Yuny Chan casually held his phone while chatting with a friend. Five more minutes and he would have finished talking, but fate decreed otherwise. With one hand, the young man pressed the flush button, but with the other, his fingers trembled, the gadget slipped off and disappeared into the toilet with a quiet plop. "No, no, no!" flashed through his mind, and before he could do anything. The water swirled, taking the last connection to the outside world into the depths of the sewer.
Anger, despair, and wild rage washed over him in a wave. On this phone, Uni communicated with friends, got stuck on social networks, watched movies and TV series, played stars of brawl. It was on this phone that Yuni watched his favorite streamers on the way from work in the office, in which he was now. "Damn it! There are all my photos, correspondence, my everything!" - his fist hit the tank with all his might. At that moment, something clicked. Not in the plumbing - inside him. Uni felt an unprecedented heaviness and lightness at the same time, his head spun, and his legs gave way.
During a difficult emotional state due to the loss of loved ones, the main characters in stories usually have the ability to awaken supernatural powers, but our hero is different, he is a loser. The only thing that mattered to him was his own phone. After losing it, his abilities began to awaken.
The floor beneath him suddenly became soft like jelly. The walls began to swim, and the colors of the world faded into a gray haze. Yuni felt himself being pulled down, as if he were being sucked into a giant vortex. He tried to grab onto something, but there was nothing but slippery pipes leading into the darkness.
He woke up in a place that only vaguely resembled a toilet. The floor was covered with a sticky film, the walls were pulsating like living things, and instead of light, there was a shimmering greenish mist. Something was slowly crawling out of the drain on the floor—a mass of wet hair, scraps of paper, and something else that Yuni would rather not look at. It hissed, revealing a row of yellow teeth.
"Great," Yuni thought. "I'm either crazy or dead!" Is this hell for those who drop their phones in the toilet?"
The creature moved towards him, making gurgling sounds. Yuni recoiled, but there was a wall behind him. He closed his eyes, preparing for the worst.
There was a sharp whistle, and something heavy hit the floor with a clatter. Yuni opened his eyes. A tall woman stood between him and the creature, wearing a tattered work uniform and holding a mop. Her hair was pulled back in a messy ponytail, and a tattoo resembling a sewer grate was visible beneath her open collar.
"Well, newcomer," she said, her eyes fixed on the monster, "welcome to the Sewers Nexus."
The mop in her hands flashed with blue light.
"My name is Saeko. And this," she said, brandishing the mop, and the blade of energy cut the demon in half, "is your first lesson."
The putrid mass collapsed to the floor, turning into a black slush. Saeko turned to Yuni, grinning.
— Congratulations, Duckling. You could have died from the slightest blockage, but I saved you.
Yuni stared at her.
—...what?"
Saeko sighed and reached for a cigarette behind her ear.
"Oh, man... you're going to have a long conversation."
"The Young Flusher's Course"
Euny crashed to the slippery floor, narrowly missing a rusted pipe. Behind him, the trapdoor slammed shut, cutting off his escape route.
"You didn't have to push," he grumbled, rubbing his shoulder.
Saeko ignored his complaint. She snapped her fingers, and dim neon letters appeared on the wall:
"Rule #1: There are no accidental leaks in the Nexus"
"Congratulations," she kicked the plunger, which flew into her hands. "You've just become a Flusher."
"What? Who? Who works like that?!" Yuni spread his hands. "I dropped my phone in the toilet and ended up in a crazy person's dream?"
"The Flushers are people who have awakened their powers to deal with blockages." Saeko swiped her mop across the floor, and the sticky dirt parted, revealing a map. "This is our office district. And this is the real version of it."
Pipes shimmered on the floor, intertwining into a complex network. Red spots pulsed in some places.
— Every time someone experiences anger, fear, shame, or any other negative feeling, a blockage is born here. Your job is to clean them up.
Yuni touched the nearest pipe. She was warm.
"Why me?" Why should I do this?
"What do I know?" You awakened your abilities and moved to the Nexus. You could have died if I hadn't been patrolling and felt your movement and the blockage!
Suddenly, the pipes began to shake. There was a gurgling sound in the distance.
"Class is over." Saeko threw the plunger at him. "Try to summon the 'flow.'"
