"Finally over!".
"You are right. Long holiday, here we come!".
A sigh came from the boy named Jin, who had just finished his last day of school before a long summer holiday. Stretching his stiff body, Jin and his friend walked side by side in the schoolyard.
A crisp and dry wind from the hot summer brushes past their skin, giving a momentary solace, chilling their hot bodies that are clad with sweat, proof of their activity even in the hot weather.
Many students buzzing around beside them are also chattering about their holiday plans. For a couple, this was the perfect chance to enjoy the peak of their youth, while others just wanted to fool around or search for meaning in their mundane daily lives.
"Right, Jin; how about the Game we talked about?". His friend nudged Jin from the side, prompting Jin to turn to him.
"...Um, alright. You already installed the game, right?".
"Yeah, I am. So, you can use mine instead of forcing yourself to buy a new one".
"Ahaha, well, thanks man. You're a lifesaver".
Technically, this kind of behavior is usually frowned upon, but knowing Jin's condition, his friend couldn't help but lend him a hard copy of the game for him to install. Well, it doesn't mean that he didn't have the money to buy it; he has, but he currently doesn't own it.
Jin is currently living in his grandparent's house, who sadly passed away not too long ago. As for his parents, both of them abandoned him and went their own separate ways along with their affair partners.
He lives a frugal life that only depends on the money he acquired part-time; as for the inheritance of wealth and assets, he chooses to use it for his studies until college.
The two of them walked side by side and couldn't resist the attempt to chuckle as they talked about their everyday school life. Jin and his friend have different classes and never had a chance to talk in the school unless they had an appointment first.
So when they had a time like this, they used to tell each other stories about the happenings within their class, something like a girl who was interested in his friend or his male classmate who cried in class after getting his dream character from gacha.
As the two talked, they passed the main road through a residential area near the school for about 10 minutes of walking. Jin stood in front of a two-story house with a Japanese modern architect.
"Do you want to come in? I can give you some drink or something". His friend pushed the gate and glanced back, but seeing Jin shook his head, he sighed.
"I have training after this and work later".
"Okay then, wait here! I'll be quick".
With a creak as the steel gate closed, Jin saw his friend dash toward the front door while shouting, 'I'm home,' before a yell came back at him, 'Don't run! Welcome back.' He chuckled to hear his friend's mother was healthy as usual.
While he was waiting, he leaned his back toward the wall surrounding his friend's house. He had nothing to do except watch a short video on his phone.
"Jin, sorry to make you wait".
With a creak, the gate opened, and his friend, still wearing his school uniform, appeared holding a thin box and a bag of plastic that seemed wet.
"It's okay, you got it".
"Of course". His friend flashed his white teeth, holding the disk he had bought not too long ago. "Here it is. I presented you with a Brave Heart!".
"Stop dramatizing it for now; I will borrow it!".
"Go ahead, but make sure to buy the real copy later if you have the money, of course. Oh, and take this; I have some ice cream in the fridge."
Watching that, Jin's eyes look at his friend, half doubtful and half thankful. Once, Jin played at his friend's house and was given an Ice cream that belonged to his friend's sister, who has a ferocious aura.
Thankfully, Jin wasn't punished because he was a guest, and his friend got some lessons from her and ordered him to buy them in the next town. 'Well, I'd better take the ice cream'.
"Man, with the new and good console you have and now the game, have fun with it!".
"Mm, well, thanks".
"I hope you can also enjoy it as much as I do because when at the chapter…".
"Okay, stop! I already hear this bragging you have ever since you played it, and I hear enough. Don't spoil me further, please!".
"Sorry, my bad".
Jin sighed, placed the game in his bag, and bid farewell to his friend.
"See you later, man".
"Ah, you too. Be careful on your way home!".
He walked his separate ways as his friend returned inside the house. Alone and with a pack of ice in hand, Jin opened the bag and hurriedly took out the ice cream. The cold stung his skin, and the flavor pasted on the wrap made his face grimace.
"Damn, this is the sour one!".
