CHAPTER 3

Alan froze, feeling absolutely bewildered he watched his sister's silhouette return to the table, ignoring him completely. She erased his presence with just one wave of her hands, his knees felt weak.....unable to support his thin, malnourished frame even though he had lost about thirty pounds.

What had he done to make his family resent him this way?.

Tears slipped down from his eyes, a bitter feeling rising in his heart. All this while, he never came home because he was worried about troubling his family with his numerous debts. He didn't want them worrying, so he never contacted them, he had hoped that they had felt the same for him, warmly longing for his return.

He bit down his lower lip, sobbing hard. As it would seem now, they had never cared, they couldn't be bothered to care about an useless,extra weight like him. As always as it has been since his birth, he was still a burden.....a jinx, a child born at the expense of his twin. An ill omen .

He gripped the hem of his clothes, his nails digging into his palm, drawing blood. He winced, feeling the rapid sting of realization - it didn't matter what he became, an artist or a medical doctor......it didn't even matter if he could singlehandedly save the world.

To his family, he would forever remain the unwanted son,a child who would be better off dead than alive.

He stepped away, his head buried in resignation, wiping his burning tears as they scalded his cheeks. If that was what they wanted, he could only do nothing but grant them their final wish.

He stumbled forwards as he walked through the paved road, silently enduring every passersby criticism and mocking gazes. Some even had their noses pegged, disgust strewing over their faces as they stared down at him with condescending eyes. Alan stopped, a low smirk gracing his once handsome face - he had once been their figure of admiration.

They all......at one point, had loved him. Showering him with gifts and praises, now when he's at his lowest....they all turn their backs on him. How laughable?!

He turned, paying them no more attention as he walked slowly towards the bridge. He climbed up the steel railings, his thin,starved frame swaying with the cool night's breeze.

This was it!!. His moment to finally eradicate himself from this cruel world he was born into. He spread out his arms, feeling a strange sense of peace, enjoying the momentary fleeting sense of freedom. Then he leaned all his weight forward, his balance unstable as he plunged from the great heights.

Splash!!

Alan gritted his teeth, an intense wave of pain washing over his body. Falling from such great heights and hitting the cold, surface water at such hard impact made him feel like his body had been crushed and grounded.

Yet, he made no efforts to save himself. He left his crushed body at the mercy of the raging sea, drowning deeper and deeper with his eyes wide open as he watched the city lights fade away.

Then he shut his eyes, ignoring the chilling, piercing cold of the waters as they seeped through every pores in his body like sharp knives. He smiled, gritting through the bone crushing pain; Finally!!, he had no more debts to repay.

If there were ever a life beyond this one, he hoped, that he would never cross paths with these people. He stayed like that for a while, his vitality slowly getting drained away and soon, he'd be left lifeless.

[Host has successfully activated the: WITHERED ROSE, system.]

[Host's vitality is decreasing at an alarming rate. Initiating immediate resuscitation!!]

What was that?. Who's there?!

Alan paused, listening to the automated feminine voice as it spoke through his consciousness. He was certain that he was at the depths of the sea at this point,it was currently impossible for someone else to be around him. He relaxed - Probably he was just hearing things.

[Host's vitals are up by a twenty percent]

[Host's vitals are up by fourty percent ]

Constantly having to listen to this so called system bicker struck Alan's nerve. Not allowed to live..... and yet not allowed to die, why wouldn't the heavens let him be!.

[Host has been successfully revived!!. Consciousness should be restored in five.... four.....three...two...]

*What was it doing, why the sudden countdown?.* Alan felt confused by the strange things he was hearing, it was scary. Are the lords of the underworld also displeased with him?. Is that why they're trying to send him back.

No,they couldn't do that. Living was already a hell on earth for him, death was his only escape - They couldn't deny him that.... could they?.

[Congratulations!!, consciousness has been successfully restored.]

Alan felt a surge lifting his body upwards, he couldn't see it but it was strong. His hands clenched a finely, smooth surface, crawling his way out of the body of water. He took a sharp gasp, desperately fighting for air as he choked on a mouthful of water.

He coughed, spitting out the bad water that tasted awfully like soap. Since when had sea water ever tasted so soapy?.

Slowly, he opened his heavy eyelids, his eyes deftly adjusting to the light. He laid on the tiles, soaked wet from head to toes with his clothes sticking to his body. He stared at the bathtub that he had just crawled out from in shock, confusion flickering in his almond eyes.

Wasn't he just drowning in the sea just few minutes ago?. Why was he in a bathtub?.

Thousands of questions ran through his mind,but he hadn't had enough time to make sense of anything when the system returned.

[Host, Welcome to the novel : WITHERED LOVE. I am Xena... your guide system.]

"What?!" - Alan croaked,his throat dry from the alkaline. He stared at the screen display hanging in front of him with eyes filled with disbelief. "You've got to be kidding me!", he'd tried laughing but only ended up coughing violently instead.

He had ever heard such things like transmigration and systems in novels. When someone dies and then ends up as a character in one of those novels, if they're lucky,they end up as the protagonist and if unlucky - they end up as the doomed antagonist. Each having to fulfill multiple tasks and win over the love interests.

So cringe!!.

[It's indeed as the host have said. But i am a different kind of system.]

Alan rolled his eyes, totally not believing anything this system had to say. He was only interested in ending his miserable life and continue on to the reincarnation cycle, not getting stuck in some random novel plot.

"Then tell me...... what exactly makes you different from the other systems i've read about?", Alan rolled his eyes, supporting his weak figure as his eyes scanning the lavishly furnished and spacious bathroom. He smirked - such luxury.....he had never gotten to enjoy any like this in his previous life.

[My characteristics are uniquely designed. I'm certain that with time, you as my host will be able to experience them. But i do advice that you change out of your wet clothes since you're prone to catch a cold.]

Alan stood up, dragging his heavy body towards a corner. Each step slow, wobbly and calculated - he still needed time to adjust to this body. He turned towards a corner almost instinctively, a sharp glint flashing through his eyes. Reaching out,he pulled out a small, round device hidden behind the heater, a cold smirk gracing his face.

A camera?!. He stared down at his palm,then back at the corner where he'd found the device - Luckily he had found it, but he wasn't quite certain why it was there......or who might have planted it.

But he certainly knew, that it had been there for a pretty long while. He crushed the device, tossing it into a nearby trash can. His smile faded, replaced by a chilling seriousness.

"You're right. It's best to change out of these damp clothes", he spoke,his voice stern. Thanks to his years of being in the entertainment industry and also his quick witted intuition - he was able to spot this hidden camera head on. He scanned the bathroom once more, finding no other fault, he slammed the door shut.