I came to this novel world on a random Friday of June.
And today, it had been two days since my transmigration.
"Huff.... That should take care of all the trash. Oh shit, I'm getting late for work!"
Despite my fears, nothing significant had happened in the last two days.
No protagonist suddenly showed up on my doorstep to kill me, nor did I encounter the eldest daughter of the Xaviers again.
It was oddly peaceful, despite the chaos I had to go through on the very first day of my transmigration.
I was thankful for it too. After all, I had been extremely busy these last two days.
Since I didn't inherit the previous Damien's memories, I had no idea of anything that wasn't explicitly mentioned or explained in the original novel.
So, figuring out all the important things on my own really took a lot out of me.
And after that, fixing and cleaning up the garbage can of a house I owned now ate up all my remaining time.
But in the end, it was definitely worth the hassle.
Now, I was at least able to somewhat assimilate into this world without feeling awkward.
"It's a 10-minute walk from here... I should be able to make it in time, barely."
Currently, I was walking to my new job location in this world.
'...This is ridiculous, isn't it? Absolutely, f*cking ridiculous. An experienced business management guy like me working as a kitchen cleaner? At least make me a Chef, dammit!'
However, due to the job description being a little too underwhelming, my spirits were inevitably a bit down.
I was already tired of cleaning after going through the hell-hole I now called home for the last two days. The last thing I wanted was a permanent janitor's job to close the deal.
'...But I can't really complain now. Getting a normal job with my trashy reputation is already a miracle.'
It was three minutes past seven in the morning when I finally reached the restaurant.
*Thuck-!*
Closing the restaurant's cranky backdoor behind me, I went past the huge pile of mess that the kitchen had turned into, before seeing the broad back of old man Harold in front of me.
He was standing there with three of his regular employees surrounding him, while occasionally glancing at the wall clock hanging on the side.
"Oh, he's finally here."
When he saw me approaching, his eyes immediately lit up as he smiled and beckoned me to come closer, before enthusiastically slapping my back as he introduced me to my workplace seniors.
Clearly, his reception towards me was completely different compared to before.
"Haha, this right here is Damien – the new guy I was telling you all about. Weren't you guys complaining so much about being short-handed all the time? So, here's your helping hand. You'll have to show him the ropes for some time though. In the meantime, he'll do all the menial work for you like washing and cleaning stuff. Now say hello to your new coworker!"
"Hi."
"Hello, friend. Hope we can get along well!"
"Hey..."
I silently evaluated the crew, taking a short glance at each of them in turn.
It seemed that my new coworkers were going to be two girls and an excessively bright young man.
The first girl had a small smile on her face, wearing her chef's uniform along with a dark red-colored apron on top, as she curtly waved her hand in my direction; while the lively young man smiled so brightly that it almost seemed to lighten up the surroundings.
In contrast to them, the second girl seemed to be almost too bored, borderline depressed, as she bleakly sent an offhand greeting my way before returning her eyes to the smartphone screen in her hand.
However, seeing that none of the others seemed to mind her including the old man, I decided to not pay attention to her slightly odd behavior.
"...Hello, everyone. I'll be in your care from now on."
With a serious expression, I greeted them back in a polite tone.
Somehow, my previous life's workplace manners found some unexpected use in this world.
Seeing this, the old man nodded in satisfaction.
"Alright, I'll leave you with them. Also, your 'circumstances' will remain a secret with me, so you can rest assured regarding that matter. But..."
Saying that, the old man paused for a moment, seemingly contemplating something before opening his mouth with a hesitant expression.
"...I didn't tell you this before, because I thought you already knew, but I'll say it anyway, if only to clear my own conscience."
"Kid, you're too young to be involved in underworld affairs for so long. Believe me when I say this, if you ever get suspected in this line of work, you might die without an intact corpse the very next day."
I just stared at him without showing any particular expression on my face, while he sighed, grabbing hold of my shoulders.
"...While it's good that you're not leaving any gaps in your disguise by not using your government salary to get by, it would be for the best if you simply give up on your mission and let the adults handle things. Life is too short and too beautiful to waste it away in a dump hole like this, you should try to enjoy it a bit more."
Patting my shoulder a few times, the old man then walked out of the kitchen, leaving those words behind in a low voice.
"..."
I remained silent, but the expression on my face was rather solemn.
'The misunderstanding is growing stronger...'
