Chapter 127: Day of Many
———Karra———
<8: 27 am>
“Augh…” How am I still feeling a bit numb… What time is it right now? Did I wake up too early?
Where’s my damn phone… Where is… There it is. Let’s see here… Not even nine in the morning. I thought I’d wake up way later than that considering what we did yesterday. Whatever. I’m just gonna stay in bed, I have nothing better to do today anyway. Maybe ask a few people about things happening yesterday, but that’s about it. I’m still feeling kinda sleepy. I could use an hour or two more to fully wake up.
Lemme just… keep sleeping… Mhmhm…
<9: 53 am>
“Mhm…” …Feeling a little bit better, I guess. Enough to get out of the bed. Looks like Wiina has already left and went downstairs. Wonder if she got any breakfasts left for me to snack on…
Oh. I almost forgot about my clothes. I can’t go downstairs wearing so little, let me change into casual attire. Just a shirt and pants is enough, don’t feel like putting on the jacket right now…
Going downstairs… The sunlight is still pretty strong coming through the windows. My eyes are hurting a bit…
“Oh, Karra deary, are you alright waking up so late?” Wiina’s mother asked.
“I’m fine. I just don’t see the need to wake up early today. Not like we got school to worry about on the weekends.” I said before slumping down on the sofa with a phone in hand. I don’t see Wiina or any breakfast around. Maybe they put it in the fridge already? They’ve been doing that more often since I visited more and more. “Is the food in the fridge?”
“Of course. Let me get it for you.” She said before walking towards the kitchen.
“Thank you.” I said even though she probably only barely heard it. Time to scroll to kill a little bit of time. I don’t think I have really looked through the reception of my previous stream yet, since I was feeling kinda tired and then… all of that happened.
The whole thing was way more heated than I thought, but I’m pretty sure everyone expected that to be the case.
“Here you go.” She placed down a plate of eggs and some beans. It’s pretty plain, but there’s not a lot on the plate so no need to worry about not being able to stomach it.
“Thanks.” I said one more time before I started digging in. It’s far from fancy but it’d do to keep me from feeling hungry. “...Where is Wiina right now? I didn’t see her when I woke up.”
“Oh. She already went out, doing who knows what. She did say you might wake up a bit late, so we put your food in the fridge.” Wiina’s mother answered. That tracks with what I think is happening. So it looks like she has something to do today, unlike me. “Karra, is your mother still opposing you coming to our house so often? I know Wiina only talks about her changes with only a select few. It even took a while for her to open up to us about it.”
“I think she just gave up at this point. I also stopped telling her which house I’m going to just in case rumors start spreading.” It's kind of a miracle that there isn't any talk about me staying over at someone’s house. Maybe Wiina uses some sort of magic for that? I never noticed it.
“I hope you two didn’t get into any fights.” She said, sounding rather worried.
“It’s fine. I’m sure she won’t complain that much unless I clearly got in trouble.” She’s not that unreasonable. If anything, she’s been pretty patient even though I keep a few secrets from her.
“I see. That’s good to know. Well, just know that you are always welcomed here.” She replied before walking away.
…Now then. Let’s keep looking through the feed. I wonder when Jennla will actually log in and talk in the group chat for a long recounting. I’m sure the others are probably dying to know what actually happened. Including everyone forgetting about her until she returned and everything happened right after. It felt way too sudden and probably something that really overwhelms everyone. It’s a miracle the group chat didn’t turn into chaos yesterday.
As for the public reaction today. They are honing in on the possible identities of all three, but as it stands no one dared to come over and verify, as far as I could tell. If it gets really bad maybe those government people will get involved, which just sounds absolutely nightmarish. I don’t know if they got some strong people or very valuable leverage over some of the super powerful people here. At least with Wiina, since she kept her normal and civilian personal separate, they don’t really know what leverage they could have over her.
…Well. Doesn’t look like there’s anything concerning on the net, at least not in relation to this topic. Let me just finish up breakfast and then grab my stuff. I think it’s time to go back to my house if Wiina is gonna be gone for a while.
<11: 59 am>
“<Alright, before we say anything else… Why did no one seem to realize that her account is still in the group chat and somehow we still didn’t remember her. How does that make any sense?>” Useph said before Jennla could even say anything, or before anyone else, even. Wiina does have an explanation for me, but the others are still very confused as to why it happened the way it did. I do wonder if Kenni and Emmie or the smarter guys in class already figured something out, that kind of mass amnesia doesn’t happen out of nowhere, obviously.
…Of course no one said anything. It’s clear that the memory manipulation was very strong, probably involving warping perception as well. Why else would no one ask about many lists including an extra person no one knows about, or why does Jennla’s parents don’t know about the extra room in their house.
