《My How To Search Engine》 Chapter 1: How To: Kill Sarah Davies A lot of women these days have a sense of entitlement. Their egos are inflated as a result of social media and dating apps. They get guys liking their photos and simping on them. They think they deserve a millionaire with six-pack abs and a yacht without having to lift a finger. Not my Sarah. At least, that''s what I thought. "F*cking b*tch." A young slim man with clear light skin and curly black hair stared at the screen in front of him. On the screen was a photo of a young woman with short brown hair and clear almond skin who seemed to be in her early twenties drinking wine on a boat with a fairly handsome man in his late twenties. The young man read the caption in anger whilst clenching his fists. ======================================== Sarah Davies (@sarahdavies_01): [Lovely day out with my boo #sunny #lifeisgood #love] [??174 | ??23 | ??24] ======================================== It had been three months since their relationship ended. To be more specific, Max confronted his girlfriend at the time when he discovered her making out with an unknown man from one of her friends'' Instagram live stories. Needless to say, their relationship ended that day, with Max getting dumped. He tried his hardest to reconcile with her as they had been dating for almost 5 years. Despite the fact that he was an only child and his father was all he had left, their families were close. They even decided to attend the same University. They planned their lives around one another. He didn''t want to throw what they had away, especially since he thought it was just a mistake and could be resolved. But it seems that Sarah did not want this. It''s true what they say about girls planning their breakups long before they actually do it. He couldn''t contact her because she had blocked him on all social media platforms. Through several connections, Max eventually found out that she had been seeing this man for a couple of months after they entered University. Max was already in his second year of university, so they had most likely been seeing each other for about a year now. It was at that moment he knew, there was no chance of them getting back together. "Is it because he can afford a luxury lifestyle? That''s not love, it''s materialism you dumb f*ck." SighA case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. "That''s enough venting for today." Max rose from his seat and began preparing for his weekly jog. Although he was still depressed, he decided to work more on himself. He started new hobbies, such as jogging, chess and trying new foods. He initially did it to distract himself from his breakup, but he gradually began to enjoy them. Huff Huff Huff Max looked at his watch and noticed that the time was <11:48 AM> Meaning he had been jogging for roughly 15 minutes now. "I''m... so... f*cking... fat." He said whilst breathing in and out heavily. He was self-conscious about his body, so he preferred jogging near St Mary''s Garden in the morning because it was close to his University and there would be few people at that time. He chose a spot to rest for a few minutes before continuing his lap. As he crouched, he noticed a shimmer of light coming from his right eye. He bobbed his head up and down, trying to find the source of the shimmer once more. As the light remained in his eye, he reasoned that it must be reflected off something and moved closer to the source. He looked for it for several minutes and still couldn''t find it. He chose to ignore it and continue his jog. However, as he turned around, he stepped on something. He frowned at first, thinking it was dog sh*t. On closer inspection, however, he noticed a stick-like object that appeared to have been dug into the ground after he stepped on it. He picked it up and examined it more closely. It didn''t appear to be anything special, just your average USB flash drive. It was no bigger than a thumb, but what drew his attention was that it was completely transparent, including the connector plug. He liked the look of it regardless of the fact that he had no use for it. He didn''t want to admit it, but he was a bit of a hoarder. He ended up stuffing the USB drive into his sweatpants, unconcerned about whether it flew out while jogging or not. <1:16 PM> Arriving back at his dorm room drenched, Max stripped naked and jumped in the shower. A few minutes after he finished, he noticed a small glass-like object on the floor. ''What''s th... Oh right, must have fallen on the floor when I flung my clothes.'' Max recalled the USB drive he had picked up while jogging. He wiped it down because it still had some dirt on it. He set it near his desk, among other things, and opened his laptop. ''The latest episode of One Piece should be out... I''ll give that a watch before carrying on with the project.'' Half an hour later, Max had finished watching his favourite anime. He didn''t want to procrastinate any longer than necessary because he wanted to improve himself. Max attended Nottingham Trent University. It wasn''t the best University in England, but at least it was within the top 100. In fact, with his grades, he