A Bug In Fate

Alden was having a perfectly normal day—almost too perfect.

Which, in his daily life, was highly unusual. Not once had he tripped on the way, nor had a bird pooped on him from the sky, and he hadn’t bumped into anyone by accident.

It was suspicious to a certain degree.

It seemed the universe was finally, for once, being generous to him.

That could only mean one thing.

It was saving up.

After school, Alden was walking home with his phone in hand. He absentmindedly scrolled through short videos while paying only half of his attention to the road.

Suddenly, his steps came to a halt.

At the corner of the road, beneath a traffic light, sat a cat.

A black cat, to be precise.

A black cat alone wasn’t unusual enough to make Alden stop.

The reason he had stopped was because the cat seemed to be up to something.

Curiosity got the better of him, and Alden crossed to the other side of the road, keeping a safe distance. He wouldn’t have been surprised if he ended up calling a doctor because a stray cat had scratched his face.

The closer he got, the clearer the scene became.

At the base of the pole, the cat was facing a...

Snake.

The fight seemed to be at a standstill. The cat stood perfectly still with one paw slightly raised, waiting to react the instant the snake made its move.

For a brief moment, neither participant moved. It looked less like two animals and more like rival swordsmen waiting for someone to make the first mistake.

Subconsciously, Alden had turned a random street fight into a grand tournament, with the cat and the snake as its contestants.

The snake struck first.

The cat simply redirected the attack with the paw it had raised earlier.

But the snake seemed to be a stubborn one. It lunged again with the exact same move, its venomous fangs aimed straight ahead.

The cat responded just as effortlessly, flicking its paw forward and smacking the snake across the mouth with almost insulting ease.

Alden, who was watching everything from the other side of the road, was having the time of his life. It wasn’t every day that he got to witness a random street fight between two predators.

Whatever was happening before him was definitely worth watching, so he set his school bag down on the roadside to make himself comfortable.

Then, out of nowhere, his Gen-Z instincts kicked in.

He did what any average high schooler would have done.

He pulled his phone out of his pocket.

A moment later, he stood there with his phone raised toward the fight. The camera was already recording.

He couldn’t wait to show everyone what he had just witnessed.

The snake lunged again, but the black cat slipped aside with almost insulting ease. Before the snake could recover, the cat lazily flicked out a paw, smacking it across the head. The snake recoiled with an angry hiss, while the cat looked as though it had barely put in any effort.

The same thing happened several more times. The snake failed to land even a single hit, while the cat seemed content to simply toy with it.

Now recording from a much closer angle, Alden failed to realize that he was standing in the middle of the road.

It wouldn’t take long for him to realize it.

Whether he’d have time to do anything about it, however, was an entirely different matter.

The fight was nearing its end. The snake had been severely injured by the constant blows. Blood trickled from its head and several wounds along its body.

"HONK!"

Alden was completely absorbed in the spectacle unfolding before him. He was even about to applaud like a satisfied member of the audience when—

"HONK!"

The blaring horn rang out again.

Annoyed, Alden was just about to yell at whoever was making so much noise when he instinctively turned his head.

What he saw left him speechless.

A truck was barreling straight toward him.

It grew closer and closer until Alden could clearly see the horrified driver gripping the steering wheel.

"Hey! Move!"

"For f*ck’s sake, get out of the road!"

The driver shouted at Alden, his face pale with horror. It was obvious he was panicking.

Alden could see the driver’s lips moving, but the words barely registered.

All he could feel was death rapidly approaching.

He wanted to move.

He really did.

But just like the characters in every horror movie he had ever watched, his legs refused to listen.

"No way..."

"I’m getting isekai’d."

Alden muttered to himself as he braced for the inevitable.

Yet the impact never came.

With a deafening screech of tires, the truck came to a stop barely a meter away from him.

"...Huh?"

"My isekai ticket..."

Alden stared blankly at the truck.

He had read countless isekai novels and dreamed of having his own adventure one day.

And now, when his ticket had finally arrived...

It had been rejected.

While Alden wrestled with his shattered dreams, the truck driver had no intention of waiting.

"Hey, brat! Move, or I’ll drag you out of the road myself!"

The driver let out an exhausted groan.

"Why do the gods always make idiots jump in front of innocent people like me?"

Honestly, no one could blame him.

Finally snapping out of his thoughts, Alden was about to step away when he suddenly felt something slither around his neck.

He glanced down.

The snake.

Sometime during the commotion, it had quietly left the arena and chosen a new target.

Before Alden could react, it sank its fangs into his neck.

A sharp sting shot through his body.

The next moment, the snake’s body went limp.

It was dead.

"What the hell?"

Alden looked down at the two tiny puncture marks the snake had left on his neck.

He slowly raised his head.

The black cat was still there, quietly watching everything unfold.

Its expression was as calm as ever.

Alden opened his mouth to call for help, but before a sound could escape, his senses began to fade.

His body slowly went numb.

His vision blurred, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t keep his eyes open.

A moment later, darkness claimed him.

What an ordinary way to die.