Let's Make A Bet

I'm Tired.

I'm so fucking tired.

Ring~

Ring~

RIng~

The sound of the alarm echoes through the room, and it forces Jack to wake up. He can only grumble at the mere noise, knowing that a new day has started and he is forced to get up even though his entire body screams to rest.

Fuck, even opening my eyes felt like a chore. 

He keeps his eyes closed as his hand begins searching for the direction of his phone. He tries to navigate his phone by sound, but what he accomplishes is slamming his hand to his bed repeatedly only to find nothing.

Fuckkkk~ Where the fuck is it? Please, shut the fuck up. For fuck sake, where the hell is it?

Let me sleep, let me rest, let me fucking sleep for a little while, only for a while. Please.

He pleads in his mind, still searching for his phone. After a while, the ringing stops. He let out a soft sigh, and his body soon relaxed and sank back to the bed. The blissful silence accompanies Jack, his mind slowly drifting off to his dream world-

RING~

RING~

RING~

Only to be interrupted once again.

GOD FUCKING DAMN IT!

In rage, he finally opened his eyes and quickly got up to grab his stupid phone. Jack fiddles with his phone, wanting to bash the stupid thing. When he calmed down for a bit, he was finally able to turn off his alarm. He leans back on his bed frame and lets out a sigh. It's 7 am, it's time for him to go to work.

He rubs his tired face and lets out a tired whimper.

Fuckin hell. I'm dead tired. Fuck, I wanna kill myself. God, please just end me or maybe let me get hit by a truck or something. Maybe that will let me have a day off. But then who is going to take care of the twins? Who the hell is going to take care of your mother? How about Finn? The little guy is going to starve to death if I don't take care of him. FUCK! I want to rest! Let me fuckin rest.

Clearly, his mental state is not doing so well. But even with his complaint, he still got up from his bed and headed to the washroom to start his day.

He whines while he drags his feet towards the bathroom sink. Twisting the tap, he splashed the cold water on his face multiple times, wanting to feel a sense of freshness. He stared at his reflection for a while, observing his tired and messy reflection.

His violet hair had grown much thicker now and longer than used too. The dark circle around his crimson eyes got even darker, or maybe it's his imagination, but sure enough, Jack looked extremely haggard. Unlike his past self, the current Jack looks extremely pathetic.

Clicking his tongue, Jack grabs his towel and hops into the shower. He turned the heater on and twisted the tap only to be hit with cold ice water. The cold water hit his body, making the man flinch.

Fuck, did the heater fucking broke? FUUUUUCK, how much that gonna fucking cost?

I didn't even pay last month's rent yet, damn it. FUCKING DAMN IT! 

It's a rough start for him, he can't help but having a mental breakdown at the shower at 7 in the morning.

7.20am.

Jack groans and fixes the collar of his shirt; he really doesn't want to go to work, but then again, what choice does he have? He hasn't received any invitation yet. Not only that, he is broke as fuck. If his father left them with millions of Medan, maybe Jack's life would be easy, but no, instead his father left him with a bunch of debt. 

And because of that it forced him to work like a dog. If only he studied well in the academy, maybe he might have gotten a better job than he has now, but since he scores low in academics, he is forced to take multiple part-time jobs. 

Fuck my life, fuck my life, fuck my life, fuck my life.

He slicks his hair back and sighs as he fixes his clothes, he looks a bit presentable now. Oftentimes, he glances outside the window, and sure enough, that massive tower is still there, taunting him.

The tower of Veridion, when looking out of the window, the long, massive tower has always been there, always existed ever since he was a child.

Looking back, my life was simple back then. Well, to tell the truth, I was more ignorant about my family's financial problems.

I didn't care to think about money. I didn't care to know about my parents' burden, and I didn't care about my studies. As long as I reach the bare minimum, I'll be fine. I always believe that. I thought there's no point in doing so.

The only thing I care about is training. 

I already know what I want to do in my life. Just like everyone else, climbing the tower is what I desire the most. Becoming a ranker is what people thought I would be in the future. Not only that, I also want it to be one.

As a kid, I was led to believe I was special. My father told me to always hone your skill, to train, to be better than yesterday, and I believe him.

And so I train, and train, and train. I trained like hell back then. I train until my vision gets blurry, I train until my fist gets all bloody, I train until my entire body is screaming in pain and with the amount of training I put in, I also rest when I need it to be. It was hellish, but it was exhilarating. I thought, with the amount of effort I put in, it was natural for me to get an invitation from the tower, but…

It has been 3 fucking years, and I still receive nothing.

Nothing, no invitation nor an explanation, I got nothing.

Bam.

He punched the concrete wall out of frustration. He clicked his tongue and took a deep breath and exhaled; he glanced back at the tower and let out a little laugh.

Fuck, what the fuck is wrong with me?

He clenches his fist tightly; his nail sinks into his palm.

Am I really this exhausted that I even started to talk to myself? What the fuck is wrong with me? Get it together, Jack. Get it together. 

The exhaustion really got to him; he wanted to bang his head against the wall, but last time he did so, someone filed a noise complaint. 

Still it doesn't make sense. Jack just couldn't understand why he didn't get an invite yet. The only logical explanation, at least the only explanation Jack could think of, as to why he didn't get an invitation to the tower, is that he is simply unlucky. 

Fuck is that really it? Damn it.

He slammed his fist to his head multiple times, trying to calm himself down. He is having a mental breakdown again; it annoys him, but it annoys him even more about what is bothering him.

Honestly, he has no choice in the matter but to accept it. It's been three years, and there's still no sign of anything. When you turn 20, you will receive an invitation from the tower to become a climber, but Jack didn't, and now he is 23. 

While his friends are having a fun adventure, Jack is forced to work on a desk job. While his colleagues are finding ways to get stronger and richer, Jack is forced to work multiple jobs just to feed his family and pay that stupid debt.

He has to; he doesn't have any choice. He has to carry it alone; it's his responsibility now; it's his weight that he needs to carry. He is the man of the house now.

He let out a long sigh and slicked his hair back. Looking at the tower again, he couldn't help but despise it. The reason as to why he is so mad is the fact he is not talentless. If Jack was simply garbage, maybe even average, maybe he would accept the fact that he didn't get invited, but that wasn't the case.

And that's why he so piss off. He sighs as he goes to his kitchen, looking around at the house, he is left alone.

Meow~

Well, not exactly. The white feline rubs his body onto Jack's leg, it seems he notices that Jack is suffering and tries to cheer him up. Jack looks at the feline and sighs softly; he kneels down and pats the adorable little gremlin. "Hey Finn. Good morning"

"Meow~" Finn happily greets Jack. Even though he is exhausted, seeing his cat gave him a bit of encouragement. Jack smiled and patted the cat's head. 

"Thanks Finn. You do good, ok? I be fine."

Jack sighs as he stands up, he stretches his body and exhales once again. "Time to go to work."