Opening the hatch of a PAC P-750 XSTOL, one of the only aircraft models designed specifically for skydiving, was a young man in his early twenties with brown hair and brown eyes, and an average build.
He had a fierce expression on his face, with an emotion that not even thousands of feet above the ground could erase.
"Don't you think you're a little rushed, Arthur?" asked Bill, a man in his early thirties with blond hair and light eyes. He was one of Arthur's close friends.
"Not rushed, but excited," he replied, no longer able to contain his excitement.
Arthur was just another average person on planet Earth. He had a degree in computer science and a reasonably decent job at a game development company.
He also worked as a coin miner, earning a good living, and didn't have to live in the same hardships as all the protagonists in the novels they read on the Web Novel app.
He had a fiancée, the most beautiful woman in the world, at least according to Arthur himself, and a family, with its problems, like every human family, but a loving family.
His life was decent, and he had nothing to complain about.
But something always seemed off; he always felt something was missing, but he couldn't pinpoint what it was; he was almost always understood.
His life simply didn't bring him enough excitement.
To compensate, he immersed himself in fictional worlds, whether virtual reality games with engaging stories or novels that captivated him.
He always preferred these worlds to be kingdom-building, fantasy worlds, full of supernatural and exciting things.
But to feel the excitement firsthand, instead of thinking about reading and playing games, he had some unusual clothes.
"Come on, Arthur, are you ready for this?" said Erik, a robustly built twenty-eight-year-old with dark hair and eyes, one of Arthur's best friends, if not his best.
"I never will be, but that's what makes it better," Arthur replied with a wide smile.
"The hatch will open on three," the pilot said through the microphone.
"Come on, guys, this is going to be one of the most dangerous jumps we've ever done, but also one of the most exciting," said James, the wingsuit team leader.
"You crazy guy, if you die and make my sister cry over it, I'll kill you," said John, a forty-year-old man with box braids and a bodybuilder build. He was the plane's pilot, with a false seriousness in his voice.
"Don't worry, John. If he dies, I'll take care of Leth," said Erik, drawing laughter from everyone and relaxing the atmosphere.
"As if I'd want to be taken care of by a chubby guy like you," replied Lethicia, a beautiful twenty-two-year-old with a slim body, black hair, and a beautiful pair of brown eyes that held a captivating depth.
She was Arthur's fiancée; they were a few months away from their wedding.
"My Leth would never want someone ugly like you, Erik. She only has eyes for me."
"First, I don't belong to anyone, and second, if you die, I'll find a Vincenzo to take care of me the next day."
"You're breaking my heart like that," Arthur said, dramatically placing his hand over his heart.
Everyone on the plane burst into laughter, even more so at the familiar exchange between the two.
No one could deny that they were soulmates, as they truly loved each other, and each exchange only further demonstrated how healthy their relationship was.
"Let's stop fooling around, the plane is already approaching the ideal jumping-off point," John said, making everyone sober.
But the emotion on Arthur's face never faded.
"Come on, guys, give your hearts away." Arthur was so excited that his otaku side came out.
"You're not in any anime, Arthur," Erik laughed.
"Stop ruining my fun, Erik, or I'll push you down there," Arthur replied, turning to Lethicia and adopting a newfound seriousness.
"And you, my love, take care, because I'll be back soon. This will be the last time I do something so dangerous, and after that, we'll stay home quietly, just making out... and making love, of course," Arthur told her, whispering the last part so only she could hear.
"You take care too, love, be careful down there," she replied as they kissed.
"Hurry up, you lovebirds," Bill said, what everyone else was thinking.
They couldn't understand how a man as crazy as Arthur could manage to just stay home, but they thought that was the power of love.
After they broke away from the kiss, Arthur went to finish adjusting his jump gear.
They were going to jump near a mountain range, one of the highest and steepest in the world.
After a few minutes of preparation, they were ready to jump.
Arthur suddenly felt a tightness in his chest, but he couldn't quite pinpoint what it was. He went over to Lethicia anyway, gave her a passionate kiss, and said,
"I love you, see you soon, love."
"I love you too, but what was up all of a sudden?" she asked worriedly.
"Nothing, I just felt like telling you how much I love you," he replied, trying to let go of the tightness in his chest.
"Come on, Arthur, it's like you'll never see her again," Erik said.
If Arthur had known what was about to happen, he would have said goodbye much better.
"Stop throwing up red flags, you idiot," Arthur said, approaching the landing gear and positioning himself for the jump.
Before diving, he took one last look at his fiancée. She waved to him, and with new determination, he took the lead and dove toward the thrill his being needed.
So the four of them jumped: Arthur, Bill, Erik, and James.
Lethicia was also jumping, but that day she couldn't go, as she was in her girl's prime.
So she stayed with her brother in the plane.
James was the leader, but since it would be Arthur's last day of jumping, he let him lead. After more than three hundred jumps, Arthur had plenty of experience.
They dove headfirst, increasing their speed with each passing second, then opening their arms after a few seconds, to glide like true birds.
Wingsuit flying is a very dangerous sport, but invigorating for those who dare.
The four of them, with Arthur leading, headed up the mountainside, performing extreme maneuvers and navigating breathtaking passages.
Seeing the rocks approaching at breakneck speeds, the danger at every turn, was an emotion Arthur couldn't quite grasp, helping her fill the void that existed.
They spent minutes on this adrenaline-pumping adventure, until they finally reached a point of no speed, and to descend, they opened their parachutes and were heading for the safety of the ground.
Some distance away was the plane. Arthur waved, knowing Leticia would be watching with binoculars.
He had a smile on his face, a smile of relief that the bad feeling hadn't materialized.
But that smile disappeared in an instant.
A rock larger than a grown man suddenly crashed into the tail of the plane, causing it to lose control and head toward the mountains.
"Lethicia," Arthur screamed at the top of his lungs, but he could do nothing as the woman he loved most in his life, and the only person who could bring excitement to his life, headed toward certain death.
But he didn't have time to watch the whole time, as a shockwave hit them, and the parachutes began to be thrown everywhere, completely out of control.
Arthur was being thrown toward the mountains they had just passed. He couldn't see his friends or the plane anymore; he saw everything spinning.
But he managed to glimpse what had caused it all: a kind of energy that was pulsing in a spiral, and with each pulse, it caused shockwaves that reached everything for miles.
But Arthur couldn't see anything clearly as he began to lose consciousness due to the spinning and centrifugal force that hit his body. If he had, he would have seen a surreal scene, a gigantic portal appearing, and creatures emerging from within.
"I couldn't marry you, Lethicia, I'm sorry. I also couldn't say goodbye to you guys. I hope everyone is okay." These were his last thoughts before he lost consciousness, and his body was thrown violently against the rocks.
This tragedy also marked the end of the lives of Lethicia and Arthur's friends, none of whom escaped with their lives.
It also marked the beginning of a new era for planet Earth. But that's a story for the future.
And everything went pitch black; that was the end of Arthur's short, if somewhat emotional, life.
Or at least that's what it was supposed to be.