1 Key of Opportunities
A man who clearly shows signs of fatigue and drinking heavily, stumbles down the dark streets of Tokyo. He still wore a wrinkled grey suit that showed signs of wear, and a scruffy appearance that proves he didn't have time to care for his well being.
The moonlight shone dimly upon his figure to give a better description of this man. A tall, scrawny body that show signs of being malnourished and a potentially handsome face.
He is Suou Utemaro, a forty-year-old widower, and the reason for his drunk appearance was because he'd lost his job. The company he worked at for five years laid off all employees due to bankruptcy. If not for the accumulating debt his deceased wife left behind, Suou would not feel so hopeless.
He chuckled with a depressed notion in mind, would it be better if he followed his wife into the afterlife? The light from the light post ahead as he drew closer, brightly illuminates down on the figure standing a few feet ahead.
At first Suou thought he imagined it, until the person stopped him in his tracks. He could barely make them out despite the light shining down on them. It could be because he was drunk enough to forget this entire night and was hallucinating.
"Good evening, good sir." The voice was not recognizable.
Suou was in a rush to get home so he swatted at the stranger thinking that he was some kind of solicitor or debt collector.
With slurred words he spoke harshly, "I got no money, leave me be!"
Suou stumbles backwards a bit and without thinking reaches out to catch himself. The stranger grabs his hand to help steady him, "I'm not here to ask for money. I only wish for a moment of your time." The stranger spoke.
Suou did his best to get a good look at the stranger to no avail.
"If you're here to sell sumtin', I don't want it. I'm broke I tell ya, go bother someone else!" Suou snaps with slurred words. The stranger didn't seem to be put off by his drunk rambling and instead he said something quite auspicious.
"Then do you wish to change your life?" The stranger asked.
If Suou could find an opportunity to change his life he would immediately hop on board. He wasn't sure why he was asked this question, perhaps the stranger was a curious bystander. Still, he answered honestly from the bottom of his heart.
"Of course I do. Too bad life don't just hand freebies in the world. If so then everyone would be rich." Suou said this followed by a depressing sigh.
The exhaustion he felt was beginning to take a toll on his mental state. If he was held back any longer, Suou had doubts he would be able to make it home.
"There are such things as miracles. Dear customer, I hope you like the gift. It will arrive at your place tomorrow morning." The stranger says. Suou could no longer make out the figure of that person and felt perhaps he dreamed the entire encounter.
The rest of that night flashed by pretty quickly. He remembered stumbling the rest of the way home. If not for his neighbor helping him into his apartment, he'd be sleeping by the door that night.
After getting in, he crawled to his couch and went to sleep. The next day, Suou woke up to the loud sound of his doorbell playing a classical tune. All events after getting laid off were forgotten and he was left with an explosive migraine.
Suou gripped at his head that felt like it was splitting in two. The doorbell rang three times before stopping. He groaned from the pain but still managed to make it to his door.
He swung open his door to yell at whoever had the gall to ring his doorbell this early in the morning and was met with an empty doorway. Just as he was about to close the door, Suou noticed the brown package sitting on the ground.
Since he had no friends or family he could think of, he wasn't sure who would send him anything. He grabbed the package before closing the door behind him and made his way over to the kitchen area.
It was best to start himself a boiling pot of coffee and hope he had some hangover soup left. Suou sat at the table to wait for his coffee and took the time to observe the package he received.
It was strange because it had no sender or address to say where it came from. Suou was curious so he didn't hesitate to open the brown packaging. The first thing he noticed was a piece of paper folded neatly inside the box.
After removing the paper he noticed the rusted key a centimeter bigger than a regular key. To his disappointment it was all that he found. Suou sat the letter and key on the table in anger.
There were only two doors in his apartment, the front door and his bathroom door. Neither of them were locked rooms so the key was useless to him. Instead of wasting his time with nonsense, he had better things to do.
Suou prepared a new suit and his work bag with a goal in mind, to find a new job! He left his apartment that day and strolled the streets of Tokyo for companies conducting interviews. After days of searching and failing, Suou dragged himself home on the last day of the week.
He pulled out a chair at the kitchen table and plopped down in exhaustion. He leaned forward to rub at his temple and let out a long sigh of exasperation. No one, there were no companies willing to hire him. Suou was already gripping on his last straw of hope when he noticed the paper he dismissed days ago.
Since he had nothing else to do, out of curiosity, Suou unfolded the paper to find out that it was a letter.
The Letter: "The key goes to a door, not just any door, 'The Door'. Pick up the key and you can open 'The Door'."
Suou crumbled the paper in frustration. He felt reading the damn letter had been a waste of his time. He took the key out of the box to throw it, but an event he didn't expect happened.
A door of unknown origins has appeared before him as if conjured by magic. Suou was shocked and afraid by the mysterious phenomenon happening right in his kitchen. Even so, he never felt more curious in all of his forty years of life.
