It was already 6:30 pm by the time Louise had finished running. His little sister and mom had also gone upstairs to check on him during this time. Of course, it was because they wondered why Louise had suddenly decided to exercise.
His family knew him as quite an eccentric, doing peculiar things every now and then. Although he wasn't particularly close with them due to matters of the past, they still held a small bond through mealtime conversations. These conversations were more or less about the state of affairs in their lives, gossip about their neighbors, and news from their relatives all over the country. Louise had little care toward these things. He cared for his family a lot, but toward outsiders, he only had indifference.
This indifference, however, wasn't something natural for him. In truth, he was incredibly benevolent in the past, giving as much as he could whenever there was a chance to do so. However, the reality was simply harsh. To reach higher positions in life, people would pull others down. Honestly, he didn't believe that people could be so evil, but it was simply naivety on his part. Only when a supposedly loyal friend of his talked behind his back to undermine him and get his position did he learn that the world was not as good as it seemed.
From then on, his benevolent heart had turned a little bit icy. What was used against him, he had also used on others. To say that he had a "better" life by walking on others wasn't far from the truth. In any case, this wasn't the only thing. There were many matters of the past that Louise simply wanted to keep deep in his mind. Perhaps he would be able to get back what others took away from him someday.
At the moment, Louise was a little fired up. He had spent more time than usual on the treadmill, and he had even run at a higher speed for a prolonged period of time. He was catching his breath as he continued walking slowly to cool his body down. He hadn't exhausted himself like this for a long time, and it was also strange to him why he had spent so much energy.
"Damn, I'm tired." After stepping out of the treadmill, he leaned on the wall and simply let his mind and body relax. He emptied his mind by closing his eyes and imagining the most serene place he could think of—an island, sunset, and a coconut tree.
This was a technique of his for meditation. He had been doing this from a young age, and he never really knew how he had thought of it or whether he learned it from somewhere. This simple meditation technique helped him calm down, especially during times when his emotions were in turmoil. It would help him reset his emotions and deal with matters calmly. In addition, it also helped him sleep at night. After all, as someone who had read millions of words due to the nature of his work, his imagination was simply grand.
It took another few minutes before his breathing stabilized. Only then did he sit down while wiping his sweat off. Looking at his phone, he realized that it was almost 7 pm already. There were a few notifications on his phone, but before he could check them out, he heard his little sister's voice from downstairs.
"Brother, dinner's ready!"
Although he heard the voice, Louise didn't seem to comprehend it. He simply stared at nothing in particular, and only after the loud footsteps of his sister did he wake up from his reverie. "I'll go down in a while."
Irish replied, "Okay! Don't take too long. Food will be cold!"
Louise slapped himself lightly. A bit more composed, he shouted, "What did mom cook?"
"I don't know. Just go down!"
This conversation... he was simply too familiar with it. Every time his sister called him for dinner, he would always ask what their mom had prepared. This didn't mean he wouldn't eat if he disliked the food. He just wanted to know to warm up his taste buds. It was quite weird, of course, but he simply enjoyed food more by knowing what it was and expecting what it would taste like before he could eat it.
"Rice and... chicken and pork stew... as usual." Louise was a little bit helpless when he saw "adobo" on the table. It seemed like every other day, they would have it for either dinner or lunch. Not saying he didn't like it—it was his favorite, in fact—but eating it more than three times a week made it a little bit less desirable.
Lucia looked at her son in annoyance. Of course, she heard what he said, but she simply didn't care. If he dared to say more, then her retort would be, "Why not cook something yourself?"
And Louise was exactly the kind of person who was too lazy to cook for himself. He was fond of cooking, but for him, it was a passion that would come and go. There were times he eagerly wanted to cook, but more often than not, he would rather just be the guy who would do the eating.
Now, the family of four was at the table. Louise, the breadwinner, Irish, the little sister, Lucia, the mom, and finally, Julius, the dad. Each of them had some semblance to each other. Louise looked just like his father—brown skin, black hair, a tall nose, and thin lips. He was taller and had a bigger body than Julius, making people mistake them for brothers instead of father and son. The only things that weren't an imitation of his father were his eyes, which looked similar to his mom's. Compared to his father's dark brown eyes, his were light brown.
Irish, the little sister, was just 15 years old this year. They had an eight-year age difference, and for that reason, Louise more or less treated her as his child. She looked just like her mother, but at her age, she was well-developed. She was almost as tall as her brother, and the beauty her mother had in her younger years was already showing on her face.
Lucia, the mom, was 48 years old this year, the same as Julius. They had Louise a year after they married, but because Julius had to work overseas, the second child, Irish, came much later. Lucia's face showed signs of her age, but it didn't stop showing the beauty she possessed during her best years. She was on the chubbier side since she had been busy dilly-dallying at home, unable to really put in effort to fitness.
After enjoying the meal, Louise unexpectedly opted to open up a conversation. He turned to his dad, Julius, and asked, "How's work?"
