Grey, please… Help me! The bullet train is way too much for me… Please, hold out your hand! Otherwise I-

The speedy large iron block strikes Mr Wayne. His entire body is crushed, and it isn't odd that his limbs fall out of their original place. It was his right arm that just passed in front of me, followed by his digestive organs exploding out of his stomach.

My hands are covered in blood. A circular shadow floated between my pair of grabbing organs. Something falls from the sky. It's Mr Wayne's head, which had been defected and had lost an eye. I see wrath in his one and only eye. Then, I caught that essential part of the body with both hands.

Why didn't you save me, you bastard!

Mr Wayne's yells worked together with the alarm to wake me up. Damn it! I had another bad dream.

Of course, that wasn't what actually happened in that 'world' last Friday. However, I feel like I killed Mr Wayne; I couldn't save him. It's been five nights since the dream keeps ruining my sleep.

Although those nightmares constantly haunt my nights, my days are normal, strangely enough. Just like usual, I can do my daily routine; go to college, play with my friends, and do things that are normal for my age. There are also no weird things happening around me.

Today is Wednesday. I have no tight schedule and can go home after lunch so that I can do many activities every Weds. For this time, I already have a plan after grabbing my meal at the canteen.

I'm going to visit Mr Wayne's house.

I'm very disturbed by his death. I also feel very guilty because… Well… My fault caused that unfortunate event to happen to him. ​I thought maybe the messed up dream and my guiltiness would go away after visiting Mr Wayne's family. Besides, I'm also really worried about them.

Now that I think about it… I feel stupid and horrified myself. I still clearly remember that on that day I was so brave and boldly thought that I could live with the consequences, however bad they were. But… That was too heavy… I would put Mama in a dangerous situation.

My heart is tormented because, on one hand, I feel very relieved, but on the other hand, I feel awful because someone else had to bear the bad luck.

What should I do if such competition comes again? No, the game itself didn't really matter; the consequence was that threw me off. I don't want anyone else to suffer the same fate. But... That game also puts someone's life at risk... So I don't know... My body is shaking every time I press my TickBit seven times.

Anyway, the online taxi driver has made my cell phone blare without me realizing it. I'm still traumatized by the train, so.

While waiting for this cab to get me to my destination, I'll tell you how I dedicate all my weekends to finding out about Mr Wayne's house.

My first attempt was to find information through Mr Wayne's working place. It was a piece of cake to get someone that can be contacted because he's one of the top brass in his firm; but it isn't easy to get information about his address. None of the three secretaries knew where Mr Wayne lived.

Well, actually Mr Wayne told me that he was closed to other people. So, I had to rack my brain even more.

I connected the point where he worked and the Tulip junction on the map. Then, I thought he was on his way home because the accident happened during home hours. After that it was a walk in the park; I just had to trace the direction of his return and I got two possible settlements where Mr Wayne lived.

Luckily, this is a small city. It only took me a few hours to visit the two housing estates last Sunday.

I have a wrinkled brain, don't I?

For the record, I'm not trying to flex my intelligence; I just want to tell my interesting experience and how I found Mr Wayne's residence.

Seeing the gym that had just passed made me reminisce about Johann, who always insisted on persuading me to help out the varsity basketball team.

"I beg you, it's a-okay to be a manager too! I need this!” Johann always said that while tapping my temples. He always complained because he thought the players on our varsity basketball team had a low Basketball IQ, about the same as monkeys who play basketball. I also insisted on rejecting it. For me, I should care more about my studies; my life now depends on my career.

But who would have thought. It turned out that 'sport' was the one that decided the fate of my life in that game. Maybe in the next game too, I don't know. I should really work on my body again.

Anyway.

The first possibility was a luxury house complex with high-level security. Residents who want to enter have to fingerprint at the gate. Meanwhile, security will interrogate guests like me first in a dark room. A fitting settlement for a company's executive, isn't it? I wonder why there are people who want to live in such a complicated settlement.

Well, I'm not rich, so how could I understand?

But it was because of that troublesome interrogation I was able to save some time. According to the security guard, no, they looked more like an FBI; there's no resident named Wayne Blacke, so I've crossed the settlement off the possibilities list.

Meanwhile, in contrast to that glamorous life, the second housing was just a very simple residential area where not many houses were built. That's a typical place where lower-middle-income workers live. No safety at all. In fact, I could easily set foot in the courtyard of one of the unsuitable-for-live residences.

I laughed mockingly in the courtyard. A high-ranking company worker would not live in that smelly abandoned house, right? Why do they not just whack 'em with a fucking wrecking ball? This is ridiculous.

