Prologue

"Hey! Have you heard the news? An anonymous player has finally succeeded in defeating the final boss!"

"Yeah! I can't believe it! After all these years, I was starting to think it was impossible to beat it."

"It's literally insane."

As the bus rumbled along its route toward the community college, the lively chatter of the students filled the bus, subduing the rustle of the wind brushing against the window, creating a calming yet disturbing undertone. The bus was packed with teenagers wearing standard uniforms: dark blue pants or skirts paired with crisp white button-up shirts.

"I sent the link to a new beauty product I saw in that magazine you gave me. Have a look at it!"

"Oh, this is so pretty!~"

Almost everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. Almost everyone.

Amidst the lively chatter and occasional bursts of laughter that filled the bus, At the rear of the bus, nestled against the window, sat a solitary figure of a young boy, seemingly untouched by the lively atmosphere surrounding him. It was obvious he was avoided deliberately.

Yet he didn't seem disturbed by the abnormality of his social standing. Instead, a subtle expression was plastered upon his face. His eyes, which were devoid of emotion but not devoid of presence, watched the ever-changing scenery outside the window.

"Sigh..."

With a weary sigh, I reached into my pockets and retrieved a wired in-ear headphone. As I put them on, the world around me faded into the background, offering me refuge from the chatter swirling around me. I once again started to mindlessly gaze over the fluid landscape over the window. I slowly drifted away deep into my sea of thoughts.

Over the years, a single thought had been eating away my mind. I have been trying to figure out why everything turned out like this. I tried to make sense of why, to find a reason.

As I glanced at my fellow students on the bus, I once again asked myself, why was I like this? The notion of belonging eluded me as if I were an outsider peering into a world that I could never truly inhabit. I didn't or couldn't bring myself to connect with others or try to form some kind of relationship with them.

I wasn't intrigued even a tiny bit. After some point in my life, I found myself devoid of the slightest inclination to immerse myself in a social occasion. I didn't find the energy in me to do that. So I always ended up watching others from the outside like a detached viewer. Even those chit-chats seemed too far in my eyes.

Then again, why? Why was I like this? I didn't know myself. Or maybe I knew.

I closed my eyes as the fragments of the past resurfaced from the depths of my consciousness, painting vivid images against the canvas of my mind.

*Ding...*

"Sweetheart, can you open the door?"

The little kid eagerly dashed towards the door, his face illuminated by a radiant smile.

"Dad! You are back! I thought you'd be late again!"

The words burst from the child's lips, filled with relief and delight, as he threw himself into his father's arms, not letting his father remove his coat. The middle-aged man hugged his child back after realizing the kid was ignoring his father's attempts to remove his coat.

Reluctantly releasing his father, the kid made his way back to the kitchen, where the tempting aroma of the meal filled the air. His father rejoined them in the kitchen after changing his formal attire to comfortable home clothes.

"Wow, the food smells amazing as always."

Hearing his father's genuine admiration, the little boy's face lit up with excitement and pride.

"My mom is the best at everything!"

Hearing all the praise, the mother couldn't help but smile. Today was Christmas. That's why the kid was so excited. The spirit of the Christmas night enveloped the house with joy and love.

However, the memory vanished just as it came out of nowhere, leaving me disoriented and adrift in the sea of my thoughts. I came back to my senses, finding myself once again staring at ever-changing scenery without a purpose.

As the fleeting recollection of those cheerful moments from my past stirred within me, a bittersweet sensation lingered in the back of my mind.

"It's all gone now..."

I murmured under my breath as I reminisced about my time with my now long-gone family. It was all a person could have ever wanted from life. Yet, I had come to accept the bitter truth that nothing in life was permanent.

My father and mother had been killed years ago by a maniac who was indebted to my parents. I guess it was his way of getting rid of the rabbit hole he was in.

The haunting memories of my mother getting stabbed to death multiple times replayed vividly in my mind. The marble floor was stained with blood as the echoes of screams filled the house. That night ended with the kid vacantly gazing at the lifeless forms of his parents.

The murderer, "out of his goodwill", had decided to spare me for some reason.

'He should have killed me there...'

Such thoughts drifted through my mind. But I found myself devoid of anger, instead consumed by an overwhelming sense of numbness. The night my parents were taken from me marked the death of something inside me. Death of something that made it unbearable for me to be intimate with others.

I just let life mercilessly drag me from one place to another.

Living a solitary existence had become my norm, and I got used to it. I found solace within it. Gradually, I came to terms with this isolated path, embracing this fate. Now, I had come to the point where the concept of life and death had lost its grip on me. If death were to come knocking, it would find an open door.

As memories began fading, the familiar sight of the cliff we routinely traversed on our way to the school route appeared. Abruptly, the bus lurched, jolting us as the driver's panicked shouting filled the air. The vehicle lost its balance, tumbling off course after colliding with a boulder.

"Nooo!!"

"Aaaaa!!"

Piercing screams of terror rose from the students as the vehicle rolled over and fell off the cliff's edge. Gravity mercilessly pulled the bus down into the abyss below. With the cliff's sheer height and the steep drop, there was no way anyone would survive this fall.

Amidst the chaos unfolding around me, I remained untouched by fear. The feeling that washed over me was not fear. In that moment of impending doom, I felt a sense of relief as death itself materialized in front of my eyes.

"What a coincidence..."

To think that death would arrive just as I thought about it.

'Finally... I am saved...'

In my final moments, a flicker of emotion ignited within me, a long-forgotten spark. A fleeting feeling of thrill and adrenaline. Yet, as swiftly as it came, the sensation waned, fading into oblivion as darkness enveloped my vision, plunging me into the abyss of nothingness.