could have gotten into a better university. But he entered because it was the one Sarah ended up enrolling in, and they both planned on attending the same university. He clenched his fists every time he thought about it. Trying to forget the past, he pressed the Windows + E key to open his project from there. He studied Computational Neuroscience and Cognitive Robotics so he had a lot of projects to complete. ''While I''m at it, might as well wipe the contents of the USB drive so I can back up some of my projects in there.'' Max thought as he grabbed the USB flash drive and plugged it into a port. Fortunately, it was inserted with no issues. He was concerned because it did not resemble any flash drive he had ever seen. He double-clicked on the drive icon that had an image of a transparent Earth expecting to be taken to the root directory. Instead, a surprising browser window appeared on the screen. It resembled Google Chrome, except the logo was a transparent Earth. The only button on the page could be found just below the logo. Instead of the standard ''Search'', it was replaced with ''How To''. "What kind of browser doesn''t even have a close button..." Max furrowed his brow after discovering that he couldn''t close the browser even after several minutes. He tried everything, including CTRL + W, Alt + F4, and closing from Task Manager, but nothing worked. Ding A pop notification appeared on Max''s phone. Sarah had uploaded a new photo. As she blocked him on his main social media accounts, he used alt accounts at the time hoping to gain some closure. Clicking on the notification, he became vexed at the content. From the caption, it seemed she was wearing a sort of promise ring. She was smiling and holding her hand close to her face. "Opportunistic b*tch." Max mumbled as he tossed his phone onto the bed. Looking at the screen in front of him, he couldn''t help but want to vent out his anger. [How to kill Sarah Davies without leaving a trace] Following that, a few lines of text appeared on the screen: [ > 5247 results returned] [ > On August 27, 2023, at exactly 11:34:22 AM, place a tennis ball that weighs 56.0-59.4 grams and has a diameter of 2.57¨C2.70 inches on the park bench at the entrance of King Edward Park, Carlton Road. This will set off a chain of events that will result in Sarah Davies'' death.] "What?" Chapter 2: How To Cripple Sarah Davies "What?" Max stared at the words on the screen in disbelief. He wasn''t actually expecting anything when he clicked on the ''How To'' button. In fact, he sort of regretted it after he pressed it. He forgot that he had no idea what this mysterious browser window was. What if it was the police or the government spying on what their citizens were up to? What if this was all a set-up? What if it was one of those ''What would you do?'' videos he saw on YouTube? He shook his head after thinking about it for a few minutes longer. ''There''s no way anyone would go to such lengths just to prank someone.'' ''Plus, it''s not as if I committed a crime.'' Max felt significantly better after reading through the texts several times. His anger had been replaced by amusement. ''Damage is already done, might as well keep going.'' Max thought upon reading what he wrote in the search bar. ''So, if it''s anything like Final Destination, then a chain of events should lead to her death?'' ''No... death is a luxury. That b*tch deserves to suffer for the rest of her life.'' He thought and started changing the words in the search bar. [How to cripple Sarah Davies without leaving evidence] [ > 3835 results returned] Max chuckled as he read through several of them. Some were for specific days and required hundreds of steps to be completed, while others required only a few lines of text. "Whoever made this has far too much spare time." He sifted through the results until he came across one that piqued his interest. [ > On August 27, 2023, at exactly 11:35:23 AM, place a tennis ball that weighs 56.0-59.4 grams and has a diameter of 2.57¨C2.70 inches on the park bench at the entrance of King Edward Park, Carlton Road. This will set off a chain of events that will result in Sarah Davies'' being paralysed from the waist down.]Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ''Huh? This is identical to the la¡ª'' "...The time is different?" ''It''s only a second difference, but is that second really significant enough to distinguish death from fatal injury?'' Max pondered as he returned his gaze to the lines of text. The dimensions mentioned appeared to be the standard size for a professional tennis ball. "August 27th... that''s tomorrow." ''But do I really want to waste money on a tennis ball?'' ''It''s not like it''ll work, but picking up a sport doesn''t sound bad.'' "...I''ll leave that up to the future me." "Anyway how do I close this..." Max grumbled as he discovered that even holding down the power button did not close the browser. After several minutes of attempting various methods to shut down his laptop, he noticed faint flashes coming from the USB drive. It was hard to spot if not paying attention, but on closer inspection he could see small flashes of light, similar to stars