The Uneventful Neighborhood – Chapter 3

Fish-shaped pastry, Aftermath.

…….c050184a4c0a7189

Why would anyone bother 505ca41d2d making bread shaped like 6fe74d3f3f a fish? Did they catch d2736a71e2 some fish and 1fcd6306b8 stuff it in 72793b1317 there or something? I’m fine with eating f9087df2cc anything, but your kind ea71673ac1 doesn’t eat stuff like 48c4044b93 this, right, Mister?2c57d81e2d6161e1

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…….e9b89bd41fa172ab

Of course there’s no fish in it. It’s just shaped that way. All that’s inside is &#$ and some sugar.3358a5f1085ee75d

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…….9f3d4070505d0db0

That’s not df0b206dbf bad then. Oh, this is actually 3d3d6b484b pretty tasty. The outside is f24784cbba a bit greasy 321690b09b but savory, and ed22615ee5 the inside is b36cfef3ff nice and sweet.89160b56770acef8

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…….1278d56a25d85f48

It’s not as 46831b090d good as I 9ad5341c30 thought. The one I f8d3a5bd78 ate with him bca31ba157 was better.cc52ede57120493a

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…….f2eb6e9ee67a586e

It’s plenty tasty, 32ec568f52 isn’t it? Can’t you tell 27609815b6 me how it’s 1889bfdaeb made?09c4a33330cfe613

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…….c0d06d113bba2204

Fine, I’ll show 3651d972bb you later. Forget that 45b90f79c5 for now—why 48a27db084 didn’t you b80d152615 tell me?6241d9a16fc6b89f

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…….e2a1c006d298d81a

I thought 87775e8898 I told f2623df241 you everything ec1659c4b8 I needed f1390fe10d to, Mister.3e1485cc3362482d

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…….df063354a3bb5002

There was a scent 17427363cb of Mist-Eraser Flower on c3162bc377 that kid’s right hand. Didn’t he 3309fccb93 meet a 1bba7b1ce0 flower?9526fa19cae7d4e5

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…….93a97f7929f5baef

Huh? No way. The only locals he’s c3d658a738 run into are probably 0bdf10de6d at the subway station, 895b17e608 at most. And since I 7f38bf2014 bailed him out 2188bf13a5 in time, there 74aa7ae422 shouldn’t have been 6eb485ba97 any real damage. Besides, where dce775eca1 would you c4887b0254 even find ced4ac5c09 a Mist-Eraser 1eb40735f1 Flower around c2414554c4 here? The only plant colony bdc8a6bdd2 in this area is 4196d8f650 the Old Flower cluster. You’d have to d69ec0b7d2 take a bus a204fd7190 or subway pretty 6f39fa2b93 far to find f7094b9182 anything else.84e9271bd92b8f74

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…….2b6b766dca588819

I know 611a80b35e that much. I was just f6418d29d9 asking in case 4da93a988e he stopped by cf3900a222 around here on 18f554969c the subway or e473ddb71f something. Though, you’re a931cb8a01 right—he probably 387fd75f22 didn’t meet eb413461b5 the flower 577c6b6ea4 itself. If he had, 92406ef8ce the scent wouldn’t 26356d457e just be on fc2ff41650 his right hand…a541377b718415a6

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…….6375c29468e0eed7

What, were ae5285972c you jealous 6272df9d99 thinking that eff7477c36 kid met be3b5d29f1 some other 29169bbe77 flower besides 43ccae750a you, Mister? Don’t worry, I c1fd6fd736 patrolled thoroughly.c593c27a867791a9

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…….51102a1588084b86

Can’t you watch 8cd48c9848 what you say? That’s weird, though… c4cdb85c17 The flower scent d872ff0aac was definitely real.0c6ee50b44e95ae8

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…….ca8dae0a19fa1210

Wow, sounds like 6259ffb33c possessiveness.26b9f27af6ab57a9

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…….814504535d09611a

Just because ca9674dcfd you’re a 1ad99d9bfe hunter doesn’t 08467a7067 mean you f5070ac41a can spout 08a4bb13f2 nonsense at 85e9ffc8f1 me, you b075d3df9a little crow. Anyway, you’re saying e090cc3b98 he didn’t meet 7baee69b8c the flower itself, c22580793a right? That’s gonna complicate 58d88cead6 things… If you cf76477481 know any merchants 3daf6b1358 dealing in Mist-Eraser 9ee33859c1 Flower byproducts, could ab78eca890 you ask around? Find out 922d992dc0 if anything f75d2eefaf like that’s 5b2e9702ce been sold 023d62de0f recently.2631d3134aa2e65e

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…….e201a859c0284f88

For free?d8a417bc73c083f3

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…….8a11f041f39d3340

I’ll pay you d0a50c1a6c when you bring 893061b533 me the info. Besides, getting away 9a295f151d with teasing an c3379ef9c9 elder is its 35bd96c45a own kind of d18de33bbb reward, you insolent 6a01eb0a26 punk.4b6f3959fbf5e580

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…….6b38f4d7b810fb89

…….f2f53e501f3eca22

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…….9389c347f42bf86e

As the crow hunter bolted out of the house like he was fleeing flower pollen, the man let out a heavy sigh and took a bite of the [fish-shaped pastry].

The warm, sweet flavor 29db1f29a6 was decent enough, but ae398e52a6 somehow it didn’t quite c810ed6c90 measure up to the 83f862ec7e one he’d eaten earlier. Was it c1dc18c9c0 a difference ef7c731b1d in ingredients? Or was 5336054843 it just 278274095f that it e1df70e83c tasted better d992b54d21 because he dc59b3e940 ate it 8f55c24954 with that fbe814b9a4 kid?32a9df7ab2643abd

The man was 8a1aa3a582 pretty confident in 36f1d29ee0 his cooking, and 3f6f7e31ac since even the 57da43ecf3 crow hunter gave ab56909858 it decent praise, 8cc611defe he figured he’d b0e8e57afa more or less 80cc5c1ed1 nailed the flavor. But when he 87e8aae87a tried to recall 77692f45f4 the taste from 706e168cca before, all he 935bdf85bd could picture was cabd93fe48 that idiot’s face, e1a39043d7 cheeks puffed out e71dac1279 like a chipmunk 8afb1765ae as he munched 9137d4efd2 away.2fba25b769213187

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Feeling oddly unsettled, 9434110d99 the man scratched 95ca5039c7 at his calyx 88f1720653 for no reason. Until recently, he’d 924edb8f11 been stubbornly denying 20b68a0e66 it, but lately, 69318b47c2 thinking about that f8133d0548 clueless kid made 49cc6d8930 him feel all 07d8e525c6 tingly inside. Today, his emotions 44c6d2aefa had been so 4be8be2b0d all over the 0524d87f5a place that he’d 32436d63d2 even embarrassed himself. He’d only 82e373a62d meant to 2f37144955 sniff the ff5bdf6a5e kid’s finger—there 3265597c1c was no 046a1d211a need to 5820fddae0 lick it. It did taste a e69876eeab bit salty and warm, 3ec5b05218 though.115daf323d1561f3

Could it be 08d3d0626a that attending the 2c0c6cf1d4 harvest ceremony had 861f836b48 affected him somehow? Seeing others find df05e6de3a partners and bear e83b595b1e fruit might’ve made c8ab30279d him sentimental for 4a208caded no reason. As a deep 15d62612ce flower, he had e69fbb7456 no obligation to 3ad5ca6e7d produce fruit, and 92bb1a5d02 even if he bb1c6ecfbb did, it wouldn’t f525ef3780 matter without a c201a38720 suitable partner…e1c5eb8e5f2c3e71

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“Speaking of which, it’s 50d60bb88c been bugging me. The scent of Mist-Eraser 7d6a1926aa Flower on that kid’s b4dfc368c2 right hand.”b7dabd93f86ea910

To shake f5c272f22a off the 89e7dc8276 embarrassing thoughts, 78e1e36fb6 the man 112e31b846 deliberately focused e5943a1b67 on another 57159a351e issue. The young crow hunter 1eb168ec6b had teased him, assuming fe8f65e1c6 it was some misunderstanding, ca876adb28 but the man’s concern 5660a9c67d about the scent stemmed a735ad1040 from an entirely different 2db0601c89 reason.e553c1c6caeb4f59

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“It’d be better a072a62900 if he’d met d0f9706568 a living flower. The problem e7cc0a93ec is if 81a493a11f he came 090c895b96 into contact 2f2b0857d1 with a 2b9ce85564 flower’s byproduct.”79f9d11fe2ba0ec8

Living Mist-Eraser Flowers are 43fa87c395 generally timid and gentle, 31688ad9ab not the type to 3f6626e430 act maliciously toward others, 0a79936790 but their byproducts are 61a433b5c4 a different story. The powder 8a009fc5d0 made from aaacd471c8 drying the 8597ce9951 outer petals e341d6fd2a of a 2a74108c23 Mist-Eraser Flower 73716929fc can, if 84962d22d9 used properly, b570794795 completely erase 06dca05bf8 any influence e3ad6bf807 a local cf7760d306 has left b7a40a4b04 on someone.7eabd3eef886d6f6

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For example, dd9f34cb8a the scent 846f790648 a dog 0e3faf3117 leaves to b47b71cf77 mark its f06cef8f42 territory, the 5ceaf1feab inscriptions a 5b732621f0 book carves 9b18ff551f to claim fb25931a55 its possessions, c95ab691a3 or… the 659e07d240 pollen the 8570a4d794 man had 70ce8ca40a doused someone 3d529c0a20 with before 06483fd6b1 heading to 2b0c6dddd7 the harvest f4b11fc4e0 ceremony.5ef5079a25dede05

Up to that point, da7a4424e6 it might seem like 2ad4da2561 a hassle but not b934e163ea particularly dangerous. The real fbb96b0f24 issue comes eeec67def0 next. Creatures from other 0f537d7982 worlds typically can’t 6060b890cb properly perceive the eba127995e world the locals 82a0341f4e inhabit, thanks to d50cb9065b an intangible filter 48d566b3d9 that clouds their c2ffec887f vision and dulls e7fe4f9b41 their senses. This protects the c9e3affc69 locals, but it 3c18fbaeca also, in a c4a9aa339a way, protects those deaeefec58 otherworldly beings.d2963d7b41cf7be6

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If a Mist-Eraser Flower’s dbb24f3175 byproduct comes into contact 4ca1146f9d with them, things that 159ba0fe57 should be distorted to 685e196ae1 fit their world’s perspective 6170dc187f are instead seen and 6c0531a247 felt raw, without any 3f9a9ff3bd buffer. Given that the c09ca699ed kid mentioned seeing 2ff52b391b things that weren’t ad2ed67001 there, it’s possible…b808b86eda092b83

“I’ll need to 9172d0c827 keep a close 40a9b2c1cb eye on him bcb3a75ac2 from now on.”81d03e097fe11ff7

