Ch 137 – Nicolas Olfen, the Porter

Earth, it is a floating ball of rock through the vastness of space. It is identified as a planet where humans and other flora and fauna exist. It currently resides in a thing called the Solar System, where other planets reside, yet each planet in the solar system radically varies from one another. Not only that, but countless other solar systems exist throughout the Milky Way Galaxy, where countless stars and countless more planets reside.

In the grand scheme of the universe, a single planet dying is comparable to a single star poofing out of existence, there are so many that exist in the universe that one can say a planet is like a grain of sand in the desert.

Human life is simply another passing race in the grand flow of time, a race that has existed for millions of years and will die in a few million more, that is unless they find a way to somehow survive for longer than that.

What am I thinking of right now? Sigh, I guess dying really is an inevitable thing for a mortal like me. Only gods can enjoy the privilege of living an immortal life.

My name is Nicolas Olfen, a dying human on the planet known as Earth.

Earth, from what my mother used to say, was a peaceful world before the dungeons existed. It was the year 2020, and out of nowhere, all around the world, rifts appeared that warped the fabric of space-time. Monsters invaded like hordes, massacring countless in mere hours, leaving the human civilization in a bleak fate. That was when beings known as hunters appeared after being chosen by the now-known Goddess, Angelica.

Beacons of light, that's what hunters were used to be called. Lucky bastards who gained the ability to wield mana and go down two paths, to become a mage or a fighter. Who am I explaining this to anyways? Maybe a future reincarnation of mine who gained the memories of their past lie? Yeah, right, as if that's going to ever happen.

Anyways, hunters are now the celebrities of this world. Humans that have the ability to hunt down these monsters and save the world. But that's far from the truth, considering I am a porter who has experience with these so-called heroes.

They are nothing but scumbags who treat humans that are not hunters below them. I've accompanied countless hunters throughout my life to venture into dungeons, carrying their heavy items and helping them, while facing the threat of death every single day.

What does a porter do exactly? They are the ones who accompany hunters inside dungeons. The one who mines precious mana crystals. The ones who carry food, water, clothing, and other objects necessary for survival. They are simply nothing but slaves, yes, you can say I am a slave to those hunters.

I was bait, a scapegoat, I was nothing but a worthless ant in their eyes. Well, most of them at least, some of them were still nice people.

But why am I a porter exactly? Well, it's simply due to a simple fact, the Goddess of Fate loves to ridicule ants like me. In fact, I've constantly blamed the Goddess for my misfortune, though I somewhat know that she's not the all-powerful God in the bible who created everything. In fact, she can't even take care of all the dungeons in the world and just make them vanish, though she is undeniably a God.

Why is she even a Goddess in the first place? How come she is a Goddess? Was she born as one? If so, then reality truly is cruel.

Sigh, enough complaining so I can finally answer that question, 'Why am I a porter?'

It's due to a new disease that appeared in this world after the existence of mana encapsulated the entire world, it is a disease called 'Eternal Slumber'. A disease that makes one fall into an eternal slumber, just like its name. They are essentially a living corpse, but still alive, just like being in a comatose but worse, for it is absolute that they'll never wake up once they've acquired that disease.

Though, there is a way to cure my mother, a special plant that costs a huge quantity of money that is more commonly known as the 'Panacea', a special plant that can be considered a universal remedy for any problems to the body. Blindness, diabetes, a genetic defect, amputation, it can heal any problem—except death—and that includes Eternal Slumber.

My monthly expenses alone make that any normal job won't be able to support me and keep my mother alive. I've already dedicated most of the money I earned to her medical expenses, but I know that I need to also be healthy to remain as a porter.

I'm already growing old, my dreams of youth are already long gone and my time as a porter is nearing its end the older I get. Time, I simply have too little time to earn enough money. The Panacea, on average, costs 10 million dollars. I earn around a million dollars per year, and spend around five hundred thousand, meaning I'd have to work for more than 20 years to buy the cure-all medicine.

It felt hopeless already from the moment I learned the news of my mother's unfortunate incident. Now, a few years in, I could already feel the helplessness burdening me. The mere fact that a Panacea isn't usually 10 million dollars and a lot higher than that scares me because it would mean that even if I get 10 million dollars, it doesn't necessarily mean I'll be able to save my mother.

Fuck, if only I became a hunter! Why were those bastards, the scums of the Earth, chosen as hunters?! Even if I just have trash talent and remained as an F-Rank Hunter throughout my life, the chances of earning enough money are drastically higher. Now, I'm only a normal human wishing to defy their fate and save their only remaining family.

