Drop, drop, drop—
The raindrops continued to fall and hit the ground, splashing and disappearing like soap bubbles in the air. Moreover, they were slowly increasing every minute as they fell from the sky, which was becoming more overcast.
-Running, running, running-
Derek kept running beneath those numerous raindrops, moving quickly while breathing lightly without any umbrella to shield him from the rain.
"Wait…"
"Wait… wait a little…"
"You're leaving me behind, Derek…!"
Derek, running lightly, could hear his friend Adam shouting from behind, who was also running fast in the rain, trying to catch up with him with difficulty.
After a while of running, Derek stopped at the bus stop under one of the shelters there, and Adam caught up with him after a bit, breathing heavily as he spoke to his friend.
"You've become fast at running these days."
"Have you been going to the training hall without me again…"
"No…"
"You're the one who hasn't tried to catch up with me seriously."
"Haha, yeah."
Adam smiled at his friend, knowing he was trying to joke with him and hadn't really made an effort to catch up. Adam was famous at the university for being a star football player and the top performer in school; if he had been serious about catching up with Derek, he would have done so a long time ago.
They waited there until the rain eased a little.
This made the two young men look at the empty road, hoping for a bus to arrive, but with no sign of anyone on the road, Adam said to him,
"I don't mean to say we'll find any bus to take us at this late hour."
"I think so,"
Derek replied quietly as they both looked at the empty road around them. They noticed in the distance, on the other side of the road, a small black cat—the same one he had seen outside the university window earlier—trying to pull something from under the sidewalk to drain the water.
Beep, beep—
With a loud honk, a black car was coming from behind and honked forcefully to warn the little cat, but it refused to let go of the thing it had in its mouth and was trying to pull it hard from below. Drake, who noticed this, didn't know why at that moment, but he felt a strange, uncomfortable sensation in his heart that compelled his body to rise from his spot and start running quickly towards the little cat. As Drake was running, he felt like the world had slowed down for a few seconds as he watched the car approaching the little cat, thinking to himself as he looked ahead, "I won't reach her in time like this." After that thought, he pressed hard on his left foot and then jumped lightly with his right foot, reaching out his hand towards the cat. With a slightly high jump, moving gracefully in the air like a skilled gymnast, Drake caught the little cat and quickly pulled it away from the path of the car, which crashed into the spot just moments after the young man and the little cat had moved away from there.
"Ha... ha... ha..."
"That was way too close."
Drake, who had barely saved the little cat before the car hit her, held her in his hands, smiling gently at her. In his attempt to save her, he had broken his glasses, which had scraped the corner of his eye, causing some red blood to trickle down as he smiled softly and looked at the little black cat in his hands, which was holding a small shiny object tied with a thin, strong black thread in its mouth.
Drake smiled at the little cat and jokingly said to her, "What is this thing you were trying to pull from under the sidewalk that put your life in danger like this...?"
"A necklace."
The small shiny object that the little cat held in its mouth was an incredibly beautiful and unique blue-green necklace that glowed with a faint light. Drake, who looked at it, had never seen such a beautiful emerald necklace in his entire life.
As he held the little cat and stroked its unique black fur, he felt a bit of regret for it, as it had risked its life just for such a necklace. After that, he began to drive back towards Adam.
With his vision impaired, Drake struggled to see, and due to that fall, his hearing was affected, making it difficult for him to hear Sarah's loud cries. As he walked down the road, he could barely see Adam running towards him, shouting loudly words that Drake couldn't hear at first.
But by reading his lips, Drake could understand what Adam was trying to say, but it was too late.
"Truck!"
-BOOM-
Far from the young man, there was a huge truck speeding through the rain, driven by an old man who was starting to struggle with fatigue from work, compounded by the heavy rain falling on the windshield, which made it hard for him to see. He collided with a large rock that caused him to sharply veer in another direction, making it impossible for the old man to control the truck as it headed towards a young man who was holding a small cat and trying to cross the road. The young man did everything he could to stop the truck by pressing hard on the brake pedal to halt it, but it was too late.
-BOOM-
With a loud and powerful sound, the large truck collided with the young man's body. As Newton's law of gravity states, for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. The young man's body was violently thrown and fell heavily into the water.
He looked at the world around him, which had begun to turn a grayish color as time passed slowly. Drake was observing this world and looking up at the bridge where many people had started to gather and gaze at him. Among all those people, he focused his gaze on Adam, who was holding a small cat in his hands. He remembered the last moment before the truck hit him when he threw the cat to his friend, who managed to catch it, smiling lightly at him for that.
After that, his field of vision became extremely foggy, and his body felt heavy, sinking slowly beneath the water. He began to see a short film of his miserable life, devoid of happiness, dreams, goals, or desires, with no aspirations for the future. Among his memories, he recalled his mother's words and her advice to him since childhood, which made him start screaming in sadness and despair, refusing to accept death.
"No...."
"I don't want to die...."
"No... I don't want to die like this...!"
"One chance..."
"One chance... one more chance... just one chance....!"
"If I get just one more chance, I will work hard to change it."
As he screamed in despair and raised his hands, he saw a small, bright flash of light beginning to approach him.
[Notification!]
[You have met the conditions to possess the royal ethereal piece.]
An old musical tune brought back memories to him, and the echo of a mysterious and enchanting woman's voice continued in his head.
[Notification!]
[You have received the ancient blessing as a reward for possessing the royal ethereal piece.]
[Notification!]
I have obtained the right to receive one more chance at life in exchange for completing the mission of the royal ethereal artifact.
[Mission: Obtain the Throne of Ethereal Sovereignty]
[Mission Requirements: Three]
[First: Reach the particle of the global strong level]
[Second: Complete all system missions]
[Third: Subjugate one million women under your sovereignty]
[Do you accept the mission...?]
[Yes or No]
The young man's eyes widened in shock when he saw the appearance of this bright green status window in front of him, resembling the video game windows he played in his childhood. He heard the echo of a mysterious and enchanting woman's voice in his head as he looked and listened to her voice resonating in his mind. For a moment, he thought to himself that if he could get another chance at life, he would do anything for it, as he had been helplessly fading away in the deep darkness. He then responded to the woman's kind and mysterious voice in his head.
"Yes."
Without even opening his mouth, he simply reacted to the voice of the mysterious woman, after which a bluish-green pendant was thrown into the water, emitting an extremely bright and comforting light before he lost consciousness again.
-Flash-