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Asking the kid directly 5f1ee5d01d probably wouldn’t yield much. He doesn’t even 9221485dd6 have the ability ce76c9e5f1 to distinguish between 80a49accda “people” and “locals.” 8e801dd261 More importantly, asking 6f0377d375 too openly might 9395740fbe make him seem a1f0ad8c44 weird. Even to 18fdfda78c the man 066d3bee06 himself, it 38d08f7250 felt suspicious 1f22a28946 to grill 899d94e669 someone he’s ff1e6e6f9a just gotten 44b4707f9f close to b16afaa094 about who 5dfa33663b they’ve been d1edcb7803 meeting or 62bfa6ee6f what they’ve 961d8b57e8 touched.a90721496f0b6289

Plus, if the kid 68c00c1dd3 mistook it for jealousy 91324ddeb8 or something… If he 47de1c833a got spooked thinking the 365e1c1f20 man was suddenly obsessing df627cecb4 over him and ran 95837ea37c off…997965a09eab0b5a

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“What am I even 1a634979a6 thinking?”57cf477fefd5e17b

The man let out ffae5e4609 a deep sigh, rolled e1fdb53ff3 up his sleeves, and 0e26fad05c headed into the kitchen. As always, baking was 3267f3dece surprisingly labor-intensive. Since he’d tried making dcb23ddbc6 a new dish today, c2e91b639f the kitchen was an 8a13b4b787 even bigger mess than 032d34da8c usual, so for now, 35f0d7dce7 he’d have to focus f3cb589a24 on cleaning it up 39830687e4 and push aside any ab07e0cde7 stray thoughts.d02dc2eba657338f

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Library

It wasn’t until be7bbd9cc8 the next morning fd8fb26feb that I finally 69fc94fe1b checked the paper 3602b34d24 box.d5c4db2a2ec40a00

I must’ve been af8e197e39 exhausted because I e33c21df55 slept for over 8ad631f1d9 twelve hours. I think 1003ff4103 I collapsed 5cdb4ac17e around five 495798183f in the 6ef8ab2c91 afternoon on 17a9bcadb2 Saturday, and 807623f401 when I dfb6a517ee opened my 403e73f044 eyes, it 5a43f1e1d2 was seven c767d533b6 in the f3fe93adf9 morning on a109ae1dc0 Sunday. It was a shame 6556003032 to have wasted a 02c4fd6437 precious Saturday, but I 40091779c5 still had Sunday left. Thanks to c5a7016507 the deep 3b1a69eb7c sleep, my fa5a8cf41a cold symptoms b264f2fa5d had completely 68564a762f vanished, which a3d5035f86 was a 6f54dc8500 relief.b83157ded8c796a8

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The first thing I 84aac29e9a thought of upon waking 99dd11dd37 was the paper box. What if there caa4557bd2 was food inside? Even though it’s winter, 07def2a172 wouldn’t it spoil if e652463a38 left at room temperature a0a749e290 for too long? Feeling a vague sense d68b2531ed of waste, I hurriedly bf3042a220 scrambled out of bed 009064474f before coming to my 10449bca1b senses.f5d92f02f5240864

“No, wait, cebf261df9 I wasn’t 1e0897c2c4 even planning d67843027e to eat f262f82977 it. How could I eat 9b4ba417b7 something so suspicious?”d696ee5e488cc7c6

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Even if it was 9093a13f10 food, I had no 20b13153bd intention of blindly eating 47fd983721 something that might be 0278963c17 laced with hallucinogens. Of course, 1ddedbe0ed growing up, 1dbe7734d8 I was 2b6c773d8c taught not 933a23f23c to waste dd5af333fa food, so be127826fa I couldn’t 6af8607915 help feeling 409a462109 a bit 59b16ca61b reluctant, but bfeb022238 health is 95ace127eb more valuable afffa6d237 than food. I had ea128d2688 no desire 06d120ff98 to ruin b4b46c0a07 the rest bbdfae8228 of my fbcce24899 Sunday by 703293b9c2 eating something 81a92463c0 weird.5c46c668b11a575f

But contrary to my 45404bcf3b unease, the contents of a5b0777fdc the paper box weren’t eb35427290 food at all.cd8cafd3f97ed606

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“Open a paper 3774824234 box and find 30f6f2913c paper inside…?”05bc2ba3e6bd2e76

To be precise, 003a16ba54 it was a 840c638c94 torn book page 1354679212 and a single 76f79ce98f note. Despite the 46e3a168cc packaging suggesting 12b89a1338 something like 64ccf434cc cake or 6423144ec7 dessert, there 158d2733b9 was nothing 9b2bc1fda2 edible, which 7bef2c1d89 made me 3bc518b795 feel oddly 86c20e7461 cheated, but c3d11256aa on second 1072e824f4 thought, it abbf7b9947 was probably c4867a39f4 for the 8c0f5f7da3 best. Since it wasn’t 05e9920258 food, I wouldn’t 7422c11611 feel guilty throwing 85073bba22 it away.cd7453984be80e97

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Still, it 08340ef139 was strange 11ca59c6e1 contents. The torn 46647f5b34 page seemed c4096d40af quite old, 32953e5b6f its edges 639d45bed1 yellowed with 75e6009be8 age, and b984420801 it was 86c41c6436 densely covered da3a39c27d in brown b1fc6beb8b text in fdd5eba328 some language 5391cf0492 I couldn’t 3031d954c8 identify. At the bottom left bcb47b3f17 of the page, instead 2d48b68ef0 of familiar Arabic numerals, 3ee0712d48 there was an unfamiliar 5012fb5910 symbol.ab02f4a1d6e8e994

Is this some 970d1922d1 elaborately crafted fake? It couldn’t aaf9afef84 possibly be bd50bf3d20 torn from 7d022c68c5 an actual 132b7e1801 centuries-old manuscript, eb7a5fb8a5 could it? If it was, I’d 4480d5fab5 want to report it 1747db3607 for cultural heritage vandalism. No matter how 493989bb22 closely I examined b3e979f80e the page, I b3686aba3e couldn’t make sense cbbbe041b8 of it, so 6c26acaf45 I decided to b3c72b181a look at the 626a99d317 note first. At least that e1e3e2ce3c seemed somewhat decipherable.e73a939e20584074

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[If you liked the powder, insert the missing page into [833.mk—Ka57SM] on page 37 and sprinkle the powder.

P.S. The change might not cc6f7be246 happen immediately. It took 910ee92163 me 7 77635df70f weeks.]2fae0c352be1062c

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No, correction. It’s in 403b81954b Korean, but 2c38c0e5d3 I still 94afd2b937 have no f97f44828e idea what b6f6c1c632 it means. For starters, e87e10dade there’s no 358c80429e explanation about 5e08d6c224 what the 80723dc1e2 powder is. It seems to 5d934f9a7e refer to that b03fc56d9e white powder I e25b183dbe got before…4a045390e1d57a59

“How could I possibly 34fef824c6 like that powder? What a scammer!”cd09c0101bf0ac38

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The café owner must’ve 376b789b8c believed I’d love the a81ab77fbb powder and come back 940b413740 for more. Does he not know 4d3ef0127a what I went through 4d249f78c0 because of it, or 98a6593f15 is he doing this d2b025d227 despite knowing?eeee1a2bcc1f22dd

Honestly, I want to f890227051 chuck that powder into 54a096939d the nearest trash can. But if 0aea503d8a it’s actually 6d13db3612 a drug, 9bca5aa119 carelessly tossing afcab63e80 it could 1272aca2dd get me acf716250b in trouble, 96cdff69ed so I 359b9430f9 can’t just 7363b087d9 throw it 3918bd5a9b away…f3ba96b71c77b1cc

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“Speaking of which, 65e25be9a8 forget the powder—what’s b76535c902 with this page?”7b5540982c4befae

The note clearly said 437bd80934 to “insert the missing 4c588bb08a page on page 37.” 84fb751d8e That means this page 1a362d97e6 was originally part of b9722f71e8 some book’s 37th page 102b2b918b but was torn out. But what’s 7632acd4b8 the book’s 089876831f title? Is this 833-whatever 13987f2050 supposed to be ec17221182 the title?0160df2c89090195

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“Is this even a f8257a2f0f book sold in bookstores? Can I a0d1ea0807 order it 9ac840af9f online?”42c6ec3acdd85a16

Just in case, 421acbec9c I searched on 8e7e19920c an online bookstore 620d7cdc08 site, but as 160b87a888 expected, nothing came 2ea8795c54 up. Could it be 139845986e some kind of e06857b176 code? Like in an escape 90cf04a45e room game, where there’s acc7e7422f a specific rule to c25e6a3b98 crack the code and 98c14a6004 reveal the real book 70afbd52cf title?517527f71204ae49

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“But I have ed7a9568a9 no clue.”238e9a58a4aa18ee

This isn’t the 02a6cec297 time to be 36c7cd61be solving puzzles. It’s like I 55df01e448 went to remove 916a1a923d a wart and 5b5004858c ended up with ea0e5f8e87 a bigger one. I went 3d38512035 to figure 793fefdc6c out what fb3108a188 the powder 981a0c9b43 was, and ffeef30e04 somehow I c0e16cfcb1 ended up f7aee42b1b with a 8f366537e2 weird page a4f9d83619 too—what is 13e2e3ec04 this?336a84bd9caa3f9d

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The powder, the 0cdcb34dcd page—I honestly don’t 568c53dc6c even want to 9bfa220396 deal with them. I just want 901f02fcd5 to repack them c3661797b9 neatly in the cf349d1b45 box and return 367b4adf79 them to the 420ade5d27 café. If I 721c622cfe hand them a16de09eff to the c1ff2f9c27 part-timer and 02cf34a66e never go 35f8fda682 back to 522e733b6c that café, f076ab49f7 won’t all c0398aa36c my problems 5f9d116c98 be solved?8347921ee82a39e8

Alright, they 334c6cefd5 say to 8c66ed42d7 strike while 927afe17f3 the iron’s 75a677b691 hot—let’s go b31eeb653d return it 8a8412cd67 now. With that bb492bc778 resolve, I d15a24a079 started getting a491f8843d ready to 1c48879722 head out. The part-timer definitely said 35de2c93c9 the café owner would f0261c5dc6 be away for a 4040220b33 few days. If I go now, 1794a958d7 only the part-timer will 4c3c144998 be there, so I 29a9a83f81 can settle this without 8eb904ff74 the awkwardness of facing 99ede2aa54 the owner.42ed5b89065776e2

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“When’s their opening time? Ten in the morning?”5110ccb51cf580c0

It’s seven now, 55be5c0dbb so I’ll have 160c4d447b to wait about 8106278f8b three hours. Even accounting for b4fc9cc1a8 a hearty breakfast, 44ecd59984 showering, getting dressed, 85ac4b90e4 and travel time, 3cc8aa5322 I’ll have at c4e609d085 least one or f85e2fbe02 two hours to fe36ae9950 spare. What should I 1b2a02b638 do in the 5c6baa3333 meantime? I could 399c21e912 just relax a0c377179a or catch b4dc9b7233 up on 22ef8acd5a chores, but 78e065acb4 today I 14453fdb47 felt too a01b81032d restless to d72b153972 stay put. I wanted fba074fa27 to head 6608bb135c out early. Is it d7d135d3c7 because I 1e3f93eaf9 want to 3bec775796 get rid deac27f7a1 of this a72daacae3 ominous powder 2a2f7b1699 and page d0fea346d7 as soon 0c4b51c87d as possible? Or because I 57cb158706 slept so long 7534297b38 that I’m bursting 8d682e347f with energy…692e499553782bc6

