Since he couldn’t cultivate further for the time being, as his body couldn’t handle it, Vince decided to leave this world for the time being.

Coming out of his capsule, he could hear a female voice giving out information.

“Synchronization terminated successfully. Welcome back, ■■■■.”

After gently stepping out of the white capsule and unplugging cables out of his back, he turned the lights on. Long turquoise lines lit up along the walls of the single room.

There wasn’t much in his flat. Only the bare necessities were present —a small table, a few cupboards, a couch and a wardrobe. What stood out the most was, without any doubt, the capsule he had just come out of.

The youth who had come out of the capsule —the original Vince, thus grabbed a drink and sat at the small table while checking out if anybody had tried contacting him.

A hologram popped out, and he started checking out everything he had to. As he scrolled through his mail, only disappointment was visible on his face.

‘So much trash. It was the right idea to isolate myself... Else I would have been annoyed the whole time.’

Soon after, he put a jacket and a pair of trousers on, turned off the lights and went for a stroll.

A door made of something metal-like closed itself behind him and lit red for a split second. The number 24586 was carved on the door in a clear white colour that contrasted the dark grey of the walls.

He went to the nearest elevator and went all the way to the one-hundredth floor from the two hundred and forty-fifth.

On this floor found its place the Maglev station. Levitating trains in a neigh perfect void travelled in glass-like tubes at hypersonic speeds and connected all the main towers of the city.

There was no such thing as tickets or gates, but as he boarded the train he needed, he was notified of having been charged the amount relative to the ride.

As soon as everyone on the train had sitten down, it departed and gradually accelerated.

Through the large windows, a majestic city could be seen. Countless skyscrapers pierced the clouds and went as high as the eyes could see. The one-hundredth floor where the Maglevs were was just above the base of the buildings.

As Vince admired the view, he suddenly received a call. A hologram visible only to him appeared in front of him. It was so realistic one would think a portal had opened in front of him and linked the space.

A person popped up in front of him and started conversating with him. It was a young woman, probably in her twenties.

“It’s been a while since you last came out; what were you doing? Were you dilly-dallying around again?”

“I wouldn’t call it dilly-dallying... it’s still technically my job, you know?”

“Job, huh... well, you aren’t wrong, I guess. Since you are out why don’t you come over and say hello? It’s been a long time since you last showed up... Most people here don’t even know your face.”

“Maybe next time. I’m just out for a short break; I’ll be gone again in a few hours.”

Hearing his answer, she slightly pouted. Seeing her making dumb faces, Vince slightly chuckled.

“Busy as always. I get it. Suit yourself. Give me a call once you feel like coming over.”

“You’ll call me again as soon as I come out once more, so there’s no need for me to do it.”

“...Right. Oh well, see you soon, hopefully.”

“Don’t expect it too soon.”

The call ended in this half-joking tone. And a while after, Vince reached his destination. It was a modest shopping centre with many restaurants and bars everywhere.

He took an elevator and went up a few floors. As he got out, he made his way towards the bar he usually went to. It was a place like many others in this mall.

The only unique thing about it was its big sign and peculiar advertisement.

‘Kyle’s Bar
Manned counter - drinks served by hand’

In such an advanced society, it was unnatural to see a place that still had people working there. But some preferred it that way. Having someone to talk to was one of the charms of a bar.

Once inside, one could only see a long counter and some people sitting on high stools, while only one man was on the opposite side of the counter.

As Vince sat down, the bartender gave him a nod of acknowledgement.

“Hi, Kyle. How’s business going?”

“Eeh, so-so, as always. It’s been a while since you last came; what have you been doing?”

“I had to resume working. You heard, right? A new dimension has been found.”

“Ah, of course. It’s been all over the news for quite some time now. You must have been working your ass off then. What company did you work for, again?”

“I don’t want to talk about my company. I always avoided the topic on purpose...”

“I can understand. Bob has also been quite busy lately because of those damned slavists. The winged bastards are working him to the bones. But at least he still shows up here sometimes to complain. Since you haven’t shown up in a while, you must have had it even rougher.”

“Enough about that. Just give me something to drink already.”

“Fine. The usual, right?”

“Yes, the usual.”

After giving Vince his drink, Kyle turned around and switched on a big holographic screen. It was the channel of the news.

Thus, as Vince slowly sipped his drink, he listened to the news.

“Many companies are showing interest in the newly discovered dimension. Can we expect some important announcements later this week? The expert we invited to the studio will give us his opinion on the matter. “

“Hello, dear viewers. Even though you all probably know me already, I’ll introduce myself again. I’m Louis de Galle, your favourite ex-Diamond league, and now an official analyst for this channel. I’ll proceed to give my opinion about which companies might join the rush...”

Seeing the guy on the screen, Vince resumed his chat with the bartender.

“He’s as cocky as always, isn’t he?”

“He might be slightly arrogant, but it’s a given considering his achievements, right?”

“Well, you are probably right. I might just be envious. While I’m working my ass off, he is happily chatting on TV. Even though he used to do the same thing as me...”

“Don’t mull over it so much. You’ll end up depressed. And don’t talk like you are unlucky. You are living on this planet, and not even underground. Sure, you might not live on the high floors, but at least you can see the light of the two suns, right?”

“You aren’t wrong either.”

Suddenly another youth cut in and joined the conversation. He was sitting two spots away from Vince and had a big glass in front of him.

“With your job, you can earn a life-changing amount on a stroke of luck. You might even get a promotion as long as you work hard. It’s one of the few fields where there’s still a chance for something like that.”

“Looks like someone is envious of you, Vince.”

“I don’t get how you can be envious of a meat shield, though. I might get promoted; you are completely right. But you also know how hard it is. Most people who get promoted are those who gambled with some risky action. And the majority of the remaining climbers are kids of someone high up in the company and start low in the pyramid just to make it look like they weren’t given a position for free.”

Then a middle-aged man, who was sitting the furthest away from Vince, joined in as well.

“Since you guys don’t look like in the right mood for talking about jobs, what about girls? Have any of you made any progress?”

“Do you think anybody that would waste his time talking to a bunch of idiots here would have found one?”

“Talk for yourself, Vince.”

“Did you find one then?”

“...”

“See? This is an evident empiric proof. The last time someone found a girl here, he stopped showing up immediately after. Well, enough with the small talk. I have to go back to work. See you guys. Bye, bye.”

Having finished his drink, Vince stood up and left. The TV still had the same guy talking on it. Everyone else made a little bye gesture, each in their own fashion. Some removed their hats, some lifted their arms while others merely nodded once.

Being done with his brak, Vince went ahead and boarded a Maglev train once again. He had a few commissions to do before going back to his capsule.

A few hours later, he was finally back at his apartment. The door flashed green for an instant and opened itself. He then went to the capsule and started preparing to go inside of it.

‘It should be almost morning there. It kind of took longer than expected. Well, it doesn’t matter. Time to get back to business.’