Chapter 4: The Goal
On top of a towering building, a young man stood with black hair blowing in the wind. His eyes were as dark as a bottomless pit, his features burdened with the weight of a lifetime. It seemed as if the world had placed all of its sorrow upon his shoulders.
He muttered in a hoarse voice: "I've lost everything... Why is this happening to me? I always thought I wouldn't give up, that I had determination. Even in the kingdom's prisons, I never felt this sorrow... but this time is different."
Leander plunged into a sea of thoughts, moments of silence where only the groan of his soul could be heard. Then he lifted his head... and made his decision.
---
After they finished lunch, his mother bid them goodbye: "Take care of yourselves, I'm going to work now." She worked two jobs to support the household. That simple scene of her closing the door behind her etched itself into Leander's memory, shaping the first mark of his decision.
"I will be the savior of this family."
From that day, Leander began studying diligently. It wasn't easy for him to grasp the subjects, as he wasn't used to this style of education, but he persisted. He would return from school, dive into books, then go work at a small restaurant at night to contribute to the household expenses.
Despite the exhaustion, there was something that drew him more than anything else: reading. He was passionate about stories, fascinated by fictional heroes who gave him what he couldn't find in real life. He once said: "I might learn more from a fictional character than from real people."
His love for history was no less than his love for literature; he revered leaders, adored their biographies, and drew inspiration from Alexander the Great's greatness, dreaming of conquests in a time that only believed in power.
Months passed, and the end-of-year exam came. Leander received average grades. This wasn't due to lack of effort, but rather a reflection of harsh reality. He whispered to himself: "Effort doesn't always mean success... how many laborers or cleaners toil all day without gaining anything!"
The next year, he worked harder, and his grades improved slightly, which allowed him to enter a suitable university, though not a prestigious one. His mother was overjoyed, her eyes filled with tears, seeing in him the fruit of her labor.
At university, Leander found a new passion: programming. He saw codes as an eternal language, a magic beyond comprehension. There, he met Jin, the true programming genius. The professors compared him to Bill Gates, and it was well deserved.
One evening, they sat together, and Leander shared his idea: "What if the game is not played... but lived? What if a person could enter a fantasy world they create themselves with their consciousness?"
Thus, the idea for their big project was born.
Their long journey began: Leander weaved the worlds and created characters with the help of artificial intelligence, while Jin programmed the systems and built the technical foundation. They named the game: "Threads of Fate."
But the real challenge wasn't the programming; it was the device that would transfer a person's consciousness into the game. After years of failure and repeated attempts, they finally succeeded in creating "The Coffin"—a device the size of a human that could transfer a person's consciousness entirely into the digital world.
The two young men graduated, joined a reputable tech company, and decided to present their project to the CEO, Mr. Song. However, Mr. Song saw the project only as an opportunity for profit.
He agreed, on the condition that the device be registered in his company's name. After hesitation, Leander accepted, provided that he and Jin would own 80% of the company.
---
The day before the launch...
Leander stormed into the CEO's office, ignoring his secretary, and shouted while grabbing Mr. Song's shirt: "Why did you betray us? You won't use our project!"
The CEO replied coldly: "The device is registered in my company's name. I'll do whatever I want."
Leander raised a gun he had bought: "Pay the price!"
But the police stormed the office. They arrested him while he screamed: "This is my project! Seven years of my life! Why?!"
In his heart, he didn't want to kill... he wanted justice. But in a world that doesn't know justice, a bullet speaks more truth than words.
The verdict was: one year in prison.
---
But the real pain wasn't in prison—it was outside: Jin committed suicide. His mother died because she couldn't afford the surgery.
Leander was released from prison, broken, searching for his sister, but he was no longer the same.
He returned to the same tall building, stood in the same spot, and once again the wind played with his hair. But this time, his eyes were embers of fire.
He muttered: "This life will never give me what I wish for. Those morals people claim to uphold are actually made by the powerful, those who don't follow them. How many rich men or leaders raise the banner of human and animal rights, yet they themselves threaten entire nations' lives for their own selfish interests? The law is only enforced on the weak, on those they can control. This is the truth the world hides—everything is not as rosy as they think. What's the point of waiting for this world to give me what I deserve? As long as betrayal is my inevitable fate, I'll be the one to shape my destiny with my own hands." The world doesn't reward morals... the law was made for the strong, not to protect the weak. From today, I will not be betrayed again... I'll be the one to write the rules."
---
He joined a drug cartel. Patience, endurance, and learning to fight. Leander didn't want blood, but reality taught him that the choice isn't always his.
One dark night, in a junkyard, the cartel leader called him: "Lin, prove your loyalty. Kill him."
The kneeling man begged, but Leander shot him.
His hands didn't tremble, but his heart did. The echo of the gunshot rang louder in his chest than the air around him. He thought afterward: "Is human life valuable or cheap? It's often determined by those around you, not by you. Your life may be the most valuable thing to some, but when measured by power, you're just a number, insignificant in the balance of forces. I won't wait for anyone to decide my death's fate; I'll choose for myself how it will be."
---
Years passed.
The cartel leader was killed, and Leander took control of its empire. He traded weapons, set up fake companies, stole Song's company, and killed him.
He looked into his eyes as he bled, coldly saying: "You took seven years from me... now, get ready to pay with your life."
He became one of the wealthiest men in the world, possessing money, influence, and secrets.
He brought his sister to live with him after securing her safety, and made her happy with his presence.
Decades passed. He reached fifty. He thought the mission was over. That he had completed "the goal." But nothing in the system happened, yet he didn't care. He enjoyed his life and wealth. Now, at the age of 56, he realized this age was somewhat in the middle. He hadn't expected to die, but now, on his deathbed, he realized that the 40 years were not the duration of the goal, but the period of his life in this world before death. The goal existed to give meaning to this life and the moments of his final breath.
But on his deathbed, he realized something else:
"What is the value of everything I've done? Money? Power? I'm leaving now... with nothing."
Then he remembered:
His mother's laughter... Jin's gaze... his sister's moment of joy... his struggle in school... his first dream.
"The ultimate goal wasn't to reach the destination, but the journey itself. Desire is what ignites the path, and it's what drives us forward. We think too much about the things we want, chase them passionately, wishing to attain them, but once we do, we find that the passion has dissipated, or that the interest has faded. We grow tired of those things, or we find ourselves losing the joy of possessing them. Then we finally realize, it wasn't about obtaining them... it was about the journey itself. And the goal... was the pursuit."
Leander closed his eyes.
And he died.
But... before his breath faded, an unforgettable voice came, a voice he never thought possible...
To be continued.