Chapter 1.
Two employees wearing fluorescent vests hesitantly stood at the bottom of a rural bungee jumping platform, their faces pointed up to where the next leap of faith would begin.
"This is the last customer, right?"
"That's so."
They have a simple job: use their feet to push the rubber boat next to the river towards the customer falling below the platform. Once the customer makes their leap, they ride the rubber boat, undo the safety gear, and bring the customer back.
"I'll be right back; gonna make a quick call."
"Sure thing."
"It won't take long, it's just a ten-minute jump anyway."
63 meters above them, at the distant edge of the platform, one could barely make out a figure standing there, but won't take the plunge immediately. It's a bungee jump, after all. Most people think this is just a simple stunt with safety harnesses, but once their feet are planted on the platform, their imaginations start to run wild.
"Yeah," one of the employees thought aloud. "Once you're up there, you start to think about the numerous ways it could go wrong."
Indeed, worst-case scenarios are what immediately come to mind, such as the rope getting loose due to poor maintenance, the safety harness could accidentally come undone during the jump, the bungee cord could get twisted and snap the jumper's body into pieces, the length of the rope could be miscalculated leading to a crash into the river, among other things. While these incidents are rare, it doesn't mean accidents have never happened.
"Even if it's originally a 0.001% probability, if it happens to you, well…"
"Stand back, I am about to jump!"
"Oh?"
Upon hearing the employee, the customer immediately threw all caution to the wind and leaped down without hesitating. The other employees' heads quickly turn upward, impressed by the customer's courage. Mere words could not describe the experience gained by those who overcame their imagination and took the leap of faith. The anticipation and excitement on the faces of the employees watching the rope dropping from the sky is plain to see.
"Whoa."
"Whoa."
In fact, the employees find the act of observing the expressions of customers enjoying bungee jumping a guilty pleasure. To witness the human expression – that primitive fear of imagining death and yet choosing to jump – taking the form of the adrenaline-fueled faces of those who leap, that raw emotion always stirs something deep within them.
"·········?"
"·········?"
This time, though, the employees were now sporting different expressions. When they closed the distance towards the last customer who had just fallen into the water, they easily identified the jumper and his expression.
"·········!"
"·········!"
Once his face clicked in the employees' heads, their faces stiffened.
This is an impossibility.
Even after witnessing the last customer's plunge into the water, the two employees remained silent for a while.
Thud, thud, thud.
The employees exchanged bewildered glances in between looking at the customer gesturing at them to come down, and they finally moved the rubber boat over the water.
"Is it this guy again?"
"It is."
The customer had been here and jumped five times so far today…
The man who looked decades older than his thirty years? The name on his ID said "Sage Smith". More than his aged looks, his eyes looked dull and lifeless, as if he had been moving on autopilot for the past several years.
"…Thanks for your hard work."
As he stepped outside, he could hear exhilarated screams echoing from behind him.
"Whoo!" "Yeah!" ━━━
Despite his disinterested facade, he still envied these ordinary people and their simple lives and pleasures, living in the moment with a single bungee jump with all the thrills attached to it.
"How dull," he told no one, less a condemnation and more an observation of what was going on.
The man known took crestfallen steps down the hill, leaving the bridge behind him.
As he put one dispirited foot in front of the other, he found himself thinking about how lately, even living seemed to be a chore for him. No excitement in the present and no expectations for tomorrow. If he still had some semblance of living within him, the fact that he couldn't recall the last time he felt emotions that shook him to his core should have frightened him to his core.
Instead, he just continued walking.
As he continued, he started thinking of the details that had long eluded him. When was the last time he laughed so hard that tears came out of his eyes? The last time he wept? The last time rage suffused the entirety of his being?
For the life of him, Sage couldn't remember. It was as if his capacity to feel had been drastically reduced. Even worse, he couldn't determine when this started. And if he still had the capacity to feel, he would have been aghast at how easy the acceptance of these circumstances came to him.
He turned towards the sky, looking towards the clouds, floating aimlessly, drifting with the wind until gone.
"Story of my life," he muttered before turning towards the person manning the kiosk. "A ticket to Megalopolis, please."
Bus ticket to the capital in his hand, Sage decided to wait for the bus while at the smoking area, whipping out a cigarette, the sensation of smoking a pleasant distraction from the wait.
He had read about sociopaths and psychopaths, those without empathy or emotion in the first place, and was thankful that his condition wasn't similar. He did have those things, but they seemed to have been worn down; eroded away.
Sage was done with his cigarette when he heard a cough close by and turned to the sound.
He saw a shabbily-dressed old man in a frayed suit making his way towards him.
"Earlier, I lost my wallet…" the old man began, and Sage just nodded at him.
"Ah."
"Borrowing money is not a habit of mine, you see," the old man explained, "but my nephew's wedding is tomorrow. I lost my phone, and I can't make it to Megalopolis without help…"
The barest flicker of sympathy welled up within Sage as he saw the dried trails of tears on the old man's face. "Megalopolis, huh?"
"Yeah."
"The eastern sectors?"
"Yeah, that's right! As long as I have that ticket, I'll find a way to pay you back. If it's possible, could you-"
"Consider it taken care of," Sage said nonchalantly.
"Th-thank you! Thank you so much!"
Watching the old man shake his hand with a tight and thankful grasp, Sage was still rather wary of an incoming scam.
