Rain drizzled outside the café windows, covering the city in a dull gray haze.
Ben stirred his coffee absentmindedly as he looked at the woman sitting across from him.
His girlfriend.
Or... at least, she still was for another few seconds.
She took a deep breath before finally speaking.
"Ben... let’s break up."
Ben blinked.
"...What?"
"I said, let’s end this."
For a moment, he thought he had misheard her.
He stared at her in confusion.
"Why?"
She sighed, as if she had expected that question.
"Do I really have to explain?"
Ben frowned.
"Yes."
She crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair.
"You’re twenty-six years old, Ben."
"So?"
"So?" she repeated with disbelief. "You still work a normal office job that barely pays enough to cover your rent. You don’t own a house, you don’t own a car, and you don’t even have any real ambitions."
Ben remained silent.
She continued without holding back.
"I’ve waited two years, hoping you’d change. Hoping you’d become someone I could build a future with."
"But nothing happened."
"You just keep saying things will get better."
Her words struck harder than she expected.
Ben clenched the warm coffee cup in his hands.
"I’ve been trying."
"I know."
She nodded.
"But trying isn’t enough anymore."
"I want someone who can give me a better life."
"Someone successful."
"Someone who can actually maintain a family."
She looked away before adding quietly,
"And... that someone isn’t you."
Silence filled the table.
The sounds of people chatting, cups clinking, and soft music playing in the background suddenly felt incredibly distant.
Ben lowered his head.
"So..."
"That’s it?"
She nodded.
"I’m sorry."
She stood up, picked up her handbag, and placed a small envelope on the table.
"There’s some cash inside."
"You’ll need it more than I do."
Ben looked at the envelope before pushing it back toward her.
"I don’t need your pity."
Her hand froze for a moment.
"...Goodbye, Ben."
Without another word, she turned around and walked out of the café.
The bell above the entrance rang softly as the door closed behind her.
Ben remained seated, staring through the rain-covered window as her figure gradually disappeared into the crowd.
He let out a long sigh.
"...Well."
"There goes my first relationship."
A bitter smile appeared on his face.
He couldn’t even blame her.
Life wasn’t easy.
He worked nine hours every day.
His salary was average.
Rent, food, bills...
By the time everything was paid, there was barely anything left.
Owning a house?
Buying a luxury car?
Starting a family?
Those dreams felt impossibly far away.
Ben leaned back in his chair and laughed at himself.
"I guess life really isn’t an anime."
"There are no cheat abilities."
"No systems."
"No reincarnation."
"No magic."
"Just work until you die."
Little did he know...
Those careless words would become the greatest irony of his life.
Ben sat quietly for another minute before finally standing up.
As he reached for his jacket, his eyes fell on the envelope his ex-girlfriend had left behind.
He picked it up and opened it.
Inside were several cash notes.
Ben smiled helplessly.
"She really thought I’d take this."
He slipped the money back into the envelope and walked out of the café.
The cool rain had already stopped, leaving the streets slightly wet.
People hurried past him, busy with their own lives.
As Ben walked down the sidewalk, he noticed an old beggar sitting near the entrance of the café.
The old man wore worn-out clothes, and a small cardboard sign rested beside him.
Ben stopped in front of him.
Without saying anything, he placed the envelope into the old man’s hands.
"Here, buddy."
The old man looked at the envelope in surprise.
Ben smiled.
"I think you need it more than I do."
He turned around and started walking away.
"Young man."
Ben stopped.
The old beggar slowly stood up, something that looked surprisingly easy despite his age.
"Thank you," the old man said with a warm smile.
Ben nodded.
"It’s okay."
The old man reached into his pocket and pulled out a small metallic cube.
It was about the size of a dice.
Its surface was covered with strange silver patterns that seemed to shift whenever light reflected off them.
The cube looked far too refined to belong to a beggar.
The old man placed it in Ben’s hand.
"You’ll need this in your new life."
Ben frowned.
"My new life?"
Before he could ask another question, the old man simply smiled.
Ben looked down at the cube.
"What is this?"
He turned it over several times.
It was surprisingly light, and the glowing lines on its surface looked almost alive.
"It looks pretty cool."
He shrugged.
"I guess it’s some kind of collectible."
Without thinking much about it, he slipped the cube into his jacket pocket.
As he walked toward the crosswalk, he never noticed the old beggar watching him with a mysterious smile.
Ben waited for the traffic light to turn green.
The pedestrian signal finally changed.
He stepped onto the road along with several other people.
Suddenly...
Screech!
The sound of tires echoed through the street.
People began screaming.
Ben instinctively turned toward the noise.
A large truck was racing toward the intersection at full speed.
Its driver looked completely panicked as he desperately tried to control the vehicle.
Ben’s eyes widened.
"You’ve got to be kidding me..."
Everything happened too quickly.
He tried to move.
His body refused to react.
The truck slammed into him with terrifying force.
Bang!
Ben was thrown high into the air.
His body spun uncontrollably before crashing onto the road nearly a hundred meters away.
The surrounding crowd screamed in horror.
By the time his body came to a stop...
There was no life left in his eyes.
Death had been instant.
Far away, the old beggar quietly watched the scene.
He simply smiled.
At that moment, the metallic cube inside Ben’s pocket began to glow with a faint silver light.
The light quickly spread across his body before disappearing without anyone noticing.
It was as if the cube had never existed.
And so...
Ben’s life on Earth came to an end.