in the night sky. He removed the USB drive from the port to investigate further. In order to avoid corrupting a drive, he would normally eject it before removing it from its port. His entire screen, however, was filled with a search engine similar to Google Chrome, and he had no access to other features, including the task bar. When he removed the USB drive from the port, his screen returned to the state it was in when he opened file explorer. He couldn''t see the flashing lights on the USB drive any longer. Instead, it reverted to its original state of transparency. Looking back and forth between the drive and the laptop, he deduced that the problem had to be related. He plugged in the USB drive again because it didn''t appear that his laptop had been damaged. When he opened file explorer again, he saw the drive with the image of a transparent world. This time, however, he focused his attention on the drive''s name and capacity. He couldn''t make out the name as it was in strange symbols. He had no idea if it was a language at all. As for the capacity, nothing was displayed. Not feeling discouraged, he moved the cursor over the drive icon and right-clicked to select Properties. He could see from the general tab that the drive''s capacity was listed as 0 GB. Max spent the next few minutes attempting to access the drive''s contents. Alas, no method seemed to be working for him. He couldn''t even enter the directory from disk management or the command prompt because he couldn''t copy the drive''s name. "What the actual f*ck." Max said grumpily as he stared at the USB drive which was once again exhibiting flashes of light like stars in the night sky. He gave up temporarily and double-clicked on the drive icon. He was once again presented with a search engine that resembled Google Chrome. Max stared at the USB drive as he slowly unplugged it from his laptop to put his theory to the test. And as if to prove there was a clear correlation between the search engine and the USB drive, the laptop returned to its normal state, and the flashing lights on the drive vanished. ''I guess I''m not going to get any answers for this anytime soon.'' ''Maybe I should get one of the lab technicians to look into it...'' Max thought as he stared at the transparent USB drive wedged between his thumb and index finger. "As for the search results..." ''Does it track my location? Or is it entirely random?'' ''King Edward Park... that''s not very far from where I usually jog I think?'' Max looked up the distance between the two locations and discovered that they were only 10 minutes apart by foot. "Coincidence?" Recalling several of the search results he had read, the descriptions were very informative. Some search results even listed the number of steps required to reach a destination. "...This is ridiculous." "To think that I entertained the idea that this could be real for even a second." "Am I that gullible?" Max questioned himself as he reflected on everything that had happened since obtaining the USB drive. He decided to put down the USB drive and focus on his work. After all, Max did not believe in superstitions. "...But" "...What in the off chance that what it says is real?" Chapter 3: How To Look Towards A Better Future "What the hell am I doing." As he walked out of the shop, Max stared at the pack of Wilson Tennis balls and racket in his hand. He made a point of staying alert to his surroundings, half expecting a camera crew to appear. In fear of being plastered on the morning news, he wore a grey trey tracksuit with a hoodie over his head. He could almost see the headline now: "Psycho ex wishes for the death of an innocent girl." Shaking his head, he made his way to the park. He only agreed to entertain this ridiculous notion because he stood to lose nothing. He would just add tennis to his list of hobbies until he grew tired of it. It was early on a Sunday morning, so there were few people in the park at this time. Looking at his watch, he still had a couple of hours to go so, he spent some time playing tennis against the wall. Huff Huff Huff <11:21 AM> "It''s almost time..." Max muttered as he began packing his belongings. As he approached the park''s entrance, he noticed a family of four entering for what appeared to be a picnic outing. There were two adults, a man and a woman, a girl on her phone who appeared to be a teenager, and a young boy walking a dog. Max paid them no mind as he walked towards the park bench and brought out one of the tennis balls he had been using earlier. ''Wait... do I just place it anywhere?'' Max questioned himself as he stared at the bench in front of him. He placed the tennis ball in the middle of the bench after several minutes of contemplation. He stood, heart palpitating, his gaze fixed on the time on his watch not daring to let go of the ball. In the back of his mind, he was questioning what he was doing. Was all of this really worth it? He could simply go home, forget about his ex and carry on bettering himself as a person. Although he was aware what he was doing was a hoax, it was still immoral. Did he really need to go to such lengths to gain closure? "..." <11:35 AM> Max clenched his jaw as he finally released his hand from the ball. He wasn''t sure if he hit the exact time proposed, as he couldn''t react in milliseconds. But he didn''t care anymore. He decided he would just go home, and become a person that he could be proud of.