“Welcome, Mr. George”.
“Your file says you’re applying for the position of a hunter in our company,” The blonde-haired male interviewer looked at him with shiny eyes. “So, why do you want this job?”
“Well, I’ve always felt passionately about not starving to death, so?”
Silence.
“Ahem,” The blonde-haired interviewer adjusted his glasses, looking at the black suited man sitting opposite him.
George was a handsome young man with neat black hair and shiny purple eyes. His shiny purple eyes did little in enhancing his stature though, it was clear from his second-hand suit and mannerisms that he faked it all.
That simple glance already made this interviewer lose interest.
He looked down only to see his second-hand black shoes.
‘Like I expected, another f*cking loser looking to earn some quick bucks!’
The interviewer looked at him with a poker look now on his face. “It says in your CV that you are quick at mathematics”.
He looked him up and down. “What is 17 × 19?”
“32”.
“That’s not even close”.
“But it was quick”.
Silence.
“Umm, with all due respect, Mr. George, I don’t think you have the qualifications to work as a hunter in the Beast Mania Company”.
“Please, can you leave to give way for the next applicant?”
Silence.
George adjusted in his chair. “Well, f*ck it”.
Bang!
Slamming his hand against the table, George stood up as he glared at the interviewer. He pointed a finger at him. “You entitled piece of sh*t!”
“I said I’m applying to be a hunter, not some f*cking mathematician!”
“What concerns me with being quick at f*cking mathematics?!”
The interviewer quickly dialed and rang a number. “Send security in, please come escort Mr. George out”.
“I don’t need security to leave”.
George adjusted his second-hand suit, cleaned his second-hand shoes, ruffled his black hair, leaving it rough the way he liked it before walking out.
He gave the interviewer the middle-finger as he stepped out.
Well, that was his 3rd sending off today and his 29th interview gone wrong this week out of the over 100 job application forms that he sent out.
Going outside and accessing the pockets of his second-hand suit, George brought his pack of cigarettes. He lit one as he took a quick puff.
“Ah!” He sighed.
“Living is hard man”.
“But f*ck it, this is my fate”. Putting one hand in his suit pocket, he swaggered away out of the premises of the big company without much of a care, only wondering about how he would fill his stomach.
George was an only son and he became an orphan a month ago.
It was supposed to be a celebratory event, his convocation from the university but on their way to celebrate with him, both his parents were involved in a ghastly car accident and were rushed to the hospital.
His convocation was interrupted when he was informed.
Rushing to the hospital, he watched from outside the theater room for 2 hours as his parents were operated on.
He watched till the last few minutes of their existence.
They both died in the theater room.
In that moment, George felt like something died in him. His parents were his world, they were everything to him well, maybe except his girlfriend.
She had her convocation on the same day with him.
On going back to the university ground, looking for a shoulder to lean on that’ll help him grasp at his quickly vanishing life, that was when he saw them.
Vanessa, his girlfriend, publicly kissed Harley, the richest boy in the university. Watching from the back, George died the second time that day.
He didn’t cry though.
“F*ck it, this is my fate”. He could only mutter.
Tears didn’t flow but his heart bled.
Vanessa didn’t even give him the chance to break up. She called him later in the evening. “George, I heard your parents died in an accident, sorry”.
“I wanted to inform you that Harley asked me out at the convocation”.
“Of course I accepted, so that’s it, we’re done”.
George could not cry, he poured his sadness into the only thing he could do, working out. He did 200 push ups at a go, mixing other workouts with it till he fainted from tiredness.
A week later, with the help of his relatives, everything was taken care of and his parents were buried.
George was left with nothing by his parents, only his education.
The worse thing was he was not exactly the bright type. Through his 4 years in the university, he was always average or poor in majority of the courses, only excelling when it came to the wildlife courses.
He was the best hunter across the university but being good at hunting animals won’t take you far in society, even intelligence was not guaranteed, only the rich like Harley were guaranteed a track to success.
“It’s my fate, I need to change it myself”.
Coming to this conviction after the 2 weeks of mourning his parents, from the 3rd week, he freshened up and went into the labor market, seeking for a job.
Well, his fate dictated that he was not overly intelligent nor did he have any connections, he was screwed from the onset.
George kept going only due to sheer stubbornness.
But after the rejection today, he thought. ‘Perhaps it’s time I give up’.
‘There’s no place in society for a loser like me’.
‘Even Vanessa who told me I was her world left me’. He chuckled.
‘George, just give up’.
