Idan took a sip of coffee, but lost in thoughts of the past, he did not notice how the drink ended. With a slight disappointment, he put the cup back down and leaned against the kitchen's front door, preparing to continue listening to the report. However, his mother changed the channel again.
This time, the screen flashed footage taken immediately after the disaster. They captured all the horrors that people had to go through in those days. This video was shown from time to time to remind everyone of what they have already been through and what awaits them in the next ten years.
How does it feel to realize that the end of the world is less than ten years away? How do people who have just started to recover from the disaster and adapt to a new life feel? Everyone was terrified, including Idan.
After watching the disaster footage for a few minutes, Idan's mother switched the channel back on. This time, a young man wearing a strange conical bamboo hat appeared on the screen. A sword hung from his belt, and one of his hands rested on the hilt.
"Hero Ren, how do you rate the first of the ten disasters?" the reporter asked the young man, whose face was hidden under a hat. In response, he remained silent.
The reporter, disappointed that she had not received a response from the famous Hero of the Federation, only smiled with slight annoyance.
"Hero Ren." Idan recognized the young man on the screen.
This young man was one of the hundred lucky ones who became Awakened almost a year ago after being injected with the serum, just like his older sister, Irene.
At this moment, Idan was looking at Ren with some envy. He also wanted to become an awakened one, just like his sister. And not only he, but also many young people aspired to it.
"Do you know that you are the idol of many young people?" the reporter asked without stopping, despite the fact that Hero Ren remained silent.
"Is it true that you are ranked 8th in the hero list right after Irene Fein, the Heroine ranked 7th?" — She continued. Idan's mother, who had been watching TV in silence, perked up a little when she heard her daughter's name.
Idan, noticing this, just shook his head.
After the loss of his father, Idan's relationship with his mother became even more strained. Although they lived together and tried to overcome difficulties, every day the distance between them increased. Only Irene, to some extent, served as a link. Idan couldn't understand why his mother treated him like this, when she seemed to idolize her daughter, Irene.
"Hero Ren, could you share any information about the Other World?" the reporter asked urgently, but Hero Ren remained unperturbed and silent.
Finally, the reporter gave up and stopped asking questions. Seeing this, Hero Ren, without saying another word, turned around and left.
"Dear viewers, you know, of course, that after the Awakening, all the Heroes of the Federation ceased to be ordinary people. They have become real superheroes with unique abilities," the reporter began her story with burning eyes, like an ardent fan.
"Besides gaining power, the Heroes also gained the opportunity to cross the boundaries of our world and go to a real Other World!" she almost screamed. "You already know everything, but many of you are probably still skeptical about the information provided by the Federation. After such a simple explanation, for some reason, the government and the Heroes continue to hide details about the Other World from us, ordinary residents."
There was a note of displeasure in the reporter's voice.
"The government claims that information about the existence of Another World was obtained through revelations that were discovered by several people during the "Blackout Day". They also declare that the salvation of our world lies precisely in this other world. That is why all these Heroes, young people, risk their lives by going on a journey to another world in search of a way to save our world and all of us. That is why they are rightfully called the Heroes of Humanity!"
Irene, Idan's older sister, was one of these Heroes of Humanity.
All one hundred young people instantly became celebrities. They were the first to gain real superpowers and the ability to travel to another world. It was the dream of not only many young people, but also of most people.
"There are a little less than two months left until the start of the second wave, — Idan muttered, mentally calculating the date when the second wave of serum administration was supposed to begin.
Like all young people, Idan was looking forward to this event. He will be 20 years old next year, and if he cannot become an awakened one this time, then next year, during the third wave, his age will already be higher than acceptable, and he will no longer be able to receive the serum. And without her, he can no longer become awakened.
Thus, Idan had only one attempt left, although, according to the revelation received that day, one person could receive the serum three times with an interval of one year.
Many people over the age of 20 expressed dissatisfaction with the government's policy, considering it unfair. However, all these conversations subsided when it became known that if a person over 20 gets the serum, he will most likely die.
Sighing, Idan looked around the house they lived in.
This house was located in one of the safest areas of the Capital of the Federation.
His older sister, Irene, became a famous Hero of the Federation, acquired him and helped her family move to the capital.
When Idan first came to the Capital, it seemed to him that he had returned from the village to the city. Everything he considered lost after the disaster was here: communication, food, technology, and entertainment. He felt the same way he did before the cataclysm.
Idan had just graduated from high school and did not have a college degree, so in the early days it was difficult for him to find a decent job. He had only small and thankless tasks at his disposal.
Unlike his mother, Idan had a good relationship with his sister, Irene. However, when she became the Heroine of the Federation, she rarely appeared at home, and the relationship between brother and sister cooled down somewhat.
Idan, striving for independence, did not want to live on his sister's money all his life. He was trying to find a job and earn money on his own.
Perhaps the reason for this was the attitude of his parents, who always perceived him as a stranger. Idan did not want to take his sister's money and wanted to succeed on his own.
However, things did not go as he expected.
After getting a job, at first no one showed much interest in him. But soon people began to reach out to him and compulsively communicate.
Idan, who has been a bit introverted since childhood, immediately noticed changes in the behavior of others. He wasn't famous or handsome, so such a drastic change in attitude surprised him.
"Aren't you Irene's younger brother?" one of these questions immediately made it clear to Idan that all this was happening because people recognized him as the brother of one of the Heroes of the Federation.
No matter how hard Idan tried to hide his identity and find a new job, his new surroundings always recognized him as Irene's younger brother.
This made Idan uneasy, and he couldn't understand how they were able to get information about him so quickly.
It was only after a while that Idan realized that his older sister, Irene, was to blame for everything.
From what Idan learned, Irene was so worried about her brother that every time he applied for a new job, she personally or through her people checked on his new colleagues. This did not go unnoticed.
When Idan finally managed to meet his sister, he asked her a question: "Sister, why are you doing this?"
"What, what are you talking about?" — instead of admitting her guilt, the sister denied everything, claiming that she did not do such things.
Idan, tired of his mother's constant comparison with his older sister Irena at every failure at work, stopped believing his sister's words. Because of this, their relationship soured.
That was the first time he tried alcohol and discovered that he didn't have a very good tolerance. This discovery made him withdraw into himself, retire to his room and spend the last couple of months in the arms of alcoholic beverages.
On the day when the world faced the first of ten disasters, he was lying in his room, immersed in a state of heavy alcohol intoxication, unaware of what was happening around him.
A week later, he suddenly woke up to someone pouring water on him. In his still hazy mind, he saw his sister looking at him with disapproval.
That's how he woke up this morning, soaked, and after his sister left, he stared at the ceiling.