“You know I’m not in shape, right? A two-day transformation like the one I’m sure you’re hoping for only exists in the realm of movies and TV.” Raine paused. “I got it. I’m going to be her fat and classy chauffeur, Levin. Get me a fancy hat, and I’m set. I’ll work on my genteel laugh. Hoh, hoh, hoh. I’ll leave the real bodyguarding to whoever else you’ve sucked into this job. I have to look good.”

Levin laughed. “You’ll be fine. She’s rich, but that doesn’t mean everyone and his brother is going to try to kidnap her. It’s going to be boring work.”

“If you say so.”

“Her plane will land at 10:30 at night. I’ll be at Gemini tomorrow evening around seven, so I’ll pass you the car keys there.”

“Okay. Her hotel is the same one as before, right?”

“Yeah, same hotel. The room is different, though. Anyway, I should get back to work now. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Alright, see you.”

Raine hung up, shut his laptop, and leaned back in his chair, his gaze on the ceiling. I should have stayed in shape after graduating. Dammit.

He wasn’t looking forward to hanging around a spoiled rich girl for the next five weeks. But money, money, money. No money, no beer. That kept him motivated.

He got up and opened his wardrobe. Beside shelves full of jeans and T-shirts, there were suit jackets and blazers hanging inside, all of them untouched for over a year. He grabbed a blazer at random and tossed it onto his bed. Then he grabbed a pair of jeans and a black shirt and closed the wardrobe.

He ironed his clothes in the living room. Although it was painful because of his arms’ soreness, it was still boring enough that his mind wandered.

The throw hadn’t been a good idea. The thought suddenly occurred to him. He should have tripped the mugger backward instead.

Oh well. It’s not like I’m being judged for it. I’ll probably never have to deal with a situation like that ever again. After finishing the ironing, he went back into his room, cleared his desk, and put his clothes there. He yawned.

Even if I’m a crappy bodyguard, at least I’ll look good. He fell onto his bed and set a timer on his phone. Then he closed his eyes to take a nap.

. . . .

“Haha! Take that, Dominic!”

“Yes, yes. Round two.”

“I’ve found your weakness, man. All I have to do is keep spamming spinning shit, and you can’t even—oh.”

“Yeah, you were saying?”

Raine turned in his bed. Light peeked into his room through the crack of the door. He opened his eyes and kicked away his blanket. His phone was in his hand. He flipped it open and saw that the timer had been turned off. He must have done that in his sleep. Shaking his head, he slowly got up and turned on the lights.

It was about 6:30 PM. He was so hungry that his stomach hurt. He washed his face, ran his wet hands over his hair to try to flatten it (it didn’t work), and left his room.

Dominic and Jordan were slouching on the two-seater sofa in the living room with video-game controllers in their hands.

“Hey,” Raine said to them as he went to the fridge.

“Oh, hi,” Dominic said, shooting a glance at him before his gaze went right back to the TV screen.

“Hey,” Jordan said. Unlike Dominic, he didn’t let his eyes leave the screen. His button pressing was becoming button mashing.

“There’s some pizza in the fridge for you,” Dominic said to Raine.

“Aw, dammit!” Jordan lost the round.

“Alright, thanks,” Raine said. He spotted it. One slice of pepperoni pizza. Goddamn pepperoni. 

He pulled it out of the fridge and put it in the microwave. He poured himself a glass of water and ate the slice of pizza in huge bites. Oh well. Beggars can’t be choosers.

“Oh, I’m going to be away for a few weeks. I got a temporary job,” Raine said, washing his plate and cup.

“What?” Jordan said, his eyes going wide.

“Huh, cool,” Dominic said. He was still playing the game. “What’s the job?”

“Some bodyguard work for a rich girl,” Raine said.

“Sounds fun.”

“If all goes well, it’ll be pretty boring.”

“Goddammit!” Jordan cried. His character was dead again. He lost the match. “That was cheap, man!”

“Hey, you never called for a truce,” Dominic said with a shrug.

Jordan groaned. “One more match?”

“Well...” Dominic glanced at his phone. “Yeah, I guess there’s time for just one more.”

“Haha!” Jordan said. While he waited for Dominic to pick a character, he asked, “Raine, is the girl famous?”

“Probably not,” Raine said. With that, Jordan lost interest. The match started, and he and Dominic stared intently at the screen with their thumbs tapping up a storm like they were possessed by gaming spirits.

Raine went back into his room, moved his clothes from his desk to his bed, and turned on his laptop. After seeing Jordan and Dominic gaming, he felt like playing Planet E. He launched the game and put on his headphones.

He pulled up the in-game map and stared at it for a few moments before opening the chat. He asked his alliance members, “Anyone up for taking Blue City St. 15A with me?”

He left the chat open while he made his way to Blue City, this time by the normal route, not a shortcut. It took him a little over ten minutes to get there. There still wasn’t a response in the chat. He shrugged.

Bang, bang, bang. At Street 15A, he aimed and fired, aimed and fired. Whether it was a monster or an enemy player, he shot them the moment they entered his view. One bullet to break the shield, two to kill. There was minimal risk of a high-level monster appearing here. The only monsters he encountered were goblins and regular orcs. As for the enemy players, some were tricky, some were stupid, and others were just annoying, but every one of them lost to him in a gunfight. He spent half an hour roaming the area, shooting every enemy in sight without himself taking more than two hits. Then he planted his alliance’s flag in the middle of the street and guarded it. Waves of monsters came. Aim, fire, and reload. Aim, fire, and reload. It took 20 minutes to conquer the small street.

