All Chapters of Life 404: Success Not Found: Chapter 21
- Chapter 30
48 chapters
Chapter 21: The Most Average Human
Freza was sitting on the floor of his boarding house room, staring at the leftover wrappers from yesterday’s "Viral Bread" drama. His stomach still felt empty, as if the lies he had swallowed for the sake of content contained no calories at all. He felt his life was at its nadir, but strangely, even that nadir felt incredibly ordinary."Sat, do you ever feel like my life is like the color of a hospital wall? Just... grey?"Satya, who was busy trying to spark a lighter that had long since run out of gas, glanced over briefly. "You mean gloomy?""Not a pitch-black gloom that makes you want to write melancholic poetry. Just a grey that’s... well, just grey. Not interesting enough to look at, but not ugly enough to justify a repaint. I feel like I’m transparent, Sat.""That’s called being mediocre, Fre. Congratulations, you’ve just realized your true identity as a premium commoner.""But I have a degree, Sat! I have dreams
Chapter 22: The Insecure Ghost
Night in Gang Senggol Barokah was usually filled with the sound of leaky motorcycle exhausts or the cries of mating cats that sounded like infants debating politics. However, tonight was different. Freza’s boarding house room felt colder than usual, even though his fan was off because he hadn’t been able to top up the electricity tokens that had been screaming since that afternoon.Freza lay on his thin mattress, staring at the "Most Average Human" trophy he kept on the wooden table. In the darkness, the plastic trophy reflected a bit of light from the streetlamp, giving off a cheap mystical vibe.Suddenly, there was the sound of claws scratching the wall. Sret... sret... sret..."Hey, Sat," Freza muttered without turning around. "If you want to borrow a lighter, just take it from the top of the cupboard. No need for the wall-scratching act like a cat going through withdrawals."There was no answer. Instead, there was a cold breath on the back
Chapter 23: A World Without Problems
Freza woke up not to the sound of the Landlady banging on the door like a cannon blast, nor the shriek of the electricity token that usually sounded like a death knell. He woke up to a silence so pure, so crystalline, that his ears actually rang. Sunlight streamed through the window gap at a perfect angle, illuminating his room without revealing the dust motes that usually danced wildly."Susi? You still in the wall?" Freza muttered while rubbing his eyes.Silence. No sound of scratching nails. No breath smelling like rotten jackfruit."Sus? Did you move to that silk apartment? Why didn't you say goodbye?"Freza rose from his bed. Strangely, his back didn't ache. Usually, waking up was a struggle against gravity and premature lumbago, but today his body felt as light as freshly processed cotton. He glanced at the table. His dull plastic trophy was now shimmering like pure silver."This... this isn't right," Freza whispered. "Why do I feel so refreshed? I must be dead. This has to be t
Chapter 24: The Vegetarian Zombies
That morning, Barokah Alley didn't begin with the Landlady’s usual screaming, but with a bone-chilling silence. Freza was sitting on the floor of his room, trying to pick out weevils from his rice, when Satya kicked the door open with a face even paler than usual."Fre! Don't go outside! The world is over!"Freza didn't even look up. "Over why now? An internet apocalypse? Or did the food stall out front close down for good?""Worse, Fre! Zombies! There’s a zombie outbreak outside!"Freza chuckled, a dry sound. "Zombies? Sat, you’ve been watching too many illegal streaming movies. Where would you find zombies in Jakarta? It’s probably just people who haven't slept because they were playing online slots.""I’m serious, Fre! Look out the window!"Freza stood up lazily and pulled back his dingy curtains just a bit. In that narrow alley, he saw the Neighborhood Head walking stiffly. His skin was a pale green, his eyes were bulging, and he was letting out low, guttural growls. However, some
Chapter 25: God Is on Leave
The rental room was now in total darkness. The electricity token had surrendered to the number zero, and the vegetarian zombies outside seemed busy holding a seminar on how to make compost from withered hopes. Freza sat cross-legged on his musty mattress, trying to press his palms together."God... if You truly exist and aren't busy managing the orbits of other planets, please. Give me a sign. Just one. It doesn't have to be a billion dollars; a ten-thousand-rupiah electricity token or a lunch box where the side dish isn't just galangal would be enough."Silence. There was only the sound of mosquitoes that also seemed to be suffering from anemia because Freza's blood was so malnourished."God? Check, check, one, two... Has my prayer ended up in the spam folder again? Or is the network in heaven down because too many people are asking to win at slots?"Satya, who was sitting in the corner of the room trying to chew a leftover sausage from the previous chapter, snorted loudly. "It’s use