Managing to convince himself, he finally started going home. His home was a single room in a 6-story building rented apartment.
His rent was already due, perhaps the landlord was waiting for him at home.
On getting to his door, he heaved a sigh of relief as the landlord was nowhere in sight. Just before he could open it though, a hand touched him.
Tap!
He swiftly gripped the hand that touched him, showing quick reflexes.
“Ah!” The girl jumped, startled.
George raised his head to look at her, he was barely seeing at this point but still her beauty caught his attention. She was a beautiful red-haired girl with chubby cheeks and a gentle smile on her face.
“What?” George asked blandly.
“Ah! Sorry,” She smiled brightly. “You’re George Churchill, right?”
“Yeah, what?”
“Sorry, your grandfather sent this to you”.
Silence.
George went blank, he just looked at the girl. “I have a grandfather?”
“Oh, sorry, he’s dead, but he left this inheritance for his grandson. He said for you to inherit it only after both of your parents are dead”.
“Huh?”
“Thank you”. She placed a white box on his hand before leaving.
George held the box, looking around in confusion. “An inheritance? A grandfather?” He chuckled. “What a weird girl”.
Entering inside, he threw the white box at a corner and opened his game box to play his usual beast hunter game.
It was the only thing keeping him from being depressed but he couldn’t focus.
‘An inheritance? What bullsh*t!’
Standing up from the only chair in his room, he picked the white box from the corner where he threw it on. Turning it round to observe it, he noticed nothing special about it then he tore it open.
Inside was a small ancient style phone, visafone model.
“Huh?” He was disappointed though he already expected it. “Is this the inheritance? What did I expect actually?” He laughed.
He laid down on his tiny bed, trying his best to forget the numerous disappointments of today and that was when he suddenly felt drowsy.
‘What’s going on?’ He thought.
In his drowsiness, George saw the screen of the phone light up.
[Initializing Beast Capturing System…]
George felt like he was dreaming.Considering the fact that he even had dreams where he became James Bond, fighting villains and riding cars through skyscrapers, he was not surprised by it.‘Well, what story does my dream has for me today?’[Initializing System…][System Boot Successful!][Testing Bloodline…, please wait…][Bloodline Test Successful!][Result: Compactible!][Congratulations George Dickerson! You have inherited the ancient family heirloom of the Dickerson family!]Inside his dream, George’s eyes widened. ‘What the heck?’‘That’s my mother’s maiden name!’‘Is this grandfather gift from my mom’s side’.‘Damn! Mom never really told me much about her family, I only know dad’s family, perhaps they’re really a mysterious James Bond family’.This dream felt like a first person POV interactive game to him.He was amazed. ‘This is new’.[Tape from previous system holder has been detected!][Do you want to listen to tape?]Silence.5 seconds later, George was surprised. ‘Damn, i
-----[Welcome to the Beast Capturing System Interface!][Introduction: This is a system where you can capture real life beasts using the visafone’s camera and exchange them with the interface for real money. If you perform admirably, you have a chance of upgrading the system in the future.][Current System Level: 1]…[You have received your first system mission: Capture a Felis Catus- Egyptian Mau!][Mission target description: Click to expand!][Mission reward: 5,000 NUS Credits]----Silence.George just stared at the interface of this visafone, holding back his urge to laugh but he couldn’t for long. The next moment, he burst out laughing.“Muahahaha, f*cking scam!” He roared.“I was f*cking scammed again!”“How on earth did I actually believe a miracle happened?”“I never learn my lesson”. Bonking his head, he slumped down to the ground where his tiny student bed laid, the only real property in his apartment.George sighed, cursing in his mind. ‘What a cheap scam!’‘Who would be
Instantly after leaving the pet shop, George hurried to a corner before fishing the visafone out of his pocket again as he looked with anticipation on his face.“It’s the moment of truth!” He rubbed his sweaty palms together in anticipation as he stared at the visafone“Please, don’t be a scam”. He prayed.-----[Welcome to the Beast Capturing System Interface!][Current System Level: 1]…[Congratulations! You have captured a picture of your first animal!][You have captured a HD picture of a cat: British Shorthair!]…[You have received your first system mission: Capture a Felis Catus!][Mission target description: Click to expand!][Mission reward: 5,000 NUS Credits][Mission progress: Uncompleted!]----Silence.For over a dozen seconds, George just stared at the screen of the visafone in silence. Then still in silence, he fished his android phone out.At this distance, he easily connected to the university hotspot.He connected to google again.{Image=}{Felis Catus is the scient
