“Now choose,” the voice boomed in Alexander’s mind.

But Alexander remained motionless, the cloth clenched tightly in his hand, his breaths coming in rapid succession as he struggled to quell the tumult within.

The voice also fell silent, as if giving him time to think.

In the recesses of Alexander's mind, vivid imagery of chaos unfolded: flames licking at structures, the air thick with panic as people fled in all directions. Amongst the throng, some were wounded, while others faced the harrowing possibility of losing those dearest to them. And amidst this turmoil, Alexander couldn't shake the haunting image of the two restaurant owners, their livelihoods teetering on the brink of ruin should he proceed with his plan.

Alexander’s grip tightened, but he sighed and was about to turn back. There was no way he was going to be able to do this.

But just as he was about to do so, he heard the siren of a police car or an ambulance. But in his mind, he was sure that it was a police car. His mind was overwhelmed with the sense of his mother crying as he was dragged away by the police, leaving in prison. Then eventually coming back to society amidst scornful looks from everyone. Getting rejected by jobs and eventually dying on the roadside.

Alexander could not hold it in anymore as he threw the cloth in his hand right at the sparks and ran away from there without looking back. Humans were, after all, selfish creatures first and foremost.

But Alexander did not run far before he had to stop. He was forced to walk rather than run; his legs were killing him. It proved that though he upgraded his constitution through training, his body was still not accustomed to the exertion of his full strength.

But Alexander did not care about that; he felt guilt, immense guilt. And he was murmuring to himself that there was nothing he could have done, there was nothing. He took the best decision. Alternative scenarios and paths flashed in his mind of how he could have prevented this.

Soon he was home, and like a walking corpse, he collapsed into his bed. The guilt, stress, panic dragging his exhausted self to sleep.

“This is just the start, kiddo, the path of heaven's ascension is not filled with straggles, passion, and determination; it is filled with corpses. Fields of them, mounds of them, oceans of them,” the voice murmured as Alexander was swept away into the depth of a dream, or rather was it a nightmare.

The fire raged on as people ran like scattered ants. Some caught in it. Some screaming, some melting, some even looking on in despair. Slowly, Alexander saw it, the fire, forming something, as it consumed all—the screams of the people, the hope of the children, and the helplessness of the situation. It raised, forming a face, his face. With a satisfied grin.

Even before the alarm went off, Alexander stood up abruptly from the sleep. His body drenched in sweat, his heart racing, his pulse throbbing.

It was not easy forgetting what he had done, not for a moment. It was no dream; he did it, he actually committed arson. What the hell.

“Now for the news of Today,” from downstairs, the sound of the TV reached him. His father was watching the news. Alexander covered his ears with his hands as he did not want to listen.

After all this time, the voice spoke, “Open your status screen. Don’t you want to see what your labor has brought forth?”

“No, I don’t want to,” Alexander said grumpily.

But after some time of sulking to himself, he did open the status screen:

Name: Alexander

Race: Human

Level: 5

Exp: 15/302

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Strength: 12

Perception: ___

Dexterity: ___

Agility: ___

Constitution: 3

Intelligence: ___

Vitality: ___

[Free point: 3]

Alexander was shocked; the cow probably gave him 225 exp, which was quite substantial, and that one thing propelled him to level 5. But even after knowing he leveled up, Alexander did not, or rather could not, feel happy.

He sulked to himself for a few more minutes, and the voice also did not disturb him. After some time, Alexander decided to at least use the 3 free points; if not anything, this would take his mind off the issue at least.

It did not take him long to put all the points in strength. And as always, he looked once more to see 15 beside the strength attribute. At least one good thing so far.

Alexander quickly got ready and went out, not even attending breakfast.

But no matter how he tried, reality caught up with him. In his hurry, he forgot to bring his earphones, and everyone on the bus was talking about the incident.

He was both relieved and sad to hear what happened. It was reported that an unidentifiable lunatic attacked some butcher. And also, there was a fire in the 19th section of the bazaar where, although nobody died, 7 people got injured, among which 2 have severe conditions.

The cause of the fire is still unknown, but the new up-and-coming police officer, transferred from Union City, suspects that the two incidents might be connected somehow.