I gave up because I felt defeated and had to squeeze my brain way harder. I thought I might only be able to visit Mr Wayne's home another week.

But when I was about to leave the dirty house, I was surprised by a middle-aged man who looked angry. He almost hit me with the big shovel in his hand because he thought I was a stalker or a thief.

Long story short, somehow I was taken to the man's house. He was very kind to me, offering tea to apologise for nearly hitting me with the iron shovelhead.

I asked if there was a resident named Wayne Blacke in the housing out of curiosity. I didn't expect much at the time. But the answer made me choke. The sweet tea that was still warm came out a few drops from my nose.

Mr Wayne lives in that housing. More precisely, in that dirty old house with the barren yard that my shoes tasted. Yes, the one that I think is unsuitable-for-live. According to the information I received from that man, it's actually not the house of the late Mr Wayne, rather his spouse's.

The man in his 30s seemed to be a motormouth. Words after words came non-stop from his mouth, telling passionately about the beautiful garden in the house's yard long ago. I couldn't imagine it; how come. He was willing to describe it to me, but unfortunately, I didn't have much time that Sunday. It's not that I'm too lazy to listen to the ravings of strangers. Of course that's not the case. Definitely.

At the end of my visit, the man said that there had been some outsiders asking about Mr Wayne's homestead in the last few days. I thought there must be someone who wants to send some condolences to the family he left behind or something. Well, it's not surprising because he is a high-ranking official in a well-known company.

Since the man's mouth couldn't seem to stop uttering, I ran away after downing all the sweet black tea in the luxury cup. The important thing was that I'd got the information I'd been looking for two days.

I'm willing to hear stories, whatever they might be, from the direct source today.

Ah, I've arrived in front of the late Mr Wayne's house without realizing it. I reach into my jeans pocket and give some cash to the driver. He looks displeased and asks for additional fees because of the unfriendly traffic conditions. But he can only grumble and is forced to accept my payment after showing my student ID card.

I once again set foot on the ground filled with this dead plant. There won't be anyone with a shovel or even a machete in hand today; I had permission to come already. See, the yesterday-man just peeking out of his window and giving me a thumbs up.

I have to knock on the wooden door carefully because it's full of cobwebs and has been infested by termites. The knock on my door is greeted with a sweet smile from an adorable little girl. She's holding a teddy bear that is almost the same size as her. The moment that door of the house opened, the scent of Lavender and a cool breeze hit my nose as if I were in a garden full of flowers.

I really don't want to look back and ruin my imagination.

“Welcome to the Chocolate Kingdom! What is the need for you to come to this land full of chocolate?” The little girl smiled with her teeth full of cocoa, treating me with honour as if I were a guest from another kingdom. I feel like my head is about to explode with the cuteness overload. “Browny, you should greet him too!”

“S-So… Is this really Wayne's residence?”

The little girl just stared at me suspiciously for a few seconds before screaming hysterically and running back inside.

"Mommy! There's a weirdo! Help, I'm scared!"

I want to bury my head in the rat-infested sewer in front of the house. What a foolish guest from this neighbouring kingdom. Why would I make it stupidly awkward?

The little girl comes back with a woman she called Mommy. The established woman brought a bucket of white, pink and yellow tulips. Looks like she's getting ready to plant those beautiful flowers; maybe she wants to restore the condition of her yard to be as beautiful as the man told?

The woman has a picturesque face. Is she… Really Mr Wayne's spouse? Not that I 'underestimate' Mr Wayne, but... I'm a little perplexed.

"I-Is there anything I could help with?" Asked the woman a little nervously but kept her friendliness.

“U-U-Um… Wa-Wa-Way-” I was even more nervous. I do have a little anxiety when it comes to talking to a woman other than Mama and Nora, especially if my interlocutor is some kind of beautiful.

"Oh, I heard a little about your question to my daughter earlier..." She looked down, lost in thought for a while, before finally letting me in.

The inside of this house is the complete opposite of its outside appearance. Most of the furniture is made of wood that is kept clean. My eyes couldn't find a single grain of dust. The arrangement of the room is also very neat and organized, pleasing to the eye. Even though I've only just seen the living room, I'm sure the other rooms are just as tidy. Do not judge a book by its cover; I really learned this firsthand.

I'm invited to sit on one of the sofas while the woman goes back inside to prepare drinks. I explore this whole living room out of boredom. There is a bookshelf next to the television which is quite large. Children's fairytale books to adult books (I mean self-improvement kinds of stuff, duh. What are you thinking about?) mixed up in the bookshelf. The family seems to love reading. While above the television there is an empty frame.

