NOVEL SIMPLE Chapter 1 : Sunder
My name is Maki, 23 years old, an absolute failure.
Life was fun back then—no responsibility, no failure, and no stress at all. It was a happy childhood.
But everything changed. I remember it was a cloudy day, I was walking home from school when my phone suddenly rang. I answered and heard my aunt crying.
"Maki... Your mom is dead..."
It's odd. My mom just died, and I feel nothing. It was cancer that killed her.
She was a good mother, always taking care of me and my sister after my shitty dad left us the day my sister was born. I remember how she'd shout my name when breakfast was ready, how she never complained despite everything. But now, I can't even remember her face.
I studied psychology but stopped halfway due to financial problems. Life feels meaningless. Every day feels like a dream—blurry and uncertain.
Now, I live in a small, trashy apartment with my younger sister and work as a customer service representative. I answer phone calls for 12 hours straight. I hate working more than anything. I'm on the night shift because our clients are from another country, and the time zone is the opposite.
The company I work for promotes health and wellness for both mind and body.
But the work environment is hell. Only people with loose screws survive here. People shout, cry, laugh—it's a room full of crazy motherfuckers. Sometimes I wish I had a machine gun so I could kill everyone, then sit at my supervisor's desk, drinking hot chocolate while enjoying some countryside music—or maybe *Passengers*.
"Only know you love her when you let her go…"
Such a masterpiece. It would be awesome listening to that song while free-falling from fifteen thousand meters. Considering the air resistance, I'd hit the ground exactly four minutes and twelve seconds, exact time as the song ends.
There are only two things I desire: becoming the richest man in the world, or becoming a lifeless piece of meat, feasted on by worms and maggots beneath the earth.
I'm not anti-social, nor am I a psychopath or sociopath. I do enjoy socializing and acting like I care. But you know what? Acting like you like people, pretending to laugh at their jokes, pretending to listen to their stories—it's exhausting.
When someone tells me about the nonsense they did today or boasts about their life, I just want to shoot them in the head and move on.
Everything feels like a dream. Sometimes, I can't even tell which memories are real and which are dreams. I'm literally confused.
Now, here I am, standing on this long bridge, 25 meters above the sea. Should I jump and kill myself?
Of course not—who would take care of my sister if I died?
Speaking of my sister, she has a mental disability, a neurodevelopmental disorder. She has the mind of a three-year-old, even though she's already 17. My aunt looks after her when I'm away, but my aunt has a short temper. I often see bruises on my sister's skin after leaving her with my aunt.
Meanwhile, back in the present, I'm standing on the bridge, when suddenly a taxi stops in front of me.
"Hey boy! Jump already!" the driver shouts, laughing.
I look at him and walk slowly toward the car.
"Easy, boy, I was just kidding," he says.
I imagine smashing the car window, pulling him out, pinning him to the ground, and slashing his neck with the broken glass as he screams like a pig, his blood gushing.
But that's not what happens.
This is what really happens:
"Hey boy! Jump already!" the driver shouts again, laughing.
"I'm not going to jump!" I laugh in response.
"Boring... Are you gay or something?" he says, before driving away.
I flip him off as he leaves. He notices and turns his car around, heading toward me. I start running, but who can outrun a car? An average human can only run 12 miles per hour, and that junk of a car can still do 37 miles per hour.
It's midnight. No one else is on the bridge—just me and this old man in his car. He finally catches up, pulls me by the shirt, and presses a knife to my neck.
"Show me what you just did!" he demands.
"I'm sorry, I was just kidding!" I stammer.
"What if I slit your throat and threw you off the bridge?" he threatens.
"Please don't do that."
"Give me your phone and your money!" he demands aggressively.
This is my first time being robbed. I've worked 12 hours a day just to survive, and this asshole is trying to take my month's salary by pointing a piece of metal at me.
"Here, take my month's salary."
He grabs my wallet, shoves it into his pocket, and runs back to his car, driving off.
"This is shitty as hell!" I scream, standing at the edge of the bridge.
"Why not just die already?" I laugh maniacally.
