I woke up and saw the exact same thing everyday for the last 17 years of my life. A piece of stale bread and a glass of milk that’s on the verge of expiring were the first things I saw the moment I walked out of my room. That’s usually the staple food in our household every morning. If you look at it, it's not enough for a growing kid like me who is trying to study and get at least a scholarship to go to a public college, but it’s more than enough for me.As someone who is not worth much, I can’t complain. I can’t. But with that kind of food greeting you everyday for almost your entire life, you’re bound to get sick of it someday. And that day arrived a long time ago. Sadly, I can’t do anything about it.“Meat” Oh! How I hope to wake up at least once in my life and see meat being served on the table. It can happen if I just focus on working and stop shooting for a scholarship. But even that’s hard if you are sitting at the bottom of the food chain. Unranked individuals like me can o
For the first time in a while, I wasn’t greeted by the usual stale bread and milk. There are still plenty left from the leftovers from last night. Fortunately, we have a small fridge to prolong them long enough to save them for another meal.“Morning, Mom.”It seems like my mother doesn't have any work today since she’s preparing breakfast. She usually leaves for work around this time and returns home at 12 AM to rest for the day. I’m glad she could get some rest before another unforgiving day of work.“You’re up early.”“This is usually the time I wake up. Where’s dad?”Mother handed me a plate of rice and a reheated bowl of soup yesterday. I only noticed it just now and it seems like it’s raining. What a perfect meal on a cold and rainy day! I hurriedly sat on the table not wanting to let the soup go cold and started eating immediately.“Your father is out today. It seems like there’s been a problem from the recent irregu
“Aiyo! Morning, Ren. What a great day, huh? Say, what are you planning to do on your birthday?” Asking me something like that out of nowhere, there’s no way I can think of something on the spot. “My birthday, huh? I don’t know. Since it’s the same day as the college entrance exam, I guess I’ll be studying?” Right after I said those words, Ivan looked at me with a disappointed look on his face. “Hey, Ren. I know I should be saying such things, but it's your birthday. Shouldn’t you at least enjoy yourself even for just a day?” What’s this guy saying? I just told him that it’s the same day as my entrance exam. I can’t just skip it. “Come to think of it, it’s been a long time since you got to celebrate your birthday. And for a few years now, I’m the only one who gets to receive a gift from you. That eats my conscience away every year, you know?” “If it troubles you that much, then just a gift is fine. There’s no need to celebrate, is there?” It’s true that I gave presents to Ivan
‘Boring’ That’s how my life has been for a while now. Everything is so easy to get as long as you have money. Luxury cars, branded clothes, latest model phones, and even people. I can confidently say that I have everything. Everyone I know is doing everything they can to get what they want even when they already have everything and they are happy. So I thought I’d do the same, and my father would immediately give me what I demanded. That’s how you can make yourself happy, by getting what you want. I was happy. The joy of getting what you want is satisfying and fulfilling, but that did not last long. And soon, I realized how boring and dull my life has been to have granted everything I wanted without doing anything nor working hard to get what I want. As soon as I heard that we needed to move because of the nature of my father's work, I felt relieved and hopeful that this would somehow make me realize true happiness. “Young miss, we are going to arrive soon.” I looked at the world
“Let me guess, you don’t have bills?” I shook my head. I got so used to the cashless life back in Sector B that the idea of bills went out of the window.“It’s fine. It can’t be helped since you don’t have any cash. The meal, just think of it as my treat.” He said with a smile. “Follow me, it would be dangerous for you to go through the entrance. You should take the backdoor instead, it’s much safer and the people outside will not notice anything since its in the same direction of the restroom,”He led the way, and the owner noticed us and gave us a confused look.“Something came up, Mr. Kim. Please deduct her meal from my paycheck.”The owner just gave him a thumbs up.“I don’t know if you’re just visiting Sector D but make sure not to do that again. You're fortunate that you did that here in our shop otherwise things would have turned ugly. Do you know how to get home?”“Of course, I’m not a kid you know?”Th
“How is she doing?”Steppen instantly prostrated himself in front of the company owner right after his inquiries all while bathing in cold sweat. An unexpected reaction from someone who was feared by his own subordinates.“This is all my fault! If only the ground floor was guarded tightly, then all of these wouldn’t have happened and the young miss wouldn’t be put in danger! Please allow me to apologize for my men’s lacking ability!”The company owner just looked at him blankly and buried his face beneath his palms.“It’s not like I’m pinning everything on you, Steppen. Sure, I’m angry that my little princess was injured but I’m glad that it was the only thing she suffered. Rather than that, I’m far more concerned about her mental health. She hadn’t sulked like this before, locking herself up inside her room and not eating her meal. That’s far more concerning for me.” The company head said, putting his pen and paper down.“She didn’t tell me anything about the young man who save
