Chapter Text
!!!
A young boy suddenly awoken in the middle of the night, he looks at the familiar red moon covered by few clouds and sigh out of relief.
He had just dreamed a silver moon with many high buildings made of glasses everywhere!
Such an abnormal dream made the 16 year old teenager to shivers in fear. He froze when he heard the door from across his room creaked open.
"Mom..?" The child called out, but there are no answer.
He got out of bed and stepped into the hallway, his eyes fixed on the slightly open door across from him.
But the moment he pushed open the door to their bedroom, he saw the bodies of his parents hanged by invisible ropes!
The boy fell onto his buttocks, stared wide-eyed at the swaying bodies.
He wanted to scream, but his mind seemed to become slower. He can't even lift a finger.
The bodies stopped swaying and slowly, their heads look towards the child.
𝘈𝘩...
Abruptly, the child fell flat on his back like a ragdoll. As if the threads that were holding his body had snapped.
The little boy scrambled to his feet and ran towards the front door, desperate to escape.
Yet, even after stepping outside the house, he kept running as fast as he could.
As he reached the middle of nowhere, the boy then collapsed from exhaustion.
Zhou Mingrui groggily woke up, his body aches all over. Soreness spread through his limbs, the result of sleeping in an awkward position on the rough 'bed'.
He rolled onto his back and slowly opened his eyes, only to see a blue sky. With his small hand, Zhou Mingrui tries to block out the sun that pierced into his eyes.
𝘞𝘢𝘪𝘵.. 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭?
!!!
Zhou Mingrui sat up abruptly looking at his hands, then he realizes that he's in the middle of a forest!
Before he could even think, his vision trembled as murmurs drills into his head.
He saw the sight of a mother gently calling for a child but in the next moment, the mother is hanged lifelessly from the ceilings!
The scene then shifted into the face of a man with an eerie smile, it's this child's father!
Countless indescribable images flooded his head, though parts of the memories were clearly missing.
It still felt as if blunt knife is slicing through his head. Yet, Zhou Mingrui forced himself to calm down and tries to process his current situation.
He had just transmigrated into a body that belonged to a 16 year old teenager from a small village. The memory of this kid's name along with many details are missing.
𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘰 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴..
As a self-proclaimed keyboard warrior, Zhou Mingrui knew a little about everything. In most stories, transmigration happened only after both parties had died.
𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴.
When he tried to get up, his legs gave way and he nearly collapsed before catching himself against a tree.
Then he squatted down and after verifying that his knees could bend, Zhou Mingrui stood up again and calmed down.
He checked his body, from head to toe there are no apparent injuries. Then Zhou Mingrui twisted his upper body from side to side, testing for any pain from internal injuries.
𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘫𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩.
"Weird.." Zhou Mingrui muttered as he picked up a long twig. Subconsciously, he dragged it along the dirt while walking in a direction that might lead out of the forest.
𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘭𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘺, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘐 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘯𝘰 𝘣𝘢𝘧𝘧𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯?
𝘉𝘢𝘥 𝘭𝘶𝘤𝘬... 𝘠𝘦𝘴, 𝘐 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘭𝘶𝘤𝘬 𝘦𝘯𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺!
A thought flashed in Zhou Mingrui's mind, illuminating the memories which were concealed by a fog of confusion.
𝘙𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘪𝘵 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘶𝘤𝘬 𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭.
As he knew a bit about everything, one of those things happened to be Chinese divination.
When he visited his hometown last year, he had discovered a thread-bound book titled 'Quintessential Divination and Arcane Arts of the Qin and Han Dynasty' at an old bookstore.
It looked pretty interesting and could aid him in posturing on the Internet, so he bought it.
Unfortunately, his interest was short-lived. The vertical script it used made the reading experience horrible. All he did was flip through the beginning pages before he threw it into a corner.
He had experienced a spate of bad luck in the past month. Losing his cell phone, customers running away after cheating him, and mistakes at work.
Only then did he suddenly recall the luck enhancement ritual written at the beginning of 'Quintessential Divination and Arcane Arts.' Furthermore, the requirements were extremely simple, without any basic foundation requirements.
All he needed was to get four portions of the staple food in his area and place them in the four corners of his room.
They could be placed on furniture such as tables and cupboards. Then, standing in the middle of the room, he had to take four steps in a counter-clockwise fashion to make a square.
The first step required him to sincerely chant 'Blessings Stem from The Immortal Lord of Heaven and Earth.'
The second step was to silently chant, 'Blessings Stem From The Sky Lord of Heaven and Earth.'
The third step was 'Blessings Stem From The Exalted Thearch of Heaven and Earth,'
And the fourth step was 'Blessings Stem From The Celestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth.'