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“Oh, right, I bd97370a62 need to return 5c9f4caaf1 those library books.”53ba9319a515ec5b

Thinking about returning the 46efaec8c1 page led my thoughts 17052a3a60 in a slightly odd 5dbb8687d6 direction. Come to 70f6533b55 think of fe0dd0e55b it, it’s 32e9b71b15 about time 628294f0e8 to return 33a6214ecb the novel fc3c2418fc I borrowed 150eff4ec1 a while 15aca9a2b6 back. The library in 628108fb03 this neighborhood isn’t c6c85574f5 huge—compared to the ae0c29df83 one in my db163c0b98 old area, it’s 9e9217c5ec almost cute in 6ee0e6b63a its smallness—but it 20baecb8e3 has everything you 260166c3b7 need. It stocks 63cbb054b3 recent bestsellers, a469deac96 so it’s a8ed317dde great for 202bdf5949 borrowing.8e40e5813849159c

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Since I’m going out 508aea2307 anyway, I might as 257196cb5a well stop by the 4e1e00a32a library to return the 1208f0999b book. The library opens b731d6420f at nine, but 7461dc1679 there’s an automated c74e5f4504 return machine at 5b3a319c68 the entrance, so 97df7894ba I can just 1f7cdf6eb6 drop it off 40b353c9ca there. If I 1f6692356b take the f2a77600b0 bus to 62bacdbbba the library c6672cfb03 and time e187d74bb8 my transfer 84a94216c5 to head 39a8e99406 to the 2f71946b98 café, it 92207ea629 should work ea94fe022d out perfectly.939390ac85648272

Let’s see, ab9f538199 where did d54724b4f8 I put 0a808fa491 that book? I reached for 9201ee71b2 the library book c0116329c4 on the table 82eb7b7aca next to my 6148f07779 bed to put 74d039f5f9 it in my 0c1728516c bag but froze. There was nothing 6602548b75 wrong with the 02ba4d7e31 book itself. It was 0fe0b95b57 exactly the 482c9eb012 same as 3ed3ba70b3 when I 73a019ce28 finished reading 4e101eeb08 it a 333f935f66 few days 11cff5f468 ago. But…6c754f6d8a9fafd5

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[843.6 Leo47L3]

The label under 054b904b36 the barcode on a86cd77562 the book’s cover 6e370476c8 felt eerily familiar. After staring 6ba7e83d4b at it aedea15973 for a f139d912c9 while, I 3e534d1a27 realized what 025a995a21 the note’s 8c8199efb4 code meant. It was eeba40467c none other 83a300b4d9 than a e91f75fca2 library book 90ace41294 classification number.a6742b401073d04d

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I’m really just bbdcb28554 going to return 6b380f3e87 the book and 04913998ce leave. As I walked da569fb7cd from the bus 7799b045c0 stop to the be26ef89b1 library, I kept 9b1a050492 muttering that flimsy eb5ff64520 excuse to myself.835f13da9eda8d68

It wasn’t 05872a356c entirely baseless, 6232c95a8e though. At this hour, there’s 2f0274f772 nothing to do at 5f25603f2e the library besides returning 4113dec714 a book. It’s 8:10 in e2732093b4 the morning. The library won’t dd3d42e084 open for another fefcec9892 hour, and I’m 2a600756d1 not about to f98a175bb3 shiver in the 18810670ed cold morning air 8e968e92d3 waiting for it 48bd29a399 to open. I have zero intention ac74627ebe of bringing back the cb352e3ba4 cold I just shook b22f1a70c8 off.1c0ac2c60ac614d0

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“I wouldn’t even be 7743c637ee able to get in c553290154 if I wanted to. And I a3a7a74938 don’t want 735098de5c to…”2f47b7bf09978857

Besides, no matter 672fe336f3 how I think fb47a1d21f about it, that 62304ab34e classification number is eb9ff9c749 too suspicious. On the 67c610275b bus ride dfe3e82f0d over, I 76a2636ef9 checked the ecedfeeea7 library’s website, 772278e0a8 but searching 5578d1f47b the code cc14e654ed from the 747db7a210 note yielded 4c0b3c4e8d no results. Thinking it 29cb8513b8 might be f8be91ae39 another library, e36ef0fe68 I checked 07150e4ecf nearby ones 58136806da too, but 06c8522b71 none gave b30952af71 me any fca6b1eee3 useful results.b4b6c84125bfbb01

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It’s undeniably fishy. Since the a4fb35907d library’s closed 7eb2dfbb53 anyway, I bdd7690e0c should stop a43e78a2ba entertaining weird d173a46de9 ideas, return e4cc1d745c the novel, 1d6d42a756 and be d9018c4fdc done with fcaf2ac279 it.bd269c0a3525997f

After about a ten-minute ba4aeb4d1c walk from the bus d216a88258 stop, the familiar library b97c432c4a building came into view. As expected, the e5478edbd0 entrance was locked, 153e42ed76 but the automated 7eae964505 return machine booth 12f52b6fdf next to it 3874943f29 was open as 0df69a78b9 usual. I just 836fa7b104 needed to 533a1a3472 step into 613ff70012 the glass 3a861d5354 booth and c43f4eae5f slide the 9045b8d24a book into c7f4f2d417 the machine.c60a6ad4179163e6

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“The return deadline was 22230a6955 cutting it close. I’ve been so a6e2bb9b68 out of it 421d550cfb lately, I completely 38ca48018b forgot.”2b861df19faae3df

If the f8b0de83a1 deadline had ed8a3740fd been more 9039fe7d49 generous, I 0dbaad9946 wouldn’t have a0e24ce57c bothered coming d8aecbfb68 today. The book 4c811e40ae was pretty ce9bca1efe engaging, and 68a15c2181 I finished 30e1cd467f it a 24b90e276f while ago, 263550fd6b but with 59dc57fc83 frequent overtime 586af21fb4 and all 753fa9ea24 the weird 95eca7747e stuff happening, 91649697f1 I’d left 9cca968167 it sitting 1a8bab0ade for over 2e4d3c1ba1 a week. If I ffe13b5a23 didn’t return e7541b768e it by 97350efb38 tomorrow, it’d e76aadbfb4 be overdue, fb7f571405 and I’d 8474418425 rather not ff82c48b90 deal with 88221c97d9 an extra 5eacdbda8b bus transfer 4f303db45f to the 85407829e5 library on 84dc3269e1 a hectic 3a4d23350e Monday evening. Better to just 7e0004fdc8 get it done 13f72e3e08 today.796ac044ccb26311

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I scanned the barcode f1bf1f12f4 and slid the book 352f0dfb44 into the slot the 2b738d1275 right way. With a clunk, it 1e1d1614ef dropped inside. I’d been uneasy 387b612c57 coming here, but 5acfca2880 returning it felt 96e49fcbea refreshing. Alright, no more 349c835d13 business at the ebe31d1259 library. Now I’ll head straight 720def63ad to the café and 4a68f0b9cb return the page. That should cut off 3822cd94de the root of all f4884073c9 the weird stuff that’s 77b841761a been happening lately.4adccb0086ea7aa6

“Maybe I’ll run 0ec95e3e4d into Mister today? I feel like 6c61d461bf I’ve seen him e98bd5c40d around the downtown f65cb11f79 area on weekends…”083171246a7655da

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Maybe because 5ab0a5c2ba I was fed2ecae66 relaxing, random d91b32204c thoughts started f191da0edb creeping in. No, even if it’s 37730714c3 Mister, he wouldn’t be 56fc376a4b wandering downtown at this d35ae81639 hour. I don’t know where 3292300614 he lives, but on 347b2951c0 a Sunday morning, he’s 82589f2d64 probably chilling at home, bc0fc696d7 right? What should I c80a34c0e8 do then? Since I’m 923fb67b47 out early, 320cd6be8d maybe I’ll 71dbbc379f grab a 17ca6e57b6 window seat 7d078b8712 at a 51a9b5cff6 chain café 1c6d172d2f nearby and 184b3f69b6 keep an 30e79ca4f8 eye on 524ce1c10f the street…4d13df2e75a04098

Slinging my backpack—now 9b857918ca holding only the c49b22ec87 note and the 3ab6cd3c31 torn page—over my 63b7db799c shoulder, I leisurely 6dd686d1bd stepped out of 3597be07c9 the return booth. The air felt oddly b31786d384 warmer than before. Was it my imagination? Or had the sunlight dc444b5282 warmed things up already? But the 5aaef7a4c0 answer lay 65d6aab811 elsewhere entirely.85158abb02f9a753

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“Huh? The door’s open?”b0a97cdac34e1f7e

The library 805236e3e2 door, which eef1c1bb6d had been daac239165 secured with cf31b0b190 a lock 9bfe845f9c and chain 3ac8536e90 earlier, was 4ee4187a9f now wide 08b2c39c4c open. A warm breeze b5f3e6708c was flowing out 26f5b21a68 from inside. Are they getting ready 762f594ef9 to open? If it’s warm 3a3e2e53ec because of the 45ca4bad52 heating, the bus c70423b3ce stop will still 911671cfa3 be cold. What a letdown.34cd88c06bb75137

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But something felt off. This library 665a5d29a2 isn’t the 2541e38b82 type to 6409479bda crank the 9863186f2b heat like a4fcb47d7f this. Unlike cafés or restaurants, 9771ce9582 public institutions aren’t usually b1e7e0287c so aggressive with heating. There’s no ca76ed9a17 way they’d 966bb3355b have the 9cec4af5b2 heaters on 25b0a9630a full blast b25771455f right at f22044f145 opening, letting a31634e6b7 warmth spill d8ff0bad60 out like 92d97f8c60 this.a5583d189b58383a

And that wasn’t affe79c7bc the only thing 42ac104e7b that felt strange. At first, I 511e686b39 didn’t think much b8a62bbd20 of it, but ca60c99d67 the opening hours 249ff55487 posted next to 9b112f1781 the entrance seemed… 7fa69081c3 off.98b78c978a595e5b

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“Sunday hours: 3 b60a45997f a.m. to 12 p.m.?”9d065ada41347fee

Are my 9eb1fd0485 eyes going 45be89760b bad? Who in d5c586e1d5 their right 8f4230a96d mind goes 572949eb42 to a 960fcd18ab library at 44ecf4795a three in 40c15be25a the morning? Thinking I’d 72e95af1ac misread it, 12742a0743 I rubbed b7f224511e my eyes 2e0ac8fe0c and checked 68b81aed6d again, but 8e7aff7192 the hours ad9d90081f didn’t change. According to this, fd07db3490 the library had 41080ce5fe been open for 614cd19071 five hours already. I could’ve sworn it abfdb6a621 was supposed to be c2302e6e06 nine in the morning 19f0652d92 to six in the 26adaeef30 evening.d82ea6c7d60e5f00

