Note: This is purely a work of fiction.
ERA Calendar: 2nd Month of the Year 3115.
Southern Hemisphere.
9:03 AM.
The time was such now after that Ren had prepared for school, donning on his school uniform.
It was a stylish black blazer paired with matching trousers, and a white undershirt was mandatory.
Once dressed, he left his mansion and headed out toward school.
In retrospect, Yosen High was about thirty minutes away, past the Aetherion Square and about fifteen minutes past that.
It was about fifteen minutes to reach Aetherion Square and another fifteen beyond that.
On foot, it was a total of thirty minutes.
Ignoring the fact that he was already super late, by the time he'd left for home, Ren had just hung there in that room till then.
'This is why I hate going out. I feel sick…'
Obviously, there is the option of taking a bus, however, not that he was good with crowds anyways, crowded places make him sick anyways, just like so.
But then, what about private transport, you may ask?
Well, the thing is that Ren disliked arriving early at school, and so that would only be inconvenient to Ren.
Hence, walking seemed like the only choice.
No, that's not right.
There is also the option of going late and then taking a private carrier over school; however, it would just mess up the schedule he's used to.
Rather, one can say he is just doing this on his whim.
Additionally, the reason why he also hated crowded places is because…
[15,010:03:19:10]
[23,323:06:28:28]
[11,013:24:09:59]
[40,403:04:31:22]
Several series of bizarre, unexplainable phenomena only he could see appeared in front of his vision.
It wasn't until after what had shortly happened with his grandparents that he gained this ability.
At first, Ren had dismissed these numbers above people's heads. After all, he thought it had nothing to do with him.
However, it wasn't exactly until one day, on his way to school, at Aetherion Crossroad, that he saw it.
[00:00:00:15]
The numbers above a particular person's head had reached this. It had just happened to catch his eyes, but he definitely saw it.
What happened next?
It was a sensation that was familiar to him.
The scent of death.
A truck whose brake had gone faulty was speeding down the north side of the crossroad, moving south, towards the intersection.
On the traffic post, it had been time for pedestrians to cross.
However, most had seemed to notice the truck's odd movement; hence, they paused.
But this wasn't the same for the male who was plugged.
He neither heard their warnings nor the truck's constant horn at him.
Then…
Accident. Was that what happened?
[00:00:00:00]
The truck ran the man over, his body crushed and scattered.
It toppled over and crashed into the center roundabout.
Thankfully, no other personnel or cars were passing at that moment.
And from there, he instinctively knew what those numbers meant.
Perhaps one could say he saw hope for himself when he saw this.
He had never bothered to check, nor did he perhaps wish to; that was why he hadn't looked at it.
[■■■]
Was what he saw.
It was unreasonable and extremely unfair.
His lifespan was, the numbers were… screw numbers; it wasn't even numbers.
More like error? A glitch?
There was no hope for him. And gradually, he had slowly been coming to acceptance with this.
More so—
One day. Around five years ago. Shortly after that…
"Haha… everything is lost; there's no meaning in life anymore."
On one of the days, out of curiosity, a young Ren had come to an abandoned construction site.
Of course he didn't come here out of curiosity; anyone would know the reason why.
But yes, upon arriving here that day, he had heard such cries coming from the last floor of the construction site.
It seemed to be a construction site for a building with many floors, numbering up to twenty, and that was where the project had stopped.
Though it's twenty alone, it was still ridiculously high.
Yet, a man stood, tears streaming down his eyes as he looked up to the moon, which hung high in the sky.
The young Ren having gotten to the same floor the man stood at, at the very edge of it.
Looking at the back of the man reminded him of how he felt and how he still feels even till now.
"...Then jump."
He said it so casually, interrupting the man, who slowly turned back to look at Ren.
"...Who…?"
"I'll say it again… if you want to jump… Go ahead; after all, it must be nice to escape this way, doesn't it? I'm jealous."
Those words from young Ren made the man falter, his body trembling, yet he couldn't bring himself to step away from the edge.
For him, it felt like the end of the road.
"Why are you attempting to take your life? I see another path in front of you."
Bizarre. Was what he'd call it.
For the first time in many months, after gaining the ability to see mortal lifespan in the form of numbers, this was the first he had seen this.
[32,739:12:23:20] — [00:00:01:50]
The man who looked in his twenties still had many more days to live.
For the numbers, which he could see numbered days, then hours, then minutes, then seconds.
He could see it.
"What are you talking about?"
"... No, let me rephrase my question: why do you want to die?"
It may be an act where Ren wanted to understand this person, but he wanted to know, why were these two options presented to him—the man?
The man—if he didn't die in the next minute, then he would live that long, which is painfully obvious to see.
Yet, he didn't understand.
If death was predestined, like those others who he had seen their time about to expire.
Were it so, why does this man have such an opportunity?
According to the man, he had been scammed; his workers, who had been jealous of his achievements, had scammed the company and blamed it on him.
No matter how much he tried to vindicate himself, his boss didn't listen.
However, to make it worse, that very day, he found out that his wife had been cheating on him.
Like Ren, his parents had left him in this world; however, unlike Ren, he wasn't privileged to have the inheritance he did.
Now, everything he built up—his reputation, his married life, his work—everything came crumbling down on this very day.
"I still held on; I TRIED my best, you know! However, no one would want a fraud to work for them."
"Everywhere I go, I just see the picture in my mind! I'm tired of it all! I've done my best too!"
It was this moment that Ren, who had been bottling his feelings up, felt tears well.
No, that wasn't quite it; the tears didn't fall, but he certainly did well up.
And for the first time in a while.
[32,739:12:22:20] — [00:00:00:10]
"Then… Live."
Ren said with a half a smile on his face. It was a simple thing for him, really.
"I don't know why, but the heavens—if they exist—have presented you another opportunity."
"BUT—!"
"I'm just like you. However, unlike you, I just wanted to escape; even now I'm still pursuing escape."
"What!?"
"So, I'll give you a chance."
Modern-day technology has advanced to the point that, as long as a particular setting is switched on on someone's device, you can share anything, as long as you're within range.
Yes. That included.
It was a whim. One he didn't quite understand.
[DING…]
[You have received—]
"Live, live and watch me die. I will not permit you to die before me; additionally, I want to see how you'll live your life with the present I've given to you."
[32,739:12:21:00]
The death flag had completely vanished, leaving behind the one option left for the man.
Of course, this was something an eleven-year-old Ren had done, and with his daily occurrences and his diminishing mentality, he had long forgotten about this scene.
Or perhaps, was it a dream he had that he had forgotten?
But most certainly, he had saved the life of one man.
And the man whose life he had saved had in turn been successful.
The man had accumulated so much karma that it would have worked in his favour; however, it was a different case for Ren.
In the end, like he thought.
He's cursed.
Telling him he was not when it was so obvious to him is but a fool's act.
Out of everything that exists in this world, the only thing holding his sanity perfectly intact were the words his grandparents had left for him.