"ugh. Damn, finally" Sid grunted as he heaved the last heavy ingredient box into the storage room. Sweat dribbled down his temples, his grey T-shirt riddled with patches of sweat. His body ached all over, muscles screaming in exertion and fatigue. He emerged from the room ,wiping his forehead, eyes falling on his employer, Mr.Harrison.
Mr.Harrison was a man in his fifties. His head balded with age, with the remaining hair around the ears turned grey. His height was average at best and had a large belly that visibly bulged against his white shirt
He held a clipboard, scribbling something. After having one last look at it, he gave a satisfied hmm and looked at Sid.
" That should be the last of them right, Sid?" Mr.Harrison asked, putting aside the clipboard.
" yes boss" Sid replied, trying to keep his fatigue from showing. " All unloaded, and I even arranged them according to their expiry date too." Sid smiled, hoping some form of appreciation for his extra effort.
"Rest for now. I'll call you if anything else comes up." Without another word he turned and disappeared into the kitchen.
'Okey..no comment for my extra effort, huh.' Sid mused, a flicker of annoyance igniting within him.
"Haaah..."he sighed in resignation. His shoulder slumped, and he quietly walked towards the exit. Once outside he exhaled deeply and rolled his shoulders, his body was starting to feel sore.
He walked to the bench nearby and practically collapsed on it. Which he soon regretted as the hard surface hit him.
"Ergh..wish I had a cushion" he winced. Yet still sat on it, enduring the minor discomfort and letting his body relax. Although not in the most comfortable of places, the sun's warmth was soothing. Slowly, his body loosened and his eyes drifted shut.
"Hmm.. now this feels good" he muttered, as he relished the feeling, the sun casting a soft glow onto him, the warmth it brought as it glazed his exposed skin, it was nice.
"Maybe I should do this daily. They do say it gives vitamin D..."
"Arghhn.. but this pain.." His expression quickly turned bitter at his body's wear and tear. 'And to think that I once wanted to become a dungeon raider.' he scoffed at the thought.
When he was a kid he always wanted to lead an adventurous life like the awakened. Fighting monsters, clearing dungeons, learning to wield weapons, and earn money quickly. He craved that thrill, that spotlight brought by power. But sadly, he didn't awaken even until today.
And now he had to work in a restaurant to even get by . Working like this gave him no thrill whatsoever. For the one week he had worked here, he was utterly exhausted after every shift. One day it was physical from moving and arranging boxes and ingredients, and the next it was mental, from all interaction he had with the costumers. And the money he he gained wasn't much either. it was a modest amount.
But considering he had no other talent, this job was all he got, and in some corner of his heart, he was even grateful for it.
"Or maybe not." He turned south on his earlier decision of sunbathing as the heat began to rise gradually, quickly shifting from the soothing warmth to glaring heat as the sun steadily rose to its peak.
Sid got up from the bench and started walking towards the entrance of the restaurant. But with each step, he noticed how his legs and torso ached with a subtle pain. Especially his thighs and arms.
'Maybe I should start working out, I'm getting tired really quick. Gotta build up my stamina' ,he remembered how easily he got drained by just moving those boxes: not that they were light, But still, he didn't like the thought of getting tired from just moving some random boxes.
'Who knows what kind of things my boss would make me lift in the future. It'd be embarrassing if I collapsed form exhaustion.'
While thinking about his endurance, his somewhat cultured mind drifted of another job where endurance was vital.
And he grimaced just thinking about it.
He didn't know how he'd feel if he collapsed from exhaustion in front of his boss, but he for sure didn't want to even imagine what would happen if he'd fall in front of a girl, that too early.
A cold shiver went down his body just thinking about it. He hurried his steps and started checking out the restaurant to clear the abhorrentthoughts.
' I'll exercise everyday starting from tomorrow, no.. from this evening. I swear.' Sid vowed to himself, quickly pushing the matter from his mind.
As he scanned the room, he saw people eating their lunch, the staff serving them, some leaving, some coming in. His gaze then darted to the far end: a single door with a Manager on it.
' Yeah, I almost forgot. He told me he'd pay weekly. Maybe I should go remind him?
It's been a week and I think I've worked enough to get paid.'
He navigated through the room, barely avoiding bumping into a waitress. He stopped infront the door. He collected his thoughts, and with a few seconds of silence he knocked. And to his suprice, he instantly got a response.
"Come in," Said a tired voice.
Sid opened the door, stepped into the room and, quickly closed it behind him.
Inside, he saw Mr.Harrison sitting behind his desk, arranging some papers. Mr.Harrison took a quick glance at Sid's face, then took out his phone. A few taps, and placed it it back.
"Don't just stand there, come sit." Mr.Harrison said, his voice loud but filled with exhaustion.
"um..yes" Sid awkwardly settled into the chair opposite to Mr.Harrison's desk. His gaze darting around the room, his eyes refusing to settle on Mr.Harrison.
Sid coughed nervously, finding it quite hard to bring up the matter of money.
' Come on, be cool be cool, just asking him about it can't be that hard, right?' Despite wanting to speak, his voice just couldn't leave his throat.
