The Void!

Hegu Point

"Wow, a Maybach!"

I marveled at the sleek, shiny black car before getting in.

"The Association might just be the richest on the planet!" Corbin, the manager, responded.

We boarded the car, Woodrow and I in the backseat, while Corbin took the wheel. I must admit, the seats in this car are genuinely comfortable, plus the faint scent of essential oils and the ample legroom made it even more luxurious. If anyone says money can't buy happiness, I would bring them into this car to understand that happiness is indeed money.

"So, where are we headed now, manager?" I asked curiously.

"We are going to wake up the supervisor of you two."

"Wake up? Don't tell me they are still sleeping at this hour."

"I give up, he's always like that."

Woodrow seemed quieter in the car compared to back at the headquarters, perhaps she was nervous. Sensing her anxiety on her first day, I decided to start a conversation to ease her tension.

"What's wrong, Woodrow? Feeling nervous?"

Woodrow turned to me with a pale face.

"Woodrow gets carsick... uh..."

"Haha, who would have thought, boss Woodrow gets carsick."

"I'll kill you right now, grr!"

I teased Woodrow as a comeback for what she had put me through earlier. But it seemed she really wasn't good at handling carsickness, so I held back and extended my hand.

"Give me your hand."

"Huh?"

"Just give it here!"

Woodrow, seemingly drained, complied without further questions and handed me her hand.

"This is the Hegu point."

I placed my finger on the skin between her thumb and index finger, then pressed and rubbed it slowly.

"Uh...", she moaned softly.

"You'll feel better in a bit, just hang in there!"

Woodrow quietly let me press the point for her, looking quite adorable in moments like this, a stark contrast to when she teased me.

"You know how to press points, Beckham?"

"I only know this one, my grandma taught me on a bus ride to the city when I was little."

"Oh, you used to go on trips with your grandma?"

"Yes, but grandpa would usually come along too."

"What about your parents?"

"I don't even remember what they look like anymore... haha!", I replied with a rueful smile.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have asked that..."

"No worries, I'm used to it."

Just then, I felt the warmth from Woodrow's hand as she grasped mine.

"So Beckham, what's your goal in becoming a Void Keeper?"

"A goal..."

I suddenly remembered Keelin, someone I once considered a life goal, who then betrayed me, leaving with the one she was supposed to protect. I remembered the words Annabella had once said, blushing and shyly admitting she admired someone stronger than herself.

"My goal is to become the strongest Void Keeper!"

I declared confidently, so much so that even Corbin, who had met many Keeper in his role at Corbin Management, was taken aback.

"Indeed, I will become stronger than ever, so that no one can betray me like before, and I can live with my head held high while also managing to woo Annabella."

"Oh, if that's the case, you have a long journey ahead of you."

"Yes!"

Manager Corbin didn’t forget Woodrow sitting there either, casually asking him as well: “And what about you, Woodrow?"

I suddenly felt a sharp pain when Woodrow gripped my hand tightly and responded to Corbin with a glare full of resentment.

"Woodrow will overthrow the Void Keeper association!"

At that moment, both the manager and I could feel the anger brimming within the words of a girl only fifteen years old. Her expression and resentment were baffling to us, but one thing was certain; Woodrow’s words were no joke.

After that, the three of us no longer spoke to each other, I just sat quietly looking out the window until we entered District 7.

.

.

.

The three of us stood in front of a rather dilapidated apartment building, with only a pair of flip-flops and a pair of men’s boots in front of the door.

Knock! Knock!

"Ricardo, are you home? It's past eleven already!" Manager Corbin called out while the two of us newbies still couldn’t understand why a supervisor would be living in such a shabby place.

Suddenly noticing that Woodrow's suit was quite shabby because it was too big, the skirt and shirt wrinkled from not being ironed properly, and the tie worn incorrectly. I fixed the misplaced buttons, retied the tie, and straightened the creases for him. It felt like I was taking care of a little sister.

"What's all this noise about? I'm going to punch you now!" a gruff male voice came from the other side of the door.

The homeowner lightly pushed the door open, peeked his head out to glare at me and Woodrow, but he ignored us both and asked Corbin.

"Manager Corbin, is it? What's it today?"

"Haven’t you received the association’s email, Ricardo?"

"Oh, I thought it was just another summoning email so I dumped it straight into the spam folder."

"Since we’re here, let me explain, these two are new recruits..."

"New recruits? Why bother me? Just hand them over to the other Keepers to manage."

"The thing is, these two are special cases, here, let me show you."

Corbin pulled out what seemed like our files and handed them to the old man with the unkempt beard to inspect.

"100%? The first person to pass through the rift and return? Nonsense!"

"It's true, why would the association joke about that? The poor guy almost got dissected by those old men."

The old man glanced at us again with suspicion, his attitude not showing the slightest bit of warmth.

"Alright, wait a moment!"

With that, he rudely slammed the door shut without inviting us in to wait, then came out dressed just as shabbily as Woodrow, wearing the boots he had left at the door, and scowled: “What are you looking at?"

"Nothing, sir...", I responded, holding back.

After he left down to the parking lot without waiting for us, once the old man was far enough away not to hear us anymore, I finally asked Corbin in private.

"What’s up with him, manager? What kind of state employee behaves like that?"

"Ah, Ricardo? He wasn't always like this, but after the Void disaster took his two children and his wife left him unable to cope, he changed."

Hearing this, I no longer harbored any ill will towards him. Though I hadn't experienced such pain, I could imagine it was far worse than anything I had endured. In silence, we all headed down to the parking lot, a gesture of respect for the unfortunate man.

Yet, in the car, the old man irritated me again by smoking without permission.

"Ricardo, could you put out the cigarette? There are other people here too!"

The stubborn old man turned around, rudely pointing his cigarette at me: “You, can you smoke?"

"No, sir!"

"And what about this young lady?"

"Uh... i gets car sick..." Woodrow mumbled, handing me her hand as she felt nauseous.

"Troublesome!"

He grumbled and took a final drag, throwing the cigarette out of the window.

"Ricardo, if you don't put out your cigarette, it could start a fire. There's an ashtray right here.” manager Corbin sighed.

"Screw it!" he snapped.

At this, I couldn't take it anymore and leaned forward, asking the manager to pull over at a vacant lot on a construction site.

"What's the matter, Beckham?"

"I can't stand this man's attitude!"

"Good, I've been considering going to the association to quit as well."

"Both of you, calm down.” the manager tried to soothe us.

"And what about you, foreign kid?"

"Like you, Woodrow doesn't like how you operate.” Woodrow said, sticking his head out the window for some fresh air to ease his nausea.

Hearing this, the old man got out of the car and stretched.

"I'll walk home from here. Just tell HR that next time I'll personally return the watch and name badge."

"Ricardo, are you going to keep doing this?"

I didn't understand why manager Corbin mentioned "keep doing this.” it seemed this had happened before.

"Every time you're assigned a task, you cause trouble with the newcomers and then just leave, it's really difficult for me too."

Seeing the manager's helpless expression, it was clear he was struggling with the old man's relentless behavior. Despite being a lowly HR employee, he was too modest to say more. But I couldn't tolerate the old man's unpleasant demeanor, so I got out of the car and shouted after him.

"I don't care who you are or what losses you've faced in the past, you have no right to treat others this way!"