4逆天者之悲曲
Chapter One – Nameless One
Many things, we take for granted. Only when one is deserted by it, would she realize its value and treasure it … For a normal human, living a life of treasuring everything about her would be tiring.
And indeed, she was a normal human.
For twenty-three years, she had thought she was different. But it took her only a summer night to realize otherwise.
And tonight was a summer night as well. If the sky wasn't polluted by the city's lights, the sparkling stars would be twinkling above her right now. Yet, a city couldn't possibly lose its lights, would it?
Regret.
For one who has finally begun to value a lost treasure, only regret would be plundering her torn heart. She sat on the flat rooftop of the fifty-storey hotel, not anywhere else, but on the edge, her feet dangling right above the bustling streets a hundred and fifty metres under. Her high heels slip loose and plummet towards the earth. Soon, she intends to follow.
She thinks she's alone on the rooftop.
IF only she had knew, then three summer nights ago, she would have given way in the quarrel. And if only she had knew, then two summer nights ago, she would have had answered his call on the cell phone and prevented him from leaving the city. And if she really had knew, then she would have had rushed to the hospital last night to have him see her one last time.
Of course, she did not know.
She could not have known.
The cool city breeze pulls past her, kissing her lips lightly and caressing her in its embrace. Yet, her tears would not dry.
"That lady in the yellow blouse."
Her heart skipped a beat. And she had thought she was alone. "You …. you are speaking to me?" She asked and turned to look at the man.
He wasn't a man, at least not old enough to be one. He seemed her age, only younger. Nineteen years, was her guess. But he was smoking as he sat by the wall, leaning against the whitewashed concrete. The rings of smoke drifting above his lips pulled apart as he answered her.
"Who else?"
He looked to her.
"No, don't come nearer. Or I will jump."
He lifted an eyebrow. "Well, then I won't." He paused to puff once more at his half-smoked cigarette. "But do throw your purse here." He raised his right hand and patted the floor by his side.
"Wha- what?"
"You are attempting suicide. If I had not intervene, your brains would be splattered on the concrete pavement fifty floors under in two minutes. And I trust that you have not changed your mind right now. So," he stopped to glance at the starless-night sky. "So, your money wouldn't be of any use right? Only to soak up your blood if you'd kept them with you."
Her eyebrows knitted into a light frown.
"And I just happened to be out of money …." He sighed and fell silent, apparently waiting for her reply.
There wasn't any. She was speechless, her eyes staring its way at this boy who was out of his mind.
"I'm waiting …" he sucked at the cigarette. "And I'm hungry."
"But – but didn't your mother teach you to console someone about to commit suicide?" She blurted out finally.
He nodded, his eyes never parting once from the cloudy sky. It was beautiful. The way the grey clouds contrasted with the darkness of the outer space and beyond. It was beautiful.
"Then – then …" She was once again speechless.
"Didn't your mother teach you not to commit suicide as well? You see, it is expected of children to never take their mother's words for what they are worth …"
"You are crazy." She seethed. She could feel herself falling into anger. One moment she was crying and considering suicide, and the next she was bothered to death ( literally ) by a stranger. She whipped out her cell phone. "I'm going to call the police."
The teenage boy smirked aloofly. "You wouldn't."
"Why would I not? I'm going to show you …"
He closed his eyes at last and sighed, his breath carrying a warm fuzzy ring of smoke away from his young lungs. "For one, you are sitting on the wall of the rooftop … the moment the police arrives, they would busy themselves with arresting you … suicide is a crime …"
She fell silent. And for once, silence returned to the rooftop. Just as it had been moments ago. In fact, the night was meant to be quiet …. until certain monkeys began overpopulating the earth.
"What are you doing here anyway …" She decided to change the topic at last.
"Making a living." was his answer.
"Wha – what?"
"Once a week." he showed one finger – his index. And then he lifts his middle finger. "Twice a week, if I'm lucky."
"What?"
"That's the number of times adults try to jump off this roof." He sighs. "And I make a living off their donations before they jump. It just so happened that the previous one that jumped was a tramp and he did not have much on him … say … you look rich … interested in charity before dying? it could be your ticket to heaven …."
"Bullshit." She snapped.
"Uh huh." He nodded. "As if those who jump ever go to heaven. It's a crime down there as well. You go straight off to hell."
She rolled her eyes. "Back on topic, you are a kid, dude. You should be at home studying or sleeping."
"I ran away from home. Smoking's out of bounds there."
"You mean you came here just to smoke?"
"No."
