Chapter 1: Strike Back!

I open my eyes and see a very familiar sight. It was a small room, with clothes all over the floor. Inside an old dilapidated three bedroom house made of wood and concrete. It's not much, but it's a humble and comfortable home.

I get a morning stretch in then stood up from my bed.

Although I'm the only person who sleeps in this room, I have a bunk bed weirdly enough.

I wasn't always alone in this room though. My brother used to sleep in the top bunk until... Well, let's not sour the mood here.

My life isn't really that interesting. Wake up at 6AM in the morning, eat my breakfast, brush my teeth, take a shower and I'm off to school. Everyday is like this. Nothing new ever happens.

"Grandpa, I'm off to school!"

"Alright, take care!"

I turn to open the door, and at the corner of my eye, I see a family photo of me, my parents, and my brother. I stayed silent until finally uttering a few words.

"... I'm off guys..."

I open the door and went to the Light Rail station. It's a 15 minute ride from my house to the school I go to. During that time, I enjoy listening to music on my earphones while reading comics on my phone. I'm always drawn to the certain types of stories. Ones where the bullied underdog learns how to fight, has a hidden talent, or some type of supernatural power that he uses to fight the bullies. It's my way of running from reality to feel like a badass. But I know that it'll never happen.

I eventually reach my destination and take a 4 minute walk to school from there. I go to school early in the morning so there's not alot of people in the classroom. It's the same old same old. I basically gave up on making friends after something that happened last year, so I don't have anyone to talk to.

I walked to my desk, put my bag under it and sat down and continued reading only to discover that I've already caught up to the latest chapter.

(Oh c'mon, just when it was getting interesting...)

When I shifted my focus from my phone, I noticed that the room is already full of my classmates. As I look across the room I see a familiar face that excitedly walk up to my desk and talked to me. 

"Oi Andrei, buddy. Meet up with me and the guys during recess at the usual spot. I'll be mad if you're late."

His voice sounded cheerful, but his choice of words, made it sound like a threat.

"O-okay, I'll see you there."

"Great, it's settled then."

The surroundings suddenly went quiet as the teacher walks into the classroom. 

The students all sat down as the teacher started the lecture. The class was nothing new and it was the same topic we studied yesterday. Time went by slowly that it felt like forever for recess to arrive. 

When it did arrive though, I didn't even have time to rest and review what I learned from class. I immediately sprinted to buy tons of snacks from the canteen and ran to the usual place. 

It was a spot behind the school and in between two school buildings. It was a 3 meter wide space that smelled like trash and piss. 

Gasping for air from running around, I call out to the group infront of me.

"I... I'm here.."

"Oh he's right on time! Get over here I'll give you a reward!"

I reluctantly walked over to them and the leader of the group put his cigarette on my forehead.

"Ow!"

"Don't be such a baby about it! It's not that hot! Anyways, I'm all out of smokes, go outside the school and get me another pack."

"B-but I don't have anymore money though..."

After I said that, his voice suddenly stopped sounding happy and started sounding irritated. That slight change in his voice started making me shake in fear.

"I'm sorry, did I hear that right? What did you say to me again?"

"I... I won't have enough money left to pay for the ride back home..."

"All I heard is do still have money!"

"W-wait stop!"

"This idiot started talking back huh? I'm just gonna have to teach you a lesson!"

He pulled back his fist and swung at me. 

Reacting through instinct, I try to block my face with my hands, but his punch was too fast. And I fell to the ground.

"Seriously? Getting knocked down from just a jab? You're even more pathetic than I thought! You're just like your brother! It's no wonder why he died!"

At that moment, my spine went cold and my body felt hot...

Under normal circumstances, I would just let them beat me up. The guy is a fairly talented boxer that competes in amateur boxing tournaments where he won a bromze medal for taking 3rd place. But after hear him say those words, I snapped and charged at him. I tried to copy the move he just used on me. A jab.

If only it were like the comics I read everyday, I would beat him. But sadly... 

...This is reality

He easily dodges my punch and hit me with a jab, cross.

(Ah, so this is it... I lost...)

After the hits landed, everything went dark. All I could see was an endless black void. But I didn't care. I was too pissed off about what happened.

(Dammit, I couldn't even defend my dead brother's honor... That fucking bastard said that shit as if it was funny to him!! Fuck fuck!!)

My mind's screams echoed throughout the void...

(Why couldn't I put up a better fight? Why couldn't I just be stronger? What did I do wrong to deserve this? WHY THE HELL AM I SO WEAK?!?)

As I went on and on, a voice appeared and calmed me down enough to realize what the situation is...

[Child]

(Huh?)

[Do you desire strength?]

(W-who are you?)

[I have been watching you all this time, and... Agh screw it! I'm done with the fancy talk! I'm God.]

(Huh?!? W-wait, THE GOD?!?)

[Well, okay I'm not really God, but like some extra dimensional entity. I'm someone who oversees the fates of every living being.]