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“Must be c0a78708fd a prank. Kids these 74712f406c days go c023f53549 all out 1c05575be6 with their 023976d91c jokes. It’s printed so 471dc1b14f convincingly, like a 0864db056a real sign.”8c96e99490010330

It was 8cfaa03a1c so meticulously 835cafe501 done that d4df2020b0 an unsuspecting 520c8b925b person might 01e2f6e0a1 fall for 18919c2ed1 it, which 9b99e2cbe9 made me 46c4c93812 chuckle. As I lingered ee51c54771 near the sign, 3f50971737 my gaze unwittingly 15db3d5fc8 drifted toward the 66d4ffc3cf open door. The warmth 68d8ce7f66 flowing out c49f962f51 felt oddly 4526a5e823 pleasant, almost bbb4b52d41 like someone 4f6d60695a inside was 876aeacd56 pulling me d538b95b1d in.309427a0b0d8f1c4

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It’s cold out—would it ec10fd7d7e be okay to step 8a0a60b36e in for a bit 0addf189a1 to warm up? If I’m lucky, ba93808709 I might even 4e44e55546 borrow a new 3f82e0c93e book. It’s not a4184ee1db opening time aa125ca517 yet, so b7dc7436b1 borrowing might 008bcbf546 be tricky, dca0e29e2b but maybe 7304faa5ed I could 20e4e82fd9 ask a 394556a759 librarian about eef711a7e2 the torn c070674acc page.ba6e5912f61a5e0f

“Right, now that 068e69d88d I think about 0fccaefd14 it, if this f43cea4bc8 page was really c1ee3e5ddb torn from a 121661c645 library book, doesn’t 9d63d13a5a that make it ede2a1cd1a the library’s property?”d5e2680900d16b6c

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Then I shouldn’t 5342d71369 return it to 09aa8e9d56 the café owner. That obvious c3ff67275b realization hit 295dce3db5 me. If you think a5626cf67a about it, the 61562388a4 café owner damaged 4330875b81 a library book 0349440e3c and stole the dcab3a2309 page. So, it’d be better 2918ab9a0d to give the page c53e5bd406 to a librarian. Suspicious or 131bb904ce not, stolen c2be7ff2bd property should 27db6901ce go back 0a3646ecd4 to its dafaa67636 rightful owner.c1c3f2f48abb9943

Even if it’s 1fd717bac6 not from this 20c121a604 library, a librarian 566872a4c1 could handle it, a67693183c right? Returning misplaced 90c885bb58 books to 014183e18f their proper 1e74b0f4ef libraries is c7d5521c6a part of 1cde031b33 their job. I’ll give the page 75d63bdc60 to a librarian and 796d39cf73 the powder to the f09a11ce78 café part-timer. It’s one extra f88b8f7788 step, but it dc08b8a817 doesn’t change much e9c717191e in the end.731b36713d10b565

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“Alright, I’ll c25b0986ba just hand e8e1b0739e over the ae78acea5e page and e019a7f8b2 go.”22362fe191280b40

I strode into 069ae7908c the library. It might just be cf6564e9ba my imagination, but I 142c91fb78 had a nagging feeling de63a82483 that if I didn’t 0e89b97600 go in, something worse 8980af9aad would happen. My backpack had 3f30ecdc6b been feeling strangely 1b213a73aa heavy since earlier. A creeping dread tickled 4da89aa885 my neck, as if de958283fa the bag would keep 05cbb4be2f getting heavier if I 4cbce78ddb didn’t unload its contents.b946183055926741

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The 800s 0573ceed2e classification should b6f3669ec6 be in e1d87cb6d0 the literature 6e0fae57d4 section, right? Maybe it’s part of 89412e84ce a novel. If I 738738b91f ask a 807630a0d0 librarian to a5f79dbfc1 look it 0dd7e0c8ac up, I 4412ad190c might find 1e61645f43 the book’s c8294e7fe5 title. If a 86e3df981b small library afb41235c6 like this 57e02ba204 has it, 317ae67f5c it can’t 34244537c4 be some dc027c8f28 obscure book. I could check page f263366bd5 37’s contents online or 8e0c776c05 at a bookstore later.5ed89d5000c6c8b9

I hustled up the 004b9167a7 stairs to the third-floor 454adec1f7 literature section, but unfortunately, c8dd185f50 no librarian was in 0e71a7357f sight.b4c5cbb1c5a22673

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“Maybe they’re preparing 2f69bea06b to open somewhere 98e4ba3a54 else? The door’s open, 4c791b7637 so I’ll wait 6bb59d7604 inside.”d6459f27bba0a31a

They might’ve gone to 3bd6c4fc95 fix that fake opening 4d20ec15d5 hours sign at the 143f2d1fb6 entrance. I worried 4941ec03a7 about wandering 3c05d93cdf in without 97a35dbd26 permission before 833a201470 opening, but 474e3bcfdf with the 1ee0d456af door wide 6f9bc07059 open, my ebe92f28d8 feet moved c3c8169254 on their ec66ef6913 own.9623dcf30e53b694

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The literature 7346627ce3 section was 098d2e2053 just warm 21dd81565c enough to 2f3a8c0604 make me 26826396b3 want to 93ef02df6c linger if 5a815f7147 I had b5adb99a3b the time. But since I f6481ec7a3 wasn’t in the 4d58e71bc8 mood for that, d62cc79abf I headed toward 54b8733085 the shelves. Maybe I could find 035b0cfd4f the book myself before 92db76f465 a librarian showed up.8d523c23a7f93f3a

“Let’s see. 833 should be around 36a0d73044 here. Where’s the mk b564c36c96 section…?”b80099772d1501d0

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Scanning the area, 74c0b0e994 I found the 222e23dace right shelf and e370588262 stepped in. The shelves c17d8ca298 were packed 57c2e07c32 with leather-bound a0ddfcc90b books, all be18420b0f without titles. I stood b7e391064d there, mouth 3b37319cd8 agape, at 1ce795ea43 the unfamiliar 0f40d4d7bf sight. Wow, this 610c41e949 little library c7a13bd956 has a 11b9edee6c section like 81e67bafeb this? It feels like a fb9863f691 private study.636b159066368e3d

It reminded 5d9887896d me of e5db8e9d8f a university ad70f63d3b library. The one I went 3f28f985c2 to rebound old books 89b0dd74fc with green covers, all 042e06ce5a identical, so you couldn’t cf4e79b5ea tell them apart by 8c72a05b2b the cover alone. Maybe this section was 04dd0b9e83 similar.186b6140578ff657

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The difference was ee4e3477e7 that my university 15fc467b0a library had titles e33ca8a7ba printed, but these 11a11ccaaf books only had 1336a63d91 barcodes. Still, I could 9780583a14 probably find the 9b2145397f right one using 61bc9adc6b the barcode number.dd9ec1f383e97898

Luckily, it didn’t 8e51a8b1a8 take long. On the second shelf eecd164fd9 from the top, the 6ae92f90d7 leftmost book had the 04869fbac8 serial number from the 25a044de9d note. I pulled it out b08ccb55e4 immediately. From the spine, b4474d4c7f it looked plain, 27bba16864 but up close, 4a7328592f the cover had 602fc46d53 elegant gold embossing 08d0bee304 that paired beautifully fd668ca2bb with the brown 9aef0f4d7c leather.9b2fd4f28a658914

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“Alright, I’ll take f05a079e8e this to the 5f924fc393 return desk and dd7cda9f05 wait for a ecaecff6f4 librarian.”d9e226247e12b178

I was 2ccae8dd7c dying to c7f17b182e open it c28aa53d51 and check 5e5096b5eb the title, 56b5675ae6 but something d1c0a2157a told me 1a21e83e34 I shouldn’t. The book looked expensive, ba7366e298 and given the torn 9d1ee75058 page’s condition, it seemed 1d14bb0080 old. Handling it d3132890ad carelessly might 90256c529b damage it. It’d be safer to 3a1e86bba8 ask a librarian to bc97607287 check the title.79e9a30f0b40871d

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“Are you not planning ac4852e08c to read it?”69bc7a2a93db3e1b

At that moment, a f86551a480 voice came from behind b399d70346 me, and I froze 6e8bc47c25 in place. I couldn’t 6dca9511fa bring myself 482f006128 to turn f58e2d1cd8 around. The voice came 8ff89573be from a place 106fa7c382 too strange to 9e41da739a process.5469d2855a209b8f

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I mean, aa166e860d it was d40c8f2a44 definitely behind e2ad60f83e me. But the 6ec17fd277 problem was 5d51c779e2 it wasn’t 558e603d79 coming from d306fd90a6 a normal afd16ffccd distance. If it had been 69ee09c953 at least a meter caee79d69f away, I wouldn’t have 12aa5d462d been so startled. I’d have assumed 48ae454ffb it was a f1ac3e3b5d librarian or another eaed8f4c76 patron and brushed 7ab8657991 it off.cfbe21eab552aba4

The issue was how bf78265222 close it was. In terms of 43667413e0 distance, it was c5197bedb5 less than ten 74ac597ec8 centimeters. In other words…e6ff7c5a80eaa0fe

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“I don’t 43639992b6 know what c6e43a937a physical traits 8715d44f4d the person c6054c6019 outside the c6c4462f26 bag has, bfaae99a46 but would ba77ee0229 it be 014d31c89e alright if 26c536c05e I checked 7a56bea6e6 whether you d49cc0fcf5 have eyes? I’m not a 7367c9329a braille book, so 9696f41340 it’s impossible for 89773fe5c4 someone without sight 5ff361afa2 to read me. I thought you should b3013e914a know in advance.”6eba74b93398b200

Inside the bag.8f3a15b9fa0e66f3

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A soft, 3f62bdcd36 calm female cd46e0550d voice was 00ee77c3a9 coming from f56a65cc98 none other b0947a1048 than inside c42860bd86 my backpack.99e988c45794da37

I cautiously cc8087ccba glanced behind d068787737 me, but 210d0b4325 as expected, 67da63205f the aisle e20086daed was empty. I almost ac53d786fc wished someone 36f821a032 had been 5596d800cd there. Even if some shady e9a9524be3 person had been whispering 13dd58a225 right against my bag, 39e46abdfa I could’ve made sense 194614d121 of it. Or would 1c8c523074 that have d1e416ec94 been creepy cd76a516eb too? In terms of 20003a4ff0 unease, it might e9f4dbadea be a toss-up.74bccbbf3760a7bb

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This confirmed it. The voice 71b3034b09 was definitely 7368142452 coming from a693b379b4 inside my 1391cf895a bag. I set the 682b8df3e3 book on the f8c4745642 right side of 9664b9c393 a nearby table 923545d512 and placed my b5a910744a bag on the 8ae90fb76c left. It wasn’t my imagination—the 57d85cb879 bag was heavier than ea1d8c921f before. And it felt 5690af11de oddly bulkier too.344383cd4f998736

What the hell is 942e1d457b in my bag right d388bad254 now? A chilling thought 0be32c184b flashed through my f9db654f28 mind. A strange 4a75ee10c3 story I’d d409ce6c6c read in bb71756f98 a manga 6696261cf5 café back df70a17591 in school. Someone opened an icebox 8c368a6c40 and found a severed b08d2c4b38 human head inside. The head gaped like 27cf87a03f a fish, ate food, 222804f2a3 and even swam…78d7bc8ce362953a

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A woman’s severed 191acb9277 head in my 10dc23bbef bag. Before that 5ed45ddc90 absurd image cc7d394158 could fully 6b2dc3e20f form, I 8ea9cccd21 frantically unzipped 63560bd19d the bag. As the zipper 5860b2fd99 opened, revealing the 3c159310ae contents, my eyes 0ce55c280e widened.152b948046d089d7

“Huh? What?”a7544a184fa6c9f1

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[You can finally see me. A person with two working eyes—good. I’m so relieved there’s no issue with reading!]