This really came to me as a surprise. I did not expect to see her hang around in the same place where she nearly got harmed. I can’t tell if she’s plain foolish or brave at all. I sat on the seat right across from her and looked at her. Our gazes met but for some reason, she quickly averted her gaze from mine. It caught me off guard. A few moments ago, she had no problem locking eyes with me. Did I do something wrong perhaps? “Hello, we meet again,” I said, greeting her with a smile like I usually do. When I did, she turned to look at me again. This time, she did not avert her gaze away and greeted me back. “W-We meet again. How are you?” It just came to me at that moment. The reason why she averted her gaze from mine earlier might be because of the band aids. She must have felt responsible for what happened to me and could not help but turn away in guilt. I quickly tried to remove the band aids from my face, but she immediately threw me a remark, stopping me from removing them o
It’s been a few days since my tutoring sessions with Ceri started. The first day was an exception since Mr. Lucius threw a celebration. The day after that was when the real tutoring session started. At first, Ceri was all shy and wouldn’t talk to me nor come near me. Considering the nature of what I came to their place to do, it made things a bit difficult for me.But after I asked her about the problem the next day, she didn’t explain and returned to how she was when I first met her. Maybe she was still trying to get used to the sudden change. I was told by their butler, Steppen, that this is the first time someone was asked to be her tutor. So I can understand her to a certain extent.The tutoring session was a good chance for me to review what I learned and started to enjoy myself. I used to tutor Ivan whenever he got in trouble with his grades, so tutoring another one is but a simple task for me now.While thinking about that, a voice came from behind me and grabbed my shoulder.“
‘What the hell is going on?’ Is what I want to ask after suddenly falling into a kind of situation where I don’t even know how to deal with. This is the very first time that I’ve slept in the same room with someone of the opposite sex. And it just had to be Ivan’s cousin of all people.Not only that I don’t know how to act in this particular situation, it’s also thanks to the noises they’re making that makes the atmosphere between me and Elishia awkward. Just listening to the busy duo is putting me on the edge. And it’s not just me, I think Elishia feels the same.I turned to look over to her direction, to the bed. And to my surprise, I saw her staring back at me. I immediately turned around as if I saw nothing.Why was she looking at me? Is she perhaps uncomfortable sleeping in the same room with a man? Yes. That must be the reason why.“Elishia, are you asleep?” I asked, softly.There’s a chance that I was just seeing things. After all, we’re all drowsy earlier. She must have falle
Right after eating, Ivan and Silvia prepared the table in the living room. It was Ren’s first sleepover and since there’s no one to tell them what to do, Ivan prepared everything they needed to have an enjoyable night. The awkward air around Ren and Elishia has finally disappeared and they have become comfortable with each other’s company, good enough to wash the dishes together. “What do you think Ivan is trying to pull?” Elishia wiped the dishes with a dry cloth, “I know I’m his cousin so I should know how his brain operates and I do. But that is before he entered high school,” she turned to him, waiting for his response.“His plans, huh? Ivan can be difficult to figure out sometimes. His mind operates on a rather difficult wavelength, after all. Although I’ve seen some crazy things today, I don’t think he will pull something on the same level.” Ren smiled, surprising Elishia because of his certain level of trust for her cousin.“You trust him that much, huh?” said Elishia.Ren no
Ren steeled himself as he stood outside Ivan's front door. He had a familiar feeling that something similar to earlier was about to happen. So before that happens, Ren hit the doorbell, one he had not done earlier.Just a few seconds later, the door slightly opened, displaying Ivan's cousin's face sticking out between the space of the door and the wall. The moment she realized it was Ren, she opened the door completely, inviting him in. "So it was you. You should've come in without ringing the doorbell." She walked back. Ivan’s cousin was wearing an apron. So it was not far-fetched to think that she was at the very least working in the kitchen before she opened the door. With that in mind, Ren wondered where his friend could be at this hour."I'm sorry that you had to leave the kitchen to open the door for me. I'm just not fond of the idea of barging into someone else's house as if it were mine." Ren smiled awkwardly.She found Ren's excuse rather amusing, and she let out a chuckle.
