“I’m hungry.”
What the hell is going on?
I looked down at the children half my age.
Their dusty hair was grayish-brown and messy, and their blue eyes sparkled mysteriously like sapphires.
“…….”
The two boys’ gazes focused on me. To be precise, the cup of noodles in my hand.
***
I saw a dark hallway in front of me.
The mossy walls and marble floors sent chills down my skin.
“A castle? A temple? It looks like something you’d find in Europe.”
I’d never actually been there, but we all have the internet to be thankful for. But, this place didn’t look as glorious as the sites on travel blogs.
“I don’t believe in ghosts.”
But it was more like a well-crafted haunted house than a fancy art museum. I pondered as I poked at the mushrooms growing on the walls, “Why am I here?”
The new supermarket near my house was having a huge sale.
‘1,110 won per 100 grams of domestic meat. 500 won per pumpkin. 5 cucumbers for 1,000 won. Cup noodles for 100 won per person.’
Supermarkets are crowded in the evening. Sales were a first-come, first-served war for housewives. Especially the stacks of cup noodles that cost 100 won per person…
“What are you doing? Where are your eyes?”
“Hey, how old are you? Yet you’re speaking informally!”
The uncles following the ladies asked each other’s age. At the polite greeting, the cup noodles on the shelves rolled everywhere.
“Oh my God, catch it!”
The six packs of instant noodles rolled through the gap between the picking ladies. I picked up the cup noodles without thinking.
“Huh?
At that moment, my head felt like it was ringing and spinning.
‘I must be suffering from orthostatic hypotension,’ I thought simply and looked ahead, but everything changed.
“…Where am I?”
My low-heeled shoes were covered in spores.
A long black dress and white apron swayed with my movements.
” My sneakers and jeans?”
I looked around and saw a wall mirror in the distance and stepped in front of it instinctively.
“…who?”
Brown hair down to my chest. A pretty face with vivid green eyes.
The dress the woman in the mirror was wearing resembled a maid’s costume.
“She looks like someone from the Middle Ages. Is she a maid?”
If there’s one thing that doesn’t quite fit, it’s that the woman who looks like a maid is holding a cup of instant noodles.
It was the same one I’d picked up, with six tiny cups.
“Am I dreaming?”
I moved my hand, and the woman in the mirror did the same. So did the cup noodles.
“…This is so weird.”
My voice was thinner and more beautiful than the original.
“D-Did I pass out?”
Maybe I fell while picking up the cup of noodles. If this was a dream, it all made sense.
It’s been rough lately. It’s been a busy day, working part-time and looking for a job.
‘To say the least.’
I can’t believe I just collapsed like that.
“With so many people in the grocery store, how could not even .. one person done anything?”
There was no way I could have died because of that.
‘I guess I have to wait to wake up from sleep.’
My stomach rumbled as soon as I thought about it.
“If it’s a dream, why am I hungry?”
My stomach was screaming for food.
“This can’t be!”
She could feel her hunger and the cold air around her.
‘If I’m cold, hungry, and sleepy….’
These were the three qualities of a beggar. I hugged the cup noodles tightly. I was craving some hot soup.
“Let’s fill my stomach first.”
I walked past the mirror with the cup noodles in my arms.
Luckily, I found the kitchen quickly. I was waiting for the water to boil. This is how cup noodles should be made.
“Carefully…”
I put the soup in the cup noodles and pour in the water.
“Mmm, it smells delicious.”
A delicious smell wafted from the hot steam.
“Now it’s time to wait.”
I turned around, feeling relaxed.
“I’m so hungry.”
“Ahh!”
I almost threw the cup of noodles I was holding.
“What, Who’s there?… wait a minute.
I realized I needed to lower my vision.
“Kids?
Dirty blond hair covered in dust.
Their faces were so pale, that I could have mistaken them for little blue-eyed ghosts or goblins.
“Who are you guys?”
“I’m hungry.”
“You want to eat?” I said, trying to calm myself.
The twins’ eyes were glued to the cup of instant noodles I was holding.
I couldn’t converse with the children freely, I gestured, “Three minutes.”
