A Day Like Any Other

It's morning, again. I get up at 5:20 PM, crawl out of bed, take my evening shower, brush my teeth, and rush to catch the bus to work. While darting around the apartment, I greet my mom, but I'm out of time, so we don't have dinner together.

On the evening bus, I see the same people as every day. I feel sick, already lost in thought about the dream store my friend Yoichi and I have been planning for two years—a shop for collectibles. I'm 27 years old and have achieved nothing in life. Sure, I have a job that's fairly well-paid, but it doesn't feel right. I feel empty, more and more with each passing day.

Before I have time to dwell on it, I'm at work. I work for a large company called LV89 as a network administrator, though I can’t quite fathom why I’m still there. My skills stopped developing after the first year. Oh well...

I walk into the office and greet my day-shift colleague, with whom I’m switching shifts. "Hey, Rin, how was the night? What do you have for me?" Rin doesn’t even look at me—probably still dealing with some leftover issues from the night—and says, "Hey. So, during the day, the main link between us and Foronerix went down. You’ll have to look into it today." I sigh and think to myself, "What a load of crap, but fine, it has to be done."

I say goodbye to Rin, sit down at the computer, and get to work. Well, not exactly "work." My job mainly consists of overseeing the core network and, if necessary, delegating or resolving issues—but I don’t trust myself too much. I hate night shifts.

Five hours later

It’s around 11:30 PM, and I’m starting to get hungry, so I head out for dinner. On the way, I buy some instant noodles and chips—great diet. I make my way through the dark office to the kitchen, planning to prepare my meal, but when I get there, I see a colleague from another department snoring loudly on the couch. I don’t want to wake him, so I turn around and decide to just eat the chips.

On my way back, I hum to myself and decide to explore the building a bit more—I’ve never fully walked through it. From the kitchen, I head back, but instead of turning left to go back to the office, I continue straight, all the way to the end of the hallway. I look around and think, "Wow, it’s so dark, kind of creepy." I’m about to head back when I see something flicker on the other side where is located  kitchen. I try to focus, but I can’t quite make it out. Slowly, I walk back, trying to stay calm. I scare easily, so I move cautiously, straining my eyes to see better. When I reach the kitchen doorway, I stop and peek inside.

The colleague on the couch is still there, but he’s no longer snoring. He’s twitching slightly and making weak, choking, rasping sounds. There’s something on his face—maybe a pillow or something. As I focus more, I see someone standing over him. A dark silhouette—barely visible in the dim light—but it’s there! My eyes widen, my heart almost stops, my breath catches... SOMEONE IS KILLING HIM RIGHT NOW!

What now? What do I do? Damn... I can barely breathe. Fear takes hold of me, and I slowly back away. I know I won’t sleep tonight. I return to my workstation, drenched in sweat and in complete shock. "What am I going to do now?" I ask myself over and over in my mind.