Ike watched the clip with equal horror and dismay. On the screen was a group of youth — guys and girls — humiliating and practically bullying the pathetic 'piggy.' Not only they were calling him names and throwing trash at him but also, they were physically assaulting him.
"Oy, brotha! Look! He's asking to be punched!" he yelled, pointing at the handsome guy on the video. "What the hell are you apologizing for — ah fuck!"
Ike pinched the bridge of his nose in distress, peeking from one of his eyes, only to see them stomping at Ike enthusiastically. The person taking that video was laughing hysterically while the victim (Ike) was curled on the ground, protecting his head from the assault.
"Damn…" he cursed under his breath, hearing someone in the video stop them before they kill him. "What the hell are these kids' parents doing?"
The clip ended with the last image of Ike beaten black and blue on the ground. The uniform that he disposed of earlier matched the one he was wearing in the clip.
"No wonder that uniform seemed to have a trip from hell and back." A series of tongue-clicking resonated in the room, shaking his head in disappointment. "What a pathetic boy."
A deep exhale slipped past Ike's lips, pushing himself away from the desk, and then marched outside. Ike made a quick trip to the convenience store nearby, buying some chips and foods he could munch on the way back. When he returned, he brought all the remaining food back to his room and sat back down in front of the old computer.
"Let's see…" as if watching the clip once wasn't enough, Ike watched it again, this time with chips and juice. "Ahh…"
Ike paused the video, munching a piece of chips.
"I've seen these types before." He leaned forward to have a better look at the people bullying him. "The types who were acting like big fishes in a small pond. Surely, no matter how many years and how "drastic" this world had changed, this cycle continues."
Just like those bullies who picked on the weak, there were also those types like "Ike" who were the perfect targets, prey. His frustrations about the clip subsided after watching it the third time. The original Ike let these bullies have it their way — not that he was blaming the previous owner of this body.
"When you are weak… even your death is not something you decide or negotiate. That's what it's always been," he muttered, leaning back as he reached for the carton of juice to drink.
"Weak, huh?" came out a whispered, blinking wearily as he yawned. "I can't deny this body is really weak. I thought it was because I was in an accident."
Ike slowly closed his eyes, feeling the small fire burning calmly within him. The corner of his lips curled up slightly, a little pleased that at least his core was reborn with him. Fortunately, he had enough control and power over it that this body was recovering quickly instead of disintegrating into many million pieces.
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Ike didn't have much of anything to do in the following weeks. The first week since he arrived in this house, he just idled day and night, getting used to this house and getting comfortable all alone. Not that being alone was new to him. From time to time, he would meditate to keep his mind, heart, and soul calm and at peace.
In the second week, Ike mostly adjusted to this perfectly normal life. He even learned how to bake and handed out pies to his neighbors as if he was new in the neighborhood, even though they already knew him since he was a young boy. Fortunately, they bought his excuse as 'celebrating his second life' and took it as it was.
But then the third week rolled in… and then the fourth week came in a blur. And before he knew it, it had been two months since he moved into this house.
Ike was dying of boredom.
"Fuck!" Ike aggressively slammed his hands on the keyboard. "So fucking stupid — okay, deep breaths, calm down. Not worth the — fuck!"
He took a deep breath, closing his eyes to avoid the gigantic defeat written on the screen. These days, this sort of 'old school' game had been getting on his nerves.
"Queue takes forever, only to get teamed up with people who were way worse than a braindead." He reopened his eyes and snapped his tongue. "I should've bought those VRs and those new games instead of playing this thing!"
The game was overall enjoyable despite it being called a pioneer game. The only thing that ruined it was people who didn't know how to play it.
"Fuck it." Ike pushed himself away, upset by the losing streak since morning. "This is why I hate team fights. One useless retard and he drags the whole fucking team down."
His brows rose upon catching the table calendar beside the monitor screen. Everything in this house was old and outdated compared to the current modern world. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to consider Ike was currently living in a traditional way.
"Two weeks left," he whispered, gazing at the date when school starts.
Since Ike was hospitalized for a year — the accident was exactly the last day of the previous school year — he naturally missed an entire school year. He didn't care about that, honestly. Staying home was getting boring every single day and his body was back to normal.
"Why do I feel like my entire body is tingling with the thought of school?" he wondered, rubbing his chin while keeping his eyes on the table calendar. "Hah… now that I think about it, where was this boy heading that day?"
It never crossed Ike until now that the place he got into an accident was too far from his home. No one also knew where he was heading. After being in this body for over a year, Ike was certain the real owner of this body didn't have friends.
No one visited him in the hospital and from what he heard, he didn't have relatives in his records. It was just him and his mother. After his mother died, it was just Ike. So unless Ike wanted to do sightseeing in the capital city, there didn't seem any deeper reason for why he was such in a place.
"Hah…" Ike folded his arms under his chest and smirked. "... unless he had an errand to do, or he is meeting a pretty girl, which I highly doubt."
His brows rose, setting his eyes back on the monitor screen. His lips curled up, jumping from his seat. He marched to the closet just right in the corner of his room, standing in front of the full-body mirror mounted on the doors of the closet.
"Heh…" Ike looked at his reflection from head to toe, satisfied.
Unlike a year ago, he had lost a lot of weight because of the accident. Matter of fact, just two months ago, he needed to gain weight and mass instead of a diet to lose weight. Hence, on top of regular exercise and meditation, he learned baking and recipes to have a satisfactory diet to help his body build some real muscle.
"I think I'm ready for school." His lips stretched from ear to ear, giving himself a thumbs up. "Not bad."