CHAP 1: Blade of the Unwanted

I jolted up. Pearls of tears rolling down the corner of my eyes, lump in my throat and a terribly aching heart.

*BADUMP….BADUMP…..*

".....What was that?" I vaguely remembered my dream.

*How vivid….yet, why is it that it's slowly fading away?* As if hiding, yet waiting to be found.

I sat up from my bed, looking around. The instant noodle cup from yesterday, the bag of trash I had yet thrown away, the cracked sliding glass door towards the balcony, the pile of clothes I left at the corner of the room...yeah, this is my home. I stood up, stretching my body.

*CRACKK—*

*Oh f#^%! So stiff!*

Walking groggily towards the bathroom, I scratched my not-so-itchy head.

"When was the last time I washed my hair again? The water got cut off often, even showering is hard…"

Cold, moldy bathroom. Winter had begun, showering only once in a while won't be such a big deal. I turned to the sink with a single mirror. To be exact, the only mirror available in this small heck of a cheap apartment.

"Hm? Since when is it broken?"

I stared at the mirror that had cracked to thousands of pieces.

*How weird...is it because of the cold? Guess I'll just use my phone as a mirror.*

Shrugging it off, I turned away and prepared for the day. Stepping out of the old apartment, the white scenery filled my eyes. Snow had piled up yesterday.

*...Odd, how come I didn't notice?*

I descended the two-story building, walked slowly on the snow with a blank mind. Each step caused my boots to sunk into the white, frozen matter, leaving a trail of footsteps behind.

*...Beautiful...* I then paused.

Have I ever liked snow before? Well, I did play with it back when I was a child. Quite fun....

Without thinking too much about it, I walked through the layers of snow, my freezing hand in my pocket.

"I'll grab something by the convenience store." I muttered to myself, glancing up at the store in front of me.

The bell rung when I stepped through the automatic door. A teen girl standing by the register, scrolling down her cell phone. I browsed around, taking a packed rice set and a canned coffee. As I approached the register, I peered at the book shelves by the window.

The latest volume of the hottest light novel this year had just been released. Seems like action, fantasy genre had hit the top these days. I took the novel in my hand. 'Blade of the Unwanted'; a story of an abandoned young child from the slum who somehow rose to the top.

"Yeah, with the power of plot armor, anything is possible," I scoffed.

Only two of it left, what do you expect from the best selling novel of the year? I brought it to the register and paid for the items.

"It's the weekend today. How's mom and dad, I wonder? it's been a while since I last visited them. Curse that exploitative company!" I sighed, forming the cloud like breath into the cold air.

Passing by the park a few meters away from the apartment building, I laid my eyes on a few children making snowmen there.

*Must be nice all energetic and innocent,* I thought, a hint of envy was felt.

As I arrived in front of the doorstep, a package was there. I picked it up, opened the creaking door and took off my worn out leather boots.

*CRE-E-AK*

"This damned apartment is about to collapse at any moment now, seriously," I complained.

Door closed, the packed rice heating, I took out the wrapped novel and put it on a small bookshelf next to my study table.

"1,2,3,4,5.....9 the finale."

I nodded in satisfaction. Yes, I bought each one of the series. The story is indeed fitting to be the best selling one, after all! Unwrapping the book, a canned coffee in my hand, now let's see how the story ends!