After the four steps were taken, he needed to close his eyes and wait five minutes in his original spot. Only then would the ritual be considered complete.
This means that there's still a chance for him to get back home.
His parents, relatives, best buddies, and friends. The fascinating world of the Internet and all sorts of delicious delicacies... These were reasons that prompted his desire to return!
But he had no sense of direction at all. Zhou Mingrui halted, staring at the endless forest ahead.
𝘐𝘧 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘰𝘯, 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘪𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦. Either from hunger or as a beast's meal.
He swept his gaze across the forest. With no river in sight, he plunged the twig into the dirt as a marker.
As it is still morning, he used the sun as direction and began walking in a straight line.
Every so often, Zhou Mingrui left another mark to ensure he wasn't circling back.
Soon, he heard the sound of running water and goes to find the source of it. Standing by the river, he decided to follow the direction the water flowed.
As the sun had reached its highest point, Zhou Mingrui finally spotted a farm in the distance. Relief washed over him, and he ran toward it without hesitation.
Not long after, he saw a village nearby and noticed a long trail of black smoke on the sky.
"What happened..?" Zhou Mingrui muttered as he headed towards it.
He approached the source of the smoke and found a small crowd gathered in front a burning house. For some reason, the sight of the house felt strangely familiar, but he ignored it.
Then suddenly, a slim hand gripped his shoulder hard.
"Gherman! Where have you been?!" A red-haired girl shouted.
She looked about the same age as him, and her anxious expression suggested they were close. "We were so worried about you!"
Before he could respond, more people crowded around him.
"Gerhman! Thank goodness you're alive!"
"Where are your parents? Don't tell me they're-"
"Don't say that!" the young woman cut off a man harshly. "What if they're still alive?!"
"Hey... what happened?" Zhou Mingrui, or Gherman asked, clearly confused. But they all seemed to be hesitant to tell him.
Fortunately, the awkward tension was then broken by a loud shout.
"Hey! The fire's out! Check if there's anyone inside!"
Zhou Mingrui turned toward the voice. The man was holding an empty bucket, and several others nearby carried the same. It was clear the fire had been extinguished after they repeatedly splashed water onto the house.
Three or four people gone inside the house, in search for any sign of live or to find the cause of fire.
Those surrounding Gherman, including himself, moved closer to the house, waiting anxiously for any news.
Then two men emerged, carrying two charred, blackened bodies.
!?
Suddenly, someone covered Gherman's eyes from behind.
"Sorry, Gerhman... you shouldn't see this."
"What...?" Zhou Mingrui murmured, confusion flooded his mind. As Zhou Mingrui tried to dechiper the meaning of those words, other people seemed to notice his presence.
"Gherman..? Does that mean that the bodies belonged to his parents?"
"Oh Gherman.. I'm sorry for your loss."
The person behind him let out a helpless sigh. Covering Gherman's eyes was meaningless now, the cruel truth had already been spoken aloud.
...?
It seems like he's currently the pitied one here.
Although the body, or Gherman seemed to showed a faint reaction of grief. Zhou Mingrui himself doesn't feel anything as he had already guessed or expected the parent's death.
He just hadn't expect to find Gherman's village rather quickly or even confirming the death of his parent.
Still, it wouldn't be good to remain motionless in front of people who truly knew Gherman. They would notice something was wrong, that I'm no longer Gherman.
𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘵. Zhou Mingrui thought, though he had no idea what kind of reaction Gherman should have.
But before he could express anything, the young woman from before grabbed his wrist and dragged him somewhere, followed by the same guy who had just covered his eyes.
The blond-haired guy even whistled as they walked, far too relaxed for someone who had just witnessed a house burn down or even the death of someone's parents.
𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘎𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘯'𝘴 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴. Zhou Mingrui came to had concluded as they guided him away, clearly trying to divert his attention from the grief he was expected to feel.
He finall6 chose to observe the two of them in silence.
The young woman had bright red hair and a pair of green eyes that resembled emeralds. Her skin wasn't fair, but she gave off a healthy feeling.
She wore a straw bonnet trimmed with lace. Her dress had lost much of its original blue color and was slightly torn, it shows how much she had cherished it.
From the way she acted, she looks like a worried older sister to Gherman.
Zhou Mingrui then shifted his attention to the whistling young man. He has a medium build with short blond hair that was split seventy-thirty and has the same pair of emerald-green eyes like red-haired girl. He seems even older and taller than Gherman and the girl.
As they reached below a single tree, the red-haired girl stopped and looked at Gherman with a serious expression. But before she could speak, the blonde youth cut her off, placing a hand on Gherman's shoulder.
