Chapter 1 - Misery
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The streets of the Capital City were bustling with all sorts of people, vehicles and the exuberance of life. The steady vitality of the Capital City, famed as the one that never slept, was as boisterous as ever.
Watching the people walking by, Grey Stevens sat on the steps of a modest neighbourhood, chewing a flavourless gum as his mind kept on processing despairing thoughts.
Having chewed on the gum till it lost its flavour, Grey kept on chewing on it, afraid of spending to buy another. After being laid off from his third job this year, he ended up taking part-time work to make ends meet as he hoped to find proper and stable employment soon. He didn't wish to act on the last resort yet, going back home to the countryside.
The reason for his despairing thoughts wasn't just the tough economic situation or his own job status; the day itself had turned out weird.
Being bitten by a stranger's dog, having a pot falling on his feet, nearly injuring his head, not to mention getting splashed on with mud by a rash driver, he was sure that he had somehow started the day wrong, jinxing it in the process.
And if that wasn't bad enough, after getting through all of that, he went over to his friend's place nearby, hoping to find something to change into while asking for a little loan; he ended up finding the front door unlocked, as he walked in on his friend and his friend's girlfriend engrossed in censor-worthy activities. In the end, his plans to change clothes and take a loan went down the drain as well.
As Grey watched the evening sun setting, he began to doubt his life choices. At the age of twenty-seven, he had yet to find a girl to call his girlfriend, ending up still preserving his virginity for his fictional future bride.
Although his parents restricted him from dating till he completed college, as they promised to arrange a good match for him... they even went back on their word, leaving the romantic noob to his own devices.
With no money, no housing and no proper job at the moment, Grey could only envision himself remaining single till his hair fell off and beyond.
Dusting off his pants, Grey strolled the streets while still being dressed in muddy clothes, vaguely hoping for someone to have dropped a winning lottery ticket. As a result, he did end up discovering several banknotes discarded on the sidewalk and near the drainage.
Although he should return them all to the nearest police station, Grey's greed won over in the end, making him go around the whole city in search of such notes. After a few hours of roaming, he managed to pick up quite a few of them, a testament to the thick wallets of the Capital City's residents. If it were his hometown, finding even one would have been a miracle.
However, he became somewhat depressed upon realising that in the City that everyone prospers in, he alone had remained stagnant.
Late at night, Grey walks up to a crossroad, waiting for the traffic light to turn green before he steps ahead, only to get bumped into by someone from behind.
"Hey! Watch where you are... going..?"
Grey turned around to curse at the culprit, only to find a brown haired lady standing behind him. Although her body figure was nothing to write home about, her face was beautiful, especially her pair of green eyes that seemed like a fox, alluring and enchanting.
Grey felt his body heat up, especially after having witnessed a 'fierce fight' at his friend's home earlier in the day. It was a pity then that the vixen-looking lady seemed dazed and lost.
Her pale face told him that she didn't seem in the right state of mind to be reprimanded. Although he felt attracted to her looks, Grey wasn't willing to get entangled with some desperado, not knowing what the result might turn out to be.
He did think that she would look leagues better if she took good care of her skin and hair, but it wasn't his place to worry about her, and after sighing to himself, he resumed slowly walking ahead, with the dazed lady having passed him by some time ago.
What happened next was something that Grey barely remembered, with his body moving instinctively. A truck speeding over, heading their way, and he himself running over to grab the lady with his hands. With the last bit of strength, he pushed the lady to the side, and then... there was nothing more.
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Grey spent the rest of his time drifting around the darkness, unable to touch, feel, see or hear anything. He couldn't even feel his own body anymore.
Just as his thoughts started to run normally, he became anxious about his current state. He hoped not to end up in a vegetative state, burdening his old parents even more.
Still, he felt good about having done a good deed at the end of his miserable life. Hoping to receive good fortune in his next incarnation, Grey drew up a list of things he wished for, including teasing a busty elf, making out with a cold yet cute royal princess, living with his harem of seven or eight beautiful women... amongst many other bizarre things that he desired subconsciously.
As his vision began to function again at last, Grey became super excited, hoping to welcome the new world and his new life with open arms.
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A/N: Hello, everyone! Kitty here.
This is one of the new stories debuting. Hopefully, it would be able to excite Kitty's friends as much as Kitty was excited about writing it. Thank you for your presence here and your constant support since the start.