Kai wandered through the bustling streets of his city, the midday sun casting a warm golden hue over the urban landscape, a pleasant warmth filling the air. Summer was in full swing, and the air was rich with the scent of fresh pavement, blooming flowers, and the distant hum of city life. It was one of those rare, peaceful afternoons where everything felt perfectly in place. People moved with ease, their steps light, conversations flowing in soft murmurs as they crossed the street or grabbed a drink from a nearby café.

Fresh from college, Kai was in no particular rush to get home, so he took a sip from a sleek, metallic can of neon green and black energy drink he'd picked up earlier. The vibrant color screamed attention, and the promise of a burst of vitality was exactly what he needed after a long morning of boredom. The taste fizzed against his tongue, a mix of ginseng and something he couldn’t quite recognize without checking the ingredients—but it worked nonetheless. His body felt more alive with every sip, the surge of energy keeping him alert as he scrolled lazily through his phone, glancing at memes and whatever caught his attention.

His thumb moved mechanically across the screen, blitzing through social media apps with little interest. The usual posts—vacation photos, bad jokes, and the not-so-occasional influencer, shedding their clothes in exaggerated poses, desperately trying to provoke reactions. Their attempts to get noticed were so transparent, so painfully obvious—which worked against their goals.

As if…

Kai took another sip from his drink, shaking his head, "God, what a joke." Only to resume the scrolling process in a robotic manner.

As he flicked past the usual flood of posts, something caught his eye: a video thumbnail of a guy, dressed in what looked like nothing more than a tank top and cargo shorts, standing in the middle of a vast, desolate desert. The caption? "What could possibly go wrong?"

He tapped the video, intrigued, and the screen flickered to life. The man in the desert grinned broadly as he poured gasoline onto the dry sand. His antics were clearly meant to impress, but the absurdity of it all made the boy pause. The man pulled out a lighter, a gesture that gained a “Don’t” from Kai. But the guy didn’t listen. With a grin, he dropped the blaze.

The gasoline ignited instantly, but instead of the controlled burst of flame he was hoping for, the fire exploded in a wild arc, catching the man entirely off guard. In an instant, he was engulfed by an inferno, his wild shouts muffled by the crackling of sparks.

Kai watched, struggling to suppress the laughter building in his chest. The whole thing was ridiculous—the desperation in the guy’s movements, the sheer absurdity of it all.

"Man... the sense of humor I’ve developed from this shitty social media," he muttered to himself, laughing copiously under his breath. "But, it’s gold."

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He couldn’t help but enjoy the imagery: this guy, in his desperate panic, was cosplaying a human tumbleweed, rolling down the desert hill, trying to put out the fire that seemed to just burn hotter with every second.

"Nice," he chuckled to himself, before taking another sip from his drink.

As he continued down the sidewalk toward the pâtisserie, his mind wandered to the comforting thought of a fresh cup of coffee. "It's fine, it's fine," he murmured. "I don't have a caffeine problem. I've been consuming multiple caffeine products almost daily for the past 7 years now—if I were to have a problem with it, I'd know by now." It was a ridiculous line he enjoyed spewing out to his friends whenever they worried about his heart's health. They often nagged him about it, but he never took it seriously. What were they even worried about? He was fine.

Still, the thought of coffee lingered as a promise of focus in his otherwise foggy mind. Without enough of it, he'd find himself quite dysfunctional, his body sluggish and his thoughts clouded.

"Maybe I’ll text them later," he muttered, carefully placing his phone into his pocket, for now.

He strolled into the fancy pâtisserie, its crisp, inviting scent of freshly baked croissants and rich coffee immediately filling the air. The small bell above the door jingled softly as he entered, and the place exuded a warm, welcoming atmosphere, with plush chairs and soft lighting casting a gentle glow on the polished wood counters.

Behind the counter, the old man who worked there was as familiar as the pastries themselves. His silver hair and spectacles made him seem like an eternal fixture of the shop. Kai greeted him with a simple, “Hello again!”

Without looking up from the dough he was preparing, the man’s voice rose to meet him. “The usual?” he replied, recognizing the noise instantly.

Kai was about to reply with his typical "Yes, please" when something strange happened—beneath his feet, the floor suddenly shimmered, a glowing circle expanding outward beneath him like a massive, otherworldly portal. He froze mid-sentence, a cold chill running down his spine. His heart skipped a beat as he looked down at the strange, unnatural light.

“Oh no!” he groaned, his voice full of exasperation. “Did I let my guard down? Is Lady Fate interested that much in me?”

It seems like she is trying a little too hard with this boy, pushing him through quite a few struggles.

You see, Kai has already encountered lesser anomalies, such as:

* Surviving a midday encounter with a crazed knife-wielding maniac.

"No injuries—on me or pedestrians. Don’t worry!"

* He’s been nearly run over by every type of vehicle imaginable, including roller skates.

“Don’t ask…”

* He almost drowned saving a 4 year-old who somehow managed to paddle a kayak to the middle of a lake.

“Seriously! How!?”

* He’s worried his friends and family with a 33-hour sleep marathon.

“I don’t regret anything!”

* And he’s pretty sure that he avoided a UFO abduction, just last week!

“I don’t want my organ harvested, thank you not-so-very-much!”

Back in the pâtisserie, the scene of Kai was quite spectacular! His steps quickened, trying to outrun the light, but the circle, almost sentient, matched his pace exactly, gliding after him, as if it were teasing him.

He knew he was unable to outrun this thing after the first failed dash, so he silently accepted his fate. He turned back, looking at the counter in defeat, where the owner's eyes met his.

With a demoralized tone, he left his last words lingering against the atmosphere: “Well played... GG. I say GG, but it wasn’t actually GG...”