For some reason, she felt particularly unwell today. Lately, this had become normal for her. However, today it was something different from the usual stress and anxiety associated with her college life.

  She quickly shook her head and dismissed these unnecessary thoughts.

  “Are you okay?” asked Shirley, her friend sitting next to her. “You don't look too good.”

  May cleared her throat and rubbed her eyes. “I'm just a little tired, but you know how it is.”

  “Yeah... But you really don't look too good. I think you should take it easy.”

  She frowned. “You know that's not an option for me.”

  “At this rate, you'll wear yourself out.”

  “Come on. I'm not that weak,” she replied, already tired of talking about this subject. “Besides, you don't look any better yourself.”

  After a moment, however, she regretted her words. She knew Shirley had a small child, so it would be strange if she were well-rested. She was raising it alone, not to mention combining it with her college days. If May had a hard time, what could she say?

  “Yes, but I know how important rest is,” she replied, suddenly yawning. “If I didn't understand that, I would have died of exhaustion long ago.”

  She may have been right, but May knew that it had cost her her grades. She was always behind everyone else. May had a different philosophy and believed that thanks to her current sacrifice, she would be free later on.

  “Am I interrupting you?” the professor asked in a pretentious tone. Irritated by their chatter, she had finally decided to speak up.

  “We’re sorry,” Shirley replied, her voice carrying a hint of embarrassment.

  Both of them fell silent. Professor Asgoria could barely walk, but if her old age had taken anything from her, it certainly wasn’t her hearing. People say that one softens with age, but in her case, the opposite was true. They preferred not to make an enemy of her.

  “We’ll talk after class,” May whispered, determined not to draw any more attention to herself.

  Shirley only nodded and slipped into full concentration mode.

  The lecture dragged on endlessly, but at last it came to an end. It had been stressful enough that May would have gladly gone straight home. Unfortunately, she was stuck at the university for several more hours.

  “I’m starving…” she said suddenly as she walked down the corridor with her friend. “We’ve got some time before the next class. Want to grab something to eat?”

  Shirley agreed, and together they went to a nearby restaurant. The prices were low, perfect for broke students, and they even offered a ten percent discount with university IDs

  Inside, chaos reigned; it was lunchtime, and they weren’t the only ones hungry. The place was popular among the local students, and everyone was desperately searching for an empty seat.

  May took a tray and served herself some asparagus. The restaurant operated as a buffet, where you could take whatever you wanted. She was about to grab a chicken cutlet when suddenly a girl rudely cut in front of her in line.

  May wasn’t going to let that slide. “Excuse me… but I was standing here,” she said, slightly annoyed.

  A short blonde girl, with a hairstyle straight out of the 2010s, turned toward her. She looked irritated, which May found absurd. She was the one who had every right to be angry! The girl had the audacity to cut in line, and now she seemed annoyed about being called out for it?

  “Ughh! Finally! I barely recognized you, you have no idea how hard it was to find you here!” She said loudly, and everyone started looking in their direction. “May, let's get out of here.”

  Hmm? She knows my name? I know her from somewhere... No. I wouldn't forget someone who looks... Yeah.

  Shirley tilted her head in surprise and whispered in May's ear, “Is she a friend of yours...?”

  May shook her head.

  “Excuse me, but... Do we know each other?”

  The blonde seemed hurt by her words. “Huh? Don't you recognize me?” After a moment, however, her eyes lit up. “Oh, right. You weren't supposed to have any memories... Ummm... So what now?”

  The short girl started talking to herself. May felt slightly embarrassed, as many people were looking in their direction, so she felt like walking away.

  “Excuse me, but... you're talking nonsense. Can you move over? You're cutting in line,” May replied, hoping to get rid of this weirdo.

  “Oh... Yes, sorry.” With that, she moved away, and May and Shirley continued to spoon food onto their plates.

  “May... She keeps on mumbling to herself... Are you sure you don't know her?” she asked with slight concern.

  “Sure. She's probably some junkie,” she replied, looking over her shoulder and seeing that she was talking to herself and fidgeting.

  “But how did she know your name?”

  “Maybe she heard it somewhere. But definitely not from me!” she replied. “Besides, let's hurry. We don't have time for her. We only have half an hour left to eat...”

  “Right.”

  They quickly forgot about the incident with the strange woman, as they were busy looking for a free seat. Finally, they made it.

  They began to eat their lunch. Shirley finished first. She had five brothers, so according to her, she had to eat fast. Whatever that meant.

