Chapter 1: I Hate Trucks!
"Damn, I should have brought a folding umbrella with me..."
I thought this while running at full speed down a nearly deserted street. It was very late at night, and the supermarket where I decided to buy some snacks was farther than I had imagined. There was nothing indicating trouble when I left the house, but suddenly the sky decided to dump all its rain at once, and I did not even have a hooded jacket to protect me.
I was running while pressing the plastic shopping bag against my chest. My sneakers were hitting the puddles gathered on the asphalt, making annoying sounds with every step. When I finally reached a familiar intersection, I stopped, panting, in front of the pedestrian traffic light. It was red, so I waited.
The street was completely empty. No cars, no people, only the sound of heavy rain. I waited... and waited... and waited.
I wiped the drops of water that gathered on my eyelashes and looked at the signal suspiciously. What is happening? Is it broken or what?
I looked right and left, focusing my hearing to catch any sound of a car engine approaching, but there was nothing except the stillness of the night and the sound of raindrops. Since there was no car in sight, and standing under the cold rain was starting to make my limbs tremble, I decided to ignore the red light that refused to change and cross the road.
I took only one step away from the sidewalk. One step was enough to change everything.
Suddenly, without any warning, the roar of a massive engine tore through the silence of the night. It was not a normal sound; it was more like a violent metallic growl. I quickly turned toward the source of the sound, and my eyes were struck by extremely bright headlights, so bright that I raised my arm instinctively to shield my face.
A huge truck was heading toward me.
In that frozen moment of time, a sarcastic thought passed through my mind: "Damn... Truck-kun!"
Yes, "Truck-kun," that famous truck in anime stories that appears out of nowhere to run over the protagonist and send him to a parallel world. I knew this well. The situation was as clear as the sun.
But wait! My life is not bad! I am not being bullied, I do not live a miserable life, and I have no desire to save princesses or fight monsters. So, no thanks, I do not want to move to another world!
Despite the ridiculous thought that crossed my mind, my survival instinct was working perfectly. I jumped backward with all my strength and retreated several meters until I fell onto the wet sidewalk. The palm of my hand was scraped, but I did not care. I sat there watching the street, waiting for the crazy truck to pass and continue on its way.
But it did not pass.
Instead of going away, I heard the violent screech of tires rubbing against the asphalt. The truck turned around itself in a way that made no sense for its size and stopped. Then, with an engine sound screaming as if gathering its maximum power, the truck appeared again covering my entire field of vision and rushed forward at a terrifying speed... toward me!
Damn, this driver really wants to kill me!
I stood up immediately, ignoring the pain. I did not hesitate even for a moment. I jumped to the other side and rolled on the ground to avoid the direct collision. I heard the strong wind created by the truck as it passed beside me at a very close distance.
Without looking back, I started running like a madman in the opposite direction while hearing the engine sound rising again behind me.
Wait, is it chasing me? Did it turn around and come back to run me over? Hey, this is not funny at all!
After seconds of running under the rain with completely soaked clothes, I started feeling tired and extremely cold. My movement became heavier, and my speed started to decrease noticeably. I looked around in desperation and noticed a narrow alley between two buildings. It was so narrow that it was impossible for any car to enter.
I rushed toward the alley and threw myself inside immediately, leaning against the cold wall while panting heavily. I turned to see the main street. The truck passed at incredible speed, going past the alley. Is this really a truck? Is it not a race car in disguise? Its speed and turns exceed the laws of physics!
I sighed deeply and wiped the water from my face. I tried to regulate my breathing, then stood up and started walking carefully inside the alley. I decided to take an alternative route through the narrow passages between the houses, avoiding the main streets.
After some time of careful walking, I finally reached the street where my house is located. I stopped at the corner of the wall and looked around very carefully. There was nothing. The street was quiet, and there was no sign of the truck. I sighed with great relief. It seemed that I survived.
I smiled sarcastically at the situation and started running quickly toward my house, as if afraid the truck might appear out of nowhere if I walked slowly.
But... the moment I took the first step, I heard that terrifying roar again.
