'Family…'
Seth returns to his house with a sad expression.
He flicks the light on and throws the office badge away.
'Mom and Dad have me at 25. Now I'm at 30 with no girlfriend.'
Seth sat down on a couch and reconsidered his life choice.
He wants a girlfriend but gets bored after meeting so many women.
In the past, when he was rarely in contact with a woman, a single word from a woman could make him nervous, but now, even 10/10 girls can only make him admire their beauty, nothing more.
Seth can't feel any spark of romantic relationship in all the females he meets.
Real-life love feels so bland…
'Is it time for me to forget about romance and aim for a beneficial relationship?'
Now he starts to wonder if it is enough to find a suitable partner to live with, not someone he is in love with.
He is successful, has a stable job, and his friends and people love him.
'It is not hard to find one. And maybe it will be fun later on?'
Seth wants to try having a family because he has no reason to live anymore.
He keeps living and working to pay the bill, and that's it.
He has no goal in life. He has already checked all of them.
'Why am I even living?'
Seth questioned himself. Maybe it's time for him to start a family.
'No! What the fuck am I thinking!? I should not start a family because I am bored!'
But quickly shot down the thought.
He watches his friend raise their children. He knows how much commitment it requires.
'Let's sleep. I will book the volunteer work tomorrow.'
Seth shook his head and cleared his thoughts with coldness from a shower.
The only thing that keeps him going is the feeling he gets from doing good things; it makes him feel proud of himself and uplifting.
He likes seeing people smile; it is the only thing that makes his empty life worth living.
And he still remembers fondly why he got this reason.
'Man, I miss Anime enjoyer days. Back then, I had to worry mostly about whether my waifu would win the war. Now it is taxes and bills.'
Seth flicked up the switch light, revealing all the figures where most female figures had blue hair on the glasses shelf.
He was once a full-fledged Anime enjoyer, even writing village chief on his future career.
But after realizing how the real world works, he reformed himself, went to the gym, and started caring for personal hygiene.
And bam! The current Seth has been born.
He has grown up to be a functional adult but sacrifices his dream.
He HAD a dream. To be a hero.
Seth looks at the top shelf, where all the characters he loves are standing side by side, from the alien kid who got sent to earth to the man who wears a mask.
Their story is about working hard to make themselves strong but working harder to make others safe.
He did become the police, but after seeing how corrupt it can be, he decided to leave.
Drugs, Ransome, bribes, and brutality.
He has seen it all and wishes he had the power to change it, but he doesn't. He gets fired the next day while trying to expose his superior.
At least, as an office worker, he can still keep that heroic fantasy to himself and make a stable income.
Also, it is surprisingly easy to make someone's day better. You don't need to be a specific job. Just saying a friendly hello can make all the difference in someone's day.
So, he may not be a hero from fantasy, but at least he is a good man in his own story.
"If Isekai is real, I hope it's my turn someday."
Of course, having income helps with funding hobbies like collecting figures and keeping oneself fed and sheltered, but is life like this worth living?
"What am I saying? I'm 30!"
He had already buried all the fantasy. There is no need to dig it back up!
But deep down, there is still a lingering hope, wanting to have an exciting life full of adventure.
BOOM!
Suddenly, an enormous explosion can be heard from across the street.
"What?!"
Seth quickly ran to the window and saw the giant flame erupt from his neighbor's house.
'It's Jayden's house! I must call the firefighter!'
He rushed to the phone and made an emergency call before running to their front yard.
"What happens?"
"Maybe a gas leak! This house is quite old."
The crowd has gathered in front of the house. Many have concerned faces.
'Are they still inside?'
Seth stops at the front yard, looking around with worry, to try to locate the house owner.
"Help!!"
In the front, two people are crawling out; one got burned half of his body, and another is lightly burned but unconscious. She has a giant wound on her head. She must have been hit by something.
Seth is the first to run out; he quickly grabs the two and pulls them out of the house.
'Hot! Hot! Hot!'
It felt like he accidentally touched a hot pan while cooking, but it continued to burn because he was pulling to save the two!
"Hey, get a hold of yourself!"
Seth slabs Jayden's face and tries to keep him awake.
"S-Seth?! Thank you! Thank you so much!"
"It's ok. It's ok now. I will call the ambulance."
Seth pulled out the phone and made another emergency call for the two.
While Seth was doing that, Jayden looked around, trying to find something.
"Where, Angel? Where is my little Angel?!"
He quickly realizes this and shows the horror on his face.
"He is still inside…."
He mumbles those words.
"Don't worry. The firefighter will arrive soon."
Seth tried to calm Jayden down, but he heard something coming out of the house.
