It Sucks to Be a Part-Timer

Section 1: A Letter from the Association

Sean dragged himself up the stairs and stopped in front of the mailboxes outside his apartment.

There was a letter waiting for him.

He pulled it out, glanced at the sender, and immediately straightened.

Local Hero Association.

The exhaustion on his face disappeared.

Sean hurried inside. His apartment was barely more than a single room, with a bed taking up most of one side and a small table and a few pieces of cheap furniture squeezed into the rest. There was no couch.

He shut the door behind him, reached over his shoulder, and unclipped the Chinese-flag cape from his uniform.

Then he dropped backward onto the bed, too tired even to take off his shoes. His legs hung over the edge, both feet still planted on the floor.

Still lying there, Sean tore open the envelope and unfolded the paper.

LOCAL HERO ASSOCIATION
FULL-TIME LOCAL HERO APPLICATION
APPLICATION STATUS: REJECTED

His face fell as his eyes moved down the page.

Reason for Rejection:
Failed Background Check — Prior Criminal Conviction / Three-Year Prison Sentence.

Sean stared at the line.

“Of course. The same damn thing again.”

Below it was another paragraph in smaller print.

The Local Hero Association appreciates your continued commitment to serving the community. Although your background-check status prevents you from qualifying for full-time Local Hero employment and a fixed hourly wage at the minimum wage rate, we encourage you to continue serving as a part-time Local Hero.

His eyes narrowed as he continued reading.

Part-time Local Heroes are not eligible for a fixed hourly wage. However, they may accept voluntary tips, donations, or gifts from citizens they assist to help cover their personal living expenses.

Sean slowly lowered the letter onto his chest and stared at the ceiling.

“I can’t even get paid the fucking minimum wage. Damn it.”

He sighed.

“And half the people I help don’t even think about tipping. Being a part-time Local Hero is getting harder every damn day.”

Sean lay silently for a moment, then frowned.

“Maybe I should just become a gigolo.”

An image of a greasy, wrinkled old lady flashed through his mind.

“…Nah.”

Sean crushed the letter into a ball and hurled it across the room.

The next morning, Sean opened his eyes.

He looked down and realized his legs were still hanging off the edge of the bed.

His shoes were still on his feet.

He rubbed his eyes and pushed himself upright.

“Shit. I fell asleep like this last night.”

He got to his feet.

“Well. Time to get to work.”

He fastened his signature Chinese-flag cape around his shoulders and headed outside.

Section 2: Another Day, Another Hero

Sean walked through the neighborhood, scanning the streets and alleys for anyone who might need a Local Hero.

He didn’t have to search for long.

At the next corner, a thug had grabbed a man and was robbing him in broad daylight.

And sitting on a public bench barely six feet away was another Local Hero.

Lazy Guy.

He was fat, with a face covered in pimples and messy hair that looked like it hadn’t been combed in days. Slouched comfortably on the bench, he chewed a chocolate bar while the robbery happened right in front of him.

Sean stopped and stared.

“Damn this Lazy Guy. Slacking off again.”

Lazy Guy took another bite of his chocolate bar.

Sean’s eye twitched.

“He sits around doing jack shit all day and still gets a full day’s pay at minimum wage. Damn him.”

Sean darted forward in a series of quick, short, almost silent steps before launching himself off the pavement.

His fist flew straight into the robber’s face.

BAM!

The robber’s head snapped backward. His entire body went limp, and he dropped flat onto the pavement, unconscious.

Sean landed beside him and shook out his fist once.

Then he turned toward the victim.

As he turned, a gust of wind caught the Chinese-flag cape behind him. It swept outward and spread wide in the air, fluttering proudly behind his shoulders.

For that brief moment, Sean looked every bit like the hero he had always wanted to be.

“Are you okay?”

The victim nodded rapidly.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m okay. Thank you! You got here just in time.”

He reached into his pocket.

“Here. Just a little something to thank you.”

Sean watched as the man pulled out a twenty-dollar bill and a handful of coins.

His eyes immediately settled on the twenty.

Not bad for the first hero job of the day.

