1 I Have Death Flags But I Avoided Them
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NOTICE!
Just a friendly piece of advice. Please read the Auxiliary Chapter: Introduction, before continuing. Be sure to check the tags and genres first before proceeding any further.
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※・Arc 1: My Death Flags Kept On Showing And I Succumbed To Them!・※
Life is so mysterious and full of surprises. Sometimes, certain events would take place all of a sudden — even with no one intending for it to happen. A certain person who's living on Earth can definitely attest to this statement. Given how weird, surprising, and coincidental were the things that transpired around him out of the blue, he's one of those few people who could prove that weird and messed up coincidences could happen even in real life.
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※Somewhere in the Philippines※
A guy around his early twenties can be seen playing ball at an impromptu basketball court. The rim was a simple one made by bending a rusty iron rod, the backboard was a bunch of used plywood — patched up and nailed on a pretty long tree log — to make a decent looking basketball hoop. The ball he is using was full of patches, while the measurements of the whole court will never pass the regulations. However, despite all this, the guy was still playing with a satisfied look on his face.
The guy wore an old T-shirt with a faded red color, making it look like a pink T-shirt instead, a worn out jersey shorts, and a pair of ragged shoes. His posture is terrible, with his shoulders drooping and his back being slightly slumped. No aura of confidence can be felt from him, unlike those other players who play basketball.
Just one look and you'll know that he isn't from a well off family. The way he dressed up, the way he carried himself. Despite all this, he still showed a smile that can only be seen from those people who is enjoying their life.
"Haaa, haa… just a few more shots and I'll be finished with my daily shooting practice."
He's been practicing like this ever since he was a child but he never really showed any talent in the sport. Even though he likes the sport from the bottom of his heart, he just never got good at it, only reaching a point where he is slightly better than average street ball players. Given the country that he lives in, he knew that that statement speaks volume at how bad he is at the sport.
Even though many Filipinos like him loves basketball from the bottom of their heart, many of them just weren't blessed with the needed physique to play the sport. Add it to the fact that he was from a family who's barely getting by everyday and his age, you know that the man's dream about playing the sport on a professional level would never bear fruit.
After taking a deep breath, the man took the standard shooting posture before jumping up and releasing the ball. There was nothing extraordinary about it, just a normal jumpshot that any normal person can perform with some practice. The ball traveled in the air in a parabola before it hit the back of the rim. Due to the backspin being enough, the ball didn't bounce back up but instead sunk in, marking the end of the guy's practice session.
He then stretched his body to cool off before picking up his belongings. He left the impromptu basketball court and exited the alleyway, entering the empty street with no one in sight. This came as no surprise to the guy as he knew that this street is known for some ghost stories around his area. Aside from it being located at a quite remote area, the path on which this leads to is an isolated forest with nothing particularly special about it.
As he was walking down the sidewalk, the sky darkened all of a sudden and small droplets of rain started to pour. This came as a surprise to him as there was no news about a typhoon entering the PAR(Philippine Area of Responsibility). Storms can form around archipelagos quite often, yes, but this is just straight up unusual. What's more, just now, he heard the sky rumble.
"A thunderstorm? At this timing?"
The guy couldn't believe it. His luck truly is the worst today. As he was cursing his bad luck inwardly, he suddenly saw a flash of light enter within his peripheral vision. Then, with a loud boom and a clap of thunder, large debris and dust scattered in the air.
*Rumble*
*Boom*
Out of instinct, the guy ran forward, effectively evading a large debris from crushing him. Then, before the man could breathe a sigh of relief from the close call, another flash of light came down from the sky and touched the ground just a few tens of meters near him.
*Boooom*
The guy hit the wall of a building next to him due to a piece of asphalt hitting him at his stomach.
"Guh!"
His stomach hurts so bad and his ears are ringing. His vision was blurred and he can't understand why and how did he end up in this kind of perilous situation so out of the blue. There is no way in hell a lightning strike would so abruptly occur in the middle of an abandoned street. Besides, this area is in no way a hotspot for thunderstorms, much less get hit by a lightning strike.
Just as he was doubting the situation he found himself in, the boy looked up in the sky and saw literal balls of lightning descend from the sky. He read about this on a book before. Albeit rare, it is listed as one of the most dangerous natural occurrences that may occur during a thunderstorm. It is so dangerous that anyone who gets hit by it will be in a dire situation. However…
"Isn't this a bit too much?"
The guy no longer dilly dallied as he gathered his strength and immediately sprinted towards a nearby cover. Sometimes, he would even trip and fall, adding scratches and bruises on his pretty battered body. However, the man didn't stop running. That is because, if he get hit by these literal electro balls, he'll be a goner for sure.
One by one, the balls of lightning touched the ground, road, sidewalk, roofs, and etc.
*tzzzt* *tzzt*
*tzzzzt* *tzzzt*
*tzt*
The guy waited until it was all over before going out of the abandoned building that he used as cover. Looking around, he saw the charred surfaces of the road, walls, and etc. Seeing the destruction in the surroundings, the man didn't know whether he should thank his luck that he avoided such a disaster or curse his bad luck for encountering such an unusual life threatening incident.
"*sigh*… What was that about? That was definitely not something normal! But… why did it happen?"
He angrily scratched his head, messing up his hair, before angrily stomping his feet on the cemented ground of the sidewalk.
"Arrrrghh! No use thinking about such things! I'll just go home and rest!"
After deciding his next course of action, the guy took action. Walking down the sidewalk of the now dangerous road in his mind, the man took his steps hastily while holding his stomach with a pained expression.
"That was definitely a lot of death flags that I avoided, right? I wonder, if I got hit by those lightning balls and lightning strikes, would I meet God?" the man thought jokingly.
Isekai novels, fanfictions, animes, and mangas has been popular lately so the man couldn't help but think of such silly things. It was quite common for a protagonist to die suddenly, without any warning, and meet a godlike being who will grant them a wish or two. Wait… was it three? Four? Numbers of wishes aside, it was a cliché for protagonists to meet godly beings right after dying and reincarnating to their world of choice.
Albeit getting a redo is definitely nice in his opinion, he still didn't want to die. Life, after all, is precious. As a human, he have this innate fear towards death and he certainly wouldn't talk about dying so lightly.
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To be continued…
[A/N¹: Read the introduction first before proceeding. Don't go telling me that it's my fault if you didn't like it if you still go ahead and proceed on reading despite the fact that you've already seen what this novel can offer. Seriously guys, just turn around when you see a genre or tag you don't like.]
