I recalled that I had been dreaming in a half-awake state.
In the dream, I was in a small room.
The room was enclosed on all sides, but one wall was transparent.
There was no visible exit, but I didn't feel trapped.
A frog in a well doesn't know it's trapped in the well.
To the frog, the narrow well is the entire world.
In the dream, the narrow space was my entire world, so perhaps I wasn't trapped.
However, just as a frog in a well can see the sky beyond, I could guess that there was something beyond the narrow world through the transparent wall.
On the other side of the transparent wall, there were two pairs of eyes watching me.
They were looking at me with an utterly emotionless gaze.
In their eyes, I saw a girl with red eyes and black hair.
That was how I looked in the dream.
Even in my dreams, I had become a girl.
I muttered to myself and fell back asleep.
*
Perhaps because I woke up once in the early morning and fell back asleep, when I opened my eyes, the sun was high in the sky.
Well, it's Sunday today, so it doesn't really matter if I sleep in.
I sighed as I took out the bean sprouts from the fridge to make stir-fried bean sprouts for lunch.
It was because of the realization I had while making dinner after returning from the supermarket yesterday.
The oyster sauce and cooking oil were almost gone.
If I stir-fried the bean sprouts for lunch, that would be the end of what was left.
I had planned to buy bean sprouts on Friday and went to the supermarket to buy a zipper bag yesterday.
If I had bought them then, I wouldn't have to go to the supermarket again.
Lately, I've been preoccupied with a few things, so I've been missing these kinds of details.
If I wanted to go out, I had to prepare a lot of things, and it was quite a hassle.
I briefly considered going to the supermarket on my way back from school on Monday, but the thought of having to eat boiled bean sprouts for the next two meals made me decide I couldn't bear it.
I had become someone who couldn't be satisfied without stir-fried bean sprouts...
While thinking about this, I ate lunch, changed my clothes, and left the house.
The streets were bustling with people on this weekend.
Today was the last Sunday of March.
Since I arrived here on March 1st, the first Monday of the month, it meant that I had been Scarlett Evangela for almost a month.
As I arrived at the supermarket, I reflected on the time that had passed.
When my daily budget was 300 won, I used to be grateful for boiled bean sprouts...
Now, I could come to the supermarket to buy cooking ingredients because I didn't like them, and I felt a sense of accomplishment.
...Of course, if my guardian uncle hadn't given me an allowance, I might still be living like that.
But there was no need to worry.
Since a month had passed, in a few days, I would soon have 300,000 gold.
In other words, I was a prospective millionaire.
Or rather, a third of a millionaire.
The units were a bit different, but I decided to ignore that.
With the confident steps of someone about to get paid, I entered the supermarket.
As soon as I entered, I saw a familiar white-haired figure and quickly tried to use a moonwalk.
"Hey, Scarlett. Are you here to shop?"
"......"
I naturally tried to leave the supermarket, but due to my lack of skill in moonwalking, I was caught.
I sighed inwardly and nodded.
Yoon Siwoo, who had greeted me, stared at my left arm and said,
"......Do you need help?"
I can shop by myself.
As I thought this and shook my head, Yoon Siwoo smiled bitterly, as if he had expected it.
Despite having the Invincible Holy Sword, which increases his recovery, Yoon Siwoo looked exhausted.
Seeing this, I felt a sense of unease.
When I saw him at school, I thought I might have been mistaken, but now, up close, I could clearly see the change.
What on earth happened to him to make him look like this...
"I understand. See you at school later."
"Wait a moment."
It seemed that I needed to take some action, so I stopped Yoon Siwoo, who was about to leave.
"I want to talk. Can you wait until I finish shopping?"
Yoon Siwoo, surprised by my unexpected request, slowly nodded.
His eyes, which were nodding, were both white.
This was the thing that had been bothering me the most recently.
*
After finishing my shopping and coming out of the supermarket, Yoon Siwoo was waiting for me.