(Okay wait, this seems way too weird... First of all, where am I?)

[Okay, well to answer your question, you've entered the realm where I oversee the fates of every mortal life in the universe.]

(Doesn't that sound like a difficult job?)

[Not really. Think of me like a very very very very very very very very very-]

(Okay that's enough very's)

[Anyways, I'm basically a really advance extra dimensional supercomputer. And as such, I can easily oversee the lives of mortals and precisely calculate their futures.]

(That's cool, but why am I here?)

[Well, I'm kinda getting bored with my job.]

(But you get to see stories of interesting people though?)

[Remember when I said I can precisely calculate the future of living beings? It's like I'm basically spoiling myself, so the stories become uninteresting.]

(Yeah, that does sound boring... Ah, hey wait, that still doesn't explain why I'm here!)

[Well, I've been watching you and it seems like your future is gonna be a very dark one.]

(...how dark?)

[Wouldn't want to spoil the fun!]

(Oh c'mon!)

[Okay, listen. Your life and future is one of the worst things I've ever seen.]

(That sounds terrifying considering the amount of lives you've already seen.)

[Yeap, your future not so pretty. So...]

(So...?)

[You didn't become a terrible person.]

(What?)

[Usually, when that stuff happens to a person, it usually changes them for the worse. But for you... You still held true to yourself. Of course, you did make alot of mistakes, and became a bitter bastard, but even after everything that's happened to you, you still tried to do the right thing even if it ended up making your life worse and led to your demise.]

(Oh... I don't know what to say...)

[Because of that, I thought that someone that good should be given power that he's worthy of. So that whatever happens, he has the strength to have a fighting chance.]

The voice fell silent for a moment but then continued shortly after.

[You also seem to be some sort of an anomaly or something.]

(An anomaly?)

[I can see the fates of every living being, and yours included. But there's something strange about you, and I just can't can't put my finger on why...]

(What do you mean?)

[Your terrible fate doesn't seem like the ending you're supposed to follow. Like a visual novel game where you accidentally unlock an unknown ending...]

(Hm... I see... Wait, you play visual novels?!)

[THAT'S BESIDE THE POINT! I'm trying to say, is that your current ending is not how it's supposed to go. That's why I'm here to change your fate and put it back on track!]

(Huh, Wow... Everything here feels like the first chapter of some manwha or something. Now what? Am I supposed to pick a class now? hahaha!! Ah well, too bad it's a dream though...)

[Yeaaaahhh... It's really not, but feel free to think whatever. You're gonna forget this even happened anyways... *Ahem* So child, I grant you a power that best suits you. The power to give back what life throws at you. The power to STRIKE BACK!]

A bright light shined down upon me and force me to wake up. I sat up confused, not remembering what happened. I observed my surroundings and realized I was still at the place where I got knocked out. It was probably 5:30 PM by now and it's starting to get dark. I check my pocket only to notice my wallet's gone.

"Of course they took it... My Grandpa's gonna be mad at me..."

A faint blue light suddenly lit the place up and I turned around to see a strange floating hologram with text that says:

[Player: Andrei Mendoza has unlocked a new quest! Tap "Ok" to see quest screen]

"Huh?! What is this? Am I still dreaming?"

I punched my cheeks as hard as I could.

"Ow! Yeah, definitely not dreaming..."

I stared back at the hologram and read the contents properly this time.

"Press okay to see the quest huh?"

(This screen looks oddly familiar to the ones I've seen in multiple comics before. Like that one where the guy calls himself the shadow monarch or something.)

"Anyways, let's just open the quest screen."

[Quest: Learn how to do a perfect Jab by 12PM tomorrow.]

Remaining time: 18hr:28m:20s

Requirements:

1/20,000 jabs

0/10,000 jabs on a target

0/5000 successful jabs on a moving target

Rewards: Unlock attack skill "Perfect Jab"

"Huh?! Why do I have to do that many jabs!?And Wait, why do I already have 1 jab out of 20,000?!"

As I racked my brains, I remembered the fight I had earlier. The one where I got my butt kicked.

"Ah... It's when I tried to punch that guy earlier... Hm? Another quest?"

[Quest: Finish first quest to unlock]

"Okay, so I need to complete the previous quest first. But wait, isn't there supposed to be a penalty for not completing these quests?"

[Quest failure penalty: 2 hours of extreme testicular torsion.]

I look down at the direction of my crotch... The place where my best friend lives. The one who's always been there for me since day one... My "Holy sword Excalibur" if you know what I mean.

"Yep, I'm definitely doing this quest."

Having said that, I suddenly remembered how much trouble I'm in.

Ah! I need to go home. Grandpa's definitely worried by now!"

I put my hand on my pocket only to remember my money was stolen. 

I let out a small sigh. 

"Oh, right I forgot about that... I guess I'm walking home."

[Remaining Time: 18hr:24m:10s]

Chapter 1 end...