Extra:Fool's Paradise

Chapter 7.5

Jin Chen was born in the year 2570, in a China ravaged by its own past and shaped by a future it couldn’t escape. The world was far from what the stories of old had promised. It wasn’t the gleaming future of technological marvels and peaceful coexistence. No, this was a fractured, dystopian world, one that had fallen apart at the seams long before Jin’s birth, and now he was here to witness the aftermath, a survivor in a world that had long since forgotten what it meant to live.

His birthplace was a sprawling metropolis that had once been the pride of China: a glittering beacon of progress and technological prowess, a shining city of steel and glass. But that was before the Great Collapse, the series of ecological and economic disasters that set the world on fire. By the time Jin Chen took his first breath in the year 2570, the sky was perpetually dim, shrouded in the toxic haze of industrial excess and chemical warfare.

As a child, Jin never knew the world before the ruin. He was born into a country on the brink of collapse, the air thick with the smell of ash, the ground beneath him rotting with years of neglect. The world was a forgotten shadow of its former self—its cities falling apart, its people broken by hunger and war. The streets were filled with the displaced, with the broken souls who had lost everything, their faces hollowed by the suffocating weight of despair. Jin’s family lived in a crumbling high-rise, their windows covered in layers of dirt and grime that allowed no light to pass through.

His parents, like so many others, were survivors, struggling to maintain some semblance of normalcy in a world that had long forgotten what that meant. His father worked as an engineer, his mother a nurse, both toiling away in the shadow of a regime that cared little for their existence. They lived in a city controlled by corporations and corrupt government officials who held power through fear, using advanced surveillance technology to watch their every move. The government offered no real protection, no safety for the people. It was a fool’s paradise—a delusion that the world could still be fixed, that society could return to some semblance of order. Jin’s parents, despite the decay around them, held onto this fragile hope, hoping against hope that they could give their son a better life.

But Jin Chen’s childhood was not one of innocence. He grew up in a world that showed no mercy. His days were spent avoiding the roving bands of soldiers who terrorized the streets, the corporate enforcers who did the bidding of their masters, and the scavengers who picked through the ruins of a civilization that had long since fallen. But even more terrifying than the violence of the streets were the machines—machines created by the government to control and break the will of the people. The drones hovered above, silent predators, their eyes always watching, always waiting for a mistake. Every moment was an act of survival, a desperate attempt to avoid drawing the attention of those who held power over the world’s fractured remnants.

Jin’s first real memory of pain came at the age of ten. It was an ordinary day, or what passed for ordinary in a world like theirs. His family was huddled inside their apartment, trying to make sense of the empty ration packages they had received that morning. The food was synthetic, tasteless and devoid of any nutritional value. Jin’s mother looked at the food, a sad expression crossing her face. "It won’t be enough to feed us all," she whispered to his father, her voice thick with the weight of despair.

Jin had grown accustomed to the silence that followed such statements. But that day, it was different. A loud crash echoed through their building, followed by the sounds of shouting in the hallway. His father stiffened, his eyes flashing with fear. "Lock the door, Jin," he said urgently, pushing his son into the corner of their cramped apartment. Jin did as he was told, his small hands trembling as he slid the bolt across. His mother, too, was silent, her eyes filled with dread as she watched the door.

Then they came. The soldiers.

They were part of the government’s elite enforcement squads, trained to control the citizens through fear and violence. They wore black combat suits, their faces obscured by masks. They were a symbol of everything that had gone wrong with the world—tools of oppression, their existence dedicated to keeping the people in line. And now, they had come for Jin’s family.

The door burst open, the lock splintering under the force of a single kick. The soldiers flooded into the room, their weapons raised. Jin’s father was the first to act. He lunged at them, a futile attempt to protect his family. A shot rang out, and he collapsed to the ground, blood spraying across the walls. Jin screamed, but his mother pushed him into the corner, whispering for him to be quiet, to stay still.

The soldiers didn’t care about his father’s life, nor did they care for Jin or his mother. They were here for a much darker reason. They pulled Jin’s mother to her feet, dragging her across the room as she cried out in terror. Jin tried to run to her, but one of the soldiers grabbed him by the throat and slammed him into the wall. The pain was immediate and sharp. He felt the air leave his lungs, his vision swimming as his body refused to obey. For a moment, all he could hear was the pounding of his own heart.

But then it stopped.

The soldier released him, his body falling to the floor in a heap. Blood trickled from his mouth as he gasped for air, his vision slowly fading. Jin’s mind seemed to shatter, his world falling apart around him. He watched in horror as they dragged his mother away, her screams growing fainter as the soldiers disappeared into the building’s corridors.

That was the moment Jin realized the world had no place for hope. There was no salvation, no future. There was only death, only endless suffering, and the bitter taste of loss that clung to him like a second skin.

Years passed, and the world continued to deteriorate around him. Jin grew up in the shadow of that night, his soul scarred by the violence and terror he had witnessed. He had become numb, a husk of the child he had once been. He spent his days trying to survive, searching for meaning in a world that had none to offer.

By the time he reached his twenties, Jin had become a shadow of his former self. His once-bright eyes were dull and lifeless, his body thin and worn from years of scavenging. He had joined a group of rebels, those few who still dared to resist the corporate tyranny that held the world in its grip. But resistance was futile. The corporations were too powerful, their weapons too advanced. The rebellion was a futile struggle, doomed from the start.

And then, in 2590, the world plunged into the depths of hell.

World War 3 erupted.

It wasn’t the war the world had expected. It wasn’t fought with traditional armies or organized forces. No, this war was fought with weapons far worse. Weapons of mass destruction, of biological warfare, and technologies that tore apart the very fabric of existence. Entire cities were wiped off the map in a matter of days. Nations crumbled, their governments nothing more than whispers of a bygone era.

Jin didn’t care. He had lost everything long ago—his family, his innocence, his hope. The world could burn for all he cared. But even as the flames of war engulfed the world, something in him stirred. Perhaps it was the last remnants of his humanity, or maybe it was simply the desire to see the world end. Either way, Jin knew one thing: the world had no place for the weak. And it never would.

And so, the war raged on, a hellish landscape of blood and fire. And at its heart, Jin stood alone, waiting for the end to come.

It wasn’t a question of if it would come. It was simply a question of when.

And thus, he died watching Hoshino.

He died, while protecting the universe.

He still carried hope, being delusional and betting it all on hoshino.

He was truly a fool who lived in his own imaginary Paradise.

[author] 2 more chapter and Volume 1 ends. Note:There will be 1 more extra chapter.[/author]