The doorknob moved, and a small brown face appeared in the gap between the door and the doorframe.

“Hello,” Phee said, shyly.

“Hello… what brings you here?” I asked.

“Ah, your phone rang,” he answered, and came closer. He places a black phone in my hand. “Here.” The small smartphone had a big fissure running across the screen.

I turned my lips to the inside and an umbrage of horror passed across my face before I controlled my expression.

“Thank you, Phee.” I smiled.

“No problem,” he said. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m okay now,” I said.

“Di-rring!”

With a subtle movement of my eyes, I saw the Error Window. [Error! Error fixed!]

“What was that?” He asked.

“What do you mean?”

“I thought I heard a sound.”

“What sound?”

“It sounded like ‘Ding’ or something similar.”

“…”

“Maybe I was mistaken?” He looked out the window.

Dawning red light glinted through the thin curtains, painting grotesque shadows on the walls and bed.

Then he shook his head and looked at me.

“You… let’s talk later. Recover well.”

I nodded slowly.

Nanuq Thiel shouted from the other room that the TV program continued. 

He slightly bowed and left the room.

After he left, I examined the phone in my hand, which felt strange in the sterile room. I sat up straight and inspected the poor, cracked screen. That was definitely a new scratch. Friday evening, the phone was still intact. Probably, it fell down with me when I lost consciousness.

With a quick gesture, I unlocked it and was bombarded with a ton of messages.

The red number above the messenger icon went from 2 to 17, and I had 25 missed calls!

Most messages in my mailbox were actually from my brother. He probably had the same worry as me and thought I had died.

Nanuq-ie, Phee, and or George Kruger must have picked up one of his calls because they stopped coming since Sunday. That was two days ago.

Yesterday, on Monday, the calls from my work started coming in. Several missed calls from my colleagues and three from my immediate supervisor. 

‘Shit. I hope someone covered for me!’ I thought, well knowing that nobody would cover my shifts.

Distressed, my hands stroked through my hair a few times. 

While getting out of bed, I started playing one voicemail from yesterday. “Yu Anya-ssi, after the stress from the weekend, we understand that you need some time alone. However, not taking our call, especially during your work time, is not acceptable. Call me back immediately after you hear this or find me in my office.”

Fuuuck! I was in trouble. If Manager Kim talked like this — super professional, fast, and “nice”… I didn’t want to think about it.

I looked down on myself. The blue striped t-shirt was a little too big for me and hung down to the middle of my thighs. Below that, I only wore my underwear. On the nightstand, next to my bed, I found my gray suit trousers from the other day. The fire seemed to have spared them.

I dressed up quickly. My other clothes were still in the washer, so I would have to go home first if I wanted to look half presentable in front of Manager Kim.

“Hey, Nanuq-ie, Phee, I have to go home and to work. Where exactly are we here?” I asked the kids, who were watching a cartoon in a spacious living room.

“XXX Street no. 41, it shouldn’t be far from your house. George said the supermarket where he worked is just fifteen minutes from here by foot. You live there, right?”

“Yeah, I live on a parallel street from there. Thanks, Phee.”

“… You’re not going out like that, right?” Nanuq Thiel’s one eyebrow touched the short fringe on her forehead.

“Like what?” I looked down at myself again. I didn't think it was that bad. Sure, it was not pretty, but it covered everything.

“Your face, Eonni. You have black lines all over your face.”

Oh. 

Phee looked at me too and shook his head. He looked disappointed…?

“The bathroom is downstairs on the left.”

I followed the advice and washed my dirty face. It wasn’t easy to get the soot stains off. I took one last look into a somewhat presentable face and ruffled my hair over the right eye. Perfect.

Then, I waved George Kruger goodbye, grabbed my keys, and rushed out the door.

There were no cars on the street. Instead, a lot of people walked around, both on the sidewalk and the street. In the shopping street, most windows were shattered, and it was obvious that stuff from the display mannequins was missing.

On one big crossroad, a small group was protesting with cardboard signs.

Across the road on the other sidewalk, a small, round man stood on a wooden box and screamed into a megaphone.

“Follow the Church of the ‘Holy Savior’! The name speaks for itself. When we were in great danger, he gave me the ability to heal this young woman.” 

A girl, about 16 years old, walked in and showed her arm. A long scar ran along her elbow and divided it in two.

