Saturday, 1st of February. 7:47 a.m.
Donovan was taking a walk in the park to clear his mind. A few couples on dates would occasionally pass him by.
It's the first of the month… With a brief chuckle, he took a seat on a wooden bench under the shade of a tree.
He was wearing a simple white t-shirt with blue shorts and brown sandals. It took me quite a long time just to get to Category 4 of Shower Rank… "I" was really lazy back then, huh… But since I transmigrated, in just a few days, I went from Category 4 of Shower Rank to Category 2 of Storm Rank… How insane is that? It's probably gonna take a while to advance to Category 3… And with Ms. Isabelle looming over my head, it'll be even harder…
Donovan had finally fully calmed down from the scare that Hana Isabelle inflicted on him.
If I were to tell my brother about her, it'd be like telling the teacher that I'm being bullied… Haha… ha…
It's a nice day today.
He had nothing to do at the moment. As he was about to stand up, someone came from behind and sat beside him.
Looking over to see who it was, Donovan inwardly sighed.
It was none other than Dean Aldridge. "Yo."
"…Yo."
He was wearing a white t-shirt with gray pants and ordinary running shoes.
"I need to know something from you," said Dean.
Here we go… "Yeah?"
Dean paused for a moment before continuing, "Did I do anything weird when I was drunk?"
I don't know, man… I barely even remember anything from that night…
Donovan shook his head. "No, man. I don't even remember anything…"
With a sigh, Dean scratched his head. "I remember bits and pieces, but I'm not sure. Do you know where Vincent lives?"
"You could ask Mr. Tiero."
"I don't wanna see that old fart," replied Dean. "I wanna know if I made a fool of myself."
Man… Donovan cleared his throat. He really wanted to walk away. Suddenly, he thought of something.
"Dean."
"What?"
"Asking for a friend. He needs advice… Uh, there's this woman, and she's very obsessed with him. Like crazily obsessed. As for him, he's really scared of her. What should he do?"
"Why is he scared of her?"
"Uh, because there's a chance that she might 'accidentally' kill him."
Dean leaned back into his seat. "Report her, obviously."
"Yeah, but if he does that, she'll kill him," replied Donovan.
"His first option is to kill her first. If he can't do that, then comes the second option—run. If he can't run, then seek protection."
Bro… Donovan sighed, surprisingly not surprised that Dean would make such a brutal first suggestion. I can't run… Where would I even run off to? Looks like I'll really just have to seek Benedict's protection. If Mr. Tiero hasn't already told him, then if I tell Benedict about this, he'll tell me to quit being a Visitor or something…
No, damn it, don't get rattled by this. Calm down. Donovan scratched his head before speaking, "If you were him, what would you do?"
"I wouldn't worry too much about it. I'll just keep living my life like always. Besides, if she does kill me, she'll get heavily punished. How'd your friend get into such a situation anyway?"
If you knew you could get heavily punished for killing, then why'd you give me that "kill her first" advice? Sigh… Donovan sighed. "Ah, well… He hasn't really told me more details."
Dean already knew that Donovan's "friend" was himself. Donovan was talking about himself. But Dean was trying very hard to stay calm. Damn it, this guy has a girl obsessing over him, meanwhile, I have no one!
Although Dean was envious, he still wanted to give Donovan some advice. "Anyway, just tell your friend not to worry about it too much."
With a nod, Donovan asked, "What are you doing here?"
"Morning jog," answered Dean.
Bro, it's already 8 in the morning… You're abnormal… Donovan didn't dare say his thoughts to Dean.
With that, Dean stood up and walked away. After a while, Donovan saw Dean start his morning jog.
Donovan stood up as well, planning to pay a visit to the gas station. He planned to take a shortcut. He wanted to just fly over there, but he didn't bring his umbrella with him.
Entering an alleyway, Donovan suddenly stopped in his tracks. He heard a scream for help from somewhere.
He immediately sprinted, following the source of the scream.
But as he was running, he tripped and fell to the ground, hitting his head on a metal pipe. He cursed. F*ck!
Fortunately, it wasn't bleeding. He got up and went back to sprinting.
Finally, he turned the corner and saw three people ganging up on a young man. They kept kicking at the young man on the ground.
