The Beginning

"Ding, ding." In the bedroom, the sound of an alarm clock reverberates. The young man lying on the bed slowly opens his eyes and weakly extends his arm towards the alarm clock to silence it.

After a few moments, he rubs his eyes and stretches his arms. Rising from bed, he walks towards the door, opens it, and heads to the bathroom.

In the bathroom, he approaches the sink, turns on the tap, and lets the water flow. Splashing a bit of water on his face, he gazes at himself in the mirror above the sink.

Examining his reflection, he sees a young man with black hair and black eyes smiling back at himself. Quietly to himself, he murmurs, "You can do it, Ethan. You can be happy. You have friends, healthy parents, good grades, and even a few hobbies."

With those words, he begins to recall a few happy memories, and a gentle smile naturally forms on his face. Satisfied with what he sees, Ethan nods to himself and prepares for the day.

Exiting the bathroom, he walks to the other side of the floor, opens the door to the living room, and finds his parents already seated at the dining table. Seeing the door open, they smile at him and greet him with a "Morning."

As they resume their conversation, Ethan's father mentions, "Have you heard about this serial killer? The one everyone's talking about on the news?"

His mother nods in agreement, adding, "Yes, it's truly terrifying to think such a person exists! Ethan, have you heard? You should stop coming home so late!"

Acknowledging his mother's concerns, Ethan nods and reassures her, "Yes, don't worry, Mom. I'm not foolish or reckless enough to engage in such risky behavior."

With that, he proceeds to have his breakfast, a simple sandwich. Once finished, he returns to his room, changes into a black hoodie and black pants, grabs his backpack, and stows his laptop inside.

Ready for school, Ethan leaves home and walks towards his school, a small smile adorning his face.

- - - -

At school, Ethan approached the door to his classroom and swung it open. A few of his classmates glanced over and greeted him with a cheerful "Morning, Ethan."

As Ethan's name was called out, more heads turned towards him. Some classmates walked over and chimed in, "Morning, Ethan! Have you finished today's homework?I need it!" "Ethan, have you tried out that new game, Magical Beast?"

Receiving the greetings and questions simultaneously, Ethan simply smiled and replied, "Morning, guys."

The trio , two young men, continued their questions. "So, do you have the homework? I really need it!" one of them, Ian, asked eagerly.

Ethan glanced at Ian and nodded. "Yes, I finished it yesterday, Ian. I can give it to you after I take my seat. And I didn't have time to play Magical Beast, David. You should focus more on studying, or your grades might suffer."

Upon hearing Ethan's advice, David laughed loudly."Don't worry, Ethan! I'm a master of learning everything on the last day before the test! There's nothing to worry about regarding grades or any health issues, and not only that, my body is already accustomed to sleeping five to six hours."

Ethan chuckled, but with a hint of concern in his tone. "What you're doing isn't healthy," he remarked with a sigh.

Taking his seat, Ethan powered up his laptop. Just then, Ian piped up, "Hey, did you notice we don't have the last period today? Shouldn't we celebrate? How about we hang out after school?"

David immediately declined Ian's suggestion. "Nah, not with you. Last time we hung out, you wanted to go to some sketchy places."

Ian clicked his tongue in disappointment and turned to Ethan with pleading eyes. "And?"

However, Ethan politely refused Ian's offer. "Sorry, I already have plans."

Ian persisted, "Even if I ask again and say please?"

Ethan remained firm. "Yes."

Disheartened, Ian retrieved his homework folder and muttered, "Okay, what a shame. I found some cool places you would've liked." He then walked away, heading towards his desk.

"Ding,Dong,Ding"With the school bell ringing, signaling the start of class, the teacher entered, and the usual lessons began.

- - - -

A tired yawn escaped Ethan's mouth, signaling the end of the last lesson. Ethan, Ian, and David left the room together.

Ian, brimming with energy as always, smiled at them. "You guys really don't want to come with me?"

Both Ethan and David replied simultaneously, "No." Ian clicked his tongue in disappointment and then departed.

As Ian left without a word, David clicked his tongue in annoyance and turned to Ethan. "You should say something about his behavior too, or he might get into trouble. Then he'll end up in prison, crying to us about why we didn't help him."

