The Zero Countdown

Lies, deceit, betrayal, unacceptance, and grief. Few were fortunate, the rest suffered from the mortal misery they consumed down their throat, crippled by the society where they don't belong. They live in a lie, they die in their illusion, yet they wish for more. Some cling to god, that's why they form religion and pray for their deities' blessing. Some advocates science and rationality, to explain the empirical function of the world and universe as a whole. And the latter are below those two, who lost all hope because destiny did them dirty more than the demon himself. But aside from what they believe, they all have one thing in common; that is everyone needed a reason. They live for a reason and die for a reason, so is the rationale why it is called the cycle of life. Humanity conquered countless challenges from time immemorial to contemporary times, yet what of those who were left behind? Standing at the edge atop the 60th floor of a skyscraper where he works, Elyon Maverick reached the end of his journey, choosing the hardest decision in his life. The sheer blow of the wind would take him falling to his demise, clenching the scaffolding remnants near the mirrored corner. "Why am I even alive? Why I can't be by their side when they needed me the most? Just why..." His heart aches yet he shed no tears. He wanted to die yet his hands cradle the wooden slab between his own life and death. He who had nothing to lose, Elyon Maverick is a corporate slave who works overtime in their rotten company. He barely had any time for his family, living in the office for hours just so he could support those dear to him. Although he's toiling for the future of his household, destiny could find a way and change his life forever. He lost his wife and daughter in the arson attack in their neighborhood. The flames caught in their house, charred burning until not even ashes remain from their corpses. That's why he kept asking himself, who is to blame? The god who let his family die? The arsonist who burned down their home? Or him not giving time to his family so he could save them when it happened? The answer always stems to himself; for he could conclude it was his mistake not to be by their side before he lost them under his false protection. His misfortune could never compare to the setback of others who experienced such far harsher fate he underwent, except for him, he lost everything he has, and everything he will ever have. A simple slight leap is all he needed and his anguish would disappear along with him. He could easily end his suffering by parting his hands. He's going to commit an unforgivable mortal sin of taking his own life; until he kept his hold upon hearing a voice coming from the paging system speaker down the stairs below the roof. "Elyon Maverick... Death isn't always the answer. Do you desire salvation so you can end your despair?" The man speaking resounded the glimmer of hope he had. He who lost what he cherished turns around and faces the small candle underneath the dimmed twilight. "Salvation, an empty word that has no value... How can you understand?! There's no such thing as salvation! I lost my precious family and relinquished my work today because my manager said I'm not mentally stable! No one will understand... None shall comprehend that life is just fancy word for suffering!" His heart desires not justice nor redemption, Elyon simply wanted to end his existence because he lost his reason; the incandescent light that humanity had kept under their selves. But he still couldn't jump, waiting for the voice echoing beyond the bridge of the end. "Ha... I would never understand, that is true. Although I infer you desire a change?" He who speak from the unknown piqued Elyon's interest. "A change...?" The man who had nothing to lose found a catalyst for his reason. He kept his hold at the edge of the window, keeping himself from falling at the peak of a skyscraper. "Yes... A change! I invite you to play a game with us. Show your words of approval and if you win, be it a change or a wish; I shall grant your true salvation that even your god can never endow!" The voice speaks the last draw of his life. It was a choice for him to move forward, a choice in which he can never find once he fails to extend his hand on the last chance he will ever have. The starless sky blanketing the horizon shines the moonlight's embrace, and along with the twinkling starlight; Elyon chose the only option laid upon his hazy path. "Please! I don't care whatever game it is! I still want to live! I don't wanna die... I'm afraid to end my life!" Elyon voices out the scream of his heart. He desires a change in himself so he can move forward again. "Permission accepted. Now tell me; what is it that you fear the most Elyon?" The voice of the man speaking at the paging system glitches like radio noise, Elyon's vision becomes blurry, he's losing his grip on the scaffolding that connects him to the bridge of the underworld. "I... I don't want to lose what's important to me again! I know the saying that a person only sees the value of what is already lost was true yet I stayed blind... So, please! I will protect those I cherish for their sake! And for my selfish request..." And Elyon chose to move forward. He vowed to never take what he have for granted and live his life to the fullest with his second chance. However, just as he's getting off the edge of the roof, he heard something that is stuck on his head amidst the darkest night, surrounded by the light of the cityscape, and the society he blamed for his misfortune. "Elyon Maverick... As the Founder of WIC Company, I bestow you; Fate Weaver! You are now a Fantasm and you will never lose someone you love again because you will know when they're going to die. So, now that you are the 100th Fantasm, the game Zero Countdown has officially begun!" "Wait, who are you? WIC Company? Fantasm? Fate Weaver? What the hell are you–" And just as Elyon searches for the source of the voice and finds out the identity of the man, his left foot slips on the glass edge and loses his balance and grip causing him to fall. "No, no! I still–" "I almost forgot to say... The only rule for my game, just like in life... Is to survive." Leaving no regrets in his 25 years of existence, he gradually descends down from the roof until his head and the pavement meets, to which he woke up on a bed in his apartment near his workplace. "What...! Where am I? Is that all just a dream? Why's my chest heavy..." While thinking whether he's already in heaven or hell, Elyon instinctively raises his hands in the air when he noticed the heavy thing placed on his chest was a high school girl that has short hair and still wearing her uniform sitting right above his waist. What freezes him wasn't the fact there's a girl in his room, instead, what alarmed him is the fact she's holding his 45 caliber pistol that should be hidden under his bed. And now the muzzle of his custom g*n is pointing directly at his forehead; the girl's index finger putting pressure on the trigger which means he'd get his head blasted with one wrong move. "Ah... Hold the g*n down so we can talk this out." Elyon calmly approaches the girl, showing zero hostility towards her. But he also noticed something strange. He looked right above the girl's head and he stared at the conspicuous numerical numbers in 5 digits. For each second that passes, the value goes down a second as well. "Tell me... Are you a Fantasm?! Did the Unknown Entity, who proclaims he's the Founder of the WIC Company, a nonexistent organization, also give you some weird ability so you can participate in his game he calls Zero Countdown?" The girl showed aggression. She'd seriously pull the trigger if she don't get the answer she's asking for. "I have no idea... Wait! No, no, that isn't a dream?" "There's no such thing as a dream in this depressing reality. Now tell me what kind of Fantasm you are!" Elyon was already planning to explain the situation including his newfound power by what the voice had said. But he couldn't believe his eyes when the numbers above the girl's head decreased from 5 digits down to 3 digits, indicating that if his power is real; she'll die in a matter of minutes because the value he's observing is none other than the remaining seconds of the girl's impending life.