Chapter 10: Black Bread

The faint scent of Violet’s body still lingered in the air.
Sitting alone on the bed, Dounia looked helplessly at the new “wounds” on her body and lifted a bandage to take a peek.

Conspicuous red marks and faint teeth imprints remained, and it seemed they wouldn’t fade for a while.

“Sigh.”

Dounia sighed with a mix of happiness and helplessness.
After all the back-and-forth, combined with the frequent use of her mental energy, she was starting to feel drowsy.

She closed her eyes, stretched, and let out a long yawn.

Dounia glanced at the large white first-aid kit, a small smile playing on her lips.

Even within the Anomaly Bureau, medical supplies were not provided for free; on the contrary… they were still very expensive.

Click—

Dounia unfastened the latch and opened the kit.

The sight was different from what she had imagined.
It was stuffed with all sorts of small snacks and canned goods.

“Canned sardines, canned luncheon meat, beef jerky, chili sauce…”

Suddenly, her eyes lit up as she picked out a bag of potato chips in yellow packaging.

‘No way! Potato chips!’

‘This world actually has potato chips!? Oh my god!’

“Given the game’s setting, this kind of ‘luxury item’ is probably very expensive…” Dounia looked at the bag of chips with a pained expression, swallowing hard.

She really wanted to tear open a bag and sit carefree on the bed like she used to, comfortably lying down with her phone, munching away while watching a video.

But that kind of life had probably long since left her behind.

Dounia reluctantly pulled her little paw away from the chips, then slowly moved it back.

‘No, Dounia, you can’t eat them yet… you have to endure,’ she thought, grabbing her right wrist with her left hand.

In her memory, for most people in this game, being able to gnaw on a piece of black bread, drink a warm soup, and stay warm by a roaring fire was already considered a great happiness.

If necessary… she could even sell this bag of chips… although she would be very reluctant.

‘Oh, Dounia, Dounia, to think you’d end up pinching pennies like this.’

Dounia sighed internally.
The lights in the room gradually dimmed a few notches, and the air grew colder.

“Is it nighttime already? They even ration electricity. The Anomaly Bureau is so stingy…”

She tucked the quilt wrapped around her body further underneath, using her arms and legs to block any gaps tightly.
Only then did she feel a little better.

Dounia pulled the flat, thin blanket beside her over her body.

Fortunately, her build was quite petite, so she could cover her entire body without having to curl up.

“I never thought being petite would be an advantage. I’m really not used to this body…” Dounia sighed softly. “So weak, so sensitive, and so afraid of pain… not like my old self at all.”

Then again, her old self seemed to be quite afraid of pain too.
Every time she went to the hospital for a blood test, she had to mentally prepare herself for a long time.

Thinking of her past life, Dounia’s lips curved into a faint smile.

She clasped her hands over her chest under the covers and closed her eyes.

‘I hope tomorrow will be better…’

The girl maintained a prayer-like posture and slowly drifted into a deep sleep.

She slept exceptionally soundly this time, with almost no dreams.

Time flew by.

“Mmm…”

The girl’s eyelashes trembled slightly.

Dounia slowly and reluctantly opened her eyes.
Her ruby-like irises, brilliant and bright, shone with a dazzling light.

“What time is it…?”

She subconsciously reached for the side of her pillow, wanting to turn off a non-existent alarm, but there was no familiar hard surface.

“Damn it… this really wasn’t a dream…”

“Lilith, I curse you to have your coke always go flat…”

Dounia’s listless curse echoed in the room.
She rubbed her sleepy eyes, passively adjusting to the surrounding light.

The light seemed a bit brighter than when she fell asleep, and the room wasn’t as cold.

Dounia sat up.
Her wrinkled uniform slowly slipped to the side, revealing a fair, delicate shoulder and an exquisite collarbone.

Several bandages were stuck on it, surrounded by a faint redness.

She gently lifted a corner of a bandage, and the sharp pain instantly woke her half-crashed brain.

“Hiss…”

The tender skin underneath was so red it looked like it was about to bleed, a testament to the treatment it had once received.

“Ending up like this, I’m really one of a kind…”

Dounia lowered her head helplessly, shaking it and tossing her somewhat messy silver hair, as if trying to swat away non-existent mosquitoes.

Grrr—

A growl came from her stomach.