"Gherman, I know this might be sudden for you... and we're sorry for your loss. But there's no point in mourning those hags!"
"You--!" the young woman tries to argues, but he rudely covered her mouth with his hand.
"You know how those old guys treated Gherman. Why should we grieve for them?"
He said plainly, he glanced at Gherman only to see no expressions from him. Yet, beneath those calm exterior, he could still see the confusion deep hidden in it.
"Gherman..?" The two stopped their bickering and looked towards Gherman.
Zhou Mingrui who is being gazed by two green eyed people shivers inwardly as he knew he has been caught.
"I'm sorry.. But I don't remember anything.."
A heavy silence overtook them as the two of them froze in shock before shouting in unison.
"what?!"
"Gherman! How could this happened to you?!"
Before Zhou Mingrui could answer the girl, the blond youth beat him to it.
"How would he know? He just said he didn't remember anything. Or is it you who's gotten forgetful now?"
"What did you say? I'll beat you up, Anderson!"
"It's rude to call your elders by name."
Helene really want to punch that scumbag. Yet, she just gritted her teeth before calming down.
"No, that's not important right now. We should help Gherman." She turned to Zhou Mingrui urgently. "Hey, what do you remember?"
"Wait, can we really believe that you really has forgotten everything?" Once again, the Anderson guy cut Gherman from speaking and lightly shoving the girl aside.
"No, I really don't remember anything.."
"Everything..? Wow Gherman, what have you gotten yourself into.."
The girl pushed Anderson more harshly than he did, she patted off some of the dirt on her dress and locked eyes into Gherman's eyes. Her gaze sharpened as she studied him carefully, like a rat that has shown abnormalities.
"Aside from your dirty face, there don't seem to be any injuries on your head.. But remembering how Gherman always acted and how you acted now, what you said might be true."
𝘠𝘦𝘴... 𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵?
Anderson rested a hand on his chin, nodded slowly, as if he had reached a decision.
"Alright then, I guess we should teach you everything..?"
"No, we should start with our names. Hello Gherman, my name is Helene." She introduced herself, shaking Gherman's hand, then pointed rather rudely towards Anderson. "And this old man beside me is Anderson Hood. Just call him Anderson."
Anderson Hood twitched his eye at the nickname but shrugged it off.
"Haha... anyway, it seems you can still understand the Feysac language, so that's one less thing to worry about."
As time passed, Zhou Mingrui gradually forgot the complicated feelings he had for Gherman's deceased parents and began learning about the world he now lived in.
Today is 28th June 1339, of the Fifth Epoch.
Gherman’s parents had divorced after they discovered his mother was pregnant.
And from what Anderson was told by other neighbors. They still decided to live together yet treat each other like strangers everytime they see each other. Then, after Gherman was born, he isn't given any last name as neither parent don't want Gherman to belong to any of them.
Recently, his mother had found another man, which made his father jealous. But weirdly, they still lived together.
Anderson had concluded that it might be the reason why the house on fire before he was hit on the head by Helene.
She then explained that Gherman used to be a shut off kid, never trying to interact with anyone. It wasn’t until Anderson practically dragged him out of that house that he began spending time with Anderson and Helene.
Anderson had tried countless times to convince Gherman to go against his parents, but Gherman always coldly brushed off those suggestions. Even so, Gherman continued to hang out with the two of them.
That was 3 years ago. Now, Gherman is 16 years old, the same age as Helene. Just a few months older than her. While Anderson is currently 19 years old.
The village they lived in is from a small country that is at the southern part of the Northern Continent, called Segar. Anderson Hood and Gherman were born in the same small village, while Helene had moved here from Intis only a few years ago.
Segar had became independent from the Feynapotter Kingdom after the Battle of the Violated Oath in 738 along with Lenburg and Masin.
From Segar, to the north lay the Intis Republic, to the east was Lenburg, and to the southeast until south stretched the Feynapotter Kingdom.
This country was deeply rooted in the worship of the God of Knowledge and Wisdom.
Yet strangely, Gherman's parents had followed the Goddess of the Night, as if they had never truly belonged to Segar.
But it can't be blamed as people has their own beliefs.
From what Zhou Mingrui had learnt, a year here has 365 days, each week has 7 days, and every day is made up of 24 hours. Just like the Earth.
Soon enough, it's getting dark and Helene hurriedly goes back to her house while Gherman and Anderson walked steadily toward the latter's home.
"Since your place isn’t really suitable to live in, you’ll stay with me for the time being." he said, eyeing Gherman’s grim expression.
"Don't worry, I might have some clothes that will fit you."
Anderson patted Gherman's shoulder in pity.
𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘰 𝘐 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘮𝘶𝘨 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦?