They haven't noticed him yet. Donovan took a step forward. Suddenly, he paused. He didn't have his umbrella with him.
His heart tightened.
But as the poor young man screamed for help once again, Donovan grit his teeth and shouted, "Hey, you bastards!"
The three men paused, and turned to look at the source of the shout.
One of them was wearing a black beanie, and seemed to be bald. He was wearing a black jacket with black pants. The one in the middle had a goatee beard, and was wearing glasses. He had the same attire as the previous one. The last one had a gross-looking scar across his face. He was wearing a white shirt with black pants.
The young man on the ground was wearing the school uniform for MTA. He had ordinary features, and his umbrella seems to have been broken by these three men.
Donovan clenched his fists. His heart kept beating at abnormal speeds. What have I done…?! I can't win this! Without my umbrella, I'm just an ordinary dude!
"Sir, please just ignore what you've seen and keep going. Or else you'll end up like him," said the man in the middle as he pointed at the young man lying on the ground.
Donovan started to walk towards them.
The man with a scar on his face laughed. "More money for us, then."
Two of them walked towards Donovan, while the other stayed behind to keep watch over the young man they've badly beaten.
From the corner of his vision, Donovan saw a small hammer on the ground. He picked it up, and ran towards them.
The two men ran as well.
The man wearing a black beanie swung a metal pipe to Donovan's face. Dodging it, Donovan swung his hammer towards the black beanie-wearing man, but his arm was stopped by the man with a scar.
Donovan groaned in pain as he felt a punch to his gut by the man with a scar, followed by his head getting struck by a metal pipe.
The man with a scar held Donovan's right arm in place, and the beanie-wearing man delivered a kick to Donovan's side.
Gritting his teeth, Donovan punched the man with a scar on the groin with immense strength. Letting out a scream of agony, the man let go of Donovan's arm.
Then, he blocked the beanie-wearing man's strike of the metal pipe with his left arm, and hit him on the head with his hammer, knocking him out.
Suddenly, he felt a punch on his back. Donovan fell on one knee, followed by the man with a scar grabbing his hair from behind and banging Donovan's head on the garbage chute.
Donovan felt his consciousness slipping away from him. But he held on.
As the man was about to bang Donovan's head on the garbage chute once again, Donovan delivered an elbow. Fortunately, it connected towards the man's groin once again.
The man with a scar fell to the ground while screaming in pain. Donovan turned around, and punched the man's face, effectively knocking him out.
After that, he put his arms on the garbage chute, holding onto it for support. His head was bleeding. His back and stomach was hurting very badly. He struggled to calm his breathing.
He saw the man with a goatee walking towards him, holding a small pocket knife.
Donovan's heart dropped to his stomach. Goddamn it… Why… Why am I doing this…?
With an exhale, he dropped the hammer as he slowly approached. I can't win this, I can't win this, I can't win this…
He then picked up the unconscious beanie-wearing man's metal pipe.
As Donovan ran, he grabbed an empty glass bottle and threw it towards the man, aiming for his head.
The man with a goatee caught the bottle, throwing it back towards Donovan.
Donovan was momentarily surprised, and dodged the bottle.
With Donovan's momentum now ruined, the man tackled Donovan to the ground.
Then, the man swung the knife towards Donovan's head. His eyes widening, he "blocked" the pocket knife, but his right hand paid the price. The knife had stabbed his palm, and blood dripped on Donovan's face.
Thankfully, Donovan was quite strong. The man was pushing the knife towards Donovan's face with both of his hands, while Donovan was stopping it with only one arm.
Donovan's left hand blindly grabbed for the metal pipe that was beside him. After a few seconds, he finally grabbed it and struck the man with a goatee on the head, making the man's glasses fall to the ground.
With a scream of pain, the man fell to the side. Then, Donovan quickly stood up, and swung his metal pipe towards the man's head.
Unfortunately, the man managed to dodge, and was able to deliver a swift cut on Donovan's right eyebrow.
"Agh!"
Donovan took a few steps back, putting a hand on his wound. He panicked, thinking his eye had been cut. Blood dripped down, and he was unable to open his right eye.