"Sorry for making you wait."
"It's okay, I didn't wait long."
Yoon Siwoo shook his head and said.
Since it was awkward to stand and talk, I looked for a place to sit and ended up heading to the park I sometimes visit.
After sitting on a bench in the park and placing the shopping bag next to me, Yoon Siwoo naturally sat a bit away from me, with the bag between us.
...The atmosphere was awkward.
This was my first time initiating a conversation with Yoon Siwoo, so it was inevitable.
Until now, I had been keeping my distance from Yoon Siwoo to avoid getting involved in dangerous situations.
However, after my change of heart to save people, I felt the need to improve my relationship with Yoon Siwoo, who would be at the center of the events.
I knew, I knew...
But every time I saw his face, I remembered him crying and telling me not to worry about him!
Ugh!
That's why it was awkward to face him when I visited him in the hospital...
But I couldn't let such a trivial matter stop me, so I asked Yoon Siwoo,
"Why are your eyes like that? One of them used to be black, right?"
"Ah, this...this? It's because of my ability... Ahaha, it just happened this way..."
Yoon Siwoo, stuttering, had a look on his face that suggested it was difficult to talk about.
It seemed hard to pry into the reason.
Yoon Siwoo's eyes turning like that was evidence that he had made a contract with the Sword of Humility, Luci, to draw out the true power of the Holy Swords.
To explain, it's like a power-up event.
If it were just about getting stronger, it would be good news, but such events usually occur after the protagonist goes through a difficult trial.
The death of a heroine, nightmares every night.
Such events happen when the protagonist's mental state is pushed to the limit.
The fact that this happened just a few days after my hospital visit was completely unexpected.
He still had faint dark circles under his eyes and looked extremely exhausted, indicating that he had gone through something difficult.
In the original story, after his eyes changed, he showed signs of struggling every day. If this happened too early, Yoon Siwoo might break down mentally.
If the protagonist, Yoon Siwoo, breaks down, it would be the end.
Just thinking about it made me shudder.
However, Silvia seemed to have a strained relationship with Yoon Siwoo, and the characters who were supposed to be added to the class and become potential heroines due to student deaths were still in other classes.
The only person who could take care of Yoon Siwoo's mental state was me.
It was ironic that he had told me not to worry about him, but...
I sighed inwardly and said to Yoon Siwoo,
"You look really tired lately. Is something bothering you?"
Yoon Siwoo flinched, as if I had hit a nerve.
"It's nothing. I just trained a bit too hard..."
Yoon Siwoo said, looking embarrassed.
Knowing that he wasn't the type to get tired easily, I could tell he was forcing himself to endure.
Yoon Siwoo wasn't the type to show his struggles to others.
He was the type to carry his burdens alone.
People who try to solve their problems alone often end up bottling them up inside until they eventually break down.
Worried that Yoon Siwoo might end up like that, I said in a low voice,
"...I'm worried, even if you say you're fine."
I looked Yoon Siwoo straight in the eye.
"I may not show it, but I care about you a lot."
I was so preoccupied with him that I hadn't even noticed the cooking oil and oyster sauce were running out.
In any case, Yoon Siwoo needed to be okay.
I could endure the awkwardness of facing him for that.
With this in mind, I looked at Yoon Siwoo and said,
"If you have any problems or worries, tell me. I'll listen."
When I said this, Yoon Siwoo seemed uncomfortable and avoided my gaze.
He turned his head away, hiding his face, and said in a small voice,
"...Next time, I'll tell you next time."
Yoon Siwoo then got up and ran off somewhere.
...If he says he'll tell me next time, what will he say when he's even more troubled?
I guess I'll end up playing the role of a counselor.
Holding the shopping bag and heading home, I lamented my sad situation.
Author's Note:
The protagonist is also in the midst of a misunderstanding.
I wrote this chapter while my fever was slightly down.
Under normal circumstances, I would have thought it was just a cold, but given the current situation, these symptoms are scary.