The Second Prelude to Eternity

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At 5.07 PM, the afternoon shift had finally ended in a certain factory. After using the Time Clock, Reinhardt Quinn rushed to his locker to retrieve his personal belongings, consisting of jacket, wallet, smartphone, and keys, after which he made his way towards the parking lot.

"Rein! Hold on!"

On the way, Reinhardt heard someone called him. He halted his step, turned around, and saw a small group of his fellow workers. One of them was approaching him in a hurry, half-running.

"What's up?" Reinhardt asked after his colleague stopped in front of him.

"You have no shift tonight, right? Wanna join us? We're going to go clubbing," his colleague said, and Reinhardt would have accepted this offer if he had no plan. Alas, he had something to do after this.

"Sorry. I have something to do." Reinhardt showed a regretful expression as he declined the offer.

"Well, that's too bad." Reinhardt's colleague's whined at his answer but soon bounced back to the usual easy-going and positive attitude. "Still, there's another time. You will join us next time, yeah?"

"All right. I will join next time." Reinhardt nodded his head before continuing, "Once again, sorry for declining your offer."

His colleague waved off his apology and said: "Don't worry. Well, I'm off, then. See ya tomorrow, Rein!"

And just like that, Reinhardt's colleague skipped towards the other two workers who'd been waiting for him not far from Reinhardt's position. For a while, Reinhardt watched his colleagues as they walked away before leaving for the parking area. Arriving there Reinhardt made his way to his scooter.

His scooter was an old model — a second-hand item he'd bought for a low price. Even so, his scooter still did its job well so he didn't have any complaints. He rode his scooter and left his workplace's parking lot. But, he wasn't immediately heading home.

When he caught the sight of a convenience store that was also a hotspot area, Reinhardt rode his scooter towards the store then parked his scooter in that store's parking area. He then entered the store and bought a bottle of carbonated drink and some snacks. He then exited the store.

After arriving at the terrace, Reinhardt sought an empty spot for himself. As he did so, he realized that the place was packed by teenagers, and he quickly remembered tomorrow was the weekend. It was understandable boys and girls need some stress relief after a week of grueling study, and they chose to spend their time with their close friends.

Disregarding the crowd of strangers around him, Reinhardt saw an empty spot, no one sat in the four chairs around the table, and he made his way there. After sitting in, Reinhardt took out his old model smartphone from his jacket's pocket.

His smartphone had been his companion for years, just like his trusty scooter. Without further ado, Reinhardt connected his smartphone to the Wi-Fi and opened his smartphone's browser to check out the update for anime, manga, novels, and fanfiction he liked.

Reinhardt was Otaku… Weeaboo was the correct word to describe him! Anime, manga, light novels and fanfiction were like sustenance for him. It helped him to live through his 'difficult' life. The first time Reinhardt knew about them was from his 'bullying' comrade. By that, it didn't mean that person was his accomplice in bullying other children. On the contrary, he and that kid were the victims of a bully.

They had met for the first time in a toilet when they were still in tenth grade. Reinhardt had been locked there, after getting beaten by his tormentors. The reason for that, the leader of his usual bullies felt unwell and wanted to release his frustration. The rest of the story was obvious, Reinhardt was the target of the said kid…

And that boy — Reinhard's acquaintance who introduced the world Japan's popular subculture to him — had also been locked away in the toilet by his tormentors before Reinhardt had been there. And through their similar hardship, they bonded as fast comrades in the toilet. And what a good place for bonding…

It was when his buddy told him about his fascination with Japan's popular subculture. Of course, Reinhardt didn't understand what was fascinating about them, he thought it was nothing but moving pictures and comics, but his new acquaintance was very stubborn in pulling him into the world of Otaku.

The weekend after they met, Reinhardt visited his acquaintance's house and he watched his first-ever anime. Fairy Tail. And he was hooked! He enjoyed his first anime and binge-watched them together with his acquaintance in his acquaintance's home. From there, he became addicted to anime. And when he was impatient for the new episode, he and his buddy checked out the manga. And when the new chapter of the manga had yet to come out, they sampled other anime and manga before expanding out to light novels and fanfiction.

To cut the long story short, his obsession with Japan's popular subculture had successfully germinated and taken a root in his mind. Furthermore, his new interest was something he used to forget his crappy life. It could be said his escapism. And that was how Reinhardt became Weeaboo.

Since the topic is Japan's popular subculture, let's talk about something related. It's known that the world of anime and manga is very diverse because of varying genres. Speaking about this, Reinhardt's favorite genres were 'Portal Fantasy' — Isekai in Japanese — and 'Harem.' And lately, these two genres appeared at the same time was commonplace. Unfortunately, truly good series were hard to come by.

The point, Reinhardt fascinated with Isekai-Harem stories. Why? Because Reinhardt was nobody and had nothing in this world! His only solace was anime and manga. Perhaps, if he was deprived of them, he would cease to function as a human being…

Reinhardt was an orphan. He couldn't remember his parents because he was left at the front door of the orphanage he grew up in when he was only several months old. His parents didn't even give him a name! His name was something he got from the old matron who had found and taken him in the orphanage, and she had passed away before he entered junior high school.