Although I felt bad for deceiving this old man who left behind such deep words for my own good, I really had no other choice in this matter.
...Well, I needed money too, but I had a deeper motive for doing this as well.
After all, I absolutely needed someone reliable on my side to safely weather through the storm I was about to unleash upon this world to preserve my life.
Since I had already chosen the villain route, there would inevitably be tons of chaos in the near future because of my actions.
That's why, I had to prepare for their consequences beforehand.
"Hey, my name is Hank. Nice to meet you!"
Now, with the old man leaving me alone with the three young employees, the bright-eyed young man immediately stepped closer to me, offering me a firm handshake.
"...I'm Damien. Nice to meet you too."
"Haha, you seem a bit too tense, brother Damien. Don't worry, we're all friendly people here."
Hank laughed, apparently trying to lighten the atmosphere a little.
He then pointed to the cute girl standing next to him—
"This right here is dish preparation expert Ruby. And that one who's currently tinkering with her phone..."
—before shifting targets and pointing towards the gloomy girl standing in the corner.
"...is our kitchen's master chef, Ellen."
He then pointed towards himself with his thumb with a proud look on his face.
"By the way, I'm the one who used to prepare the ingredients and clean up after both of them. But now that you're here, you'll be doing those menial jobs for some time. So in that sense, you're kinda my successor here, I guess..."
For the next few minutes, I was helplessly dragged around the kitchen as he pointed out how things worked in here and familiarized me with their working tempo and all.
Thankfully, the work I had to do in the beginning was kept pretty simple. It was only after I accumulated enough experience would it be possible for me to share their workload properly.
...I had no intention to stick around till that time came, though.
Soon, it was time for the restaurant to open, and Hank eventually left me with a ton of dirty dishes and utensils to clean in the corner.
"Haah... Man, do I hate cleaning."
With a depressed sigh, I quickly got to work.
...
...
It wasn't until late evening that I was finally able to return from work.
'I'm so tired...'
As I listlessly walked through the almost empty roads, a newfound sense of respect arose in my heart for the coworkers I had spent the whole day with.
As someone who never worked more than eight hours a day without a nice and fat bonus, it was both an eye-opening and grim realization, seeing just how bad the situation was on their side.
'...Should I sell off the house? Some important people are going to die soon. Maybe I can invest all that money in stocks and then...'
Inside my mind, I was recalling the events from the original novel, trying to make a plan that could take the maximum advantage of my future storyline knowledge, when—
– Hey girl, whatcha' doin' tonight? Wanna come over to our place?
– Kekeke, we have lots of nice goodies for you too, yeah. Why not give us a chance too?
– Girl, I swear if you come over to my place, I'll show you the best porno in the world on my 52-inch flat screen mirror!
– Hahahaaha!
My steps suddenly paused, hearing the loud sound of laughter coming from the narrow alleyway on the side.
If it was before my transmigration, I'd probably not think anything of this cliche set of dialogues and go about my own business after giving a call to 911.
But now...
'...A protagonist-exclusive pokémon catching event?'
...my mind automatically labeled this event as an important plot-event in the story.
But when I looked around myself, forget the protagonist, I wasn't even able to spot any other human than myself in these empty streets....
*Shiver!*
'...When did all those pedestrians disappear?! No, more importantly, I need to check what's going on there!'
Furrowing my brows from the slight sense of incongruity, I decided to stealthily approach the laughing thugs and first observe what the hell was going on here.
Step. Step.
– Ey, why are you being so nervous? Tell this daddy and I'll make all your problems disappear, yeah?
– Hehe, looks like we got a catch tonight. Yo Tommy, get your chloroform rag ready. We gotta ask her how it smells tonight!
Hearing the last part, I quickened my pace of walking, sneaking in from behind the small group of thugs—
"Uh...umm...please...don't do this..."
—Only to see them surrounding a meek university girl who was backed up against the alley wall, shivering in terror as small droplets of tear gathered in her restless eyes.
'...! What..!?'
Long, wavy blond hair reaching up to her waist, and a naturally pretty face that gave off a pure and innocent feeling.
Her soft lips glistened with a nectar so sweet that it drove a legendary creature of the night insane, and her cute shyness so beguilingly addictive that could make even the staunchest of monks burn with desire.
"Sierra Alden..."
It was the first and true heroine of the novel I had transmigrated into, and also the alpha's chosen mate.
"...what are you doing here?"