“She had lost her arm. Now she can use it again without problems.” To certify, she picked up a book lying in front of his wooden podium and raised it high in the air. It was a bible.

“I will now demonstrate my power and heal this old lady.” An old woman rolled up with a rolling walker. 

The man climbed down from the wooden box, knelt down while groaning, and lay one hand on each of the woman’s exposed legs. 

For a brief moment, the touching skins emitted faint light, then a drop of black liquid ran down both legs and dripped on her baby pink sandals.

The old lady’s face lit up after looking at her feet. She staggered a few steps to the side without the walker, looking at the round man in disbelief.

While smiling brightly, exposing her toothless mouth, she said a few words that I couldn’t hear. He nodded, and she grabbed his sweaty hand, thanking him profoundly. The man wore a smug grin and grabbed the megaphone.

“As you can see, this woman can now walk again without problems. I’m not a beautician, so the face remains the same haha, but don’t let that fool you. Her joints are those of a 30-year-old now. Come, come, join the Church of the ‘Holy Savior’. Let us make a better world with the ‘Holy Savior’! Here, sign up.” He uncovered a huge pile of contract forms.

I walked past them. Further away two people with short hair fought with weapons, whose metal blades glinted in the morning sun. One had a sword, the other one had a small axe. Face masks covered their faces as the two moved around in skilled movements and clashed their weapons against each other.

“Kkoang!”

“Daeng! Daeng! Daeng!”

The Metal axe met the metal sword. The sound rang in my ears.

“I won!” someone yelled behind me.

“You wouldn’t understand. ‘Terrace Guardian’ is much better than your ‘Handyman’.”

“‘Handyman for Miscellaneous’ is much better than a god that protects fucking balconies.”

“Oh yeah? How so?”

I turned around a corner, and the noise cut off. The supermarket where I saw George Kruger for the first time was right ahead. One corner, then I saw the entrance to my apartment. 

A minute later, I closed the door to my apartment, rested my back on it, and slid to the floor, exhaling profusely.

“Di-rring!”

[Error! Error fixed!]

“Di-rring!”

[Error! Error fixed!]

I looked up at the green-blue windows. What were these Errors? 

I had seen at least 10 of them already, but before I could catch even one of the windows, they blinked and then vanished into thin air.

“Di-rring!”

[Error! Error fixed!]

The window disappeared again before I could click on it.

I looked around, then shook my head at my paranoia and I said, “Error… list?”

[Sorry, I am not sure if I understand.]

‘Hmm… maybe more specific?’

“Error cause… list.”

[Did you mean “root for error”?]

“…yes.” Instinctively, I nodded. Ridiculous. The screen couldn’t see my movements, of course.

“Di-rring!”

[root for error. Summarized list]

[God, ‘Honorable Emperor’ tries to contact your dream space.]

[God, ‘Saint of the Weakest Sword’ tries to send a message.*]

[God, ‘True Form of the Fire Spirit’ tries to contact your dream space to send their best wishes.]

[God Wisp, ‘Dragon Anima’ wants to make a contract with you.]

[God, ‘True Form of the Fire Spirit’ tries to send a message.*]

[see all roots for errors(25)]

Gods?!

What was going on?

I clicked the small stars.

[Saint of the Weakest Sword: “Congratulations on completing the trial. I hope you choose a good contract god.”]

[True Form of the Fire Spirit: “Hello, it’s me again. I hope you wake up soon. Let me know if you want to form a contract.”]

What were these contracts these ‘gods’ were talking about?

Had this man, healing the woman, a contract with a god for real? Was the healing genuine? I thought it was an act!

My phone buzzed in my pocket.

“Ddeureureung!”

‘This is the alarm for my work. I have to get going.’ But I didn’t feel like getting up from the floor at all.

‘Come on, Yu Anya, you don’t want to get fired, so get your ass up and put on some normal clothes.’ I tried motivating myself.

Surprisingly, it worked. I managed to push my body off the floor and went to the wardrobe which I found on the streets a year ago. The white paint flaked off at the sides a bit, but otherwise, it was in good condition.

I had wanted to do my laundry this weekend, but since I was unconscious, now my choice of clothes was limited. It left me with only one all clean option — All black, no blazer. 

‘I hope Manager Kim will not reprimand me.’ I thought and sighed while pulling the thin layer of black fabric over my head. Small ash flakes rained down from my hair, leaving the ugly, piss yellow carpet with black spots.

