Heroine On Strike

The man’s voice that sounded as if he had given up didn’t have much energy to it. Although his arrogant attitude began to fade, his expression was quite familiar. It was evident who he was trying to copy.

Ella, who was feeling sympathetic, immediately turned cold as she said, “Stop making that face.”

“I thought you like these kinds of faces,” replied the man.

“It doesn’t mean I like it on just anyone.”

“I thought this would work.”

He clicked his tongue as if it was a shame and moved some distance away from her. Ella looked at the man who was becoming a bit defensive and spoke to cut his nonsense entirely, “That face is quite handsome, but it’s not my type. Also, I don’t have feelings for a relative.”

The man made a satisfied smile as Ella coldly snapped at him. It seemed the sadness on his face just now was all a lie. He then noted, “Now, that’s more like you. Forget about going back. Even if things get solved, you can return after you die of old age.”

Ella couldn’t find the words to argue back and looked at him. She wondered, ‘After I die of old age? Will Ranhee in the other world be alive by then? What’s the point if I return after I die?’

Her mind was filled with questions. Noticing this, the man answered, “Don’t worry. Your body will stay healthy until you get back.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, Luciella is there.”

“Wait. Luciella is in my body? Is it the Luciella that I know or Luciella from the memory you’ve just shown me?” questioned Ella. She couldn’t resist imagining the craziest woman having control of her body. Hello, Earth. Are you safe?

“Don’t worry. It’s Luciella right until you came here. She’s not innocent, but she’s Luciella with a healthy mind.”

“That’s a relief.”

Earth was safe. At least from her. Ella let out a long sigh, then came up with an idea, “Hey, what if I were to die here? Will that make this a failed attempt and bring me back?”

“HEY!” the man snapped as he jumped up, truly shocked, and glared at her.

‘I’m right,’ Ella thought as a decisive smile appeared on her face. ‘If that’s so, I can just cut my throat if I hate everything and want to end this. Then, I’ll be able to get back to my world. But this word…’ Ella thought for a second and stopped. Then she continued, ‘They’ll just find another guest. Who cares?’

As Ella continued to ponder, the man’s grimace turned into frustration. Then the expression on his face turned into one that looked like he was begging as he asked, “What do you want? I’ll do my best to grant your wish.”

After acquiring the answer she wanted, Ella made a satisfied smile and looked at him as she said, “Tell me everything that I want to know.”

***

What happened inside the bar? Xyle hurriedly walked up to Ella, who had run into the bar following a strange man and immediately came out. Even at this hour, the bar should be full of drunkards. There was no way she would come right out if nothing had happened. Unlike his worries, Ella smiled brightly and waved at him. He was puzzled by that bright smile.

“Xyle! See what I got from there.”

Ella ran up to Xyle at once and flashed what was in her hand. It was a compass full of familiar symbols engraved on it. They were strange symbols to ordinary people, but that wasn’t the case for him. He remembered whose symbols they were from.

“You’ve met them?”

“Who?” questioned Ella.

Even at Xyle’s question, Ella returned his question with a weird grin. His eyes narrowed as he watched her. He knew the weight of their names that he was about to call out. He prepared himself once more and said aloud, “‘The Walkers.’ Right?”

“Oh, they’re called the Walkers? He just told me to call him Didi.”