Even though he says that it doesn't mean that Jin hates sour flavors, like many other people, he likes fruit and has no particular dislike for some strong ones, but the ice cream he had had a lemon flavor with a thrice-citrus flavor, which will torture his face to stiffness.
Reluctantly, he tore open the pack, took out the block that fit perfectly in his hand, and bit its square tip while placing the trash into the plastic bag.
"Eeep!?".
As soon as his tongue tastes it, a jolt of sourness explodes within his mouth. Jin's lips start to pucker, and a slight shiver runs down his spine. He has a hard time adjusting his facial muscles, which keep twitching and even twisting in a weird way.
Jin took it off his lips, and a lingering taste of the jolt forced his mind into the realm of enlightenment. His mind was clear, and Jin was free from any worries that occupied it.
"Man, that's intense for an ice cream flavor".
He resumed his walk, and while the road was pretty quiet, he took out the game from his bag and started to inspect it. 'Hmm, so this is the protagonist!'.
On the front cover, a handsome androgynous male with silver hair and large ruby eyes that sucked him in is the protagonist. Beside him, there are several heroines, which are his party members and also a Harem member.
The game itself is set in a fantasy world where Evil Gods are resurrected and so on. It is a run-of-the-mill Hero story, but what made his friend so enthusiastic when talking about it was the depth of it, the depth of each character being portrayed, and how they struggle, fail, doubt themselves, and eventually overcome it.
That is what makes the game interesting. There is also a romance part of the scene, so it's strange to see it in an action game with a hack-and-slash element.
Jin turned the box to see the behind-the-cover, which was filled with much writing. However, one scene portrayed within the game was revealed: the scene where the protagonist battles the Villain outside from the Evil God faction, a human to be precise.
So this was the Villain he always bragged about'. Recalling the time when his friend boasted about it, it loosened his lips, followed by the sourness that jolted his consciousness awake and struck him down from daydreaming longer. 'If I'm not wrong, his name is…'.
"Kyaak!?".
When he was struck in recalling the Villain's name, a loud distressed scream echoed within the place as it gathered everyone's attention, including Jin, whose eyes happened to see a black outfit hooded man holding a knife while grabbing a high school girl's hand.
Initially, Jin stiffened like a statue, seeing this crime scene firsthand, but what made him wake from his stupor was the figure of the girl he knew. She was his senpai in his third year and the Vice president of his school's student council.
The girl was known for her beauty and stern demeanor, her lustrous straight black hair that always swayed everywhere, and her glare at a deviant student, which earned her the nickname "Ice-cold princess".
"Crap!".
Without thinking further, after seeing the man slowly approach the knife in hand to her face. Jin dashed forward, throwing away his hesitation, and arrived near enough to prevent the harm.
He reached out and grabbed the suspicious man's wrist, stunned everyone's present. Then, with the momentum of surprise he had, he pulled the girl toward him and kicked the man's abdomen, pushing him away from the girl.
"Are you alright?" Jin glanced behind him to see a blue-faced, trembling girl nodding her head meekly while clutching his uniform. Seeing her weak appearance gave Jin a dangerous sense that would open his new door.
"Don't get in my way!".
"Kyaak!".
"Hurry up and call the police!".
"I already called it".
The chaotic environment and panic-stricken people who were on the scene brought Jin toward the man once more, as he saw the man was currently not holding a knife but a revolver he didn't know the name of. It has five bullets and a short barrel length, unlike the revolver he knows in Western movies. 'Crap, crap, crap, crap! What should I do?'.
"Die, you bitch!".
At that moment, Jin's thoughts accelerated; he was even surprised to see the world around him turn grey, slowing down. He could hear his heartbeat thumping so loudly that it almost burst his ears, and his right hand held something soft transmitted clearly to his nerves, pushing the girls behind him before dropping into the road.
*Bang!!
A barrage of bullets and cries of horror shot five times, all of it boring a hole in Jin's body. A red fountain spurted and plastered the pedestrian street into a crimson layer of tragedy. Jin's body began to sway. His blurry vision caught only red from his own blood and slowly dimmed.
'Aaah, I wish I had a chance to finish the game first!'. His consciousness blackened out simultaneously as those regrets echoed in his mind.