Finishing his rant about Ian, Ethan sighed. "What could I do? I can't change his behavior. Would he really change if I told him to stop doing dangerous things? No, he'd likely just ignore us, dismissing it as being overdramatic or overprotective. In the end, all we can do is slowly guide him and show him the dangers in the things he does. We're all human, we all make mistakes in life, and we learn from them. We'll always remember these mistakes if we lose something important to us. But let's just hope nothing bad happens."

With that, Ethan smiled at the perplexed David and said, "See ya," before walking home.

- - - -

"Sigh." A sigh escaped Ethan's mouth as he pondered Ian's situation on his way home. But as he stood before his house and reached for his keys to unlock the door, he noticed it was already ajar. Pushing it open, Ethan stepped inside.

"Mom? Dad?" he called out, but there was no response. Ethan's unease grew. "Weird. Why aren't they answering? Did they not hear me?" he wondered aloud, repeating his calls.

Growing increasingly nervous and a little scared, Ethan's mind raced with dark possibilities. Hastily, he checked each room, panic rising within him. As he approached the living room, a foul odor assaulted his senses, and Ethan's body trembled with dread.

Opening the door, he was met with a sight that turned his stomach and brought tears to his eyes his parents lay on the floor, surrounded by pools of blood.By this picture Ethan began then to vomit.

Before he could really process the scene, a sudden burst of laughter shattered the silence. Confused, Ethan looked up to see a man he didn't recognize—a figure dressed in a black suit, with radiant blond hair and piercing azure eyes—smiling broadly at him.

As the laughter subsided, the man rubbed his eyes and addressed Ethan with an amused grin. "Well, well, who do we have here? Why are you home already? Didn't I hack your school and extend your hours?"

Ethan's heart sank as he listened to the man's self-directed ramblings. "What should I do? What should I do? Ah, yes, let's see about your past!" With a flick of his hand, a notebook materialized out of thin air.

Meanwhile, Ethan's gaze darted around the room, searching desperately for any sign of hope. But his eyes fell upon his parents' lifeless forms, and more tears began to flow silently down his cheeks.

As the man flipped through the notebook, he began to read aloud from Ethan's past. Each word felt like a dagger to Ethan's heart."Let's see... Ethan Baker, 17 years old, 1.78 meters tall, blah, blah, blah... Where is his history? Ah, there it begins! 'Ethan, a normal kid, but then somehow became depressed about life itself, tried to kill himself a few times, went to therapy for years, somehow managed school, and now he is recovering from this and trying to see life in a better way.' Well, there you have a bit of a tragic life for Ethan, don't you?"

Fueled by rage and despair, Ethan's trembling hands searched for something—anything—to defend himself. Spotting a knife nearby, he lunged for it, but to his horror, his body refused to obey. Frozen in place.

Shocked but still determented Ethan began to try to move his body to reach this knife,but he didnt move and despair came over him as he heard this mans voice again "Oh, you wanted to kill me? Or what? Well, sorry to say this to you, but that won't work. I only wanted to kill your parents, but you came into the picture. Hah, anyway, let me introduce myself! I am a being called God. As you are too weak to know my name, I will not let you hear it. And as I was bored, I just killed your parents. Ah, and you mortals know me as some serial killer or something like that? Well, something along those lines. But well..."

Before this 'God' could speak further, Ethan began to tear up. He spoke to the 'God,' "Why?" Blood came out of Ethan's mouth as he struggled with his emotions.

The man, unfazed by Ethan's question, simply shrugged. "Well, I was bored, and I killed a few mortals, so when you ask why, well, I was kinda bored. But, well, I think I have another option now to relieve my boredom! Yes, this is a good idea! Okay, I'll make it!"

And as the 'God' nodded to himself, he said, "Okay, so before we say goodbye to ourselves, I'll thank you in advance for the future entertainment for myself!"

Ethan didn't really understand everything, but he grasped one thing: he was going to die. He looked in the direction of the 'God,' who had a cruel smile. He raised a pistol and aimed it at Ethan. "Bye," he said casually, before pulling the trigger.

And just like that, Ethan's world went dark.

- - - -

In an endless darkness, light appeared, and Ethan could hear something.

"Lady Snow, it is a boy."