BREAKING NEWS: 150 Feared Lost in Ex-Lover's Vengeful Blaze; Victims Leap from Burning Shibuya High-Rise.
Tokyo police have arrested a man after he allegedly set his ex-partner's belongings on fire, inadvertently engulfing a multi-story residential building. Eyewitnesses reported desperate residents, trapped by the inferno, jumping from the upper levels in a horrifying act of last-resort hope. The suspect claimed he "loved her" but wished only to destroy everything she cherished.
Seriously? What kind of messed-up, narcissistic thinking is that? Cases like this seem to happen all the time now. People just snap. Is it how we grow up? Or maybe the internet really is melting everyone's brains. It's probably not one simple thing, but a bunch of issues piling up into one massive mess. I sighed. It feels impossible to answer that, and what could I even do about it? Everyone's got their own traumas and bad experiences. If we could all just see the pain in each other, maybe there wouldn't be so much evil out there.
My life is basically pointless, with zero real meaning. I'm just an overweight Discord mod spending all my time on online chess and MMOs. A guy with no ambition. Okay, I do have one ambition: to leave this world a better place. I have consumed every resource I could find, mastering ancient astronomy texts, mapping out every known constellation, and diving deep into the complexities of astrophysics and the fundamental laws of the universe. The cosmos won't be able to hide a single secret from me. I will become the kind of scientist this world has never, and will never, see again.
Who am I kidding, though? Dreams are for people who work hard. I can work hard in a game, but that's about it. My 'godly' gaming skills don't transfer to real life. Lately, I've picked up gambling. It's a bit like a real-life game, and I researched the best strategies. Poker or roulette—those are the ones. Roulette is better; technically, even being extremely unlucky can be an advantage.
Since I am pathologically, cosmically cursed with bad luck, I developed a system: I built a little app that generates a random colour -Red or Black- and then I simply bet on the opposite. Hehe. I am practically an econometric genius. I have finally found a way to cheat the SYSTEM HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
I tried poker, too, but apparently, I have a slight tell. According to my friend, my head visibly looks like it's about to spontaneously combust whenever I'm holding a losing hand.
[Strawberry Cheesecake's Lore Note]:For the record, while the protagonist firmly believes he has weaponized his misfortune against the laws of probability, this "strategy" is, statistically speaking, still just gambling. *Face palm…*
Time to decide what to eat. I need some good food, but all I have are the leftovers my mother made yesterday. I do have ingredients for hmmm…: tteokbokki or bibimbap.
I could also go out for food, however the last time I went… I kind off ended up gambling. I took my friend out for dinner but with the money I didn't earn yet, he completely lost it: "DO YOU CALL THAT A WIN?! We spent three hours at that exact table for you to drop five thousand dollars and only come away with a hundred dollars on top! This is what you call winning?! Who would've paid if you lost all your money?!"
I still don't get why he was so mad. That's a free dinner, and it only took three hours of our time. Logic should dictate that's a positive return.
And now logic also dictates that It's time for me to make my super special, secret and overly delicious!!TTEOKBOKKI!!
First, I prepare the rice cakes. I mix the sweet rice flour with two pinches of salt and half a cup of water until I have a nice textured powder. I take it out, knead it for about three minutes, and once the dough gets sticky, a little sprinkle of sweet rice flour on the board is all it takes to smooth it out. Then comes the shaping—cutting blocks and rolling them with my palms into those perfect tteokbokki sticks. Into the boiling water they go, and as soon as they float, they get duped in a bowl of cold water. Perfect.
Now, for the sauce: I mix one tablespoon each of red pepper powder, sugar, soy sauce, oyster sauce, red pepper paste, and minced garlic. And here's the game changer, my secret ingredient: PARSLEY. I also slice up the green onions and some fish cakes ahead of time. I pour one and a half cups of water into a pan, stir in the sauce, and once it's bubbling, I add the rice cakes and fish cakes. Five minutes over medium-high heat, and it's done. I turn off the burner and quickly fold in the fresh spring onions, the parsley, and a generous melting layer of mozzarella cheese!
Simple, but seriously a perfect treat for my gentle and tender existence.
Itadakimasu!
HOT!!! HOT HOT HOT !!! I NEED MILK
Ahhhh, that is so good. I wish Mom were alive. She would've been so proud of me. Life isn't so bad after all when you get to eat your own favourite food mixed with the skills from my mother. However I shouldn't forget to bring milk to the table next time.
Now what should I do next?
Maybe I should dive into some chess openings after this. Lately, I've been researching solid defensive theories—the Caro-Kann and King's Indian Defenses—because my games as black are always so tricky right from the first move. There is so much more to study, though.
I could go to the mall and start buying some new chess theory books for inspiration. What time is it right now?
Jake glanced at the digital clock on his screen: 19:47, December 8th, 2020.
On this precise, unsuspecting winter's day, the true, unseen mechanics of existence began to move. Far beyond the boundaries of this reality, forces wholly independent of this universe were finally beginning their alignment.
The ancient constellation of Gemini, The Twins, a beacon of duality and passage, illuminated this specific point in spacetime. A single, small event taking place in this reality was about to decide the fate of an entirely different one. Millennia-old plots were finally set in motion. Time was not merely ticking; it was bending and warping across dimensions, and nothing - neither Gods nor supernatural beings - could predict the future.
Jake was no longer a mere mortal. He was a variable in an equation he could not possibly comprehend.