Among the passing and going of a busy path stood a man of obvious strength, wearing a high-spec nano suit.
He appeared to have been looking up at the darkening sky for a while, his golden eyes locked on the ten moons high above.
If one judged by the annoyed remarks of those around him, this wasn't a rare occurrence, but something that happened almost on a daily basis.
He was a thorn in their otherwise monotonous commute and every word they sent his way they saw as justified.
After all, did the bastard believe himself to be a main character? He just appeared to lack a few chromosomes.
But... unfortunately for them, none of their curses reached his ears.
The man was simply too immersed in his thoughts.
'...What am I doing with my life?'
Letting out a long sigh, he quickly halted those thoughts and began to move, joining the flow of people.
He didn't want a repeat of what happened last time where he allowed those thoughts to spiral.
Shivering slightly, he shook his head, and took a deep breath, calming himself.
'Yeah... never again.'
With that, the man returned to his previous countenance, calm and steady.
The flow of people led him to a long queue, where people dressed like him had lined up.
He went past them and approached what appeared to be an automaton, standing in the middle of the pathway.
Without saying a word, he took out his terminal, a hand-sized mobile device, and hovered it over the automaton's face.
A moment passed and...
Beep!
Its eyes lit up in green, as did its smile.
The sight was creepy, but it didn't bother the man at all, in fact, he seemed to find it quite comical.
"Sir Malik, one hundred Valora have been deposited in your account. If there are any mistakes, be sure to reach out."
He nodded at its words but didn't move, noticing that it had more to say.
"Thank you for your service, Sir Malik. We're pleased to inform you that your clearance level has increased. You are now eligible to participate in S-Rank raids."
Malik furrowed his brows, reacting quite negatively to the news of his promotion.
"...Can I reject it?"
"No."
"I understand."
He chuckled at its clear-cut answer, tapped it on the shoulder, and passed it, following the crowd as if nothing had happened.
It appeared that he had been expecting the news, and for whatever reason, he didn't want to get sent out of the hellhole he was in.
Though it didn't take a genius to figure out one of the reasons.
While he didn't know how they exactly operated, it was safe to assume that S-Rank raids were going to be at least times tougher than what he was currently going through.
So this wasn't a promotion, rather it was a death sentence, one that he had to avoid if he wanted to live to the next day.
Sighing for what felt like the millionth time, he reached another queue.
This was one was beside multiple others, each starting before a massive highly-reinforced bus with human-sized tires.
Once another Beep! resounded, the queue began to clear relatively quickly as everyone entered their respective bus.
Malik sat at the back, relaxing on a seat that was many times comfier than his own bed.
It was not just because of the cushion, though it was a factor, it was also because of the position.
He had been a backbencher since birth, and for whatever reason, he always felt relaxed back there, nostalgic.
Beep!
With that all-familiar sound, their bus driver announced in a robotic voice:
"Destination, Dormitory A-10, ETA one hour, five minutes and twenty-six seconds. Enjoy the ride."
Just as it stopped speaking, Malik looked outside, quietly observing the scenery as the bus began to move.
Those next to him weren't so sentimental, most had taken out their terminals and began to mindlessly scroll, taking in data no more important than the grime beneath their feat.
The ones that didn't just talked loudly about whatever came up in their minds, no more important than the rest.
Malik meanwhile was lamenting his situation, and what his next steps had to be.
'Hahhh... I've got nothing to show for myself, for them, maybe this a chance... my chance to become a Celestial.'
He knew people much younger than him who had already become Celestials.
Some had struck rich in some unknown Ruin, while others were propped up by a strong backing, due to their good looks, a pretty face to display on advertisements.
'Too bad my handsome mug scares those bastards, I could've even been a model for them~.'
Chuckling at his stupid joke, he glanced at those beside him, then back at the wasteland.
Malik was just like the rest of the dregs, a tiny cog in an unfathomable machine.
But even then, he was satisfied.
Sure, he wasn't rich, nor was he powerful but at least he was contributing to something good.
The protection of his people, no matter how minimal.
Slowly nodding his head, he appeared to have come to a decision, one that he kept within.
Time ticked by and soon, they had reached their destination, exactly on time.
After a Beep! the front and back doors of the bus opened.
Malik waited his turn, letting everyone leave first.
He didn't see the need to rush.
Why they pushed each other around when it was all the same in the end was beyond him.
But he just shrugged his shoulders and summed it up in one phrase.
'Human Nature.'
When mostly everyone had gotten out, he stood up and hopped off the bus.
Following the flashing green on the pavement, he walked past the bus stop and looked up at the towering buildings surrounding him, piercing the sky.
"WATCH OUT!"
But just as he was about to look away, a man on a hoverboard wisped towards him, threatening to crush his head.
Malik's eyes widened and he stepped back with all his strength.
His body flew for a moment, dodging the man completely, but unfortunately, he wasn't in the clear just yet.
HOOOOOOOOOOOOOONK!
That step of his had sent him directly in front of incoming traffic.
If it were a cruiser or even some kind of sports car, he could've cleared it, but this...
It was a truck so massive that it took two whole lanes of the road.
'Dammit!'
Using the momentum of his step, he continued his movement the moment his feet touched the ground, sending him flying high up in a backflip.
The truck whooshed past the top of his head, as he barely managed to clear it.
Malik then looked down at where he was going to land, realizing that he was about to crash into someone.
There was nothing he could about but brace himself for the impact, and that was exactly what he did, raising both his arms.
Thud!
Their bodies collided, and the poor man was sent flying like a ragdoll, unable to even let out a grunt of pain.
Malik quickly went to check up on him, but just as he began to kneel, he spotted a dagger nearing his head at the corner of his eyes.
It seemed that the man he crashed into was about to be assassinated but he took his place.
'This's what I get for being stingy.'
Malik would've chuckled at the absurdity of what was happening, but he had no time to.
He needed to move right at that moment, and the only thing that came to his mind was to continue forward and throw himself on the ground.
That was the right move, yet it was still too late.
The dagger easily went through his nano suit's force shield, as it had no energy, and grazed the side of his neck, deep, drawing blood.
"Ugh--!"
He hit the ground on his back, blood gushing and dripping as he groaned.
'Fuck me...'
Malik cursed his luck and rushed to take out a few pills from his pocket.
But even then... before he could move, he was interrupted once more.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
A man was falling face-first from the top of the building far above him, seemingly about to kill himself.
'...Seriously?'
Malik chuckled, wondering what he did to anger the world so much.
Giving up, he locked eyes with the man.
'Well... at least I'll save someone... even if they don't want to be saved.'
Splat!
***
Somewhere heavy with divinity, in a void-like realm, stood a man of pure white, with the exception of 'His' eyes that were darker than the void itself.
Next to him was the essence of all that was shadow, 'Her' eyes jewels of the purest red, and before the two was a woman hidden by a 'fog' of a deep blue.
'Her' eyes were visible, and each appeared like a ticking analog clock that was both fingerless and numberless.
All three were silent, looking below into a window through space that showed the dead body of Malik, his head crushed beyond recognition.
"Are you sure about him?"