"Then?" She was growing sick of his nonsensical replies.
"I was bored of my life. My life as a student. Say… why would I be telling you all this?" He snickered.
"Huh?"
"I mean …. there should be incentives for telling you all this about me right?"
He was silent for the rest of their walk to the street hawker. She wondered what he was most of the time. Talkative like he was back at the rooftop, or just … always silent?
The duo came to a noodle stall by the streets and sat down by a woody bench. Once the food arrived, all she heard was his noisy attacks onto the noodles.
"You are skinny." She commented. She hadn't noticed that of him earlier in the darkness of the rooftop, yet now that the street lights had cast the boy's built clearly before her, all she could take in, was the boy's slim body. She couldn't tell much of his face, for its features were hidden by his thick black hair.
"I know." He said as he placed the fifth and final bowl of noodles on the wooden table after emptying it of its soup. "That's it, I'm full."
"You are skinny." She repeated.
"I know."
"You are skinny …. but you eat a lot …"
"Metabolism rate. I never grow fat."
"Good for you." She said.
But he shook his head as he fumbled in the pockets of his jeans for a cigarette and a lighter. "Nah. Girls prefer fat to skinny guys."
"Who told you that?" She lifted an eyebrow.
"A survey."
"Surveys are down by bored stupid people." She cursed.
He did not continue the dialogue and busied himself with lighting his cigarette.
"What's your name anyway? We've spoken for quite a long time. Mine's Hui Jun. Just call me Alicia."
She waited for his reply.
There wasn't any.
"Come on …" She urged.
"No."
" … It's not like I'm going to make a police report, huh?"
"No." He sucked in at the glowing cigarette. "You don't need to know."
"That's rude."
"I know." He stood up to leave the street stall. "But don't all of us do things even if we know it's wrong to do so? Life's less boring that way."
"Wait …" Alicia stood up as well and followed him. "Where are you going off to?"
"No idea. Somewhere less boring, I guess." The duo turned into an alley … dark … shielded from the city's street lights.
"Are you always that bored?" She tried to catch up with his pace.
He halted in his tracks abruptly and lifted his chin to the sky, allowing the coolness of the night to embrace him. His hands were stuffed into his pockets for warmth. He allowed the cigarette to slip off and fall from his lips as they parted.
"Am I always bored?" He repeated her question to himself softly. There was a sparkle within his eyes, one that Alicia could tell was full of sorrow. Or perhaps, that was what she thought it was. She frowned. It could be … emptiness, instead. Or boredom …
Whatever his gaze was full of … Alicia had finally a chance to peek at his face … His looks were mediocre … normal … totally … akin to any teenage kid you would find on the streets. It was the sort of face that eighty percent of the rest of the world's teenage kids would share.
But.
But there was this certain aura about him. She wouldn't say that he was attractive. But he …. was interesting. At least to her, he was. She shuddered suddenly and shook her head clear of the thoughts. One, he was younger. Two, her boyfriend had just passed away the night before.
Alicia lifted her gaze to his face once more, only to notice his tears.
"Are you crying?" She whispered. "Why – why are you crying?" She tiptoed to wipe away his tears with her handkerchief.
"Ahaha! What do we have here?" The kicking of trash cans in the vicinity brought the duo to their senses. "A pair of love birds … oooo …"
"What do you want?" Alicia shot. She counted. There were seven of those thugs.
"Nothing. Just a go at you." One of them sneered.
"Do you want to undress for us first?"
"Yea, before we do that for you …"
"Wanna take turns? Who's first?"
"Uh huh, I will go third, I guess."
"What about her man?"
"Oh yea …. what about that crybaby?"
One of the seven stepped out and shoved him in the chest. He shuffled a few steps backwards and pulled his eyes away from the sky. He then wiped his tears away.
He stared intensely at the seven thugs and mentally tagged them Thug A to Thug G.
"Alicia. Let's go. Ignore them." He grabbed at her wrist and pulled her forcefully to his side.
"Oooo … they are escaping. Interesting …"
He stopped right in his tracks, as if he had heard someone throw him a profanity.
"What – what was that you said?" He growled at Thug B.
"Huh … oh I said that you guys are escaping …"
"No. After that."
Thug B scratched at his chin. "Interesting?"
That was it. He shot his fist forth and punched Thug B straight in the face. Thug B raised his hands to block his punch but his punch was much swifter than Thug B had thought of a skinny teenager. Thug B's raising of hands had only open up the lower half of his body which the teenager took in the entire opportunity of by planting a kick right in his .