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. But before leaving, he stayed for several minutes to see if anything occurred. Unsurprisingly, nothing happened. He was going to take the ball home but instead decided to leave it as a remnant of his past, his ''closure'' to Sarah. He smiled and walked away, looking towards a better future. <11:43 AM> A young boy, no more than eight years old, was playing with his dog while his parents prepared a picnic. As usual, his older sister was on the phone, so he took it upon himself to be the responsible young adult who would play with their Greyhound, Timothy. After running around with his dog for a few minutes, the young boy noticed a small green ball on a bench. As he picked up the ball, an idea struck him. "Timothy! Let''s play catch!" Like so, the young boy began playing catch with his dog, gradually throwing the ball further each time. "Timothy, try catching this one! It''s my special move!" "Super powered majestic arm cannon!" The young boy shouted as he gathered strength to throw as far as he could. He unleashed his super powered move and threw the ball high after spinning around three times and extending his arm as far back as he could. Timothy being a greyhound, made quick work to retrieve the ball. "Billy, lunch is ready!" A middle-aged woman yelled trying to get her son''s attention. "Coming Mum! Timothy, let''s go!" Billy said as he ran towards his family. However, what Billy didn''t see was the little green ball ricocheting off a nearby slide and rolling through the park fence and into the street. <11:48 AM> A middle-aged Caucasian man could be seen driving a white van down an empty road in a hurry. The man appeared to be a food junkie, as he was surrounded by bottles, empty boxes of donuts, and snacks. ''F*ck, I''m going to be late again.'' "Who the hell wakes up before 2 PM on a Sunday." The man muttered to himself in a seemingly annoyed tone. ''If they fire me, I''ll just leave bad reviews on their website.'' The middle-aged man accelerated his pace, not wanting to be late for work again for fear of being fired. However, while driving, he saw a dog jumping across a fence and into the road. "F*CK!" SCREECH Fortunately, the man was able to apply the brakes just before the car collided with the dog. "Stupid dog, you''re going to kill someone!" The middle-aged man yelled at the dog, which stood there staring at him with what appeared to be a tennis ball in his mouth, as if he had done nothing wrong. What irritated him the most was that the dog bolted with the tennis ball in his mouth and hopped back over the fence as if nothing had happened. After calming down, the man looked at the radio and saw that it was now 11:51 AM. Panicking, he restarted his van and sped down the narrow road. What he failed to notice was that when he hit the brakes to avoid hitting the dog, a half-empty water bottle flipped over and landed beneath his legs. <11:57 AM> A young woman with short brown hair and almond skin could be seen driving a red car down a street intersection. She adjusted her rear view mirror, making sure her make-up was applied properly. The young woman would normally do this before getting into her car, but knowing these roads for the past year and knowing there wouldn''t be many people out at this time, she let her guard down. She had an important day planned with her boo, so she needed to look her best. Bzzt A pop notification appeared on her phone. She had a wide grin upon checking the contents. Her boo had apparently reserved a restaurant for them, amongst other activities. Noticing there weren''t many cars in front of her and the traffic light was green, she picked up her phone to send a quick message. <11:59 AM> "Almost there, should be able to make it in time..." A middle-aged man driving a white van was speeding down the street when he noticed the traffic light turn yellow. He sped up a little, thinking he''d make it in time, unaware that this caused a half-empty plastic water bottle to roll down his feet and underneath the brake pedal. At the same time, a young woman could be seen texting on her phone while driving, but making sure to steal glances at the road ahead. ''Cant w8! C u soon! ??'' "...And send." She happily sent her response as she reached an intersection. <12 PM> Noticing what appeared to be a red Ford about to appear in the middle of an intersection, the middle-aged man quickly stepped on his brake pedal to avoid the car. "What the f*ck?" "SH*T!" He yelled, panicking upon noticing that his van wasn''t slowing down. ''Hm?'' A young woman in a red Ford turned her head to the side upon noticing a white van. CRASH A deafening sound filled the street as a white Volkswagen Transporter rammed into her passenger''s side, causing her car to roll over several times, breaking glasses and inflating the safety bag. Nearby onlookers screamed as some quickly rushed to the scene whilst