Life is like a book, the front cover is our birth date, and the back cover is our death date.
Each page represents the days of our life, and every new beginning comes from the end of another beginning.
New beginnings are often disguised as painful endings.
In life, unlike in chess, the game continues after checkmate.
However, cowards die many times before their actual death.
No one can escape death, no one can hide from it, it is inevitable.
The greatest tragedy in life is the death of someone who is still alive.
Sometimes death is a critique of life.
In life, nothing is certain except death.
Death is certain to come, so don't forget what is certain.
***
A high school student named Kamishiro Zen was enjoying the summer sky on the rooftop of the school building, muttering to himself,
"When I'm bored, there's nothing better than staring at the clear sky in summer."
Kamishiro Zen is a native Japanese boy with straight black hair and sky blue irises.
The wind blew fiercely. Silence enveloped the school rooftop. There was no sound of anyone else, and no movement, except for Kamishiro Zen.
"I'm really bored."
Bang!
A sound of someone kicking the door was heard. There, a short-haired brown-haired woman was seen shouting at Kamishiro who was lying on his back staring at the sky.
"Zen, why are you skipping class again?!"
Kamishiro slowly got up and looked at the woman.
"Useless, completely useless."
"Huh? What did you say?"
The woman didn't hear him. Of course, because Kamishiro said it in a low volume that only someone near him could hear.
The woman walked towards Kamishiro.
"Anyway, hurry back to class right now."
"Shush, BaKasumi. My ears hurt, I want to go home."
"No excuses! Hurry back! And, what is BaKasumi?"
"As it means."
The woman's name is Aya Kasumi. She is Kamishiro's classmate who is always close to him, and the only friend of Kamishiro Zen.
"Anyway, come back quickly! The third period will start soon. If not, you'll be scolded again by Mr. Nakamura."
"I hate that old man."
"No excuses!"
Kasumi immediately pulled Kamishiro's arm and took him back to class.
***
After school.
Kamishiro walked home from school with his backpack on his back.
Kamishiro walked home from school with Kasumi. Kasumi walked alongside Kamishiro while carrying her bag.
They walked, just walked, without any conversation. The atmosphere was awkward. No one started the conversation.
Kamishiro Zen was a quiet and lazy type of person. He was not the type of person to start a conversation. Basically, he was a shy person. But he concealed his nature by speaking only as needed, and that was why he didn't have many friends.
And the biggest reason was the fact that Kamishiro Zen was actually an acute otaku.
Kamishiro never talked about it to anyone. Not even to Kasumi. Kasumi was Kamishiro's childhood friend and his only close friend. The reason they walked home together was not only because Kasumi was his close friend, but also because their houses were next to each other.
Kamishiro's parents were busy people. They both even frequently went on business trips abroad. Because of that, Kamishiro was always lazy because there was no one to supervise him at home.
Back to the time when Kamishiro was walking home.
As Kamishiro was walking, an old woman called out to him from a stand called Magic Card.
"Child, do you believe in predictions?"
Kamishiro answered her call and immediately refused it.
"No, thank you."
"Of course, it's free." The old lady smiled.
"No, I don't believe in things like that."
"Why don't you believe?" the old lady asked.
"Because it doesn't make sense. It's impossible for a card to predict someone's future."
"Why don't you just try it? Let's consider it a game." the old lady tried to persuade Kamishiro.
Kamishiro knew that if he kept refusing, it would just be a waste of time.
"Okay, just once. But, it's really free, right?"
"Of course."
The old lady began shuffling her cards. Then, the old lady gave Kamishiro her deck of cards.
"Please, shuffle the cards."
Kamishiro obeyed the old lady's words and started shuffling the cards.
"Okay, I've shuffled them." Kamishiro said while putting the deck down.
The old lady took the deck and took the top card. She turned the card over, and the card was "The World."
"What does it mean?" Kamishiro asked.
"A great journey, where the person reveals all the secrets of the universe and learns about new cultures."
"A great journey, huh?"
"Do I need to explain the meaning in more detail?"
"No, thank you. Then, I'll just go home."
Kamishiro then continued to walk home with Kasumi.
"Zen, do you believe in that prediction?" Kasumi asked.
"It's useless, completely useless."
"I see."
When Kamishiro and Kasumi wanted to cross the street, a ball rolled into the middle of the street followed by a child who chased after it into the middle of the street.
Bim! Bim...!
At that moment, a truck kept honking its horn, but the truck did not slow down at all.
Kasumi, who saw it, immediately ran without hesitation and tried to save the child.
"Stop, Kasumi!" Kamishiro shouted trying to stop Kasumi.
But when Kasumi tried to save the child, the truck carrying the heavy load started to move faster and almost hit Kasumi. Without hesitation, Kamishiro pushed Kasumi and the child she was carrying away from the path of the truck.
Brakes screeched...!
Kasumi, who was pushed, hit her head on the pavement and was bleeding. In the end, it was Kamishiro who got hit by the truck.
Hysterical screams were heard from pedestrians and drivers who witnessed the accident.
Kasumi started to wake up and looked towards Kamishiro.
"Zen? Zen!"
Kasumi immediately ran towards Kamishiro, who was covered in blood. She cried and screamed while running towards Kamishiro lying on the road.
