Chapter 4
1609 Words
He raised his hand and held the back of his head with both hands. “This is real. This money is actually mine. I have been recruited by some invisible system. No wonder I grew bigger and got more strength,” He whispered.
He kept pacing back and forth as if that would answer his questions. He stopped and smiled. Then he said, “This could actually be good. Now I have money. I will no longer be a Class F citizen and I can do whatever I want including protecting the people I care about.”
He shook his head for a second and said, "You must be delusional Hiroshi. What's really going on? Could this be a real thing? Is someone pulling my legs?”
He put his phone away and went and got food.
He was just one meter away from the restaurant when he saw a group of boys bullying another boy.
He thought to himself, “I have read this in fantasy stories. But those are just mere stories right? It can't be true. But this is too much of a coincidence. This notification comes after I fought for something or I protected something. Hmmm. Let's test the hypothesis then. Just to be sure I am not hallucinating.”
He rushed towards the group. “Hey! Back off now!
The boys saw him and quickly ran away leaving the young boy they bullied. He saw Hiroshi too but he didn't run. His uniform was ruined. He was a high school student. The bullies had poured him dirty water earlier. His face was pale.
Hiroshi leaned forward and said, “Hey boy. Are you alright?”
The boy nodded and said, “Yes.”
“What's your name?”
“My name is Yaki.”
“I am Hiroshi. One word of advice: always stand up for yourself. No one is going to come save you, alright. The next time they approach you, be bold and not hide and shake in fear. They will back off. Fear is a weakness people tend to take advantage off. Even the devil knows that.”
Hiroshi took his handkerchief out of is pocket and wiped Yaki’s face. “You can go. They won't come back soon.”
Yaki smiled and left. Halfway through, he looked back and waved at Hiroshi. Hiroshi smiled and waved back.
A few seconds later, a notification came up.
[Act of Protection Detected: Yaki Mazi
[Reward: 12,000,000 Credits]
[Stat Boost: Agility +1]
[Strength: +2]
“Oh my God! Good gracious God! This is real! My goodness!” Hiroshi said as his eyes widened in surprise. “That means in no time, I could be a billionaire.” He started pacing back and forth again with his hands on his waist. He paused and said, “I can afford to clear all my debts now. This is magnificent.”
His food had gone cold. He didn't even seem to care at that point. He went back to the hospital and cleared all the outstanding medical bills for his mother. His phone buzzed. It was a debit of 50,000 credits.
Evening was here and he went back to his building. There was someone in front of his apartment.
Ren.
Ren Suzuki had been his closest friend since they were both kids on the same streets getting into the same trouble. Always talking, always moving. Something was always going on with him somewhere. When they were younger, they used to sneak into Emiko’s kitchen at night to steal chicken wigs. They were caught most times.
Tonight, he was on the concrete steps with his head down. His shirt untucked. Hair not done. Bottle in a paper bag. He looked up when Hiroshi got close. His eyes were red but that was from the drinking not from anything else.
"You're out," Ren said. His voice came out slow and thick.
"They let me go." Hiroshi sat down next to him. The concrete was cold under him. "What are you doing out here? It's late."
Ren lifted a piece of paper. Crumpled up, one corner missing. "Eviction notice. Out by morning. They're sending guys."
"Your landlord?"
"Works for the Kurodas. Everyone around here does."
Ren took a drink. Didn't offer any over. He continued, "Said they're sending guys to make sure I actually go."
Hiroshi took the paper and read through it. Legal words from top to bottom. It meant only one thing.
"When are they coming?"
Ren shrugged. "Soon. Just said soon."
Headlights came into the street.
A black van with nothing on the side of it stopped right in front of the building and two guys stepped out. Their names were Takeda and Saito. They worked for the Kuroda family as debt collectors. Actually, one of the many workers. Takeda was the big one, wide as a door, with arms that looked like tree branches. He doesn't talk much. He did not need to. Saito was smaller, faster, with a thin face and narrow looking eyes. He was the one who did the talking. Together they had brought lots of people to their knees and emptied houses for five years. They had never failed to collect their debt when they came for it. They had never been scared of anyone they went to see. That was about to change.
“Ren Suzuki,” Takeda said. “You know what this is right.”
Ren stood up. His legs weren't right. The bottle fell off his hand and hit the concrete and broke. It was loud in the quiet street. "I just need a couple more days. I can pull the money together."
"You've had your time." Saito kept walking closer. "You walk out now or we walk you out."
Hiroshi stood up.
He stepped in front of Ren.
Saito stopped. He looked at Hiroshi the way you look at something that turned up somewhere it shouldn't be. "Who's this?" His head was slanted.
"Nobody," Ren said from behind him. "He's nothing to do with this. Let him walk."
"I'm not walking anywhere." Hiroshi kept his eyes on the man holding the bat. "He said he needs more time. Give it to him."
"That's not how this works."
"Make it how it works then."
Saito looked over at Takeda. Takeda just shrugged. Then, he laughed. Short. Empty. "You genuinely don't know what you're standing in front of, do you?"
"I know exactly what I'm standing in front of."
Takeda swung the bat so quickly, aiming at his ribs. Hiroshi blocked the impact with his palm by holding it and brought it to a stop.
The bat hit his palm and stopped.
The wood split straight down through the middle. Splinters off it. Takeda stood there just looking at his own bat like he was trying to work out what went wrong with it. His eyes widened in shock.
Hiroshi's palm was red where the wood hit. That was it.
He was still holding the bat.
"Leave," he said.
Takeda let go and moved back. He threw a punch but Hirishi caught his fist and pushed him back using it. Whatever he came here with on his face was gone now. Saito was already inside the van now. He has never been opposed like this before.
"This isn't finished," he said. But something had left his voice. It was flatter now. Quieter.
"Yes it is."
They both got in. Doors shut. The van pulled away and went around the corner and was gone.
Hiroshi turned around.
Ren's mouth was open. Eyes still red but he was in shock. His eyes were wide open staring at Hiroshi. Something like fear and something like he couldn't make sense of what he just watched and he didn't know what to do with either of those things.
"What are you?," Ren said.
Hiroshi didn't answer. He just held his hand out.
Ren looked at the hand. He looked at the bat in two pieces on the ground. He looked back up at his face.
Then he grabbed it.
Hiroshi pulled him to his feet.
A notification came up.
[Act of Protection Detected: Ren Suzu
[Reward: 12,000,000 Credits]
[Stat Boost: Agility +1]
His phone buzzed in his pocket. He didn't check it. He already knew what it said.
Ren was standing. Still not fully steady but standing. "You caught a bat with your hand. And it broke."
"Yeah." He said moving his eyes right and left.
"How?
Hiroshi looked at his hands. Still not shaking. They hadn't shaken once the whole night. Not when the collector had him up against that wall. Not when the bat came at him. Not at any point through any of it.
"I don't know," he said.
His phone buzzed again. Then two more times right after.
He looked at it.
Four missed calls. All from the same number.
Hana.
The screen lit up again. Another one coming in.
He watched it ring and didn't answer.
Another notification showed up.
[Tutorial Complete. Welcome to the Gratitude System.]
It stayed for a moment. Then it was gone.
He put the phone back in his pocket.
"You're sleeping on my floor tonight," he told Ren.
"Your floor."
"Better than the steps."
Ren didn't argue back. He didn't have anything left in him for that tonight.
They went inside together. The building was dark inside. The stairs made the same noise they always make.
Behind them on the wet street the broken glass and the split bat were the only things left that said anything had happened out there at all.
His phone buzzed one more time.
He didn't look at it.
- Writer