others called an ambulance. It felt as if time had frozen for the young woman. Her eyelids felt heavy, and her body numb. The silent ringing in her head slowly started to fade. The last thing she heard was the ever increasing sound of sirens as darkness embraced her. Chapter 4: How To Deal With The Aftermath "This isn''t real..." "This isn''t real..." "This isn..." While staring at his phone, a young man in his early twenties with light skin and curly black hair could be heard repeating these words. Yesterday night, he had read some news online which caused him to lose sleep. This morning, he opened his phone to re-examine the contents. ======================================== Bradley Dawson, 33, from Coventry and Sarah Davies, 20, from Manchester were driving on the A612, Evelyn St on Sunday, August 27, when they were involved in a collision. Dawson''s Volkswagen Transporter collided with Davies'' red Ford Fiesta at noon. Following the crash, Nottinghamshire Police confirmed that the second-year Sociology student was taken to Queen''s Medical Centre with potentially serious injuries. Dawson sustained minor injuries, thus did not need to be hospitalised. The cause of the crash being Dawson unable to apply the brakes due to a water bottle becoming lodged beneath the pedal. CCTV footage captured Davies texting near the time of impact, which may have contributed to her failure to notice the van earlier. The A612 Southwell Road was closed while emergency services dealt with the incident. Davies'' family have requested their privacy during this difficult time. ======================================== "F*ck, f*ck, f*ck." Max couldn''t help but gulp as he looked in the direction of the USB drive. "It''s a coincidence.. it has to be..." ''Would anyone think I was involved in this?'' ''Sh*t would they be able to trace this back to me?'' ''But I didn''t cause her car to crash...'' ''It wasn''t a tennis ball that caused her car to crash... it was because she was texting while driving...'' ''Yeah... it''s just a coincidence... I''m not a murderer...'' After several minutes of pacing back and forth in his room, he read the online article once again. He came to one conclusion after collecting his thoughts. "Damage control." ''Even though none of this is my fault, I can''t be seen having any animosity towards her.'' ''Who knows who the hell is reading my browser history?''This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. ''I need to clear any suspicion that has been cast on me just in case...'' Max plugged in the USB drive and opened the mysterious browser, pressing CTRL + H to access the browser history. However, nothing happened and in front of him remained the same old search engine. ''F*ck forgot that keyboard shortcuts don''t work.'' ''No... calm down, maybe it''s just a different shortcut key.'' After several minutes of experimenting with different keyboard shortcuts, attempting to open and clear the browsing history, he still couldn''t find any working combination. "F*ck it." ''At least no one will be able to see what I searched for.'' Max thought as he remembered his spontaneous searches. ''How to kill her? How to cripple her? Seriously, what the f*ck was I thinking.'' He shuddered at the thought of his newly revealed edgelord tendencies. Max put on his best clothes getting ready to head out. His destination, Queen''s Medical Centre. It wasn''t very far, only 15 minutes by public transportation from his university. But he wanted to make a good impression because he expected Sarah''s parents to be there. Even though they weren''t on speaking terms, he was still close with her parents. He wore a black v-neck cardigan over a white shirt that was rolled up to his elbow and grey jeans with fake Air Jordan I''s that were difficult to notice unless looked at closely. But there was one thing that was bothering him as he was about to leave. Staring in the direction of his desk, he picked up a small transparent stick. Making his way to the dumpster posted outside of his dorm, Max threw the USB Flash drive in. "Out of sight, out of mind." ''No one should be able to trace this back to me now right?'' ''F*ck should I have cleaned my fingerprints?'' ''Forget it, visiting time should be over soon, can''t waste more time.'' Before boarding the bus to the hospital, he stopped at a local florist to purchase an orchid bouquet. *** "Hi, uhm, I''m here to visit a patient." Max said to the receptionist lady while fidgeting with the bouquet of orchids in his hands. "Patient''s name?" "Sarah Davies, uhm, she''s 20, has short brown hair and was in a car accident." ''You idiot, her name was enough.'' He thought upon realising he was oversharing. "And are you a friend or relative?" She asked, not looking up from the stack of documents in front of her. "...I''m ... a friend." Max mumbled upon remembering he and Sarah were now practically strangers to each other. "Please sign here." Max was initially hesitant but eventually agreed to sign. "She was admitted to ICU, Ward E12. The floor is located on the west block. To use this service, you must use a lift or scale stairs." "Ah, thank you very much." Max eventually found the building