"Ah, my knees are paining."
"And you said you'll go on the picnic with everyone. You're getting old, so stay in the house."
"Don't send me into the grave yet, you hag."
"Just shut up and watch the TV."
Compass Carburettor hid behind the wall, stealthily peeking out to see an old couple seated in the living room. The husband seemed to be in his early eighties, seemingly having been a soldier before retirement as his body was still somewhat healthy.
But, it seemed he had lost strength in his ears, having to rely on the hearing aid to listen. His wife was in a similar condition but was currently seated on a wheelchair, seemingly having gotten an operation of some sort.
Their banter was pretty loud, so Compass Carburettor was able to get a general gist of things. They were a family of six. Their son was a bank employee, same for his wife. They had two children that barely reached their teens.
The old couple had a daughter that seemed to be living overseas, rarely visiting them as the old woman grumbled about her a lot, calling her unfilial.
'Thankfully, it seems their hearing isn't all that good.' Compass Carburettor nodded before gazing at his bloodied appearance and the pungent stench he was exuding. He hurriedly made his way towards the bathroom, thankful that there was a water heater installed.
He hurriedly took a shower, using more than half the shampoo bottle to cleanse himself. After he was done taking a bath, he stealthily peeked out, noticing based on their voices that the old couple were still watching the TV.
He then noticed the bloodied footprints on the floor, thinking of something as he looked around the room, noticing some new clothes in the wardrobe. They also had some new towels that they had bought.
As they were a middle-aged family, they usually had a couple of new things lying around that they got for cheap through some offers and festival discounts.
Compass Carburettor used the towel to dry himself, looking through the wardrobe to find a pair of pyjamas that were around his size. They were slightly loose-fitting, but they were better than roaming around naked.
And most of all, he was thankful that there was some underwear lying around, brand new ones, with the brand sticker still stuck to them. After dressing up, Compass Carburettor used his towel to wipe the floor, making many trips to the bathroom as he wiped all the traces he had made.
Once he double-checked to ensure that he hadn't left behind any traces, Compass Carburettor stealthily crawled towards the living room and hid behind the sofa, patiently hearing the old couple argue constantly.
He then noticed the door to the house positioned beside, to his left. It was within arm's reach, but if he opened it now, the sound would alert the old couple. Even if the sound didn't, the sunlight that would enter from the opened door was enough to alert them.
He then noticed the time, thinking, 'It's around 1 PM. The old man should probably get up for lunch sometime around now.'
He waited patiently, observing the things around him as he thought, 'It more or less seems to be like Earth. But, based on the state of things, the year should be somewhere around 2010 or something.'
Though, he was aware that this world only seemed similar to Earth on a technological level. There were shared similarities, but there existed many differences too. The most notable difference was the name of the countries.
They weren't what he was familiar with.
'Right, countless system novels depict Earth with some changes. This should have been one of them.' He sighed, thinking, 'Just where exactly in our universe do such worlds exist? How come we haven't managed to locate them before?'
"Let's eat now." The old man said after noticing the time, getting up as he walked towards the kitchen.
"I won't eat food cooked by that woman. She's so haughty just because she's a working woman." The old lady snorted.
"Then, will you starve?" The old man retorted, "Besides, she's by far the kindest child I have ever seen. It's our son's fortune to have married her."
"If she was like the other working ladies, she would have told you to get the heck out of the house long ago due to how much verbal abuse you subject her towards." He mocked her.
"I'll see if she dares to do that." The old woman snorted.
In the meantime, Compass Carburettor stealthily reached his hand towards the door knob, slowly turned it around to gently open it. He then noticed that even if the old woman turned around, she won't be able to see him.
After all, he was crawling on the floor, opening the door as he slithered out like a snake. He then left the door slightly ajar to make it seem as if the old couple had left it like that by mistake—it had opened now due to the wind. He then walked through the corridor before turning around the corner.
A couple of seconds later, he heard the door being slammed shut with force loud enough to be audible from far away.
Soon, he arrived at the bottom of the apartment, turning around to gaze at the building, "So, this is where the protagonist of this world lives?"
He made a mental note of the place, looking at the words inscribed on the wall near the entrance of the compound, "Grafet Enclave."
There wasn't much meaning in the name other than to make it sound a bit different from the norm. It was what countless communities used to advertise themselves better and make the consumers remember them so that they would purchase a flat there.
Grafet Enclave was an apartment complex slightly on the older side, having been completed around 20-30 years ago. As the style of the buildings was outdated, the rent was a bit on the cheaper side.
Moreover, it was situated in a region where most of the dwellers were part of the middle-class and those that became upper-middle-class.
He looked around, concluding after his initial observation, 'The society is functioning as normal as possible. It seems this apocalypse is something that gradually happens. So, only after the changes become commonplace would the regular populace come to know about it.'
'I should start digging for rumours then.' He nodded, exiting the locality as he walked on the road, arriving at a shopping complex as he casually strolled through it, noticing a café shop with a poster detailing their need for staff.
Smiling, he entered it, 'But first, I need to make a living to survive and prepare.'
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