Chapter 2: Strange girl.

Darius Noctis stared blankly at his surroundings. What the hell was going on?

"Sniff sniff..."

Suddenly, he felt something wet and ticklish against his foot. Looking down, he spotted a scruffy mutt with golden-brown fur eagerly sniffing his toes. Every now and then, it would even sneak in a lick, all while wagging its tail nonstop.

"Shoo, shoo! Get lost!"

"Thud!"

Seeing that the dog refused to back off, Darius bent down and gave it a light tap on the head. It was nothing more than a soft pat, yet the dog instantly let out a deafening wail.

"Yelp yelp yelp yelp...!"

The mutt flailed around dramatically, acting as if it had just suffered a life-threatening injury.

"I swear, if you keep whining, I'm gonna kick you outta here!" Darius stomped his foot and scolded.

"Yelp yelp yelp..."

The dog whimpered even louder.

Darius's face darkened. What a way to start the morning—first getting dumped into a forest, and now even a dog was giving him trouble.

After placing his broth pot back onto the truck, Darius crouched down and picked up a small rock from the ground. The sensation was incredibly real—this wasn't a dream. Without thinking much, he casually tossed the rock into a nearby bush.

"Thunk!"

To his surprise, the rock smacked the dog right on the head. The mutt leaped out of the bush, tail tucked between its legs, and let out a series of strange, pig-like squeals.

"Oink oink...!"

"What the hell is wrong with this dog?" Darius was speechless. Was this thing a dog or a pig in disguise?

Terrified, the mutt bolted into the forest.

Now that he had a moment to think, Darius returned to the biggest question—why was he in a forest? And why was there even a dog here? Where the hell was he?

In his world, teleportation technology was common. Occasionally, people got caught in misfires when teleportation beams malfunctioned, accidentally hitting unintended targets. Could this be a forest, or was it a national park in some foreign country?

Typically, those who got displaced due to teleportation errors would receive government compensation, along with travel expense reimbursements. That didn't sound too bad. He was running out of money anyway—his last pot of broth was his only hope. If he got compensation, at least he'd have some savings again.

On the bright side, this forest was pretty cool and refreshing—not bad at all. There was also a rather wide dirt path nearby. In fact, it was large enough for five trucks like his to pass through side by side without feeling cramped.

Looking down the path, he spotted a row of stone buildings in the distance. Even squinting, he couldn't make out the details. But wait—who the hell still built houses out of stone in this day and age?

It was already 5:30 AM. Time to open shop.

Then again, who was he even going to sell to in this godforsaken place? Hopefully, this was a national park. If he ran into some tourists, maybe he could sell a few bowls.

His remaining pot of noodle soup was his last hope. If he didn't sell anything today, he'd be broke. Compensation money wouldn't arrive right away, and in the meantime, he still needed to survive. He had no friends to borrow from—not that he had the dignity to ask, anyway.

With a sigh, he pulled out his phone to check the time. It was already a few minutes past 5:30.

"Wait… why is there no signal?"

Darius frowned at the little X over his signal bar.

Logically speaking, there shouldn't be any place without cell service these days. Even remote villages and mountain areas had coverage. At the very least, there should be satellite reception. There was no way he had absolutely no signal.

"Huh? But I still have Wi-Fi?"

He tapped on the Wi-Fi settings.

What he saw made him even more confused. His phone had automatically connected to a network named TTVTDHTT13.

Yeah… nope. He had no idea what the hell that meant.

"I'm starving... Human, what are you selling? Hurry up and give me some food..."

Out of nowhere, a soft, boneless hand landed on his shoulder.

"!!??"

Darius's eyes widened. Instinctively, he grabbed the hand and spun around, ready to throw a punch at whoever it was.

But before he could swing, he froze.

Standing in front of him was a young woman with long black hair. Her face was gaunt, her cheeks sunken, and her complexion deathly pale. One of her hands was trapped in his grip, yet she simply tilted her head and stared at him with lifeless eyes.

She was wearing a tattered black dress—so ragged that it was barely holding together. Worse, there was a dried bloodstain on her abdomen. She looked like she had just walked out of a horror movie scene, or maybe this was some elaborate prank by online content creators.

"Do you sell food?" she rasped.

"Who the hell are you? And what's with that outfit? Are you filming some kind of scene? Is there a hidden camera around here?"

Darius eyed her suspiciously.

The girl was wearing a tattered black dress—so ragged that it was barely holding together. Worse, there was a dried bloodstain on her abdomen.

"Hey, you're hurt! Are you okay? Did some creep attack you? Sit down, I'll call the cops!"

Alarmed, Darius quickly helped her onto a seat. Then, he rushed to the front of his truck and grabbed a first aid kit.

Opening the kit, he pulled out a bottle of antiseptic. As he poured it over her wound, he finally got a clear look—it was a deep stab wound, likely from a large knife.

But something was off.

Even as he disinfected the wound, she didn't flinch. Not even a twitch.

He figured she was probably in shock—maybe traumatized.

"You're the strangest human I've ever met," she muttered.

"Are you delirious? This must hurt like hell, right? Hang in there, this wound is pretty deep. I can only disinfect and bandage it for now, but you need to get to a hospital ASAP. I don't know why you're not bleeding anymore, but you still need medical attention."

