23. Outbreak
[Albert's flashback begins]
"What are you looking at, you bastard. Get me a Marlboro."
The man tossed a condom box onto the counter and started cursing at Albert. Though he had lived hearing countless curses, this was the first time a complete stranger cursed at him so unreasonably from the start. His face hardened, and he thought he needed to quickly scan something and send him away. He found the cigarettes the man mentioned, scanned the barcode, then curtly stated the amount. Whether his tone had offended him, or whether he was having a bad day, the man suddenly picked up the cigarettes with a frightening face and threw them at him.
"Hey you bastard. Are you pissed off? Huh? Your tone is really dirty."
At the man's cursing, his face burned hot and his chest shrank. Just like in childhood, in front of all the class kids, when the school teacher who had lost control cursed at him and slapped his cheeks with his palm, his mind went white. Then he came to his senses and began picking up the fallen cigarettes.
"Ah really. These days even idiot part-timers want to be treated like people. These idiots, really. Hey! Do you think the customer is easy? Huh! You think I'm easy, you idiot!"
The abusive language continued, but he couldn't say anything. He just hoped this psychopath would excrete as much cursing as he wanted and quickly disappear from in front of him. But the man kept cursing, and it seemed like he was getting more and more angry as he cursed. He couldn't look at the man and kept his gaze downward.
"Hey you idiot. When someone talks to you, look at them, you bastard!"
The man suddenly rushed in and drove his fist down toward his solar plexus. He made a groaning sound of 'ugh' and collapsed right there. The fist that flew in without time to tense his muscles pushed through flesh and blocked his breath. He wanted to breathe, but his stomach wouldn't move enough to let air in. The belatedly contracted muscles became hard, making it increasingly difficult to breathe. The man said something like be careful toward him collapsed on the ground, but it didn't reach his ears. The man soon disappeared from the convenience store as if fleeing. He collapsed on the floor clutching his stomach. Tears and snot flowed down his face, and saliva flowed from his mouth like foam.
He wanted to kill. He wanted to kill them all. The man who punched him. The people who cursed at him. The people who cowardly smiled and worked him for cheap. The people who mocked him behind his back saying he didn't communicate well. The people who looked down on his small build. The people who took him lightly. The boss who treated employees like idiots. The managers who treated employees like morons. The sophists who argued that being selfish was justified regardless of harm to others. The people who didn't care who they put down or how, as long as they could make others laugh and stand out. The hypocrites. Laughing happily. All of them. He had to kill them. He had to kill them all.
He became a madman.
[Albert's flashback ends]