The chilly night wind hit me softly against the face as I rode on my bicycle through the lit streets of the suburb. The traffic was lessening now that it’s almost 10PM, with there being fewer cars and even fewer pedestrians that could be seen strolling along the walkways. The reason for this was mainly due to the general law of my town's people putting a curfew for everyone to be home by 10PM as that’s when the dark forces work.

It’s superstition, but criminals do tend to come out at night and attack unwary travellers, so most try to heed this like a principle. I too share some sentiments towards those things, but I don’t fear the dark. Heck. I even tell anyone who ask whether I was afraid of the dark, I simply give them this reply:

“The darkness is my friend.”

They would simply laugh it off as me being childish and warn me to be careful at night. Of course, I do my best to be careful at night. There’s no way I’m letting myself get caught up in unnatural situations. Well, I certainly do wish time and again for scenes from fantasy novels that I read to come to fruition despite knowing that my reality will never change.

“Ah…! I can’t be bothered to worry about anything with this calming breeze hitting against me as I ride along at night,” I said out loud contentedly.

It was a wonderful feeling to be riding in the night with the cool breeze keeping you comfort and letting you relax. It was as if all the stress from work, financial troubles, and other things didn’t really matter anymore. Even so, the comments that idiot Graham made about my bicycle stung me a little.

“What’s so wrong about riding a bicycle? What if it looks old? I’m having the time of my life!” I proclaimed into the night while pedalling leisurely. “In fact, it’s that idiot who’s wasting his money by driving a car to work. I mean, seriously? Who in their right mind drives a car to work at this kind of place? That show off!”

That part of Graham had been there ever since I first met him four-months-ago at the time of applying for an employment there at the Booster Gold. He rocked up wearing snazzy clothing and just handed his resume over to the counter after me with a statement of, “Do make me get the chef’s job, yeah? That’ll be cool.”

I was not really sure how to react to his daring approach in requesting the job. But still, the manager simply laughed it off as a comedic act on Graham’s part and accepted the application. So, I guess the main reason prompting him to hate me so much and complain that I stole his requested role was due to his ego getting injured.

“He didn’t get want he wanted, so he’s being all salty about it,” I muttered, feeling irritated. Then a thought struck me, and I couldn’t help but laugh as I muttered, “That’s probably why the manager accepted him in but gave him the counter role instead. Ha! Serves him right!”

I happily cheered with myself while riding along the empty street. He’s an arrogant guy but I get the feeling that’s only due to him showing his animosity towards me. Like, the day before when his partner at the next counter was struggling and was late in taking the customer’s orders, Graham stepped in before the customer could yell at him.

Remembering the events, I paused in my work and watched him quickly handle the purchase of the order and appeased the customer by delivering a classic apology. I wouldn’t have believed my eyes if I didn’t witness it happening. That Graham, that arrogant guy actually helped out a fellow staff member and cooled the customer.

Well, he might’ve done that to show off and all, but it felt real. No to mention that later, he gave a friendly advice to that staff member on how to do quick transactions to better please the customers. So, he’s a good guy, I guess.

“But never to me,” I sighed gloomily. Then I pondered, “But the way he acts and goes about, you’d think he’s from a rich family. If so, why on earth is he coming here to work? Could it be that he wants to strike out on his own to prove his worth?”

Wild ideas with no backing and no source appeared in my mind as I speculated about his background. That was the great part about fantasying because it makes you think outside the box. Of course, it has little to no relevance to reality and would be pretty much useless in my day-to-day life. But, it’s a thrilling way to pass the time by imaging stuff that we wished to happen.

Take for instance, the fantasy stories regarding reincarnation in another world, or being summoned to another world to be their hero. Then going out on quests, growing in strength, with a set goal of defeating the Demon King or whoever was the baddie at that time and win lots of ladies.

“I doubt I have the stamina to lead a harem if I do get the chance,” I remarked and laughed at the hilarity of my own words. “But still, rather than being summoned into another world, it would be so cool if such a concept came to the modern society.”

So far, I’ve read a lot of being summoned, or reincarnated into another world type of stories. There were a few time travels here and there, but I was getting really bored of those. What I’m interested in now is for fantasy to hit the modern world.

By that, I actually am not sure what to expect since it’s only a thought, and I didn’t really believe it could happen. There were some stories that I noticed with good ideas such as sending the population of an entire world to a fantasy world to prepare them for when they return to their evolved home world.

“Too bad nothing like that will come true,” I muttered wearily.