I wanted to scream, I wanted to shout out my frustrations to the wench of a Goddess who was supposedly the savior of Earth. If I could, I would have gnashed my teeth already in rage and slammed my hand down on a desk, strong enough that I would bleed.

But, that's not possible at this point. I'm already close to dying.

Opening my eyes covered with blood, I took a shallow breath and felt a sharp pain from my chest, my ribs already had a few broken bones, and that alone enough would put me out of work for many months, leaving my mother to die. And yet, my situation was far worse.

Broken bones, torn muscles, cuts, and bruises all over my body, it felt surreal to be so close to death yet still able to think so clearly under all this pain. As I gasped lightly and fully opened my two eyes searing with pain, I was greeted by the sight of a rampaging B-Rank Salamander in the distance.

Its body was similar to a reptile. With black, obsidian-like armor covering its entire body from head to tail, it walked on four legs as fiery orange cracks can be seen all around its charred body, spewing out hot flames into the vicinity. The tips of his legs crackled with heat, dyed by the color of orange flames, each step it took burned the ground, leaving behind multiple scorch marks in its way.

Cars were destroyed, and the trees on the outskirts of Seoul were torn down, leaving behind a small forest fire to occur. It felt like hell on earth, perhaps the scene back in 2020 where monsters first appeared in hordes was more hellish than this.

The ground turned to rubble, and electrical lines crackled everywhere, causing sparks to fly all around in the air like electric eels. The smell of smoke entered my nostrils, causing me to subconsciously cough aloud, which brought a sharp pain from my chest.

Why was a salamander running out in a wild? Simple, it's because there was a wild dungeon in the outskirts of Seoul that nobody has found and dealt with, allowing a salamander to escape and wreak havoc. Such strength, if only I had that same strength, saving my mother would have been done years ago.

Now, I wasted my life, losing my dreams and aspirations along the way. The money I used to apply to a musical school was smoldered to dust after I became a porter, wasting my life away to earn money for my mother… Huh, it really makes me think.

What has led me to this very same moment? Was it because I was in the outskirts of Seoul due to a recent porter job? Or was it because the money earned here was higher? No, that directly ties into the porter question.

What If I instead pursued my dream of becoming a musician instead? Would I have become successful? Musicians are still successful in this world, so maybe there's an alternate universe out there where I became a famous musician.

Hmm… What if I never became a porter? What If I never cared for my mother and decided to leave her to die and instead pursued my original dream?

She's basically dead now anyways. If I do some quick math, I know I wouldn't be a porter for more than a decade and earn enough money, so this is really just useless!

Wait, this isn't useless. She's my mother, my only remaining family… But is family really that important?

She's really been only a burden these past few years. If I used the money I earned as a porter instead, I would have been living comfortably by now.

Perhaps if I just left her to die in the first place and pursued my dream to become a musician, perhaps I'll be living a life more comfortable than this already.

Did the choices I chose were correct? That question now plagued my mind, countless possibilities swirled around my mind like no other. It felt like I was going through a series of enlightenment at this very moment.

Why did I even care for my mother in the first place?

That was the question that turned my mind to a halt. Why?

If I were to objectively look at my life right now, then she's objectively dead at this very moment. The prospect of curing her is literally zero. Even if decades passed, I'd never earn enough money to cure her. The price of Panacea would only continue to increase, pulling that dream far away from my grasp every passing second.

But what if I became a hunter? Now, that would have indeed allowed me to earn enough money, but that's basically relying on fickle destiny. Being chosen to become a hunter is a very rare occurrence like winning the lottery, so might as well say that path is already null in the first place.

At this moment, it felt like I'd learned the truth of this world. My mother was the thing that held me back this whole time. I should have instead pursued a grander vision. I should have just left her to rot to death.

Were my thoughts evil at this moment? Probably, but I'm already dying, so might as well regret to oblivion.

Now, only one question flooded my mind. What if I had become a musician instead?

Money, fame, glory, power. I could have possibly achieved those things. My chances of becoming a successful musician are infinitely higher than me curing my mother.

What is the use for family anyway? She wouldn't have a job even if I cure her, leaving us to rot with the lack of money. She and I would be too old to support each other, so death would also come for us soon enough.

I finally know how foolish I truly am. I've never once considered looking at the grand picture, and now, I was left to die under the rampant Salamander in front of me.

Perhaps I'll live a grander life my next-

Shit, I'm already losing consciousness. Well, I guess this is it, death wouldn't even let me finish saying what my last wish is.

AN: This chapter has 2052 words.

(August 27, 2022 – 276th day of writing)