Alexander was at first very worried and almost on the verge of crying, but then he heard it:

“The most peculiar thing is there was no way to identify this lunatic. Every feature police could use to identify this man was obscured in the CCTV somehow, such as his height, eyes, brow, or bone structure,” a senior was showing off his knowledge to a junior girl sitting beside him.

“Nowadays it’s not safe anymore. Lunatics on the loose, fire in the market,” the junior lamented.

“Not only that, the butcher who was attacked is also being interrogated. As police are trying to figure out why someone will attack him. The poor bastard. Ha, ha.”

“That is not the main issue, I heard the two restaurant owners, one of them already tried to commit suicide. But fortunately, his 4-year-old daughter saw him and screamed, saving his father’s life.” Another senior from the back chimed in, which made the first senior frown.

“Yeah, it is to be expected, I also heard the news. Apparently, the man has a huge debt, and now that his restaurant burned down. Sigh,” the junior girl sighed.

Hearing this, Alexander felt a pang in his heart. At first, he felt good that at least no one died. But now, what the hell did he just do?

The bus soon reached the university, and everyone got off. Alexander also got off, completed his classes, then went to the library. All the while, the agony he caused the people kept repeating in his mind, not to mention when everyone around was talking about this exact news. Especially how the poor man wanted to commit suicide. And how he now had to face the world to give back his debt or lose everything.

The weight of guilt was getting heavier by the second, and Alexander was not strong enough to bear it.

Alexander, feeling frustrated and overwhelmed, went to the cafeteria for food. Buying some buttered bread, he went to a corner to eat. Even in here, where most of the people were typically busy either eating or flirting, today was busy with talk about the incident.

The chatter fueled his frustration, which in turn exacerbated his intake.

“There he is,” as Alexander was eating with frustration, Taker arrived in the cafeteria.

Taker, along with two of his henchmen, started walking toward Alexander.

“Look who decided to show up,” Taker said as he reached Alexander. But Alexander did not mind him as he kept eating, his mind occupied with the thought of what he did.

A pang of anger flared onto Taker’s face, but he soon hid it. As he looked at the handsome Nathan beside him.

“Oh! Don’t bother, man. He would not talk to us. He thinks we are beneath him. We are not worth in his eyes to talk with,” Nathan understanding his friend’s signals said in a sarcastic but loud tone so that everybody could hear.

“Yeah, how can we be worth of him? Did you not see he signed up for the Capital Enrollment Tournament? What are we to him? Isn’t it right?” Taker asked again, but Alexander was too engrossed in his own thoughts to notice any of that.

Taker waited for a few minutes, but after seeing no answer from Alexander this time, his face contorted.

“What, friend, do you think I am beneath you to talk to?” This time Taker got almost to Alexander’s face as he said this. And anger was visible on his face.

Courtesy of his father, Taker was well-known in the university, and though they knew he was a trust fund baby, they also knew how much power he wielded in the university, from connections to seniors, even to the teachers. So everybody knew the moment he walked in that someone was going to have a bad time today.

“Don’t bother me. I am eating, bro,” Alexander said calmly.

At this moment, the veins on Taker’s forehead throbbed.

Crash.

In the next moment, a still plate went flying, hitting one of the pillars then the floor along with the half-eaten buttery bread. The whole cafeteria fell silent; the only sound was of the plate spinning then settling.

“What do you really think, a fucking talentless trash is better than me?” Taker said, frustration and anger erupting from his voice.

Alexander did not hear or rather he did not care for any of the words spoken, neither did he take into account how they were said. All he knew was he could not take it anymore, first the weight of the guilt was literally crushing him and now this clown was here to bully him.

Were all the unfortunate things in the world his to bear? Fuck it, fuuuuuck it. Why should he be the victim in every case? He had enough. To hell with everything, he needed to vent and the outlet was in front of him.

Boom.

A thunderous boom echoed through the cafeteria, reverberating against the walls, followed by the heavy thud of wooden plugs hitting the ground. In that charged moment, the entire cafeteria seemed to inhale collectively, as if drawing in a sharp breath of air in unison, a tangible shock in the atmosphere.

Alexander stood amidst the debris of a shattered table, beneath which lay the bruised form of Taker. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, staining the ground beneath him with crimson.