Ren's worry came true when his mother allowed him to have a sleepover at Ivan's place. Although it compromises her son's security, she wanted him to enjoy his life as a teenager. At first, Ren wasn't convinced. He was sure that they'll all be asleep by the time he comes back from his part-time job. To his surprise, his part-time job is suspended for the time being due to the renovations."Weren't you listening the other day.... wait, you left right after your shift was over." said Mr. Kim, scratching his head. "Business has been good for a while now and a lot of customers have been coming lately. So I figured that I need to expand the shop a little bit to cater many customers at the same time. I know that it will be hard with only a few of us. Don't worry, I will look for other part-timers as well."Ren looked lost for a moment. He did not expect to miss such an important announcement. Ren just decided to come early to his part-time job to get away to get a breather for the time being
It's been a few days since I heard that from The Voice's words but I still can't bring myself to enter that world again. There are still a lot of things that I don't know about. And since I am free to enter it whenever I want compared to the 'tutorial', where I was forced to enter, I didn't even consider entering Paradise. For a long time, I wished for my power to be useful but now that it's working properly, I wish it didn't. The experience I had at that time was just surreal, I thought it was reality. After recalling what happened that time, I realized the injuries I've sustained while fighting that goblin in my dreams is also reflected to me in real life. My muscles were sore and I was hurting all over. That mostly contributed to my hesitation to enter Paradise. Not to mention the new power I acquired from the candy unknowingly. [Amplify] I still can't figure out how to use it. The word itself is easy to understand but the method of harnessing that power is still unknown to me
"How was your first day of school?" my father asked as soon as I got back."It was nice and somewhat new. It's an experience that's completely new to me." I told my father. He smiled and patted my head out of nowhere. It surprised me at first but I didn't mind it. He tends to do that out of nowhere. It's his way of saying 'that's good to hear'."I wasn't expecting you to come to me with that proposal. Surely, it slipped my mind. Your father is thinking about a lot of things nowadays, after all." said father. "Will you be alright?""Yes. The lessons are a little behind compared to the private school here but it's good. The teachers are not slacking off in teaching. The only problem is the students, they don't care about studying at all." I told him."Well, since you're going to the same school as Ren, maybe get to enjoy some competition. For him and you too." I nodded my head. Although I transferred out of a private school after moving here, there wasn't much competition at all. The s
Morning classes had already ended and it was time for lunch. I haven’t recovered from the shock since earlier. Thanks to that throughout the entire time after that, I basically ran on autopilot.Until now, I still can’t believe what I’ve seen earlier. Is something like that even possible?I turned to the person sitting beside me, “Hey, Ivan. Is The Voice capable of lying?”“The Voice? I don’t think The Voice is capable of lying at all. There’s not a single news story about The Voice lying, right? Did something happen?” asked Ivan, stuffing his face with his sandwich.“Not really-”“Wait! Before that! I heard that the transfer student is in your class! What’s more is that people say she was the one from back then!”I thought he understood that it was all a misunderstanding so why is he bringing it up now?“Yes, I guess so. But you know it was all a misunderstanding, right? What’s the point of bringing it up now?” I asked.Ivan surprisingly looked calm compared to his usual demeanor. He’
Morning came and Ren continued on his daily routine. Eating or missing breakfast, taking a shower, and changing to his school uniform. This routine has become his daily routine ever since he started high school to pursue his dreams. But after the unfortunate event, his parents worry that he had succumbed to despair upon missing such an important event.Ren’s mother, worriedly, stares at her son preparing for school. She turned to her husband, who, for the first time had not left for his work early, shared the same expression. Both of them can’t find the right words to comfort their son, despite wanting to. They know whatever they say will never reach his heart after what happened.“What should I do? What is the best thing to do in this situation?” Ren’s mother thought, “He went home last night and locked himself in his room.”Ren’s mother tightly clenched her fist, “For such a thing to happen on such an important day no less, nothing can be more frustra
[Requirements are met!Physique: Mid-LevelAge: 18Near Death Experience: Achieved][The Voyager has met the requirements to enter Paradise][Would you like you enter Pradise?][YES/NO]Ren stared in empty space. Staring at the confusing words floating made him remember the time when he turned 15. It is the time when humans receive their powers from The Voice, a system that communicates to anyone who reach 15 years old.After receiving his power, The Voyager, Ren has not heard The Voice up until now. He is convinced that he had the useless power of all and did not bother himself about it.“What in the world is this? I’m sure I was sleeping a few minutse ago.” said Ren, trying to make out of his current situation. “More importantly, where the hell am I? Did that man abduct me or something?”Beside the floating words in front of him, Ren could not a see anything else. His surrounding is enti