-----[You have completed your first system mission: Capture a Felis Catus!][You have been rewarded with 5,000 NUS Credits][Click to claim your reward!]----“Phew!”George wiped off his sweat, feeling immense relief as soon as he saw this notification in the interface of the visaphone.‘F*cking finally!’ He roared in his mind.Growl!The hunger came back though but this time he didn’t react pitifully, his face contorted in anger. He was now equipped to show his stomach who was boss.He was now ready to climb down from the tree, but just as he moved…Click!The door to the first floor of the 3-storied building opened the next moment, and from it came out a beautiful blonde-haired young lady with thick curves.On top the tree, George froze even as he gulped.‘F*cking Count Luke!’‘So, this is what you do when your wife is not around huh?’‘F*cking cheater!’‘And not with some random girl either, a girl this hot? F*ck!’Perhaps, it was due to his agitated reaction but a tree branch br
“Whatsup?” George swaggered into the familiar shop.With a poker look on his face, the 12-year-old boy turned to face him. “You came back?”“What do you mean by you came back?” He snapped. “Get me some…”The boy interrupted. “Some more small bread?”“Shut up!” Glaring at the boy, George exaggeratedly fished out a 1,000 NUS credit note out of his pocket and plastered it on the boy’s face.“There, that’s money boy, money!” He grinned.“Now, get me what I ordered previously; I told you I’ll be coming back with money right?”Silence.With surprise written all over his face, this little boy stared at him with suspicion now appearing on his face, as if questioning where he went to steal from.George cursed in his mind. ‘This brat!’“Just get me what I ordered!” He glared at him.“Hmm, ok”. The boy shrugged and went to fetch it before giving him his credit left over from the money.George was surprised, he looked at the boy. “815 Credits?”“Yes”. The boy nodded. “Small bread is no longer 140
{Free hotspot network detected: ThievingRockstar!}{Connect to hotspot?}{Connected successfully!}…{Image=}{Canis lupus familiaris is the scientific name of domestic dogs.}{Dog (Canis lupus familiaris), domestic mammal of the family Canidae (order Carnivora). It is a subspecies of the gray wolf (Canis lupus) and is related to foxes and jackals.}…{Image=}{Buteo is the scientific name for Hawks.}{Buteo describes medium-large, widely dispersed raptors with muscular bodies and wide wings. They are often referred to as buzzards, which is the old terminology of the species; it changed to hawk in more recent times.}{In fact, the name Buteo is Latin for a buzzard.}…{Image=}{Gallus gallus domesticus is the scientific name for a hen.}{It is closely related to a wild variety of chickens of the family Gallus Gallus.}{The younglings of a Gallus gallus domesticus are the chicks of a hen.}…{Image=}{Panthera Leo is the scientific name for Lions.}{The Lion (Panthera leo) is a large c
“You’ll really pay me 500 NUS Credits if I manage to hit the hawk?” The boy looked at the uncle before him suspiciously.“Yes,” George nodded with a gentle smile on his face.“Not necessarily hit it, all I need from you is to startle the hawk just after it catches the hen’s chick, make him drop the chick”.“Oh!” The boy finally understood, then he smiled. “I can do it”.He didn’t care what this uncle wanted to do with it, all he knew was that he was about to get 500 NUS Credits richer.For a little boy like him, that was a lot of money. He was happy.Seeing his enthusiasm, George smiled. “Good, then follow me”.25 minutes later, George and his temporary partner were in position and they both had their weapons ready, a stone and his visafone camera.It took George more than 3 hours to make sure all the conditions were met for this moment. Finding a hen pen, one that was not restricted to outsiders, and waiting patiently for a hawk to show up.It was exactly 14 minutes after 3pm that th
-----[Welcome to the Beast Capturing System Interface!][Current System Level: 1]…[Congratulations! You have created a masterpiece with your camera!][You have exceeded the realm of hyperrealism!][You have entered the realm of beast taming with your camera!][Congratulations! You have tamed your first beast: Black Panther!][Upgrade system to access taming benefits and details!]…[You have completed hidden system mission: Creating a masterpiece!][You have been rewarded with 100,000 NUS Credits!][System Account Balance: 252,500 NUS Credits!][System Account Maximum Limit: 990,000 NUS Credits!][To access your reward, click on bank payment option for it to be sent to your local bank account!]----Wiping off his imaginary tears, George finally came to.His eyes widened as he noticed the Black Panther incline its head for the first time, this wild beast looked at him with its brown eyes for a few seconds before turning away again like nothing happened.George’s eyes remained widen