Prologue

The night air is cool in the late autumn, it has been years since Vietnam had an early North East wind blob pushing away the hazy heat from what's left of summer away.

Enjoying a cooled beer bottle while sitting up on his bed. Hoàng as a adult have never felt this way when he was younger. Uncertain but have a grasp of what's to come in the future if he kept on doing what he's doing now - trying his best.

He's a tour-guide, a programmer and a chef,... or at least he studied to be the first two and some what want to be a chef but couldn't because he didn't have any formal training for it, just some homecook meal he remembered from his years staying at grandma house and some pie his mom made from time to time. Cooking for family made him happy.

It's 2020. The years of the mouse in Luna calendar, can't be more true when a bunch of thing happens that make you just want to stay put in the cozy place that is your home.

All of a sudden travelling became a bad idea when a pandemic is roaming at full course form east to west. He was in the midst of becoming a tour-guide and everything stop dead in it's track.

In the many reasons he wanted to be a tour-guide, one was because how bad he was at programming. He's not even good at math for ancestor sake! It was because of a trend, the younger Hoàng doesn't have a clue where he's stepping into.

Clueless!

But after 2 years of loli-gaging and 1,5 years of serious studying. He finally got out of college but not unscathed oh no. The last teacher who supervise his test tell him to spend more time to fell in love with programming. Hoàng dismissed that thought completely and went for the travelling industry job.

...

He was bamboozle.

He was lucky that he find a company that further trained programmer to fit the company but that's exactly opposite what he have in mind.

"Spend more time..." the word of the teacher echos in his mind.

Hoàng is an atheist. He believe in ghost of the deceased, fate and karma but no god come to his mind when he have a hard time. He belive in luck and hard-work, thinking they had a link of some sort. And he definately believe that his teacher had put a cursed on him to study more programming!

"-sigh... reminiscing my own fate like this gets me no where. Back to work I guess..."

Put the now empty beer bottle down. He expected to hear a 'cluck' but instead he hear nothing. No beer bottle, no computer on the lap, no bed on the back, just floating.

He blinks, surrounded by empty space safe for a person with distinct hairdo and a pretty western face. A girl age of 10-14, she had wings? He can't count but there's more than 6 he can spot.

"Beware, Hoàng. I've come warn you of what is to come. You are now on the watch list of higher dimensional jerks, your life as you know it will cease but be not afraid. I will aid you when the time comes. There are things I can do to help you when you are alive but when you're dead you are without my help so be very careful. I will now reveal the information you needed to know."

Hoàng is speechless, his brain froze the moment he look at her. The angel figure approach closer to him and touch his temple with her hand.

"Relax..."

"Hold up, wait a minute!"

He swat her hand of before she could touch him.

-!-

*submerge in pain, he scream but the pain enter his throat...*

Merely touch her with his hand reveil memory not of his own but it's felt real. He felt like there were scars throbbing all over his body in remembering past trauma events.

"Please, let me help you, if you can't endure this level of pain. There's nothing I can do to prepare you for what's to come."

He gave stopping fingger.

"Are you for real? I'm going to be a responsible individual in the society soon and you and some outer forces trying to bring me to your games? I refused!"

He stand his ground. Look straight at the girl angel who have been shock by the revelations of someone like him able to denial the chance given to him.

To his surprise, the angel smile sadly.

"You are the strongest thus far but i'm afraid there's no backing away from fate. I hope you can stand up to them and make a different. A parting gift to you. Please, it won't hurt. "

Her palm open. A halo drift from her hand to his head, hover a little and disappear once it's stable.

He felt nothing different.

"What was that? What did you give me just now?"

"Some of my original story. Use it well. It will guide you when I can't."

***

-!-

He woke-up midnight in pain. Laptop still on his lap, almost burned his 'little brother'.

3 AM. He haven't done with his work, must continued, he though.

Forgotten that is his dream or maybe it was a nightmare. A reality he didn't want to be real.

***

"Wishful thinking really. How well you think he would do?"

A presence look down on the 22 year-old boy busying himself with work. The presence then answered.

"Better than most of us but not you Angelica. He has not lose all of his imagination and still flexible enough to adapt but no more than that."

"I bet he is going to have a great run but failed to ascend into higher dimension. Let us hope that he can really make a different."