"Your Honor, allow the witness to give his statement regarding this case and the accused." The man in the smart blue suit spoke with a very convincing and confident gesture. He gave me a quick glance as if to indicate that it was my turn to speak. The lawyer was directly appointed by Mr. Jaden to handle Leon's indictment case. That's right, last night I couldn't resist those rich men from searching my and Leon's cottage. As a result, all the contents of the cottage were taken out and left in ruins. I was worried that they would find my gold coin and accuse me of stealing it, but as it turned out... guess what? That gold coin wasn't anywhere! It seemed like Solace didn't include it because this was the last world before I returned to my original place. But, what right does he have to do that? I could have used that coin to bribe the judge so that this case would be over quickly and I wouldn't be looked down upon by those rich people sitting across from me. "Brother Joe, please give
By the authorities, the entire area from the cottage to the estate was heavily guarded by security guards in all black uniforms. No one was allowed in, except the investigation team who were carefully searching for evidence of the case. Mr. Jaden watched from his terrace with a hawk-like gaze. Mr. Josse and his henchmen had returned home after making a scene on the way here. This incident was more like a search of an accused smuggler or terrorist than a search for evidence of a missing diamond necklace. I let out a long sigh, remembering Leon who was still in temporary prison. He didn't deserve all this mistreatment. I kicked the scattered pebbles as I moved away from Mr. Jaden's employees who were whispering excitedly about this case. I was pessimistic about Leon's eventual fate at the hands of the judges who clearly favored Mr. Josse. I also didn't trust the authorities because they could have been bribed to fabricate evidence against Leon. I had to rely on my own two hands. I ce
"From the report of the investigating team, it can be confirmed that there is no evidence whatsoever around the hut and the surrounding area. Even so, the charges will still be dropped because the defendant cannot defend his innocence."I immediately stood up with a fierce face surpassing Leon's lawyer who also showed an expression of shock. This old fart had really eaten bribe money! However, I then restrained myself after receiving a sharp glare from the judge. I wasn't afraid of him, but I kept my promise to Mr. Jaden who was now looking at me as if to imply to stay calm. Leon, on the other hand, just looked down and didn't answer any of the questions the magistrate threw at him, further corroborating the accusation. "That's not true, Your Honor Judge. Leon had a strong alibi at the time of the theft," argued the lawyer. Then, the head of the investigation team spoke up. "That still doesn't confirm anything. Who knows he may have destroyed evidence, because even Mr. Josse's res
I gasped like a fish on land, truly, it felt like I would die on the spot as soon as I crossed paths with Solace. My knuckles were even colder, and my fingernails suddenly turned blue. Cold sweat poured down my back, and my chest was tight. This can't be a coincidence, there must be a purpose for Solace to appear like that, even though he never cared about me before. The grip on my shoulder reflexively made me jump. Leon was also surprised and released his hand on my shoulder with a worried expression. "Are you okay, Joe? You look sick all of a sudden," he said. I tried to neutralize my breathing and realized I was in an alert position, my hands clenched into fists as if ready to punch someone. Damn it, why is the effect of Solace's existence making me this anxious? "Oh, yeah, I'm just sleep-deprived," I boasted. Leon then gave me a bottle of mineral water and at that moment I realized that we had arrived at Mr. Jaden's residence, even the landlord had gotten off the carriage with
[Do you feel that your life is worthless? Always failing, losing a lot of things, and losing the will to live? It's really sad! But don't worry, I can give you some opportunities to live like a strong person. I know you want it. Don't be afraid, just come to the Liveless building across from the abandoned apartment in the city park area. I'll be waiting for you!]I sighed after reading this nonsensical text message. There were about 10 messages sent to my number since yesterday from a completely unknown number. I decided to call it, but only heard the operator say that the number was out of service.Tonight was bright as usual for this dry season. The sky wasn't too dark, with a crescent moon hanging beautifully in the distant sky above, not to mention the presence of stars that would delight astronomers. Unfortunately, I wasn't interested in celestial objects.Well, here I am on the roof of my friend's karaoke cafe, because he invited me to help him prepare an engagement event for hi
The empty streets and the brightness of the lights along the road made me quicken my pace as I looked around. The dark alleys I passed, along with walls covered in graffiti created by mischievous hands, gave the illusion of ghosts I had seen on television.I'm not usually afraid of supernatural beings or the dark. I often come home late at night when I work overtime and stay alone in my tiny apartment, and nothing scary has ever happened. But this time was different. There was a strange feeling as I walked through the city park area that I had walked through a thousand times in my life.The terrorizing text messages stopped at the last message. Whoever was behind this terror certainly succeeded in making me follow their wishes. Only this time, they managed to scare me into ignoring my common sense telling me to turn right and quickly leave the city park where the Liveless building is located.No, I am determined. I will find this person and interrogate him—how could he know my name? I
For a moment I thought I was sinking into a cold, dark and deep ocean. My hands and feet were paddling, looking for something to hold on to, but all there was was emptiness. Then I realized that I was floating somewhere. My body was floating as if defying gravity.I opened my eyes, and all I could see were blurry flashes that were not clear. It was like an empty room without even a speck of dust; I almost doubted how I could breathe because I wasn't sure if this room had oxygen.Gradually, however, my senses began to adjust. There was nothing to see in this empty space, no matter how desperately my eyes looked around. It felt like my weight was now as light as a feather, easily played by the wind, but fortunately there was no breeze here.My distorted mind still had various bitter memories from my 27 years of life; I took a deep breath to calm myself down. I wondered if this was the afterlife, and if the dwarf-like man who had been haunted me with text messages at the hotel turned out
Could it be that Solace, while peering into my memories, can also sense how much I love books, especially fantasy and kingdom genre novels? If so, Solace has chosen a world that suits me.Now I am leaning on the bed, sipping the delicious pumpkin soup, prepared by the skilled royal chef and delivered directly with smoke still rising from the pot.Now I understand my situation, the beautiful woman sitting in the chair looking at me is a princess of the king. The servant who brought the soup calls her Princess Adellia. I am relieved from trying to embarrass myself and avoid Adellia's suspicion that I am actually someone from a planet called Earth.This place is similar to the cottages that often appear on my social media page with titles like: aesthetic cottage. Although it is made of wood—I know it is not ordinary quality wood—this cottage is more comfortable than my brick-walled apartment.I could spend all day looking at the beautiful carvings on the ceiling, which I've just noticed