“So hungry. I wonder what the Anomaly Bureau serves for breakfast.”

She sullenly pressed a button, unlocking the door, and stepped outside.

A female guard was standing watch at the entrance to the corridor not far away, and she nodded slightly at Dounia.

It was the older guard from yesterday, the one who was responsible for throwing her into the snow and later apologized to her!

Dounia slowly sauntered toward the guard.
The guard stood up nervously, her hand subconsciously reaching behind her back.

“No need to be so tense, right?”

“It’s procedure, please understand,” the guard explained. “Although you’ve joined the Anomaly Bureau, you are still D-class personnel. You do not have permission to move freely and cannot leave this corridor.”

“D-class personnel, huh…”

Dounia shook her head, seemingly unsurprised by the situation.

“Then how do I eat breakfast?”

“You can check the food box outside. It contains daily replenished water and food, but only for breakfast and dinner,” the guard said, pointing to a green-painted box on the wall that resembled a newspaper box.

“Please be aware, touching another person’s food box will result in a strong electric shock, and your food supply for the day will be confiscated,” the guard kindly reminded her.

“Ha… the full lab rat treatment,” Dounia’s face fell. “This counts as joining the Anomaly Bureau?”

‘I have to find a way to improve my treatment… I don’t even have the freedom to move around. I’m just sitting here waiting to die.’

As Dounia thought this, she reached into the food box in front of her room.

A bottle of cold mineral water, and a black object about the length of her forearm.

‘This is the legendary black bread?’

It wasn’t particularly heavy, but it felt exceptionally hard in her hand, like squeezing a piece of tough leather.

“Nngh— Mmph!”

Dounia used all her strength but couldn’t even leave a handprint on the black bread.

‘Is this really something a person can eat?’

Dounia carefully opened her small mouth, her canine teeth slowly biting down on the bread.

The moment her teeth made contact with the bread, she felt as if she had bitten into a piece of steel.

“Ow! My teeth!”

Dounia grimaced and let go of the bread, then swung it hard against the nearby metal pipe.

BANG—!

The sound of metal clashing echoed in her ears.

The corner of Dounia’s mouth twitched.

‘This thing… could totally be used as a blunt weapon, right? How am I supposed to eat it?’

She looked at the pale-faced guard sitting at the table, only to find the guard staring intently at the black bread in her hand, her eyes betraying a hint of hunger.

“What do you want?” Dounia quickly hid the black bread behind her back.

“Nothing…” the guard replied with a bitter smile.

“You can try pouring water on the bread bit by bit. It will soften over time,” the guard said, but her eyes never left the black bread.

“Oh. Then why are you staring at the bread in my hand?” Dounia asked suspiciously. “You want to eat it?”

“I will not snatch your bread, nor can I,” the guard said helplessly, showing the metal bracelet on her wrist. “If I did, I would receive an electric shock as well.”

‘Whoa, pretty fair?’

“Hmph, serves you right for throwing me into the snow so forcefully yesterday. Now you have no money for food, huh?” Dounia tilted her little head up.

The guard smiled bitterly and lowered her head.

Yes, this was her own doing.

The person before her was a favorite of Miss Violet, and though she was officially still D-class personnel, she was not someone she could afford to offend.

“Nyah nyah nyah, serves you right!~” Dounia hugged her things and scurried back into her room.

The guard had no complaints, merely rubbing her stomach.

The salary for working at the Anomaly Bureau wasn’t high, but it was enough to cover food and drink.
That was, if she hadn’t just paid a full month’s salary in compensation yesterday.

But she still had a large family to support, so she hadn’t eaten a single bite of food all day yesterday.

A ten-year-old son, a six-year-old daughter, and a husband who used to work in the mines but was laid off and on leave due to a lung disease.

Although her husband could still support himself with odd jobs, his health was steadily declining, and she couldn’t scrape together the money for his medical treatment, only able to watch him weaken day by day.

She could only sit by and watch it all happen, and then accept it.

This was the best she could do.

The guard leaned against the cold wall and closed her eyes.

Perhaps if she fell asleep, she wouldn’t feel hungry.
Besides, other than the new young lady, no one in the entire D-class section could freely enter or leave the corridor.