Then next to the bookshelf... A tiny girl is looking at me with a sullen face, sitting cross-legged on the floor, hugging her teddy bear. I found Mr Wayne's daughter several times whispering with her teddy bear as if she was scheming something. Sigh, kids are so cute.

Since there's nothing else to pay attention to, I decided to mend my relationship with that princess from the Chocolate Kingdom. I'm afraid she's planning some shenanigans.

“Oh, the Princess of the Chocolate Kingdom! Sorry for my bad behaviour earlier! For that, I, the Prince of the Cake Kingdom, will serve this as an apology.” I fished the strawberry muffin out of my backpack. I'm lucky enough to drop by a cake shop earlier today. “These are strawberry muffins plucked straight from the muffin tree in my kingdom! It's so delicious! Princess must be addicted to it!”

Her frown had turned into the sweetest smile I've ever seen, and it was funny because I found her drooling. She was tempted by the strawberry slice on top, grabbed it quickly, impatient to taste the thick strawberry sweetness of the small muffin in my hand.

For about 10 minutes, I was role-playing with the princess when the queen of the Chocolate Kingdom came over to serve each of us hot chocolate. I'm not a connoisseur of chocolate drinks, I'm more of a tea person, but I have to admit that the chocolate she offers is really something. I had to ask her what brand she was brewing if it wasn't her own.

Mrs Sophia, the homeowner, introduced herself briefly and asked in more detail what the purpose of my presence is. Of course, I explain that I saw the news of the incident last Friday, so my morals say that I should visit the victim's family. Other than that, the main goal is to recover myself from guiltiness, though I didn't tell her this.

Now she understands the purpose, Mrs Sophia asks Marie, her daughter, to go back to her room because it's nap time. Marie had almost left Browny if I hadn't reminded her. Browny's shirt lifted, revealing the unkempt seams all over his back.

"Thanks for coming, but who are you to Wayne?"

My stuttering started to recur, this time not from talking to women but because I didn't prepare an answer to the question. Come to think of it, Mr Wayne did 'know' me, but I'm just a complete stranger to his family. It's bizarre that a foreigner like me came just to express condolences. It's even weirder if I claim to be one of his friends; We are pretty far apart in age. Maybe more suitable as subordinates.

Mrs Sophia would definitely not understand, much less believe about that strange day. I can only explain as best I can with a bit of spice of lies.

“I… Actually I'm just a foreign train passenger who happened to be on the same carriage with Mr Wayne last week. We got acquainted and talked a lot; I thought he was a nice, cool person… Shortly after that meeting, bad luck struck him… I was thinking a bit about him because I knew about his vacation plans this Sunday…”

“Oh… I see…” Mrs Sophia looked down and fiddled with her fingers. She didn't actually talk much during my visit either. Luckily the instrumental jazz music playing on the sidelines of the conversation made the situation less awkward. Well, Mrs Sophia had just lost someone she loves so much; maybe she still feels empty.

“If you come just to worry about my little daughter and me, you're just wasting your time. We're both fine…” Mrs Sophia conveyed to me firmly. I think I'm mistaken? I didn't feel the slightest sadness in her voice; she seems to have overcome the feeling of loss, I hope.

At least for me, I'm sure I'm not wasting my time. I can be a lot calmer for two reasons. First, Mr Wayne's family is fine, and second, I can be a little more relieved about it. At least a week had passed after that game, and there was no danger aimed at Mrs Sophia and Marie. This confirms that the game penalty is no longer valid because Mr Wayne is dead.

After realizing that, the voices of the female robots suddenly haunted my head, along with the absurd video playing on the television. The cheerful song played in my brain again to replace the jazz playing in this house. In the middle of the visit, a horrible flashback also struck me when a terrible question popped up in my mind.

The consequences of the game will be given in the real world.

Does losing the game mean death for the loser?

"Grey? You look a little pale… Are you okay?” Mrs Sophia saved me from that dreadful thought. I just nod, cold sweat dripping down my back.

I help Mrs Sophia replace the dead plants in her yard with a few sprigs of tulips for good measure. Soon after, I decided to go home because I had fulfilled my purpose.

Right after I said goodbye to Mrs Sophia, the little soul named Marie gripped my jeans tightly, not letting me go home easily. Marie hurried over to me, dragging Browny, making his body full of mud. Marie's expressions filled with sadness. I didn't expect Marie to cling to me, thus getting the impression that she was lonely. Are there no other kids her age in this housing.

“Where is the Prince of the Cake Kingdom going?”

