the gargoyle who watched over the game's world. It was located at the top of the highest tower of the black castle, the greatest castle of the game. Nobody could access but for some reason, I could. It was where my throne was located, the throne of my kingdom, where many people were unaware of my very existence. Cascade with blood mixed with water were flowing from its windows, crows were flying around me as if they knew I was the ruler of death in this place. The castle had numerous stained-glasses which portrayed Death, and numerous statues inside it were representing also Death. Since I was Death itself, I considered those thigns were made after my image, to honor my power.

I looked at all these players that were living innocently, trying to ignore my presence, the pressure I was applying on them. I could crush them as if they were ants. No I was time to take action. I couldn't wait any longer; I had to satisfy that urge for beauty, my hunger for my own art.

I was standing in the darkness of one of the many alleys of the capital city. Many dead hobos lay next to me; I could smell their stench even outside of the game, even though it was impossible. I was observing a group of players; they were saying goodbye to each others. I waited for one of them to be isolated. After a few which seemed hours to me, One of them remained a bit in the city and the probably went to the black mines to kill some monsters. I followed. The road to the black mines was surrounded by huge that looked like huge monsters pointing teeth at us, to eat us. For this reason, many people were scared and didn't want to go there. So hopefully, nobody was here to disturb our dance. The warrior was standing in front of the entrance of the game, probably checking his equipment before hunting. I stopped a few meters behind him. The player heard my footsteps crackling on the gravels. The warrior turned me. He asked me what I was doing here. I didn't answer, not that I didn't want to, but it would be useless because he would have got the answer a few moments after that. I came closer, He stepped back, not sure of what I was about to do. I stretched my hand to him and said, with a calm and gentle voice :

- Come to me, come with me to your grave.

- What the …

He didn't finish his sentence. A flash blinded him and when he recovered his eyesight, he was in the middle of the field of poppies. He seemed afraid, he looked all around him. Then he saw the tree. Dozens of corpse were hanging on it. He fell on his back, his whole body was shaking, and he couldn't control himself. I was looking at him, distinguished by what I was seeing. The fierce warrior I followed a few moments ago turned into a coward, about to piss himself. I looked behind me, the shadow was here, observing the scene. Strangely, the more people I was killing, the more it got closer to me. But the less it was smiling at the same time. I wanted to impress it, make it smile again. So I tried to kill more and more people, I wasn't a problem since nobody could find me. My eyes turned red, black miasma was escaping again from my mouth. With a sepulchral voice, I said :

- Let's dance.

He screamed in horror as I threw myself at him. I was now a monster that nobody could control anymore. My hand went through his throat, and I tore everything I could. He could longer shout. As that was left was his eyes, which were hoping that I was just a nightmare. But it was reality. My own reality. The one I created far from that wicked world. He was coughing blood. I decided it was time to finish my duty. I stabbed through his chest, and like I did the previous, I crushed his heart; It was the trademark of the reaper. He did instantly, and so to complete my piece of art, I hanged his dead corpse on one branch of the tree like the previous one. I glanced at the shadow, who came closer, and now It was next to me.

Was it treating me as equal ? Was it acknowledging me ? I didn't know at the time. It stood there, looking at my piece of art. It sighed and mumbled :

- Disappoiting.

I was broken in pieces. The shadow, that I wanted to be recognized by, threw me away. I was trash now, everything I did until now was rejected and treated as meaningless by him. I thought I was like a god but in the end I was nothing. I was wrong. No, it couldn't be that way. It was wrong. I was the Grim Reaper, I was the God of Death. I felt my blood boiling inside, I was about to exploded. It was time to get rid of it, I didn't need him anymore. My eyes turned red once again, and I tried to move but the shadow let out a loud scream, so strong so I was unable to move. It then smiled creepily at me, and before disappearing, I whispered :

- Game over.

And then It vanished. I was able to move but I didn't try to pursue it. I didn't have to be afraid by such a thing. It wasn't even real. I was proud of my creation, and now I could sleep in peace, to find the missing piece tomorrow. I log out from the game and I fell asleep immediately.

When I woke up, it seemed as if I had the taste of blood in my mouth. I was very early in the morning, so I got out of my room and I eat my breakfast while my family was still sleeping. I sat at the table, and while listening to the radio, I ate bread with ham and bacon. At first, I wasn't paying attention to what the speaker but then I heard "Grim Reaper", it was the nickname the media was giving me, so I rose the volume a bit to listen to him. At first, it was just telling that a new victim had been discovered during the night but then it revealed that someone that have video footage of the killings and send to the police, without asking for any reward, so now that the police had the face of the in-game characters, it would be easier to find the real killer. I stood up, turned off the radio and then, I fell on my knees, containing my screams of anger and distress. How ? It was impossible for something like that to happen. I was invisible, invincible, nobody could track me. I was backed up in a corner, with wolves waited to kill me and to share among themselves my remains. I had to run away, run away somewhere I would be impossible to find. I rushed to my room, grabbed a few things, including my game and the equipment, and put them into a bag. I didn't care about my family, they were worthless worms, and they didn't care about either, so it was worth for both sides.

