Chapter 1: Candidate (1)

It rained. He looked up for a moment. Rain fell upon him, leaving his dress clothes soaked.

"Shit." said Haruma.

He looked forward and began walking again. The rejection at the job interview was bad enough. And it just had to rain.

-

My name is Takahashi Haruma. 27 years old, currently unemployed. Just lost my future job. Society fucking sucks. I don't even know how many jobs I've been through already. So much happened, yet I've lost it all.

I walked forward blindly, undetermined, and seemingly lost as to what to do next. I just can't seem to get rid of this blemishing emptiness that had ruined my life. A couple walked past me. They seemed happy, people with purpose and meaning. I kept on going forward, in disgrace. I walked into the street of my neighborhood. In that moment; something appeared, causing me to snap back to reality. A portal? It wasn't just that, I noticed that the sky was turning darker than before. As if a storm was forming. The rain around me began to slow down. Eventually, the raindrops came to a complete halt.

"What? What is this?"

Then, a leg stepped out the portal. Out came a hooded figure. Everything was so sudden, yet I was still maintaining my calmness. I don't know what's happening, but this is dangerous. I scanned the figure. They wore a thick robe and he had a sword wrapped around his waist. I couldn't even make out their face because the darkness within the hood shrouded it. Damn, my life is miserable, but I wasn't ready to die yet.

Luckily, I knew how to fight, I did boxing for a year. I think I still have some in me left.

"We are not going to fight," said the figure "Don't raise your fists."

I got taken aback a bit. He said that right before I was going to get in stance. He knew.

"So what do you want?" I said.

"Takahashi Haruma? I have a job offer for you." he replied.

What the fuck? This is a joke right? I know I accepted this crazy reality in front of me right now, but are you kidding me? I looked at the figure straight into his face, shrouded in complete darkness, like a void.

"Become a candidate to become a god," they said "Work for us."

"Ah, another interview."

But this time, it wasn't a job interview. I'm just getting forced to join now that I think about it.

I honestly don't care anymore. If this was a trick and I was going to die anyways, then I just experienced something cool. No use it thinking about it anymore though.

"Okay, sure" I said.

"Hmm?" said the figure in an intrigued tone.

He appeared to be taken aback by what I said. Probably shocked from how fast I agreed. Although, that face. I couldn't see it at all, but it felt like he was just gazing at me intensely. He appeared to make no fuss about it; however, and grabbed something from within his robe. It appeared to be bottle. He opened it and dipped his finger in it, brought it out and it was completely covered in a light blue substance. After doing that, he pointed his finger directly in front of him and...

Nothing happened.

Yeah, I don't know what's happening right now.

A bright light appeared, causing me to look away.

"What the!?"

I looked back and saw the same portal that appeared just a minute ago. I saw him tearing the portal to make it wider. So that's how he did it. He looked back at me and said,

"Let's go."

We walked through the portal that he had just opened. The rain that was frozen in mid air, fell to the ground. The sky that was once very dark, returned to normal. The world that froze for a mere moment, resumed. No one had witnessed this event unfold. Except for Takahashi Haruma and the robed figure.