The man with a goatee stood up, pointing the knife at him. Donovan pointed the metal pipe at the man. They circled each other.
From the corner of Donovan's vision, he saw the young man that was badly beaten from earlier starting to regain consciousness.
"Goddamn it! Everything was going well, until you came along! But you can still walk away… You don't want to die on some alleyway, do you?" said the man with a goatee beard.
Donovan felt his left eyebrow twitch. Then, he calmed his breathing. A habit from the original owner of his body. The man with a goatee asked with a desperate, frightened voice, "Who even are you?!"
"I am Donovan Volgard! Remember it well…"
With a sudden burst of energy, Donovan lunged, and swung the metal pipe.
The strike connected towards the man's throat. But before the man could fall to the ground, he was able to cut Donovan's right forearm.
The man with a goatee slowly fell to the ground, clutching at his throat with both of his hands, unable to breathe.
Seeing this, Donovan looked around. He saw a straw on the side. Picking it up, he walked towards the man who seemed as though he was drowning.
Then, Donovan picked up the man's knife, and slowly made a cut on the man's throat, and put the end of the straw on it. After that, the man was able to breathe.
He learned this from a bus fight scene in a certain movie. Dropping the metal pipe, he walked towards the young man who witnessed the climax of the fight.
Donovan wiped the blood on his hand on his white shirt that was already stained with blood. Then, he reached out his hand towards the young man. "You're alright now."
The young man, whose school uniform had been ruined and dirtied, felt tears streaming down his cheeks, and took the stranger's hand.
Standing up, the young man wanted to say "thank you" to the stranger, but he had lost his voice because of all the screaming.
The stranger—whose white shirt was badly stained with blood, his head dripping with blood, and both of his hands dripping with blood—then said, "Call the ambulance… or the cops." After that, the stranger walked away.
He wanted to call out to him, but his voice wouldn't even come out. He quickly took out his phone, calling the ambulance and the cops. He quickly engraved the man's face into his memories.
After a while, Donovan exited the alleyway, and a few who were passing by paused to glance at him. A bloodied man just exited an alleyway.
But they went on with their business after a while.
Donovan arrived at the gas station, and entered inside. Those who were inside were shocked by his appearance. Then, Donovan grabbed one can of beer, and walked towards the counter.
The female staff who operated the cash register was shocked by the bloody man. She asked, "Sir? Are you alright?"
With a nod of his head, Donovan paid for the can of beer, exiting the gas station store.
My head hurts… My entire body is hurting… Why'd I walk away from him…? If I stayed, the ambulance would have taken care of me too… I'm so stupid… I need to go to the hospital…
Donovan opened his can of beer, and started drinking. As he passed by the parking lot, he noticed something strange from the corner of his vision.
A child was inside a car with closed windows, and it seems the air conditioner wasn't turned on.
His heart tightened, dropping his can of beer. Donovan quickly tried to open all the car doors, but it was all locked. He looked around, but no one seemed to be walking towards the car. The owner wasn't around.
Left with no options, Donovan punched at the car window, but to no avail. It was very hard. Plus, his strength was being drained from him.
"No, no…!"
Donovan kept punching, and punching, and punching, and punching.
A man that was passing by saw this, and took out his phone and dialed a number. "Uh, it looks like someone's trying to break inside a car… They're punching the window…"
With a last burst of strength, Donovan finally broke the car window. The car let out a series of alarms.
Then, he opened the car door, and carried the little boy outside. "Someone, call the ambulance!" he shouted.
Seeing this, the man who was in the middle of calling the cops suddenly stuttered, and said, "W-Wait, no! I need the ambulance!"
A while later, the ambulance finally arrived.
The owner of the car, who was the mother of the child, couldn't stop saying her utmost gratitude towards Donovan.
"Sir, we need to take you to the hospital," said the medical rescuer that came with the ambulance.
Donovan looked like he would collapse any second. His white shirt barely had any white in it now, and his injuries were very severe.
As Donovan was about to say "alright," he and everyone around the vicinity heard a female voice.
"Don't worry, I have him."
Donovan felt his heart getting crushed. Turning around, he saw his greatest fear.
Hana Isabelle was standing there with her cane in hand, and a gentle smile on her face.