- Blue Star, Indonesia.
Cirebon Regency, 2025.
Late afternoon, around four o'clock.
A Madura-style satay stall stood by the roadside, the faint smell of charcoal and grilled meat lingering in the air. Plastic chairs were stacked, tables wiped clean, indicating the stall had just closed earlier than usual.
The other employees had already left. Now, only two people remained.
A middle-aged man, the owner, leaned back with his arms crossed over his chest. In front of him stood a young man, his posture slightly hunched, his shirt stained with sweat and smoke from the grill.
The man let out a slow sigh before speaking.
"Sorry… kid, this is all I can manage," The middle-aged man said, his voice low, almost apologetic.
"Since the global outbreak six years ago, business has been slowing down day by day. Even though things are improving now, business is business, and losses are unavoidable." He added.
He paused for a moment, then extended an envelope toward Kael. His hand trembled slightly.
Behind his calm face, his emotions were mixed, guilt, resignation, and helplessness.
Kael accepted the envelope calmly and put it into his pocket. He knew his job had come to an end, and this termination was inevitable.
Yet his expression remained calm. With a faint smile, he said, "I understand, sir. Thanks for giving me the job. If you ever open vacancies again, I hope you won't mind calling me back."
"After all, they said there were nineteen million job openings, but so far I haven't found a single one." He continued.
"Hahaha… ahem,"
The middle-aged man laughed softly, not because it was funny, but because of the bitterness. His laughter stopped mid-breath.
He sighed deeply, then looked at Kael for several seconds as if he wanted to say many things, but not a single word came out.
He raised his hand and patted Kael's back meaningfully.
"Of course. Absolutely," He said with a smile.
"You've been a very diligent employee. Arrive the earliest, leave the latest. I can't help much right now, but if you ever need anything, just come to me, kid."
Kael's heart felt warm. Ever since he graduated from high school, he had not continued to college, instead becoming one of the employees at the Madura satay stall.
And this middle-aged man had been very kind to him. He knew Kael's situation and had treated him like an adopted son.
At thirty years old, Kael had never married. Not because he did not want to, but because life had never given him the luxury to think about it.
Every day was spent working, calculating expenses, and making sure tomorrow would not collapse. Love, dreams, and plans for himself were things he quietly pushed aside, believing they could wait.
His younger sister, Nana, was twenty-one and currently attending college. She was the family's fragile hope for a better future, the one Kael silently protected by standing in front of life's hardships. Everything he earned, every exhaustion he endured, was for her to walk a path he never could.
To Kael, if one of them had to rise, it did not have to be him.
After a long farewell, Kael said goodbye and walked to going home.
He walked because his house was not far, only about fifteen minutes away. He actually chose to walk to save money on transportation.
He took the envelope from his pocket and opened it. He coutransportation, it was about 1.6 million rupiahs.
In a year that squeezed this country, 1$ equaled 14,000 rupiahs. That meant 1.6 million rupiahs was only about 114$. The fact was, many jobs here demanded many requirements, but the salary? Almost never enough.
After counting, Kael felt sad yet moved. He thanked the old man for giving him a higher salary than usual. Normally, he received around 1.3 million rupiahs per month.
This time he could set aside 1 million to pay his rent, which was 1.1 million per month, and the rest for his mother and younger sister.
He lived barely scraping by, with a mother working as a domestic helper, taking any job she could to support her two children. Washing neighbors' clothes, cleaning trash, anything, she did it all for her kids.
Meanwhile, his little sister, affectionately called Nana by the family, was in the hospital after developing a high fever and coughing.
Kael unconsciously looked at the cloudy sky. Rain was coming. He closed the envelope and put it back in his pocket.
As he hurried home, the rain caught up with him. He saw an empty shop ahead and took shelter.
A few motorcyclists also stopped to shelter there. Some greeted him, and Kael returned their greetings warmly.
Kael sat at the edge, shivering slightly. Some people sat next to him, and he felt pleased when one of them started a conversation.
Unlike other countries, here it was normal to be friendly, a value taught from childhood. Except in suspicious situations, as long as nothing strange happened, people cared for each other.
When an elderly man offered Kael a cigarette, he politely declined.
The old man did not get angry, but looked at the increasingly heavy rain. "Haa… who knows when this rain will stop, it's almost night."
He checked his watch on his left wrist. It showed 17:57. But something was odd. In the corner of his eye, a silhouette seemed to fall. When he looked fully, he was shocked to see the young man he had offered a cigarette collapse from his seat.
"Hey, kid! kid! What's wrong with you?!"
Besides the old man, a few others noticed and hurried to help.
Kael heard people calling out and various reactions, but he only felt his body heavy, completely weak. It was as if he was drifting farther from the world, their shouts fading.
At that moment, Kael exhaled his last breath and closed his eyes completely.
Kael no longer felt the presence of his body, as if his soul had completely left.
Not only his body sank, but his mind was also lost in a sea of endless questions.
Am I dying today?
Yet I am the only hope for my family, the one they rely on to rise, to change the fate that has been pressing them.
No.
I do not accept this.
A deep sorrow engulfed his heart. He tried to let go, to convince himself to surrender, yet the more he tried, the more impossible it was to release.
"Regret this life and want to relive it?"
Kael flinched as the question appeared in his mind, yet he almost laughed inwardly. He thought it was only an illusion, his last hope.
He knew it was just an illusion, born from exhaustion and fading consciousness.
He was certain that life never gives a second chance. The world does not operate on mercy.
Yet in the quietest corner of his heart, a small hope remained.
If…
If I were given one more chance…
I would not live like this.
I would not just survive.
I would change everything.
As his thoughts sank into darkness, a cold and unfamiliar voice finally answered:
[ Request detected. ]
Kael frowned.
Another illusion?
He did not believe in miracles. Life had never given him one. But at the brink of collapsing consciousness, a thought emerged suddenly.
If I were truly given another chance…
I do not want to live like this.
Silence.
Then—
[ Approval granted. ]
The heaviness in his body vanished.
The world spun.
And everything went dark.