As the young man left, I noticed something.

He was with me the longest, compared to the other main characters.

Not that I would stick with him--he would get tired of me at this point.

In any case, I finally realized what made him the most interesting so far.

It was the feeling of standing on top of the world; unmoving and unshakable. The feeling that nothing in this world could ever mess with you, and you had absolute domination over everything that exists.

Well, for others--it might be the most boring thing;

...but my past life I really had enough. I didn't want to think about all the complicated things and suffer anymore.

Been through a lot of shit, which no one else could understand.

The extent of my ambition, of living a quiet life, in everlasting good days.

==

I found myself in my usual convenience store during my university days.

There would be lots of bento at half price, mostly came with a bonus at certain hours. Like the free coffee and a medium-sized soda. The brand also came with sandwiches, hamburgers, and fruit/vegetable salad, it's always half-off at the same time.

You could pick any kind of blend you like: black coffee, americano, cafe latte, cappuccino, chocolate, and many more. It's the same with the soda dispenser.

Since I went there often, I knew how most of the food and snacks tasted, except the expensive ones like that 99% black chocolate bar and some imported beers, plus the wine from Australia that's thirty bucks or so.

I brought the bento regularly since it's just a few blocks from where I lived. I think I tasted most of the coffee blend, but I forgot their taste.

Even if I could drink a bitter black coffee, I prefer something mildly sweet like a cafe latte.

I remember, during the long holiday seasons, these convenience stores were the only ones open. I didn't return home since it's so far away, and there's nothing much to do.

Wait, there's the sauce dispenser as well. It came with tomato, chili, cheese, and mayonnaise. To top that, there's the salad topping, fried onions, and also the toppings you put on the bubble tea for the drinks.

Best of all, you could get 'em free.

Near them were the snack stand with large bags of overpriced potato chips—rarely on discount—mostly consisting of air. A lot of them pretty much tasted the same, except that one brand, man—their chips hit the spot.

Seeing the brand was there, I picked the bag up and went to the cashier, even if no one's there at the moment.

While the chips weren't that expensive, I went to my pocket and took out my ol' wallet.

Hold on—it was a lot thicker than usual. I guess I got too comfortable with my nostalgia.

There were wads of hundred bills; I got too lazy to count one by one. With this amount, there'd be a lot of cents 'round my pocket. When I was back in my place, I would just leave them coins lying 'on my desk.

Since I was there to relax, I decided to get a voucher. As I placed the hundred bill on the cashier, it turned into a voucher card. The charge amount's displayed in the terminal, deducing the potato chips' price which I bought alongside.

As I pinched both ends and pull it apart, there's a nice ripping sound from the bag. It was honey-butter flavored, with bits of nori. Its a mixture of mouth-watering sour, sweet, and saltiness.

I went to the sauce dispenser; filling the dip plates with tomato, mayonnaise, and cheese. While it's chili-tomato, and not that spicy, I wasn't fond of spiciness in general.

In this quiet night, in a peaceful convenience store, I took a seat beside the entrance. It had a long table with several stools, in which you could enjoy a good view of the street.

The street lamps illuminated the view; the lack of soul in sight made me able to relax. To be honest, I didn't like people all that much.

I munched on my potato chips after dipping it with one sauce, savoring the taste with my tongue—until I noticed my parched throat.

...and so I tapped my voucher onto the terminal, while I brought the one-and-half liter of mineral water. It had the best value for the price.

Which reminded me, I always got the biggest one at the department store, when I ate on the food court.

The reason being, well, you're not forced to buy drinks or forbidden from bringing your own drinks—unlike the restaurants.

For the drink you could get cheap on the dept store, they would jack the price many times over.

Capitalism was pretty disgusting, eh? Especially with the food shops near my university--the water's basically free.

When I was a freshman, there's also one shop where you could eat as much rice as you want, and the drink's also free. Since I had no shame, with just one portion of food, I could ask the waiter to add five or six portions.

I kinda stopped going there when they started to charge for the drinks—no free refills either.

...and the store's closed not long after.

Before I knew it, the chips were already empty and I chugged half of the bottle.

I threw the empty stuff into the trash and went to the back, where the restroom was. The water poured from the washbasin in front; it felt nice and cool.

My eyes scanned the list of bento in the display--I like chicken curry.

While I wasn't hungry in particular, I kinda just love to eat and forget my daily troubles.

It's especially calming when I nibbled on that extra strong mint and took whiffs of menthol oil.

I bought both of them and took the laptop from my inventory. I love to farm my waifu games on the emulator and phone at the same time.

While they're running, I would browse the net to read novels, manga, or watch Utube videos. If I felt like it, I would go back, check again, and restart the farming. Since everything's on auto, I just have to press a few buttons.

...and the storefront's already bright before I knew it.

"Hnggghh..."

I stood and stretched my limbs.

I got hungry and sleepy after a whole night.

Ordering the morning cereal and a cup of morning coffee, I stared at the still-empty storefront.

Normally, it would be bustling with cars.

Near the morning class time, students would flood in for breakfast.

...but I still felt it's better this way.

The fragrant black coffee roused me awake for a bit, while I nommed the cereal.

In the end, it got me even more sleepy, I teleported back to my dream house.

I think the best one would be somewhere in the tropic Caribbean Islands, like Bermuda. Staring at the glistening blue beaches, in my penthouse suite apartment.

Like most people, I couldn't get to live here.

...but now, I was going to enjoy myself to the fullest.

While I wasn't sure it's even Bermuda, I didn't care anymore. I took a quick warm bath and changed to my pajamas.

I quickly drifted into slumber, accompanied by the morning light and salty air.

If there's Heaven on Earth, this was probably the place.