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Chapter 2: Home and Family
Finding a romantic partner... if I can’t find a job, I might even struggle to get a piece of bread!
Leaving the Sixth Cleansing Bureau with a dark expression, Leon joined the long line outside the Cleaning Bureau. Staring at the new badge shining brightly on the virtual panel, the unemployed youth Leon couldn't help but sigh deeply.
Good news, I’m still a man, and I even have a "system" attached.
Bad news, this system doesn’t seem very useful right now, and occasionally, it brings along a strange debuff…
He gazed at the pitch-black "Unemployed Youth" badge, and the line about the 80% reduction in matchmaking success rate, as he slowly "inched" forward with the long queue outside the Cleaning Bureau. His eyes then shifted to the other two badges in the “equipped” state on his virtual panel.
There were three badge slots in total. In the middle slot, a badge flickered with a dim cyan glow, exuding a warm, gentle feeling.
[Reliable Older Brother (Bronze): Due to the early death of your parents, you took on the responsibility of caring for your younger siblings at a young age. You are a responsible and reliable older brother, deeply loved and respected by your younger siblings.
[Equipping Effect: When talking to minors younger than you, they will easily trust you, and when emotionally agitated, they are more likely to trigger the special status “Heart-to-Heart” and confide their troubles and secrets to you.
[Upgrade Path: None
[Hidden Attribute: Not activated]
Next to the "Reliable Older Brother" badge was another one, bright red, burning like fire, and dazzling even more than the sun itself.
[Materialist Soul (Anomalous Color, Crimson, Unupgradable): As a staunch materialist, you firmly believe that material is the foundation of all objective existence, and that mental and conscious phenomena are products of matter. Everything incomprehensible originates from insufficient understanding of the world.
[Equipping Effect: For things and knowledge you understand, through analysis and thinking, you can quickly familiarize yourself and master them, gaining additional effects based on your understanding; for things you don’t understand, by expanding your cognitive boundaries, you immediately acquire some related information and, upon encountering them, reduce the impact they have on you based on your understanding.
[Upgrade Path: Already at the highest level, cannot be further upgraded
[Hidden Attribute: Not activated]
"..."
Looking at the description, this anomalous badge seemed remarkable, but in reality, it wasn’t.
It had only been triggered once at the start, helping Leon learn the language of this world within three days, allowing him to communicate normally. After that, it seemed to have no further effect, as if it didn't exist.
Despite the high activation difficulty, the badge’s ability was definitely out of the “normal” range. Leon wondered whether this qualified as the “controllable anomaly” that the red-haired woman mentioned. If it did, maybe he would be well-suited for the Cleansing Bureau?
He couldn’t help but glance back toward the Cleaning Bureau and quickly shook his head, banishing this ridiculous thought.
Stop being foolish; that place had a 10% annual mortality rate! He told himself.
And looking at their attitude, the Cleaning Bureau certainly wasn’t an organization one could leave casually. If he joined, he might end up working there for a lifetime.
He was not even 17 years old yet at the moment. If retirement was at 60, that would be over 40 years of work, with the mortality rate climbing to over 90%. It was basically a guaranteed death sentence!
If he were alone, maybe it wouldn’t matter. After all, his life had always felt like a gift; better to risk it than suffer decades of grueling labor in a mine or furnace burning, ending up like the neighbors in Veteran's Alley—spending their meager savings, then being dumped into a hospital corridor, lying in a vomit-covered bed waiting to die.
But… now, his family had four members. Two little ones hadn’t even reached his waist yet. His younger sister, though only a year younger than him, was frail from birth, and after an alchemical leak incident, she inhaled toxic fumes, leaving her with chronic lung disease. She couldn’t handle heavy labor at all.
He might be willing to risk his life, but if he died in that damn Cleaning Bureau, his family would probably lose his older younger sister first, then slowly starve the two younger ones. In the end, none of them would survive.
"Damn it!" Thinking this, Leon looked up at the long queue ahead that still had no end in sight, gnashing his teeth and spitting on the intricately carved stone tiles beneath his feet.
"This damn world!"
...
As the sun set, its dim light filtered through the alchemical fumes in the air, casting shadows on the messy streets of the capital. Each heavy step Leon took crushed the fading light, turning it to darkness.
After waiting in line for over two hours and enduring several rounds of inspection and questioning, Leon, the unemployed youth, was unsurprisingly eliminated.
Even though Leon had thrown away what little dignity he had left, grabbing the interviewer’s sleeve and repeatedly assuring him he was more than capable of the job—he even came close to begging on his knees—the overweight officer didn’t bother to speak. Instead, he shoved Leon aside and moved on to the next candidate, inspecting their arm and thigh with disgust before stamping a red approval on their chest.
