It was past ten at night when Tristan Mariana finally got off work and walked out of the office building.
He looked up at the sky, now reduced to a mere sliver between the towering skyscrapers, and fell into silent contemplation.
For ordinary people, this city of New York made you feel so incredibly insignificant, like an ant struggling to survive in this vast metropolis.
It was helpless. It was suffocating.
Back when he'd just graduated from college, Tristan Mariana had been full of ambition and determination, staying in this international financial hub without a second thought. He'd wanted to achieve great things, to ride the waves of the times and make his mark!
However...
Unfortunately...
Once you enter society, you have to face reality. You have to understand that you weren't born to be the protagonist. You're just an ordinary person.
New York gathered too many exceptional people—the truly gifted, or those born with silver spoons, second and third-generation heirs who were winners from birth.
This city was their playground.
For ordinary people, it was devouring them alive.
Tristan Mariana was in a particularly irritable mood today. Unlike usual, he didn't run like a stray dog to catch the last subway train back to his rental in the suburbs.
Instead, he walked along the sidewalk with an expressionless face, or perhaps one that was simply numb.
His mind churned with complicated thoughts.
From graduating and starting work at twenty-three until now, four years had passed.
During these four years, Tristan Mariana had watched colleague after colleague arrive full of ambition, only to leave dejected and defeated, returning to their hometowns.
This city was devouring people.
Tristan Mariana had begun to wonder if he too should leave this place where his dreams had once soared and then crashed.
Just today.
His parents from back home had called him.
His mother, Wilma Otto, had first urged him as usual to find a girlfriend soon.
Then she told Tristan Mariana not to worry about housing. She and Mr. Mariana had withdrawn their retirement funds and, adding their life savings, had scraped together seven hundred thousand dollars for him!
Combined with the three hundred thousand Tristan Mariana had saved over the years, that made about a million total.
That amount could cover a down payment on a place in New York.
Of course, the location would have to be in a very remote suburb.
In today's New York, the core districts—like Lower Manhattan, the Financial District, and Midtown—had housing prices at thirteen thousand per square foot.
Outside the core areas, prices in the outer boroughs still exceeded seven thousand per square foot.
Only by going much further out could you find places averaging two to three thousand per square foot.
Buying a smaller unit, a million would just about cover the down payment.
Thinking about this, Tristan Mariana's eyes flickered, and without realizing it, he clenched his fists.
His parents were ordinary dual-income workers from their hometown. To scrape together seven hundred thousand dollars, they must have emptied everything—not just their retirement funds, but probably their entire nest egg.
"Do I want this kind of life?"
"Draining my family dry just to become a New Yorker?"
Tristan Mariana asked himself.
This path was indeed how most new New Yorkers made it—two generations sacrificing everything for a single apartment in the city.
"My salary is sixteen thousand after taxes, and then I'd have a mortgage..."
Tristan Mariana did some quick mental math, and the result filled him with despair.
Society was cruel. It never promised that hard work would bring proportional rewards.
"I don't want to live like this."
Tristan Mariana spat forcefully and declared with determination.
Boom!
Boom!
Suddenly, lightning split the sky, followed immediately by rolling thunder.
In an instant.
Rain poured down in torrents.
Under the night sky, fat raindrops hammered down with a deafening clatter.
Tristan Mariana took shelter under a nearby shop's entrance, watching the rain and the scurrying crowds.
The rain continued to fall.
Just then, something inexplicable happened to Tristan Mariana without warning, unnoticed by anyone around him.
In each of his eyes, a circular quartz clock faintly appeared.
The clocks rotated at different speeds.
Tick... tick... tick...
Mysterious information began flooding into Tristan Mariana's mind.
Time passed—he couldn't say how long.
Tristan Mariana absorbed all the information and then came back to himself.
The virtual clocks in his eyes vanished.
Tristan Mariana was stunned!
He looked up at the middle-aged man beside him, also taking shelter from the rain with a briefcase tucked under his arm.
Above this middle-aged man's head, Tristan Mariana saw several simple pieces of information:
Name: Lynn Frederic
Age: 42
Remaining Lifespan: 31 years 78 days 12 hours 56 minutes 32 seconds
Tristan Mariana swallowed hard, then turned to look at a young woman about his age.
Name: Young Herrera
Age: 26
Remaining Lifespan: 9 years 15 days 3 hours 47 minutes 29 seconds
Did that mean this reasonably attractive young woman would only live to thirty-five?
Tristan Mariana felt dazed.
He continued looking at another person, a portly middle-aged man with an honest face standing some distance away.
Name: Colin Smith
Age: 36
Remaining Lifespan: 3 minutes 23 seconds
Tristan Mariana's eyes widened in shock.