The door was like any other normal door, it could be easily mistaken as a regular door to a bedroom, kitchen, or bathroom. It was a white door that stood to be at least ten feet tall. There was one thing about this door and that was the hole above the door knob.
It didn't take a genius to realize that it was a keyhole. While he was indeed curious, he was afraid to find out what was behind this door. There was this small voice in the back of his mind that urged him to unlock the door. It was a voice he could no longer ignore.
Mustering up the courage he had left, Suou inserted the rusted key into the door's keyhole. As soon as he done so, the key began to glow and the once rusted key became golden and pristine.
The door opened slowly but Suou could not see inside. There was nothing but darkness and the strange feeling that something was calling for him to enter. He had no other choice but to continue forward, what more could possibly happen?
Suou entered through the door and the darkness became light. He now stood in an all white space and if he looked back, he could see the door which revealed his kitchen on the other side.
"Welcome customer!" The voice boomed loudly throughout the space.
Suou turned to see a man standing a few meters before him, and all he could think of was how the man was not there before. He stood guarded against the stranger by taking in his appearance.
An older gentleman with a slender figure. He was clad in an all white fitted suit and a white top-hat to match. The older man's face was full of wrinkles and covered in a white beard. Who on Earth was this person?
"I see, you don't remember me, let me refresh your memories." The old man snapped his fingers.
Suou felt a pain more excruciating than a migraine as he gripped at his head. The night he got drunk after being laid off was replayed inside his mind. Events he forgotten were restored all the way up to when he met a stranger on the streets before returning home and passing out.
The pain slowly fades and Suou could finally relax.
"Oh my, it seems because the encounter happened a week ago the pain was more than I expected." The stranger says. He didn't sound the least bit sorry and was instead beaming happily.
What the hell is with this jerk! After making him go through that horrifying pain he's just standing there grinning like an idiot!
"Me? I am God." The stranger spoke.
Suou is suddenly taken aback by the answer. It was not because he introduced himself as God, though that is unbelievable on its own. No, it was the fact that it was clear the man was reading his thoughts.
"You are right, dear customer. I am indeed reading your thoughts. But that is of no importance. Don't you wish to know about this situation?" The man claiming to be God asked.
Suou admit that the man had a point. Figuring out this situation was more important than finding out how he was reading his mind.
"I'm glad you think so. First, let's get comfortable." The man snapped his finger again and in a blink of an eye the environment suddenly changed. Suou now stood in an overly decorated room that reminded him of old historians from decades ago.
The man beckoned to the sofa before taking a seat in the chair right across from it. Since Suou was curious he decided to take a seat as well. The man took a silver bell from inside his suit jacket and slightly jingled it.
The door that Suou came through closed and then reopened to reveal a young woman dressed as a maid. She came in carrying a tray with a teapot and cups that match.
Once she left after pouring them both tea, the man took a sip and began to speak again.
"I feel much better, you too should have a taste. It's quite delicious." The man says.
Suou stares down at his own cup but decided he wasn't that thirsty, "no thank you. Just explain what's going on." He says.
The man quietly takes another sip of his tea and gently lies the cup on the table in between them.
"Let's start with the reason this is happening. As I said earlier, I am God. More specifically I am the God of Skills. There are many Gods like myself with different purposes. My purpose here is to grant a request given by a special someone." The God of skills pulled out a rolled paper from his suit jacket.
After unrolling the paper he cleared his throat, "Dear God, I was told that I can make a request. My dear husband has been suffering for the past two years because of me. I could no longer sit back and watch him suffer the pains of my debt and so I wish to change his life. If there are any Gods who grants this wish of mine, I would gladly give my soul. Arita Utemaro."
This was a letter written by his wife? Suou could feel the heartache of hearing the desperation of that wish. Even in her death she was thinking of him. He held back a sob that rose in his chest and quietly thanked his wife for her good wishes.
The God of Skills stuck the letter back into his suit jacket, "what a lovely wife, am I right? I could use a soul like hers which is why I decided to grant her wish. I, the God of Skills, will bless you with a skill that will change your life!" He stood and snapped his fingers again.
They stood in the white empty space once more, "This door is apart of what will be given. It is a door where one can create anything and for you, I'll give you the ability to create a world of your very own! Aren't I amazing?" The God of Skills pulled out a gold contract and pen.
"With just a sign of this contract this skill will be all yours, with an additional system and a special gift since I like you so much!"
The items appeared in Suou's hands magically. Everything was happening so fast that he didn't get a chance to read the contract after signing it. Perhaps he should have read it first, who knows what kind of scam this is.
"There's no scam. If you wish to know the contents of the contract, there's an additional copy on your kitchen table. Please read it before you use your skill. As for me, I have a soul to collect!" The God of Skills did a quick bow before disappearing.
Suou blinked and found himself standing back in his kitchen as if he imagined the whole encounter. But if not for the contract that was on the table as that God said, he may have thought it was something he imagined.
