"A person can never be prepared for the future that's unpredictable."
"An adult will always be a kid no matter how time has passed by."
"Your wisdom and power will never be enough so never get conceited."
These are my words not some philosopher.
[Sanjay's POV]
It is pouring like the day I was born.
Or maybe the sky was peeing?
I still remember that day. It was pouring because August was the rainy month in Jaipur, known as the Pink City, because of its many centuries-old shops, buildings, and heritage sites that were painted pink.
It was just a city of India, but also the capital of Rajasthan state, a state where snow falls on its highest mountain peaks, and a vast desert spreads across its western part. Not to mention, it was the biggest state in India, probably larger than famous countries in the world.
Oh sorry! I got too much into bragging. I like social studies, so I am kind of a nerd when it comes to geography, history, politics, and other social studies.
So, it was pouring. And I was sitting on the window seat of a government-leased bus that came in non-A.C. and A.C. buses.
But how could an unemployed guy like me dare to sit on an A.C. bus that charges more?
I sighed. I was satisfied with my current situation. I finally got a job at an IT company as a content writer, but the pay was lower than that of my mother, who worked hard in a hotel as a cleaner, dishwasher, and cook.
Yeah. I should really die for being so useless and a parasite to my single mother who got knocked up in her teenage years and abandoned by her lover and her family.
Believe me, I tried to kill myself countless times... Countless days. But if I were so courageous, wouldn't I have become a dependable son instead...
I thought that it would be over soon. My depressing days... But a lightning bolt had to fall on the bus...
Before I lost consciousness, I got to see the world engulfed in a white flame...
I thought, maybe it was for the best. Mother would have one less worry now. And I will get transmigrated to another world and become a hero, make a harem of beauties, and slay the demon... Then write a book with the title "My Days In Another World"...
But Dreams don't come true for everyone...
[End of Sanjay's POV]
Ka-boom!
The white lightning flashed on an empty island. The moment it vanished into the void, a green bus with passengers came into view.
Within the bus, people were panicking.
"What happened?"
"Oh god! Please don't call me to your home so soon. I swear, I will stop groping women in the bus."
"We got a bus molester here."
"I was joking, woman."
"Like hell, I felt a hand brush my ass earlier."
"That was me, not that old man."
"Is everyone confessing their sins now? It's too late, we are already in hell."
"I think so too. Look outside. We are on an empty isle (small island)."
"I have never seen such dark clouds. The ocean is calm like it is dead. There is no wave."
Sanjay, the brown boy in a blue shirt with rolled sleeves and blue jeans, stood up from his seat and went outside through the back door, which was open. It was the entry gate that drivers sometimes kept open.
With his average height of five feet six inches, shaved face, and skinny body... Everyone mistook him for a high school student. But he was actually a college graduate and 25 years old.
"Oi kid! You want to cross the river so badly. Come inside!"
Sanjay didn't heed his words and scoped the area, "An isle no longer than 100 meters and wider than 50 meters. It will sink if the tide rises at night, as happens in the ocean."
He took out his smartphone from his jeans' right side pocket and checked it, "No mobile network... No internet... But it is still functioning. Battery at 78 percent."
Suddenly, a realisation hit him and made a serious decision, "Let's delete all porn before I die and someone look into my collection."
A few minutes later.
Other passengers had also exited from the bus and started discussing with different beliefs and assumptions.
"Done!" Sanjay smiled and checked the remaining storage, "Wow! My phone isn't showing a notification of 'storage space low' anymore. I actually have 35 GB of extra space now. I can use that space to download new games."
He was sitting near the edge of the aisle. It turned out that it had solid edges made of sandstone.
Someone earlier jumped into the calm ocean and told everyone that the isle looked like a cone from below, and the ocean seemed to be bottomless.
Someone even threw a plastic bottle in the ocean that floated ahead at a very slow pace. That meant maybe the isle was floating in some direction too but it was too slow.
Sanjay put his smartphone in his jeans' pocket and looked at his reflection, 'I have a bad feeling about this situation. In novels, this situation is so common that it has become a cliche.'
'Soon, someone or something will appear and give an impossible task.'
And his assumption became reality soon, as a man in a black suit appeared in the sky, floating as if he were the wind itself.
"Wow! Is he an angel?"
"He is tall and handsome. He looks like a Korean angel."
Sanjay rolled his eyes at the two college girls, 'He could be Chinese too, morons. It is not like there are no fair-skinned, handsome guys in our country. We have everything.'
"This is so troublesome... " The handsome guy glanced at Sanjay for a moment before addressing the people below him, "I won't beat around the bush. If you want to go home, then you have to pass 100 trials. This is your first trial... Kill at least one human in less than 20 minutes."
Sanjay frowned, 'I was reading his lips. He spoke in a different language, but I heard it in Hindi. So everyone got his message.'
He shifted his eyes to other passengers, 'Humanity's worst enemy can only be a human.'