Damn it!
Recalling the scene of people being treated like cattle, Leon couldn't help but bite his teeth and spit out the frustration that had been building inside him.
Even after almost three years of coming to this world, he still couldn’t get used to this damn world.
In his past life, though he hadn’t achieved much, he had parents and a peaceful, harmonious home. The worst hardship he’d faced was a harsh scolding from his boss. Then, in the blink of an eye, he was thrown into this godforsaken world, where surviving required everything he had. It was just…
Forget it, he told himself. Rather than thinking about it, he might as well think about where to find work tomorrow, to make up for the family expenses.
As he turned the corner, about to reach the alley where his family lived, Leon stopped. He rubbed his stiff face, forcing a smile.
Maintaining his smile, he skillfully entered the poorly lit alley and walked quickly through the dirty old street, heading toward the small house in the southeast corner.
Just as he stood at the door and raised his hand to knock, the old iron door, rusted and older than him, suddenly opened. Behind it appeared a pale face, quite delicate but clearly showing signs of illness.
"Elder Brother." The pale, thin girl greeted Leon.
But before she could ask anything, Leon furrowed his brow and scolded her sternly: "I’ve told you several times, don’t open the door to anyone!"
"But I didn’t open it to anyone." The girl wasn’t angry. As she took Leon’s coat and gently brushed it off, she smiled and said: "I recognize your footsteps. I only open the door when it’s you."
"That’s still not okay!" Despite the warmth in his heart, Leon maintained his serious expression and scolded again: "Although this place isn’t as dangerous as the outer city slums, there are still bad people. What if you heard it wrong?"
How could I have heard it wrong… The thin girl sighed inwardly. Even in the generally impoverished Veteran's Alley, people with footsteps as heavy as her brother’s were rare. Especially after he survived a severe illness three years ago, his footsteps had grown even heavier. She could hear them clearly even in her sleep, like he was carrying a heavy burden.
Although she was confident she would never mistake it, the frail young girl didn’t argue with Leon. Instead, she took his coat, hung it up, and walked into the kitchen to bring out the still-steaming dinner.
As Leon, his face weary, sat at the table and lowered his head to devour his meal, she joined him at the wobbly, uneven-legged old table. Resting her thin, pale arm on the edge and leaning her delicate face against her hand, she quietly gazed at him, her soft eyes fixed on the sight of her brother hungrily eating the simple stew.
It’s so late. Why isn’t she getting some rest instead of sitting there staring at me eat?
Feeling self-conscious under her gaze, Leon, who had been eating hastily after a day of hunger, cleared his throat lightly and asked softly, "What about the little ones? Are they asleep?"
"Mm-hmm," she nodded gently, her serene smile brightened as she tilted her chin slightly forward. "They were fussing about waiting for you to come home before going to bed, but they fell asleep leaning against each other at the dining table. I just carried them to the inner room a moment ago."
"Don’t bother with that next time." Glancing at her pale face, nearly devoid of color, Leon couldn’t help but shake his head and say: "Your health isn’t great, and the two little ones have grown quite a bit these past couple of years. Next time, just let them fall asleep wherever they are. I’ll move them to bed when I get back. Just cover them with a light blanket so they don’t catch cold."
"Mm-hmm," the frail young girl softly agreed, nodding twice without arguing. She smiled sweetly and tilted her chin forward slightly again, readily accepting her big brother’s concern.
She’s clearly not going to listen… Seeing her expression, Leon could only shake his head helplessly.
When it came to this sister of his—pale as snow, delicate-looking but unyieldingly stubborn—he had no way of getting through to her. Realizing his words had fallen on deaf ears, he didn’t press the issue further. Instead, after silently finishing his dinner, he hesitated for a moment before saying: "Today…"
"It’s very late now." The thin girl interrupted, speaking first: "The Department of Public Works is far, and you didn’t want to spend the money for bus fare, so you must have walked there. If you need to go out tomorrow, you should rest now."
"..."
"Mm..."
Understanding that his sister had already figured out he’d failed again, Leon sighed, frowning. "I’m sorry. I’m so useless. If I could..."
"Elder Brother!"
"Mm, I won’t say it again." Clenching his fist, Leon resolved to work harder tomorrow to find a job. After putting away the dishes, he walked toward his room. After tossing and turning for a while, he finally fell into a troubled sleep.
But before dawn, Leon was woken up by a violent coughing fit, followed by the desperate cries of his younger siblings.
"Big Brother! Wake up! Hurry!"
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