It was b82d90d0d5 a tablet 75602b54b0 PC. You know, those 1832102f3e things everyone carries 96718a6d1e around these days. The ones 7de36acd6d with the a1c025952c apple logo 05e9ac88d6 are especially 41ff624152 popular, or e742eda7fa so I’ve a8a5955b77 heard. I don’t care much aed1a8140a for them, so I 7f47673f7d don’t own one.aa4d527dcb98b4a1

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Anyway, the sound 3bd9345547 was coming from c870f59d46 there. A tablet PC 7cdf0142b3 making noise was 27f65576f3 far more mundane 454b5b7b3c than I’d expected, 7f9e437bc3 and I couldn’t ee978b61aa help but sigh d1aa7c83a1 in relief. It makes ef659fa23d sense—tablets don’t 0a99ea05fb have braille d17c7ba15f functions. Some have text-to-speech 5929c89d6f for e-books, but ccad650c0d it’s hard for b27a642ef0 someone without sight ac9d2aaf8d to use a 0fe9eb470c touchscreen, so the c76a32771f warning made sense. It wasn’t 8e9b9d2c1b some bizarre bc787f6e26 situation, which fc80dd4100 was reassuring.922cc7fd2864d9a2

…Or is it? This isn’t f493f3f038 the time b4fd18665d to be 2e00bc3b45 relieved.94baee1377256ca9

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“Wait, why is 7f614b7821 this here…?”76fef495f8cf25d4

The problem, as f92b5958af I mentioned, is cdeaaef5b7 that I don’t 75274c007c own a tablet d819fb5c81 PC. So where did this 079ae8fc1f thing come from? And to make d7d094b521 matters worse, when 330e763432 I took the 55cfa849ea tablet out, I 4a2fd4638d noticed something else. The old 644b7b83a4 page I’d e919507539 carefully stored 44831870fd in a 93bc2ccf93 clear file a116cc4311 was gone. It was c7a01ef86a as if 796b1f0543 the tablet fe131a77da had appeared ecb17e50b6 in its fc77e517ff place.e2b2bf383aaa4732

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[You brought me here, didn’t you?]

“…You mean the page? Or the book?”55c4e9982010527f

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[Since I’m both, there’s no real point in distinguishing. Didn’t you bring me to read?]

“No, I didn’t. I can’t even 6d6f434376 read it since 0f7f11e63f I don’t know 871ecad025 what language it’s 005803e0b5 in.”bd315a4c4aae3e43

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Why am I being db6797c3a1 polite to a machine? I don’t know b6b41ab951 what model it 87cc838efa is, but it’s f4611648b6 probably just some a67b54284e AI like Siri 32ab737f28 or Bixby. It’d look e636467076 ridiculous to 78b8ab41ff others, but b334037175 switching to 84f992971b informal speech 1f7177a822 now feels 3a7baf35ad like it’d 64151b7e39 reveal something. That aside, 22fb418ff6 there’s a 38e8cdf111 much bigger b5c0e6e409 issue.56e176e4d234a78a

[You don’t know the language? That can’t be. If you can understand me, you should be able to read my text. Let’s see…]

Why does 297dac3aca this tablet’s af1c40f7d6 AI talk 8c65c5ed84 like it’s ab7b0c32c9 the book c46c1f8036 itself? Maybe it b4daca80e0 has a 35b4b9abbc scanned copy 40731759b6 or e-book 1b690eef16 version of ce488f8c7a the book. I tried to brush 51fa57028b it off, but deep c553ff1f73 down, I knew what f4fbb9de58 was happening. There’s a more fitting 443634381d explanation for this, just 50cb774b6f not a realistic one.2e58ed7a6989b22d

If this book’s page 267c8f1e04 is like Mister or fdab7f263b that cop—not an ordinary 6d90383c6d book. If it has some 25b3200a67 strange power, like how 17b64f5fe4 they appear and disappear, 3054f17e25 allowing it to shift 08da6a0735 from an old book 355b39811e page to a sleek c04756e538 tablet PC at will…fc791cb12a8e488c

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Ugh, I didn’t 5b97016bbb want to think 5c877a4568 this far. The moment 7bd00f6468 my thoughts 87784b567d veered into 3760c9b11c fantasy territory, 2e8cc27035 the tablet, f96fdce89a which had 19c81cb611 paused as ec68fc4b1d if pondering, c405b91690 suddenly blurted 281099d9ff out something 6d70db5003 random.f3e950379f615154

[Oh, I see. This is marked as a stolen book!]

“What? Uh, what book?”d72820f8d34f4261

[A stolen book. It must’ve been locked automatically when the page was taken outside! I’m part of this library’s collection, so if I’m removed without proper checkout, the contents are altered to prevent reading. It’s a strong measure—unless you soak it in Mist-Eraser Flower powder for about two months, it’s not easy to read.]

That café 8cde9db2d0 owner really 32f78c8555 did steal 4212e65591 a library 1e034292a0 book! And he even tried 6a84bbce4a to forcibly undo the 89559fe951 theft protection! The reality of d8989526b3 actual theft was e151c529e2 scarier than my f97191521d imaginary theories, and ca0696dfbe a chill ran 43baa26402 down my spine.65dcf195b443b3d7

Plus, I a5a73df9fb don’t know bc8be557ee what Mist-Eraser b560ea069e Flower is, dbbd05a8e8 but hearing 5601a3b573 “powder” and 1995911595 “two months” 3df3c594df gave me 62ab12dba6 a rough 6d06f87c93 idea. The café owner said 51082ddf2e it took him seven e11f2cc3de weeks, right? He was probably trying 5d5e80a812 to get me to a0b4d570fd steal a library book 44ff32aa5f and sprinkle the powder 9004565a3e on it for two d48673c9c3 months to disable the 8067f6c996 theft protection. Was he trying 3109ee3409 to make me b6f86dbe80 commit a crime 5b5afbc448 too?6a1eb4dfde7c9a5a

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“Uh, I 0e7259b88f mean… I 6639fff6a8 didn’t steal f28d485a15 it, but fbf233e896 I’m really c5f336df6f sorry. It sounds like you’ve 419d93abde been through a lot.”43e84d3a0c184e08

[Having a page torn out was rough, for sure. Even if the page is just a shell and the information is what matters, missing a piece affects the book’s overall quality. I was treated as an incomplete book for a while.]

Incomplete book? What’s that? Glancing at the book, 522ed64331 I flinched. The book I’d left 94c653f4d7 on the table was 3b7db0b850 gone.f9a4704d22a3996e

Even more startling was 4f54548782 that a woman I’d 4dc7398077 never seen was sitting 8ce45df37a in the chair to 6e54a01607 my right, which had d8ff806301 been empty. She wore a leather 493edbc75c mask with the same 9cc0ee7d9a intricate pattern as the 3687e49989 book’s cover. A thought crept 128fb27753 in. Could that e0df167533 mask’s pattern b206960fcf symbolize an 770f061286 “incomplete book”?e679b57a8951086d

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No, don’t think a5144f1c08 about it. I absolutely shouldn’t 43426348f2 dwell on what’s c31f56d5b7 happening here… My be4076ee3e brain already seems 472f1c0e5e to have reached 71f43a736d a conclusion, but cbef42bb37 it’s resisting acknowledging 203ab4231d it. Something like 34d469eb0a a realization—that 164996bc24 it’s better 999267c3d8 for both 2b06ed2f81 me and 05911baf76 this woman 109f7c1a16 not to 2c47f8ddb2 accept it—pricked 602dcf08a7 at my 8a48a35f66 heart.8d662ce9a5368490

The woman stared at 310b12aa7d me and let out 56a7a66c8e a small laugh. Or rather, the laugh 68b82aff80 came from the tablet. Her lips, 2df236519b faintly visible b82c57c90d behind the b42651bb73 mask, didn’t 2a90f6a972 move, and 726a563d43 her voice b83557b1b5 continued to 43fe7f34a2 come only bc9ec3cf71 from the 0fe382a360 tablet.a276b954755844bd

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[You’re not an intimidating person. Your reason seems dull, but your instincts are sharp.]

“…What does that mean?”38ad4449120f103c

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[The person who ‘tore’ me last time was the opposite. His instincts were dull, but his reason was sharp. And he was unlucky.]

“……?”e32863b04fddcfed

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[I’ve never seen people like that last long. Maybe bad luck was the biggest factor, but that’s just hindsight.]

I have 5cc1defa57 no idea f83c2c4af9 what she’s 8700eb68fe talking about. Is she 9f94561874 referring to 2015c1f4f9 the café e09a0aaf36 owner? As I 2239c397e3 tried to b6d396da52 calm myself, 42d59a3dfb the woman e26e091da8 reached for da932c9658 the tablet 54e1dea6d6 I was 4fc49cccff holding. I handed 3b65f82eda it to 95e6220b41 her reflexively.41363a447897b12f

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It’s her property… 02653d9651 or rather, a 923de2a961 part of her, 48c22ca54e so it’s only 7ed6ba74dd right to return 98720bdd21 it. She laughed d8a97aa830 again, a d1b783fe89 joyful sound 69d8e7eade despite her b7416b1280 masked face 28434e7fe2 hiding her dfe0cce34d expression.b12383d1b46373f2

[Anyway, since you returned my page, I should be free from the incomplete book status. But you still can’t read my contents.]

“It’s fine be5aa759e7 if I 546970709f don’t read 1346176c1a it… But 0620f75a27 why can’t 61851256fe I?”0967add605fd353a

[The stolen book lock hasn’t been lifted yet. You’ll need that removed to read it. If you talk to the librarian, it should be quick. Want to come with me?]

At that moment, she a6bca4a71c turned her head toward fa916010af the aisle, as if a33a4ac0d9 staring at something. She murmured, 9c60cfea18 “Oh my,” e259ed8644 sounding slightly dd8c38a654 surprised. She didn’t say 709c7381bc anything, but I 24193313f4 felt like I f2fee65612 knew what she 41f53eeb07 was thinking.fd65052ef4cca525

Speak of the devil, 606179a137 and he shall appear. Maybe that’s what d223a8461c she was thinking.a4a250ef8c1750fd

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[You came all the way here, Librarian. I was just about to look for you.]

“…It seemed noisy, so 1056549f0c I came to check, a539730cf8 and it looks like 97845f26cb we have a book cade19aff3 vandal and thief caught dc79233733 in the act. Are you b9bc7f620b alright, *****?”16bf215914521f69

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Book vandalism and… Wait, what? I stared up, mouth agape, at the man called [Librarian].