"Um..hey boss.." but just as mustered up enough will to speak Mr.Harrison cut him off, passing a thin stack of notes towards Sid.
" Here's this week's pay."
Sid was a bit stumped by Mr.Hrrison's action, as it was exactly what he'd come for.
"You were saying something?" Mr.Harrison enquired as Sid stopped mind-sentence.
"It's nothing,... I was here for the pay" Sid answered as he took the notes and slipped them into his pants.
Just as he turned to leave, Mr.Harrison called out to him.
"Hey Sid, one of our delivery guy's is not coming today, fill his place, alright ?."
'Whhaatt..I was hoping to go home and rest a bit...Hah not like I could refuse him anyway.'
Sid flashed a false smile as he gave Mr.Harrison a thumbs-up. " Of course, Boss, I'll get to it."
.
.
.
.
.
.
" Here's your delivery Ma'am," Sid offered a small smile, handing the packages to a middle-aged woman.
'Damn she looks good.' Sid thought, his gaze sweeping over her curves.'Her face might not be the best for her age, but damn, her body is something else.' the woman wore a simple blue T-shirt and denim shorts. But her proportions were so erotic that she, to Sid, looked really hot.
As the women lifted her head, shifting her attention from her phone to Sid, he quickly yanked his gaze back to her face, keeping his expression as straight as possible.
She graced him with a subtle smile, "It's done."
His phone chimed with a notification, but even without looking, he could tell it was the money the women had wired him online.
Though he would love to spend more time talking to her, he couldn't afford it. He still had deliveries to do, And even if he tried to woo her, he was sure as hell she would smack his advances down without even giving it a second thought.
'Besides, she's definitely married. Wouldn't want my name on her husband's kill list.'
"Thank you for choosing our restaurant, have a nice day, Ma'am." Sid tried his best to sound as professional as he could.
With that, he got back to his bike- the restaurant's bike, to be more precise, and smoothly merged into the traffic, on his way to his next and last delivery.
.
.
.
As Sid was riding on his bike, he noticed the vehicles ahead come to a stop, so he too paused.
Confused by the sudden halt, Sid tip-toed, hoping to catch a glimpse of what was happening ahead. And surely enough, what he saw made his breath hitch.
Smoke? Is there a fire? An accident, probably .
From his position, Sid couldn't clearly see what was causing it, but the smoke was evidence enough. And seeing how the entire traffic was jammed, it was bound to be something bad.
I should call Mr. Harrison and tell him I can't do the delivery on time.
Sid got off the bike. Taking out his phone, he quickly dialed for Mr.Harrison.
As the phone was dialling, he turned, his gaze falling on the vehicles behind. They were slowly adding up, making the traffic line even bigger.
Thud
Suddenly, a man came crashing into Sid, throwing them both to the ground.
"Hey?! The heck is wrong with you man?" Sid asked, almost shouting at the man.
But the man seemed to not even bother responding as he quickly scurried to his feet. Desperately running, fumbling along the way and almost crashing down again. But he seemed to manage this time, rushing away, leaving Sid completely confused.
The fuck is wrong with that guy!
Sid stared at the man's retreating back for a few more seconds. But he didn't let it bother him for long as he began searching for his phone which he'd dropped when that guy crashed into him.
But soon, after a few more seconds, people started rushing towards his direction.
No shit..they're running away from that..smoke?! damn it this place is definitely not safe. I need get away from here. But my phone ...where the fuck is it ?!!
Sid began searching for his phone, his eyes scanning the place he'd fallen. But as he bent down for a proper look, the number of people running surged. And with them came shrieks and shouts, slowly rising in volume.
The people broke into to a stampede, pushing each other, running desperately.
This only made things harder for Sid as a random woman stumbled over him, falling onto him. He got up without delay, offered the woman a hand. But to his misfortune, another woman fell on him from the side, and both tumbled down.
" Damn it woman, watch where you're going!" he shouted at her, rage quietly bubbling within him.
" I'm sorry.." her faint voice was all he could hear, as she too ran, as if her life depended on it.
He once again got up, but his gaze fell on a phone near a car's tire. He reached out, and sure enough it was his.
"Tsk.. there it is." Sid hastily picked up his phone and gave it a thorough scan for any damages. Luckily, there were none.
BOOM..
As he joined the running spree, a sudden explosion shook them. A series of shrieks and shouts soon followed. But amidst the chaos, a faint noise reached Sid's ears. He stopped in his tracks and turned, curiosity catching him.
But as he focused on those noises, his eyes widened, and a shiver went through him.
Roar.
' Beasts?...that's definitely a beast's, fuck there's a dungeon break. .. I must get out of here!!
There was no mistaking it, that sound, he heard something similar a few times on TV.
As realisation dawned him, a subtle shiver ran through his body, imagining all the worst casescenarios.
Seeing his mundane day turn into a potential disaster shocked Sid. He froze for a few seconds, fear and panic settling within him.
Taking a deep breath, he ran with all he had. But he didn't stop at that. He screamed at the top of his lunge, as loud as his throat would allow.
"Run...Run for your lives!! There's a dungeon break. Run if you want to live."
With that, he surged out of the area, quickly moving through the crowd, screaming like what many would, consider...