The room was eerily quiet, as if the walls had given up on keeping out the noise of the world.

Su Han sat in the dim, cluttered apartment, where light barely seemed to reach. The silence matched his lonely life—dusty books, unopened letters, and forgotten keepsakes filled the space. The air smelled of old paper and stale coffee.

He stared at a framed photo of his father on a small wooden table, the only piece of furniture not covered in dust. The photo showed a man Su Han hardly knew—a stern face with a faint smile he could never remember seeing. His father had always been a distant figure, a source of expectations Su Han never met.

As a child, Su Han was shy and unnoticed, an easy target for bullying. The taunts and shoved lockers started in middle school and continued through high school. He spent his teenage years hiding in his room, haunted by the cruel laughter of classmates.

"Is this what I've become?" Su Han whispered, his voice breaking with unspoken sorrow. "A stranger mourning a stranger?"

At the funeral, he felt out of place. The cold, sparsely attended ceremony was filled with the heavy smell of incense and whispers that seemed far-off. Su Han stood apart, feeling the distance between himself and the father he had struggled to understand.

His thoughts drifted back to school days, where his father's indifference to his problems had only made him feel more isolated. The strictness had made his world seem smaller and more painful.

Back in his apartment, grief settled over him like a heavy blanket. Despite the lack of closeness with his father, he felt both sorrow and resentment.

"It's too late for regrets," he murmured, his voice trembling. "I never had the chance to know him or change anything."

He touched the frame of the photo, tracing the edges with his fingers. The image offered no comfort, only a reminder of a past he could not change and a future that felt as empty as the room around him.

***

The city buzzed with life, ignoring Su Han's solitude.

He walked down the busy streets, the lively hum around him feeling distant and muffled. Neon lights flickered in the growing darkness, and the hurried footsteps of passersby seemed to mock his slow, deliberate pace.

He moved through the crowd like a shadow, unseen and untouched.

Each step felt heavier as he walked from the funeral parlor to his apartment. The city's noise, the laughter and chatter of people living their lives, clashed with the silence that had settled over him. He was alone in the crowd, lost in thoughts of the father he never really knew and the life he hadn’t fully lived.

As Su Han reached a busy intersection, a heated argument nearby caught his attention.

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A couple, faces flushed with anger, shouted at each other, their voices cutting through the city noise. They stood close to the road, completely absorbed in their quarrel, oblivious to their surroundings.

Su Han’s gaze locked on them as a truck rumbled toward the intersection, its horn blaring loudly. Panic surged through him as the truck seemed to approach in slow motion, and his heart pounded with urgency.

He tried to shout over the noise, but his voice was swallowed by the city's chaos.

Desperation clawed at him as he stumbled forward, trying to get the couple’s attention. They continued arguing, their backs turned to the oncoming danger. The truck grew closer, its shadow stretching across the pavement, and Su Han's attempts to warn them became frantic.

His mind raced between the urge to save them and the helplessness of his own situation.

The truck’s horn blared like a grim warning, cutting through the city’s din.

Su Han’s heart raced as he lunged toward the couple, his voice hoarse from shouting. The truck’s approach was relentless, its horn a deafening warning. In a surge of courage that felt unfamiliar, he screamed at the couple, urging them to move away from the road.

"Hey! Move!" Su Han shouted, his voice barely cutting through the chaos.

His cries were lost in their argument and the city noise. He waved his arms wildly, desperation clear on his face.

"Watch out! There's a truck!" he managed to yell, his voice hoarse from shouting.

The couple ignored him, their argument intensifying as if nothing else mattered.

The truck was almost upon them, its headlights glaring like a beast's eyes in the dark.

With a sudden swerve, the truck veered away from the couple, its tires screeching. Su Han watched in terror as the vehicle's path shifted toward him. He had no time to react before the truck slammed into him with brutal force, throwing him onto the pavement.

Pain hit him instantly and intensely. Su Han felt his body crumple under the impact, agony surging through him. The world spun around him, the city lights blurring into a chaotic smear. Distant sirens and murmurs of people finally noticing the scene reached his ears.

Lying there, struggling to breathe, a deep regret settled over him. His life had been full of missed chances and unrealized dreams.

The bustling city carried on, indifferent to his suffering.

His vision faded, edges of his consciousness slipping into darkness. The last feeling he had was a profound sorrow—sorrow for the life he had lived and the life he would never know.

As the world grew quiet, darkness enveloped him.

***

The darkness was absolute, a heavy shroud that swallowed all light.

Su Han’s vision blurred, and his grip on reality slipped away like sand through his fingers. The world’s chaos faded, leaving behind a void so complete it felt almost solid. He floated in this endless darkness, detached from the pain of his body and the noise of his final moments. His thoughts swirled with regret and sorrow, mixed with a faint, distant hope for something better.

Is this… it? Is this how it ends?

As his consciousness wavered, he experienced a strange sensation—like drifting through a vast, empty space. The shadows around him seemed to shift and flow.

What’s happening to me? Why is everything so… uncertain? Maybe… I could’ve done more…

He closed his eyes as if trying to shut out the darkness.

But what more could I have done? Why does it all feel so meaningless now?

His last clear thought was a mournful reflection on his life and a wish for a second chance.

Then, the darkness shattered like fragile glass, revealing an entirely new world.

Colors exploded in a vivid display.

The air was fresh and fragrant and a gentle hum of mystical energy pulsed through the environment.

“Where am I?” Su Han's voice was a faint whisper as he looked down and saw tiny, delicate hands—no longer those of a man, but of a little boy.

Panic surged through him.

“This can’t be real. I must be dreaming. But it feels so… alive. Why am I alive…?”