After disinfecting the wound, Darius applied some antiseptic powder and wiped the blood off her arm before wrapping it up with bandages. The whole process took about five minutes.

Once he finished, he pulled out his phone again.

Then he remembered—no signal.

But there was still Wi-Fi.

Thinking fast, he accessed the World Health Organization's emergency services website. If he couldn't make a call, at least he could try requesting help online.

Before he could even contact emergency services, the girl beside him tugged on his sleeve.

"I'm hungry!"

"What? You're hungry? You can't eat in that condition!" Darius Noctis said, glancing at her wounded abdomen.

"I can eat." The girl insisted firmly.

While Darius was bandaging her wound, she had clenched her small hands tightly together, only relaxing slightly once she saw that he had finished and hadn't done anything suspicious. Little did he know, if he had harbored any ill intentions, he wouldn't be standing here right now wondering why his phone had no signal.

Hearing her response, Darius sighed. "Fine, just wait a second."

He then focused back on his phone, trying to contact the World Health Organization's emergency services. But after a frustrating exchange where he explained his location in every way possible, the operator ended up chewing him out. Turns out, they couldn't locate his position at all, and they thought he was just messing with them.

While Darius was glued to his phone, the girl beside him curiously watched this foolish human busying himself with whatever that tiny device was.

To be honest, she didn't even need food to survive. But as she was passing by, the heavenly aroma coming from his food cart had been too irresistible, luring her in.

She hadn't expected him to actually treat her wounds with such care, even though it had no real effect on her. His genuine concern had caught her off guard.

Still, what she really wanted… was to taste this human's cooking.

If the flavor is as good as the smell, I'll let him live.

Satisfied with her own decision, she nodded to herself.

Frustrated at being scolded for no reason, Darius shoved his phone back into his pocket.

Looking at the girl sitting there expectantly, he hesitated for a moment before deciding to cook her a bowl of noodles.

He lifted the broth pot down from the truck, then turned on the stove. His remaining ingredients were all neatly stored in a glass case next to the truck.

All he had to do was put everything together.

"What are you cooking?" the girl asked, intrigued by his movements.

"Hu tieu! Haven't you ever had it before?" Darius held up a handful of rice noodles for her to see.

"Hu tieu? I've never eaten human food before, but I've heard of many dishes. This is the first time I've heard of this one. Is it any good?" she asked curiously.

Her words sounded strange to Darius.

"Never eaten human food? What are you, an alien?"

She looked completely human, clearly of Asian descent too. There was no way she wouldn't know what hu tieu was.

Not to mention, she was speaking his native language perfectly—though her tone sounded oddly formal, like a character from a historical drama.

Assuming she was joking, Darius decided to play along.

"Never had it before? Then you're in for a treat. My hu tieu is the best in the city! Once you eat this, you won't want to eat anywhere else."

"Alright, but if it's not as good as you claim, I'm not paying."

The girl huffed—a clumsy attempt at mimicking human expressions.

"Forget about paying, just use that money to go to a hospital instead. Today's been nothing but bad luck for me. I might as well do a good deed." Darius shook his head.

Seriously, where the hell even was this place?

Thinking of that, he turned to ask her:

"By the way, where is this? Do you know?"

"What's a hospital?" the girl asked in return.

"...What?"

Darius froze.

"Is she... insane?"

She looked perfectly fine, but...

"Who are you calling insane? Human, don't think I can't kill you."

Her voice turned cold as black mist began to rise from her body.

"Clink!"

A sound rang out.

Darius had just finished preparing a massive bowl of hủ tiếu, almost as big as his own face.

The fragrant aroma filled the air, instantly making mouths water.

"Eat up." Darius said casually.

The black mist immediately vanished.

The girl's full attention locked onto the steaming bowl before her.

She took a deep breath, inhaling the rich, meaty scent.

Before she realized it, a single drop of drool escaped from her lips.

"I... I can't believe this actually made me drool."

Flustered, she quickly wiped her mouth and muttered to herself.

"Just eat. Here—spoon, chopsticks, chili, hoisin sauce, fresh lemon. Eat quickly before it gets cold, it's quite cold today."

Darius shoved everything in front of her and turned away, rubbing his head.

"How the hell did she hear what I was thinking…?" he mumbled.

"OH MY GOD!!!"

The girl let out a shocked cry.

Darius, who had just placed one foot onto the truck, was so startled that he lost his balance and fell flat on the ground.

"Do you really have to scream like that?!" he yelled.

Then he opened the car door and muttered under his breath, "Just my luck, running into some annoying-as-shit nonsense first thing in the morning."

[Annoying As Shit present.]

"I wasn't talking about you."

Darius knocked on his phone, his face twisting into an annoyed scowl.

As he angrily swung the door open, he completely forgot why he had even opened it in the first place.

"Yelp yelp yelp...!"

The stray mutt, which had just come running over, was scared stiff by the sight of Darius's furious expression.

It immediately let out another series of dramatic cries.

Seeing the dog throw another tantrum, Darius felt an overwhelming urge to kick it.

"Where the hell did this crazy mutt come from? Is it rabid or something?"