"Okay, only 20 seconds left... now it will work. Okay, my great harem, here I come!"
There was Cassian, psyching himself up and preparing for what he was about to do.
He looked at his smartwatch on his wrist, and when the timer he had set reached zero, he jumped forward abruptly, coming out from a corner at an intersection.
Without hesitation, he went straight to the center of the street.
"Okay, Truck-kun, do your thing!"
Excitedly, he opened his arms and closed his eyes, calmly waiting for what he thought would be an inevitable impact.
A truck was coming toward him, and in fact, the driver reacted too late to Cassian's sudden appearance to brake. The collision was inevitable...
Bang!
Everything went as Cassian wanted. The impact was precise. Moreover, it was an articulated truck traveling at least 80 km/h.
"Damn it, no!!"
With that weight and that speed, any normal human would be crushed and sent directly to the other world, which made the driver turn pale, who panicked and got down to check the tragedy.
"no, no, no!!.....Wait! Damn it! It was you, damn boy!"
But curiously, when the driver saw the victim lying on the ground, his mood changed and he did not act like someone who had just killed a person, but like someone who had lost his patience.
With a grim face, he approached Cassian's supposed corpse.
"..."
Bang!
He looked at him with contempt... and in fact, he kicked him. No matter how it looked, this was clearly a scene in which the driver was in the wrong, not only for running him over, but for taking it out on the corpse.
Of course, if Cassian had been dead.
"Ugh! Damn old man, you failed again! Didn't they teach you how to run someone over properly?"
Cassian was alive, and when the old man kicked him, he finally opened his eyes and complained.
To begin with, he hadn't even fainted; he had simply been waiting for his supposed fate with his eyes closed. A fate that never came.
"Son of —! Damn brat! Stop doing that! You almost gave me a heart attack! I thought you were someone else for a moment!"
"Hey, I don't have a fetish for being run over either. You know, it hurts me too. It's your fault for not doing it right. If you did your job right, I wouldn't still be alive. Tell me why I'm still alive?"
"How should I know, you damn monster! Why are you still harassing me? There are other truckers in the world. Leave me alone! I have a family to support."
"Liar. I did my research. You're the only truck driver without any family."
"HEY! My three cats and my dog would be orphaned if I got arrested for killing you, you brat! Instead, pay me for the damage to the truck, because of you everything got damaged."
"Tsk. Old man, the only thing you're good at is taking my money. Fine, take it. Just make sure you're faster next time. And buy a tougher bumper — that thing didn't even tickle."
"...Haaah~, whatever. I'm late because of you. I'm out of here. Also, get some help. Stop trying to kill yourself."
"Fine, but remember: don't follow the rules. A little more speed is necessary. Next time, I expect more effort on your part."
"You're not even listening to me, you crazy punk. If you show up in front of me again, I'll really call the police."
Before leaving, the truck driver warned Cassian sternly. His heart really couldn't take it anymore. One of these days, it could really fail him. He wasn't young anymore.
..
"Haaah~ Another failure. Why is it so hard to die?"
After watching the truck driver leave, Cassian, a little frustrated and disappointed, got up. He was unharmed.
He brushed the dust off his clothes, which seemed to be the only thing affected by the whole incident.
There was nothing else to do here; he simply walked home, though he was still sulking over his failure.
..
.
On the way, Cassian saw a convenience store.
"… Ah, now that I remember, she also asked me to buy something for her, right? What was it again? Hmm... oh! Pineapple-flavored protein yogurt? Yes, she was very specific. Hmm, I'll also buy some snacks while I'm here."
Remembering that he had been asked to buy something after his suicide attempt, Cassian went inside and started looking around.
After all, it would be really annoying to face her if he came back empty-handed; she had a knack for persistently bringing up that topic just to annoy him
"Let's see... strawberry, vanilla... what is this? What is this? What is this? What is this? Chicken flavor? Who buys yogurt with that flavor?! No, rather because it exists, this world is getting crazier and crazier".
Not finding what he was looking for, and questioning the direction of the world that created chicken-flavored yogurt, Cassian approached a worker from behind.
"Excuse me..."
"GYAAAA!"
The woman turned around when he called out to her, but when she saw Cassian, she screamed in fear. It wasn't surprising.
Cassian was just over 6'9" tall, with large, defined muscles all over his body.
He also had long, unkempt black hair that covered part of his face, revealing only one of his dark, black eyes.
Cassian had a naturally intimidating, oppressive, gloomy, and somber aura, also to make matters worse, his clothes were torn... It wasn't the best first impression.
"..."
Cassian saw her cowering in fear. He didn't find it strange; it was a situation he was used to, which was why he didn't like going out and just wanted to get this over with quickly.
"Excuse me, I just want to know where the—"
"GYAAAA!"
"—yogurts are—"
"Gyaa!"
"Damn it, let me speak!"
"Gyaa!!"
"What's going on!?... Hey, you! Leave her alone! What do you think you're doing?"
"I just want to know where the yo—"
"You think you can intimidate me because you're tall... I'm a black belt! Mia, don't worry! I'll protect you!"
"..."
Haah~...why is it always the same?.... I just want to know where the pineapple yogurt is?
Cassian sighed inwardly at the actions of the guy, which were not unfamiliar to him. He seemed to be an employee and was acting like a hero confident in his martial arts skills.
"Take this, you bastard! This is for intimidating Mia!!... Ugh!"
Having been in this type of situation before, Cassian didn't care much about the attitude of the guy who jumped at him to hit him.
He simply reached out and with a quick, precise movement grabbed him by the neck, preventing him from moving and stopping his act of heroism in its tracks.
He didn't hurt him or anything. He just wanted some yogurt.
"Haah~... I'll only say this once. Where are the pineapple yogurts?"
"Ugh... there..."
He calmly questioned the man, who, with difficulty and understanding his precarious situation, pointed to a shelf.
"So it was there... Why do they put it so low? Do they think only short people eat it? Whatever. Don't bother me anymore."
Finally, Cassian found the yogurts. He vowed never to accept errands again. He would order everything online as usual.
..
.
"Co-come back soon..."
He completely ignored the cashier's face, which was the same guy from before, with an expression that said, 'I hope I never see this guy again.' Cassian, used to this, left the store without saying another word.
But not before hearing a "~Monster..." whispered from the man.
"Tsk... I heard you."
He heard, but didn't give it much thought. He simply left, now on his way home.
..
.
"Haaa, home sweet home..."
Finally, Cassian returned to his apartment. He lived alone, renting a place that wasn't very big, but was comfortable for one person: two bedrooms, a living room, a bathroom, and a small kitchen.
For Cassian, it was his personal sanctuary.
He felt a little melancholy and frustrated by another failed attempt, so he went straight to the refrigerator, put away the stupid yogurt, and took out a beer.
PSST!
He slumped onto the sofa, opened the beer, and picked at the snacks he had bought.
"Haa~ another failure... Why can't I die?"
He was beginning to seriously wonder if he was truly human, which led to increasingly depressing and melancholic thoughts.
He went on, drinking one after another as if it were nothing, while his mind swirled in a whirlwind of tangled thoughts.
It was not the first time something like this had happened to him, and he always came out unscathed. Anyone else would have died.
But he...
"What kind of monster am I, really? Why am I even still—"
Click!
"I'm home! OOh!, Cassy! you're back. I guess you failed again."
A female voice pulled him from his thoughts. It came from the front door, approaching him
"Tsk... how the hell did you get in? I locked the door."
He didn't even look in that direction. There was only one person who would barge in like that—and be that loud.
And yet, he was sure he had closed the door—he just wanted a moment of peace.