"Fuck… I can't believe this is how that trash web novel ends."
Hiro stared at the glowing screen of his phone, his brows tightening in irritation. For a moment, he felt the urge to smash the device against the metal wall beside him.
The subway rattled along its tracks, the dim lights of the tunnel flashing past the windows. Hiro leaned against the train door, his tired eyes shifting from the screen to the reflection staring back at him from the glass.
A plain face.
Unremarkable features.
A forty-year-old man who looked far older than he should.
The train slowed with a metallic screech.
When the doors slid open, Hiro stepped out onto the platform with the rest of the commuters. The crowd flowed around him like a river, everyone heading somewhere with purpose.
Hiro walked in silence.
His apartment was only a few blocks from the station. On the way, he stopped at a convenience store and picked up a pack of instant noodles along with a few cheap snacks.
Dinner.
Nothing special.
Just like every other day.
By the time he reached his apartment building, the city lights had already begun to glow against the night sky. Hiro unlocked the door and stepped inside.
The room greeted him with familiar silence.
He placed his bag and groceries on the table and sighed.
Today was his birthday.
His fortieth birthday.
But there were no messages.
No calls.
No celebrations.
A few years earlier, Hiro's parents had died in a car accident.
Since then, he had been alone.
Completely alone.
His life had never been particularly interesting to begin with.
As a child and throughout high school, Hiro had been bullied relentlessly. Mocked for being quiet. Pushed around for being weak. He hated every moment of it, but he endured it all in silence until graduation.
College wasn't much better.
By then, Hiro had already lost interest in most things.
He was average in appearance, introverted in nature, and invisible to most people around him. Social gatherings exhausted him. Relationships never lasted long enough to begin.
So instead, he spent his time alone.
Reading web novels.
Playing video games.
Escaping into fictional worlds where heroes rose from nothing and justice always prevailed.
In reality, Hiro believed in neither justice nor gods.
To him, religion was nothing more than a comforting lie people told themselves while the world continued drowning in corruption and cruelty.
Still, sometimes he imagined what it would be like…
To be the hero.
To have power.
To change something.
But those were just fantasies.
The only thing Hiro truly valued in this world was money.
And even that had lost its meaning.
During the final year of college, Hiro had made a decision.
A simple one.
He would end his life on his fortieth birthday.
At the time, he believed his parents would outlive him. He never expected them to die first, leaving him behind at thirty-five.
But Hiro never changed his plan.
He also never married.
Bringing someone else into his life only to abandon them later would have been cruel.
And now…
The day had finally arrived.
Hiro stepped into the bathroom and took a long shower.
The warm water ran down his back as he quietly prepared himself for the end.
When he finished, he returned to the kitchen and prepared his final meal.
Instant noodles.
Along with a few of his favorite snacks he had picked up earlier.
He ate slowly.
Silently.
Like any other dinner.
Except this time, there would be no tomorrow.
After finishing, Hiro sat at the table and took out a sheet of paper.
He wrote only one sentence.
NO ONE IS RESPONSIBLE FOR MY DEATH.
Short.
Simple.
Honest.
Then he stood up and prepared the rope he had bought days earlier.
He tied it carefully to the ceiling fan.
Placed a chair beneath it.
And without hesitation, Hiro stepped onto the chair and slipped the rope around his neck.
There was no fear in his eyes.
Only exhaustion.
With one final breath—
He kicked the chair away.
The rope tightened instantly.
His body convulsed violently as instinct forced him to struggle for air.
His hands clawed desperately at the rope.
His lungs burned.
His vision blurred.
Then—
Crack.
His neck snapped.
The pain vanished.
And Hiro's world fell into darkness.