The wooden walls were covered with newspaper to hide the fact that they were old woods. The floor was undoubtedly made of cement only, making the surface as rough as the gravel road.
The apartment room was only 5 square meters in size, including the bathroom, which also served as a toilet. There was only one mattress, one table, and one chair as furniture.
It was too minimalist, but finding a place to live in the city of Alpu at a low rent was difficult.
Arya put his suitcase on the table and sat on the edge of the mattress while staring at the ceiling 2.5 meters above the floor. With his height of 180 centimeters, he could hit the ceiling if he jumped hard enough.
He opened the window, which was the only window in his apartment room, facing the back of the apartment building and revealing a view of several trees and the wall of a tall building, blocking the sunlight.
However, even though he was in the shadow of the large building, Arya could still guess that the sun was about to set, turning the evening sky into the night sky.
Arya didn't need much at the moment, so he didn't mind the lack of furniture.
"Should I buy a refrigerator?" Arya asked himself as he stared at his bare apartment room before his stomach finally growled.
"Maybe I should buy a stove later too," said Arya, walking towards the door while holding his stomach, which had been empty since lunchtime.
The man walked out, locked the door to his apartment room, and finally walked away.
The area where Arya lived was in the outskirts city, but even so, it was a densely populated area. Some of the buildings were warehouses, some were small convenience stores, and some were simple apartments that were at least a little more livable than Arya's, but of course, the rent was more expensive.
There wasn't much activity in the neighborhood, and most of the people who lived there were not the people who live with their families or even have a family. It's like the area was specialized for worker class only.
However, despite the somewhat uncomfortable situation, it was very rare to see any crime because every 2 kilometer, there was at least one guard post.
The guard post was not an ordinary guard post because inside of it, there were at least three police officers and one void hunter. The uniform worn by the void hunter was also different from the one Arya had seen before. The uniform was still military uniforms, but it was not red.
Right next to a fairly large supermarket, Arya found a guard post with one blue-uniformed military void hunter. The void hunter and two police officers were playing cards while one police officer were on patrol.
Arya entered the supermarket and bought some toiletries. One bar of soap for 3 Narat, one toothbrush for 3 Narat along with one tube of toothpaste for 5 Narat, and also a bottle of shampoo for 7 Narat.
He wanted to buy some noodles before finally realizing he didn't have a stove in his apartment room, so he decided to buy a loaf of bread and snacks that could be eaten right away.
The bread he bought was a large, a plain loaf of bread about 15 centimeters long with diameter of 6 centimeters.
At only about 3 Narat, the large loaf of bread was very cheap. However, the snack Arya bought cost 2 Narat and was not even bigger than his palm.
The difference in size and price, but at least the snack had a flavor that kept the taste buds from getting bored, perhaps that was the reason for the difference.
He also buys 2 small bottles of water for 5 Narat each.
After paying, everything was put into a plastic bag for Arya to take home.
The sky was getting dark as Arya stepped out of the supermarket. The street lights were turned on and Arya could see several large buildings lit up in the distance. Even in a developed city like Alpu, the economic gap was still evident. It was a reminder that Arya was still trapped in his huge debt.
He walked back to his apartment, which was about 200 meters from the supermarket where he had bought his stuff.
There was only one lamppost right next to the iron fence of his apartment. It wasn't enough to illuminate the place, but at least it was bright enough for Arya to see the door of his apartment room.
Arya's room was on the ground floor and was the room furthest from the entrance to the apartment.
The two-story apartment had four rooms on the upper floor and three rooms on the ground floor, as well as a room on the ground floor dedicated to a machine for pumping water from the underground, which the room was also used to recharge batteries for the electricity.
Arya walked toward his apartment room, and just as he was about to open the door, he heard the sound of a woman moaning from the room next door.
He was slightly startled before finally entering his apartment room.
The door was closed, but the moaning sound did not disappear. The sound grew fainter, but Arya could still hear it.
"Damn, the walls of this apartment are so thin, I can hear them," complained Arya, who placed the plastic bag he was carrying on the mattress.
He took his toiletries from the plastic bag and a towel from his suitcase.
He opened the bathroom door and found a cockroach scurrying out quickly.
"Damn it!" Arya shouted, jumping back, letting the cockroach crawl under the bed.
Arya sighed heavily. "I guess I'll have to get used to this."
After cleaning himself and changing his clothes, the man lay down on the old mattress covered by a thin sheet.
A little dusty, but at least it was good enough to sleep on after sweeping up the dust away.
Staring at the dimly lit ceiling, Arya sighed heavily after realizing that this was a new starting line for his life.
"My life will be difficult for the next year, but at least I can start a new, calmer life," said Arya, stretching his tired body.
----------------------------------------------------
{ New teacher has an affair with one of the first-year students }
The school newspaper headline displayed on the bulletin board made Arya's eyes almost pop out of his head.
The school newspaper also featured a photo of Arya and Ayu standing behind the school building.
"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!"