"Pfft." A lanky red-headed man in his early 20s wipes his sweaty face with a towel dangling on his shoulder. He was sitting on the dusty stairs of a two-story warehouse.
"Thank God, I finished my duty here," he whispered, glancing at the hazy sky as the sun went down.
Working as a loader is one of Ander's several part-time jobs. He starts with a different job in the morning and ends up with another job in the evening. On average, he spent more than 10 hours of demanding work, including overtime. But despite the overtime he had, he rarely even paid for it.
Ander's brow furrowed as he checked his watch. "I only have a few minutes left before my next shift starts."
Ander promptly stood up and went down the stairs. Just as he reaches the bottom of the stairs, he coincidentally runs into the warehouse manager—a tired-looking middle-aged man with a mustache.
"Mister Morrison," he greeted with a warm smile.
Morrison didn't bother to smile back but instead stared at him.
"Have you finished unloading all the goods inside?" Morrison asked.
"Yes, sir," Ander replied.
Morrison shifted his gaze out to his pocket and abruptly took his wallet. He took a bunch of cash from his wallet and gave it to Ander.
"Thank you, sir." While Ander cautiously counted the cash handed to him, Morrison went inside the warehouse.
Ander frowned as he counted the bills. Wait, did I count it wrong? Supposedly Mister Morrison should pay me 50, but what I have here is 40. Let me count it again. 1, 2, 3, 4. His frown deepened even more after recounting the bills. Mister Morrison only paid 40.
"Ah, Mister Morrison," Ander nervously called out.
Just as Morrison is about to step inside, he momentarily halts and turns to face Ander with a daunting look. "Yes," he said, staring at Ander.
"Well, ah... you, you..." Ander stuttered. Should I really complain about this? What if he fired me?
"If you have something to say, make it quick; you know I'm busy," Morrison said in an annoyed tone.
"Ah, I gotta go," Ander replied, scratching his head with an awkward smile.
Morrison gave Ander a quick eye roll. He then turned and stepped into the warehouse.
Shit, when will I ever have a chance to stand up for myself? This is the second time he did this to me. Ander stared at the ground, clenching his right fist.
"Mmm! Mmm!"
"Hello"
"Hey Ander! Where are you? We have been waiting for you for over 5 minutes already."
Ander briefly checked his watch only to widen his eyes. "Oh shit! I'll be there in less than 5 minutes."
"Hurry up before the heroes arrive."
"Click"
***
"Sigh...sigh..." Ander's hands clutched on his knees as he caught his breath. "Did I... sigh, make it in time... sigh?" he asked, sweat dripping from his hair down to his face.
"Oh, Ander, I'm sorry to say this, but we already finished all the work," a mid-50s man said, standing inside the food stall. His face is full of wrinkles.
"Oh... okay, I'll get going then," Ander said in a disappointed tone.
"What took you so long to get here?"
"The bus I ride going here got stuck in the traffic."
"I see, the heroes arrived here early on, so we just went ahead."
"It's ok; there's nothing for you to worry about."
Ander works from loading Heroe's equipment to helping install association stalls. His work here paid more than those other jobs he had, plus with fewer hours of work. However, due to big corporations getting involved in raids like this, the association's raids are getting fewer and fewer. That's why he felt so bitter about himself after missing the high-paying gig.
As Ander is about to make his way up the stairs, a tear in the space suddenly appears on the subway rail. Revealing a crack with a featureless black void called "Vuoto" and a muscular blonde man clad in armor from upper body to toe. This man wields a longsword with a silver hilt dangling in his back.
"Ah guys, we're looking for two people to help me bring some equipment inside," the man said.
Every person who heard the man's request exchanged glances, murmuring with each other.
"Even though you paid me double, I still would not go in there."
"Yeah, same with me."
"Me too."
"We'll pay triple, so you guys have nothing to worry about, and besides, your safety is our priority," the man said, smiling, as he encouraged them.
Despite the offer from the man, they averted their gaze away and continued to murmur.
"I still wouldn't go; the money you'll receive from this wouldn't be enough to cover the possible risk."
"With a hero, there is still no way I would go there."
"I guess I would do the task by myself."
A bald man raises his hand as the hero is about to make his way towards the stairs. "I'll go with you," he said.
"Ok, another one please?" The hero smiles, his eyes swept across, searching for another possible volunteer.
If I volunteer for this, I will earn more than enough to cover my rental fees, but...whatever, I still can get over what had happened earlier. Ander raises his hand just as the hero makes eye contact with him. "I also volunteer."
Shit, that's embarrassing; I looked so desperate. Ander trying to keep his expression serious.