I opened the front door, took a last glance at my collapsing house and I walked towards the unknown, where no one could find me.

I precociously wandered in the city, watching behind me if I was followed. The black atmosphere around was way thicker than usual. Black miasma was now covering the buildings and was falling on the bystanders, who didn't notice it. I felt surrounded, pressured, stressed. It was like they were watching me, judging me, they knew it was me. My eyes were fixed on the ground; I didn't want to look at them. Their glances were tearing my entire body. The Grim Reaper looked pitiful; he was nothing once he was in that world, outside of his reality. After only 2 hours, I need a break. I sat at the terrace of a bar and I glanced at nothing. I had to realize it. It was in my blood. It was no longer myself. It was to get rid of my former self; I wanted to stay in that world of mine. For now, It wasn't possible. But after only two hours, I was experiencing withdrawal symptoms. It was calling me, I was addicted to that feeling, that bliss. It was disappointing, I couldn't care less. I had to satisfy myself, I had to appease that hunger.

I rose from the chair at the moment the bartender came to ask what I wanted to drink. I didn't reply and went away. I looked for an internet café. After thirty minutes of a fairly long search, I finally found one. I asked if they had the game on their computers. The tenant answered yes. They were providing one person's room so that people could play in peace. I rented one. I sat in front the Pc. I was looking at it with childish impatience. I connected my equipment; I put on my equipment and as usual passed out while the game started.

When I opened my eyes, I was a throne of the black castle. The statues that used to represent me were tainted in black, and they were faceless. I looked at them; it seemed someone wanted to send me a message. I glared at the stained-glass, and they were all broken. Something was trying to destroy my world, but it wasn't possible, I was the God of Death. I got out of the castle and tried to warp into my secret place, but I couldn't achieve it. I tried several times but still nothing. I was angry, so to calm myself I decided to attack in a random manner anyone who found himself in my way.

After a long exploration of the world, I came to that conclusion. The world was empty; there was no one in it. Why ? I couldn't tell. The monsters were gone too. I wandered in a destroyed town, and I understood that right now, I was that town. The flames that devoured it where my hunger and the fact that one was here to extinguish it, it was an echo of my own loneliness.

I was about to leave the city when I saw the shadow, standing a few meters away from. I pointed my finger at him to cry out my rage but he snapped his fingers, and I immediately passed out.

I woke up, and I was laid among the poppies. I stood up; my tree was there, waiting for me. The shadow was under it, touching it. I tried to run towards it to get rid of it, once and for all, but suddenly, the tree started to burn. Immediately, I forgot about the shadow. I rushed to my piece of art, and I tried to save it. The flames were eating it, rapidly; nothing could be done about it. It hurt my hands, I tried to vaporize the flames with my whip, my clothes. I was desperate; I was a child trying to get back his stolen toy. It was too late. Falling branches were crushing the poppies, who started to catch fire too. The corpses smelt like Bacon and I was surrounded by fire. The shadow was smiling at me, at my weakness, at my helplessness. I was full of rage. I wanted to destroy it. I run to hit it and everything went black. Literally, it went black. The tree, the poppies, all gone. I was floating in a king of subspace. I screamed :

- Come on ! I'm Death ! I'm not afraid of you.

A voice replied :

- You should be. I'm the one who granted you that power. And I'm the one who will take it from you.

- What ?! What are you …

The shadow, now with a gigantic size, appeared in front of me. Black smoke escaped from his body, and surrounded me. It caught me between his two hands, and before throwing me into his mouth, it said :

- Thanks for the meal.

I swallowed me, but I was still conscious. I was plunging in an abyss filled with darkness. But I knew I would escape it. Well that's what I thought at first. Black miasma appeared from nowhere, and It devoured me. It was painful, so painful that I couldn't prevent myself from screaming. I was begging for help, my family, the shadow, anyone. But no one heard it. As it was about to eat my upper-half, I heard the shadow laughing. From killer, I became the killed and indeed, it was funny. Overwhelmed by madness, I laughed like a madmen and when it ate the last bit of me, everything stopped. The Grim Reaper was no more.

- Did you tell him the game's servers were shut down to investigate on the killer ?

- No, I thought it would be funny if he paid for nothing. But since he didn't come back to complain, he must have found another game so …

- You're such a bad person.

- I know.

As the two employees were talking, a sinister figure entered the internet café. They were too busy walking so they didn't pay attention to him. He passed next to them, and went to one of the rooms. He opened the door. A player was there; his head was against the keyboard of the computer, with still the equipment on. His arms were hanging and he was about to fall on the floor. The stranger came closer, search in the player's bag and took a game of it. Then he removed the equipment from the player's head. Black tears were flowing from his eyes and droll mixed with blood and black miasma was escaping from his mouth. The stranger glanced at him, and murmured:

- Disappointing but Funny at least … Well … let's find someone else.

The stranger went out of the room, and also of the café while the two employees were still talking. Once outside, he waited a bit, to finally hear a loud scream escaping from the café. He laughed and smiled like the shadow, and then he disappeared among the mob, waiting for a new prey to entertain him.