Chapter 17: If Your Dreams are Unsettling, It's Better to Stay Ho That Day (1)
"Hey, you son of a bitch! Snap out of it!"
My hazy eyes flew open at the curse that ca out of nowhere.
I knew instinctively. This was directed at .
"Are you crazy? If you agreed to do it, you should do it properly! You want to see everything ruined because of you?"
You at shield bastard!
My upper body was pulled up by the scruff of my neck. It was a sensation I had never felt before in my life.
To think my body would lift up, fluttering like a paper doll. My vision, which had been close to what could be either dirt or sand, beca clear.
Keok!
Before I could even imrse myself in the surreal impression, it felt like my neck was going to break. Both my feet were in the air, and I desperately clawed at the hand holding my nape.
My breath was caught in my throat. A at shield? What the hell is all this?
"Pick it up and run now!"
My struggles were brief; my body was roughly released in an instant, and I staggered. I barely avoided face-planting on the ground again.
"Run! Now!"
I flailed my arms to regain my balance and looked back. So red-haired guy was shouting curses with bloodshot eyes. His forehead seed to be torn, as he was bleeding profusely.
Only then did other things start to co into view.
"...Huh?"
A gray world. Hazy air. The surroundings were filled with the smoke and sll of gunpowder.
Fragnted boulders and iron scraps were in a ss, as if sothing had smashed sothing else. Loud roars and shouts erupted ceaselessly from all around.
Kaang!
Just as I was failing to get a proper grip on my senses, a colorful lump fell between the red-haired guy and with a sound that pierced my eardrums.
...An arm?
The mont I realized that sothing was a human forearm, my mind went blank.
"Uuk...!"
Before I could even make a judgnt on the surreal scene, nausea suddenly rose up. It was because of the sll of blood that had instantly poked at my nasal passages.
"Run!"
As I was about to bend over from my churning stomach, a sharp voice erupted again. My body flinched as if struck by lightning. I moved my legs without realizing it. No, it felt like my legs moved on their own.
"Run! Smash everything!"
Barely a dozen seconds after I started running frantically. Other people ca into view through the thick smoke. A woman, in a bloody state like the man from before, with an unknown blue light enveloping both her hands, shouted.
"The Phoenix is here!"
The woman glared at with angry eyes and scread.
"Cowardly bastards! A compression bomb!"
The woman, with her face crumpled, raised her hand high, and a blue wave spread out from her hand in all directions. The three or four people behind her were completely enveloped in light.
"Elora! Can you block it?"
Only I, who had slightly slowed down while running towards them, was standing outside.
"It's enough! If you want to die, die alone, you son of a bitch!"
With a sneer as if to say 'serves you right', I montarily saw sothing in my right hand.
Kwa-gwa-gwa-gwang!
It was the mont my eardrums were filled with a ringing sound.
With the sensation of my whole body being torn apart, I realized.
It was a bomb.
***
"Ah."
My eyes flew open.
The gray ceiling I imdiately saw was extrely peaceful, unlike the scene right before it shattered to pieces.
I sat up, my body drooping like a water-soaked cotton ball.
"It's bright...."
I forgot to close the curtains. Sunlight poured in brightly through the window. From the bed I was sitting on, the colorful streets of Eastbourne ca into view at a glance.
Frowning, I wiped my face a couple of tis. I must have slept poorly, as the fatigue was still there.
"To dream that dream of all things."
My back was damp. No, to be precise, my whole body was drenched in sweat.
I reflexively checked my limbs. An unnecessary sigh of relief flowed out at my intact limbs.
"This is annoying."
I was worried I would have a nightmare about the terror attack, but this was an equally unpleasant dream.
"Am I going to have bad luck today?"
Tsk, I clicked my tongue and imdiately tidied up my spot. I felt like my mood would only get worse if I stayed in bed.
I chugged down a glass of water from the bedside table and checked the baby's crib.
Lottie is still in dreamland. Looking at her, my dizzy head cald down a little.
I sat on the windowsill and admired the familiar streetscape. Since I first ca to Astava, I had been living in this city, so I had been here for three months.
Well, I was actually in the dormitory of Remble, the advanced academy in Eastbourne.
Even after I washed up and ca out, Lottie showed no signs of waking up.
"Shall I take a walk?"
She's the type who doesn't know a thing even if soone carries her away once she's asleep, so a short walk should be fine. Mago is in the next room, so nothing bad will happen.
Even if it was just a dream, it was very unpleasant to see sothing I didn't want to rember again. I needed a change of pace.
"Lottie, Hyung is going out for a little bit."
This choice was a truly excellent move.
Camila had said it didn't matter since it was all known anyway. That it would be even better if or Lottie moved around and could lure out the terrorists.
But, that didn't an only good things happened.
***
The morning air in Eastbourne was refreshing. The corners of my mouth twitched on their own, as if I had never been in a bad mood.
The fresh weather of autumn. A well-maintained street with few people since it was early. The sll of baking bread wafting from sowhere.
'...The sll of bread?'
n and soboro bread.
I entrusted my body to my two legs that were moving on their own as I recited my firm creed. The steps I took felt sohow familiar.
A small, old shop the size of my palm. An exterior that looked at least several decades old.
"Arsen?"
"Mr. Philemon!"