"What's that?"
"CLOSE YOUR EYES AND PICTURE HOW MUCH YOU HATE YOUR JOB!"
Yuni squeezed his eyes shut. He remembered his boss. He remembered the overtime. He remembered the rotten food in the office fridge.
"Rule #2: The dirtier your thoughts, the harder your hit."
The pipes suddenly groaned like wounded animals. Yuni felt goosebumps on his back as the air filled with the smell of rotten eggs and old mold.
"Newcomer! Down!" Saeko barked, harshly knocking him aside with her mop.
A black tornado erupted from the ventilation grate. Clumps of paper, hair, and what looked like skin coalesced into a hideous figure with dozens of trembling arms. The blockage growled, turning its faceless "forehead" towards Yuni.
"Is-is that my last quarter's report?" Yuni stammered, recognizing the demon's features as those of his hated document.
Saeko was already in a fighting stance, her ample bosom heaving beneath her tattered robe:
"A person's negative emotions and other shit are washed away! Quick, remember something отстойное for the flow!"
Yuni clutched the plunger, trying to call that very "flow". Remembered night binges in front of the screen, empty columns of tables... The plunger blinked faintly with pink light.
The blockage attacked. Sticky tentacles of papers wrapped around Yuni's legs, dragging him to the gaping hole in the floor.
- Damn! Saeko!
- Why are you such a sucker?! - growled the woman and made the impossible. Her mop burst into a blue flame as she leaped, displaying the full power of her well-trained buttocks. The blow struck the eye of the blockage, sending paper shreds flying.
"Grab him!" she shouted, holding the demon down. Yuni saw the moment – his plunger finally lit up brightly. With a cry, he stabbed it into the center of the creature.
There was the sound of a bubble bursting. The blockage exploded into a sticky rain.
Saeko was breathing heavily, beads of sweat trickling down her neck and into her cleavage. "Not bad... for the first time." She kicked the disappearing remnants. "But next time, less whining, more pressure to flush the blockage."
Yuni collapsed on the floor, staring at his trembling hands.
"What if you hadn't come?"
Saeko leaned down, allowing him to admire the seductive curve of her breast, and whispered softly to the young man.
"Then you'd have died shitting yourself."
She jerked him to his feet.
"What's your name?"
"Yuni."..
—Very well, Yuni. Lesson's over, recess. Come to your senses.
Her slap on his ass sounded like the end of that bloody lesson.
Yuni raked his fingers through his dirty, disheveled hair, trying to comprehend what was happening. His face, covered in shadows under his eyes, betrayed his chronic fatigue. He was just an ordinary office worker, stuck between deadlines and depression.
And there she was.
Saeko.
Her figure was chiseled from marble—full, heavy breasts barely contained by her tattered work-jacket, rounded hips accentuated by her tight shorts, and powerful legs encased in fishnet stockings. Even in her dirty rubber boots, she moved with the grace of a predator.
But her face...
Sharp features, a pointed chin, thin eyebrows, and cold eyes that spoke of years of struggle. A scar above her lip gave her the look of a seasoned soldier.
"Stop staring, rookie," she snapped her fingers in front of his face. "Are you even listening?"
Yuni blinked.
"I… uh…"
—God, you're a jerk," Saeko grabbed his chin, forcing him to look into her eyes. "Listen carefully.
Her breath smelled of menthol and cigarettes.
"You're a Flushing Man now. That means three things.:
1. You see shit that others ignore.
2. Your weapon is your emotions.
3. If you die, your body will be found in the sewer.
Yuni felt a chill run down her spine.
"And if I refuse?"
Saeko chuckled and spun around, revealing her curvaceous ass in tight fabric.
"Then you'll be devoured by the first blockage. And I won't lift a finger."
She paused, turning her head so that he could see her profile—sharp nose, high cheekbones, lips touched with a slight sneer.
—But if you stay..." she threw the mop at his feet, "maybe I'll teach you how to really clean the shit out of life."
Yuni looked at his reflection in the puddle — tired face, bags under his eyes, tousled hair.
And then at her—powerful, dangerous, alive.
He picked up the mop. — But is it possible to go back home? Where is the best place to start?
Saeko grinned.
— From the shower. Did you see us? We're in deep shit!