"Finally, school is over. I can start heading home now."
Rick rolled his shoulders to get rid of the building ache in them. He did not want to get up from his seat, but he also did not want to spend even a second more in the classroom. The other students around him had already started to get up and leave.
As a completely normal student, it was time for Rick to leave as well.
"Join our club."
"We offer free credits. Please join us-"
"Make yourself fit and join the sports club-"
It was the start of the school year, so clubs were already starting to call out to people and recruit them. Rick was no different, and as he walked past the clubs, many caught his attention.
However, he did not stop at any of those clubs for more than a second, nor did he make eye contact with the recruiters. Doing so would signal to them that he was interested in their clubs, and they would try to guilt him into joining…
But all Rick wanted to do was head home and turn on his beloved game. He had spent all his allowance on getting that new game everyone had been hyping, and he wanted to play it soon.
Rick looked down at his watch, and the number 4:00 PM reflected from the glass surface. The bus to take him home was about to arrive any second now. But it was weird… the bus was late today.
It rarely happened, but Rick felt irritated at the sudden disruption in his daily cycle. He wanted to get home soon, so he decided to head toward the metro and hope that at least it was working fine.
The only reason he had not taken the metro daily was because it added 10 minutes to his overall time. But it seemed he had no choice today.
As he headed toward the station, he passed a dark alley. Rick had no idea what made him pause, but he suddenly felt a need to go into the alley.
His black hair and clothes blended in with the darkness of the alley, and it gave him courage to move forward a little bit more. He kept walking, and his foot landed in something wet.
A scream immediately built up in his throat, and Rick did his best to suppress it. His body leaned down, and his hands touched something soft.
Rick was not a brave person. In reality, he was someone who got spooked by stuff easily, and he liked to stay safe. In all honesty, there was no reason for him to even be in this alley in the first place.
'I need to get out of here. It's not safe for me to be here. Otherwise-'
There was a presence behind Rick. He could not tell why he knew, but his instincts told him not to turn around. He needed to pretend he had not seen anything and keep moving-
"Did you see that dead body?"
The cold voice asked, and alarm bells began to go off inside Rick's head. He should not answer this voice… he should not…
"W-What body?"
His mind and body did not coordinate properly, and before he knew it, he had spoken up.
A tense silence followed his confession, and Rick scolded himself for speaking up. Why did he have to go ahead and court trouble for himself like this?
He was also not foolish enough to believe that his acting had saved him.
"I see. So you did see the body after all. How unfortunate for you. I thought I could finish this mission without involving an NPC. But I guess it's the hardest difficulty of the game after all."
Rick still had his back to the speaker, so he could not see his face. But he had a feeling that the speaker was not looking happy at the moment.
"I-I don't know anything, and I won't tell anyone anything either. I just want to go home…"
Unfortunately for Rick, he no longer had a future. His instincts told him to run, and he ran to try and get to safety before he could be killed.
"How foolish. Do you really think running away from me like this would help you?"
The man asked, and before Rick knew it, a searing pain erupted in his chest. He looked down, only to see a blade in his chest, poking out of it.
And then… the world started to go blank right in front of his eyes.
'W-What is going on? Am I… dying…?'
Rick asked as he tried to stand up. But it was of no use. There was no strength left in his legs to support his weight.
The speaker finally appeared in front of Rick and looked down at him. He looked like an ordinary teenager, with black hair and black eyes. In fact, it was the most generic face Rick had ever seen in his life.
"W-Why…?"
Rick asked at last, wanting to know why he had to die. He had even promised not to tell anyone what happened.
But the person in front of him just looked unimpressed.
"If you want to blame someone, then blame your fate for being an NPC. Your fate was written the moment you were born. But perhaps, it might be better in your next life."
Rick's eyes finally closed, and he waited for death to claim him. It was so quiet and wonderful to finally allow peace to come to him. He could remain like this forever…
Bepppp
Something loud was ringing, and the noise was distracting Rick. He wanted to swat that noise away and sleep for longer, but his eyes opened anyway.
His body jolted, and the pain of dying assaulted his senses. His hand went to his chest immediately, but the wound he expected to see there was not present.
"W-What was that…? A dream…? But it felt like I actually died…"
Sweat covered Rick's face, and he forced his body to get up from the bed. He felt sick, but he could not afford to be sick. Taking a day off from school was just not possible in today's time.
It was already 7:00 AM. It was time for Rick to head to school, and along with that, it was time for him to start a new and wonderful day.
Whatever that dream had been, it was not important. What was important was the fact that he was completely awake now and had school to get to.
_________
This is a trial run. Future updates will depend on your response and feedback. PS=Faster updates