My body’s senses were telling me, it would take only three minutes for the noodles to be prepared.
Pop.
I instinctively lifted the lid.
‘Look at the steam going up.’
Compared to when the lid was closed, the delicious smell spread out.
At that moment, a little boy’s eyes shone brightly.
I observed the children. Their cheeks, which should be chubby and glossy like other kids their age, were hollow and dry.
‘It’s a dream,’ I thought to myself.
Even if the children were imaginary, I felt more sorry for them. I can only get them cup noodles..
“Do you want some?”
“Yes!”
One kid nodded eagerly.
But the kid beside him took him by the hand and shuffled away.
“Why did you do that, kid?”
“I’ve regretted it before,” the kid whispered in the other kid’s ear.
I don’t know what he meant.
“Did you put poison in it?”
Has he never seen a cup noodle before? Maybe he’s just being suspicious, I thought.
“Here, look.”
I pulled up the cup noodles and took a bite.
“Mmmm, delicious,” I exclaimed. As expected, my senses were accurate, and the noodles were cooked just right.
Gulp.
Once again, I heard the kids’ mouths water. Their wary stares diminished as they saw me eating my cup noodles.
“Here, try it. Say ah.”
“Ah.”
I twirled the noodles with my chopsticks.
The dried noodles became bite-sized and settled into their open mouth.
“Delicious.”
Their eyes were sparkling at how delicious it was.
The noodles were soft, chewy, and salty, which was the charm of ramen.
“I hope it’s not too hot.”
I let him blow on the soup, and he ate it deliciously, blowing steam out of his little mouth.
“It’s spicy, but it’s delicious.”
The end of the long line of words was very cute. Even as I thought that I felt a strange sense of pride.
I gestured to the child behind me.
“Let’s eat together.”
At my call, the kid next to me stepped back. Is he still suspicious? But he must be hungry.
“It’s cooked perfectly. You can take a bite first.”
It sounded a little like I was trying to sell him a dr*g, but sometimes old-school stuff works.
I rolled a couple of noodles around my chopsticks and held them to the corner of his mouth.
“…….”
He let out a sound. It was the sound of his stomach grumbling. He instantly blushed then opened his twitching mouth.
“Right.”
The ramen noodles were sucked into his tiny mouth. It was so cute to see his cheeks moving as he chewed.
“…Yummy.”
A small exclamation came out with a gulp.
His eyes glistened at how delicious it was. But one bite wasn’t enough to fill them up.
“Me too! Me too!”
The kid next to me squealed.
“Hehe, you’re so cute.”
I fed him a tiny bite with fish cakes, and his smile returned.
“I’m done.”
I took turns feeding him bite after bite, and before I knew it, they had finished everything but the soup.
The red, glistening broth was all mine.
‘It’s sodium and a bunch of seasoning, but so what?’
The tasteless broth was sometimes a small comfort.
‘This is the taste of life.’
I nodded, savoring the philosophical sensibility.
“I’m full.”
The kid grabbed his belly and spread it out on the floor. The other kid’s expression was much more relaxed.
“But what’s wrong with you? You don’t usually feed us.”
The little boy patted his belly and giggled innocently.
“Did I?”
I was the one questioning. But the foreigner nodded as if it was obvious.
“Yup. Eileen.”
Eileen, huh?
It was the first time I’d ever heard a child mutter a person’s name. My head hurt like it was going to break, and my vision went white.
“What the hell!”
A tsunami of information and memories began to flood her head.
[Prayer of healing].
A self-proclaimed healing novel in which the heroine “El Sears” awakens as a saint and saves all kinds of men in the story. This novel even sold as a hot cake.
“Why did this novel come to my mind?”
I looked at the children clutching each other with shaky eyes.
Then, in a blurry afterimage, I began to see the vision of the owner of this body.
“Eileen Hallen.”
The nanny of the abandoned twin princes.
She was responsible for abusing the children and turning them evil.
‘Blood and flesh splattered, bones separated…’
Her final punishment for abusing the children was death.
No way, this wasn’t a dream! I was possessed as a novel character. And this was the fate that lies ahead of me!