Everyone's gaze shifted towards Ander. Their eyes bulged in surprise at his action.
"Are you sure about this, Ander?"
"Cough, cough! Yeah,"
"You even cough just now?"
I can't just tell them that I'm desperate for cash right now. "Ah, I can handle myself," his gaze averted to the floor.
In the end, his determination to earn money outweighs their concern for him.
"Alright, the search is over; you two come with me," the hero said.
Ander and the unnamed bald man followed the hero as they made their way towards the stairs.
"By the way, I forgot to introduce myself to the two of you. I'm Matt Farcon, a bronze-rank hero."
"Nice to meet you then," the bald man said. "I'm Calvin Cotton."
Matt shifted his gaze at Ander. "And you?"
"Ander, Ander Fuegon." Ander's gaze averted towards the stairs.
***
I never would have thought this bag was so heavy. Ander's feet struggled to keep his balance under the ponderous weight of the large backpack he carried.
In contrast, Calvin's muscular and lean body has no problem carrying the large backpack. He even made fun of Ander.
"Having trouble with the bag? I can carry it for you, plus you can keep the pay," Calvin said, smirking.
"No, thank you," Ander replied, gazing at the ground.
"Are you sure? You might suddenly collapse while we are inside the vuoto and become a problem to hero Matt," Calvin continued. Increasing the volume of his voice so Matt can overhear it.
What's with this kiss-ass bald? Is he trying to impress Hero Matt? Ander's inner thoughts: "Just don't worry about me; I'm fine," he said, forcing a smile while trying to hide his irritation.
"Ok," Calvin moves ahead of him.
"Just a reminder, guys, always stay close to me," Matt said.
"Yes, sir," Calvin responded with a matching salute while Ander contented himself with a nod.
The trio then made their way to Vuoto.
Whoa, this is so dark; I could never imagine seeing a place like this. Apart from not seeing anything, you can't even smell, hear, or feel anything. Ander's eyes grew wide as they searched into the endless shadow of darkness.
Matt unsheathed his sword before muttering a word in his mouth. "Ignite." A bright white light lit in his sword tip illuminated a way for them. Ander's gaze was fixated on it.
So this is what a hero can do, huh? Having a supernatural ability normal people can't do. Plus getting paid close to what celebrities earned. If only I could have that kind of power, I wouldn't have to work 10/6 a week. But with a stroke of luck, I had it; it will always be a dream I could never achieve. "Sigh."
"There's some light over there. Are we getting close to our destination, Hero Matt?" Calvin pointed his index finger at the hole in the distance.
"That's right."
"Ekikikiki"
What's that? Ander narrowed his gaze hearing the low-pitched, eerie sound. His eyes were in constant watch of the surroundings.
"Ekikikiki...ekikikiki."
"Ah, Hero Matt, mind if I ask you a question?"
"Sure, why not?"
"Ah, do you hear something strange around?"
Matt wrinkled his brow in confusion. "Strange? What do you mean?"
"Ekikikiki...ekikikiki...ekikikiki." The high-pitched, eerie sound gets louder and louder.
"That thing... I mean that eerie sound."
"Eerie sound?
Ander responded with a nod; his face was dead serious. A cold sweat dropped from his face.
Matt briefly stops and scans his eyes around. "I didn't hear anything; you're probably imagining things due to how dark this place is."
"But..." Before Ander could finish his sentence, Calvin seized it.
"Hero Matt is right, and besides, this vuoto is just a low-rank one, right, Hero Matt?"
"We're here, guys," Matt said, standing in a white crack the size of a door. Revealing a glow of seemingly a new world. "Let's head inside."
One by one they entered the crack.
Upon their entry, their eyes were met with cotton-like dark clouds hovering above the sky, in contrast to that, hot air gently touching their skin. Countless dead trees stand in orange dirt soil, and several individuals are clad in armor from the upper body to toe just like Matt and are armed with melee weapons like swords and spears.
"They're here," said a towering man with a diagonal scar on his face. His wielding a long orange-black scythe.
"Captain" Matt moving his way towards the towering man.
Having placed the backpacks down, both Ander and Calvin scanned their eyes around the peculiar place.
"Ander, Calvin, this is Captain Bruno Coross, a gold-rank hero and the leader of our squad."
"Hey there," Bruno waved his hand, smiling.
Both Ander and Calvin simply responded with a nod.
While that was happening, other heroes were caught murmuring with each other, especially the man wearing a mask wrapped around his face and nose.
"That red-headed guy over there, I felt a colossal level of etheric energy in him," his index finger pointing at Ander.
"That lanky guy?"
"Hahaha, you're kidding, right?"
"No, I'm serious, guys."