An unknown amount of time passed.
A very faint scent of wheat seemed to linger before her nose, tugging at her stomach, which had long since gone quiet and shrunk into a ball.

Gurgle.

The guard swallowed a mouthful of saliva, unwilling to open her eyes, afraid this was just a dream.

She lamented the mockery of fate, but she was already numb to it.

The guard slowly opened her eyes and was shocked to find a real piece of black bread in front of her, the undissolved water droplets on it still shimmering slightly.

She looked in surprise at the young girl holding the black bread and offering it to her, a hint of confusion in her eyes.

“Hmph, this thing is too disgusting. My teeth can’t even bite it,” Dounia turned her head away. “Help me get rid of it.”

The guard hesitated.
The instinct to eat made her want to reach out, but reason made her think.

‘Why would this person give me food?’

She had made a mistake and paid the price she deserved.
There was nothing wrong with that.

“Don’t, don’t you understand?” Dounia shoved the black bread into her hands and crossed her arms. “Your pale face is disgusting to look at. You should eat something!”

This was clearly a clumsy excuse…

As a guard who had watched over many prisoners, she could naturally tell whether the other person had malicious intent.

“Then, I’ll really eat it?” the guard asked hesitantly, the expectation in her eyes no longer concealable.

“Go on, why would I need something so hard and disgusting,” Dounia urged.

“Thank you,” the guard said with sincere gratitude.

In that instant, Dounia felt that there was something else in the guard’s gaze as she looked at her.

She took the black bread and took a large bite.

Saliva was secreted frantically, trying to soften the hard, rough dough.
She eagerly cut at it with her teeth, making crunching sounds.

A bitter taste flashed across her tongue, and the dough that slid down her esophagus and into her stomach seemed to activate her entire digestive system.
Every muscle worked desperately, trying to digest it.

She wolfed down a little less than half of the black bread before she started to feel it get stuck.

The guard blushed and just hiccuped, not proactively asking Dounia for water.

No gift was ever a must, and no reception was ever deserved.
As a guard, she understood this principle even better.

She remained silent, constantly thumping her chest.

Dounia sighed, ran back into her room, and placed the remaining half-bottle of mineral water on the guard’s table.

“Drink it. The other half is yours too.”

The guard looked at Dounia hesitantly.

People like Dounia were truly rare.

It was already incredibly merciful that she hadn’t used her connections with Miss Violet and the Chief to oppress her.
What’s more, she had said nothing, and yet she was willing to help…

In this cold world, a single thread of warmth was enough to leave a dazzling mark.

“Hurry up and drink. So you don’t choke to death and make me responsible,” Dounia said, her lips twitching in disgust.

Only then did the guard pick up the bottle and take a few small sips.

“Thank you, merciful lady.”

“Mercy is a noble quality of your pure soul, but…”

“In this world, mercy toward others is also a form of cruelty to oneself. You must be careful,” the guard said sincerely after some serious thought.

“Are you teaching me what to do?” Dounia said dismissively with her arms crossed. “I can be careful on my own.”

The guard shyly pushed the remaining two-thirds of the bread back to Dounia, along with the half-bottle of water.

“Thank you, I’m full.”

“What nonsense are you talking about? It’s yours now that I’ve given it to you. Don’t make me waste my breath,” Dounia said with a stern face.

“Yes…” the guard replied. “Thank you.”

“Tsk, my ears are going to grow calluses from hearing that,” Dounia plugged her ears with her hands.
Seeing the guard let down her guard and start nibbling on the bread again, she continued.

“What’s your name?”

“My name is Julie Dean. You can just call me Julie,” the guard replied while chewing.

Dounia slapped the wallet, most of its leather worn off, onto the guard’s table.

“I’m not giving you the money back, but if you get hungry again, I don’t mind giving you some black bread, understand?”

Julie blinked in surprise.

“This comes at a price,” Dounia emphasized. “If I need you for some small things, you have to help. Understand?”

Julie slowly looked down at the black bread in her hand, as if it were her last meal.

She remembered… this person was a suspected Follower of Pleasure, wasn’t she?

Dounia rolled her eyes at her in annoyance, her hands on her hips.

“I’m just asking for a small favor. If you don’t want to, just refuse. Why do you look like you’re eating your last meal?”

Julie blinked awkwardly.

But… it seemed like this wasn’t so bad.