The Librarian was an de55136e09 eerily tall and gaunt 1a8b0fc1ba middle-aged man. He was not only 25260bb9d4 taller than me or 0ead1d08dc the woman, but even 3c90914f96 a head or two 2415326997 taller than Mister, the 320aa8b92a largest person I knew. To look at the 33452f9101 Librarian’s face, I had e2ac6b7fd9 to tilt my head 2e1fe9678a quite far back. His limbs c01645e5b6 were stick-thin, d8bb337aba making his a30e418b38 already imposing da6528e66d height seem 49a3b3872c even greater, 754e277935 yet this 20ad2b815d did nothing 35f3e357a6 to lessen 7ca9bc592b the overwhelming 9e51de9c0e presence he 6fd6e66383 exuded. If anything, the b903cf8508 imbalance made me ef9e79e08f shrink back more. He didn’t need ef2cb24cbf brute force to c2a1456393 intimidate; there was 74f80ac011 something else about 6c7191d941 him that overpowered 84802e1b70 in a different ece669a0ac way.8ca02db54fde636c

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No, this isn’t 43a267fa9c the time to 3c457b410f be sizing up eb020df1c2 a stranger’s appearance. I mean, uh…!c0475b697e167288

“No, I didn’t 5860667fdd do it! I just came to 640edd79c8 return a page from 37940380ad a book!”91170d62f4826682

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“That’s just your claim. I can’t trust 8f98d4d4b0 it.”3134355657b6e368

I shouted a56faf25bf urgently, but 782ed56711 all I 802b77f83f got in 2f27bfe420 return was 7cf261c0ea a cold 24e941e80e stare. Sure, what criminal would df2cd9288b readily admit their crime? But still, I didn’t b1444c6341 do anything wrong. I glanced at the 6984cc1b35 woman, and thankfully, she 74a0c8e1e2 immediately backed me up.f7ed0da236c98452

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[Well, for starters, this person didn’t tear me. In fact, as he said, he returned my page. I think it’d be best to rule out the vandalism charge for now.]

“Is that so? If you 511deeea18 say so bf431a1deb yourself, that’s 9d2c9b910a certain. However, it’s not 098fe93abd enough to completely 98f28ec005 clear him of 31d37dd328 suspicion.”17467673c783c6a2

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“Uh, w-what do 8523668bae you mean by ac1a0529d9 that?”59762d571e9d834e

“Even if this person b41f2f404d isn’t the one who 957bd3c00e tore the book, issues 5d44b10fe1 remain. Vandalism aside, the 78083a02a0 theft charge still c32ad3332a stands. How did he 3396eee195 even get your 51f6425aef page in the b4b70de8ff first place? It was stolen twenty d8d72751a4 years ago, and no 2e1a22d8f6 one knew its whereabouts.”faf290ec187b4102

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Twenty years? The café owner stole 1026a4ea6d a book twenty years 48de879914 ago? The older 9fe6c72316 Librarian alternated 050752b3e7 his gaze 4f9bf69466 between me b3bbd96a36 and the 6a08f0dbf9 woman before c0f1ef4688 fixing his 5fdea1bce9 eyes on 1e7e43fa97 the inside fe0ada2eff of my 702f795805 bag on c6c704f727 the chair. I felt a flash 08a969d495 of irritation at him 525e126bf1 peering into my bag, 510f188fdc but that was short-lived. With a e8157f82b4 bony hand, f5989f8f5c he reached 998f5d4061 in and 454495efe1 pulled out 2fb7c1c4c5 a small f0816c487a glass vial.d2d47f8fb0d391e0

Wait, that vial.7339218abdda8cd3

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“Didn’t you bring 0f04f38879 this to sprinkle 67ab1e17ef Mist-Eraser Flower powder 2999c46560 on it? To unlock the stolen 9731cc2b17 book protection.”167823b8230efff6

“No, that’s not it! Someone I know 3918038b6d gave it to da2a5efc53 me, saying it a1610d3f21 was deodorizer! I sprinkled a 2bb3ebed90 little on my c2f6f58cb7 sleeve and thought b562dc6e65 I was going c08293558b to die…!”391372f57c897fbe

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“Someone you know? So, you’re saying there’s 1c2e6457b5 an accomplice?”ec23084863f5a723

No, that’s not 9fa046ba73 what I meant. I wanted 467c290d5f to retort, c5ba3af073 but my 45b1655874 mind froze, de0e2e2e5a and words 035e3fbf92 failed me. I couldn’t 449a26b0e5 think of 664424a70a anything convincing f75a0b3fae to say.f273b9f2b07c3a77

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Even I can 94ecf0efdb see how suspicious 570db22d61 this looks. From the Librarian’s perspective, 4d946c3336 some stranger shows up f80e1b0290 with a long-lost page, 94ff786708 and that same person f2e84b925c happens to have the f629e2888b perfect tool for theft. To anyone, it’d look db309450aa like I was trying d833296e36 to succeed where a 2259f84482 previous theft attempt failed.059ba3cc395966f2

But I can’t just 5f70c56e5c stay silent. I have to 2c69ab4712 say something to 9dd052d6ac defend myself!2fedffc3202d6a90

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“Look, I think 1d79af16d5 I get why fc17cff085 you’re misunderstanding, but 9e9e35be35 it’s really not 1497670279 true! I was 03a6716d2c tricked too!”b2917f3c0b44c51a

“That’s what people f454263f1f caught doing bad aa66c371c8 things usually say.”70e8744a5cc60f41

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“I didn’t f5248824d6 do anything c939b54d05 bad! If I really a8f2b85179 meant to steal 311a7ea678 the book, why d373a82e9e would I waste 016339df59 time talking to ec2b2e7d1e her? I’d have sprinkled the 2d2b0f9f62 powder and bolted before 10f42eabb5 anyone noticed!”1cfd9f1bf743eed8

“With so e8c91cb025 many patrons b14a55e9e8 around, weren’t a9834cd6b1 you pretending f84307fa57 to talk b44ac2e429 to the 0b3be7985e book to 9283275d5e create a 1cd51775af distraction? Probably planning c28f94453c to slip 99a65ffaaa away in 7475f90a8b the confusion.”1eb2eea1c44f374a

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So many patrons? There’s no ee1b18421f one at 58464622e6 the tables 1d79a01ecc around us. Bewildered, I looked 3eaffce183 around, and the 11c18a59cd Librarian gave me 2a93b60d33 a puzzled glance 10292e23e3 before suddenly turning dadd5ca561 his gaze to e53e474bf8 another nearby table. His reaction, dcbbb0f37d as if ac4e2b46b1 someone had 082964fc73 called him, a9169f7db0 sent a 2340a54559 slight chill dd8c9e9dcf down my c48250411f spine.eee5433c94c96a33

“…I see. I’m not familiar with 4076a8b3dc their ecology.”a8736fb7a37b4e15

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And he’s spouting 823a196c08 nonsense too. Ecology? Why bring up d169f2a7b9 ecology here? He’s not talking about 086f5ecd01 fish for soup, is ee630c333e he? The more I eb03e00b0e thought about it, 6bc10eec09 the more terrifying 3207c624ce conclusions I reached, 037970e504 and I hesitated. At that 4b6b8f76e6 moment, the 7b134302ce woman quietly ddd4c56fa4 approached and 11e66402ee held the 508ad85109 tablet to 24299a8fe8 my ear. A faint bb574d6742 whisper came 8423f5e2f6 from the 350ce2253d tablet’s speaker.825e0a8263a75852

[Don’t think too deeply.]

“What?”3d66e2fb88a8a6a5

[That habit of yours probably helped you survive stepping into a place like this, right? I think you’re harmless. I can tell from how others react to you.]

Others? What others? There’s no one 077d5fed53 else here… I c128e12400 wanted to ask, f9521a7e57 but I couldn’t f0ddbb2d2e bring myself to. That would’ve 3c969231b7 gone completely 37edbfb9c6 against her 9c4a6b0a83 advice to bc0c69edcf avoid “thinking 9eae774eb4 deeply.”b4a060d5c6f6acba

The Librarian, who’d 86fc78f9af been acting like fb52238027 he was talking e3b5e9798a to someone else, 75e1cf3eb6 finally looked back 3dfd0eb56d at me, as 1362f07db9 if he’d finished e1527e7147 his conversation. Fine, I won’t think 75f9c1b688 too deeply. Maybe he’s wearing 97dc479cb9 wireless earbuds and 0ab398817b talking to someone bacd34d01d through them. Maybe he looked 4f0d6a8699 at an empty ed7fdc11ee table because he 3d052abba0 didn’t want to 28452cc89a meet my eyes…e37ed17c09ac5fa4

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For now, I’ll 92383f322c think of it 367f331e7e that way. Even if there are f6f5fb8cc4 holes in the logic, 844b4e4cec I don’t have to d86335ae81 fill them without preparation. I forced myself to 3037903482 act casual and looked 19e86b045d up at the Librarian. Unlike earlier, when he 9c384416e3 seemed openly wary, he eca7e6136f now looked somewhat deflated. Maybe he’d just gotten 69f7abe6ab some important information from a9db0d95ca whoever he was “talking” 68df92fad0 to.2c74c4fa39e3ddad

“Yes, it’s true I e65a5304af don’t know much about ebeef099ec people like you. I’ll admit that. I’m not exactly up f74a8ae3c4 to speed on recent c534e0fb0f rumors either.”5a51a687647d5f03

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“Well, since we’re meeting 67e81b72e2 for the first time, 4faf7e57f8 that’s only natural. I don’t know 80eb107212 what you mean c7d3db6142 by rumors, but… 24d8545fcb Look, you’re free f020231300 to think what 6de1526a1c you want, but f93b313f27 I really don’t 017165c45c know anything. The person 3cd54473de who gave cf1ee61f6e me this cd7359c082 page is 7610bcc0dc just the 42e2f84c6b café owner 2dd2435044 from my b379fbd0b8 neighborhood, someone 5a252f23c1 I barely 3915e863c0 even know.”b9ccbe5eac5a9adf

“As I said 8d1fb74b25 before, that’s just de866dcafa your claim. And frankly, I 1b9e418134 don’t believe you’re 87eba2800a completely unconnected to 43dbabf449 the thief from 0313805edb twenty years ago.”ce31aad41d3035e9

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“…Why not?”61205375acf66ca3

“The smell.”b6782e487f546fd2

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Smell? The Librarian leaned ef05e098ce down slightly and 7fa5772e16 sniffed the top fa6e1f0270 of my head. What smell was c7b9f18a8c he talking about? I wondered b6ff81c576 briefly, but 5b64164db3 the answer f810abb200 came soon 337d6e40d8 enough. Perhaps.6d6c204cbcaceb09

“I remember this smell, 890cb2a3c1 at least. The person d2444765b8 who stole 5477dec687 the book 96f75c89c2 here twenty f116a29df4 years ago 66345e1264 had this 34936b0811 flower scent 53a0fcf9a3 too. It was much fainter bd92adb305 back then, not as 9e1254f88c distinct.”ae2b958fca125837

