The stereotypical nobody, at-least, that's how I would summarize myself. Here I was, age thirty-three, no occupation, and no significant other. To society's standards, as an individual I'd be labeled a 'NEET'. Generally speaking, I wasn't a bad guy, but then again, I never particularly went out of my way for anyone. Physically speaking, I was on the well-rounded side. I definitely wasn't ugly, but I was positively no model, I was unequivocally average in the looks department. There were numerous times where I had tried to get in the gym, but it wasn't like I had any motivation. Hilarious, here I was, lamenting on the life I was living.
In the job department, I held a minor corporate job for a short time. Wasn't anything spectacular, but I did some minor sales and marketing, had some fun with it, until the entire company went bankrupt. Then again, it wasn't like there were any myriad benefits from the company. I tried finding a new occupation, even if I had to fry food and operate a cash register. No luck whatsoever. I'd get the usual, "We thank you for your application and interest within our organization! Though we sadly regret to inform you that we have decided to move on with a more qualified candidate!".
But I mean come on, is it really that difficult to work at a fast-food restaurant? How do you move on with a more qualified candidate if no one else even applied?! Regardless, I would see the same trend repeatedly. You'd think the universe was just trying to keep me unemployed for the sake of a laugh. I couldn't even try to get an interview for another corporate job, my last landlord kicked me out after I defaulted on the rent, and somehow, my suit was magically lost.
The relationship department? Apparently, I had nothing to offer, though, I'd think the same thing too. Who'd want to get a cup of coffee with a guy who hadn't even had a proper job in the last seven months? The only way I could manage rent was moving to a cramped and rundown apartment, adding to the fact I did only odd jobs you could find in the magazine or newspaper. Need your gutters cleared out? Your lawn mowed? Babysitting and painting? All that money covered rent for only the next two months.
No friends and family either. I haven't spoken to my parents for over a decade, I couldn't just appear in their life. They wouldn't do anything to assist me anyway. If anything, they would have most likely called the police on me, with how unrecognizable I must be. Last time I had friends was high school, post-graduation, they all simply fell off the side of the earth. I won't sugarcoat it, that may have been the peak of my life. Quite somber, especially when they talked about how the whole world could have been your oyster, and you just needed to get out and explore. I tried numerous times to get in contact with old friends, yet I was ignored.
"Looking back, maybe I should have tried harder. Mayb—", speaking in a regretful manner.
My stomach growled, interrupting the words I muttered as I lay on the floor of my cramped apartment looking up at the ceiling, still in contemplation of my life.
I let out a short sigh under my breath, and I proceeded to get up off my back and walked towards the small fridge which was an accessory of the apartment units. Looking within the fridge, there was nothing at all to eat. I had eaten all the beef jerky I bought last week. All that I had left within the fridge were some water bottles I had left there to be ice cold.
Looking down, my stomach growled once more. As followed, I let out another short sigh, this time, the sigh was a little exasperated. The expression on my face turned somber.
Acknowledging that I would need to eat something in order to satisfy my hunger, I reluctantly opened the door and stepped outside my apartment. I was going to have to travel up towards the convenience store which was a few blocks over.
I hadn't left my apartment for over a month, I was a pure shut-in. My body was in pure ache just moving around, most likely due to my blood clotting up from the lack of movement. Regardless, I was going to need to eat.
Wearing a coat as it was the middle of October, I stepped down the steps of the apartment complex and began walking towards the store. Being the middle of the night, there was rarely anyone on the street. The only scenery existing in this moment would be me and the many streetlights lined parallel to the roads and intersections that I crossed and walked alongside.
As I arrived at the convenience store, I saw the evaporation of the water vapor exhaled from my breath. It showed just how sharp the cold atmosphere was on this very night.
I entered the convenience store, passing the cashier at the front counter, walking towards the last section of the store at the very back. Afterall, that's where they stockpiled the majority of their beef jerky and other foods that wouldn't easily expire. I had no kitchen appliances within my apartment, I couldn't afford the ingredients required to make foods from scratch, nor did I know how to properly cook them. No one was going to deliver me food made from scratch either, there was no one like that for me.
As I was searching through the multiple jerky brands, I heard a stark shout at the front of the store. I peered over the isle and saw a man clad in all black attire. He was yelling orders at the store clerk, who looking at now, she was at-least no more than seventeen years old. She was emptying the register into a bag, meaning it was definitely a robbery.
There's no need for me to get involved. That's what I decided to tell myself. Just let it be, get your beef jerky, and roll right on out. Head right back to your shut-in life, the same life with no prospects whatsoever, with nothing going for you in the slightest. There was absolutely no reason for me to get involved, and yet—
I just couldn't. I decided to slowly creep up behind the robber, in order to attempt restraining him. Good thing he never noticed my presence to begin with, especially because of how jittery he was. I leapt onto him and began wrestling with the robber. While me and him wrestled, the girl who was the cashier sped off, running away from the convenience store. In the flash of a single moment, I heard a loud bang rang throughout the convenience store.
I backed up slowly, I felt a rush of heat fly across my chest. Instinctively I grabbed my chest, holding my chest tight. As my hands were pressed tight, I looked at my palm, it was covered with blood, my blood. That rush of heat quickly turned into a sharp pain. I then immediately knew what had happened, I was shot.
Realizing what had happened, the robber ran off, in absolute terror. I assume in no lack of better words it was his paranoia which led to him firing a weapon. I hadn't even seen a gun on him in the first place.
I fell on the floor with my back hitting the front of the convenience store counter. My blood spewing on the floor, and my hands no longer able to hold my chest, with both of them falling on the floor.
"This is it huh…? A-After all of that, this is what my life amounted to…"
No one around me even at my death. I was truly a hopeless jobless nobody shut in. I just wish—
"I just wish somebody, anybody, gave me a chance at something…"
ACKNOWLEDGED—
New Life Requirement… Approved
"Huh?! What was that? Who said that?"
My eyes began to close, and my mind began to drift away. As I slowly lost consciousness, and the world around me began to dim into utter darkness, there were only a few words last said to me in this world.
…
NOTICE—
Demon Lord Occupation… Granted