The location was a residential area in Neo Utopia.
In a room in a high rise building, Mirai Yumemi woke up.
She looked at the clock, which showed it was past ten, a late rise if she was a salarywoman.
“…Sleepy.”
She scratched her head and got out of bed.
Since she only had underwear on, this was not something she should show to someone of the opposite sex.
After getting out of bed, she opened the curtains of her balcony.
She did not care about being seen, but being in a high rise meant she did not have to worry about that anyway.
“Ah.”
The moment she opened the curtains, her eyes locked with someone on the high rise apartment building on the other side.
The middle-aged man was surprised, and Mirai quickly closed the curtains. It seemed she could still feel somewhat embarrassed.
She experienced something embarrassing right after getting out of bed, and showered to pull herself together. Her disheveled waist-length brown hair returned to its proper form, and she took the time to dry it.
She finished as she thought it was a pain, and had bread and soup for breakfast.
She brushed her teeth, and sat in front of a mirror. There she saw a woman in her mid-twenties with an ugly face.
Who was that?
Wait, it’s me, she thought to herself as she did her makeup.
Mirai definitely did not look bad.
She had double-edged eyelids, a straight nose, and full lips. Her small face made her look somewhat young, but she was popular with middle-aged men.
She was not sure that was a good thing, but thought it was better than nothing.
But there was something about her she could not hide. The deep dark circles under her eyes.
These dark circles would make even beautiful people look less attractive, but they took Mirai down a couple of pegs.
She did not lack sleep. She went to bed at eleven the previous night, and slept until ten in the morning.
And yet, the dark circles did not disappear. In fact, she felt they grew deeper the more she slept.
“Haha, terrible face.”
She mumbled without thinking as she finished doing her makeup.
She sighed, wondering why it came to that.
It was because her older sister influenced her into becoming a seeker.
Homura, her older sister, was a seeker since when she was a student, and changed teams as she climbed her way up and passed the fortieth floor.
Seeing her sister, she spent money without holding back to become a seeker, but she failed.
Her first skill was just too bad.
Prophetic Dream was its name.
Because of this skill, she always had to worry about sleep deprivation and lack of magic energy.
She dreamed every time she went to sleep, and saw what was to happen. And since dreaming made her lose magic energy, she did not feel like she slept.
Furthermore, the dreams were terrible.
It was fine when they were about people close to her, but she dreamed about strangers, people going to places with adult services, and had dreams she could not tell anyone.
But sometimes, there was a dream worth seeing.
Someone close to her having an accident, a natural disaster happening somewhere, or an important person being targeted.
Once, she bought a lottery ticket and won, but did not feel happy for some reason, and gave the money to charity right after cashing out.
It was her chance to spend money like it grew on trees, but she did not feel like using it.
She talked about it with her sister Homura, and was invited to join her team.
Due to an incident with her team, she was halfway through to retirement, but since she could not make a living that way, she signed a contract with a big corporation.
She had passed the fortieth floor. This was seen as a status symbol for the company, and necessary for their business strategy.
The contract that was favorable to both was further accelerated when Mirai joined.
She took a mana potion from a refrigerator and drank it in one gulp, making her feel the vitality course through her body.
The circles under her eyes remained, but they were better than when she woke up.
She finished getting ready, and left for the business district.
In Neo Utopia, the business district was a little far from the residential district, about thirty minutes on foot. And so she used the bus.
As she reached the bus stop, she saw the middle-aged man from before.
She thought it would be awkward, but it seemed he did not notice it was her.
“Good morning.”
“Hahaha, I’m sorry.”
He definitely noticed.
He greeted her and turned his eyes back to his smartphone, where there was a picture of her sister.
Hum… She thought as she side eyed him from behind, but he scrolled down and revealed a news article.
She understood when she realized it was about the Gladiators event.
Homura took part in the event that happened at the end of the year. It was not in the main event, but she defeated two pro seekers who had passed the thirtieth floor. Looking back, she thought it was an amazing sight.
That increased Homura’s notoriety, and exploded her popularity.
She was proud of her sister, but wished she would refrain from danger.
“Are you all right?”
“Eh?”
“You seem tired, so I thought I should ask.”
“Ah, yes, I am! Don’t worry!”
The middle-aged man was worried because she zoned out. The dark circles definitely had to do with it, but she quickly denied it.
He whispered ‘I see’, and faced his smartphone again.
She told herself she had to get it together.
If she looked bad enough to worry others, she really had to do something.
She stood up straight, and heard her back crack. Only she heard it, so it was all right.
The middle-aged man looked at her from the corners of his eyes. Apparently he also heard it.
Don’t look this way, she thought but did not say it, and instead looked at him.
He was slender, wore a suit, had side parted hair, a small mustache, and glasses. He seemed like your average middle-aged salaryman.
What’s so fun about having to look at a guy like this, she thought, ignoring what she herself started as she waited for the bus.
It arrived soon after. It was a bus, but rather than run on gasoline or electricity, it ran on magic energy.
It also had no driver or tires.
Apparently buses in the Neo Utopia were built with alchemy, and had a lot of technology packed into them.
It was a product of the company Mirai was contracted to, but she was not interested enough to notice.
The bus stopped, and landed on the ground with a sound.
The door opened, and she boarded it. It had expensive sofas and was spacious.
It was made with few people using it in mind, and was intended to show off the Neo Utopia brand.
The people of Neo Utopia mostly did not use buses.
Most made use of flying taxis or aerial corridors on top of buildings.
Looking up, she could see aerial corridors going from building to building like blood vessels.
Some might have thought they were creepy, but Mirai liked them.
It was as though Neo Utopia was a living organism, and she was part of it.
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