Prologue

Looking at the packs of cigarettes displayed on the street stall, Lucas took a deep breath.

His muddled head, downcast eyes, and stuffy chest dreamt of taking a puff.

But after thinking about how he could instead buy meat for his grandma with the money, Lucas shook his head and walked away.

"Haa…" Lucas sighed as his feet kept moving forward.

His grandma's sickness had only gotten worse over the years, and the medication given to her only served to suppress it, not cure it.

Lucas couldn't bear to see his grandma getting weaker and weaker with each passing day.

The only way to cure her illness was through a very expensive surgery that only the rich could afford.

However, Lucas knew very well that no matter how many part-time jobs and midnight shifts he took, there was no way he would be able to afford the surgery even after a whole decade of savings.

Still, he kept taking part-time jobs so that he would at least be able to buy nutritious food for his grandma.

'Is this the best I can do…? Can't I change my and grandma's fate…?'

Lucas heaved another sigh, each of his steps getting heavier as his mind became even more jumbled than before.

'Can I at least give her a happy life before she…'

Lucas stopped walking in front of a crosswalk, the green light blinking as it was about to turn red.

His mind was still wandering everywhere, trying to find a way out of the seemingly hopeless cycle.

But then his focus was pulled into the scene in front of him.

Across the street, a pair of an old woman and a little boy were seemingly so excited chatting with each other that they didn't see the green light flashing.

They continued talking and laughing with each other and kept on walking forward to cross the road despite the light now showing the color red.

The cars that were already ready to move only honked and waited for the pair to move and they were not a threat.

However, on the empty lane, a speeding truck was coming from a distance.

With how fast it was going, there was no way for the truck to be able to stop fast enough to not hit the pair of grandma and her grandson.

"HEY! GET BACK!"

Lucas shouted with all his might.

Unfortunately, the sounds of car horns seemed to drown his voice quite a bit and the two couldn't hear what he was saying properly.

So the two of them looked at him weirdly as if asking why he was shouting. 

Lucas could see the confusion in their eyes and knew that whatever words he shouted, they wouldn't be able to hear him.

Lucas then glanced at the speeding truck and the pair once again before quickly making a decision.

Lucas ran forward, pushing all his strength to his feet to reach the pair as fast as possible.

The truck was getting closer as Lucas could hear its resounding honk and the brake struggling its hardest to stop.

Fortunately, Lucas was faster.

The second he was close enough, Lucas opened both his arms and jumped.

His arms caught the pair and his forward momentum pushed them away, landing on the crossroad safely.

**HONK**

The truck's prolonged honk resounded as it traversed safely past the crossroad, showing its anger at the dangerous stunt that it had just seen in front of it.

Lucas heaved a sigh of relief.

'That was a close one…'

Lucas was about to nag at the little boy that he had just saved to take care of his grandma better, but then he realized something.

Looking beneath him, both the grandma and the grandson were nowhere to be found.

A little more observation made him realize that the two weren't the only ones that disappeared.

Standing up and looking around him, he realized the busy road and the packed crossroad were now empty.

Not a single human being was present as he was alone on the other side of the crossroad.

Or at least, that's what he thought.

"You're a very kind young man." A little girl's voice came from behind him.

Lucas turned his head backward and saw a girl standing behind him.

The girl was wearing a medieval-looking dress that he only saw in movies and she gave this dream-like vibes that made Lucas think she wasn't real.

However, the thing that caught his attention the most was the pair of fox ears on the side of the girl's head.

Matching the color of her hair, which was snow white, the ears twitched ever so slightly that Lucas thought that it couldn't be only an accessory.

Lucas had a lot of questions, but before he could ask them, the fox girl walked forward and stretched her hand toward his.

"Let's see what made you so gloomy."

The moment the words left her mouth, images started popping in Lucas' head.

The scene where his divorced parents left him with his grandma.

The time when he saw his grandma staring blankly at the wall for hours when she found out about her illness.

The moments where he contemplated his life and thought whether his life would only get worse.

All the times when Lucas got a scar on his heart were being played in his head, continuing until he heard a soft, little girl's voice.

"I understand now…"

The fox girl looked Lucas straight into his eyes.

"Lucas, I can help you." Still holding his hand, she continued, "I can help you cure your grandma, give her a happy life, and I can help you change your life."

The fox girl then stayed silent, letting her words sink in.

Lucas stayed completely silent all this time, his mind still couldn't process what had just happened.

Even when the words she said rang deep within him, suddenly hearing such words was just like having a beautiful daydream.

It's just simply too good to be true.

However, her next words finally woke Lucas up.

"Do you want to fix things with your own hands? Giving yourself and your grandma a happy and healthy life."

"Or do you want to just stay silent and let everything fall apart in front of your eyes without being able to do anything?"

This time, without thinking for long, Lucas answered, "I want to change this shit called life."

Lucas' hands balled into fists, his eyes staring at the fox girl, conviction filled them as he muttered his next words,

"I want to change my life."

The fox girl then nodded her head before taking a step back, away from him.

The fox girl's yellow eyes then began glowing red before she asked,

"Lucas, are you willing to do anything, whatever it takes, to cure your grandma, to change your life?"

Lucas took several deep breaths before giving his final answer.

"Yes. Whatever it takes, no matter what I have to do. I will do it to give her a happy life."

The moment Lucas gave his answer, the little fox girl smiled and slammed her palm onto Lucas' chest.

Lucas felt the air leaving his lungs from the sheer force of the little girl's palm and his world went dark for a split second as his body disappeared from the world.

In that same moment, along with Lucas, people from all over the world disappeared at the same time. 

Leaving their world as they were transported to another one.

=========

A sweet, alluring mature woman's voice entered everyone's ears.

"Welcome to Gula, mortals! We congratulate you on getting the chance to step onto this world and get the chance to become an immortal!"

The woman stopped speaking for a while, taking her sweet time as if she would be enjoying the words that she would say next.

"But not just anyone can take upon this once-in-a-lifetime chance."

"As there are many of you now, let's cull down your numbers a bit and let only the worthy use this golden opportunity!"

Then a mechanical voice replaced the woman's voice.

"Eliminate each other and survive until only 100 of you remain."