Julius was surprised for a moment. His son rarely, if ever, initiated a conversation. Usually, it would be the three of them talking before Louise would put in a few words. Thus, he paused for a few moments and answered, "Everything is as usual. There are rumors about corruption in the management, and it seems some of our overtime at work won't be paid."
Lucia had a stern gaze as she cut in, "I already told you not to work overtime. That manager of yours looks like a greedy bastard..."
Julius was working as a computer technician. His work made him go around the place, so sometimes, he would come home early, while at other times, he would come home very late. According to his company rules, when work caused them to stay late outside, they would be paid for overtime. However, in the past two months, not a single cent was given to them from these overtime hours. As such, Lucia was very dissatisfied and went as far as demanding he quit his job.
At the moment, Lucia was about to start nagging, so Louise simply shifted his gaze to Irish and asked, "What plans do you have for summer vacation?"
Irish glared at him and said, "What else am I going to do? It's summer vacation, so I'm going to take a vacation."
Louise threw a ball of tissue at her head and said, "You know what I mean. Do you plan to go to summer school, join some camping activities, or enroll in swimming or any sports training? You're still young, so you ought to spend your time wisely. Don't be like me."
He was, however, quickly shut down. Irish said, "Not interested. Oh, a while ago, I was talking with..."
She immediately shut herself up before opening her mouth again. However, no words came out. Obviously, the person she was about to mention was a taboo topic. Irish and her brother's ex, Michelle, were very close. The breakup between Louise and Michelle didn't really affect her relationship with the latter. There was some awkwardness, but the bond made over the years made them a little too comfortable with each other.
To her, Michelle was a reliable elder sister, so she always asked her for advice. Irish, right now, had just turned 15. She was about to enter senior high school, and it was a new environment altogether. But she had people who supported her, including Michelle and her brother, who helped her get through things nicely. Especially math—which was such a daunting subject that she only passed after suffering verbal abuse from her brother.
"Ehem, I'll get cold water from the fridge." Seeing the awkward atmosphere, Irish's first plan of action was to run away.
Louise, on the other hand, was a little dazed for a moment, but a chuckle soon escaped from his lips. His mom and dad looked at him weirdly, and then he said, "Nothing. I just remembered something funny. Anyway, Pa, you really need to decide about your work. I do think that if you're not treated fairly by your manager, you shouldn't stay there anymore. But of course, you decide what to do. If you need anything, just tell me."
Julius nodded. Toward this son of his, he was very proud but also a little intimidated. The matters of the past had changed a lot of things, and he knew that his son didn't have as much respect for him. Fortunately, he was still a filial son who supported his family.
It was at this time that his mom asked, "What about you? What do you plan to do this summer vacation? Since your sister is on vacation, she can help more around the house."
"Hm... I'm not really sure, but I might go overseas soon for a week or two," Louise replied. He had finally spoken out a plan of his since a long time back. He had always wanted to take a vacation somewhere, and it seemed the next two months were the perfect timing to do so.
"Where are you going?" It was Irish who asked this. She was upstairs to get cold water from the fridge, and yet she still heard something Louise had said so discreetly.
"Wow, your ears are really sharp when you're not being asked to do something," Louise commented, "probably Singapore or Hong Kong. I'll confirm soon."
Irish was already back at the table by the time Louise finished speaking. She said, "Then aren't you bringing me?"
"No." Louise flatly refused, which made Irish let out a dissatisfied grunt. He continued, "Anyway, I'm still unsure whether I'll be going or not. I'll also need to talk to Francis to make the process easier and smoother."
Francis was one of Louise's online buddies. They had met in a novel enthusiast group a few years back, and they had an entire circle of friends in a group chat that was still active even now. Naturally, Louise's family knew him quite well.
Lucia chimed in, "That's good. Then you ought to prepare yourself. The process to go overseas has become stricter and stricter. Luckily, you already got your passport last year..."
The conversation at the table continued for a while. They talked about what Louise was planning to do overseas, what happened to the neighbor's dog, and many other topics that were all over the place. It was quite a lively dinner, one that rarely made Louise feel happy.
After helping his mom fix the table and wash the dishes, Louise went upstairs and back to his room. It was almost 8 pm, and there were a lot of things he was thinking about doing.
He was finally in a much nicer mood, so he thought perhaps a round of Dota 2 would be fun (or put him in a bad mood). He opened his computer, clicked on the game client, and was about to find a match when he remembered he hadn't checked his phone since working out an hour ago.
Thus, he held off on playing a game for now. He was looking forward to Anna's replies, and he also wanted to check whether he had important messages to reply to.
As soon as he opened his phone, however, what appeared before him was an unfamiliar notification.
[Earth is about to face imminent disaster! You are given a chance for a head start. Would you like to experience the future?]
Reading this simply made one of his brows go up. "What the hell is this?"
He decided to swipe it off and check which app this notification came from but accidentally tapped on it instead. An application opened on his phone to his dismay. As it booted up, an auspicious message was displayed on the screen.
[Welcome! May you be blessed by the gods to become one of Earth's pillars for its survival.]
As soon as he read this message, everything went black. And the next thing he saw was an unfamiliar place.