5:40 p.m.
A young man in his early twenties gripped the steering wheel of a van, his upper lip bitten raw. He was late for his last delivery, traffic strangling the road like a curse. The work lanyard hanging against his chest swayed with every bump, the key card flashing his name: Henry Brown.
"If I can't make it, the customer will be sad... I can't fail them!" he muttered, green eyes shimmering with stubborn fire as his foot slammed the gas. Enough was enough. He swerved into the emergency lane, cutting past the crawling line of cars without a second thought.
Sweat ran down his short black hair, strands clinging to his forehead, stinging his eyes and blurring his vision.
"Not now... damn it!" He was right around the corner, finally breaking free of the highway and rushing toward the residential streets.
But that day, fate twisted the wheel. His slippery hand slid on a sharp turn, and the van slammed into the thick metal pole of a towering sign. The steel frame shuddered, the van split nearly in half with a deafening screech, and Henry was thrown hard against the seatbelt. Bones cracked, ribs gave way, blood rushed to his mouth — but somehow, he was still alive.
"I can't die yet..." Through the haze of agony he clawed his way out of the mangled door. His bloodshot eyes lit up as he spotted the last parcel — small, intact, spared by the crash.
"Just wait for me... what was the address again..." His trembling fingers reached through shattered glass for the work phone, the cracked screen flickering the words:
Oak Street 4-1, New Euphoria Town.
"I'll be there in a sec..." His whisper was ragged, each syllable caught between coughs of blood, but his feet dragged him forward anyway. His leg hung broken, but he pushed on, staggering through the horrified stares of bystanders. Sirens wailed in the distance, filling the city with panic, yet Henry only saw the path to that door.
Minutes crawled like hours. His vision darkened, his chest burned with every breath, his body was failing... but still he refused to stop.
Ever since he was a child, his only dream had been to become the best delivery driver in the world. A foolish dream, one that earned no glory and brought little pay, but it was his. His pride, his life. He would rather die than fail a single delivery.
And so, bloodied and fading, Henry Brown placed the parcel on the doorstep.
Then, at last, the world went dark the moment his finger pressed the doorbell. Even in death, Henry Brown had managed to complete his final delivery.
DING!
A thunderous chime reverberated through his very being, splitting the silence of death. The darkness around him stirred, bleeding into color, warping and shaping itself into a glowing screen before his eyes.
[Congratulations!]
[New Achievement Unlocked: The True Delivery Expert!]
[Your sacrifice and determination have been recognized as an honorable death.]
[As a reward, you shall be reincarnated into a new world.]
[Gift Granted: Delivery System — fulfill your dream once more.]