People who saw it also helped her.
"Zen! Zen, wake up! Please wake up! Open your eyes!"
"Call an ambulance ... please call an ambulance," shouted one of the people who saw Kamishiro's condition.
One of the helpers checked his pulse and said, "He ... has passed away."
"Zen, wake up! I promise I won't scold you anymore, so please open your eyes!"
However, all of Kasumi's efforts to wake Kamishiro up were in vain. Kamishiro was already dead, hit by the truck. Kasumi was very sad and cried. She felt guilty for not being able to protect her close friend.
"Why did you have to go, Zen? Why like this? I can't live without you. There are still so many things I want to say to you."
Kasumi was very sad and felt guilty about Kamishiro's death. She hugged his body, which was covered in blood, and cried loudly.
***
"Ow ... my head hurts so much! Not only my head, my entire body is in pain! Well, that's understandable since I was hit by a truck. But, it's miraculous that I'm still alive."
Kamishiro started to look around and was shocked by things that he found very unbelievable.
"Actually,... where am I?"
Kamishiro was surprised because he woke up in a room that was smeared with bloodstains and had many pictures with pentagram symbols on the walls.
"What the hell is this? Is this some kind of demon summoning event or something?"
Kamishiro withdrew his arm slightly backward and touched a thick red liquid.
The liquid was none other than blood, and Kamishiro was standing right on top of a pentagram symbol made of blood.
"Someone, please tell me this is just a joke."
Kamishiro's face began to pale.
Suddenly, Kamishiro's head started to hurt again. A piece of memory flashed through his mind.
But, the memory was still unclear and mixed up.
Kamishiro started to stand up and only then did he realize the most important thing after he saw a dragon hanging from his lower body.
"Why am I not wearing any clothes? Then, is the cause of this pain all over my body due to these wounds?"
Kamishiro was in a state of complete nudity, and his whole body was covered in various kinds of wounds, such as whip marks, burns, and a wound as if he had been clawed by a wild animal.
"Isn't there anything here that I can use as clothing?"
Kamishiro walked around and found a brown cloak. Kamishiro took the cloak and immediately put it on.
"Even though this cloak stinks, I have to bear it until I find suitable clothing. But why is there a cloak here? Well, even though I don't care too much and think about small things like this."
As Kamishiro checked the cloak's pocket, he found an antique pocket watch. The pocket watch had a cover with a picture of a bird spreading its wings, and the watch had a clamp chain made of real gold.
"It seems that this watch could be a clue. And even if this watch is not a clue, I can still sell it to make money."
After exploring the room, Kamishiro saw a door and walked toward it. Kamishiro opened the door and was surprised by a dark corridor in front of him.
"Do I have to go through this dark corridor alone? Without any light? Damn, if only I had night vision."
Kamishiro walked through the corridor stumbling. After a while, Kamishiro found a fork in the road.
"Someone once said that the right direction is the path to heaven."
Then, Kamishiro walked to the right and heard a sound.
Wusshh ...
"Like the sound of the wind."
Kamishiro smiled a little and said, "It seems that the right direction is indeed the path to heaven."
The sound grew louder and began to sound clearer. "Hmmm, it doesn't seem like the sound of the wind ..."
Kamishiro started to feel a little doubtful, but he still walked towards the source of the sound.
Grrrrr...!
"What sound is that?"
Kamishiro's heart started to beat fast, and he began to feel scared. However, he kept walking little by little.
The sound grew closer and clearer. Kamishiro saw a turn, and that's where the source of the sound was coming from. Kamishiro peeked around the corner, and what he saw was a pack of red wolves.
Yes, it's red. Its eyes lit up like a flame and its mouth was filled with sharp fangs. The pack of red wolves turned towards Kamishiro.
The pack of wolves noticed Kamishiro's presence and immediately ran towards him. Kamishiro, seeing this, ran towards the direction he came from.
"Damn it! Why am I always so unlucky? I got hit by a truck, then woke up in a strange place, and now being chased by wolves. Does the gods hate me? Is it because I've killed too many of my potential descendants?"
Kamishiro continued to run aimlessly, too panicked to think clearly.
As Kamishiro looked back, one of the wolves was right behind him. The wolf jumped and bit Kamishiro's right shoulder.
Kamishiro immediately punched the wolf and pushed his own body towards the wall next to him.
The wolf released its bite and Kamishiro kept running even though he was exhausted and had lost a lot of blood from the bite wound.
He continued to run while holding his right shoulder tightly with his left hand to stop the bleeding.
"For the first time, I pray, god or whatever it is, please grant my prayer. Please save me from these wolves!"
Kamishiro prayed sincerely in his heart. A few moments later, Kamishiro saw a light in front of him.
"Please don't betray my hope."
Kamishiro emerged from the tunnel and saw a forest around him.
At that moment, the sun had just risen and shone into the tunnel where Kamishiro emerged. The wolves suddenly writhed like worms in the heat when hit by the sunlight.
One of the wolves moved its mouth and said, "A ... bi ... naash ... blo ... od ... Abi ... naash ...."
Kamishiro was shocked to see the wolf speak. "Talking ... the wolf is talking!"
The wolves began to turn into ash and disappear, blown away by the wind.