Maybe he could get himself a steak tonight.

He could use the protein. He had been getting a little skinny lately.

The man looked down at the money in his hand.

“Oh, sorry. This is all the change I’ve got.”

He picked out the coins and dropped them into Sean’s open palm.

Then he folded the twenty-dollar bill and slipped it straight back into his pocket.

Sean watched the twenty disappear.

His heroic smile stiffened slightly, but he closed his fingers around the coins and forced it back into place.

“Thank you. Always at your service.”

“Thanks again!”

The man hurried away, leaving Sean standing there with the loose change in his hand.

Behind him, Lazy Guy took another bite of his chocolate bar and raised a thumb toward Sean.

“Well, Sean. Another one-hit KO. Efficient as always.”

Somehow, Lazy Guy ended up walking alongside Sean.

The two continued down the street together, talking casually while keeping an eye out for anyone who might need the help of a Local Hero.

Or at least Sean was keeping an eye out.

Lazy Guy was still working his way through the rest of his chocolate bar.

At the next intersection, a little boy suddenly ran off the curb and straight into traffic.

A car came speeding toward him, but before anyone could scream, Sean flashed forward, grabbed the boy by the back of his shirt, and pulled him onto the sidewalk.

The car shot past.

Sean set the boy down, patted him on the head, and kept walking.

A few blocks later, they passed a school where a young couple was having a furious argument near the entrance.

The boyfriend raised his voice and stepped aggressively toward the girl.

Sean stepped in, punched him once in the face, and knocked him unconscious.

The argument immediately ended.

By noon, Sean had already stopped a robbery, saved a child from being hit by a car, and settled a domestic dispute.

Lazy Guy had finished his chocolate bar.

The two were still walking side by side when Lazy Guy glanced over at him.

“You know, Sean, you keep performing like this, the Association’s gonna promote you sooner or later.”

Sean gave him a sideways look.

Lazy Guy seemed completely serious.

“I’m telling you. Maybe Senior Local Hero. Hell, maybe Lead Local Hero someday.”

Sean let out a short laugh.

“Oh yeah. Of course.”

Lazy Guy nodded, apparently satisfied, and kept walking.

What he didn’t know was that Sean wasn’t even a full-time Local Hero.

Section 3: Best Local Hero of the Year

A little farther down the street, they came to a large tree and found a young girl standing beneath it, crying.

Lazy Guy glanced at her.

“Eh, don’t worry about it. Kids cry all the time. Let’s keep going.”

Sean ignored him and walked straight over to the girl.

He crouched down in front of her.

“Hey, little girl. What’s wrong?”

The girl wiped her eyes and looked up at him.

Recognition immediately crossed her face.

“You’re Local Hero Sean!”

She pointed toward the tree.

“My cat climbed up there and can’t get down.”

Sean followed her finger.

Nearly ten meters above the ground, a cat was stranded on a narrow branch, frozen in place and too frightened to move.

Without hesitation, Sean backed up a few steps, broke into a quick run, planted one foot against the trunk, and launched himself upward.

He caught a branch, swung his body around it, and vaulted higher, climbing through the tree until he reached the branch where the cat was trapped.

Sean carefully made his way outward.

The branch bent beneath his weight as he stretched one arm toward the trembling cat.

“Come here. I’ve got you.”

His fingers closed around it.

CRACK.

The branch snapped.

Sean dropped ten meters toward the ground with the cat clutched tightly against his chest.

He twisted in midair, hit the ground feet-first, and immediately rolled twice across the pavement to absorb the impact.

A moment later, he rose to his feet completely unharmed, the cat still safe in his arms.

The little girl ran toward him as Sean handed it back to her.

People nearby had stopped to watch, and applause broke out around him.

“Sean! You’re the best!”

“That’s a real Local Hero!”

“You’re gonna win Best Local Hero of the Year!”

Sean smiled as the crowd continued applauding.

Lazy Guy joined in enthusiastically.

“They’re right!”

He walked over and slapped a hand onto Sean’s shoulder.

