"What are you doing, Bastian? Why didn't you go to work today? Don't you need the money anymore?" a middle-aged man asked me, he was the owner of the rented room I was currently living in.
"I just got fired from that grueling job, uncle. I'm unemployed from now on," I said from inside the rented room. Then I lay down on the floor mattress after throwing the bag that I always carry to work.
"That's too bad, even though I wanted to borrow money from Om before. I ran out of money to play Majong at Han's house," said the landlord.
He actually has the full name Lee Bai, but is called uncle by all the tenants. He also had a hobby of gambling with his peers and would usually gamble late into the night at the house of Han, a middle-aged man of Eastern descent.
I ignored uncle voice and just closed my eyes while thinking very hard. What had happened to me over the past two years was so painful that it made me want to kill myself.
How could I not? Two years ago both my parents died at the same time in a plane crash after returning from business in Europe. My father's company went out of business a year later and all of my family's assets were confiscated by the bank to cover the debt.
I was the only child of my parents. And my father is also the only child of my grandmother.
I only had one relative from my mother's family, whose whereabouts I never knew until now.
In short, I've been living alone since two years ago. There's no place to go back to because everything has disappeared along with my parents.
Not to mention, I had to cancel my marriage because my fiancée decided to end the relationship after she learned of my family's misfortune. That damn woman would rather leave than support me in my predicament.
And now my life is even more miserable after being fired from the company where I've worked for the past year.
I was slandered as having an affair with the boss's wife, so I was fired on the spot without being able to give any explanation.
"This world has gone mad! Why does bad luck always come to good people? God is never fair," I complained, tears falling from my eyes.
By the way, I haven't introduced myself properly. My name is Bastian Harvest, I'm exactly 27 years old this year. I haven't gotten married since my previous fiancé broke up with me, and I haven't thought about finding a replacement.
Other than that, I love playing fantasy adventure-themed online games. I also like watching cartoons from Japan or Anime since junior high school.
Well, although now I don't watch anime too often, but at least I still like the cartoon movie.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
A w******p message suddenly entered my cell phone. It was from Steve - my junior high school classmate, whom I haven't seen in a long time.
[Steve] What's up, Bro? Where are you right now? I happen to be in Melvine, can we meet up?" Steve's message read.
[I'm at my rent, Bro. What are you doing coming to Melvine? You know what?" I replied with a joke.
[I'm at the Saraga building, there's a big cosplay event going on here. Hurry up and get here while the event is just starting."] Steve ordered.
I didn't reply right away this time, I looked at the time on my phone which was already 1pm. And the event should have just started.
I've honestly loved cosplaying as my favorite cartoon characters since high school, and became even more active in college because of the community there.
I was also able to meet my ex-fiancé from that hobby, who happened to also have the same cosplay hobby as me.
"Damn, why do I even think of Anggie now? I've tried to forget about her, but I still think of her when I talk about cosplay," I cursed after imagining some good memories with my ex Anggie.
[Bro, hurry up and come here, Bro. You have to see this with your own eyes.] Steve's message came into my phone again.
[What the hell? I've already repented from that onion-smelling show.] I replied rather unhappily. After all, I didn't want to attend or waste my time on such events anymore.
[Anggie and her husband-to-be are here. She's distributing wedding invitations to all the cosplayers."] Steve's message.
My heart immediately ached after reading the message from my friend, it felt like there were thousands of swords stabbing simultaneously without giving any mercy at all.
Even though we had just broken up a few months ago, Anggie had already found another man, and had even distributed wedding invitations.
"Damn it! That b***h must have cheated on me when I was my fiancé! No wonder she could find another man in an instant," I swore very harshly. I then left the rented room as my anger suddenly exploded out of nowhere.
Regardless of my relationship with Anggie now, I still wanted to meet her to see with my own eyes the future husband of my ex. I also wanted to compare the man's strengths with my current figure.
Because Anggie shouldn't be a greedy woman, that's why I was still confused when she broke up with me that time.
