Chapter 1: Wishing a Life That Will Never Change

Chapter 1: Wishing a Life That Will Never Change

Like every normal day, the sun is shining radiantly in the breeze of the morning air that refreshes the people.

Martin Alma was brought up in a place called the City of O.

He was the eldest son. At the age of 17, even though young, compared to what his friends are usually doing, it was deeply inculcated into his young mind the sense of responsibility.

When his parents are away for work, and if he has no class, he has to take care of his siblings: Luther, 13, and Annie, 6, as well as their dog Rufus.

"Luther, wake up. You are going to be late." Martin's nagging voice reverberated in the room of his younger brother.

"Yes, brother," Luther said meekly while rubbing his puffy eyes. "Is Annie awake? I asked her to wake me up yesterday night." Luther knows that his brother Martin acts like their parents and is quite strict with them.

"Ha! You think I do not realize you asking Annie to wake you up is for you to extend your sleep? She is awake in her room preparing and getting up or I am bringing your bath here." Martin eyed his brother menacingly.

With no choice but to comply, Luther did as he was told and the sound of running water echoed in his room.

He respects and at the same time fears his brother. Not the fear in a bad way but fear that he might be a burden to his brother's already heavy responsibilities.

While going downstairs, Martin bumped into her angel sister, Annie. "Good morning brother, are you going down?" Seeing the smiling nod of his elder brother, Annie said "Let's go down together."

They went down with hands interlocked, a sign of their strong bond.

And after Luther followed to the dining room, quick clashes of utensils can be heard as they are late for school.

Martin is an intelligent and hard-working student. He aces his class, quite good-looking, and a highly charming young lad. Many neighbors of all ages also like Martin's nature.

Just like his father, he is also kind and generous. He is the pride of his family.

When he walks around his school, eyes of admiration and envy lurks.

"Look, it's Martin. He's so handsome and smart. Unlike the boys in our class. So mean, dumb, and looks like gangsters. If they can have half of his mind, I will date them." A fangirl of Martin talks to her best friend.

"You're right. Our boys are like uncles. Old-looking, grumpy, and can't even answer simple math questions. They should be like Martin. Almost perfect in everything." Her good friend replied.

The same conversations can be heard all around.

"Hays." Sounds of sigh echoed as they knew that Martin favors studying above romance. He is like a star. Shining and splendid but only for the eyes. Near yet so far.

His mother, Theresa, is a small-time entrepreneur, busy going out to the field to check on her business.

On the other hand, his father, Luke, is a government official in their city and he is also busy with his office work and social affairs.

His grandparents, of both sides, have passed away before he was born, and his uncles and aunts live so far away that he barely knew and saw them in his 17 years of existence.

Albeit very busy, Luke and Theresa can still find valuable precious time to give to their children and enjoy their company despite their hectic schedules. It was their goal to have sufficient time with their children and watch them grow.

They wanted to earn and provide for their family and at the same time bond with them.

Knowing that both of his parents are busy, Martin took the responsibility of taking care of his siblings and acts as their temporary guardian. He loves his family so much that he matured fast enough to handle the world of adults.

He strives hard in his studies and worked double-time as a tutor to his younger siblings.

Most of the nights of some weeks, both Theresa and Luke, are out for either business trips or out-of-town conferences. It is up to the brave and responsible Martin to look out for his younger siblings, the house, and Rufus the labrador dog.

To enjoy his pastime, Martin's hobby is to read light novels about martial arts and sorcery spells.

"I like this novel a lot. It is light and has no heavy twists and plots. Just enough for my taste. And those wizard spells, magic circles, and talismans are so cool." He has limited hobbies so reading became his number one hobby.

While rubbing his seemingly ordinary necklace with a pendant of a blackbird, he brought from a rundown and dilapidated shop from one of their family outings, he has great time imagining himself as a martial artist riding a sword and flying across the vast horizon or casting an almighty spell capable of blocking out the sky, overturning the mountains, and drying up oceans down to their beds.

He wishes he would have a system that is so powerful he could change his destiny and mold a world—a better world. He wishes this whenever there are shooting stars, every Christmas, and every birthday he had. This is what he wanted; this is what his soul craved.

Yes, he is already an adult but who can say that dreams are only for children.

He likes the most amongst the light novels he read was entitled, Martial World, where Lin Lie was a powerful martial arts practitioner.

He started as a weak practitioner, with a little bit of luck and a whole lot of practice and perseverance, and with his spear, he went to the top of the 33 heavens, capable of sharing the great burden of mankind and the destiny of all living creatures of the 33 heavens against the demons of the past.

Martin also likes the Jade Dynasty series where the cultivation practitioners have sword controlling techniques and are capable of riding their swords in a thousand kilometers within a second and killing people from countless miles with just nothing but a thought and spells capable of unleashing the heavenly power to their whims. His laptop is full of this series and his web novel app is auto-saving the updates of the novel.

He shook his head. Dreams and wishes like these are meant only for entertainment. He must not dwell on it for long. "I wish..."

This was his secret, he never told a single soul, afraid of being judged and teased as a chuuni. Yeah, a petty excuse but do not underestimate bullying. Na ah!

Reading and watching were their normal pastimes when their parents were away. If he was also done with his home works, studies, and projects, Martin finds few minutes to indulge himself in the magical world of light novels.

When he is bathing, he would swish his hands in the air. Imagine that his hands twirling can cast ice spells.

Also, the index and middle finger are straightened just like a blade and he would gesture it like a sword practitioner practicing the control of their sword technique. After a while, he would stop.

He has a happy family, he studies in a private school, and he has an interesting hobby. So, his life is like a dream life for anyone of his age.

This week, fortunately, Theresa is quite free. So, she is on time to bong with her kids.

Just like any other Sundays where they were supposed to be complete, one dark and gloomy night, while the white moon was blanketed by dark clouds, thunder and lightning can be heard and seen lurking through the shadowy horizon, Martin, Luther, Annie, Rufus, and Theresa are watching a Korean TV drama, "The Kingdom".

They are having their usual family time and their mother but without the presence of their father.

This certain K drama was about a historical kingdom in Korea, wherein that kingdom was embroiled in an epidemic due to resuscitating their king using a wondrous plant termed resurrection flower.

Infected people will bite others. From this, slowly, the bitten people died and turned into zombies. In a fortnight, a whole area was twisted into a horror barren place full of walking dead. This was quite a spooky K drama for Martin's family.

This is not their usual genre to watch but it was thrilling and so it was picked.

During one of the climaxes of the drama, when the crowned prince was actively running for his life along with his trusted guard away from the zombies, the family of four, while watching, have their hearts up to their throats when suddenly they saw a crowd of zombies almost catching up to the crowned prince and abruptly the front door was banged open.

Through the dim light of the TV, the only source of illumination in the living room, and with flecks of shadow from the lightning, they saw a man full of sticky brownish substance and a foul stench that is capable of overturning the stomach inside out along the bestial growl akin to a monster.

"Ah! Ah! Woof! Woof! Ah! Ah! The zombies came out." The house of the Alma family was greatly disturbed by the cacophony of its family members. With the thick veil of rain and the thunderous sound of thunder, no neighbors discovered their despair.