Free Web NovelChapter 1: The Cube
"60 Dunt it is," the old man behind the billing counter said as he handed the parcel to the young man across from him.
"60?" the young man asked with visible surprise on his face. "But was it not only 55 yesterday? The sudden increase?"
"It was 55," the old man replied calmly. "But today, it is 60."
"What can I do?" he sighed. "The rice is getting costlier, and so are the oil, the chicken, and the vegetables. I also need to make a bit of profit for myself, young man."
"You cannot expect me to do business while suffering a loss," he added.
The young man was almost six feet tall. He was thin and lean, with barely any fat on his body. He had dark black hair and equally dark eyes. He was pale skinned and had a decent appearance.
He was eighteen years of age, and this fried chicken rice was a major part of his dull life. He had spent half his life sustaining himself on fried chicken rice.
A five Dunt increase in price meant an additional 150 Dunt per month. Being a regular at this street outlet, he did not check the menu daily and had placed his order directly.
"You know what," the old man behind the counter remarked while the young man was fumbling for coins in his pocket.
"You are a regular customer. You can pay 55 Dunt for today, but do not expect any discount from tomorrow."
"Uh! Okay!" the young man responded before he placed a crumpled note and a coin, which he had taken out previously, onto the counter. Fifty five Dunt.
With a wry smile, the man turned around and began walking. His apartment was still a five minute walk from the shop, so he hurried along on foot. He did not want the fried chicken rice to get too cold.
The young man’s name was Ronan. He was an orphan. Still a student, he was working hard to complete his studies, pursuing a degree in science at a college in this very city.
The city in which he lived was called Nergan. It was a tier-two city, a far cry from the big metropolises and tier-one cities that Ronan had seen only in images and videos on the internet.
Ronan was very good at his studies and had been able to secure a generous scholarship from the government for his education. Even so, he had a lot of additional expenses. To cover them, he worked part-time as a salesman in a mall near his college.
His rented apartment was located far from the college on the outskirts of Nergan, obviously because he could not afford the high cost of rent near his campus. fгeewebnovёl.com
This part of the city, though no slum, was hardly better than one. The streets were never truly clean, and drainage spilled onto the pavement in many places. The outskirts were also a hub for crime. Most of the buildings were old and in deteriorating condition. One look and you could tell that poor or lower middle class people resided on this side of the city.
By the time he returned from his job after his college classes, it would already be night. He did not have time to cook dinner, so fried chicken rice or occasionally something else was his go-to food. Not that he had a lot of options, given his limited budget.
Today had been a day off from work, the weekly holiday, for him, so he had returned home early. The sun had still not set completely, and its warm, golden hue bathed the dilapidated buildings along the street in a soft light.
After five minutes of continuous walking, Ronan reached his building. It was a two story structure, old and dilapidated. Its paint had almost entirely peeled off, leaving the cement and bricks visible in many places. Even the water pipes had turned rusty, looking as if they could crumble at any moment.
On the ground floor of the building lived a middle aged lady, who was also the landlady and the owner of the property. She was a widow whose husband had perished in an accident at the factory where he used to work.
The lady lived alone, though at times a few of her relatives would visit her. After her husband’s death, she had begun working in the same factory to earn her living.
The rent Ronan paid was an additional source of income for her. Ronan was on good terms with her but was not overly familiar or entangled with her. He himself lived on the first floor.
Ronan entered the corridor on the ground floor, climbed the stairs, and arrived at the first floor of the building. He inserted the key into the wooden door, unlocked it, and stepped inside a spacious room or a hall, whatever you might call it.
This was his single room apartment. Connected to this room were the kitchen and bathroom.
The apartment occupied only half of the first floor, while the other half was empty. From what Ronan could tell, the other half had been intended for an additional apartment, but a lack of funds had likely tied the landlady’s hands.
Regardless, it worked out well for him. It gave him an open space he could call a terrace, which was one of the primary reasons Ronan had chosen this apartment. Every other rental he had looked at was cramped and had hardly any open space. The open space from which he could look further down the streets gave a sense of comfort to him.
A small bed was placed at one end of the room. There was also a wooden shelf and a refrigerator worth mentioning.
Thankfully, when he had moved in a year ago, these items were already present in the apartment, saving him a bit of money.
Ronan placed the parcel on the floor, tossed his bag onto the bed, and stripped off his clothes as he gazed at his reflection in the glass pane of the closed window.
’I look decent enough,’ he wondered inwardly. ’If I had a bit of money or maybe some free time to spare, I too could have had a girlfriend.’
With a shake of his head, Ronan picked up his towel, which was hanging on the backrest of a chair, and entered the bathroom to wash up. He emerged from the bathroom after a few minutes, dressed in loose fitting pants and a t-shirt.
He dragged the chair next to the bed and placed the fried chicken rice on it, using it as a temporary dining table.
He had not even taken his first bite when he spotted something on the bed, right next to the pillow. It was a solid metallic cube.
Ronan leaned in and picked it up. The cube filled his entire palm. He had found it a couple of days ago next to a garbage dump while heading back to his room at night.
He had not thought much of it at the time, bringing it home simply because its unusual appearance had piqued his curiosity. The entire cube was plain, with no markings or gaps on it. It was shiny and had a smooth texture. He did not know what it was, having picked it up out of pure curiosity.
The cube was quite heavy, a bit much too heavy for its size. He was not able to tell what it was made of.
Though it looked like stainless steel, Ronan had his doubts. And though he did not yet understand how the cube functioned and what it did, he had an inkling, a gut feeling, that this was no ordinary object. That there was something special about it.
He had even considered taking it to a jeweler’s shop but had not done so yet. He figured he should first try to determine the cube’s value, if it had any, before attempting to sell it. He did not want to get scammed only to regret it later. freewёbn૦νeɭ.com
Ronan was rotating the cube in his hands when the rays of the fading sun caught it. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a flash on one of its surfaces. His eyes widened in shock and surprise.
The cube was still spinning in his fingers, and before he could do anything, his index slipped against the flashing surface. He did not know what happened. In fact, he barely had time to react, before he suddenly vanished from his room, along with the fried chicken rice and the bottle of water that had been sitting right next to him.
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