after some searching. As he reached the twelfth floor, he held his steps after seeing two familiar faces. They were none other than Sarah''s parents. He was about to approach them, clutching the bouquet of orchids even tighter, when he noticed a fairly handsome man appear next to them. ''Motherf*cker!'' Max clenched his jaw when he realised who the man next to them was; Sarah''s current boyfriend. He stood around 6 feet tall, with combed slick back black hair and no blemishes on his pale skin. Max could tell he was getting along with Sarah''s parents because he could hear him reassuring them that everything would be fine and even hugging Sarah''s mother. ''You f*ckers are already chummy with each other?!'' Max became visibly upset when he realised Sarah''s parents had probably already met him after she had broken up with him. ''I thought our families were close... they didn''t even call to check on how I was doing... f*ck man.'' Soon after, a doctor approached them and led them into a room. Max quickly followed them and came to a halt before opening the door. What would they think if they saw him? How would they react if they saw him? Were they even interested in seeing him? These thoughts whirled around in his head. He felt a myriad of emotions including shock, grief, and humiliation. But, above all, he felt betrayed. It''s one thing to lose someone you care about. It''s another thing entirely to lose a family. That''s what they were to him; a second family. But, it appears that this family no longer cared about him now that they were no longer together. Max clenched the bouquet of orchids in his hands. They had already moved on, so why shouldn''t he? The audible voices from inside the room seemed to become clearer just as he decided to leave. However, what he had just heard almost caused his eyes to pop out of their sockets. "...I''m sorry to inform you that your daughter will never be able to walk again." Chapter 5: How To Gain Closure In a small, cluttered, but well-designed room, a young woman with short brown hair lay on a bed with a tube in her mouth connected to a ventilator. Her eyes opened slowly as the fluorescent lights buzzed and the heart monitor beeped. It had been several hours since she was admitted to the intensive care unit. Her breathing was erratic when she first awoke. Her chest felt tight, her vision blurry, and her brain felt as if it was being pricked by hundreds of needles. When she looked around the unfamiliar environment with her bloodshot eyes, she couldn''t help but panic. The electrocardiogram alerted the nurse that she was having breathing difficulties, prompting her to undergo emergency surgery that lasted several hours. After regaining consciousness half an hour ago and being informed of her situation, she appeared to have calmed down a little. "I... I can''t feel my feet. T-this is temporary right? Like aftershock right?" Her trembling voice couldn''t hide her concern, causing her doctor to have a crestfallen expression. The doctor brought her family and lover into the room to consult with them about her condition. However, the words that came out of his mouth felt like a bullet to their hearts with each sentence. "Sarah has suffered trauma to the spinal vertebrae due to the crash, resulting in severe fractures." "This has resulted in her building too much pressure in the thoracic spinal cor¡ª" "For f*ck sake, just say it in English!" Her father couldn''t help but yell, becoming visibly enraged with each passing sentence. "Her spine has been heavily fractured causing limited function of the legs." "...I''m sorry to inform you that your daughter will never be able to walk again." The room became so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. "It will be at least sixty days before we can expect to see what kind of results we yield. In the meantime, it''s imperative we start to talk about learning to live in your new body." "You''ll have to learn about how to monitor yourself in an entirely new way. You''ll have limited sensations below your level of injury. This means you won''t know when your bladder is full or be able to empty it voluntari¡ª"The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. "But this is only temporary right?" Her mother couldn''t help but ask as she sobbed heavily. "We don''t know." "WHAT THE F*CK DO YOU MEAN YOU DON''T KNOW? THIS IS MY LITTLE GIRL''S LIFE YOU''RE TALKING ABOUT!" Her father yelled at the doctor while poking him with his index finger. "Sir, with all due respect Sarah has 7 broken ribs with a T12 burst fracture. This is a spinal injury where the vertebra breaks due to immediate and severe compression." "We still have many tests to perform, and we remain optimistic, but it''s too soon to assume that this is only a temporary condition." "We have a CT Scan and possibly an MRI scheduled later on. We''ll also have to discuss the physical therapy and necessary steps your daughter will need to take on her road to recovery." Sarah couldn''t stop herself from hyperventilating after hearing everything. She felt as if she was going into shock. She felt nauseous, numb, and could no longer hear the words that were being