It was around half past nine on a moonlit Friday night. A university student named Jay had just finished his final class for the day.

He had spare cash and no immediate academic responsibilities. It was the perfect time for some ice-cold beer.

He was about to head out when someone called him from behind.

"Yo Jay, are you coming with us tonight?"

"Nah, I'm too tired. Just wanna sleep right away."

"You sure?"

His friend didn't believe him in the slightest. This wasn't the first time Jay ditched his friends to do his own stuff.

"Yeah, what about it though?"

Jay didn't really feel like going out with them this time.

Of course, he didn't have any bad thoughts, as they had actually been good drinking buddies so far.

It was just that he wanted to be alone tonight, nothing more.

The other guy could only shrug in resignation, as there was no point in arguing about it, especially with an introverted guy like Jay.

That was just how most college friendships worked. Easygoing and free from expectations.

-

It was a habit for some college students to head to local drinking establishments during their free time.

Many say it was only to relieve stress, but few still drink regardless of their mental state or circumstances.

Perhaps some people just love looking at the world with liquor-tinted glasses every so often, seeking a brief adventure to a parallel world brought by a mere slight change in perspective.

-

Later that night, Jay was queueing in a convenience store, carrying three ice-cold cans of Crimson Horse beer.

It was his favorite after the Mountain Moisture soft drink. It had a 6.9% alcohol content, with just the right mix of sweet and bitter.

He planned on having it on the benches above the store, as the place was already vacant by this time.

To be fair, he could've just gone to a proper drinking place since he was already in the town square.

However, drinking alone was cheaper and more peaceful, even though he was technically still in a public place, albeit devoid of people.

Jay only bought three 330-mL cans in the meantime.

Two would leave him wanting more, while more than three would only be enjoyable depending on his condition, that is, if he was not feeling bloated from all the beer and the dinner he had beforehand.

Intoxication was not in his considerations. He believed that he had enough discipline to return home without causing unnecessary trouble.

Of course, this belief had been proven enough times for him to take it for granted.

Looking at memes on social media, listening to music, and observing passers-by.

Jay enjoyed such activities, even more so when intoxicated, as it brings a different flavor to experiences considered mundane otherwise.

To be fair, if not for the constraints of resources and responsibilities, he might actually never have a sober moment in his life.

-

In the end, Jay got carried away and finished seven cans, feeling that he was in good condition and had more spare cash than usual.

It was about an hour past midnight when he cleaned up his spot and went home, just in time for the liquor ban in his city.

A while after drinking, after the bloating sensation had faded away, Jay would always feel hungry.

That was why he was currently sitting in a Moment Burger store, waiting for his double patty buy-one-take-one burger with an extra lightly fried egg for each bun.

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There was a chance that he would just vomit everything later, but that didn't concern him at the moment, at least not while he was intoxicated.

Not long after, Jay made his way to his small rented room, carrying a paper bag of takeout.

He preferred to eat in the comfort of his place in his birthday suit, his go-to attire if not for social conventions and legal repercussions. Even his eyeglasses were not exempt.

He opened a wrapped burger and took careful bites, since the fillings might slide out of the bun.

The burger had two patties and a fried egg, stuffed in a bun sliced for each patty, with the egg and dressing placed wherever convenient. Stable wasn’t how you would describe it.

Jay was halfway through his first burger when he felt that he was losing control of his body, as if his soul had suddenly disengaged from its vessel.

His consciousness then began to fade away as his body fell.

Dire as it might have seemed, he had only two thoughts at the moment.

One, he was lucky that he was sitting on his bed as he ate, and two, his body had not let go of the half-eaten burger.

-

Meanwhile, in another part of the city.

Two middle-aged men, one bald and another long-haired, were having a conversation while looking down at the city lights below.

It was an otherwise mundane scene, except that they weren't looking down from a tall building.

They were actually looking at a dynamic projection of the entire city on a swimming pool.

The bald man, absorbed in his speech, had just noticed that the other had stopped responding for a while and was staring blankly at the pool.

He let his friend indulge in silence for some time, but became impatient when it seemed like the other wouldn't stop anytime soon.

"Is there something wrong, my friend? You've been awfully quiet for the last minute. I haven't said anything surprising though. I was just talking about the rising prices of beer…"

"Shush. Don't bother me. Something is happening right now…"

The long-haired man waved his hand towards him, not even glancing his way.