“Tomorrow we’ll check if any of your clothes survived… though I doubt some are still intact,” he added with a shrug.
In the next morning, Gherman woke up with a realization.
He hadn't tried performing the ritual yet!
In this village, there could have been some kind of food and a closed room that would allow him to do it, yet he hadn’t thought any of that.
Even after arriving at Anderson’s house, which could have given him more opportunities!
𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘨𝘦, 𝘶𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘢 𝘣𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘥. 𝘚𝘰 𝘐 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘵.
Yet Zhou Mingrui couldn’t shake the feeling that something was amiss. Before he could dive deeper into his thoughts, he noticed the dawn of sunlight outside the window.
𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘐 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵.
"Yeah, I was just tired from the long walk in the forest.. That's why I hadn't thought of it until now.." He muttered as he gets up from his bed and stretch his worn-out body.
Gherman took a deep breath and carefully listened to the sounds coming from the next room.
Last night, Anderson had given him the guest room, which is next to the main bedroom. Although he felt uneasy sleeping in someone else’s house, he accepted Anderson’s old clothes and put them on after taking a shower.
'This fellow is too relaxed for having just witnessed a burning house.. Is he not afraid his house will be next?' Zhou Mingrui thought wryly, then quickly shaking such impolite thoughts off.
𝘐'𝘮 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘨𝘶𝘺, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘯.
Hearing no signs of the home owner waking up in the next room, Zhou Mingrui stepped out of the guest room in search of a bathroom to take care of his business.
After that, he noticed that the main bedroom door still hadn’t opened yet, so he decided to head to the kitchen in search of food.
He checked every cabinets, but he could only find few ingredients that could be cooked. It's quite reasonable as Anderson had lived alone ever since his grandpa died when he was 16 years old.
Zhou Mingrui sighed, pitying the blond youth before he continuing work. He had decided to make a breakfast as a gratitude towards Anderson for letting him stay the night.
However, when he stared at the rock hard bread, his anticipation to cook, quietly dissipated.
𝘙𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘴, 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘶𝘣𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘴.
Taking back his pity, Zhou Mingrui instead decided to resent Anderson for the pitiful amount of ingredients in the house. But strangely enough, there are a lot of fresh fishes and potatoes.
After a long consideration, Zhou Mingrui took out a bowl and cracked one egg into it.
He added flour, poured in some milk, then sprinkled a bit of sugar and salt, not bothering to measure properly as he's quite familiar in making pancakes himself. Using a spoon, he stirred the mixture until it became thick and smooth, small lumps slowly disappearing.
He poured a small amount of oil into the pan first, spreading it evenly before turning on the heat.
Once the batter was ready, he poured some of it in the heated pan. The faint smell of cooking batter soon filled the the small kitchen.
Standing there while flipping the pancake with steady hands, Zhou Mingrui felt an unexpected sense of calm settle over him as he focused on the simple, domestic task.
Quietly, the door to the main bedroom creaked open. A pair of green eyes peeked out, drawn by the unfamiliar smell drifting through the air.
Gherman suddenly felt as if someone were watching him. A shiver ran through his neck. He glanced left and right, then turned around, only to see Anderson leaning casually against the kitchen doorway, giving a low whistle.
“Never thought you could cook, Gherman,” The blond youth said with a smirk that made him look even more punchable.
Zhou Mingrui merely snorted and ignored him as he continues placing the pancakes onto two plates, four on each.
Anderson raised an eyebrow and walked closer.
“So, what did you make?”
𝘙𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵… 𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘳𝘢 𝘺𝘦𝘵.
“I've tried something new,” he replied vaguely. “Come and taste it.”
With no better option, Anderson accepted the plate. He picked up a pancake and took a bite.
He then paused, clearly surprised by the inside that was unexpectedly soft, warm, and fluffy. A faint sweetness lingered on his tongue, simple yet comforting, nothing like the dry bread he was used to. His gaze drifted to the berries beside it and tried them together, he found that the soft pancake paired surprisingly well with the fruit.
Before he even realized it, he had already taken another bite.
“…This is good,” Anderson muttered with a mouth still full of the cakes and berries.
Zhou Mingrui watched from the side, pretending not to care as he eats his own portion. Though a quiet sense of satisfaction settled in his chest.
As there wasn’t a single drop of maple syrup or any kind of syrup at all, he decided to use the berries instead. He washed them, cut them in half, and arranged them beside the pancakes and on top of them.
'If only there were some whipped cream, it would be even better or sweeter, too.' he thought regretfully.
Yet, for something made with such plain ingredients, the result was far better than he had expected.
Anderson glanced down at the remaining pancakes on the plate, then silently reached for another.
𝘛𝘉𝘊.