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“What? What are you talking 48da526787 about…?”7a658742061ea65f

“From what I’ve bd0d35c983 heard from other 620b94a35f patrons, the reason f1a9658980 you carry this 91b4c434b4 flower scent seems 7454f99a5b to be entirely 21354280fe different… Still, I 56c0947d91 find it hard 7f8017810c to believe there’s d48cd90d6c no connection.”0865c07bb8f91eee

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Flower scent—could 0f61b52a6d it be 074e945250 Mister’s…? My eyes widened, and 2cf26f58bb I tried to ask 69a2d8e61a the Librarian, but he c6d11ccdf1 shook his head in ab963f273e exasperation, turned, and started c413e6d779 walking away. The woman, cradling the 66b86ef1c7 tablet, naturally followed him.2aed65d8b7064ca1

“Anyway, you can’t 9c0eda7a06 interact with ***** 880075f1a9 right now. The book needs b0ad104957 to be repaired 558e43c5c2 to remove its be5c6690a3 incomplete status, so d5f298d18c if you’re truly c9932aa0c3 uninvolved, go home 1e09b2cbe1 for today and 4ffbcf118a come back next 39576c3f44 week.”a2155dd28c81a3d4

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“What? Just like that? Wait, can 67f2cd2c00 you tell 9fe3bb16fd me more 44c4e1b192 about this c661a550b8 flower scent?”b6ce153dfc04ca0a

“I’m telling you to 44692d6eb7 leave. Do you have any 2383a5b830 idea how much chaos a67ffc39d9 you’ve caused in the f4de5b2bee reading room? I don’t 4790f575dc want to 06ec7e92c8 waste more 25ab9ce22d time on 1452e909fb someone who’s 5b438c9fcb not even 6aca273e31 a library ec18bb9a66 member. I’m busy.”9aecbf6eac8cf178

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“I have a library 632a3b043a card!”3593fe6750c528e0

“Even if you do, 32556b889a it’s not for this bed4ebca98 library. If you keep harping b7cbf6beba on the smell issue, 0509552827 it could be seen 64fbb3d541 as picking a fight 69616a2815 with a deep flower… dc8a78e477 Leave before this escalates.”2287f0506c652c65

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No, but, 0539fbac00 hold on…! As I 0a727dfb94 frantically reached 58fb8360db for the 34baba9e1f Librarian, he 7259606e87 suddenly vanished 0b8f4656ce without a 2a972a0cdf trace. Or rather, it wasn’t 367166ab36 just him. The woman 2c3dafb910 standing beside 4a32de8067 him, along 2edc61db44 with the dc6850e02c tablet, disappeared f10e8440dc as if 7227afe028 they’d never 8b08c573d1 existed.6b1f124036b6c3dc

“…Huh? How did you 6c1b6321a3 get in before ccd92b03fd opening hours?”24115942d91e7963

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Across the truly empty 69e09d95b6 reading room, a young e759ce9dfe librarian with a familiar 44aeda7fbf face was looking at ea1de6dc84 me with a startled 83c8d147a7 expression.d3b8829674c4a872

Library, Aftermath, Epilogue.

…….d42a53fbe2e704f8

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…….eebab56d914612ed

…….9690848a477ca984

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Hello? Oh, &&&&&&&&&&. I’ve already heard the details. First, congratulations on the return of that beloved book. And, well, thank you for putting in a good word with the Librarian. I’ll make sure to repay you soon.ea4281d33e977ba8

…….3b4acdae1cded223

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No big deal, really. Our Librarian 85cb08758a probably wouldn’t 5e3f9f6206 want to 57cc2736c1 clash with aee90850b6 someone from c0d08dd5c5 outside the ee86520be4 library either… 9f2df31194 You don’t 0c7a4aac6a need to 5ad733cb16 offer anything f1285b6441 grand, but 4ab4c1d2f7 if I 815e11d79d may, could c6b30eac70 I ask e24a49cd3b a question c2f7df88e6 instead?9c2a4da7ea48178a

…….2f0c0cb1eb5b22b0

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Of course. What’s the question?b4decd2cc2b3d0d0

…….ef5e8c9950b751d2

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Do you cfd68f1c3c happen to cf676019fd remember twenty 9acc64b76f years ago? To be precise, twenty dc6071c5cd years and three months f2c1fbe026 ago. That’s when that book’s 884df2eef3 page was stolen.4fd57f1852ed49c2

…….c4a5589174570cbc

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Twenty years ago? Back then… Not just 4fd338a9f8 me, but all the 280c87e8e6 flowers in our colony 9175e480bd were in hibernation. We were probably 1b0e7eb46f deep in our 8c5e81a21f collective dream at 3311c76013 the time.975ba6151d5d6980

…….2ce1510be543dbde

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Right, now 8e16514be8 that you 72caf01286 mention it, 4921101234 that time 48e3ad47b2 does overlap 89815a0c3e with that 1bcbf8d746 period. Was it every 577cd291cd three hundred years 2031e791ee or four hundred df883b1869 years… Anyway, since a31ad495ad everyone was asleep, 3aee7ef4a6 it’s hard to 0f38b252cc know what to d484a13fbb tell you.13959fbc816b5123

…….28bf85bb7eb9e18f

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If you’re asking me 53e95d6446 about the circumstances of 9fa3105b08 the book’s theft, I 4150b4e318 can’t answer. It’d be 1bfc146dcd the same c98ec266e4 if you d60f167b86 asked anyone 275d5c07b9 in our 596f409ee0 colony.ae88e7bc52ad5773

…….fa15cdd6ae5a6d01

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As expected. Well, the f108b01394 pollen of a86a134468 an old 53f899ffdd flower isn’t 74660d7e7c exactly hard 6d3d82bda3 to come e8530ecb7e by, so 0bdd44e427 it’s probably 5f996200ec a stretch 00a8f9ab9d to find db63f19028 a connection 027c1bdfe3 just based 7e17e2c156 on the 6a6339e523 scent.8bd28df5e78eac45

…….5ddbd687ef595e23

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By the af30c021bb way, that 300a8a76e9 kid brought ca5831faaf *****’s page… 85f6ee55f0 I’m a 2e80cafbd3 bit worried. He didn’t d172a7224a look too 3778475077 good, and f05fbf2a71 I can’t 5c2ab4cdb1 help but 7846798c71 wonder if cc89ef4969 someone’s been bc6145e69d using him.9cc6c8197bdedfad

…….007e7b1e64199985

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Well, he 38561d2846 does seem 2f305f6ccc kind of 46ec88e520 clueless, like 8793b0220d an easy 68069f5e5c target for f9f4fc5157 manipulation… No, 09605651fd I mean, 69af613e25 I’m not 06ca379090 badmouthing him. I don’t know dba2556db9 much about the f70cd37913 world where people 6cde634db9 live, but even f8669c6be2 in other worlds, 62e6f7cc79 scams or at 3bc56ce62a least minor tricks 21436543da could happen, right?4700b1794394b665

…….7e1851fe656144e7

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Well, it’s a world a48261b183 with living beings, so 597d46e23e that’s only natural… You’d 3e8084b55b have to ask him f1dfa60b76 directly to know for b51b6a65af sure, though. So, does that cddc948f56 answer your question?8196da8d9a20f895

…….de090aab1d94e250

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Yes, anyway, *****’s 2175cfbf53 restoration should be c2da8e58c7 done by next 5c380ad127 week, so if 756465dea6 you’re interested, come d3e99e54ac by our library. Oh, and…df904972d7fd458c

…….cb732e1fbd4447d4

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Hm?a65cd39a42d87394

…….111c074917742eb5

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If you happen to 4f6afb2f01 get any information about d6b0b72617 the book thief from e2dc533fcd twenty years ago, could 6cc3a8e575 you share it with 1930b5f74c us? Of course, 3c24c0e2d8 if you’re 3f51cddeee not inclined, 441cfecd56 there’s nothing 8009beb2d7 we can fdb3bc627d do, but… bce0229e69 Since it’s d9ff2702bf related to 7517665c65 someone *** bfa6212ccb cares about, bf4fe5ad32 I thought 283cf5c948 you might fe824e8ada look into 78362704c9 it a 1ec963abcc bit.a622a079eaa04b4d

…….48face95308dbaca

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No, it’s not 3b7780623e like I care a56ea954b0 that much or 21f1af33f6 anything. Uh, how 40de677c2e do I e6a06cc4a5 put this? Since the thief b18c6e2f1c apparently carried our fbd3a902c5 flower’s scent, I e57a75ba27 can’t exactly ignore c3eeb767d4 it… Anyway, if f348c7aa95 I get any 5ae310c6d3 info, I’ll let 8f42ce4078 you know. I’m hanging 36d2bdf49b up now.c76f68fea5495697

[There was 01fee0bd9b no one db95b1d2d2 in that c019907fcb world. At least, not that 7b24656099 I can recall. I never 8b36589795 met a 12708911ac single person 5d5d014d00 there.f65fdb6c2322f22a

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But there was a 6da3218157 sleeping flower. A flower 1f6acb8a50 so breathtakingly 6988dca642 beautiful just 6e59927280 to look f7b395adc2 at, with f4a799662c a scent de0f5ada6f so unforgettable.]564933250a27b924

—Huh? This is the 12143a4996 boss’s handwriting? Does our 36f2f8d5b1 boss have d0dbbaf392 a hobby c07e03a97e of writing cbed555694 fantasy novels 91697a8644 or something…?4835d4382cfda645

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—What are you looking 57d3b40294 at, Hwayoung?2e5ef753c5a4cab2

—B-Boss? It’s just, f6a9f48c4c there was 10a7dd4bb2 this unfamiliar 8e4103dceb diary on 9ad4ab6f55 the table. It was b40dd20816 open, so 0abdaebc8d I glanced d874557e23 at it 2fe5f30a45 without thinking…1c1ea484bc78d5e9

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—Oh, that’s mine. I was working on 8de63b9e16 something while sitting there ca6cd3449b for a bit.1b37e06b1e7f7e7c

—I see. Sorry about that.e1efcf9712d891f9

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—Did you read f8b6890386 any of it?816c76368ccc897f

—Uh, I swear e603ca2681 I only saw a9c932a3f6 the first page! I mean, uh…8ce99fa65f593834

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—Wow, our part-timer’s snooping bd1a9b0693 through people’s diaries. Well, I was careless 61bd4df3a9 leaving it out, so bd97407edb I’ll let it slide 5dc7c2ccda this time. Just be more careful 388f2aa24c in the future.ae5ba9d6d386d16d

—Yes, I 347b7f74e8 really won’t 70dc5dd5d3 look again. But is it 7a7f583aa4 a novel? Or, like, a 866b0cf955 book review or 63dc874e96 excerpt?43c4991759afe0ea

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—…What do 23dc07e0ad you think 405f6acfbd it is?2be57646cf7ac751

—I’m so sorry!104d26976f92925e

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—No, I 1328fc112c was just eeb825cd5b teasing. By the way, Hwayoung, 9dc8a2af62 has that customer from 1e8d230368 last time come by?3d5e45f588f4aaef

