01 August 2020, 10:35 am

"A moss in hopes where the dew is falling,

... beams you have not met…" *(1)*

An old man, who recited to himself the poem he just heard, wandered in a discolored white robe from ten centuries ago. While compherending the poem, he kept walking.

'Earth is really mysterious. Every generation gave birth the geniuses. May be I should think about supporting them. They failed me many times. These guys from Earth always were greedy. Luck... Hope...'

The old man was moving from the alley towards the street. His eyes were bright. He appeared to be too famish from outside. However, the passers-by turned to look at him from time to time. He was like a magnet.

As he moved through the alley, a rider on his bike appeared corner of the ally. The rider didn't even check to the side street. He was enjoying his trip, but didn't care of the people. Couple of seconds later, an old man was about to collide with a cyclist on the corner of the street.

The rider was almost swearing at the granpa, suddenly for a moment everything was frozen. The rider felt that his precense was erasing from the world itself. Yes, he felt it. Because he totally erased from the world itself including the memory of his parents. He disappeared suddenly with his bike to the nihility.

The people on the pavement kept walking without realizing anything. A homeless man sitting on the sidewalk stared at the old man, then opened his palm and begged silently. According to the new laws, it was forbidden for beggars to beg aloud. Since this street was a street with at least eighty thousand people passing by a day, beggars did not risk being banished from this street.

The old man assumed the beggar as if the beggar did not exist and turned his head again at the traffic lights. After hearing the audible "you can cross now" voice indicating that the pedestrians were lit in green and the mechanical resonating sound that informed the pedestrians that they could cross, he crossed the road.

He was like a eighty to ninety years old with bended figure. He had some short hair, was mostly bald. He didn't smell foul but his apparel was terrific. Any passer-by can keep moving at least one meter afar. He didn't care too much about them. If he wanted, probably all people on the Earth ceased to exist. Therefore, he never gave a damn about people around.

He was still compherending the poem, twitching his temples. He came in front of one of the 24-story business towers on the street.

With a quick step from the ground floor of the building the old man was about to enter, Madilynn Reeves, wearing a formal attire, stepped out of the front door with a file in one hand and a bag in the other. She was gloomily staring to ground as she moved. She chided to herself about the failure that just happened couple of minutes ago in the business tower she left. 

She was obviouslt failed her job interview. 'Pff ... it didn't happen this time either. I don't understand why there are so many unemployed project managers. 6800 or so people applied. When can I get a job? Huh!'

She had an athletic body, 165 cm tall, presentable, high heels. She got hairs on her shoulder. She was 23-year-olds and new graduate from the university. 

Madilynn looked unhappy at the old man she was about to bump into. She thought 'My expensive workwear I bought with my hard-earned money would almost be ruined.' 

When she looked at the old man again, she noticed that the man's eyes were very bright and he was mysteriously calm and like a magnet. She noticed that his being was like out of world. He was passing by and going into the building.

"Excuse me? Old man! Stop! Do not go!" Madilynn called out, the old man stopped and looked back.

Madilynn informed to the man in a hurry "Don't try to go in! Security guards can harass you. You can't go in with these clothes. Please take care of yourself!"

The old man turned towards the door of the building and took the first step, he grumbled "Sometimes what we see is not true, and sometimes what we know is not right..."

He actually appreciated this young woman. She was out of ordinary and considerate. So, even if he grumbled, he gave an advice her own. This kind of advice was similar to an invitation. The old timers like himself always were temperamental. Luring the camel to jump over a gully was easier than understanding these grumpies.

He started walking inwards. He passed the security guards, passed the security screening non-stop and proceeded towards the elevator. The security guards did not seem to notice the man at all.

Mady gaped while following with her eyes. Seeing the man calling the elevator, she quickly walked back into the building thinking 'Hey, there must be something up!'

When the security guards blocked her way she concocted an excuse "I forgot my keys upstairs in the ladies' room. I'll be right back."

She went back in and came up to the old man waiting for the elevator to come down. She asked "How didn't they see you? I felt like they did not notice even if you just closingly passed by them. I don't believe they know you. If they know, they would probably question you or greet with a bow. Can you teach me too?"

He expressionlessly demurred "When one of the fish learns to walk on the sand, not all of them evolve"

He obviously were teasing her by whipping her ego. And he wanted to see that she really had the luck to break through. When the elevator came to the ground floor, he turned to Madilynn and responded "I could think if you had enough talent." Then he shook his head and stepped towards the elevator.

