Chapter 129: Crushed Landing
Sora Town
At this time, in a viewing deck on top of a mountain, a group of tourists and hikers looked over the grand view of the whole town.
It was a small town known for its large gardens, themed communities, and some historical neighborhoods. It boasted the highest number of visitors during holidays and was a favorite date area for the locals.
There were several groups there at this time: some were friends, some were family, and some were lovers.
A young pretty girl rushed to the wooden railing, turning back to lure her companions to where she was. "Oh, look! That’s my house!" she said, pointing at a community. "That’s the park I frequent!"
She was pointing at one of the villa areas several kilometers away. It looked very high-end with its own clubhouse area with pools and larger-than-average community parks.
She then looked around. "This viewdeck is really nice," she said, looking at the new wooden railings, decks, and seating areas. These were newly renovated items, and they were designed very well.
Her companions couldn’t help but look at her. "Charm, don’t you live here? How does it feel like it’s your first time here?" Her friends gave her a teasing look.
Charm flinched and blushed a bit. It was really her first time here.
"Hiking is tiring, okay? It’s not glamorous at all!" If she wanted to exercise, she’d use her home gym or run a lap around their neighborhood. Most of all, she didn’t have to exert herself for more than an hour.
In contrast, hiking was a multi-hour thing. Her makeup would’ve completely melted halfway through!
This time, she didn’t hike at all. It was because during the latest infrastructure development, a new road had been built and a new parking area was built nearer the apex.
This way, those who didn’t want to hike from the bottom of the mountains could still appreciate the apex with a fraction of the effort.
As such, unlike the hikers who were panting and finding places to sit down, their group ran around, posing by the railings.
A few meters away from them, standing at another part of the view deck, another friend group had just climbed up.
Unlike Charm’s group, they were a hiking group. Now that they were at the top, they were huffing and puffing from the exertion.
Some flopped down the grassy area, while another pair managed to squeeze in on a bench.
"I shouldn’t have come. It’s my fault for being too easy to talk to."
The speaker was a pretty girl with white fitted sweatpants and a sleeveless shirt. She looked like she was jogging around her neighborhood rather than hiking.
The frown on her face was as deep as she wiped her sweat; her eyebrows furrowed even deeper when she saw the makeup that had been wiped off due to the action.
She looked very much like she had been forced here. "So annoying..."
A young man her age held up a new water bottle with a sycophantic smile. "Here you go, Steph," he said, and the girl took it without saying thanks. The man’s gaze was warm as ever, though.
He seemed oblivious to the fact that the woman’s eyes were fixed in a certain direction, and that the reason she suffered here at all was because of another man.
Meanwhile, the other people in their party were also not without complaints.
"Damn, I’m too old for this. Whose idea was this? Huff," one said, wiping his sweat and gulping down the remaining water inside his tumbler. The person next to him rolled his eyes.
"You’re the one who insisted on tagging along, right? Besides, you could’ve cheated and taken the shortcut instead."
"I’m not a local. How was I supposed to know there’s a shortcut!" He was so wronged. Had he known, he’d have driven to the nearest parking lot!
He wasn’t a hiking enthusiast who always wanted to go on foot the whole way. He certainly didn’t mind ’cheating’ a bit.
"Besides, we’re not yet 30, okay?!" his friend said, pointing at the youngest member of the group. "Well, we’re certainly not like Fred over there in our early 20s!"
The aforementioned young man pretended not to hear them. He was too busy taking videos of the place, though the main subject was actually a couple.
The youngest in their group, 21-year-old Fred, was holding his video camera with stability despite his own sweat. His lens focused on a man and a woman, both relatively good-looking. The woman stretched her arms and leaned toward the railing to appreciate the view.
The man, on the other hand, was staring at the woman with loving eyes.
He then slightly turned to Fred’s direction and gave him a light nod. He nervously wiped the sweat on his palms in his pants.
"Alyssa..." he said, and the woman turned her head to look at him, not expecting him to suddenly kneel down!
"C-Chris?"
Her face was now red as an apple, and it had nothing to do with the exercise.
Her eyes immediately brimmed with tears, especially as he said the words she had been dreaming of hearing. Meanwhile, Steph had stood up abruptly and wanted to head in their direction. Sad for her, her knees were weak and buckled when she suddenly stood up, caught by a man she did not care for.
Many other people there seemed to realize what was going on and watched on with interest, many of whom also took out their phones to record the stranger’s proposal. It was just an automatic instinct among youths nowadays.
Chris and Alyssa had no mind for anyone else at this moment. In their eyes, there was only ever each other.
"Alyssa, my moon, my dream, and my inspiration...being with you is the happiest thing that has happened in my life.
"I wish to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me, please?"
She nodded without hesitation. No, she nodded so fast she got dizzy.
The affirmative answer transformed the man’s nervous expression into one that was as bright as the sun. The newly engaged couple embraced each other, with several lenses capturing each moment.
However, the happiness did not last even a minute.
First, they felt a little tremor in their feet. But it wasn’t too strong, and some just felt like they got vertigo or something.
"Oh, look! What’s that?" Charm’s friend pointed at an area, and they saw something flying amongst the clouds. It was a cloudy day that day, so they didn’t notice it immediately.
"Is it a shooting star?" one exclaimed in awe, shifting the camera on his phone upwards. "Wow, I didn’t know we could see those in daylight!"
Others, rather than feel excited, felt a foreboding instead. "Is it supposed to be this big?"
"It’s so clear..."
"Why do I feel like it’s in our atmosphere?"
Finally, the realization struck.
"...it’s...it’s heading towards us!"
"Oh shitshitshitshit!"
"RUN!!!"
"KYAAAAAAAAAAAA!!"
It was clear that this meteorite—just the size of a mansion, but still extremely terrifying— had gotten past the atmosphere and was heading straight for them.
"Run for cover!"
"Find a place to hide!!"
What kind of cover could save someone from a damned meteorite!?
They had no idea, but it was the only thing they could do right now!
The people of Sora Town gaped as a ’small’ meteorite descended close to them, even while they were running, their heads couldn’t help but turn to look at their future killer, as if looking at it with desperate eyes would let it miss.
It was called small because it was a speck compared to the main body, but this was still as big as a small building!!
People could only follow their instinct and just run away from where the impact was landing—even if it meant jumping over steep slopes or even cliffs. They didn’t care which bones they broke anymore; they did not have the chance to care!
A second later—
BOOM!
The ground shook and, from their perspective, it felt like the entire planet exploded.
It was too late for people on the impact sites, while those a few kilometers away immediately lay as low as they could. If they could be combined with the earth, they would’ve tried.
Some of the people were inside their offices or their homes. They had no idea the world was about to change above them.
The shockwave was fast and heavy, and those with weak organs died directly even before the impact.
BOOM!
And then the rock hit, directly burning another dot on the planet’s surface.
Everything within a few kilometers of the impact was obliterated, creating desolate land that seemed to have never even seen life at all. Those farther away didn’t have it much better.
The impact of the massive heat wave instantaneously spread out, and those who jumped down the steep slopes unconsciously looked up, seeing people burned to a crisp in front of their eyes!
Bang!
No one remained conscious from then on, and most of them never woke up again.
Comments