Dying a Hero

In the light of the evening sun, a depressed young man with an unkempt appearance stood on the rain-slicked sidewalk of Mason Avenue, blankly watching the cars blur past.

His facial features were hidden behind a thick beard, as he hadn't shaved in half a year. His hair was a tangled mess, and there were dark circles under his eyes. Clearly, he hadn't had a proper night's sleep in years. He was wearing blue jeans, a black shirt with an old, unzipped leather jacket over it, and dirty white boots. His attire looked rugged and worn out.

This young man was Leon Hale. His expression was tinged with sorrow, and his heart was full of regrets.

He was in his mid-twenties, but he had been diagnosed with a dangerous variant of cancer that would take his life in the next few years if he didn't get treatment in time. Unfortunately for him, the treatment was quite costly—only a millionaire could afford it without breaking a sweat. And Leon... he was no millionaire. He was an ordinary citizen who survived on minimum wage. Sometimes, he couldn't even afford to pay his rent on time.

It was a hard pill to swallow, but he didn't have the money to save his life. He didn't have any means to get it, either. His bank wouldn't give out a massive loan to a nameless nobody who had been making minimum wage for the past 12 years, and he didn't want to turn to his parents for help.

He knew they would do everything in their power to save him once they heard about his situation. This meant they wouldn't hesitate to give up their entire life savings and take out loans to help their beloved son in his battle against cancer. But helping him would destroy them financially.

'If I involve them in this mess, the future they are looking forward to will go down the drain. I need to hide it from them until the bitter end,' Leon's eyes teared up as he silently choked on his sorrows. Who wouldn't want to be saved? He wanted to be saved too, but although there was a way to live, he couldn't take it as he didn't want to destroy the stable life his parents had worked so hard to earn. He didn't want to be the bastard who destroyed his parents' happiness out of selfishness.

Leon felt like a helpless man trapped in darkness.

In movies, people who find themselves in such situations usually meet someone who guides them out of the dark to stand proudly under the cozy warmth of the sun, but in reality, things are much different.

Most people die trapped in the cesspool their circumstances push them down in. 

Leon didn't expect a miracle to change the trajectory of his life. He wasn't anyone special, after all. He believed he would die while feeling suffocated.

At this point, he thought that ending his life would be a far better choice than living in pain and fear as his illness ate away at him.

But he was a coward.

He did not have the courage to end his own life.

'I deserve this. I've been such a disappointment.'

Leon's parents had migrated to the Free World when he was young. They worked tirelessly to become naturalized citizens, and eventually due to good conduct, no criminal record, and a bunch of other stuff, they were able to obtain citizenship. Thanks to his parents' hard work, Leon also became a citizen of the Free World.

In the Free World, it was common for people to take out loans to pay for their education. However, Leon didn't want to take on such debt, and for that reason, he decided not to enroll in a university.

His parents were willing to take out a loan for him so that he could continue his studies, but he declined their offer.

Leon refused their help for two reasons.

Firstly, his family wasn't debt-free; the family of three had moved to the Free World after taking out a huge loan that still hadn't been fully paid off. He didn't want them to incur any more debt in their lives. Secondly, the Free World had the highest number of unemployed university graduates. There was no guarantee he would secure a well-paying job after graduating from university. Lastly, he had decided to make money by doing what he loved—gaming.

His parents understood his reasoning, but they wanted a stable life for him. They wanted him to at least graduate from university before pursuing his dreams so that he would have the ability to choose another path if gaming didn't work out for him. However, Leon went against his parents' wishes to immediately pursue his dream. He was being selfish, but he was young at that time, and that's what young people do.

He used the money he had saved while working part-time jobs and bought a Virtual Gaming Helmet, which was necessary to access New World Online.

New World Online was the most played and streamed virtual reality role-playing game of the modern age. Released in 2056, it quickly took the gaming world by storm with its attractive storyline, unique character development system, and the ability to trade in-game currency for real money. It became the primary source of income for many households in third-world countries. For someone like Leon, who came from humble beginnings, this game represented his best chance of breaking free from the limitations of his background and entering high society. As long as he excelled in this game, he believed he could make it big.

Honestly, Leon didn't want to work a 9-to-5 job like his parents, who were often forced to do random overtime for a company that treated its workers like expendable resources. So, he chose the path of a professional gamer. He believed he could make a name for himself in a short time, earn a fortune, and retire his parents by their mid-forties. His aspirations were great, but unfortunately, some people were destined to live ordinary lives. Leon realized he was one such person when, even after more than 6 years, he failed to make a name for himself in New World Online.