“Best Local Hero of the Year—that’s the highest honor a full-time Local Hero can get!”

Sean’s smile froze.

Lazy Guy gave his shoulder another encouraging pat.

“Keep it up, Sean. I’m always rooting for you.”

Sean slowly turned his head and looked at him.

Lazy Guy smiled back, completely sincere.

Sean managed to pull the corners of his mouth upward.

“…Thanks.”

Sean and Lazy Guy continued down the street.

They hadn’t gone more than a few dozen meters when Lazy Guy suddenly reached over and lifted the back of Sean’s cape.

“Hey, Sean. I think your cape’s ripped.”

Sean stopped.

He twisted around and grabbed the edge of the Chinese-flag cape, pulling it forward far enough to see a long tear running through the fabric.

“Oh, shit!”

His eyes widened.

For an instant, the moment beneath the tree flashed through his mind—the branch snapping, one arm pulling the cat against his chest, his body dropping toward the ground.

Then he remembered something else.

As he fell, the back of his cape had caught on the jagged end of the broken branch.

RRRIP.

He had heard it.

He just hadn’t realized what it was at the time.

Sean’s expression turned serious.

“Ah, don’t worry about it.” Lazy Guy pointed farther down the street. “See that tailor shop over there? I go there all the time when I rip my clothes. They’re cheap. Should be like fifteen bucks to fix that.”

“Fifteen?”

Sean instinctively reached into his pocket.

His fingers moved through the handful of loose change inside, then stopped.

He looked at the tailor shop.

A moment later, he pulled his hand back out and straightened his cape as best he could.

“Oh, it’s fine.”

He gave Lazy Guy a casual wave.

“We’ve still got plenty of hero work to do today. I’ll get it fixed tomorrow.”

Lazy Guy shrugged.

“All right.”

Then he looked at Sean with genuine admiration.

“You gotta be the most dedicated full-time Local Hero I’ve ever seen. The others? They’re all slackers.”

The words hit Sean like an arrow straight through the heart.

He clutched his chest and coughed twice.

“Oh… thank you.”

You’re the biggest slacker of them all.

Sean lowered his hand and continued walking.

Lazy Guy followed beside him.

Section 4: The Same Old Local Alley

Eventually, the two turned into Local Alley.

Sean took a few steps inside, then stopped.

His eyes moved slowly across the narrow passage—the old walls, the worn pavement, the fire escapes hanging overhead.

Very little had changed.

For a moment, Sean simply stood there.

Fragments of childhood drifted back to him.

Summer afternoons spent running through the alley with other kids. Neighbors sitting outside and talking. Crowds gathering around street performers while Sean squeezed his way to the front to watch.

Acrobats flipping across the pavement.

Strange tricks that had seemed impossible to him back then.

Coins clattering into hats and metal bowls at the end of each performance.

He could almost see his younger self standing among the crowd again.

A quiet smile appeared on his face.

Lazy Guy had already walked several steps ahead before he realized Sean was no longer beside him.

He stopped and turned around.

“Hey, what’s wrong, Sean?”

Sean came out of the memory and looked at him.

“Oh, nothing.”

He paused for a moment.

“Actually, I just remembered I got something I need to take care of.”

He gestured toward the other end of the alley.

“Why don’t you keep going? See if there’s any more hero work around. I think I’ll stay here for a while.”

Lazy Guy looked at him.

“Oh yeah, sure.”

Sean waved at him.

“Let’s call it a day. Good working with you.”

Lazy Guy continued down the alley and disappeared around the corner.

Section 5: The Acrobatic Show

A few hours later, the alley was packed.

People lined both sides of the narrow passage, leaving an open space in the middle for the performance. More spectators crowded behind them, craning their necks to see.

Benson was among them.

He looked around at the packed alley and the excited faces surrounding him.

For a moment, a small smile appeared on his face.

“Feels like being a kid again.”

A thick wooden post stood upright in the middle of the open space.

Sean came flying horizontally into view, his body nearly parallel to the ground, one leg extended straight ahead.

HORIZONTAL EXECUTION KICK!

CRACK!