"DADDY! MOMMY!"
He can hear the loud cry of a young boy from inside the burning house.
CRACK
The house crumbles down, and the central pillar holding the frame falls and blocks the front door.
'SHIT!'
Seth looked between the hopelessness on Jayden's face, the burning house, and the road.
Driving from the fire department to here would take at least 9 minutes.
"Jayden, where is Angel?"
"He must be in his bedroom. Why?"
"Hey, you. Take care of them."
Seth talks to other neighbors before running to the burning house.
"What? Where are you going?! STOP!"
Jayden tries to stop him, but Seth doesn't listen.
Seth walks around the house and relives that the back door is still not broken.
He opens the valve and soaks himself wet, then rushes in.
'I'm not supposed to be here. I'm not supposed to be here!'
The heat and fire scare him, but he still can hear crying from Angel.
It is time to be a hero.
"Angel!! I'm uncle Seth. Where are you!!"
He makes his way into the fire, catching a burn. The searing pain sharpens through his body.
Seth rushed past all the flame to the little boy's bedroom, which was in the middle of the house.
CRACK
On his way, burning furniture and ceiling dropped, making him more nervous.
"Uncle Seth! Help me!!!"
A blown little boy was holding his tiny monkey doll inside the room while crying.
He sat on his bed in the middle of the sea of fire.
The flame didn't reach him because of the iron tripod of the bed, but it soon will after the house burns down.
"Uncle is here. Don't cry."
Seth stepped on the flame and went to pick up the boy.
"FU--!!"
He held the exceeding amount of pain back not to make the slight boy panic.
"It hurts, uncle. It is so hot!"
His arm caught a minor burn. Luckily, the fire didn't spread and engulfed him in flames.
"It's ok. We will get out of here."
With a burned leg, Seth carries Angel out on the way back.
Every step felt like hell; the fire burned his skin to black, the gust of hot wind filled his lung, the smoke made him unable to breathe, and his vision started to get fuzzy after all the stunts he pulled.
CRACK CRACK!
The house becomes unstable, all floors are burning, and ceilings fall apart.
Seth tries to keep calm and observe the safe route for both of them to escape.
And he finds none.
Seth glanced at the nearest exit, the front gate.
A giant frame is still blocking the door, but he has to try!
"Angel, when I said go, crawling out."
He said to the boy and put him down.
The floor is burning hot, and he starts crying from the pain. The pain of being burned alive is too much for a little kid like him to bear.
Seth takes a deep breath and looks at the giant pillar.
'All the lifting is for this day! AHHHHH!!!!!!!!'
Seth ducks his hand under the pillar and lifts it with all his strength!
The giant pillar is one of the main structures of the house; it is cumbersome, even for someone robust as Seth.
Also, it was hot like heated metal, now, searing Seth's hand to it like meat on a hot pan.
"GO!!!"
Angel crawled out as he said, but the burn had charred the little boy's knee and hand.
But despite the pain, the boy keeps crawling.
"Endure it!"
He not only said that to keep Angel going, but he also told himself to hold still!
"Angel!"
Jayden embraces his son and hugs him dearly.
After that, both look at Seth before wide opening their eye in terror.
A faint smile from Seth is the last thing they see from their excellent neighbor.
"Sorry, kid. It looks like there are no big surprises this year…."
After seeing they were all safe, Seth let out a big sigh and put down the weight.
"NO!!!!"
Jayden screamed.
BOOM!
The entire house collapsed down, caging Seth in the burning sea of fire.
He got crushed by the building.
Got cooked by the heat.
Got burned by the flame.
He can't breathe, can't move, and all he can do is take all the pain and suffering.
The death of Seth is far from instant.
In that 1 minute, he is still alive under all the debris. He has to suffer the worst pain imaginable.
Usually, touching the hot pan by accident can make you cry, but imagine getting squished by it and getting directly burned by flame simultaneously while you can't breathe because of all the smoke; that is what Seth has to pay for wanting to help a single child, a literal hell.
"AHH!! AGH!!!!!!!"
Good thing his cry of agony didn't last much longer before the smoke cut off his brain's lifeline and shut his life down before his body burned to a crisp, or else he had to suffer much longer than he had to.
But this is not his end.
"AHHH!!!"
Seth sprang up from the ground and howled like an injured animal.
The panic and fear are visible on his face.
"Ah!! Ah…. Ah?"
He continues screaming but eventually stops.
The flame has gone, and so is the pain.
Seth looks around in confusion.
It's all gone; the flame, the building, the people, and it got replaced by an endless sight of the forest.
"Where am I?"