Chapter 6: To Stay Put
'I thought the System would give me something more dangerous...'
'Well, it did say that the difficulty was proportionate to me...' Rhys was disappointed.
He gulped as he looked up at the greyish building. He clenched his hands around his briefcase, beads of sweat forming on his forehead.
Although he had worked before as a volunteer, he never worked in an office. Just the building's appearance gave off the feeling of dread.
'System, how much time has passed in the [Realm]?'
'[25 minutes]'
[Go through the door]
The soft steps of Rhy's shoes sounded as he walked through the door.
He was immediately greeted with rows of tables and computers and the sleepy employees who sat at them, slaving away.
[Go to your table]
[Continue forward]
[Left...]
[Forward...]
Rhys finally got to his table at the very back of the building. Coincidentally, he also sat right at the front of the boss's vision. He had a mean look in his eyes. Only greed and ego laid behind them.
Rhys silently placed his briefcase down on the floor, then sat on the chair. He noticed that the chair was sunken, indicating that it was used for a while. How many hours did his shift last? How much was he even paid?
The man in front of him suddenly announced, "Why are you late, Mr. Takahashi?"
He glared daggers into Rhys. Dull daggers, but daggers nonetheless.
So he was a salaryman.
[Get up and walk forward]
Rhys ignored the System's instruction. He wasn't focused on the System, rather, he was focused on the boss r. Judging by his tone, it was obviously a rhetorical question, but at the same time, it was a jab at him.
The boss loved playing with the employees like a toy. Why? Because it made him feel good.
Rhys stood up from his desk and walked to his boss's.
"I'm sorry" He lowered his head, breaking eye contact with the man in front of him. For some reason, he felt ashamed even though he never worked here.
"You're late, again!"
"What are you doing? Playing with your wife before work?" He spat.
"You're going to have to work until 11 today to compensate!"
"And I'm going to take away your day-offs, too. Now, get back to your station and stop wasting time."
"Yes," Rhys responded in compliance.
"Oh yeah, since you're working overtime, here's the additional work." He added nonchalantly. After all, who would care for mere plebians like Takahashi? If he wanted work done, then he had to do it.
After reaching down at his desk, he pulled out a large folder containing a huge amount of papers. Rhys was stunned.
'I have to do all that?'
Although he was a top student, he was never given that much work at once. He self-studied for the majority of the time, and the school did not give out too much homework. That was because it was a prestigious school focused on nurturing the Powered. Who had time to do homework when they had to train?
Rhys's time was mainly occupied by taking notes and studying because to compensate for the lack of homework, the school's exams were rigorous. It was to keep their prestigious image because, in the end, the scores relied on the students.
If he could see himself, or rather 'Takahashi', in the mirror, he'd be frightened by the dread emanating from his appearance.
As Rhys returned to his desk, he heaved a foreboding sigh. It was both from the copious amount of work he received and the Realm itself.
Was it just simply office work, or was it something greater?
Was he overthinking it again?
He unpacked the huge folder onto his desk. Papers after papers after paperclips after more papers cascaded onto his workspace. It was a beautiful sight...
If he were a masochist, that is.
Yet again, he was lost in what to do.
'I should just follow the system's instructions...'
[Turn on your computer]
The old computer turned on with a huge gasp of air. As he laid his hands on the computer, he felt it get a tad warmer. It was a strange experience operating antiques like this himself. Although he was never a fan of collecting old junk, he felt that it was somewhat capturing to see it work before his eyes.
The monitor flashed a white screen, before quickly going back to its usual black interface. Then, a logo appeared, signaling its start-up.
[Log in]
[Click on the box]
[Type in the following characters with your keyboard: IH1TETH1SJ0B]
'That's unsurprising' He somewhat pitied Takahashi. Well, he was Takahashi now, so is it self-pity?
As Rhys followed the rest of the system's instructions, he started to get a hang of his job. He had to plug in the values listed on the papers into a spreadsheet, then send them to a processing computer, then enter the processed values into another spreadsheet.
The technology was, by Rhys's standards, terrible. It was slow, the processing took too long, and if he made a mistake, he had to go through the process again.
All the while his boss stared him down like a hawk.
In short, it sucked. It wasn't hard, just boringly tedious.
It made Rhys gain a sort of respect for salarymen, though.
'System, how much time has passed?'
'[2 hours]'
Rhys was pondering whether or not to exit the Realm. By now, his first and second classes should've passed.
But suddenly, the telephone that was sitting on his desk rang.
Ring Ring Ring!
Was there a problem?
Was this the twist that he had been waiting for?
He picked it up.
"Dad! Dad!" It was the scared voice of his daughter. Her voice was croaking and hoarse. Her voice box has clearly been abused, but from what?
He heard the sound of glass shattering in the background, followed by the loud weeping of his son.
"Mom! No! Stop!" It was the voice of his son. It was a small voice, yet the crusty tone of the telephone and the small space of the apartment amplified his desperate cries.
The sound of his daughter's heavy breath penetrated through the phone.
'Mom'
His wife?
What was she doing?
Where did the sweet woman from this morning go?
What happened to her?
Who...
Was she?
"Dad! She's really going to kill us! Please, stop her! Dad!"
The sound of chaos only continued.
Glass breaking...
Kicking...
Cries...
Yells...
"Ah, your pesky wife again?"
His boss spat.
"Hang it up."
"You still have work to do."
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