Chapter 26: The Depressing Motivational Book
Freza's laptop screen flickered, in sync with Susi's heartbeat behind the wall, which occasionally emitted sparks of static electricity. Outside, the faint voices of vegetarian zombies could be heard debating the civil rights of ornamental plants. Freza stared at a blank document on his screen. The white cursor blinked, as if mocking the emptiness of his brain."Sat, do you know what sells better than food in this country?"Satya, who was busy trying to sew a hole in his political party t-shirt using thread from a gutted mattress, looked over lazily. "What? Political promises? Or celebrity cheating scandal apology videos?""No. Hope, Sat. False hope.""What do you mean?""I just looked at the bestseller list on an online bookstore. The top ten are all motivational books. 'How to Become a Money Magnet,' 'The Art of Being Happy for No Reason,' 'Manifesting Your Soulmate in Seven Days.' Isn't it crazy?""Well, it's normal, Fre. People are desperate now. They need something to hold onto, e
Chapter 27: The Accidental Environmental Activist
Freza stood in front of his blurry boarding house window, staring blankly at the pile of plastic trash clogging the gutter in front of the alley. After throwing away all the royalties from his motivational book because he felt "being too successful is unethical for a nihilist," he had returned to his natural habitat: poor, hungry, and deeply cynical about everything that moved."Sat, do you see that 'Aqua-man' brand plastic bottle stuck between those old tires?"Satya, who was busy trying to clean his ears with the tip of a broken pair of glasses, only hummed disinterestedly. "I see it. Why? You want to pick it up and trade it for points on the Green-Life app?""No, Sat. I feel like that bottle is staring at me. It’s saying: 'Freza, I’m going to be on this earth longer than your entire lineage, assuming you’re even capable of having offspring.'""Well, that’s true, isn't it? Plastic is eternal, Fre. Unlike your sweet promises to th
Chapter 28: The Deadliest Disease: Prestige
Freza huddled on his thin mattress, which now felt as hard as the pavement on Sudirman Avenue. His face, usually pale from malnutrition, had turned a sickly yellowish-green, resembling the color of the vegetarian zombie celery juice he had drunk in the previous chapter. Cold sweat soaked through his political campaign t-shirt, making the face of the candidate printed on his chest look like he was weeping over Freza’s fate."Sat... call... an ambulance..." Freza groaned, his voice nearly lost beneath the creak of a ceiling fan in desperate need of oil.Satya, who was busy trying to clean the dirt from under his toenails using Sebastian Vulto’s crumpled gold business card, only spared him a lazy glance. "An ambulance? Do you have two million for the gas and oxygen? If you don't, you might as well just pass out now. I'll drag you to the side of the road later so people think you’re a hit-and-run victim.""I’m serious, Sat! My stomach... it feels like a civil war is breaking out between ye
Chapter 29: Rich for a Day
The afternoon sun refracted an orange hue that looked like soto broth over the still-hot Jakarta asphalt. Freza walked with a sluggish gait, dragging feet that were still a bit weak after the incident at Medika Estetika Hospital. The lingering scent of salted fish from the city bus still clung to his clothes, creating a very pungent aroma of "reality." Beside him, Satya was busy fanning his face with a charity brochure he had picked up off the street."Sat, do you see that behind the bushes?""What now, Fre? Is a vegetarian zombie holding a parliamentary meeting? Or is Susi looking for a new housecoat in the trash?""No. That. The black suitcase. It looks incredibly expensive, Sat. No sane person would throw a suitcase like that next to a clogged gutter.""It's probably just the dirty laundry of some guy who got kicked out by his wife. Don't touch it, Fre. You'll catch his bad luck.""But the locks are gold, Sat. Look at that, the sunlight hitting them is blinding."Freza approached t
Chapter 30: The 25th Birthday (Again)
The neon lights on Freza's ceiling flickered three times before finally settling into an unstable, dim glow. In the corner of the room, Susi was busy tinkering with a power outlet’s wiring using her long fingernails, which were emitting blue sparks. The atmosphere of the room remained the same as it had been thirty chapters ago: mountains of laundry that had formed their own mountain range, a plastic "Most Average Human" trophy now coated in dust, and the scent of instant noodles that seemed to have become permanent wall paint.Freza sat cross-legged on his bed, staring at a cheap wall clock whose ticking sounded like a countdown to an execution. The long hand was slowly approaching the twelve."Sat, do you see that clock?"Satya, who was sitting on the floor trying to pry the remains of a sweet martabak from the corners of a cardboard box, looked up disinterestedly. "I see it. Why? Are you afraid the clock is going to explode because it can't handle the weight of your life anymore?"