It didn't keep him from buying another bus ticket to the East Sectors of Megalopolis, boarding the bus with an uninterested air, and absolutely no surprise as he found himself seated next to the old man.
The old man had thanked him several times before the bus departed, but that was all.
Sage heard the signal for the bus departure, and it started its journey to the Megalopolis.
As the bus sped along the highway, Sage was lost in thought, gazing out the window. '
Maybe I set my expectations too high.
The bungee jump he experienced today was somewhat underwhelming. There was a slight nervousness compared to usual, but it wasn't enough to justify a whole day's investment to get out of the Megalopolis. Nevertheless, it wasn't over yet. With the size of the world, there were bound to be experiences yet to be explored.
Sage couldn't help but think of how the weekend would go.
He had a unique part-time job lined up for the weekend. Being rather secretive and relatively unknown, he anticipated having quite an interesting experience and was already prepared for it.
Drugs and crimes are off-limits, but if this monotonous living keeps on going, I may have to resort to…
'No, it should work itself out on its own.'
"I mean, if I get really bored, I could try borrowing some money━"
"Borrowing money from loan sharks is a bad idea."
At first, Sage thought he was hearing things. But, as he turned towards the old man talking, his eyes widened.
"If you get bored, you were thinking about borrowing from loan sharks? That's really crazy."
",,,What?"
"Give me your hand."
"My hand?"
"I won't do any fortune-telling or palm-reading stuff. You owe me that much."
Could the old man read his mind? "It's similar enough."
Sage found his heart racing as the old man grabbed his hand. Sure, he was surprised, but even more so, was excited – which was something he hadn't felt in a long time.
After a few minutes of scrutinizing his face and palm, the old man nodded. "You are quite the pitiful bachelor."
Sage was about to retort, but the old man continued.
"Smile."
"What?"
"Try to smile. I find that it helps."
"No-"
"Just now, you were thinking that you should smile to make a smile come out… am I wrong?"
Sage found himself floored.
"Listen carefully. It's not that you smile when a smile comes out; you smile, and then a smile comes out," the old man said solemnly. This was the kind of thing that a person who could read people's thoughts would say.
What kind of guy was this old man? Sage didn't know, but he was focusing on his words.
"Do you find this funny?"
For a moment, the old man almost chuckled, but his attempt to stifle it caused him to raise an eyebrow and push his chin forward, opening his mouth, and making his face look absurd.
The old man seemed to be over eighty years old. Slapstick comedy wasn't to Sage's taste, but in this situation, it was hard to resist when someone unexpectedly made such a face. "I almost laughed..."
"Do you like it?"
"Well, yes," Sage replied, "it's amusing."
"Do you want to know how to make that expression?" the old man asked, his wording exaggerated as he jutted out his jaw and raised his upper lip. "You don't have to tell me; I think I get the idea."
"Remember it."
"That expression?"
"Yes. It's going to come in handy. After that, suck it in with your right hand… and spit it out with your left."
"What are you talking about?"
"I can't say any more here… but you'll find out soon."
With those cryptic words, the old man turned his face back and patted Sage's shoulder, not minding the bewildered look on his face. "For now, get some sleep. It's a long bus ride."
Suddenly, an irresistible drowsiness overwhelmed him.
"Wake up, sir."
It was well after they arrived at the Eastern Sector Grand Terminal that Sage, who had fallen asleep on the bus, woke up.
"Sir!"
"...?"
As Sage regained consciousness from the bus driver shaking his shoulder, he quickly looked for the elderly man who was sitting next to him earlier. "Did you see an older gentleman sitting next to me just now?"
"What do you mean? The person who sat here during the trip was not an older gentleman."
"...What?!"
"Oh, you're talking about the guy who sat next to you, seven feet tall, pretty hairy, answers to the name 'Bigfoot'. That's pretty funny, but please pick up your belongings, we've arrived."
The seat next to him was empty, save for a few banknotes. Soon, Sage realized that the money was exactly the same amount he had used to pay for the old man's bus ticket.
'What's going on?' Sage thought, still in a daze as he picked up his belongings and stepped out of the bus. Even after relieving himself at the Grant Terminal restroom, he was still trying to figure out what had happened earlier. Who was that old man, and what had happened?
Curiosity was filling his mind as he heard something nearby.
"All right!"
"Eek!"
"Wow, seriously!"
Sage turned towards the sudden exclamation. He had already made it to the main atrium of the Grand Terminal and saw several people there cheering excitedly as they watched a live broadcast on a large monitor there.
"Yes, despite tough competition from other nominees this year, Graham Payne has proudly won the Best Actor in a Leading Role award," Sage noted the end-of-year award ceremony for a broadcasting company; something he would have probably been interested in, under normal circumstances. Sage himself was indifferent towards such events, though he did understand that drama or movies were about expressing and dealing with emotions and experiences that weren't readily available in real life; stories that allowed normal people to immerse themselves in, as an escape from the humdrum lives they lived.
"Once again, let's all give Graham Payne a round of applause; let's hear what he has to say. We'll give him some time to share his thoughts."
Moreover, the person receiving the award was Graham Payne. Sage had seen all of the acclaimed actor's works.
'What did he say?' Sage thought as he looked at the monitor. His mind was still muddled by the weird events he was in earlier. 'That old man said this expression would be helpful…?'