"People say wealth can give happiness, comfort, freedom, and power… but is that true? I have all the wealth the world could give me, yet I am not happy. I am lonely — and every time I reach out, the world drifts farther away from me. Freedom? I'm trapped in a cage of boredom. Power? I had it all… and I still couldn't save my parents from dying."
Inside the Zaveri company, a robot carried a plate full of food, heading toward a lady. The food was clearly for the party. Everybody cheered and asked the robot to bring some beers as well. The occasion was the retirement of a senior staff member, and emotions ran high.
Tears rolled down the eyes of many staff present.
"Sir Ashu, I will really miss your presence… and don't forget me, okay?" a young lady said, her voice broken and tearful.
A warm hand gently rested on her head, patting it. In a calm voice, Ashu comforted her, "Zyra, don't cry. You are like my own daughter — how could I ever forget you?"
The heartwarming moment was suddenly interrupted by another voice.
"Everybody… Sir Kairen is coming! Go back to your places and act like you're working!"
In a hurry, everyone scrambled back to their desks. Tension rose as the office was cleared and organized within seconds. Grasping for air, the staff returned to their work, hearts still racing.
A black Lamborghini Veneno stopped right in front of Zaveri Company. A tall young man stepped out, dressed in a fitted black suit. His build was that of a normal eighteen-year-old — lean, lightly muscular — but his presence felt heavier than that. His jet-black hair framed a face that never smiled. His dark-blue eyes were dull and lifeless, like a sky that had forgotten how to shine. No excitement. No emotion. Just a silent boredom that clung to him like a shadow — the aura of someone who had already seen everything and found none of it worth caring about.
"Good morning, sir," a security guard greeted him.
Without replying, the man walked past. Staff members smiled nervously as he entered.
"Good morning, Sir Kairen," they greeted together.
As usual, he didn't greet anyone back. He simply walked to his office.
Everyone exhaled in relief.
Zyra muttered under her breath, "How can he be so arrogant? We greet him every day, but he never greets us back. He's our boss, sure — but he's still only eighteen. Younger than most of us. Shouldn't he show some respect?"
Supporting her a guy added, "Yeah, I agree. He didn't even say anything to Sir Ashu, who's retiring today. It's like he doesn't care about us at all. He would have been nothing if it weren't for his parents wealth."
Are they right?
Is Kairen really just a selfish brat who only cares about money?
…or is that just what they want to believe?
Should he really greet people who don't mean their greetings?
Should he care about people who badmouth him the moment he turns away?
No one stood beside him when he lost his parents six years ago.
So why should he stand with them now?
The world doesn't care about him — only his money.
They only stay because of his wealth.
And they will leave the moment it's gone.
Kairen entered his office without a word and shut the door behind him.
Silence greeted him — the kind that felt heavy, like a room filled with invisible weight.
He loosened his tie and sank into his chair.
The city stretched outside his glass window — alive, loud, glittering — yet he felt nothing but a dull emptiness inside. Meetings, contracts, interviews, praise, envy… everything blurred together until it all felt the same.
"Why does everything feel so meaningless?"
For a fleeting second, a dark thought crossed his mind — if he disappeared, would anything really change? Would anyone care about him, not his title, not his company, not his money,not the empty endless routine that everyone mistook for a 'perfect life'?
"SYREN," he said quietly, "turn on the TV."
The AI obeyed at once. The screen lit up with urgent news:
A massive meteor shower was passing close to Earth. Some fragments, the reporter warned, might enter the atmosphere and strike different regions.
There was a knock on the door.
"Open it," Kairen said.
The door slid open and Rudra—company's manager— stepped in, file in hand.
"Sir, I wanted to discuss about the interv—"
"I already know," Kairen interrupted, his voice flat. "Anything I don't?"
Rudra shook his head. "No, sir. Should we leave for the venue?"
Kairen gave a small nod.
Minutes later, cameras flashed, microphones crowded him, and voices overlapped:
"How does it feel to be the richest man alive?"
"What are your future plans for Zaveri Company?"
"How will you shape the future of technology in India?"
He answered every question with a practiced smile — the kind that looked perfect in photos and felt fake in his chest.
Two hours later, the city lights blurred past as Kairen drove through the empty road. The radio kept repeating the same warning about the incoming meteor shower.
"Be careful… huh?" he muttered, resting his head back against the seat for a moment.
"Everyone's scared of dying."
He gave a humorless smile.
"I'm not."
His fingers drummed on the steering wheel.
"Richest man alive… genius… prodigy… savior of technology," he said, repeating the reporters' words. "They keep saying that like it means something."
His voice dropped.
"But not one of them asked if I'm okay."
He laughed quietly — not out of joy, but exhaustion.
"What's the point of money," he whispered, "when the house is empty… the chair at the dining table is empty… and every room echoes with people who aren't there anymore?"
His parents' faces flashed briefly in his mind.
"I had all this power," he said bitterly, "and I couldn't save the only people I actually wanted to save."
He tightened his grip on the steering wheel.
"If a meteor really falls…"
"…let it fall on me."
He looked up at the sky sprinkled with streaks of light.
"End it," he murmured. "I'm tired of waking up just to pretend I'm alive."
The radio crackled again, warning of rising meteor impacts in nearby regions.
Kairen simply turned it off and kept driving.
Suddenly, the ground began to shake.
The steering wheel jerked in Kairen's hands. He lost control of the Lamborghini as the road split slightly beneath the tires. Cursing under his breath, he twisted the wheel hard to the left. The car shot off the road, crashing through bushes as it sped into the nearby forest.
A tree loomed ahead.
He didn't have time to brake.
The car slammed into the trunk with a violent jolt.
The airbags burst open. His body was thrown forward, but fortunately, he suffered no major injuries. Groaning, Kairen pushed the door open and climbed out of the wrecked car.
Rage flickered across his otherwise emotionless face. He kicked the bumper again and again.
"You piece of junk!" he snapped. "Can't even handle a small earthquake!"
As he kicked the car, the sky above him burned.
A meteor — no larger than a meter across — blazed downward.
Kairen stopped, breath slowly calming. He pulled out his phone and dialed.
"Rudra," he said flatly, "come pick me up. The car's totaled."
He didn't wait for a response and hung up.
He was about to go away but something bright reflected in his eyes.
He turned.
A meteorite was descending straight toward him.
He froze — not screaming, not running — just staring in stunned disbelief as the burning stone filled his vision.
Then it hit.
The world exploded into dust and heat. The shockwave threw him to the ground. Pain flooded his body; warm blood trailed down his skin. He could barely move.
"So this is it… huh?" he thought, staring blankly at the sky.
"Seems like… I'm finally going back to my parents," he thought, vision fading.
"Escaping this empty life at last."
A faint smile appeared on his lips.
From the shattered meteor, something rolled free — a bright blue gem, pulsing with light. Strong wind pushed it across the ground until it touched Kairen's fingertip.
A translucent screen appeared before his eyes.
He blinked slowly.
"What… is this? A loading screen…? Is this just a hallucination before death…?"
The bar filled.
100%
[Congratulations] the message read.
[𝙉𝙊𝙑𝘼 𝙎𝙔𝙉𝘾𝙃𝙍𝙊𝙉𝙄𝙕𝘼𝙏𝙄𝙊𝙉: 𝘾𝙊𝙈𝙋𝙇𝙀𝙏𝙀]
A Blue light exploded around him, swallowing the forest, the shattered car, and even the night itself.
Kairen tried to breathe, tried to move—but the world was already fading.
With the last flicker of awareness slipping from him, his eyes slowly closed, and darkness claimed him.
------ TO BE CONTINUED ------