"Marie! Grey wants to go home. It's rude to hold guests back… Hurry, back inside and give Browny a bath." Mrs Sophia crouched down to be level with Marie. The shirt she was wearing was slightly pulled up, revealing a scar on his lower back.

“But I want to keep playing with big bro Grey! I love playing with him!”

Mrs Sophia looks confused and struggles to calm Marie down as if this was the first time her daughter had sulked. I suddenly remembered Mr Wayne's plan to go to Dreamland's Grand Opening.

“How about we meet again in Dreamland? Marie is planning to go there on Sunday, aren't you?”

"Grey big bro also wants to go to Dreamland?!"

Marie's eyes lit up with excitement, reminding me of Mr Wayne that day. I really can't shake my head looking at her. Marie pointed her pinky finger, making sure that we'd meet on Sunday. After I respond, Marie skips over inside, her short curly hair swaying. Browny becomes a victim again.

It's an insane idea. How can I buy that crazy expensive ticket? Maybe I should contact the manager of Oasis Mart ASAP to get me back to work. The timing is just right because the sun will set; the manager would definitely be hanging out at the wobbly table in the minimarket.

The business here is over, though not entirely because I have a new promise. Just as my feet are about to cross the fence, someone again holds me back; this time, it's the homeowner. Her face is a pucker up.

"I'm sorry," she said while preventing me from getting into the taxi that had been waiting. “Sorry that Marie and I troubled you… Also, thank you for wanting to be Marie's friend. This is the first time I've seen her so happy…”

I just replied with my lips curved up.

"But since you promised, I hope you really keep that. You better not disappoint my daughter."

I, who had already turned back towards the taxi, could feel the pressure from her words. Mrs Sophia said it softly, but I could sense the firmness in every word.

"Certainly." I nodded my head without turning around.

“By the way, if the weird-looking person who's been peeking into my house recently is your friend, please tell him not to come. He gave Marie nightmares. See you on Sunday."

I can see the small figure of Mrs Sophia waving her hand. Sigh. I have to convince the manager to accept me back to work. And, I have to make sure I'm still alive whatever would happen on my next visit to that peculiar world.

***

Welcome to Oasis Mart, your household goods paradise!

In the midst of busy serving customers, staff will always greet customers who just come in. Ah, I really miss greeting customers using that jargon.

This minimarket—which can almost be called a supermarket—is always crowded for 24 hours. During the day, this minimarket will definitely flood with customers because there are no competitors around whatsoever; meanwhile, there must be some customers in the middle of the night. It's also possible that people flock here because of the free mineral water that is handed out even if you don't put anything in your basket.

It turns out I'm able to find Manager Ruben without bothering to check his favourite spots. He looks troubled amongst angry crowds. Manager Ruben is not familiar with cash registers; he couldn't even open the drawer. So what is he doing there?

I helped him operate the cash register, and the horde of customers decreased bit by bit.

"Woah, you have my yet another gratitude, Grey boy! How did you suddenly appear in the middle of all that chaos? This must be my lucky day, or maybe we are tied with a red thread!” Manager Ruben burst out laughing, and he seemed too happy to see me.

“So, when will you go back to work? I really need you here!”

Well... Manager Ruben himself asked me to return to work. No need for me to beg.

For some reason, I stopped working a while ago. Manager Ruben was always pleased with my performance, and in return, he allowed me to take a break. Looks like Manager Ruben found a suitable replacement for me because if not, he will bombard my phone with messages.

“How do you get pocket money if you don't work, Grey boy! Besides, if you don't hurry, your skills will be dull and I'll have to replace my favourite employee with Sherwyn. If that happens, your royalties will cut lower, you know!”

Manager Ruben then told me that in these past few days, there had been new regular customers. He often makes trouble here, asking staff for this and that, even when the goods he demands aren't available. Tonight is the same; he said he wouldn't leave the market if staff didn't immediately take the cigarettes he wanted from the warehouse. That's why Manager Ruben ended up as the cashier. It seems that the person mentioned is the one sitting at that wobbly table. What a douche.

I wanted to spend a little time at Oasis, so I bought some snacks and soft drinks to accompany me. Oasis's terrace is where the customers can hang out. Almost all of the seats were already occupied, so I had to sit behind that annoying customer.

I accidentally bumped into a staff just as I was walking behind the old man—four black packs of cigarettes brought by the staff fell on the customer's head. The three of us glared at each other.

The troublesome customer with the thick stubble is Farkas, and the staff named Sherwyn is the young man I also met that day. Maybe we are tied with some kind of red thread.