He was named Reinhardt because that old lady hoped him to be a brave and strong person. It was ironic because he had been suppressed by other children until he closed his heart and was unable to trust other people without having leverage against them. He always feared betrayal and trickery because those bullies betrayed his expectations and trust many times until he had enough of it!

If he gets an opportunity to be transported to another world, it means he will have a fresh start and he can enjoy his life to the fullest and without regret. And Reinhardt had many regrets in his life. But, he couldn't accept the blame for his failure all alone. More often than not, the hardship he endured as an orphan and a target of bullying for years wasn't something he had wanted. It was something other people forced to him…

As an aside, his surname was from the name of his orphanage: Quinnsville. Well, then, putting aside Reinhardt's crappy life at least for the time being, let's focus on his fascination with a harem. To say it bluntly, he envied those Harem protagonists because they were lucky enough to have many girls falling in love with them and vying for their love in return…

Love. It was something Reinhardt was unable to comprehend. He never experienced romantic love. Perhaps, he had experienced a crush on a pretty girl in his school, but truly falling in love with someone else to the point his life doesn't matter as long as that person is happy unfortunately was something he never experienced!

What about familial love? Reinhardt had no family! The closest one Reinhardt ever felt such emotion was for that old lady who had named him. However, that lady died shortly before Reinhardt truly understands what it means to love someone else as a family. That being said, his understanding of familial love was nipped off before it could bloom.

Then, what about platonic love? A brotherhood love between two sworn brothers who spent their free time to spread their youthful bromance? Unfortunately, Reinhardt had no such luck here. Reinhardt had closed his heart and had no trust to give to the others after the 'tender treatment' he got from other children in the orphanage. Even his relationship with his so-called buddy was 'using-and-being-used' — 'give and take' — 'equivalent exchange'!

Reinhardt was introduced to the wonderful world of Japan's popular subculture, and in return, he gave that boy someone to be called friend, so he wouldn't be just that pitiful friendless guy! Furthermore, he was using that boy to get more dosage of anime and manga. As an orphan who lived in an orphanage, Reinhardt had a hard time to support his Weeaboo-ish lifestyle.

Reinhardt wished to understand love. He would lie to himself if he said he wasn't envious of other people who experienced love because some of his acquaintances seemed to have a fulfilling life after truly falling in love. Reinhardt wanted to experience it too! To be cared for and loved, to have someone devoted to you! To have someone to share pain and suffering so it can be more bearable! To enjoy happiness together so it can be more meaningful!

Reinhardt wanted to open his heart but it was hard because of his scar. That's why he always treated social activities as transactions. And he demanded no loss in any kind of transaction. The equivalent exchange was his lower limits!

Of course, he also wanted to have many girls around him. Since he didn't understand and never experienced love, his thoughts about love was a little skewed off. More than half of his desire to have a harem was driven by his lust! He wanted to live like Hugh Hafner, the founder of Playboy Magazine and Mansion! Living with pretty and sexy women around him 24/7, wasn't that exciting?

Reinhardt by no means was a virgin. Whenever he needs to release his sexual desire, he would call a hooker or two to his apartment. Paying up to have sex was easier than trying to woo a woman for a one-night stand because the type of women who cared for their dignity was hard to be taken advantage of. Then again, selling their body for pennies is what prostitute does. And this isn't an example of slut-shaming — just a realization of the difference in women with different values. By the way, we have been derailing from the topic here…

The point is, despite Reinhardt wasn't a stranger to coitus, he couldn't help wondering about the difference between sex for the sake of lust and sex flavored by love. Many people say sex with someone you love from the bottom of your heart is different from f*cking a prostitute. Bliss and spiritual fulfillment are like heaven, or so they said! That being said, his curiosity was piqued, but he had yet to satisfy his curiosity.

"Well, it's already at ten. I suppose I can go home now."

Reinhardt closed his smartphone's browser and unplugged the charger from the electric socket under the table. He'd taken out the charger from his scooter small garage when his phone's battery had become low some time ago. In any case, he had downloaded what he wanted to download. He could watch and read the rest at his apartment's room.

By the way, his smartphone might be an old model, but it could still read the e-book. To be honest, what Reinhardt wanted from his phone was it to be used for telecommunication, browsing, streaming video, playing music, and reading e-books, which were mostly manga or light novels that caught his fancy.

"Oh, damn! I almost forgot."

Reinhardt slapped his forehead and quickly entered the convenience store again after pocketing his smartphone and the charger. He then bought some instant foods for his supper. His pantry back home needed to be restocked and he would face troublesome situations when he felt hungry late at night and had no food to be found in his pantry.

"Well, it's enough until I stock up my pantry tomorrow. I hope there will be a discount in the market," murmured Reinhardt before placing a couple of cups of instant noodles on the cashier.

