Before I could fall asleep, there was already something disturbing again. This time the voice came from next to me. why is it as if, I'm not allowed to fall asleep? In my mind, I said. 'Is it possible that if I fall asleep, it will be a long sleep like before?'
"Uh...mom...cold..."
A complaining voice suddenly sounded just after the noisy movement disturbed my slumbering process.
'Cold? After hearing it from Novia, I suddenly felt a fluctuation in the temperature around here as well.
'eh? it's right. how come it's cold like this anyway? Even though this is an underground bunker...'
'Oh my, I'll have to rent a private room to get some heat.'
My eyes finally opened, I got up from the backrest and tried to pat Susan's shoulder.
"San...Susan...wake up."
Susan, who apparently slept not too well, immediately opened her eyes when I woke her up.
"Um...Nine? You're already here. What time is it?" Susan whispered her eyes while recovering her sight.
"3am." I said, looking at the clock on my phone.
"Uh mom...cold." Novia was again delirious with complaints of cold. even though she was wearing a fur coat that looked warm, just like Susan.
"Yes honey, it's cold here. we should move from here." Susan suggested moving.
In her mind, she thought that maybe it was because of her position not far from the bunker gate. so maybe this cold came from outside the bunker that entered through the gap.
"How about we rent a room?" I suggested while taking Novia from Susan's lap and carrying her.
"Hmm? How did you know there was a room for rent here?" Asked Susan who stood up and then ducked down to get the luggage.
"I heard about it from someone just now." I said, while recalling the conversation between father and daughter a few moments ago.
Hearing this, Susan felt guilty in her heart. she was silent for a while, then said.
"At first I wanted to rent a private room, but I don't think it's necessary. Because I heard from a bunker officer that the entire warrior camp along with the state security forces, they all participated in securing the crack....
So I figured it wouldn't take long and it would just be a waste of rent. That's why I decided to wait here."
After telling me the reason why she fell asleep in the open room of the bunker, Susan then looked at me and asked.
"Has the crack been completed? How is the situation outside now?"
Susan stared at me with her pretty face decorated with eye bags.
"Yes, it's finished but it's not over yet. the condition on the surface is also very severe. there are so many buildings that were destroyed and flattened to the ground."
"Especially north of Apartment Boulevard where the crack appeared, the city there looks like the wars in the Middle East and Europe decades ago."
I tried to give a picture that was easy for Susan to understand.
Hearing my explanation, Susan who also felt compassion and concern, she then asked.
"Is it that bad? Then is it safe for us to return to the surface?" Susan twisted her fingers feeling anxious.
"Not yet. It's better for us to stay here for a while. Because I heard that there will still be another disaster class crack in the near future." I told Susan about the Two Generals whose whereabouts were still unknown indirectly.
Actually, I didn't want to scare her like this, but what else could I do? In fact, I myself didn't have clear information about the whereabouts of Licht's subordinates. It was best to be careful and not act rashly so that both of them would not be in danger.
"Alright, let's go to the reception to rent a private room." Susan took Novia from me and glanced at the 2 bags that looked very heavy.
I carried both bags with one in front and the other behind, while Susan led the way while carrying Novia who was still asleep.
In front of the reception desk, I waited behind Susan who was taking care of the administration fee. I advised her to take the most expensive suit and told her to pay using my card. of course, I told her the password because I could make the payment using manual pin input in addition to my fingerprint option.
When Susan had finished making the payment, there was a sudden notification sound and there was a system panel in front of me.
ding!
[Congratulations, Master. Passive Income: 1 Quintillion has been added to the balance]
'Hmm? What is this? Passive income? 1 Quintillion? But, where did it come from?' I thought as I looked at the system panel notification.
While I was lost in thought, Susan suddenly spoke to me when she saw me daydreaming.
"What's wrong? The payment is done. I booked the most expensive room at 25 thousand dollars per night or 40 thousand dollars per day. I rented it for 7 days according to your directions and the total is 280 thousand dollars. that's enough to buy a Ferrari car under my version. do you regret it now?"
Susan said it all in a low tone but it seemed like she was nagging me. Plus at the end she smiled ⁵Pan Am.
"Ah...um...haha-ha, I see. So I spent that much money." I replied with a fake laugh.
Seeing Susan's response who only raised an eyebrow, my face immediately became flat again and continued to say.
"Ekhm...Actually I wasn't thinking about that, I was just thinking about something else."
"Heh...something else? Is there someone else behind me?" Susan grinned suspiciously and seemed to misunderstand.
Hearing Susan saying such a misunderstanding, I instantly remembered Namira's proposal that was guardianed by James.
"Duh..." I rubbed the tip of the top of my nose with my eyes closed as an accentuation of being confused and speechless.
"Alright, we'll talk about it next time. Let's go to the room we booked." Susan sounded distracted but passed in front of me with an expression so cold that it made my hair rise slightly.
"Alright." I smiled wryly and started following her from behind.
The three of us walked into the elevator not far from the reception desk. Susan pressed 13 and the elevator began to move down. As the elevator doors opened, the impression of a bunker in my mind changed instantly.
How could I not, in the environment of the most luxurious private room in this bunker, it really looks very luxurious and elegant like the 10-star HyperLux hotel which is located not far from Apartment Boulevard.
'Is this inspired by that high-end hotel?'
Susan entered the smartlock pin code on one of the doors of the private room with the number 007 stamped on the room door, then entered it followed by me behind her.
Inside the private room, the interior design and furniture had only two words "Luxury Deluxe" to describe it. Susan entered another bedroom adjacent to the master bedroom, then she laid Novia down on the one-person bed and pulled up the blanket.
While I put both bags on the living room sofa then went to the bathroom without Susan's knowledge to wash my sticky body filled with sweat.
*****
In the midst of the fierce blizzard that had just fallen mysteriously, there was a young girl who was breaking through the heavy snowfall. her face looked pale and very concerned. Plus the girl's body looks like refracted and translucent, giving the impression of a ghostly figure in the midst of snowfall.
'It's weird, why can't I get back to my body? I'm really cold here. it's so strange that it's snowing in a country that only has two weathers.
plus this snow still hasn't stopped even though I defeated that ice magic wielding old granny.'
The young girl thought to herself as she traveled, stepping on the piles of snow on the road that were beginning to make it difficult for her legs to walk because of the thickness of the ice that reached her knees.
Actually, the girl could fly, but the consequences were too dangerous if she did so. because the volume of heavy snow would make it difficult for her to float in the air especially the temperature in the air was even more extreme.
The little girl looked like she was getting frustrated and kept thinking about how to get back to her original body. When the girl was stuck and didn't know what to do, she screamed as loud as she could in an attempt to call for help.
"Mom...Dad...wherever you are...please come get...me! I-I'm...freezing..."
The child cried out for help to his father and mother in a loud voice and was eventually filled with sobs that would be pitiful if seen by others.
But unfortunately, as far as his voice echoed, not a single person heard because there was no one there within a radius of several kilometers. There was only a dense green forest that had turned completely white.
"Mom...dad...he-help... It's so...cold...very...cold..."
The girl began to weaken due to the extreme cold temperature of minus a few degrees Celsius. She began to kneel on the snow a few centimeters thick from the surface and her upper body began to droop weakly and then fell lying face down on a mound of extremely cold snow.
*****
{Ninepedia}
⁵/20: Pan Am Smile, referenced from Reality.
This smile gets its nickname from Pan Am airline flight attendants who are required to keep smiling under any circumstances, even if the customer and the circumstances force them to want to throw a shoe in someone's annoying face. In other words, a forced and fake smile.