The Babysitter Wants to Stop Dying

Chapter 17: If Your Dreams are Unsettling, It's Better to Stay Home That Day (1)

"Hey, you son of a bitch! Snap out of it!"

My hazy eyes flew open at the curse that came out of nowhere.

I knew instinctively. This was directed at me.

"Are you crazy? If you agreed to do it, you should do it properly! You want to see everything ruined because of you?"

You meat 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, became clear.

Keok!

Before I could even immerse 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 meat 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. Some red-haired guy was shouting curses with bloodshot eyes. His forehead seemed to be torn, as he was bleeding profusely.

Only then did other things start to come into view.

"...Huh?"

A gray world. Hazy air. The surroundings were filled with the smoke and smell of gunpowder.

Fragmented boulders and iron scraps were in a mess, as if something had smashed something 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 me with a sound that pierced my eardrums.

...An arm?

The moment I realized that something was a human forearm, my mind went blank.

"Uuk...!"

Before I could even make a judgment on the surreal scene, nausea suddenly rose up. It was because of the smell 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 came 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 me with angry eyes and screamed.

"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 momentarily saw something in my right hand.

Kwa-gwa-gwa-gwang!

It was the moment 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 immediately saw was extremely 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 came into view at a glance.

Frowning, I wiped my face a couple of times. 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 immediately 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 calmed down a little.

I sat on the windowsill and admired the familiar streetscape. Since I first came 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 came 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 someone 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 something I didn't want to remember 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 me or Lottie moved around and could lure out the terrorists.

But, that didn't mean 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 smell of baking bread wafting from somewhere.

'...The smell of bread?'

Men 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 somehow 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 smell was so good.

The smell of golden-brown bread rummages through my brain. At the same time, the few memories I had from before came 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 smell is no joke."

Mr. Philemon, with his generous impression, was the same as ever. At the touch of his hand patting my back, the past three months at the Center somehow 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 met someone 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 time, 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 time, 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-time 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 moment 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-time.

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 me my daily bread when I was starving day in and day out due to an avalanche of debt.

He always gave me a bundle of bread before he went home 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 me some 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 some 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 customers 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-timer, but he's been doing this all by himself?

"Please form a line! Hey, you! Please come this way!"

People lined up in front of the bustling Philemon Bakery. I shouted until my throat was sore, but it was a chaotic mess.

I wonder if Ahjussi is putting drugs in the bread or something, the customers just kept coming.

Displaying bread on the stall outside, coming back inside to ring up customers, 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 customers 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 lunchtime now."

"...Pardon?"

Right. It was now time for lunch.

"There are a lot of customers, 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 mechanically like a Bungeoppang Tycoon.

After my arms went beyond numb, I reached a point where I was confused whether I was a thousand-armed Avalokiteshvara or Arsen. After that, work became much easier and I even had the leisure to look around.

'Wow, that woman is super tall.'

In the very moment 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 time 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 moment 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 come 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.