"Did you hear?"
"Hear what??"
"About the Frenzied Maniac Murderer, obviously! They say he's active in this District!"
"Huh!? Why would a Level 6 Evolver criminal like that be in one of the F Districts??"
"I don't know, but that's just what I heard…"
A few passersby conversed, attracting Jin's interest.
"The Frenzied Maniac Murderer, huh…?" he murmured, trying to keep his smile from dropping too low. He didn't want his value in the eyes of the Goddesses to plummet.
On Pacific Blue Star, and even the rest of the Cosmic Human Alliance, there were three hyper-artificial intelligence systems set in place. They were known as the—
Three Goddesses.
They were the Goddess of Wisdom, the Goddess of Order, and the Goddess of… War.
Of them, the Goddess of Wisdom was the one that watched the citizens of the Cosmic Human Alliance the closest. Depending on how you acted in society, the Goddess would judge you and determine your worth via an interconnected racial link implanted in every human the moment they were born.
Because of this 'Merit System,' governments all across the universe were also judged and rewarded or punished accordingly. For them, though, they were judged by higher and differing standards, some of which included the 'happiness' and 'satisfaction' levels of the humans living under their rule.
This was why, in some places, depression was forbidden by order of the local government.
Gotta keep the citizens happy, right?
…
"As the chosen one, how could I be anything but happy?" Jin smiled, walking through the slums part of a massive futuristic city. This was District F-73, otherwise known as the trashiest district in all of Redrock City, where only the poorest of the poor made their livings.
In a small corner of the district, in a house that looked to be on the verge of collapse, was where Jin Stratus called home.
"Good thing I'm not the only one living here, else even with all my good fortune as the chosen one, I'd be rather lonely." Jin spoke chirpily while passing by a few red-eyed rats and spiders the size of melons. These were his roommates, and some of the few living beings who knew him the best.
Crawling in his asscrack in the dead of night and biting him without warning, one could say that they were extremely close. Practically best friends.
"Home sweet home!" Jin beamed as soon as he stepped into the single-bedroom house the size of a larger-than-average bathroom.
His rusty, creaky bed was still there, and so too was the half-destroyed toilet; thank god they weren't missing!
"Oh boy, this is so awesome!" Jin said enthusiastically upon realizing that his water filtration machine broke down again.
For the next week or so until paycheck day, he'd be drinking nothing but green, chemical-infused sludge!
How wonderful!
"I'm so happy right now that I could cry," said Jin as he sat down on his moldy bed, only to feel the bedframe crack in half, bringing him down with it.
"This…" His voice cracked, his hair and clothes a mess. "I've been wanting to try sleeping in different positions, so this… this works out! Hahaha!"
Even as his eyes reddened and his pockets begged for something other than the emptiness of his soul to be in them, Jin's smile never left his face.
After all, why would the one chosen by heaven be sad or unhappy? That didn't make any sense.
So what if his dead-end job was only able to barely cover his rent and living expenses?
So what if his internal organs were soon going to be deemed useless from all the toxic substances he inhaled on a daily basis?
So what if he was single and alone?
None… none of that mattered!
He was the chosen one!
"I… I am the chosen one, right…?"
For the briefest of moments, doubt surfaced in Jin's heart.
But just as soon as it appeared, it vanished.
With a resolute gleam in his golden-colored eyes, Jin said, "I AM the chosen one. And one day, everything will change for me. I will ascend to the heavens as a soaring phoenix!"
*Cricket… Cricket…*
The silence in the room filled Jin with immense shame. He immediately stepped down off his broken bed, and after dusting himself off, exited his home.