"The time starts now, " The handsome guy said without vanishing in a blink while leaving a big floating digital clock that was showing "20:00" for a moment before it started counting time in reverse from "19:59".
"This has to be a nightmare! No, hell!"
"Who was he? God? Yama?"
"Do we really have to kill someone to return home?"
Sanjay saw the faces of fear, anger, anguish, sorrow, worry, scheming, anxiousness...
"What a disaster... " He muttered slowly, 'I don't know if it is a test or some sick play of a god. But I am no believer.'
In novels, the main character always goes for killing because they believe in survival of the fittest. Or they escaped the situation with their genius brain or cheat skills.'
'But I am just a random reader of such novels. I have only gained experience from them and not some enlightenment.'
He turned his back to the passengers and looked down at the bottomless sea, "Today is really the worst day."
His face showed reluctance, sorrow, and a fake smile.
"Just die already, you unfilial son!"
The harsh words spoken by his mother once came into his mind, making his resolve stronger.
"The world says that only parents can sacrifice for their children. But I am a different story, " Saying his last words that no one heard, he let himself free-fall forward.
Splash!
Bubble-bubble!!
[Sanjay's POV]
It didn't feel so cold earlier I checked it.
Is it because I am drowning... Dying...?
The isle... I am flapping my legs and hands like swimmers I have seen on TV countless times.
But I am not going higher.
The bright surface and shadow of the land were getting further apart.
Ma... I am dying... For you? I don't think so... Even in death... I am a selfish jerk... I am killing myself because I know how much I hate myself...
I made excuses in every moment of my failure... I blamed you for my poor grades... I blamed you for my introversion and cold personality... I blamed you for being poor...
I don't wish to be reborn... Not even as an animal or stone...
If there's a god... Then let my soul vanish into oblivion forever...
Ack! I can't hold my breath any longer...
Tears... They are leaving my body as the heat of my body is leaving me too...
Ma... I am sorry...
For being such a coward...
[End of Sanjay's POV]
Slap!
"Eh... ?" Sanjay opened his eyes because his left jaw was hurting.
He found himself lying on the sand of the floating isle he was riding before.
But he didn't expect to see a handsome guy kneeling on one leg beside him.
"Congratulations! You have officially become a player now. That was just a dream test. I wanted to see what path you would choose, black by killing one or more humans, or white by waiting until time runs out... But you chose the grey path by killing yourself. You deserve a reward for being the first in history, " he said, which pleased Sanjay.
He sat up quickly and found himself dry like he had never dipped into the ocean. The isle was the same, but there was no bus or passenger. "Just what's going on?"
The handsome guy stood up and explained, "I can't tell you everything. Just know these things. You have entered into a game created by some beings that could destroy your world with a snap of their fingers."
Sanjay thought, 'That reminded me of a purple monster with a golden gauntlet.'
The handsome guy continued, "The creators call this game... Apocalypse Souls Online... Believe me, it is not a game a weak-minded person can handle."
"That's why I have to test you with a sickening game. Because one day, you may even have to kill your own kind."
His eyes glinted with cold blue light.
"Are you showing off your blue eyes?" Sanjay asked.
The guy couldn't be intimidated by so much desire for death.
The handsome guy concluded his explanation then, "I will only say this once, Sanjay. Don't give up on life again. Forget about your life and family."
"Here, you are a new man. Pass the trials and survive. You won't be disappointed by the rewards."
Sanjay stood up on his feet too. He was really too short. 22 cm shorter than an 188 cm tall handsome guy.
He retreated two steps, "Damn, looking up at you is such a pain in the neck... So what are you? A guide? Or a former player?"
"I am still a player but I have passed the 100 trials centuries ago, " He answered as if it was no big deal.
Then his body began floating above slowly, "It is time I test other players from your world."
"Okay, " Sanjay nodded his head, "Aren't you going to cheer up like saying... Fighting!"
The handsome guy's face darkened, "I am not from your world, and neither Korean. Stop watching Korean drama so much and focus on your life, kid."
Sanjay coughed, "Ahem! Okay."
Blink!
The handsome guy vanished again in mid-air.
"I forgot to ask his name, " Sanjay thought before turning his head towards the floating blue screen that was his status window.
He had been seeing it from the moment he woke up but there was nothing that made him confused.
[Name: Sanjay Sharma
Age: 25
Power: (None)
Stats: Attack (I), Defense (I), Strength (I), Speed (I), Mind (F), Stamina (I)
Ability: (None)
Skills: (None)]
"This is quite a small status window. Are you looking down on me too?" Sanjay talked to the status window but it didn't respond.
Then he looked in the direction he was standing before. According to his dream, the isle was drifting in that direction.
He didn't know how this game would start and how hard it would be. But he was already homesick, "I miss my mother... "
The status window changed.
[Trial 1: Find a way to control your ship before it falls into the abyss and meets its death.
Reward: I-class gear set
Punishment: Death]