"Johann!!"

"Johann!!Your dinner is ready come down"

Johann was playing his usual games when he suddenly heard his mom calling him to eat.

"Yes Mom I am coming"

When he head downstairs,he saw his family all gathered at the table to eat,waiting for him out of courtesy.

Johann looked at them with an expressionless face."What a rare sight to see you all gathered here when each of you are always busy,sister,you're looking as stressed as ever,father,I even forget that you are alive sometimes, you,re always travelling every week,makes me wonder how do you not end up bored of this meaningless endeavor.

His Father,Zeke Aeger,snorted at him with disdain."And you're a failure of a son as always,you're nearing your 30's and still don't have a single damn job,no aspirations,just an empty husk of what you used to be,Hmph!"

His sister,Anna Aeger, was looking at him sadly,she opened her mouth to say something but ended up closing it not long after,Johann noticed this."Anna, I do not need your pity, it's unecessary,I do not find anything worth looking forward to in life,every aspiration I had ended up boring me as I got older,even if I got a job,what happens after that?getting married?having kids?continuing the meaningless circle of life when I don't find any slight interest in it?"

Anna was stunned at her brother's words,with her constant work schedule keeping her busy,she rarely had a chance to talk with him,she never imagined her cheery,ambitious brother would end up like this,an unfit member of society with an "insane" mindset.

The mother,Lisa Aeger,tried to change the topic."Johann! stop talking down to your family members,we rarely gather like this so why bring down the mood all of a sudden,sit down and eat your meal and enjoy this precious time you have with all of us now.

Johann went to the table to pick up his plate full of food,comprised mainly of vegetables with a piece of freshly grilled cow steak,and went back upstairs to his room"Thank you for the meal, but I am more interested in playing games."

His family were shocked by his behavior,Zeke was getting angry"you unfilial son,get back here and stop refusing your family's gratitude"

"Johann,why are you like this, we didn't anything to you but you treat us like this,what happened to to you"

Johann turned to look at them silently,he shook his head in dissapointement "I am certainly grateful for raising me and taking care of me,it's truly a privilege,but if I had the chance to be born, I certainly would've refused without hesitation"

His family kept staring at him weirdly till he was out of sight,they looked at each other solemnly.

"This is really concerning,if he keeps living with this mindest dear, do you suggest reforming him in a special institute?"

"Hmmm, i usually stay away form these solutions, but now seeing his state, i see no choice but sending him there"

"What a pity, I regret giving him that free book i got from the library that day"

...

2 years ago

In a random bookstore,Lisa was seen checking out the books getting rented at the counter, the cashier handed her a special yellow coupon with red writing saying"Free Book Coupon","Madam,we are rewarding you with this coupon because of your regular renting of books"

Lisa was elated to hear that,she decided to choose a random book about philosophy with the intention of giving it to Johann to deepen his knowledge.

What ensued after that is a gradual change of behavior from Johann since that day,she deduced that it was certainly that book's fault,she tried to confiscate it from him but she always failed due to Johann suprisingly good hiding skills,they got into myriad disputes because of that book,Johann was always showing incredible attachement to it,she still wonders what contents were on that book to make him change like that,she truly felt idiotic for not being cautious enough that day,her regrets slowly eating at her for ruining their family today.

...

Johann was playing his favourite games as always, his earlier picked up food plate was empty now,he felt that even his favourite games were getting slowly less interesting but he kept those thoughts in the back of his head in fear of getting bored of everything.

Atfer a while, he shut off his monitor and decided to read his favourite book before getting sleep,this was the book that his mom gave him 2 years ago,he stills reads it every day,he can't even count the amount of times he reread it,he tried reaching out to the author on the internet to try to support him financially to produce more works but wherever he went the author name was unrecognizable.

The other intriguing thing,is the black colored page at the end of the book with white writing saying"If you read this book 500 times and agree with it's ideologies then tear the black page and you won't regret it."

Johann always thought this was an easter egg but decided to do as he said out of curiousity now that he's sure that he has read it way more than 500 times.

"Let's hope it's something interesting but knowing the author he always suprises me"

When Johann teared the black page, it glowed faintly in a black light then turned into ash and dispersed from his hands.

Johann was genuinely suprised and when he wanted to talk ,he suddely felt dizzy like he inhaled a sleeping gas,his consciousness slowly started to fade away and he fell on his bed sleeping soundly.

An eerie voice spread around his room"Hehehehe little child, I wonder how you'll fare in this world, will you strive or fall like the others?only time will tell"

The voice kept laughing eerily till it faded out...