The world was a cruel place.
Mark had believed those words since childhood. And as if to prove them true, the world had shown him nothing but cruelty.
He once had a loving family—a father who worked for a major company and a mother who cherished them with all her heart. But things started to change with time. Soon, his parents got divorced.
Mark had to stay with his father. That's what they decided—without asking what Mark wanted.
His mother left him and his father, taking his baby sister with her. His father started living his life as if nothing had happened. But one day, while coming back from work, his father got into an accident and died.
At the funeral, Mark—shattered by his father's death—waited for his mother. Eventually, she showed up, but she was accompanied by another man.
She paid her respects to Mark's father, and without even glancing at Mark, she quickly made her way out.
It looked as if she had forgotten Mark's existence altogether.
This shattered him.
A few days later, his mother sent a servant—not even coming herself—to deliver a message. She wanted no connection with Mark. She told him not to contact her again, sending him some money to live on. That was all.
And just like that, Mark was alone.
From then on, life was nothing but a series of hardships. No matter how many times the world tried to break him, he endured. He had no one by his side, no hand to hold, no voice to encourage him.
While other kids went to school and lived carefree lives, Mark had to work for every penny. The only thing he had left was the house his father had left behind. He took on part-time jobs to survive, juggling work and school every day. Over time, he adapted. He got used to the struggle, the exhaustion, the relentless grind.
But there was one thing he never got used to—loneliness.
And as the years passed, the hardships only grew. Every day was a test, a living hell where the weak were trampled by the strong. Yet through it all, Mark learned. Every wound, every betrayal, every hardship—it all taught him something new.
In this merciless world, he trusted no one but himself.
That belief had kept him going, had shielded him from further pain. But it all changed the day he fell in love.
Her name was Suzie. Mark had admired her for a long time, keeping his feelings buried beneath the weight of his struggles. But when he finally gathered the courage to confess, she accepted. And for the first time in his life, something felt easy.
When he was with her, the weight on his shoulders seemed lighter, the world less cruel. For a moment, he allowed himself to believe that happiness was within reach.
But just like every time before, reality shattered his illusions.
One afternoon, he saw her kissing a wealthy guy from his class—the same guy she had always claimed was just a friend. The truth hit him like a blade to the chest. She had never truly loved him. She had only dated him out of pity.
Mark stood frozen, watching the scene unfold before him, the bitter taste of betrayal settling in his throat.
He should have known better.
He should have never let his guard down.
The world was a cruel place. And love was just another lie.
From that day onward, Mark never truly trusted anyone but himself.
Yet, as if the world found amusement in his misery, fate played another cruel joke on him.
His greatest lesson? Never expect anything from anyone.
The day he truly embraced this belief was the day he ran into his mother again.
It happened at his part-time job in a high-end restaurant. He was used to dealing with wealthy customers, keeping his head down, and doing his work without complaint. But when he turned to take the next table's order, he froze.
There, surrounded by luxury, was his mother. She looked different—her face glowing with happiness, dressed in elegant clothes. Beside her sat her new husband and his baby sister, who had grown so much since the last time he saw her.
For a split second, a foolish part of him thought she might acknowledge him. That maybe, after all these years, she would at least show some emotion.
But when her eyes landed on him, all she said was:
"You're embarrassing."
That was it.
To her, he was nothing more than a dark stain from her past. A reminder of a life she wanted to forget.
Mark didn't feel sad. He didn't feel broken.
If anything, he felt… nothing at all.
Maybe that was the key to happiness—never expecting anything from anyone. That way, there was no disappointment. No pain.
That day, something inside Mark died. Maybe it was the feeling that made people human.
"Just die already!"
Mark shouted at the screen, aggressively mashing buttons on his controller.
He was playing Ascension of Hero, an RPG that had taken the gaming world by storm. Known for its stunning animation, diverse cast, and insanely difficult storyline, it was both loved and hated by its players.
The reason?
There were no happy endings.
Sixty different story routes, and not a single one ended well. In some paths, even the protagonist died, making all the effort feel meaningless.
The developers insisted a true happy ending existed, but Mark—like the rest of the player base—called that utter bullshit.
"What kind of game kills its own protagonist?"
He muttered, throwing himself back onto his bed.
He had spent countless hours on this cursed game, trying to find an ending that didn't leave him in utter despair. But no matter what choices he made, no matter how carefully he played, every path led to ruin.
Mark sighed, rubbing his temples. I should really stop playing this damn game…
Annoyed, he tossed the controller aside and stood up. He hadn't eaten all day, and his stomach was starting to complain. But just as he took a step toward the fridge—
A sharp pain stabbed through his chest.
His breath hitched. His vision blurred.
What… the hell?
His body wavered, his legs suddenly feeling like they weren't his own. A wave of dizziness crashed over him, and he barely had time to process what was happening before his knees buckled.
He tried to catch himself on the counter, but his fingers barely grazed the edge before he collapsed.
His heartbeat thundered in his ears. His chest felt like it was caving in.
Am I… dying?
His limbs felt heavy. His thoughts sluggish. Darkness crept in at the edges of his vision.
Just then, the TV screen flickered. The game—Ascension of Hero—was still running. But something was different.
A message appeared in bold, blood-red letters:
[Congratulations. You have unlocked a hidden route.]
Mark barely had time to process the words before the world was swallowed by darkness.