The game announced to everyone in Blue City that he took Street 15A. Raine raised his arms in celebration. His expression was blank, though. It hadn’t been fun.

But he kept playing. He didn’t feel like doing anything else. He was repulsed by even the thought of working now. And there wasn’t a single book on his desk or in his computer that interested him. He didn’t even want to get beer. It would be too much work.

He was playing Planet E because it was the easiest thing to do. The momentum was there. He just had to let it carry him forward. It was the ocean, and he a sailor in a rowboat. The waves pushed him forward. He could resist. He could grab the oars and, if not control, at least affect where he went. But he didn’t want to go in any particular direction. So he did what was easiest. He let the ocean take him where it pleased.

And so the ocean did. For four hours.

. . . .

Raine buttoned his blazer in front of his bathroom mirror. He brushed his hair back with his hands and practiced a polite smile. In his hand was an aluminum briefcase with everything he needed for the next five weeks. He took a deep breath.

Okay. I got this. Time to get $3,000. He turned off the lights and left his room. The only other person in the apartment was Jordan, who was reading a novel on the living room sofa. Raine said goodbye, and Jordan waved his hand with his eyes still on his book.

Raine left the apartment and headed for the Gemini Cafe. It somehow felt good to walk around with his briefcase again. He hadn’t used it in over a year. It made him feel like he was about to go make money, which was exactly the case.

As he approached the cafe, he spotted a BMW i8 parked beside the sidewalk. Right in front of it was a black Bolstridge G4, a luxury sedan. The car had a decent appearance, but it wasn’t the kind to turn any heads.

There wasn’t a Mercedes in sight. Raine wondered about that as he strode into the Gemini Cafe. Levin waved at him from a table at the back. A brown-haired woman was sitting in front of Levin and watched Raine with bored eyes.

“Hey, Raine,” Levin said. “Let me introduce you to Louise.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Raine said to her with a smile. He extended his hand.

“The pleasure’s mine,” Louise said. She shook his hand. Her grip was firm, and he felt calluses on her hands.

“She’ll be the head bodyguard and your boss for the next few weeks,” Levin said. “Just to make it clear, Sora’s words take priority over hers, and mine take priority over Sora’s.”

“Got it,” Raine said, taking a seat. “By the way, about the car. . .”

“Yeah. The change in dates messed things up, so I’ll lend you a Bolstridge instead.” Levin shrugged. “It’s not a bad car, even if it isn’t as pretty as a Mercedes. Sora won’t mind. Probably.”

“That doesn’t exactly inspire confidence.”

“Hey, I’ve only met her briefly a few times, so I can’t be sure. But I’ve heard that she doesn’t care much about cars.”

Louise drank tea as they spoke. Raine had a feeling she was very bored.

“I’m just curious, Louise, but what did you do before this job?” Raine asked.

“I was in the army.” She finished her tea. “I didn’t do much else.”

She was obviously uninterested in conversation. Raine smiled politely and nodded. Then he continued talking with Levin about the job.

They spent almost half an hour at Gemini before they started moving. There was still plenty of time before Sora landed, and Raine wanted to head to the airport at a relaxed pace. Louise was different.

“I think we should go now,” she said, glancing at her watch. Raine looked at it too, but not to see the time.

Huh, nice watch. $100. It was a bad habit he picked up from his time on Wall Street.

“It’s a little early, but sure,” Levin said. He passed Raine the smart key to the Bolstridge. “Try not to scratch it.”

“Of course,” Raine laughed.

They left the coffee shop. Levin unlocked his car and opened the door.

“I’ll see you, Raine. Good luck!” he said with a smile. “I’m sure you’ll do great.”

“Thanks. And thanks again for the job. See you,” Raine said.

“Goodbye,” Louise said.

Raine unlocked the Bolstridge and opened the trunk, where he put his briefcase and Louise put her backpack. Then he entered the driver’s seat, while she got into the passenger seat.

“Do you mind if I turn on the radio?” she asked a few minutes later.

“Go ahead,” Raine said.

And that was the only conversation they had for the entire drive. Pop music and advertisements played while Raine tried to get used to how the G4 handled and Louise read something on her smartphone.

The traffic was soul-destroying, as it tended to be in L.A. When they finally reached the airport and parked, Louise got off and stretched. Raine opened the trunk and grabbed a book from his briefcase before locking the car. They headed for the nearest cafe to kill the time they had before Sora’s arrival. Once there, Raine read his book, a nonfiction work he had carefully picked. He didn’t keep track of time; that was Louise’s job. She was the one who was going to get Sora from the arrival hall.

He was over 60 pages into his book when Louise got up. 

“She should land in ten minutes,” Louise said.

“Okay. I’ll get the car in five,” Raine said. He turned to the next page of his book.

Louise frowned. “How about now?”

Ah, I should have expected that. Raine closed his book. “Sure.”

With the time it took to reach the arrival hall after landing, it was unnecessary for them to leave the cafe soon. He hoped she was just nervous and wanted things to be perfect on their first day on the job. If that wasn’t the case, he was not going to enjoy the next five weeks.

She strode to the arrival hall, and he headed to the parking garage at a snail’s pace.

He took his time getting into the car, putting on his seatbelt, and starting the engine. He turned on the radio and left the garage. At the terminal of Sora’s flight, he pulled up to the curb. Then he waited. And waited. And waited.

He finally got a call from Louise. She told him where she wanted to meet. He was already there.

A few minutes later, he saw her. Not Louise, though she was in sight.

No, the one he was looking at was the person beside Louise. He was speechless. He had never before seen someone who could scream “Money!” as loudly as her without even opening her mouth.