AEPOB 14

Chapter 14

The footprints left in the mud from yesterday’s rain were even more vivid.

Kiki crouched down beside them and traced the shoe prints with his hand.

In his mind, Abelle—whose feet were as small as his own—floated up.

She said she’d lost her memory.

When he heard those words at the market, he hadn’t believed Abelle at all.

But gradually, Kiki realized that her words had been true.

Because originally, she had always looked at him with contemptuous eyes.

Even if she hadn’t bullied him directly like the other children, there had never been any goodwill in those jade-green eyes when they looked at him.

But Abelle had changed. Recently, she’d even started approaching him first.

Abelle, who said she wanted to be friends with him.

As if she carried some grave mission, she asked everyone she met about him, and before he knew it, Kiki found himself following Abelle from the shadows.

Though he’d almost been caught once at the end.

*What exactly are you thinking?*

Kiki moved his steps toward the spot where Abelle had been diligently pulling up poison weeds earlier.

Nearby, the ground was sunken in the exact shape of Abelle’s small bottom where she’d fallen.

At that moment, a pleasant laugh echoed through the quiet herb field.

Kiki sat down next to the spot where Abelle had fallen. He pulled out the meringue cookies he’d kept carefully tucked in his pocket.

It was what Abelle had finally pressed into his arms before leaving.

The fluffy meringue cookies looked just like Abelle, with her chubby cheeks.

As soon as he put one in his mouth, the cookie melted away, and a wave of sweetness swept through him.

“I want to be friends with you too.”

He quietly voiced the feelings that would never reach Abelle.

But he couldn’t keep Abelle by his side.

Losing someone he cherished—his mother alone had been enough.

Just then.

As if refusing to allow even a moment of hope, a desolate wind passed by Kiki.

Someone whispered in Kiki’s ear.

*―If you want it, you can have it.*

The words offered were always sweet, but always sent chills down his spine.

It was too alien to be a human voice, and it even felt grotesque.

“Shut up!”

Kiki struggled not to be captivated by the voice’s owner. But soon, pain as if his entire body was being torn apart engulfed him.

It was time to wake from the sweet dream.

Before I knew it, warm light was seeping through the window, tormenting me.

It should still be night, so why is it so bright?

Lying in my bed, I grumbled and pulled the blanket over myself. To block the light from my view.

…Huh? There’s no electricity here, right?

Since this is a mountain village, the only bright times are morning and afternoon.

I kicked off the blanket I’d pulled in my sleep. This was no time to be lying around.

Getting up from the bed and looking outside, as expected, the surroundings were already bright.

“Huff, this is bad!”

What if Kiki misunderstands and thinks I don’t want to be friends with her anymore?

I quickly washed up and came down to the first floor.

But no one was there.

Only a note and a sandwich left by Dad sat alone on the dining table.

[Bell, you seemed very tired, so we’ll go to the herb field ourselves today. I made you a sandwich, so eat it when you wake up.]

I bit into the sandwich and put the note in my pocket.

Then I ran straight to the herb field.

At the very least, I had to show Kiki that I still wanted to be friends with her.

Where did they go?

Even at the herb field I arrived at, the two were nowhere to be seen.

Wondering if we might have crossed paths, I hurried back home.

*’When they’re done, they’ll probably come home. Then I’ll naturally run into Kiki…’*

Lost in thought as I walked, I found myself on the bridge.

I stopped for a moment.

Staring blankly at the river from the bridge, the past few days suddenly flashed through my mind.

The days before I possessed this body, when I could just do what I loved.

*’I thought things were finally settling down…’*

If ten years passed here, how much time would have passed in the other world?

Not knowing that made me anxious sometimes. Afraid that so much time would pass that there’d be no place for me to return to.

The desire to go back as soon as possible surged within me.

At that moment.

*Poof!*

The sudden appearance of splendid flower petals forced me to face reality once again.

[Unlock!]

‘Success Point Usage’

For you, who desperately wishes to achieve the final goal, we provide a new additional reward method.

From now on, upon completing all missions (including sub-missions), Success Points will be automatically accumulated.

Would you like to use Success Points to receive help with your missions?

―Success Points Held: 1

[Y/N]

Now additional rewards are appearing…?

I looked at the chat window with wide eyes.

It seems a bit suspicious, but… if it helps with missions, there’s no reason to delay.

‘Yes!’

The moment I chose Yes without hesitation, strength gradually drained from my body.

No, what’s happening to my body?

I tried to move my body in every direction. But unluckily, I tilted the wrong way.

Damn it.

In an instant, my body leaned toward the river. The water grew closer before my eyes.

*Splash!*

‘You bastard chat window! You said you’d help me!’

I can’t even swim!

Was wanting to go back and trying to take the easy way out such a big mistake?!

The body that had been moving weakly now completely stiffened.

‘Shit. How dare you lie to me, chat window?’

How many fraud cases have I handled in my time?!

The days when I used to laugh it off, saying it was a disqualification as a legal professional whenever I heard someone around me had been scammed, passed before my eyes like a lantern slide.

Yeah, back then I never thought I’d be the one getting scammed.

It’s all because of this damned chat window!

But my fury toward the chat window was short-lived; my consciousness began to blur uncontrollably, and I became dazed.

*Bubble, bubble.*

Air bubbles escaping from my mouth rose toward the surface.

‘Am I going to die like this?’

Without even putting up a proper struggle.

I’d even lost the strength to keep my eyes open, unable to grasp my situation.

And in the midst of all this, I kept feeling like something was pulling me downward, so my body must have been slowly sinking even at this very moment.

‘If I die, will I go back to my original world?’

I’d seen cases in novels where water was used as a medium to travel through spacetime, so it wasn’t entirely hopeless.

‘If that were the case, I’d gladly accept death…’

But the flow of my drifting consciousness gradually gave way to helplessness—the feeling that I could do nothing.

‘What can I do now that I’ve even lost control of my body?’

The only rope left was the chat window, but that had already rotted and crumbled away.

‘At times like this, it’s better to give up quickly and accept reality…’

But the situation wasn’t that simple.

Just enduring the pain of death creeping so close was hard enough.

‘Urgh…!’

I’d been holding my breath to avoid swallowing water, so my breath was now choked and blocked.

When my instinct to survive reared its head, only then—funny enough—did I feel afraid.

I’d been about to give up on everything just moments ago, unable to move a single finger.

Yet still, I wanted to live.

‘I’ve lived desperately all this time! And the reward for that is such a pathetic death?!’

It was too unfair to die like this.

I put all my strength into my body until my fingers and toes went numb. I tried to move even a little, but it was all in vain.

Soon, my limit arrived.

My lips, which I had kept tightly shut until the end, could no longer hold on and began to part little by little.

At that moment, as if not to miss the slightest gap, the icy cold water that forced its way into my mouth quickly filled the empty space.

The experience of not being able to see ahead and having my mouth fill with water in an instant was enough to drive me into extreme terror.

‘I don’t want to die like this!’

If I lost my mind here, it felt like everything would be over.

I struggled to hold onto my consciousness until the very end.

Just as the boundary between consciousness and unconsciousness began to blur.

*Splash!*

A loud sound of something cutting through the water reached my ears.