I couldn't hide my delight as soon as I stood in front of the familiar shop. No wonder the sll was so good.
The sll of golden-brown bread rummages through my brain. At the sa ti, the few mories I had from before ca to mind.
"Arsen, how long has it been! What brings you here! Didn't you say you got a job?"
"Circumstances changed, so I changed jobs. Wow, the sll is no joke."
Mr. Philemon, with his generous impression, was the sa as ever. At the touch of his hand patting my back, the past three months at the Center sohow felt like a dream.
"But you don't look well. Is work tough?"
As I followed him inside, a cup of lukewarm tea was placed in my hand. I felt my heart grow drowsy. The bad mood from that damn dream completely dissipated.
I'm lucky today. Because I t soone I was happy to see.
"No. It's just that it's a bit tough, which is unavoidable when you're trying to adapt."
"Right, right. The world is not easy. If a person starts to complain, there's no end to it. Your mindset is just right, Arsen."
Mr. Philemon, whom I hadn't seen in a long ti, was talkative. As we exchanged stories of what had happened, almost an hour flew by.
"It's already so late! I'm in trouble. I haven't even prepared all the ingredients yet!"
"Shall I help a little? Should I wash those?"
As I offered, Mr. Philemon hesitated and blinked his eyes.
"Arsen, that... it's a bit much to say this when we haven't seen each other in a long ti, but...."
Hmm. Seeing this, it's probably that.
"If you're not busy, could you help out a little today? As you know, it's not easy to find people these days."
A one-day part-ti job? Camila wouldn't get angry, would she?
She didn't say I couldn't do anything in particular.
"Oh, of course. But not for too long. There's a place I have to go."
After a mont of thought, I nodded. I don't know about others, but I have to help Mr. Philemon.
Philemon Bakery.
A small bakery where I once worked part-ti.
Even though I only worked there for about a month, there was no way I could forget this place. Because it was the place that gave my daily bread when I was starving day in and day out due to an avalanche of debt.
He always gave a bundle of bread before he went ho when I was working as a night guard for the shopping district. And it was delicious too.
"Really? Thank you. I'll just ask you to help until lunch. Don't worry, I'll give you a generous wage."
"I'm fine with the wage. Just give so bread when I leave. I missed Philemon's soboro bread so much while I was away."
"Of course, of course! I'll give you a generous wage and plenty of bread, so be sure to take it, okay?"
Mr. Philemon, with a hearty laugh, put a white apron around my neck.
Uh, wait.
This is so kind of deja vu....
***
'Ahjussi....'
Exactly two hours after I said I would help, I regretted it intensely.
'Was this a popular hotspot?'
Business wasn't bad when I worked here, but this is too good.
Ahjussi was baking bread nonstop inside, and I was ringing up custors nonstop. And packing was my job too.
People I hadn't even seen were flooding in as if they were launching a human wave attack.
Are they possessed by ghosts who died without eating bread? More than that, at this level, they should have two employees, not a part-tir, but he's been doing this all by himself?
"Please form a line! Hey, you! Please co this way!"
People lined up in front of the bustling Philemon Bakery. I shouted until my throat was sore, but it was a chaotic ss.
I wonder if Ahjussi is putting drugs in the bread or sothing, the custors just kept coming.
Displaying bread on the stall outside, coming back inside to ring up custors, cooling the freshly baked bread and packing it, displaying bread on the stall outside again....
'The Center was a beekeeping farm.'
To think I'd rather be looking after a kid. Ah. Was childcare this easy.
After a long storm, many of the custors had left.
"Now I can live. Mr. Philemon, can I have a glass of juice?"
"Of course! Help yourself to as much as you want from there."
"You should rest a bit too, Mr. Philemon. Your arm must be falling off."
"Oh my, how can I rest. It's lunchti now."
"...Pardon?"
Right. It was now ti for lunch.
"There are a lot of custors, right? Thank you so much, Arsen!"
I couldn't just curse at Ahjussi, who was smiling good-naturedly while wiping the sweat from his forehead. I forced the corners of my mouth up and clutched my trembling wrist.
And so, round 2 began.
11 AM. I moved my hands chanically like a Bungeoppang Tycoon.
After my arms went beyond numb, I reached a point where I was confused whether I was a thousand-ard Avalokiteshvara or Arsen. After that, work beca much easier and I even had the leisure to look around.
'Wow, that woman is super tall.'
In the very mont of going from the right to the left. Literally, a crane was standing among chickens.
A peculiar person who caught the eye, dressed in a black suit that fit perfectly from top to bottom. She was wearing a black hat pulled down low, so her face was not visible.
But I didn't have ti to pay deep attention to such trivial things. Because I was floundering in a flood of people who had gathered again.
"Ah, that's 20 qu...ri."
Kkiririk!
The mont I kindly held out the bag. A noise like scratching a blackboard with a fingernail scraped at my brain.
"Eok!"
[Negative Contact!]
[Negative Contact!]
[You must collect the clues!]
[Please use the correct route!]
[Please be aware that any other encounters will be nullified!]
"Oops! Are you okay?"
Fortunately, Ahjussi, who had co to collect the bread pans, caught my staggering body, but I couldn't get a grip on my senses at all.
This must be what it's like to be hit in the brain. A strong impact echoed through my entire body.
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