After 8 long hours of work, Ethan was walking home. It was a warm summer night, and even people kept the city busy and vivid.

The only thing Ethan wanted to do was to shower and eat ramen watching TV.

— Oh, I almost forgot — said Ethan to himself — ; I have to buy food.

He walked a few more minutes until he got to the supermarket. Then, entered and at once headed to the snack section. Ethan took a package of instant ramen, an orange soda, and moved to the cashier.

— Good evening, sir, — the clerk said.

— Good evening — Ethan answered, distracted.

— That'll be $15,99.

— Here you have — Ethan said, as he pulled out a $20 bill—. You can keep the change.

— Oh, thanks, sir! — the clerk thanked.

Afterward, Ethan continued his walk home. When he arrived, he opened the door and headed to the bathroom to take a shower. After doing so, while he was drying himself up, he looked in the mirror. 

He saw the face of a tired man. 

Even being young, the dark circles in his eyes and wrinkles on his forehead seemed to make him old. He used to be athletic, but now he had lost many kilograms. 
— Six years of university. What do I get for that? This damn, enslaving job — Ethan cursed.
When he finished drying up, he left to the kitchen and prepared the instant ramen. He sat in front of the TV, turned it on, and began eating. There was nothing interesting on the news, but something caught Ethan’s attention. The National News Channel (NNC) had an interesting header. 

Mass disappearances worldwide.

He raised the TV volume.

— We are getting reports from our journalists... practically every country in the world is reporting that many people are vanishing. We do not know what is happening, but we hope for the best — Jack Richards, a known journalist, said.

Then he witnessed something terrifying.

Jack Richards disappeared, leaving nothing behind.

And not only Jack. 

Over 1 million people disappeared that night.

Including Ethan.