"Again, huh..."
It was afternoon, nearing sunset.
A few hours had passed since Kai left the hospital, but instead of feeling relieved to be free of the stuck-up rich boy, a deep sadness settled in his chest.
"These damn guilds… damned churches and temples… None of them accepted my applications!" he cursed, kicking a loose can that rolled past his feet.
He was in a park near the hospital, grappling with his frustrations. What was he doing? Naturally, he was trying to embrace his Player status.
To achieve that, he first needed to accept a god and gain their blessings—at least, that was how it was supposed to work.
He had spent the entire afternoon submitting applications to guilds via his player watch, but…
"Fuck! What do you mean my stats are below the minimum requirements?! And already full? How can your guild be full when you're handing out recruitment offers left and right?!"
He could only vent his anger on the poor coffee can, struggling to come to terms with the situation.
At this point, he had applied to all the local guilds, yet none had shown him any interest. It made him wonder if that rich boy had pulled some strings to block his entry into any of the guilds!
"Fuck…" He let out another sigh. "If I knew it would come to this, I would've asked Carmilla to let me into her guild, at least…" he whispered, scratching his head.
But he also realized that such a move wouldn't end well for him. If he did that, Ryan, the rich boy, would definitely kill him.
"Just my luck…"
All the guilds rejected his applications, leaving him with no other options. Of course, he could also try appealing to the gods of other nations. But to do so, he first needed to complete strict paperwork, which would take days to process.
In short, Kai was out of options.
"Not only am I job-seeking, but I even failed at becoming a player… what a laughingstock I am…"
Despair was the last thing left in his heart.
Without a proper job and not a single cent to his name, all he could become was a homeless beggar. "Haha…" He laughed bitterly, imagining himself sitting by the roadside, asking for alms.
THWANG!
"OUCH!"
But just then, something hit him in the head, bouncing to the ground. "Damn… that stings!" He groaned, looking at what hit him.
"An… empty can?"
He tilted his head in confusion as he picked up the object.
Of course, even with the gods having descended to Earth and granting mysterious powers left and right, it wasn't as if cans could fly through the air on their own.
As he scanned the area, Kai quickly identified the source of the can and frowned.
"Take this! And this!"
"Hahaha! This old man is so weak, it's funny!"
"Hey, kick his head again! His cries sound so lame!"
A short distance from the bench where he sat, under a flickering street lamp, three teenage boys were laughing.
In their midst, a lone figure sat curled up like a turtle, cowering with his hands over his head.
What he was witnessing, no matter how he looked at it, was bullying.
"HEY!"
Naturally, given his personality, Kai stood up and ran toward the kids. "Stop that, you brats! Don't you have any respect for your elders?!" he shouted.
"Huh? Who the hell are you to tell us what to do?"
"What's with this old man? You want something from us?"
"Hey, quit bothering us, dude. We're just having fun!"
The three kids ignored him, their anger and irritation growing. Their glares were so intense that Kai felt a chill run down his spine. It was particularly intimidating, despite the other party being just a band of teenagers!
He had no experience in fighting, not even for self-defense. The best "encounter" he'd had was fending off a persistent door-to-door salesman, at most.
But in this situation, Kai didn't avert his eyes from injustice, even with his legs shaking and his heart beating loudly in his ears.
"Stop it, I say!" he glowered, his voice steady, despite the tremor in his legs. "If you don't, I'm calling the police!"
Of course, he didn't dare confront them physically. Instead, he resorted to threatening them with legal action! However, his understanding of the situation was outdated—more than a week old at that.
The three teens didn't even flinch! Instead, their anger shifted toward Kai rather than the cowering, old, seemingly homeless man.
As Kai observed the old man, he envisioned himself in that position—homeless, jobless, and with no one willing to help him.
Such thoughts made his heart ache and filled him with even more determination to stand for justice.
Even if he still hadn't fully recovered, even if the injuries he sustained from Ryan hurt, he took a step forward and raised his voice.
"T-Then… Bring it on, you fucking brats!" he shouted in false bravado, pulling his arms up in a basic boxing stance. "I'll take you all on…!"
And then, a few minutes later—
"Ugh…"
Kai found himself on the ground, squirming.
His face was bruised and swollen, causing him significant pain. But it wasn't just his face; he had been hit all over his body. There wasn't a single part of him that didn't hurt.
The three kids, seemingly bored after hitting him, simply marched off as if nothing had happened, laughing at each other's poor jabs.
Although his actions did save the old man, it was he who suffered the consequences.
Cold winds brushed against his stinging skin, making him shiver as he rolled over and lay on his back.
He took a deep breath as he watched a few stars begin to emerge in the orange sky. Gazing up, he softly uttered a curse in a weak voice.
"F…uck…"
Kai felt as if today, his luck had hit rock bottom.
He had woken up alive after the incident but was now beaten black and blue. He had failed to enter any guild, temple, or church. And now, he had been senselessly beaten once more—by kids, no less.
"Young man…"
But then, his luck began to turn around.
The old man he saved walked closer, peeking at his face from the side.
He looked so frail, with a hunched back and limbs as thin as twigs. He wore tattered clothes and a dirty gray bucket hat. His face was filled with so many wrinkles that there seemed to be no more space for new ones.
Yet, the gaze he had—those clear golden eyes—revealed an energy that belied his feeble appearance.
"You…"
The old man continued, his voice shaky but clear.
"Do you want to receive my blessing?"
"…Huh?"
Kai couldn't believe what he had just heard.