spoken. Looking around the room once more to confirm that she wasn''t dreaming, she looked into the eyes of all her loved ones, feeling their pitiful gazes. Her mother was sobbing uncontrollably. Her father furiously shouting, and her current boyfriend seemed to be averting his gaze and staring at the ground for some reason. She passed out yet again. *** Standing outside of the door, Max couldn''t refrain his mouth from twitching after everything he had heard. It felt as if the universe was playing a prank on him. He was granted his wish after months of suffering in silence. He felt as light as a feather at this moment. "Ahh, is this what it feels like to gain closure?" "Aha ha hahaha" He couldn''t help but laugh as he made his way towards a trash can and threw away the bouquet of orchids in his hand. He felt as if all his troubles had washed away as he skipped down the corridor, singing as if no one was watching him. ? Una mattina mi son svegliato ? ? O bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao ciao ciao ? ? Una mattina mi son svegliato ? ? Eo ho trovato l''invasor ? "Haha, this day couldn''t get any bett¡ª SH*T THE USB!" *** ''F*ck this is degrading.'' ''Stop staring you plebs, don''t you have anything better to do with your miserable lives?!'' "Ahaha, don''t mind me, I lost my wristwatch in here." Max couldn''t help but feel embarrassed as he stood inside a dumpster, watching students pass by. At this moment, he regretted throwing away the USB. It had already been several minutes since he threw himself in. Fortunately, trash disposal only happened on Thursdays. He had a realisation after today''s events. He didn''t want to believe it at first, dismissing it as a coincidence. Even going so far as to throw away the flash drive to dispel any suspicion that could be traced back to him. But, after overhearing the doctor say that Sarah would never be able to walk again, and recalling his actions the day before, he came to a conclusion. The USB was the real deal. No matter what, he had to get it back, even if it meant losing his dignity. After several more minutes of going threw piles of junk, rotten food and disgusting used products, he noticed a small transparent stick. ''THANK GOD'' He couldn''t help but want to scream in delight but restrained himself because he didn''t want to draw more attention to himself while still inside the dumpster. Holding the flash drive in his hands, he couldn''t contain his happiness and kissed it. "..." ''Note to self... scrub lips with soap later.'' Raising the USB flash drive high in the air as if it was Simba in The Lion King, Max couldn''t help but feel as if a heavy weight dawned on his shoulders. ''They say the goddess of opportunity has hair on her forehead but is bald from behind. Meaning if you meet her, seize her, for once you let her slip, you cannot catch her again.'' ''I was not given this power. But I sure as hell will seize it.'' "Today the Sword of Damocles hangs high over my head." Chapter 6: How To Commit The Perfect Crime Max returned to his laptop after a thorough shower and plugged in the flash drive. He was once again presented with a browser window that resembled Google Chrome. Instead of the standard ''Search'', it was replaced with ''How To''. Max was perplexed, unsure of what to do in this situation. When he first typed in a query, he wasn''t thinking properly. He was acting out of pure rage, which prompted his spontaneous search. He didn''t expect that the actions taken from the result would lead to anything. This caused him to be stumped. He tapped on his desk for several minutes, unsure of what to do now. ''...How did a tennis ball manage to paralyse her?'' ''I''m sure I waited a few minutes, but nothing happened.'' ''Yet, as stated in the search result, she ended up paralysed.'' "I''d be an idiot to think it''s a coincidence at this point..." Max muttered, trying to piece everything together in his head. "Okay, so recalling my actions that day, I arrived at the park around nine in the morning." "Did a bit of exercise, played some sports, then headed towards the bench at eleven twenty-one." "Eleven thirty-five, I let go of the tennis ball, stayed and watched for about five minutes, then left." "Lastly, the crash took place at noon according to that article." "Meaning something happened within that twenty-minute window that I''m not aware of." "..." "Aarrghhh" Max racked his brain for a few minutes, but couldn''t come up with anything that would lead to a tennis ball causing a car crash. ''I have no other choice. I need to test it one more time. This time, I have to see it with my own eyes.'' "The issue is, who will be the target, and what should be the punishment?" Max contemplated as he crossed his hands behind his head. "Maybe a scumbag Celebrity? Corrupt Politician? Vegans?" "Another issue is I need to be able to see the result firsthand." Grabbing a pen and a piece of A4 paper from his desk drawer, Max wrote down 5 criteria: 1. Target must not be someone I know. 2. Target cannot be from the same country. I.e. preferably from outside of the United Kingdom. 3. Target must be a corrupt or well-known criminal.