It was rare for the other man to abruptly end a conversation, which made the bald man a bit uneasy.

In the end, he just kept silent while waiting for the other man to finish. He wanted to keep talking, but he was aware that duty must come first.

The two of them were part of a secret government agency, which was primarily composed of ascended humans, tasked with overseeing population centers throughout the country.

Due to scarcity of qualified personnel, patrol teams usually only consisted of two people, one specialized in reconnaissance or divination and the other one in combat or relocation.

However, the teams varied widely in specialty and strength, since no two ascendants have the same abilities, primarily due to their different life experiences.

People hailing from identical inheritances were not exempt from this. This was already accepted as fact by most ascendants.

The duo of the bald man and long-haired man was one of the most experienced and versatile teams in the region.

Even so, there were times when people of great ability and experience didn't have all the answers.

"I can't determine the nature of the anomaly. I only know that it occurred in the area covered by the projection. I know nothing else beyond that."

The long-haired man's brow was deeply furrowed as he spoke.

This wasn't something he was used to. Usually, he could easily sense a supernatural anomaly in his area of observation and divert his entire perception to it at once, gathering scattered information that most humans could never withstand, including most ascendants.

He would swiftly reorganize this information into data, which he would then use to infer events and possibilities to a surprisingly high degree of accuracy.

Of course, he was far from being omniscient. He only did routine checks of specified public areas and notable events, such as accidents and large gatherings.

He couldn't manually check every single person and area in a city as that would take an inordinate amount of time and resources.

If he could do it, then he would already be a god, which meant that he wouldn't have taken this job in the first place.

The long-haired man continued speaking after a moment.

"This bears resemblance to reports submitted by other branches. However, there seems to be no pattern to the location and time. Hmm. It looks like we're going to be busy sometime soon, my friend. Just like you wanted."

"I did want something to happen, true. I just didn't expect something like this."

The bald man loved to get into action, but he didn't want to go in blind, especially when even the reconnaissance expert by his side couldn't even see crap.

"Oh. It's more fun this way, though. It's not every day I face something even I couldn't observe. It has been a long time indeed."

The long-haired man sighed with anticipation as he completed a telepathic transmission of tonight's report to the main database of the organization.

-

Early the next morning, Jay woke up with a splitting headache.

Despite the pain, the first thing he thought of was the condition of his half-finished burger. Fortunately, it landed on his bed with the wrapper covering most parts.

This miserly behavior might have seemed contradictory, considering that he had spent more than he should have on beer and burgers recently.

Of course, it was only because of intoxication that he even thought of indulging in his desires, given that he didn't consider them harmful in the first place.

To be fair, it was a bit harmful to his finances, but there was always a price to pay for having a good time.

After regaining his composure after a long while, Jay reached out for his burger and took a bite. At the moment, he only had food on his mind.

It wasn't that he didn't want to think about what had just happened. It was just that he was unusually extremely hungry and tired.

It didn't take long for him to finish the burgers, but the hunger still lingered faintly.

He was left with no choice but to sluggishly put on his clothes and go out to search for food.

It was early Saturday morning and most nearby eateries were still closed, which likely meant that he would have to walk farther and his choices were limited.

Fortunately, one of his favorite eateries was already open, already having a decent selection of food.

Jay bought four sunny-side-up eggs, three large hotdogs, two cups of rice, and a bottle of Mountain Moisture.

It was quite sizable compared to his usual breakfast, though he doubted it was enough in his current state.

He secured the hotdog with his fork, sliced it with his spoon, and scooped it along with a spoonful of rice.

He found the hotdog delicious, especially with the generous amount of cheese inside.

He wondered what brand it could've been.

Unexpectedly, in the instant after the last thought formed in his head, another one emerged, albeit strangely foreign yet somehow familiar.

“The hotdog is from Surefoods.”

The strange thought wasn't conveyed through a mental voice.

It was more like the information was directly implanted into his mind, as if he knew it all along and was just recalling it.

Jay squinted at his plate for a long while before continuing his breakfast as if nothing had happened.

However, he was bubbling with excitement deep down.

This was what he always wanted. A major variable substantial enough to turn his life upside down.

In a good way, of course.