As the cashier did her job, Reinhardt was silently appreciating the attractive woman before him. She had wavy blond hair, not a natural hair color, but bleached. From what he had seen at the root of her hair, she was a natural brunette.

She had green eyes, which were moving back and forth between the desktop computer's monitor and the plastic-covered keyboard; her gaze was dispassionate as though she went through boring repetition. Regardless, she had an A-Okay face with the slender yet still curvy figure under her store's uniform.

She seemed around his age, around the early twenties to mid-twenties, and he would be lying if he said he wasn't tempted to find out what kind of type this woman in bed. Is she a screaming type or a silent type? A wild type or docile type? A freakish type or submissive type? Regrettably, he wouldn't find out because she didn't look like an easy type…

After completing the transaction, Reinhardt made his way to the parking lot and rode his trusty scooter towards his apartment.

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Reinhardt lived in a shabby apartment so close to one of the many slums in the city he had been living in the past five years. It wasn't like he liked the place, on the contrary, he hated it! But, the rent was cheap and he needed a cheap place to live and rest after exhausting works. At least, it protected him from sunlight, rain, and cold.

The apartment's building was three stories tall with three rooms on each floor, excluding the first floor which was where the irksome landlord lived. The place also had a parking lot that was enough to keep his trusty scooter safe. At least, it was better than some apartment complex without a parking lot with the same rent!

In total, there were five tenants lived in this apartment — two tenants lived on the highest floor and three tenants lived on the second floor. Reinhardt was one of the unlucky two who lived on the highest floor. It was much hassle because he must spend more time to reach or left his room. Unfortunately, he couldn't ask the other tenants on the second floor to change place with him because they had been staying there for long. Compared to them, he had only been staying there for five years.

Reinhardt parked his scooter in the parking area and used big chains — but not big and heavy enough to damage his scooter — to keep it safe. He even added five padlocks to keep his scooter well protected. "Better be overcautious than regretting it later! There was no such thing as overcautious!" was Reinhardt's motto in life. After that, he made his way to the iron staircase while carrying his plastic bag. He then climbed up the stairs to reach his room on the highest floor.

Reinhardt's room was next to the stairway. Arriving in front of his room, Reinhardt stopped for a few to get his key from his jacket's pocket and patiently unlocked his room. After opening the door, he entered inside, turned on the lamp, put the plastic bag on top of the table, and put his jacket on the hanger behind the door, not forgetting to take out his wallet, smartphone, and charger from his jacket, after which he entered his bedroom and put his things on the mattress. He then made his way towards the bathroom to clean himself before he could spend his time as he pleased.

Reinhardt's room was small, as expected of an apartment with cheap monthly rent. His room only had one living room with a small kitchenette in one corner, one small bedroom, and a small bathroom without a latrine. Regarding the tenants' needs for defecating, they could use the public toilet on the first floor.

That aside, all of his furniture was secondhand items he bought for cheap. He only had a low and small round table, a small fridge, and several small cupboards made from durable plastics. His bedroom only had a mattress and a cheap plastic wardrobe. The only interesting piece of furniture in his bedroom was the iron locker that was locked by several small padlocks. This iron locker was where Reinhardt kept his important stuff like birth certificate, school's diplomas, his account book, and many more… He even kept his secondhand laptop in there!

Coming out of the bathroom, the fresh and clean Reinhardt wore a simple T-shirt and a pair of green boxers. He put his laundry in a rack for dirty clothes and went to his kitchenette to start boiling water. He got the kettle from the cupboard under the counter, filled it with water, turned on the gas stove, and put the kettle on the stove. While waiting for the water to boil, he made his way to his iron locker, unlocked the padlock, took out his laptop, returned to his living room, and put his laptop on the small table, after which he booted it up. While waiting for the slow bootup process, Reinhardt heard the kettle on the stove making a whistling sound, signaling the water inside had been boiled up.

Leaving the table, Reinhardt carried one cup of instant noodles and started preparing his supper. He ripped off the seasoning's sachets and poured the content inside the cup before adding the hot water in it, after which he turned off the gas stove and returned to his table with his noodle. He put his supper next to his laptop, which finally finished booting up. He connected his smartphone to his laptop with data cable and moved the videos and the e-books he had downloaded to his laptop.

When the process completed, Reinhardt clicked one of many videos he had downloaded and began watching the anime while eating his supper. A few hours later, after watching the last anime, he deleted all video files to free the small storage space of his laptop and then opened his offline e-book reader application, after which he began reading new volumes of his favorite novels. He was skimming the content of the novel uploaded into the e-book reader, only slowing down his reading at the interesting part of the story.

At midnight, he shut down his laptop then put it back to his iron locker, after which he cleaned up his apartment's room. After cleaning his living room, he went to his bedroom, lied down on his mattress, and closed his eyes, trying to sleep. With that, another one of the days in Reinhardt's life came to the end. Tomorrow is going to be the start of another empty day, or at least, that was what Reinhardt thought…