“<Let’s drop that issue. Let Jennla talk first, okay?>” Malk chimed in, probably seeing how tense everyone has gotten, maybe also a little bit guilty. “<So, Jennla, where were you back then? You said you’d be willing to tell us now.>”
“<Right… It was… I don’t remember the exact date, but I do remember it still being December.>” She started recounting her experience. That tracks with what Wiina said. She went missing on December 3rd. “<I was plucked away with nothing on me aside from my phone, and I ended up landing in a forest. There were monsters roaming about and later I learned that it’s a land besieged by demons. I don’t really know much about what was happening, but I managed to survive. Mostly just cutting down trees and making a small hut. It’s kinda nice, until monsters and demons showed up.>”
“<I see… Looks like you weren’t summoned for any good reason then? If you just ended up living in the forest. Did you at least have helpful locals?>” Orrel asked, getting a bit curious about the gritty details.
“<Well. Kinda. I can’t actually talk to them. I don’t know the language. Just sounds kinda… European, I guess?>” She replied, sounding very unsure. “<There were humans and elves, and they all share the basic language of whatever that was. There are people I can talk to, but it’s very limited…>”
“What kind of people?” I asked, since it seems unlikely that modern English would exist wherever she ended up.
“<Other people who were sucked into the spell that sent me there. They’re all Japanese, but some do know some English.>” She explained. I see. Gotta be a bit awkward to be the only American otherworlder there. “<I just kinda get dragged into it after being alone for so long. Then again it’s nice that I can actually talk to someone, finally.>”
“<Damn. Talk about bad luck.>” Gregori remarked.
“<I still got away pretty fine in the end. I think I got pretty lucky.>” Jennla said with a wry smile. Looks like this is just the tip of the iceberg of everything she is going through. Looks like this might go on for a long while…
———Lynda———
<12: 43 pm>
“Haaa…” I let out a long sigh once I finally cleared the floor. Finally, I managed to beat the twentieth floor… By my lonesome. Let’s quickly grab these rewards and get outta here- “Ugrk! Agh! Ow!”
My leg! What in the world is happening to it!? Did a bone break or something? It just seems to… crumble under my weight, it seems like. I don’t like this at all! I need to grab my stuff and get outta here quickly! At least my other leg is still working properly. I can at least use my weapon for some support… This is so chalked…
*Zoom*
Good freaking thing there’s a teleport circle thingy… Alright, time to go to that weird doctor again. Don’t know how much he will charge for repairing a leg but I hope it’s not more than those hospitals.
“Ow!” I can’t really stop all the crying from the amount of pain I’m in! How did I not notice my leg being so messed up? Did my adrenaline going through the roof have something to do with that? Ugh. Whatever. Time to go visit this shady doctor and get this over with.
“Ah. Hello there.” He cheerfully said, the place still fills with a subtle fragrance of bread. “Hmm… Let’s quickly get you a place to rest.”
Good to see he’s at least quick to business. I really want to get this done as quickly as I can.
———Munz———
<1: 02 pm>
“Kinda a bummer that all it does is give people power boost, but then again, I’d rather not have snakes raining down on everyone in the first place.” Scien said, probably taking the whole thing a bit too lightly for many people’s taste. It was kind of a big deal, all things considered. Like a lot of places got wrecked by those giant snakes that many have said to seem almost invincible. Obviously they’re not, there are reports of people killing it just fine, but they were still incredibly strong from what I’ve heard.
“It seems like the main thing it does is make places more inhabitable with those… Fantarban Realm.” Pellek said, still getting used to that slightly wordy phrase. “Munz, how does it feel to not be picked for next week’s expedition?”
“I… don’t really care? I’m a math teacher for crying out loud.” I said, feeling a bit exasperated. I’m not even sure why Scien got involved and allowed to go when she’s a science teacher. “I don’t really care that much about the extra pay anyway.”
“Your loss.” Scien playfully said.
I haven’t really dabbled much in all of these magical things. Kinda feel a bit left out, but it’s not I needed to train any more. Not like we’re in no man’s land.
Hopefully the kids are well-prepared for the activity. Seems like there won’t be that much of a schedule outside of having strong people to protect them while they explore.
———Lynda———
<1: 46 pm>
“I’m surprised you didn’t realize how much blood you lost.” He remarked casually before giving me a loaf of bread, put in a bag. Shouldn’t he be giving me prescriptions or something?
“It’s not like I have large holes in my body for me to bleed out. How the heck was I supposed to know? I was in the moment, okay?” Maybe I could’ve been a bit more careful, but I was getting so close to the goal that I don’t really care for much else. As long as I get there, that’s enough for me, and I also think this guy should be able to fix me up no problem.
“Why were you doing something like that alone? Surely the cost of this treatment will drain out all the reward money you’ll get.” He suddenly asked. Why is he trying to be a smartass all of a sudden?
“What about it? Can’t I just try to prove a point to myself. Keep to your business.” I said, feeling quite irritated.
“Alright then. I’m not your therapist anyhow.” He said before backing off. “Just stay rested for a while, just to make sure your leg, and your entire body, heals properly. Don’t want me to charge more now do you?”
…Whatever. I can do that much I guess.
It’s crazy how everyone in that class can do twenty floors by their lonesome, and here I am stuck in a shady clinic. The fact that that’s the only baseline is… kinda terrifying, actually. It really does reinforce the idea of just how strong they really are.
Alright. Let’s just take a quick nap, turn in all the loot, and then snack on a few things. Then I can go to sleep. I’m way too tired to do anything else. My body is very low on energy.