When the final school bell rang, the sky had begun to fill with dark clouds. A group of students gathered in the schoolyard, chatting among themselves.
"Let's go to karaoke."
"Yeah, let's go. Eugene, you come too," said the girl, her face turning red.
The boy named Eugene turned to the group. He had black hair and black eyes, stood about 1.80 meters tall, his body was lightly muscular, and his face was handsome making him popular among the girls.
Eugene looked at the group. "Go without me. It's going to rain anyway."
The girl puffed out her cheeks, speaking in a slightly irritated tone, "But you said you'd come next time."
Eugene chuckled lightly at what the girl said. "Then let this be the next time," he said, turning around and waving as he walked away.
One of the boys in the group walked up to the girl and said, "He turns you down every single time," and laughed.
The girl kicked the boy hard. "I invite him because he always looks so bored. Look what he does."
"Bored?"
"Yeah, like he's lost interest in everything."
And with that, the girl left the school with her group.
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Eugene was walking home. Same boring road as always, only this time it had started to rain.
He couldn't help but wonder if he had accepted the invitation earlier, would this boredom have faded? But he knew the answer. Such simple things wouldn't cure this kind of boredom.
What pulled him from his thoughts were the sounds coming from a nearby alley. He thought it might be a cat, but the noise was too loud for that. He decided to take a look. After all, no one was waiting for him at home, whether he returned early or late.
When he entered the alley, he saw a woman and three men. They were trying to undress her by force. Woman was struggling with all her strength and shouting, but the men were covering her mouth with their arms and trying to tie her up. It seemed they had bumped into the trash can a few times during the struggle most likely the source of the noise.
Eugene could tell at a glance that this was harassment. So he didn't think twice. He threw his bag with all his strength at the man trying to tie the woman up. Man was hit by the bag. One of the attackers swore, "SHIT!!", and was knocked down by a kick. Man holding the woman from behind let go of her in surprise. Taking the chance, the woman quickly distanced herself from the attackers.
Eugene looked at the woman with a blank expression. "What are you standing there for? Get out of here," he said. Woman immediately ran away. Only Eugene and the three attackers remained.
The man who got hit by the bag shouted, "You think you're a hero just 'cause you got lucky with a hit, you son of a bitch? Let's beat him to death let him see what the world's really like."Eugene chuckled at these words. "Aren't those exactly the kinds of lines third-rate villains would say?"
Man shouted even angrier, "SON OF A BITCH!" and lunged at him with a right hook. Eugene stepped aside to dodge it and threw a right hook of his own. Even though the man blocked it with his arm, there was a trace of surprise on his face.
"So you know a little about fighting, huh?"
"I picked up a thing or two out of boredom."
"So that's what kids these days do when they're bored? I thought they just played games and went to karaoke."
"They're not that fun."
After hearing this, the man gave Eugene a strange look. Eugene noticed the look and asked,"Why are you looking at me like that? Is this the first time you've seen someone handsome?"
"You crazy bastard, anyone would look at you like that with a smile like that on your face."
Eugene couldn't help but be surprised by that answer. When his hand went to his mouth, he realized he was smiling. At that moment, he understood exactly why. It wasn't about saving the woman—he'd jumped in because finally, something entertaining had happened in his dull life.
"HAHAHA, to think I get bored even with pretty girls but can have fun with punks like you... I really must be insane. Now that things have come this far, let's enjoy it more!"
With those words, Eugene lunged forward. Man immediately reacted and tried to kick, but Eugene dodged and punched him. This punch was faster than the last one and hit the man square in the face before he could even raise his guard, knocking him to the ground. His friends rushed at Eugene. Eugene blocked the left punch with his hand and immediately threw his own punch. The attacker had focused too much on dodging that he didn't see the next punch coming—and got hit. The third attacker tried to punch Eugene from behind, but Eugene blocked it with his elbow. Man screamed in pain, "AHHHHHH!" and held his hand.
Eugene kept fighting. Even though they had the advantage in numbers and strength, Eugene held his own against them. After about three more minutes of fighting, the man who had taken the first hit pulled out a knife and stabbed Eugene. The stab made Eugene stumble backward. The man, snapping out of his rage and realizing what he had done, was overtaken by fear and ran away. His friends followed.
Eugene leaned against the wall with a deep sigh. He pressed his hand to the wound, but the blood kept flowing. The rain was pouring down harder now—his entire body was soaked. He was slowly losing consciousness.
A voice echoed through the darkness.
"Are you truly content with this ending?"
Eugene knew he didn't have much time left, so he assumed he was hallucinating. With that thought, he let out a bitter smile.
"You're asking if I'm content? Honestly, this world wasn't all that fun. Can't say I was really satisfied."After a short pause,
"But still, this ending's not so bad. At least it was entertaining enough."
After those words, Eugene's eyes began to close.
The voice was smiling.
"Then be reborn… and grow stronger."
After those words, Eugene opened his eyes—and he was a baby.