Beauty of a System

Ye Bai closed his eyes because he doesn't need to see the world when they are closed. Even still, he couldn't thoroughly escape the sounds of this world with his eyes closed.

He had to listen as a bystander.

He had listened to the hate and arguments from across the streets.

He had to listen to the talks of intimate friends who walked past him.

And he has to listen to his own thoughts even if he doesn't want to.

Slowly, he neared a tall building. From this moment forward, nobody could stop him. It's not like there is anyone to stop him anyway.

He was born into a family where there is no father around. He was raised solely by his mother until middle school where she had died due to exhaustion while working in one of her midnight jobs.

His relatives did not want to take him in. They treated him as if he was just a stranger. In the end, it's as if he did not have any relatives at all.

Being almost of age, he was forced to live on his own. He was forced to provide for himself with little help from the government.

Through middle school, Ye Bai struggled on with life for his mother.

Through highschool, nothing changed…

Even after highschool, nothing changed…

He was still by himself. He still had to provide for himself and live by himself.

The people that had asked for his name, but none remembered it. At most, he was a classmate they had once in their life, and the boy who did not have a family.

He lived very well on his own. But still, in a world where nobody remembers your name, he is tired of it.

Step by step, Ye Bai closed in on the elevator within the building. After what he is going to do, people will at least know his name.

As he enters the elevator, one of the light bulbs in it flickered. It's probably nearing the end of its life.

Looking at the floor panel in the elevator, Ye Bai gave himself a little smile. Without hesitation, he clicked on the elevator panel for the highest floor.

Slowly, the elevator door closed.

"Wait! Wait! Hold the door, please!" A girl's voice echoed through the hallway before the elevator.

Subconsciously, Ye Bai raised his hand and stopped the elevator door when it's three inches apart. And there, the elevator that was closing opened for the girl who ran into the elevator.

"Thank you." The girl bowed.

Ye Bai gave the girl a look. He smiled and nodded at her after he gave her a look. Looking at the girl would give anyone a refreshing feeling, even to himself.

Because Ye Bai had moved away from the floor panel, the girl went up to it and clicked for her floor.

"Hey. Do you live on the 15th floor?" The girl curiously asked.

"En. I'm going up there because of the view." Ye Bai answered vaguely. Of course, he couldn't even afford to live on the 15th floor of this building. He just came to this building because he can see most of the city from the top.

"Oh." The girl nodded then turned her head up to look at the flickering lightbulb.

"This light bulb flickering makes the elevator quite scary, don't you think so?" The girl asked Ye Bai.

She talks a lot, he thought. "Yes, but at least it doesn't need to live in this world anymore after it gets changed."

"Such a strange metaphor." The girl gave Ye Bai a strange look.

Ye Bai stayed quiet, trying to cut off the conversation awkwardly.

"My name is Ruby, what's yours?" Apparently, she did not want the conversation to end.

"Ye Bai." He told her. He doesn't really want to talk, but he's not that rude to ignore other people's questions.

"You don't know me, huh," Ruby asked.

"Why would I know you?" Ye Bai frowned. He would have remembered the girl if he had met her before. His memory isn't that bad.

"I'm a Vstreamer!" With a big smile on her face and showing her teeth, Ruby made a V sign with her hand. (A/N: This is a made-up platform)

"Vstreamer?" Ye Bai questioned. He knows what the platform is, he just doesn't know why the girl is telling him her occupation.

"Yep! I have about three hundred thousand followers!" Ruby puffed her chest out and flaunted her success.

"Oh… Okay." Ye Bai said.

"Tsk. You're such a conversation killer! Hmm!!" She stuck her tongue out and acted cutely, maybe-probably-possibly because they were similar in age that she acted as she did.

Ding!

The elevator stopped on the 13th floor and opened. "Well, this is my floor, Mister Ye Bai. This is my Vstream account. Make sure you follow me!" Ruby advertised as she handed Ye Bai a Vstream card.

She had the card because of Vstream's platform benefits. Once a streamer exceeds 200k followers, they will be provided streamer cards with QR codes to give to other people. Just a little perk for using their platform.

"Okay." Ye Bai accepted the card and put it in his pocket.

"Make sure you follow~" Ruby waved as she went on her way. The boy looked like he will follow her Vstream account, so she gave it to him. One more viewer means one more chance to get donations.

Once again, the elevator door closed. It went up, and it brought Ye Bai to his destination in no time at all.

Although, he still had to get to the rooftop for his mission. But getting up there wasn't a problem at all.

The door that blocked people from the rooftop was left open, so he didn't need to find another building. On the rooftop, there were some small gardens which were probably from the people living in the building.

Ye Bai approached the edge, but there was a small fence. Thus, he had to climb over it.

While climbing over the fence, Ye Bai's eyes drifted towards the horizon. The sky was pink, and the sun's light reflecting off the drifting clouds made a beautiful hue.

Ye Bai sat on the edge of the building with his feet dangling from the corner as the gentle breeze made his hair rustle in rhythm.

As much as he wants to enjoy this, he couldn't. After all, he had decided that today will be his last day in this world.

That's right. He made up his mind to end everything today.

"Are you scared?" Ye Bai asked himself.

"Not really. Still, without grasping the meaning of life, I come to an epiphany that it's pointless and so here we are."

"We are hated by life itself, don't you know?"

"Without even grasping the meaning of joy, what's the point?"

"At mornings."

"During nights."

"On Spring."

"And in autumn."

"Nothing changes…" Ye Bai kept talking. There weren't many people in his life, and he was always with himself. Even at the end, he could only talk to himself for consolation.

"I don't need dreams or even a tomorrow." Ye Bai stood up on the edge of the building with on feet off.

"In the end, I only need myself. It's been that way for a long time…" Ye Bai held his breath and jumped. . .

[Ding! Connection is successful. Welcome, host…] A monotonic voice echoed in his mind.

[Analyzing situation…]

[Analyzing situation…]

[An emergency plan drafted. Initiating plan.] The voice continued without stop.

"Pft. Even in the end, I'm still talking to myself." Ye Bai thought as he fell down the building. Though…

Bang!

"AHH!! Someone jumped from the building!" A lady's scream echoed on the street. She was just walking when a body fell right in front of her! This will officially be the scariest moment in her life!

"Quick! Someone call the ambulance!"

"HOLY SHIT! A suicide!?"

"What the fu*k?"

The people in the surroundings quickly gathered around the body on the ground. Some were concerned about the boy while some took out their phones and began recording. In this society, everything is worth recording.