In the dark and vast space beyond description, filled with countless stars, a sound arose amidst the universe. A thunderous voice echoed throughout that domain.
"Arrgghhh!"A loud scream thundered as something flew across the multiverse at a speed beyond time itself. A being, or a massive force of energy, with a translucent glowing body radiating a powerful white aura, stood like a giant man about four meters tall. In torment, it spoke:
"Almost there… just a little more, and I will see the truth of everything. This place is nothing but fake."
As it reached its hand toward the white light that radiated across the infinite universe, a gentle and calm voice arose:
"You are not ready yet."Then the voice slowly faded away, and the white light began to extinguish.
The giant being's thunderous, angry voice roared:
"Why? Why am I not ready?"
The four-meter-tall being's radiance dimmed, and with a fading, whisper-like voice, it said:
"I will never forget… never… I will not forget."And with that, its body vanished completely.
In a large shopping mall, at the toy department, a young man named Kai, with short black hair and a neat appearance, recently graduated, was arranging items and checking stock as he did every day. With a bored and exhausted expression, Kai turned and saw a man in a suit and tie, tall, wearing glasses, his face expressionless, walking toward him.
That man approached and asked in a heavy but soft tone:
"Young man, I need a toy for my daughter's birthday. Do you have anything to recommend? I don't really know much… what should I do?"His face looked serious, arms crossed, as if deeply stressed.
"Oh, of course, sir. I'd recommend this— the Gundam suit model. I guarantee your daughter will absolutely love it," Kai replied with a cheerful smile.
"Oh, amazing! You read my mind. This is exactly what I wanted."His face lit up with excitement, but quickly returned to normal."Ahem… I'll take this for my daughter then. Two pieces, please."His face brightened with a forced, uneasy smile.
"Right away, sir. Thank you very much for your purchase."
Kai laughed inwardly: Finally sold one of these! That's another bit of income for topping up my games.
"Damn it, when will it be time to go home? I've been waiting forever."
He checked the time on his phone with a happy expression.
"Two more hours, huh."
Kai later walked out of the mall, passing by his manager.
"Oh, Kai, heading home already, huh? Always quick when leaving… You're late often, but when it's time to go, you're always on time, kid," the manager said with a grumpy face, shouting softly near the exit.
"Uh… yes, sir. I'll be going now."Kai thought nervously, sweat on his face: Damn it, ran into the manager right at the exit. Just my luck.
On the way back to his room, passing through the mall at dusk among the crowd, he thought to himself:
"Sigh, my life has nothing good in it. So boring…"And then: Never had a girlfriend either. Plus, only bad luck since childhood.
Memories of being bullied by classmates, with no one helping, resurfaced. Kai sighed, turning his slightly sorrowful face to the left, where he saw through a shop window a group of teenage students eating together, laughing and talking cheerfully.
Looking at them sadly, he whispered softly:
"If only I had friends like that back in school, it would've been nice."