It wasn't a complete failure, though. He had become a moderately successful gold miner—a term used for players who traded New World Online currency for real money. The in-game currency could be earned in various ways: completing high-risk missions, crafting valuable items, dominating the player-versus-player arenas, or farming day and night.

Gold miners usually played 12 to 16 hours daily to make minimum wage.

Leon wasn't entirely helpless at gaming. He managed to make minimum wage by gaming 8 hours a day. If he played double that amount, he would make double the minimum wage. Unfortunately, he could only endure playing 8 hours at a time; any more, and his eyes would feel heavy like lead, and his mind would start to numb.

Due to the path he chose, not only was he unable to do anything significant for his parents, but he was also living a miserable life where he had to avoid takeout and skip social gatherings with his friends. He was 26 years old but didn't even have a girlfriend. Moreover, because he had avoided going out with his friends for so long, he had become an invisible existence in his social circle. It wouldn't be a surprise if his friends had forgotten about him. Considering how unkempt he looked, it would be a surprise if they even recognized him.

Leon reflected on his life with a heavy heart.

Despite being a grown man, he often became a burden to his parents during certain months of the year. His physical condition wasn't good; sometimes, he would fall sick for weeks, making it difficult to earn money. During those times, his parents, who still had debt to pay off, would cover his living expenses.

As he was unable to improve his family condition and would sometimes even be a burden, he felt disappointed in himself. Besides that, he also felt ashamed, as he believed he had failed to live up to his parents' expectations. 

'I don't deserve to drag them down any further. It's my selfishness that led me to this point. This is the price I have to pay for being selfish. Because of the decisions I made when I was young, I'm now stuck with a life where I have to play 8 hours a day, every day of the month, just to make a living with no way of curing myself. An ordinary office worker—a white-collar employee—has weekends off, paid leaves, and other benefits that come with steady employment. But I don't have any of that. If I had listened to my parents, even though our family would have had more debt to pay off, maybe things would have been different.'

Leon sighed, feeling the familiar pang of regret. 

"It's all in the past now. There's no use crying over spilled milk."

Dwelling on the past wouldn't change a thing. He stopped thinking about what could have been if he had made a different decision. 

The light had turned green for the pedestrians several times before Leon snapped out of his thoughts. It was unusual for someone to linger on the sidewalk in the middle of a busy city. However, everyone was too focused on their own lives to notice. In the hustle and bustle of the city, people often rushed past without paying attention to those around them, lost in their own worlds.

Currently, the light was red, and cars were speeding past the crosswalk, their tires splashing through the wet streets. Leon decided that once the light turned green again, he would cross the road and head home.

Suddenly, a sudden gust of wind blew, snatching a ten-dollar bill from the hands of a little boy. He was given the note by his mother after he pestered her nonstop—something spoiled children do to get what they want—in order to buy ice cream from the shop across the street. His mother was quick to give in to his tantrum. She handed him the ten dollar bill and told him to buy it himself after it was safe to cross the road as she wanted to teach him to be independent from a young age.

The boy chased after the note, oblivious to the oncoming traffic. A truck barreled down the road, its horn blaring, but the boy didn't notice until it was too late. His mother, too far to reach him in time, cried out in desperation, "Jason, stop!"

The truck was about to hit the boy. In that split second, Leon's body moved on instinct. He dashed forward, pushing the boy out of harm's way.

Bam!

The next moment, a loud thud echoed through the street as the truck collided with Leon. His body was flung into the air, soaring several meters before crashing into a parked car.

Leon's scalp felt numb and there was a continuous ringing in his ears.

Blood began to pool beneath him as he lay on the cold pavement, his vision dimming rapidly.

His eyelids felt heavy and they started to close.

Through the blur of his fading sight, he caught the startled and horrified look on the boy's face.

The boy seemed to have realized the gravity of his mistake and was beginning to blame himself for the condition Leon had landed in after being struck by the truck. If the boy was left like this with his thoughts, he would end up developing a trauma. Knowing this, Leon made a feeble attempt to free the boy of his guilt.

'Don't be sad. I chose to save you on my own accord. I didn't have long to live anyways.'

Leon wanted to say these words to the boy so that this event wouldn't haunt him for life, but the words remained stuck in his throat as he choked on his own blood, bringing him a breath away from his demise.

Before he breathed his last, he managed a weak smile toward the boy as if to tell him he wasn't to blame.

And then, amidst the cries of the panicked crowd, everything went dark for Leon.