Chapter 4: 4. Searching for Work

I stretched my stiff body and rose wearily from my sleeping spot.

Somehow, I’d made it to the Residential Area.

Now I had no idea what to do next.

Though escaping the slums to avoid that Pig bastard and find better conditions had been my top priority, I hadn’t properly planned what to do afterward.

Just being free of the stench of filth was nice, but I couldn’t keep sleeping rough here forever.

Most of all, I was starving.

I hadn’t eaten anything since yesterday.

If only I had some memory of how I usually got food, I could’ve followed that routine.

But I had no such useful memories.

“…First things first.”

Right.

Finding work should be my priority.

Though in my current state, if I begged for work, I’d probably just get beaten and chased away. I needed to wash up somewhere first.

The problem was I only had two Copper Coins to my name.

I wasn’t exactly sure of their value, but judging by the street stalls I passed entering the Residential Area, each coin seemed roughly equivalent to a thousand won.

“…A public bathhouse would be ideal, but…”

I shook my head, doubting 2,000 won would be enough. Instead, I decided to wash in the river flowing through the Residential Area.

People did laundry there anyway.

Surely no one would scold me for bathing there.

I limped along, feeling heavy stares that made me seek secluded paths. The riverbank I’d seen earlier turned out much farther than expected.

As I emerged onto the street, I felt eyes boring into me. Some pinched their noses at my stench, others muttered barely audible curses.

It was unfair.

I didn’t choose to be here.

I didn’t want these stares and insults.

There was no reason I deserved this treatment.

But under their disgusted gazes, I couldn’t argue back. Hunched over with eyes fixed on the ground, I hurried forward.

Thud!

Pain exploded in my head. Clutching my skull, I collapsed.

Tears welled as I checked my hands – blood smeared my fingers. Turning in disbelief, I saw two children pointing and giggling at me.

When I stared blankly, parents shielded the kids and glared at me instead.

“What’re you looking at? Get lost!”

Stoned and cursed at. Rage boiled inside, but I swallowed it. This world might be fucking shit, but voicing that could bring disaster.

Clenching my fists painfully, I pretended nothing happened. Holding back tears, I continued toward the river.

The journey brought endless humiliations. Whether due to my Gloomy Aura trait or my very existence being hateful, the revulsion was beyond what any human should endure.

At the riverbank, women lined up doing laundry. Further downstream, I found an empty spot. Slowly undressing, I entered the cold water.

It stung my wounds, but I scrubbed desperately to eliminate the stench.

The slums’ river had long been polluted with waste, undrinkable. Here, the water looked clean enough to drink.

I filled my empty stomach with water and scrubbed for nearly an hour. When numbness replaced pain and my senses dulled strangely, instinct told me to get out.

I dressed in still-damp clothes rinsed in the river.

“…Maybe my nose is numb, but I can’t really smell myself anymore.”

Was this normal in the slums? Sometimes when people approached me covering their noses, it felt exaggerated.

My stomach was full of water for now. Until my clothes dried, I sat on a rock to pass time.

“I want to go home…”

Even with narcolepsy disrupting my old life, it was ten, a hundred times better than this.

What good was clear consciousness now? In this situation, being foggy-minded would help more.

“…At least I’m cleaner now. Maybe someone will hire me?”

If only my body were stronger. Rie’s twisted preferences made me this stunted brat.

A dirty, smelly, weak little girl. Who’d want that?

Now clean but still weak. I’d scrubbed thoroughly but lacked a mirror to check my appearance.

If only I were cute or pretty, someone might take pity. I regretted not examining my face properly during customization due to shock.

When my clothes dried, I stood. Staying put solved nothing. Slapping my cheeks awake, I organized my thoughts.

Listing potential jobs in my mind, I confidently set out to find shops that might hire me.

“Hello! I can do anything! Will you hire me?”

“Hello! I’m looking for work!”

“Hello! Do you have any tasks I could do?”

“Hello! Could you possibly employ me?”

Hello… Hello… Hello…!

Countless rejections.

Some slammed doors mid-sentence with disgusted looks. Others threw water at me.

“…Sniff.”

At least they used water, not sewage – these Residential folks retained some conscience.

“…At least the last person spoke properly. That’s something.”

They’d said, “No one here hires slum rats!” Maybe my Gloomy Aura forced that reaction, but if so, they’d have called me disgusting personally.

Clearly, slum dwellers were more despised than I’d imagined.

“Is it my pass? Or my clothes marking me as slum trash?”

Either way, I needed to shed my slum identity to find work.

“Achoo!”

My shivering suggested a cold coming on.

“…No time. Have to do this.”

Reluctantly, I chose the shameless, desperate approach. Turning back, I headed for the place with the least hostile response – a one-eyed old man’s Antique Shop.

Though he’d refused me, his cold words held concern. Worth trying.

“‘Too many dangerous items for a child,’ he said.”

Meaning he refused not out of dislike, but genuine unsuitability. That warmth surprised me then.

“…If you feed a stray cat out of pity, it follows you forever. That’s me now.”

His comparatively kind words drew me back. If I camped outside for days, smiling while cleaning his street trash, maybe he’d relent.

Returning to the slums wasn’t an option. Everyone saw me buy the pass. Going back would mark me as wealthy, inviting torment.

I must survive here.

Reaching the antique shop in its secluded corner, I slumped against the wall. Cold but odor-free. My water-filled stomach sloshed weirdly, but hunger was numbed.

Rie hadn’t complained despite this delay – probably busy raising a new character. How cruel.

Dizziness made me press my temples. My trembling body felt worse by the minute. I needed to stay alert until the old man emerged, but exhaustion overwhelmed me.

Yesterday and today held too much.

***

The old man couldn’t stop thinking about the child he’d turned away.

The ragged clothes and cherished pass instantly marked them as slum-born. Starving to bone-thinness stirred primal pity.

“Though radiating that Gloomy Aura… not a bad child at heart.”

His muttering revealed true feelings. Surrounded by ominous antiques, the old man ignored such auras – what mattered was essence.

Thus he saw beyond the aura to the child who’d begged for work, offering to labor for just food and shelter. No lies in those desperate, anxious words.

But his dangerous wares forced refusal.

“Hmm…”

A sigh. Regret lingered – he should’ve taken them in for simple errands. But what’s done is done.

Tsk. Clicking his tongue at missed opportunity, the old man rose to leave.

Outside, moonlight revealed a small figure slumped against his wall. Squinting through dimness, he recognized the child from earlier.

Had they waited all this time?

Approaching uneasily, he noticed something wrong – breath so faint it might stop.

“Hey…!”

Rushing over, he touched the burning forehead. Ice-cold limbs. No response to shaking.

His dilemma ended quickly. Scooping up the child, he carried them inside.

Perhaps this was fate.