After changing, I looked at myself in the mirror next to the entrance door. My face was dirty again. “I should probably wash my hair,” I mumbled, and went to wash only my face in the small bathroom. On my way out, the toilet seat hit my thigh. Everything as always.

*

The bus was late. When I finally sat down in the seat with the strange pattern, the bus shook and stopped again. Someone was blocking the street. It had to stop a few more times on the way for self-proclaimed apostles of various gods.

Pedestrians completely ignored the bus line. Someone even built a tent. Now, I saw what George Kruger meant by “chaos”. 

The whole city was bustling with people with skills like the fat man earlier. One man had wings and could fly and a young woman was giving divinations to pedestrians for money. There was a long line to hear the “True teller’s wisdom”.

I arrived at the office 20 minutes too late. When I got to the office, Manager Kim, a twig-like woman who had her brown hair pulled back into a tight bun, was already waiting for me. Her red-painted lips crushed to a forced business smile. I bowed.

“Yu Anya-ssi, you are late.” Her stinging voice proclaimed in Korean.

‘I know,’ is what I wanted to say.

“I’m very sorry, Manager-nim.” I said instead and bowed again.

“Good, that you know how to apologize.” She paused. “We had multiple complaints about you. How will you fix that?”

Her dark eyes looked down on my forwarded body. The middle finger of her hand tapped rhythmically on her arm. I spotted a yellowish stain on her white collar.

“I am very sorry.” I said again. “What were the complaints, so I can change my behavior.” 

Then she unfolded her arms. Her lips were pressed into a thin line. “I know, you work really hard, and if I had a say in this, you would stay with us for a longer time. You probably know that the main company's stock value dropped from the night of Friday to Saturday. There was an emergency meeting on how to cut costs and you were one of the temporary secretaries that was cut. I’m very sorry… You will receive a full paycheck at the end of this month in two weeks but the leaders decided that you should not come after today. For safety reasons. I'm sorry, Yu Anya-ssi.”

She bowed lightly and left me standing, baffled.

They fired me? Just like that? Manager Kim bowed too! She never bowed to the people lower than her in the food chain. My heart raced against a car in my chest. My blood surged. I was hot. Then cold, then hot again. 

I worked with them for seven months! For more than half a year I made their coffee, managed their bank accounts, and scheduled meetings with clients. Hell, I even welcomed important clients from overseas regularly! Just for them to fire me from one moment to the other after a chaotic breakdown. It’s not like the situation will never recover! 

I saw my hand vibrating. This situation was so surreal. I wanted to laugh at the absurdity, but instead, my eyes filled with tears. 

My trembling hands were cold, my feet were cold, my nose was hot. I tried to calm down my heart with slow breaths, but my breaths were shallow and fast. 

“Hahaha,” I laughed. I was so, so angry! I wanted to scream.

‘Sure, you don’t need me.’ I was expendable. A side character. Who was I kidding.

“Di-rring!”

[Caution! Please regulate your emotional state.]

[Emotional state: shocked]

‘No shit, Sherlock.’ I thought, actually managing to catch my breath.

If only I was stronger. If I had the power to support myself, maybe I wouldn’t be stuck as everyone’s shove-around-expendable. If I was in a position to stand above Kim Sumi… if only…

“Invest four EX into Strength.”

I hit my own cheek with all my might. ‘Get your shit together, girl.’ I told myself.

It hurt like hell.

I obviously had the ability to become stronger.

My strength had almost doubled, and it showed. I saw my red cheek in the reflective glass of the office. Maybe it wasn’t my brightest idea ever, but I came back to my senses.

[Emotional state: sad]

Although my status window said I was sad, all I felt was emptiness. And anger. How dare they fire me! I will make you regret that. Maybe. I had to squint my eyes because they filled up with tears again. I blinked them away.

With a few trance-like gestures, I packed my few belongings into a plastic bag. Two pens broke when I grabbed them. The few steps I took on the carpet floor, which felt like walking in the void with my light head, almost made me trip.

I pushed open the door a little too forcefully. It swung open and hit the wall. It probably left a dent in the wall. I would never know.

Then I stormed out of the building, passing two co-workers, who had come later to the company than me and always chatted at work. Like now. Two sets of shocked eyes followed my body, but it was nothing I recognized consciously.

My phone vibrated.

The message read, “I landed! I heard you woke up. Can’t wait to meet you after this long. Are we meeting at yours?” From Yu Albert.