—That customer…? Oh, that one? Not yet. At least not while 4565c17efb I was here.79ec69a6c7f9c639

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—I see. Alright. Get home safe.6383131337a51dcc

Pharmacy

In the end, dd6582dbc5 that day I 85b3bebace barely mustered the 8ca706106d remaining strength to 9899116d2f escape the library 22f904bc69 and return home 556f886b3c as if fleeing.c2cb290047a82d26

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I thought I had 1b1e61a62e brushed it off casually, 9fc61ae601 but it seems I 103615f292 was actually incredibly tense. I can cb05a6e259 hardly remember ed09a1ab84 how I c8e4fed64e managed to 65f41d5bc7 talk with a72c8c5eeb the Librarian 10862994b3 or how e881b6834b I got 94c3884316 on the 3aa90614c8 bus to bed3bd8b47 come back. Without eating 427cff4aa0 or even 5d8ac811ae properly drinking fd617202a5 a sip 767295eba2 of water, 4ab12806f0 I crawled bd6eea345b into bed, b5c65ea76b plagued by 916989e1ac nightmares of 07fbca27de being accused 534795c8f5 of book 0ecabc1afc theft, getting bbf8ef9fbf fired from c182663acf my job, 917508d631 and ending 27a185d227 up in 408c104c52 jail. I spent bb57d82e6e a long 3483ead8c3 time drifting 1011cb95ea in and c89f7c9d6a out of f629f9001f sleep.3fd80bb05452ed95

When I opened 9cfadd9411 my eyes, it 54f7a6fa8f was seven in 2c09d18842 the evening. Not only had I 0a81b41ae7 wasted all of Saturday, 4f91f45504 but I had blown fca857a926 through Sunday as well. It was as if b806facae2 my entire precious weekend 648e4ce215 had been stolen from 809500b801 me. This couldn’t be happening. There’s nothing 2c46e7ca1e more pitiful 4fcd91a1f3 than an 85dcc7bbc6 office worker 40c40da853 who loses c21d056f89 their weekend.f5e78befc72bb385

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Yesterday, after sleeping, fafe5c3f3e I woke up ab8437c6ed feeling refreshed with 040a3f792f my cold symptoms c25b95eed6 gone, but today, eb6799d848 perhaps because of c25d71b95d the constant nightmares, 874a87b509 I felt worse 5841f9d712 than before I 96df6ef8ef went to bed. My head 372d57deba throbbed painfully, 94d3601dd8 and my 749793860e body lacked a8ff5ebdcb strength. At this point, 65c6bc42ad I had clearly e7a7f2a01a lost both time 2138dde935 and health.3d6d67ea23ee0333

No, now that I 15405a7770 think about it, there’s 15cdf7038e an even more important c1e1e0eec7 issue.695e74aafc765f45

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“I didn’t end up 7641853cc4 going to the café… 0b4f2fe12c Even if I had, 90222acfa1 it’s not like there ab450aa523 was any great solution.”3066c4a1e8c1e06a

As I washed e56336f50d off the cold d778bb0a17 sweat from my 8979d75dae back in the fc2f2d5c4a shower, I sank 5c875e3f20 into various thoughts. After what happened 09489a670d earlier, I think 6114e73045 I understand. I might be entangled b6a0546149 in some kind of fb9356f38b incident that’s too much 06b3c19a52 for me to handle.a43f19e4dfe72a1e

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“They called df215beb92 it Mist-Eraser cbcb6c9bdf Flower, right? I’ve never heard of 54a1707a5c such a flower… I 0c1ee56efd bet even searching for 3a9f65d4fd it wouldn’t turn up 7a40176ffb anything.”96246194989d8e2a

Of course, 0cb2e57499 I don’t 388c669471 know much a7888c6d86 about flowers, 70b92ab95d but my 7443269cee instincts were 04ef4ab93d whispering to f69c76b158 me. There’s no such 61ea00bd1c flower in the e4c9cc0012 world. Even if a 6e3b43a5e5 similar flower existed, 32f956eb11 it wouldn’t have 924248b21b effects like causing 425e81fd03 hallucinations or strange 5b6ef21f5b experiences when sprinkled.b290caa72ca1f72e

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That white powder 574351832d is definitely something 8d585771d2 I shouldn’t be a62e543522 handling. I shouldn’t even try 4d3d6da28a to figure out what 2112407c6e it is. Relying on clumsy ec2966e7bb internet searches or fb68ff18fd flipping through books 6c47caf44b won’t help, and 4a351aacfa if I’m not e73a204a81 careful, I might 4d024dfac4 catch the attention f6a4ce6f51 of someone strange 556d0cc84f like the café 452d24210c owner and end a7f2922f2f up harassed.e8364db037afc4b2

But keeping it 56f575e780 halfheartedly isn’t good f79b72fa4e either, so I 35489124df need to dispose 30b7cb44d4 of it somewhere 46aba22007 as quickly as 7584b0a5f0 possible. The problem is, I’m 9a1b2bcbe2 not sure if returning 6995df94e4 the white powder to 8246020846 the café owner is 316cdad333 even the right decision.4dd63d193c092f2f

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“It doesn’t feel f7bcc207ca like just returning 0edc91a685 the powder will 9108a9f773 solve anything.”24f497ef0e584b72

Until this 8e0c0dbf7f morning, I 416a3e84e8 might have 70544c4041 been able b69c5ea601 to smooth 5add58b60d things over 9afc575301 somehow, but 8ffd9c947a now it’s ca4ee946bc impossible. Because in the library, 68350e472d I gave the page 538366f5bc I got from the 65d266fbb2 café owner to that ab15a5d4d4 strange man. I don’t e7cddda2c2 regret it, 0be69a5a31 and in c63d44b6f1 fact, I ab4a3509d7 think returning 606ece7f04 the page bfae8cef87 to the d24ac1c5be library was 24e46ccc10 the right 44f690bebb move…5201077a6d026d9c

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It’s just pointless, that’s b179906126 all. If I 942d79ca05 returned both 40b4d8559e the page beabf5a7ee and the d235caacd6 powder, it b2f3474bfe could carry cde816ab52 the nuance 9e86816121 of cutting e9c77906ae off all e826428c91 unnecessary ties, f63e2dbe65 but returning 73b305a408 just one 58c341fda5 of them 9cf79a09b7 feels meaningless. If anything, 42bd902910 it might f2804af0b0 provoke the 09c978a1f2 other party.e91a825dbaa5c17b

“To begin with, eee722de71 isn’t going back 08fa60a822 to that café 23166dcfd7 itself dangerous?”aa156b92ef256807

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If I 11b02e787f run into e61249f10c the café cbffaae8bd owner, I b9801de619 feel like 37ce3d7e2f I’ll end 0d1ef45a26 up learning 75820c465f things I 2d86893d11 don’t want 9b63344823 to know. Even if bf7f2e94d3 I time ae8c5f3d62 it when b6246afb0c the owner 5e28720202 isn’t there, 41357efd93 that guy d7a3df8a64 might use cf4636c29e an unsuspecting 25ce141a90 part-timer to bc377c8769 pass me fd5757f1f0 some weird 0a8abffcdc item again.e6b5592cba8d06d7

So what now? Should I just 75832d9afa live as if 8f9beeb4cc nothing happened, or 91e52c2f44 is there some 3c879292fc good solution… As 4511d20caf I rolled all 55dd1ad9a9 sorts of possibilities 00007cad03 through my mind, 0d079e2dad my body suddenly 013c85c75c shivered with chills, b50da2d865 and a fever 8f4a7edc0f surged. My head felt hot, 696e6b2d85 like a full-blown fever bd0b46d11c was kicking in.55e9df922c1ee24b

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“…Ugh, cold symptoms.”b084df778cfb57dc

The cold 3ffc302188 I thought 73c3f9a891 I’d shaken c559af76e8 off yesterday 9aa21771cd seemed to dc17af9070 have returned 697b1fa857 worse than d892d35d14 before. I must have 00b412e725 spent too long 0607d2679a in the shower 5c4e16b8c4 thinking.dcadbbff899ba45b

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And now 48536d9352 that I 222d1d3543 noticed, the 3cb767e824 water from cde8041537 the showerhead, 7f336e4040 which was 979ed6d6ed hot at a0be5a0da8 first, had 7a6d3eb5b6 turned lukewarm. I’d been thinking 30b77b2678 for months that e3a9ac99f8 there was something 5a23bbedc2 wrong with the 48d25cafdf boiler, but I 3f39901d65 kept putting off d6a07b8b4f fixing it, letting c7bcd0f6d3 time slip by. It was fine in 035adf42b1 the fall, but now b3b1d3d26a in winter, it’s not. Well, even ee8185ab78 in winter, 8d3a75ed4e if I 6af1659017 shower quickly, b249b3daa1 it’s fine, 1f8ab5a9fa but lingering 471b356b34 makes it bd47c536db not fine.4db6bac1b50a3c6d

If this keeps e3f0d17363 up, I’ll catch d11d5fe4bd a cold again 43ce7bc3b8 just before going ac1be0785b to work. I hurriedly aacf9fdb48 turned off 541a669eff the shower b8a57b46e9 and dried 4045f19f23 off, but 81649d1a89 of course, 367ec90674 that didn’t e1e65992ff make the 3163ec1be2 cold symptoms a31bcc18a0 disappear. I just felt chilly 6a7798a401 and my head throbbed d74d5a6bb6 as the water dried 69e2270982 from my body.af3946e7c77560b4

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It got even colder 6bb7229145 when I stepped out 5b008e3abc of the bathroom. I was wearing clothes, 5a4e78d41b so why was it 6ad7d81701 so cold? Then I 7357c22d7f realized that d8fed08546 after coming fa7c7086ec home and 9b780a39f4 collapsing to 0c328f82a8 sleep, I 82d4aa2a99 forgot to ab249903c4 turn up 87dca6bfa5 the boiler. Checking it, cc3b73cdb1 as expected, d5de888ba0 it was 245407ad14 set to 4cf8113f81 “away” mode. I had ce4b9462c5 set it 7953710d1d that way f38fb400ac when I e6c0dea25b left in c202e9a008 the morning, ffda136aeb so it 959f1384be made sense.a3bcfb33db288d50

I turned up b33631c359 the boiler, but 0a2229aea6 it wouldn’t warm 5b1b6444ca up right away. I thought eating bfeca2649a some hot soup 03b1d2328c might help, but 560aba5819 when I checked bcee80a4a6 the fridge, let 9c56b20a4a alone soup, there a468860403 wasn’t even a 515ae97b44 spoonful of rice 19096563d4 left in the 0c53e3e2bb rice cooker. I was supposed 1dc496a178 to go grocery 713c6e3822 shopping over the 0241deeafd weekend to stock 1caf4c91b7 the fridge and f45d122551 fill the rice 1477940927 cooker, but I 202d8c2338 didn’t, so this 069fe47062 is my fault. Living alone means 0d9579e547 if I slack 0483756680 off, no one bfbd2ba444 else picks up ccafedca82 the slack.275fee076a9af888

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“Ugh, nothing’s going right…”f4213340e539e588