Taryuji
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NilTai Chapter 1
🕑 Added 2025-07-31 10:00:00 +0000 UTCChapter 1: The morning sea
Early morning at the eastern coastal pier.
The sea lay still. The sky was clear. White seagulls circled overhead, as if waiting for somethingâjust like the people nearby who sat quietly, anticipating.
The roar of a boat engine grew louder, until a fishing boat came into view, drawing closer to the dock. A salty breeze blew past, carrying with it the faint scent of fish. The moment one person stirred, others began to move too.
âDocked! Letâs goâlift it up!â A middle-aged man shouted through the sea breeze.
Wooden planks were laid out from the bow of the boat to the dock. Several workers moved together, hauling large foam containers filled to the brim with fishâso full that the lids barely closed. Amidst the commotion:
âNil, drag these foam containers to the truck, will ya? Just pull them along the path, that's all.â The crew leader yelled from the boat.
Nil, a thirteen-year-old boy with long black hair hanging over his face, wore a pair of black-rimmed glasses that hid the darkness in his eyes. He was small and thin, noticeably smaller than the other workers. Dressed in a plain t-shirt and shorts, he simply nodded without saying a word and immediately got to work.
Just dragging the first container nearly drained all his strength. Luckily, he wasn't doing this aloneâother workers gave him a hand here and there.
Time passed. The sun had now clearly risen, and the sky shifted from orange to a brilliant blue. The heat from the sunlight began to press down. The dock slowly emptied of people.
âNil! Thatâs the last one. When youâre done, donât forget to report to the office, understood?â The crew leader shouted again while dragging another container along the wooden rails.
Nil nodded softly, sweat beading at his temples despite the early hour.
He looked down, adjusting the container on the wooden path, ready to push it to the truck. But he didnât notice that someone was walking across the same path up ahead. The planks were wet and slippery, and in that momentâhe couldnât stop in timeâŚ
CRASH!
The container toppled. Fresh fish spilled across the wooden floor. Water splashed everywhere, soaking a white school uniform worn by a boy now sprawled amidst the scattered fish.
âCrapâŚâ Nil cursed quietly.
âWhat the hell?â The other boy muttered, sitting up to inspect what had just happened.
âS-sorry! Iâm really sorry!â Nil quickly bowed, nearly pressing his head to the floor as he scrambled to pick up the fish in a panic.
The crew leader rushed over, having seen the whole thing.
âNil! What the hell were you doing? Didnât you look where you were going?!â
He turned to the boy whoâd been hitâa boy about Nilâs age, with silver-white hair, blue eyes, and tan skin. His school uniform, which had been pristine and clearly not the attire of a laborer, was now soaked and stinking of fish. And most importantlyâeveryone at the dock knew who he was.
âSorry about that, Nong Tai. I apologize on Nilâs behalf,â the crew leader quickly said in a groveling tone.
âHeâs just started working here. Still doesnât have much strength. Please donât take it to heart.â
âItâs okay. PâChai. I wasnât looking either,â the boyâTaiâreplied calmly.
âNil! Apologize to Nong Tai now!â The crew leader pressed him firmly.
âIâm sorry,â Nil said again, bowing.
âGo onâlet Nueng take over for now. You go rest!â The crew leader scolded, his sharp gaze driving Nil away.
Nil gave a small nod and walked off quietly, thinking to himself:
âGuess Iâll be looking for a new job soon.â
âSighâŚâ Nil let out a loud breath.
âThat guyâis he blind or what? Canât he see people are working here?
Out of all the space he couldâve walked, he just had to walk right where I was working.
If I get fired over this, I swear...â
Shaaâ
Still unsure whether to report to the office or not, Nil found himself stopping to stare out at the sea. The cool ocean breeze brushed against his face. If not for the miserable accident earlier, this mightâve been one of the most peaceful moments of his day.
âTai, huhâŚ? Heâs probably some spoiled rich kid. That school uniform looked fresh out of the store.â
âPeople like me... What can we even do? Just surviving each day is already a struggleâŚâ
âWhat nowâŚ? Go home? Not like thereâs anything there waiting for meâŚâ
Shaaâ
The sound of waves and wind washed ashore again and again. Nilâs hair fluttered in the breeze, revealing tired, hollow eyes behind the dark frames of his glasses. He stared at the ocean with no real focus.
âNice weather. Maybe⌠getting fired wouldnât be such a bad thing after all.â
âŚ
âAnyway⌠Iâll just go report in first. Figure things out later.â
With that, Nil snapped out of his thoughts and headed off toward the office to report and collect his dayâs wage.
//This novel, I used GPT for translating. If the language looks weird, please feel free to tell me. //Translating a whole novel is a difficult work. But I still want the outcome to be perfect. So if GPT can't do it properly, I will find another solution >3<
Full res pic:
Chapter 2
NilTai : Chapter 2
Comments
Taryuji
Noted, it is a sea voice effect. Seems I have to check about a sfx. xD
bombthehole1
ooo this is great! I like hearing stories with your boys in them hehe. Only things I'll point out in language is AI likes to use "-" or hang up on descriptors and details... Can just remove the weird things it likes to do XD Also, unsure what "shaa" is heh