Can I be blamed for my negative thoughts? Living alone, working alone, riding alone all the time with not a single friend to spend time with or people to understand you. In fact, as I slowly grew through the ranks of the society, I keep facing more and more people that are willing to diss you.

For example, take those guys back at the locker room that commented rudely about me always being this way. Everyone has their own way of living. This is mine, so instead of keeping quiet, they decide to vent whatever negative feelings they had for me in the form of making rude comments about me.

“I have no idea how I upset them, but I guess it’s not a good thing if I, basically a nobody from around town, suddenly start getting the attention of the manager,” I complained irritably.

Madam Suzan Stone had been very appreciative of me and seems to like me very much. Heck, she often comes by to check on me more regularly than the others. Adding onto that is her beauty despite being single at her age. I suppose the other guys got jealous of my closer than staff relation that I have with her and tend to take out their frustration on me without making it direct.

“They lack the guts, those cowards!” I muttered through gritted teeth. Then I sighed and muttered, “But I suppose this is the kind of treatment someone who stands out too much from little to no background shows up to take their spotlight.”

I groan and look up at the night sky filled with a few stars here and there.

“Reality is just too harsh on me and this is why I prefer fantasy,” I expressed my feelings into the night. Then I chuckle and mutter, “Well, no point getting all depressed when my goal of being really rich is still ahead!”

So, with renewed determination, I started pedalling quickly to get to the apartment that I’m renting at. Along the way, I arrived at a crossing and was forced to stop and set my foot down when the pedestrian crossing lights were red.

So, I waited patiently while one or two cars went by across the crossing. I’m always impressed that the drivers still heed the rules of driving safely and crossing only when their side of the traffic lights turned green. But then again, there are the traffic cameras to catch the rule-breakers, so I guess this is for the best, for everyone’s safety sake.

While I lamented and waited for my side of the traffic lights to turn green, I felt the wind quicken its pace. It started to get chillier, and I briefly wondered if a storm was coming. But I soon realised that it was not a storm; it was something that was completely out of this world.

When a strange light started glowing brightly, I looked up thinking that it was a helicopter, though I was unnerved because it made no sound. It turned out to be some kind of light, soaring down from the sky like a rocket fired from a turret.

“What the hell is—?!” I exclaimed in shock.

I couldn’t even finish my sentence when the jet of light rocketed to the next crossing and slammed hard against the road. There was an instantaneous explosion that released a strong shock wave and wind in all directions on impact. I almost toppled off my bicycle as I leaned forward to grab hold onto the traffic pole to not get blown away by the sudden strong wind.

The crazy wind lasted for several seconds before it slowly died down and returned to normal. Smoke, however, continued to billow in all directions, covering the view of all sides. I coughed several times and straightened my posture while still managing to retain my seating on my bicycle.

“What the heck… just happened?” I asked, feeling terrified.

I pressed one hand against my chest and felt my heart racing rapidly from the sudden shock of experiencing this crazy turn of events. I couldn’t blame it because I, as its owner, was also shocked by this unbelievable event.

These kinds of things only happen in fiction because who in the world would think something like this would happen to them? Seriously! It just kind of appeared out of nowhere, and I didn’t even get the time to even finish my sentence, let alone escape from its crash landing.

“Is it a meteorite? A small one at that?” I wondered aloud with curiosity with my heart still beating rapidly.

While such a thought did come to my mind, I also realised that it made no sense. Those with telescopes, especially those who run the space stations and global meteor warnings, should’ve seen this coming and warned everyone. So, it made no sense of how something like a meteor could’ve escaped from their radar while entering Earth’s atmosphere.

Just as I was about to disembark from my bicycle, I heard something odd; footsteps. Following that was the sound of heavy breathing and then the smoke slowly started to clear. When it did, I saw something, scratch that, someone that I thought I would never see in this or any lifetime.

There stood a person, a woman at a guess, with long golden hair billowing behind her, she was dressed in all white robes with wings of pure white colour stretching out from behind her back. I don’t want to hurt the feelings of anyone about my believe that person is a woman because she’s just too frigging beautiful to be a male. Honest!

The girl, who appeared to be in her ripe age at a guess, was glancing around at her surroundings. Then she spotted me and an unbelievable smile formed on her face. Her smile was so beautiful that I thought my heart would explode by how amazing it made her appear.

A moment later, she hurried over to where I stood and seemed to be looking into my eyes. I also looked right back at her because she was just too darn attractive for me to look anywhere else. Then she parted her lovely lips and spoke to me for the first time.

“Please… save the world.”