After getting drunk, Tan Li died in a car accident. When she opened her eyes again, she found herself in a place she had never seen before.
City of Light, the Federation's largest sky city.
Technology here was highly advanced, with skyscrapers everywhere. Hover trains crisscrossed overhead like airplanes trailing exhaust, and colorful neon lights shone day and night.
This was the cradle of technology, a paradise for the rich.
The chasm between rich and poor was vast, yet countless citizens and drifters lived in this beautiful city, searching for a new direction.
A second chance at life was certainly something to celebrate, but once she understood her situation, Tan Li couldn't help feeling a headache coming on.
Because of her new identity.
She was a drifter in the City of Light, not even worthy of being a citizen, the lowest of the low among drifters...
A beggar!
A female beggar!!!
* Scavenging for scrap, picking up bottles, and digging through trash cans were all part of the routine. She had to smile and hold out her hand to beg from every clean-looking passerby.
No job, no place to live. Even when she lit a fire in a barrel to keep warm, a fellow beggar would kick her.
Tan Li looked up at the sky. Being a beggar was hard.
But compared to being dead, being alive was already pretty good.
Two feet could take her toward hope, and two hands could make her dreams come true! A decent job, a warm and comfortable home, delicious food... She silently swallowed, having already picked out the home of her dreams.
One day, she'd stand in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows of her new house with a glass of red wine and some barbecue, then light a cozy fireplace. How wonderful that would be.
*
On the eve of Winter Festival, neat and tidy shop assistants decorated the storefronts with beautiful ornaments, smiling with contentment.
Tan Li looked down and pulled her thin jacket, scavenged from a trash can, closer around herself.
She was used to ignoring its countless patches and sour stench, and headed toward her next destination.
Even a beggar could make it work.
She'd start over and live again.
tips:
The protagonist really is a beggar. She has no grand ambitions like becoming a city lord. The focus is on survival, stockpiling goods, and improving her quality of life.
Theme: Toward another tomorrow