In short, I was at the Saraga building in less than fifteen minutes. My rent happened to be quite close to this place, and the roads weren't too congested either so I could arrive quickly.
I went straight to looking for Steve after parking the bike in the designated spot, and I managed to find him inside the restroom of the Saraga building.
"Are you sure Anggie has distributed the wedding invitations? You didn't see the wrong person, did you?" I chided Steve right off the bat.
"Sure, Bro. I also got one," Steve replied as he showed me the invitation letter from my ex.
I gasped when I saw the contents of the invitation, especially when I saw the name of the groom-to-be and their photos printed clearly on the invitation letter.
"Kevin! Damn it, it was that bastard who snatched Anggie away from me," I shouted loudly in the toilet. This man named Kevin was my nemesis in college.
Actually, it wasn't just me and Kevin who were enemies, my parents were also enemies with Kevin's parents over business matters. The conflicts between us were countless, I even almost killed Kevin once because I couldn't contain my anger anymore.
"Do you know this man named Kevin? You don't seem to accept Anggie getting married to Kevin?" asked Steve very innocently, which suddenly made me want to punch his beer belly to vent my anger.
"Bro? Are you okay? Why is your face so pale?" asked Steve again, suddenly moving closer to my face.
"I'm fine, bro. Just in shock," I replied as I walked out of the restroom.
"Where are you going now, bro? Do you still intend to meet Anggie?" asked Steve following me from behind. This fat guy didn't seem like he was going to let me go alone.
"I have no interest in seeing that b***h, I have no interest in this onion-smelling wibu show. I just want to be alone now," I replied as I quickened my pace to leave Steve. I just needed a quiet place and a cigarette to ease my anger at the moment.
Fortunately, Steve was able to understand my wishes, so he didn't continue to follow me and refocused on the Cosplay event. Meanwhile, I myself had arrived at a park chair that I found not far from the back of the Saraga building.
The atmosphere here is very quiet, it fits perfectly with my mood that has no one in this world.
'Oh s**t, why is my life like this? What's wrong with me, God, that You've given me this much suffering?" my mind grimaced bitterly.
I was too lazy to go anywhere when it was like this, I just wanted to sit in a chair while smoking a cigarette. My mind occasionally imagined how wonderful it would be if I could turn back time or have the opportunity to move to another world like in the anime I had watched.
'If only there was a portal that could take me to another world, I would probably enter it without any hesitation at all. I don't have anyone in this world anymore anyway, so it wouldn't matter if I could get a new life in another world. At the very least, I should be able to marry a sexy cat lady, and then have many children later. Ah, how wonderful it would be if I had a life like that,' I thought wistfully as I gazed at some cosplayers passing by in the distance.
"Hurry up, we need to get this girl to the boss's place immediately. She's a very valuable hostage."
"I know, you don't need to remind me again."
"If you knew, then why did you park the car that far away? Are you stupid or what?"
A conversation was suddenly heard from the back, suddenly attracting my attention because I felt quite curious.
I squinted when I saw three bald men in thug suits forcibly carrying a girl, where the girl was already unconscious.
My heart jumped at that moment, because the girl who was taken away by the three thugs was still my acquaintance.
'Lena? How come? What happened?" I wondered, wondering about the situation.
I spontaneously followed the three thugs secretly and tried to find out their intentions.
By the way, the girl named Lena was Anggie's younger sister, the youngest child and should still be in elementary school, fifth grade.
I used to play with Lena a lot when I was still in a relationship with Anggie, it just so happened that our hobbies were also the same so it was easy to get along, moreover Lena loved to cosplay because she often saw Anggie, so she also followed the same footsteps as her sister.
"Please... Somebody help me... Sister Anggie... Brother Bastian... Help me...."
Lena suddenly shouted while rebelling, seemingly just recovering consciousness.
'Damn! Why is Lena using my name? Isn't Anggie with Kevin now?' I thought confusedly. I couldn't help but intervene if this was the case.
.,.