Seeing her still trying to understand what he wanted say and not emotionally affected by, he complimented her in his heart. He didn't know that nowadays most of the young men and women did not care about blabbers of old grumpy people.

Since she failed the job interview and didn't have another plan today except for shut in home and crying, she thought that she would follow if she could. Taking a deep breath, Madilynn asked "Well, would you be uncomfortable if I take the elevator and follow you now?"

"It doesn't matter" Old man just stated without losing his demeanour.

Madilynn got into the elevator that was about to close. The elevator started to climb to the 22nd floor. 'I wonder why it goes up to the 22nd floor. If it was a soul or something else, it would just take it to the last floor. On the roof or something... I wonder if this is a grim reaper?'

She looked at the man curiously. She thought the old man might be a soul only she could see. That's why security at the ground floor didn't see him.

The old man stood carelessly as he was, looking towards the door. When the elevator reached the 22nd floor, the door opened and, following the man, Madilynn got out of the elevator. The man was about two meters ahead. Madilyn was following with curiosity.

There were only five offices along the corridor. Each of them were the offices of the company's partners. Offices were currently vacant. Compared to the other four offices, the fifth was slightly larger and was at the end of the corridor. The old man moved towards this office.

The door opened by itself, before the old man knocked on it. Madilynn continued to follow the man with interest.

In the office, Cooper Fry, one of the company's prominent executives in his 50s, wore a stylish suit that was obviously a special creation. He had an athletic build for his age. He was sitting at his desk and answering his mails.

On the other hand, he was talking to one of his employees through his headset. When he saw the old man, he stood up with a slight smile, put the headset aside and started talking without looking at Madilynn.

He quickly greeted in high spirits "My Lord, what can this servant do for you?" He bowed ninety degrees and waited.

"OK, Cooper. You can stand." The old man nodded and then moved to gaze outside from the huge window glasses.

Cooper picked up the phone and ordered "Prepare Libertini Asquasiz now. Hmm just a second!" He turned to Madilynn. "What would you like?"

Madilyn did not know what to do while standing. The old man was so mysterious. After she swallowed, thinking that the man called Cooper was unaware of anything, she replied "I'll take whatever you drink."

Cooper spoke the person on the phone "Bring a glass of water."

"Cooper, I love your stinginess" the old man turned his head to Cooper and laughed. Then he continued to look outside with a smile. Madilynn could not stand awkwardly, so she immediately settled into the seat close to the old man.

"My lord, you know where I'm spending the funds" Cooper added, then Cooper stared blankly at Madilynn. Madilynn pulled her cell phone from her purse and started looking at her incoming messages. She had hazel eyes and she was brunette. However her skin somehow a bit pale. She was charming. Cooper didn't know who she was and why she was here.

'I definitely shouldn't talk. I wanted to follow, and he said that it did not matter. But now he knows the boss. Did the security guards know him too? So he wasn't a soul or invisible guy. Uuuf I'm about to go crazy. Why didn't guards greet him? Look their boss calling him as Lord. The door opened on its own when we were about to reach this office room. It's so weird. I should definitely not talk.'

Cooper began to speak, looking politely at the old man, ignoring Madilynn. "My lord, Bowie and Omari haven't reported yet. I guess they will reply within an hour."

After some silence, he returned his seat and continued to look at his e-mails. Five minutes later an attendant came in with a tray in his hand. There were three glasses, a green glass bottle, a water bottle and two fruit plates in the tray.

Looking at the empty glass, water bottle and fruit plate in front of her, Madilynn opened the cap of water bottle and tried to fill her glass. While looking at the glass, it suddenly became dark inside and then lit up again. The sunlight was blocked because a man entered from the open window.

Madilynn immediately looked up, a black man was seen inside bent his knees towards the old man and bowing.

"Omari. Since you came earlier than Bowie, I will give you a reward." The old man suddenly raised his hand. Three gray beans appeared in his palm, similar to coffee beans, but about ten times the size of coffee beans.

Omari's eyes sparkled and he thought 'Haaaa! I'll finally bring the death-force energy to the next level.'