His foot tore clean through the wooden post.

The upper half spun away and crashed onto the pavement while the remaining stump stayed upright.

The alley erupted in applause.

High above the crowd, on the fifth floor of one of the buildings overlooking the alley, a window stood half open.

A head slowly leaned out.

Canelo rested against the window frame with a cigarette between his fingers, looking down at the crowd below.

His eyes settled on Sean standing in the middle of the alley.

He took a drag.

“Huh.”

For some reason, the scene felt strangely familiar.

Canelo frowned and searched his memory for a few seconds.

Nothing came.

He took another drag from his cigarette and continued watching.

Down below, the cheering continued until someone in the crowd shouted,

“Hey, Sean! Wood doesn’t really show how powerful that kick is. We need something metal!”

“Yeah! Something metal!”

Sean raised a fist.

“No problem. Metal’s nothing.”

The spectators immediately began looking around for something suitable.

It didn’t take long before someone spotted a nearly brand-new Mercedes-Benz GLA 250 parked along the side of the alley, its body spotless and gleaming.

“Hey, Sean! How about the car? Kick the front off!”

Sean glanced at the Mercedes and grinned.

“Too easy. Everybody, back up.”

The crowd quickly cleared away.

Sean walked several meters from the car, turned to face it, and lowered his body slightly.

The alley fell quiet.

Then he took off.

Sean burst forward, covering the first couple of meters in a few explosive steps before launching himself into the air.

His body turned sideways as he flew nearly four meters across the open space, one leg extending straight toward the Mercedes.

HORIZONTAL EXECUTION KICK!

BOOOOM!

His foot slammed into the front of the car.

The entire front end collapsed inward.

The hood crumpled, the grille exploded apart, and the engine compartment was crushed so violently that twisted metal, shattered components, and chunks of the engine were driven backward toward the driver and passenger seats.

The windshield cracked from end to end.

Within a second, the nearly new Mercedes looked as though it had been destroyed in a catastrophic head-on collision.

Sean came down with the wreckage beneath him, landing on one knee atop the crushed hood.

A gust of wind swept through the alley and caught his torn Chinese-flag cape, sending it fluttering high behind him.

For one perfect moment, he looked magnificent.

The entire alley erupted.

“SEAN! SEAN! SEAN!”

Coins and crumpled bills began raining into the straw hat Sean had placed in the middle of the performance area.

People pushed forward to add more, cheering and applauding as the pile of money steadily grew.

Still kneeling on the destroyed Mercedes, Sean looked out over the roaring crowd with his cape fluttering behind him.

As the cheering began to settle, another man in the crowd raised his hand.

“Hey, Sean! If you can break through metal, what about solid concrete?”

He pointed toward the apartment building beside the alley.

“Think you can kick through that wall?”

Sean followed his finger and looked up at the building.

He frowned.

“No, no. Can’t do that.”

He shook his head.

“That’s somebody else’s property. If I kick through that wall, somebody’s gonna end up with a giant hole in their apartment.”

He looked up at the windows again.

“What if somebody’s taking a shower in there? That’d be awkward.”

The man paused, then nodded.

“Right. You’re right, Sean.”

Several people around him murmured in agreement.

Sean raised both hands toward the crowd.

“Thank you, thank you.”

He smiled and gave them a small wave.

“Thank you very much, everybody! That’s it for today. Great show, great crowd. We’ll do this again sometime!”

The alley broke into applause one last time.

Section 6: On Different Paths

People gradually began to leave, still talking excitedly about the performance.

Within a few minutes, the crowd had thinned and the alley slowly returned to normal.

Sean picked up his straw hat, now filled with coins and crumpled bills, and headed home in a good mood.

Five floors above him, Canelo remained at the open window.

He watched Sean disappear down the alley and slowly exhaled a stream of cigarette smoke.

“Sean…”

Canelo shook his head.

“Man, you could just come back to the gang. Make way more money than this shit.”

He took another drag from his cigarette.

“Now you’re out here doing street shows just to make a few bucks?”

Canelo shook his head.

“For real, bro? This the path you want to take?”