Chapter 2: The World's Most Unfortunate Accident
(Random Guy's POV)
The dim ceiling lights flickered overhead as I trekked the isle of adult manga.
The scent of old paper, plastic packaging, and ink filled my nostrils as the distant sound of footsteps from other aisles sent my heart racing.
I kept my hood up and pretended to skim the more conventional titles while secretly hunting for one collection.
It had been nearly an hour of combing through the shelves.
My legs ached from the strain, my hands were dusty from rearranging books, and my phone was low on battery from trying to navigate the store.
Finally, my fingers brushed against a familiar collection, hidden behind a few other anthologies.
"Fuming Futas on My Bed: Complete Collector's Bundle, Volumes 1-3."
My eyes nearly popped out of my sockets.
At long last!
I pried the bundle from the shelf, paid in cash at the self checkout counter, and hurried out with the plastic bag clutched to my side.
The drive home was long.
Every red light, every slow moving pedestrian, and every honking auto-rickshaw nearly made me miss my turn completely.
When I finally reached my apartment, I nearly jumped into the ceiling.
I slammed the front door shut and locked the door twice as I plopped the bundle onto my bed.
The collection of books laid in wait as I tore the packaging off, revealing all three volumes to be untouched and in pristine condition.
I smiled to myself, opening volume 1 and studying the beautiful artwork with the love of a lifetime collector.
I spent the next hour lost in my reading.
Eventually, I needed something to help me soothe my muscles, but unfortunately, my moisturizer was empty.
"You're kidding me..."
I frowned and examined the bottle, only to realize that it was indeed, empty.
With a groan, I tied on my trousers, slipped on my shoes, and headed to the nearest 24-hour convenience store.
The store's buzzing sign loomed over me as I entered the building.
The air conditioning was freezing, but I ignored it and bought five large bottles of moisturizer and several boxes of tissues.
The cashier didn't spare me a second glance as I paid and stuffed everything into two plastic bags.
Once back inside, I locked the door and dumped the bags onto my bed before lying down on my bed, feeling the fatigue seep into my bones.
The next morning, I awoke to the sound of my alarm.
Switching it off, I rubbed my eyes and stretched my arms over my head as I trudged back to bed.
My eyes fell on the window, and suddenly, an idea popped into my head.
I grabbed the binoculars from their resting place in my drawer and climbed the rusty ladder on the side of my roof.
Settling behind the water tank, I had a perfect view of the neighboring buildings.
Eventually, my neighbor walked out to her open-air bathroom.
I adjusted the binoculars and began watching her private business.
I was so engrossed in my voyeuristic tendencies that I didn't notice how easy it would be for someone else to peek in on me.
After thirty minutes of watching the woman relieve herself, I climbed back down the ladder to my room.
I returned back to my room and read the second volume of my new collection.
The next day, I returned to the rooftop and did the same.
The next day, I did the same again.
Finally, when I returned back to my room, I eagerly cracked open volume 3.
Romantic comedy.
I frowned when my eyes fell over the pastel pictures.
Blushing schoolgirls with glowing eyes and hearts floating around their heads.
Speech bubbles that said "Kyaa!" and "Baka!".
My nose wrinkled in disgust as I flipped the pages, only to see more romantic-comedy shenanigans.
Not a single page contained the type of material I had been looking for.
My lips formed a straight line as I muttered, "You're joking." I flipped through the book, hoping, praying that I had opened the wrong volume.
Instead, I found a page describing a true love confession.
It was the wholesome, lovable book I hated the most.
"WHY?!"
I screamed, throwing the book out the open window with all of my might.
The book whipped through the air, its pages flying wildly until it landed with a soft thud on the street.
For a moment, it resembled something beautiful before the front cover hit the pavement with an ugly crack down the middle.
I inched forward, eyes wide as I peered out the window.
Lying on the pavement was a man, face-down.
His body was unmoving, with a black cat sitting next to him, his fur bristling as he glared at the dead man.
The book was close by, its cover cracked open to reveal a scene where a character confessed their love to another.
My stomach turned as I turned away, my mouth forming a silent "no", before rushing downstairs.
When I reached the street, the dead man was still lying there, unmoving.
I dropped to my knees next to him, frantically searching for a pulse, but found none.
His dark eyes stared at the pavement, lifeless.
I had killed a man!
With a book!
Before I could comprehend my actions, the cat hissed furiously at me.
His golden eyes seemed to burn as he launched himself at my face.
"AAAGH!"
I winced as the cat's claws raked my cheek before I grabbed him by the scruff and flung him away from me.
The cat flew through the air, landing on the road just as a large truck pulled around the corner.
The driver slammed on the brakes, but it was too late.
The cat's tiny body twitched before going still, lying on its side next to the gutters.
I stood frozen in place, staring at the dead man and dead cat.
The sight before me was surreal.
For a moment, the world around me seemed to bend, the streetlights flickering as the pavement twisted into impossible angles.
Color bled together, and gravity seemed to shift, only for the world to calm.
"What the hell is happening?!"
A blinding light engulfed us, and with a scream that never came, the street, the truck, the blood, the manga, the man, and the cat all vanished into the light.