The old man gave his advise and permission to Omari. "If you consume these directly, you may not get the result you want. When today's mission is over, you can go to the Taelde Planet and hire an alchemists to make a potion with them."

Madilyn heard the name of another planet, the scenarios she produced in her mind began to change. Since the office did not have a balcony, a second man came in a few seconds later through the large window. This time Madilynn saw a man coming in through the window. The man seemed to come jumping in, not flying through or teleporting.

She truly shocked. She was trying to understand what was happening and she had to understand. Otherwise, what kind of action would she do the next? Her mouth dried. She shouldn't talk, but she couldn't get out now. Everything in the Earth now is like an illusion. What was happening? Who were them? What was the topic? Another planet?

Bowie was dark-skinned, about the same height as Madilynn, considerably shorter than average men, and his arms and legs were very muscular. Madilynn compared this man to a weightlifter. But Bowie's belly was a completely different matter. He was obviously drunkard with a big belly.

"Our master! At your command!" After he respectfully saluted, a sky-blue globe, about ten cm in diameter with golden glitters, appeared on Bowie's palm. The old man did not seem to mind Bowie bowing and greeting. He pointed the globe with his finger. The globe took off and hung in the air in the middle of the office.

Omari likewise took out another sphere and threw it towards the other sphere. The moment the newly arriving sphere hit the other sphere, the sphere, which was suspended in the air for the first time, was still in the air while the other sphere stuck to it and remained motionless.

The old man opened the cap of the newly served bottle in front of him and took a sip. A nice scent came from the bottle. It was unclear which plant had a scent, but Madilyn's mind had never felt so open just by absorbing the smell. It was as if her brain was working much faster and remembering many things in more detail.

Madilynn swallowed deeply and regretted not wanting this drink. This was replaced itself to the biggest regret in her life. She wasn't the only one gulped around. However, Omari and Bowie couldn't dare to make a sound around the old man.

Cooper bent down to the low levelled drawers and brought five keys from the desk's eye.

The keys looked like old-fashioned safe keys. Under the old man's control, the keys took off and came in front of the man. The old man put his hand in front of his chest and took out a rolled-up parchment made of a leather-like material from the inside of his robe.

"This damn thing will take longer to develop. Cooper even your grandchildren will not see the end of it. You must be feeling unhappy about this too."

The old man commented while his expression remained unchanged. While the keys in the air began to turn, standing equidistantly around the parchment. The scroll and keys moved towards the spheres, and at once the two spheres lost all their light and fell to the ground. They just looked like two pieces of coal. Bowie and Omari quickly grabbed a sphere and then spheres were disappeared.

With the keys hanging in the air, Cooper collected the keys one by one and put them in his desk drawer. The old man placed the leather scroll back into his robe. Then he took a sip from his bottle again.

"Bowie, you're late mate" Omari roughly stated as he made his way to the office door. "This time my reward is great. I am going to Taelda. You wouldn't want to come anyway?! Hahaha"

Bowie shook his head unhappily. The old man looked out the window and spoke "Hmm, Marcus huh? Cooper, your Marcus is level-71 now. He has earned me something valuable while completing his mission. Normally a feat that the 100 level and above be able to do. I opened eight quotas in your world from 5861 to 5868. Take this chance well."

Omari was frozen as he was about to open the door. He turned and looked at the old man. Bowie glared too. 3400 of the servants in the Earth were working directly for the old man. But 21 people were named as agents. This number would increase to 29.

Cooper swallowed hard and blurted out in panic "My Lord, we couldn't find any of the 21 people. If 8 people appear at once, our chances will increase, but it will also increase the chance of not being found among newcomers."

The old man grunted firmly "It's your problem. Let's see who are these lucky ones? Hmmm." The old man polled people all over the world at the same time. After choosing the seven lucky person with the seven most different qualities, he took his eyes from the window and turned his head towards Madilynn. After squinting for a moment, he stretched his finger towards Madilynn. At the same time, seven other people got a tattoo on their chest.

***

Tattoo: It has two red pupils that appear to be alive only inside the pitch-black circle, right at the junction of the rib cage and is the size of a medallion.

***

*(1)*

A moss in hopes where the dew is falling,

Buds in the blind spots of the stony roads.

Not that it cannot come, boy

Since the dark cannot go.

To start each new day with hope,

Counting the lost years from the night,

Leaping forward without breath,

To the radiances whose beams you have not met…