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. 4. Target must preferably be a repeat offender. 5. Target must be in a public area. Preferably an area that is being live-streamed. ''This may seem a bit overboard, but if I''ve learned anything from watching Death Note several times, it''s that one can never be too cautious. I refuse to risk my life due to one careless decision.'' *** It had been several hours since creating the criteria for the target, but Max had no luck. "Have I been too picky with the criteria?" Max had listened to dozens of news stations by this point but had to limit it to only English-speaking countries because it was the only language he spoke, causing his options to be reduced. He switched to the last Live TV channel, ''BBC NEWS,'' as he was about to turn in for the night. He had held off on this channel last as it was a news station responsible for gathering and broadcasting news and current affairs in the UK, further narrowing his criteria. ======================================== "...And in other words, the verdict of Daniel Lindenberg is scheduled to take place tomorrow Tuesday at 5:30 PM. For those who are unfamiliar, Daniel Lindenberg, a lab technician, 36, is accused of murdering Rachel Doyle, 34, a work colleague. Video shows Lindenberg abandoning her car in a car park in Loughborough before hailing a taxi home. He kept leaving Doyle love confession voicemails, to make it look like he thought she was still alive. But he had thrown her phone into bushes near the roadside where he dumped her body. Doyle''s family reported her missing to the police the following morning when she didn''t return. They tracked her phone using a GPS app prompting police to launch a kidnapping investigation. Her body was discovered in the early hours of June 23, this year. In a tribute from her family, she was described as a ''Loving daughter and proud mother of two''. They added: ''As a family, we''re deeply saddened and shocked by the unexpected loss we''ve suffered. Rachel lived her life to the fullest and she had the kindest soul.'' The sentencing will be broadcast on TV and made available online. Tomorrow, Doyle''s family and friends will perhaps find some solace in knowing that the man who took her from them will be locked away for a very long time. Emma Harrington, BBC News." ======================================== "This... this will have to do." Although it didn''t meet all of Max''s criteria, it caught his attention as it was very rare for a court sentencing to be televised in England. Max believed the man would be the best target. In fact, he was the only target he could find. The issue was that this man was almost certainly going to be imprisoned for a long time. Max didn''t know how else he could be punished. But thinking of it more, was this truly punishment? ''The man killed someone... a mother no less, is a long prison sentence a proper punishment?'' ''What about her friends, her family, and her children? Where is their justice?'' ''He lives on, but they must suffer in silence knowing that a loved one has been taken away.'' "Why should he be allowed to live and waste resources that could be used elsewhere?" Max muttered, his mind seemingly coming up with reasons not to do what he was thinking. ''No... he should face the law''s consequences... but does he care? He dumped her body on the side of the road like garbage.'' Max rose from his seat and began pacing back and forth within his room. ''No... maybe this is the only option.'' ''If I need to find out the limits of the flash drive, then what better way than cleaning up the trash?'' ''Scum like him shouldn''t exist.'' ''Yeah... people would agree with me, but would be too afraid to voice their opinion out loud.'' After pacing back and forth within his room for several minutes, Max clenched his jaw. ''But wouldn''t that make me a murderer?'' ''No... it''s not like I''m the one killing him.'' ''If someone else was in my position what would they do? Would they even do anything about this if they had the power to?'' ''They may not understand what it''s like to lose the people you love, but I know all too well. Only I am capable of cleaning up trash like him.'' Making his way back to his seat, he stared at the screen in front of him and steeled his resolve. [How to kill Daniel Lindenberg by the end of his sentencing without leaving a trace] [ > 443 results returned] Max spent the next hour going through various results. Some required him to stand at certain coordinates for several minutes, but he did not understand how that would result in death, let alone where the coordinates were. Some required him to send a text message to certain numbers with specific instructions on the message to leave behind, but he wasn''t comfortable with this. Max eventually found a result that he could go with. [ > On August 29, 2023, between the hours of 1:50 PM and 2:10 PM, place a Fountain Pen on the hood of a dark blue Sedan at the car park of East Midlands Airport, Ashby Road, Castle Donington. This will set off a chain of events that will result in Daniel Lindenberg''s death.] "They say there is no such thing as the perfect crime." "Let''s see if I can disprove that."