A final shove cast Thug B a few feet back in the alley and he stumbled to the ground, howling in agony. The remaining six thugs who were caught in awe earlier by this daring challenge of the teenager had by now, finally regained their senses. They simultaneously launched themselves at the "crybaby".
The boy snickered coldly and waited for the first blow to hit him squarely on the chest. It arrived from Thug C. The teenager made full use of the force of this punch to direct himself towards Thug D and E. With the addition of his strength and that of Thug C, he had arrived smartly in between the two thugs and slammed both left and right arms into their vocal cords. The two were knocked out almost instantly.
Without hesitating for a single moment, the teenager continued his movement towards Thug A, throwing himself defenselessly at a surprised man. Thug A was apparently, from the looks of it, the leader of the seven and it was not the first time he had been in a street fight.
He had challenged various fighters, those of judo, wrestling, boxing, and even wushu … yet this was a different arena he was facing tonight. Perhaps, even of a different level, one that threw Thug A far far beneath and away from this teenager. This style … was a gutless way of fighting. Not that the boy had no wits … he had no guts … and in that case …. no fear in the first place to speak of.
In a fight, there isn't any room for thoughts.
The instant Thug A glanced back at the teenager, Thug A was stomached by an elbow with tremendous force which directed Thug A's frame to Thug C. The duo collided and no longer could stand from the alley's grounds.
Two left.
But the two were no where to be seen.
"Interesting?" The teenager mumbled beneath his panting, repeating Thug B's words. "I'm bored to death …"
He looked to Alicia and motioned for her to leave the scene.
"Just how old are you?" Alicia had finally caught her breath. The fight she had witnessed earlier was one of a kind.
"Seventeen."
"But you … you … could defeat .. the seven of them …" She exclaimed unbelievably.
"Age has got nothing to do with that …" He snickered. He was fully aware of what he was doing. He was placing his life on the line back there … he was betting his life … He had fought without a single concern for the welfare of his body, allowing his opponents to inflict injuries onto himself regardless of their severity.
When your opponent attacked, he himself had opened up his defense. How could he not seize the opportunity to attack this vulnerability? Few could attack yet defend flawlessly.
He frowned abruptly. Speaking of injuries, he had suddenly this intuition that his body wasn't in a very good condition.
The last moment of his consciousness was spent tumbling into Alicia's arms.
Author's Notes:
Summary: You either hate or love this. I just do not recommend it to those who have never been "emo".
I rated this "T" but have a good mind to make it "M" if it wasn't for those many eyes that just might label me "weird". Anyway, I'm finally back writing. And whoa, fictionpress has gone through a cool facelift recently.
Back on topic. to those readers who ( i thank you ) have read till this point, please make it a point to note that this story/novel is not your typical manga ( in fact, I think I may re-categorize it ). There isn't any yaoi, no schoolkids love story, no "save the world" theme, no otaku battle fights ... woo.
No.
Erm. Maybe, yes, for those battle fights. I feel uneasy if I don't write any fighting scenes ( that's why I had included one in this chapter ). Was too used to writing them for the Dante series. Read them if you do have the time ( but the contents are rather immature ).
To be frank, I've no idea where this story is leading. I will be spending the next few chapters introducing new ( interesting, I mean it ) characters that I've been building up for the past few months. And then the plot will be kick-started once and for all and I really do hope I can make it a good one. Pardon me for my writing if you find it abit weird. It's due to me reading too many online chinese novels and not having been writing for a long time.
Yep, I've been drawing manga ( during lectures to keep myself awake ) and reading online novels ( chinese ). The novels are seriously good, creative, and are on a totally different scale compared to those at fictionpress. The elements that their plots are composed of are unseen here at fictionpress and i will try to introduce them to you in my story ( though it's a very big challenge ). Each online novel has at least a hundred thousand readers and the more popular stories have over a million fans. Trust me, they are good.
To those who know Chinese. Here's a list of titles I recommend:
1) 异体 by 风上忍
2) 星辰变 by 我吃西红柿
3) 恶魔法则 by 跳舞
4) 盘龙 by 我吃西红柿
5) 无法无天 by 吾知
You may find them on
Haha, I've almost left out the translation for the title of this story: 逆天者之悲曲
逆天者 refers to those who go against the decree of heaven. 悲曲 means "sorrowful tune". In short, the english title of this story can be thought of as: "the sorrowful tune sung by he who opposes heaven".
And of course, our protagonist is this "he who opposes heaven". This shall be explained later on in the story. He does have a reason for this - an absolutely sorrowful past.