I hate myself for wishing death on others just because I'm experiencing misfortune. The one who should die is me.
I walk along the bridge, balancing on the rail, thinking about my misfortune. Then it hits me—it's not so bad. There are people going through worse. I look up at the stars, at the vastness of space. The universe doesn't care. Compared to the cosmos, my misfortune is insignificant. No, I am insignificant. Nothing I do matters.
Even if I die here, nothing will change. Everyone and everything will die someday, destroy and rott.
I sit on the bridge, lost in thought, when suddenly a cat jumps onto my head and scratches my face.
"Get off me!" I shout, losing my balance and falling over the edge.
So this is how I die. My ancestors must be ashamed—killed by a cat.
I fall into the water. My bones break on impact. I feel weak, unable to breathe. There's a strong urge to sleep. So this is how dying feels. I'm at peace, knowing I won't have to work anymore, take care of my sister, or socialize. I'm free at last.
*System rebooting.*
"Hey boy! Jump already!" the driver shouts again, laughing.
"Huh?!" I exclaim.
What the hell just happened? Was that a dream?
"Hey! Jump already! Are you deaf?" the taxi driver repeats.
"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" I shout back.
"What did you just say?!" he pulls out a knife, pointing it at my neck.
I raised my hand and stop resisting.
"Now, give me your money!"
What is happening? This guy already robbed me. I can feel my wallet in my pocket. Was that all a dream?
"Sorry, sir. Here's my wallet."
He smirks, grabs it, and shoves me off the bridge.
Oh, I'm dying... again...
*System rebooting.*
"Hey boy! Jump already!" the driver shouts again.
What the hell is happening?
I'm so confused, I jump off the bridge.
"Well done, boy!" the driver laughs maniacally.
So this time, I'm really dying...
*System rebooting.*
"Hey boy! Jump already!" the driver repeats.
I kick his taxi.
"SHUT UP, OLD MAN!"
The driver gets out, holding a knife. He attacks me, cutting me several times. I notice a huge wound on his shoulder and punch it repeatedly. He stabs me over and over again. My vision blurs as the knife sinks into me.
*System rebooting.*
"Hey boy! Jump already!" the driver shouts again, laughing.
*System rebooting.* I keep hearing those words every time I die. Am I in a virtual world?
"Hey boy! Are you jumping or not?!"
"Can you give me a ride instead?" I ask.
"Sure, get in," he replies.
I notice blood on his hands. Maybe I'm not the only one going back in time.
My phone rings. It's my boss.
"Maki! Where are you? It's already 1:30 am. Your lunch break ended 30 minutes ago! Get back here!"
I hang up, only to receive another call from an unknown number.
"Are you Maki?" a man's voice asks.
"Yes. Who is this?"
"This is Chief José from the Manila Police Department. Your sister and aunt were just rushed to the hospital. Someone entered your apartment and stabbed both of them. Your neighbors heard screaming..."
The voice becomes distorted, speaking gibberish. My body freezes in fear. I glance at the passenger seat and notice a familiar object—a pink purse. It was my gift to my sister on her 16th birthday.
"Why the hell do you have this?!" I scream, choking the driver as he drives. He loses control, and a truck slams into us. The car flips, killing both of us. My vision fades.
*System rebooting.*
*Player Life is ZERO.*
*Unable to reboot.*
*System rebooting.*
ERROR.
SYSTEM ERROR.
REDIRECTING SOUL TO ANOTHER WORLD...
PROCESSING...
Player resurrecting in another world...
Player Life: ZERO.
SYSTEM ERROR.
PLAYER RESURRECTING INTO ANOTHER WORLD...
UNABLE TO TRANSFER. PLAYER HAS ZERO LIFE.
SACRIFICING 8.2 BILLION SOULS... RESETTING UNIVERSE...
PLAYER NOW HAS 8.2 BILLION LIVES...
PLAYER SUCCESSFULLY RESURRECTED IN ANOTHER WORLD.
PLAYER LIFE : 8.2 BILLIONS
______*Baby Cries*_____