Prologue: A Night to Remember… or Not

The night is a blur of city lights and roaring engines as I stumble out of the bar, the bitter taste of beer lingering on my tongue. Tokyo's neon glow is supposed to be comforting, but tonight, it only deepens my sense of despair. An ordinary guy with ordinary dreams, I thought I had a grip on my life. That grip slipped through my fingers today.

Tonight, everything changes.

I had a job at a local tech firm, a mundane but stable gig. It wasn't my dream job, but it paid the bills and got me by day to day. I was biding my time, telling myself that one day I'd break free and do something that really mattered. Until today, when my boss called me into his office and handed me my severance check. "Downsizing," he said. A hollow word for a hollow act. Just like that, I was cast aside. Years of service reduced to a single moment of dismissal.

It stung. Not because I loved the job, but because it was a lifeline, a safety net. Without it, I felt adrift, lost in the endless expanse of possibility and uncertainty. I spent the last few hours drowning my sorrows in alcohol, trying to make sense of my new reality.

As I leave the bar, the rain starts to pour, making the asphalt glisten under the bright lights. I hurry along the sidewalk, eager to escape the downpour, my thoughts a muddled mess. Little do I know, fate has a different plan for me.

I approach a crosswalk, the signal turning red. I pause, adjusting my hood and glancing around. The streets are eerily quiet for this time of night, a stark contrast to their usual hustle and bustle. I take a deep breath and step off the curb, lost in my thoughts.

Then, it happens.

A blaring horn shatters the silence. I turn my head, eyes wide with horror as a massive truck barrels toward me. There's no time to react, no time to move. The world slows to a crawl as the truck's headlights bear down on me.

Why me? Why now? My mind races, a whirlwind of confusion and dread. Time seems to stretch, every second dragging into an eternity. I see the truck's grille, its twisted, metallic grin almost mocking me. My body freezes, muscles locked in terror.

I can almost count the raindrops as they fall, see the glistening streaks of water hanging in the air. The blinding headlights grow larger, closer, filling my vision. Every heartbeat is a thunderous drum in my chest, each one louder than the last.

This can't be happening. Not like this. Not now.

The impact is brutal. Pain explodes through my body, my vision fading to black as I'm thrown into the air. The last thing I see is the truck's cold, unfeeling steel. My life doesn't flash before my eyes; there's no grand revelation or epiphany. Just the cold, hard reality of the truck's merciless approach.

And then, nothing.

I always thought my life was inconsequential, a series of mundane moments strung together by routine. But in these final moments, as the rain-soaked pavement rushes up to meet me, I realize that I'm not ready for it to end. There were so many things I wanted to do, so many dreams left unfulfilled. A searing rage fills me, burning hotter than the pain of the impact.

Why now? Why like this? It's not fair! I wanted more time. More time to fix my life, to chase those dreams I kept putting off. Anger surges through me, a desperate, furious defiance against the cruel hand of fate. This isn't how it's supposed to end!

But this is it, isn't it? The end.

Or so I thought.