Immediately, without even wasting a fraction of a second turning around, I kicked the ground with all my strength and shot like a bullet toward the house. When I reached the front door and extended my hand to the handle, the blood in my veins froze. I remembered that I had locked the front door with the key from the inside before leaving!
I immediately changed my path and ran toward the narrow side passage that leads to the back of the house, because the back kitchen door was open. I jumped lightly over the short fence and landed in the backyard. I reached the door, pulled it quickly, went inside, and closed it behind me firmly, locking it.
I slid down with my back against the door until I sat on the ground. My strength was completely gone. I was kneeling on the cold floor, breathing with great difficulty as if I had just finished a marathon.
I smiled tiredly and said to myself, "Am I the only one who managed to defeat Truck-kun? Does this count as an achievement?"
After a few minutes of catching my breath, I decided that I should first make sure whether the driver of that truck was really targeting me and whether he had the courage to break the door and break into the house.
I slowly stood up and headed toward the living room. I approached the window overlooking the front street, lifted the curtain slightly, and looked outside.
The street was still. I did not notice any strange activity, and even the truck—I could not see any trace of it. It was as if everything that happened was just an illusion.
I lowered the curtain and sighed. Should I go change my clothes and sleep now? I had completely lost my appetite, and the idea of preparing food after all that terror seemed impossible.
I turned and started walking up the stairs to my room on the second floor. I was climbing slowly... but the moment I placed my foot on the last step and reached the second floor, I froze in place.
My body stopped obeying me completely.
All means of communication between my brain and my muscles were cut off. In the next moment, my body began to move by itself! My foot moved backward, and I started walking backward, descending the stairs that I had just climbed in a terrifyingly smooth way, as if I were performing a Michael Jackson dance!
"What is happening?" I shouted in my mind.
My body went down the stairs completely while I tried with all my strength to stop it and move freely. I tried to grab anything, but my arms remained stuck to my sides. I even tried to close my eyes so I would not see this nightmare, but even my eyes refused to obey me and remained open.
My field of vision started to blur and become covered with gray fog. I was walking slowly, with mechanical steps, heading toward the door of my house. The front door? Damn, this is very bad!
What is happening here? Why can I not do anything? Is this a nightmare? No, I am sure it is a stupid nightmare. Did I fall asleep while watching an anime about parallel worlds again?
I focused all my energy to try to move any muscle in my body, but I failed miserably.
Oh wait... I managed to raise my eyebrow!
Wait! This is not useful at all! What will I do with a raised eyebrow now?
Quickly, I have to stop... damn!
The moment my body opened the door and I crossed the threshold to stand in the middle of the street, I heard that sound for the third time tonight.
I felt real fear, pure terror that froze the blood in my veins so much that I almost wet myself if my body had not been stiff.
With dull eyes covered in fog, with a body shivering internally from the cold, and with a completely dead facial expression interrupted only by a raised eyebrow, I stood in the middle of the road looking straight ahead.
In front of my eyes, I could see the truck's lights from afar approaching very quickly. What is this insane speed? Does Truck-kun have the ability of The Flash? It is faster than metro trains!
I tried to move, jump, scream, cry... I could not do anything. All I could do was watch the truck growing larger in my field of vision second after second.
I tried hard to close my eyes, but I could not, and I was able to see my death very clearly.
Then the collision happened.
This hurts. My body is being crushed. The air left my lungs all at once. My bones are shattering under a terrifying weight. My skull shattered, and the pain of severe internal bleeding is tearing my insides apart.
All of this was only from the first impact of the truck's front. But after seconds that felt like hell, my pain was completely ended by the truck that continued on its way and crushed the rest of my body and brain.
And so I died.
I died in terrible pain, and in a ridiculous and infuriating way. No one had ever told me that transport trucks possess supernatural abilities and can control the bodies of their victims! Did I fall under some visual illusion like the Sharingan eye or what?!
Damn my life! If I do not get a chance to move to another world like those stupid anime protagonists, then where will I go now? I will... I w...
Wait, what will I do after I actually die? Will I go to hell? Damn... that is really terrifying! My body that turned into pieces was trembling, or maybe it was my soul trembling now from real fear in front of the unknown!
The last thought that echoed in what remained of my consciousness was: "Damn trucks... and damn Truck-kun!"