A New Start

Jon finds himself back again in that space with his surroundings pitch black in the blink of an eye.

He looked down to see that he had returned to the prime of his youth. There weren't the wrinkles on his hands or his face.

He breathes a long sigh as his eyes have a little thoughtfulness to them, as he thinks back to the moment when she was still sitting next to his side.

At the same time, it was a lifetime of an experience, one that he could not possibly forget ever in his life again.

He remembered how she was sitting right next to him when they were driving around the country.

Especially during that wet and rainy day as they drove through the forest of Oregon, through the hilltops.

He remembers that smile on her face whenever she talks to him. There are specific memories that Jon can never forget.

He looks around him at this mass of darkness, thinking that maybe death itself would have been a better answer.

Maybe he could still be with her and the other people he loves so deeply if there is heaven. And now, they are all but a figment of his imagination or a fading memory.

"Do you need some time to catch up?" Then, in that familiar monotonous voice, Death asked him, "You can always hang out in this empty darkness for as long as possible."

Jon gives a dry grin before saying tiredly, "Time. What is it anyway? I have lived so many stories now."

He doesn't even know who he is anymore. His heart is tired now, although his strength is still with him.

"How about I give you a new mission this time?" Death asked him; he could almost feel a sense of pity from that voice.

"A new mission?" Jon feels like he is crying buckets of tears inside, "It is not like I don't like it, Death. You know I'm just not so good with saying goodbyes to people. It tears me apart to leave the people that I love behind."

"You know there is nothing you can do about that, Jon," Death tells him, "time does that. It washes away everything. Including the shining memories that you once knew."

Jon smiles a little more, finding himself more relaxed, "You didn't have to get so dark all of a sudden. Maybe it is the loneliness in my heart because now I'm all alone in this world again. I created so much meaning in another world, and now it is all gone."

"And that is another reason you can't just be like this," Death told him, "taking on another mission would do you good. But, I promise you it is different this time."

Jon shakes him in resignation as he hears Death tell him and sells him on taking another mission, "Fine, what is this new mission of yours this time."

"Your mission is to experience friendship," Death told him, "and this time, you wouldn't have to worry about dropping everything behind. Instead, you can do another mission and come back again."

"Friendship..." He smiles a little to himself hearing that word. After all this time, he finally understands the value of friendship and the fact that no man is an island.

He smiles a little more with his heart excited to discover what will be in store for him in this new world, "Alright, mission accepted."

"That sounds good," Death said back, floating a ball of light towards him.

[Legendaary Level Cooking Skill Fragment]

[Memory Figment]

After accepting the ball of light into his body, Jon feels like his mind is filled with numerous information about cooking.

He imagines that if he could hold a knife in his hand, it would be a powerful weapon that he could use to sculpt anything from the realms of his mind.

From absorbing the memory fragment, he had a new memory of this world that he will go to and memories related to people that belong to this quest that he needs to accomplish.

And also has a special memory regarding something called Love Apartment, which he finds to be a strange name for an apartment.

In this next moment, he finds himself in the bathroom stalls somewhere, and when he takes a look inside the wallet that death prepared into his clothing, he discovers a stack of cash and an identity card that matches his name.

Walking out of the bathroom stall, he discovers that he is walking through the hallway to the main area and that this place seems to be a bar.

A piece of quiet jazz music resounds in the air, and people are sitting at the counter drinking cocktails and other alcoholic beverages from a cup.

And what is so occasional is that the people in the bar seem to all have their eyes on him like an exotic animal that just came out from the zoo.

"Oh, my, who is that handsome guy?"

"Why didn't I see him when he walked from the entrance?"

"Is this real? He must be a celebrity. But he doesn't seem to look familiar."

A girl with long dark hair tied up in a ponytail flowing all down from her shoulder heard the people's chatter, turning her eyes ever so slowly in the direction where the girls were looking.

She is wearing a pair of purple reading glasses that gives her a sophisticated look coupled with that professional outfit that also reveals a delicate style of maturity that highlights her beauty.

When she looked over in that direction, she saw a man wearing slim-cut white business attire. Besides that delicately sculpted face and the muscle tone that speaks even through the clothes, what is even more shocking is the aura from his eyes.

For some reason, she finds her heart beating loudly the moment their eyes match, and she thinks to herself that he is looking specifically at her. Then, when she pauses her breathing softly, she notices that he is explicitly walking toward her.

Those eyes focused on her face, those deep and soulful eyes as though the owner is filled with years of challenges and maturity that bore into him.

And that confident smile on his lips as he walked up to her, although this was not the same thing going on in Jon's mind.