"This game is so shit," I muttered, tossing my controller onto the bed.
Unlike most people who get recommended games by friends, I had picked this one myself. That's right—saw it on TikTok, thought it looked cool, and decided to give it a try. Biggest mistake of my life.
The game was called Celestial Descent. At first it was fun—flashy combat, epic bosses, dramatic dialogue. But the deeper I went, the more frustrating it became. Endless grinding, unfair mechanics, and the so-called "choices" that always ended in tragedy no matter what path you took.
And yet, despite all the rage quits and late nights, I'd somehow made it to the final act. There, the player character—Adrian, some nobody-turned-hero—was supposed to defeat an evil god threatening to destroy the world of Arizona.
I should have felt accomplished. Instead, I just felt… empty.
"Waste of time," I muttered, storming out of my room before I broke something.
Throwing on a pair of worn-out sneakers, I decided to clear my head with a walk. The evening air was cool, and the streets were busy with people heading home or grabbing food.
I passed a Five Guys on the corner, and the smell of fries lured me inside. Greasy, salty, hot—the chips were damn good, I'll give them that. Better than the trash ending I just played through, anyway.
Bag in hand, I strolled further down the street, trying to forget the hours I'd wasted. That's when I noticed it—an alley where two men were harassing a woman.
I froze for a moment, heart thumping.
Now, don't get me wrong—I'm not some knight in shining armor. I wasn't about to run in and get myself killed for a stranger like one of those idiotic protagonists in the novels I read. Reality isn't like that. Reality is cruel.
So I did the "smart" thing. I pulled out my phone, dialed the police, and walked on.
A part of me felt guilty, sure. But mostly, I felt relieved. Someone else would handle it. That was enough.
Or so I thought.
Jogging down the sidewalk, I tried to shake off the scene, focusing instead on the rhythm of my steps, the burn in my lungs. It almost felt… good. Almost.
But then fate caught up with me.
Remember the woman? The cops arrived faster than I expected and chased off the two attackers. One was caught. The other wasn't so lucky—or maybe, I wasn't.
Because on his way out, that bastard saw me. Just an average guy, headphones in, chips bag crumpled in my hand. An easy target.
I didn't even see the knife until it plunged into my chest.
"—Khck!" I gasped, the air ripping from my lungs as pain exploded through my body. Warmth spread down my shirt, sticky and wet.
I stumbled, vision blurring, and fell against the pavement. My hands came away red. Blood. My blood.
"Why… me?" I choked, coughing violently. Every breath burned. My voice came out weak, a pathetic whimper instead of the scream I wanted it to be. "I hate you… You could've just run past… What the hell did I do?"
The man sneered but didn't answer. He just ran.
I wanted to curse him, to scream that he should just kill himself, but the words wouldn't form—only ragged coughs and blood spraying past my lips.
The world tilted. My vision tunneled. My own heartbeat thundered in my ears, then slowed.
Darkness crept in at the edges of my sight.
As I collapsed fully, eyes fluttering shut, a single bitter thought rang in my mind:
"This… wasn't how it was supposed to end."
And then, nothing.
Consciousness slipped away