Midnight, 1:00 am
In the dimly lit room, darkness predominates, creating an atmosphere of quiet solitude. The only source of light emanates from a computer screen, casting a faint glow that gently illuminates the immediate surroundings. The room appears minimalistic, with a bed in the right corner of the room and a door to the right.
Cr…eak
The door opens slowly, and a figure walks in with a bag of plastic-filled snacks, protein, and pills. He closes the door behind him and puts the plastic bag on top of the bed.
Si…gh
He slowly lets out a deep sigh and lies down on the bed. Shutting his eyes and putting his hand on top of his eyes, he lets out another sigh, then asks.
"How much longer until I become the strongest?"
Ever since I was a child, I wanted to become strong, because I was an orphan and didn't have parents; I was raised in an orphanage. One day I and my friends went to town, and I came across a television store where they were playing an anime.
The protagonist of that anime was the strongest and hid his power while fighting the evil. Watching it, I loved how he hides his powers and fights the evil, so from that day on, I started going out of the orphanage at night to beat bad guys.
I started waking early and doing exercise, and then I became 8 years old. Someone came to adopt me, and I left the orphanage. After the adoption I pleaded with my parents to let me join martial arts.
After which I also started learning martial arts. At night I would go out to fight gangs, and in the early morning I would train. After training I would take a shower, change into my school clothes, and leave for school.
Now, I am 17 and in the second year of my high school.
Reminiscing about my journey, my consciousness slowly fades.
Buzz buzz
Slowly opening my eyes, I turn my alarm off. Like any other day, I wash my face, brush my teeth, go out to start my training, and then come back to take a shower in order to wash away the sweat.
As I come out of the bathroom, my mother shouts.
"Roland, hurry and come eat your breakfast, or else you will be late!"
"Yeah, Mom, I am coming!"
I started dressing myself quickly and came down to eat my breakfast. While sitting, my dad starts saying that.
"Tonight your mom and I will be going on a date, so you'll have dinner by yourself."
"Ok, how late will you guys come?"
"Maybe 10 o'clock."
"ok, then I will get going, or else I will be late for school."
"Yes, baby, first give your mother a kiss, then go."
Chu
"Bye, Mom, bye, Dad, I am going."
***
Night
In a park illuminated only by the moon hung above the sky. The gentle breeze of the wind brushes past the black hair of a girl sitting on top of the bench while reading a book.
A man sneaks behind her and, with a smooth move, covers her mouth and nose with a handkerchief.
"mhm...h.m…hmf"
The girl tries to grab the man to somehow free herself, but all efforts are in vain as two more men come to help. After a few minutes of struggle, she stopped moving, and three took her away.
From a corner of a tree, a boy watched it all happen with a calm expression, yet it gave off the feeling as if he was watching something amusing, as a small smile tugged his lips for the briefest of moments and disappeared as quickly as it formed.
"Now, now. That's exactly what I wanted."
After which he too vanished from his spot like a shadow without making any noise.
***
In a dark warehouse with glass for the roof, it was empty except for the fact that there was a girl and three men.
The girl's hands and feet were tied down while her mouth was taped.
"What should we do now, boss?"
Asks a man with a bald head and a potato-like face. While another man with short black hair and a long nose tries to wake the girl up.
"Call her parents and ask for money, you idiot. What else?"
"But we don't know her parents' number, boss."
"You idiots, then wake her and ask."
"Wow, boss, you are so smart."
"Shut up and wake her up."
Shortly after, the girl wakes up. Looking around with a terrified face, she tried to scream, but no noise came out of her mouth. At that moment the one with the long nose and black hair removes the tape from her mouth while pointing a knife to her throat.
"Stop struggling; no one will come. Give us your parents' number, and let's finish this quickly."
Bang!
All of the attention suddenly moved to the guy jumping from the ceiling. And with another bang, the guy with a long nose and a knife, which was pointed at the girl, was crushed beneath the guy who jumped.
***
Roland, after seeing everything, followed the kidnappers, which led to an abandoned warehouse, and was now struggling with how to come up with a grand entrance to rescue the girl.
'Hmm, should I just kick the door and rescue her or…'
Before he could finish his thoughts, he saw a ladder, and an amazing idea came to his mind.
"Right, if I do that, I would look like a real hero."
Mumbling to himself, he quickly placed the ladder and climbed it. He saw that a man with a long nose was pointing the knife at the girl's throat.
"What amazing timing."
Saying that with sparkling eyes, he jumped and crushed the unconscious man beneath.
Dust rose, but Roland paid it no heed and sprinted quickly toward the guy with the bald head and potato-like face. With a practiced uppercut to the man's jaw, Roland made the second guy unconscious too.
After the dust had settled, the boss watched it happen so quickly that before his mind could capture what happened, his hands moved and grabbed the gun from his pants, but before he could fire, he saw a kick coming his way, so he tried to defend it with the hand holding the gun, but the force was so strong that the gun dropped and his bone fractured.
'what kind of monster is he?'
That was the thought that came to his mind, but he had no time to think as a punch was coming toward his face, so he tilted his head with everything he had, and the punch missed.
Seeing the punch miss, he tried to counterattack, but it was too late as a side kick came to hit his ribs, fracturing them, followed by another punch to his face, and with a 'thump,' he fell.
Still somehow conscious after the punch, he moves toward the gun slowly. Grabbing the gun, he fired the bullet toward Roland, who was trying to free the girl, and pierced his heart, and then the boss's consciousness faded as well.
The girl who saw the stranger with a black mask covering his face except for his mouth and eyes rescue her and then get a bullet pierce his heart.
She panicked and tried to get her phone to type 911 and call for help.
Roland, seeing a hole in his heart and the panicked girl who tried to call for help, only smiled and said his final words.
"I wish… I was… stronger."
And with that, Roland died.