  “Oh, I'm stuffed,” said Shirley, rubbing her belly. May continued eating. “I'm going to the bathroom, I'll be right back, watch my purse.”

  “Sure.”

  Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

  May continued eating peacefully when suddenly she sensed trouble approaching. The same person from earlier had returned.

  “Oh, she finally left!” she said, trying to take Shirley’s seat.

  “Hey!” May shouted. “Hands off the purse!” She still held onto the thought that the Blondie was most likely a crackhead.

  “Hey, chill out!” She said nervously, seeing that everyone was looking at her. “Here!”

  She said, throwing May the purse.

  “What do you want? I don't have any money, I pay by card.”

  “I don't want money... I mean, I do, but not in this situation! Ugh, never mind... Don't look at me like that! I'm not a beggar!” She hissed. “I just want to talk.”

  “About what? Who are you?” May was now completely convinced that she had never met her before.

  “My name is Minnie,” she said proudly. May frowned.

  Minnie...? Is that the name of a hooker or something?

  After a moment, however, she realized that the woman was wearing a polka-dotted dress and yellow low-heeled shoes. It took her a moment to connect the dots.

  Hmm. Bizarre, a cosplay of Minnie Mouse? Strange woman, and she sounds like trouble.

  May looked at her very closely. Her beauty was certainly unusual, but she wasn't ugly. However, there was something about her that made May feel like punching her in the face. She didn't know why, as she had never felt anything like this before.

  “All right... Minnie. I'm listening.” She sighed, feeling that she would soon regret her decision. “But keep it short. I have class soon, so I don't have much time.”

  “Who cares about class?! You should...” Minnie suddenly stopped and cleared her throat, seeing how negatively May reacted to her words. “Ugh, okay, I'll start over... It's a pretty weird story and you probably won't believe it...”

  “Surprise me. Not much is able to astonish me these days.” She replied honestly.

  Minnie sighed, knowing how this would end, but nevertheless began a huge summary of recent events.

  When she finished, May fell silent.

  Just as I thought. Junkie. God bless her poor soul!

  “Hey! Didn't you say that not much can surprise you?! You have to believe me!”

  “What you said didn't surprise me,” she replied. “It only confirmed my belief that you're either stoned or in serious need of psychological help. I'm sorry, but I'm not the right person to help you, but I know a good treatment center...”

  “You're not listening to me!”

  “Your story is ridiculous. I died? I was reborn in a new world? And now it's merely a dream, which is some kind of test in a sect in a typical cultivation world? Please. I'm sleep-deprived and don't have time for such nonsense.”

  Minnie was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. She had put in so much effort to get here, only for May to ignore her?!

  “I told you! I’ve been with you for ten years! Like I said, I’m the system’s avatar!”

  “That nonsense again…”

  “Ask me a question! I know a lot about you, we’ve spent so much time together!”

  May frowned. “Why should I be the one asking you questions? Shouldn’t you be the one to tell me something about myself, something no one else knows?”

  Minnie fell silent, suddenly realizing she didn’t know anything about her! Panic set in.

  “Well, um… right… hmmm… Your name is May Shang and—”

  “May what?”

  “May Shang, that’s your name, as I said...”

  “That’s not true.” May replied.

  Minnie froze. “Oh… I thought your name was the same in both worlds… but the surname is different?”

  “You’re telling me you’ve spent ten years with me and still don’t know my real name from the world I come from? Even if you’re telling the truth, you’re a pretty pathetic system.” May was impressed by her audacity. “My last name is Kaczynski. May Kaczynski.”

  “What?! Just like that terrorist!” Minnie shouted, drawing every pair of eyes in the room toward them. May quickly covered her mouth.

  “Could you not yell the word ‘terrorist’ in public? How on earth could you not know that after ten years? With every minute, I’m starting to doubt your little story more and more.”

  Minnie was on the verge of tears. As if it were her fault! May had always ignored her and rarely spoke about her life on Earth. Only from time to time would she allow Minnie access to movies or series from her past life, but she strictly forbade her from touching her memories.

  “Uhmm, May? Everything okay?” Shirley asked anxiously, suddenly returning from the bathroom. Seeing this suspicious person talking to her friend, she became slightly concerned.

  “Yes... I think so. Let's go, we're going to be late,” she said, delighted that Shirley had finally returned. What took her so long? “Goodbye, the conversation was certainly interesting... But it's time for me to go.”

  “Wait!” she exclaimed, but the two girls quickly left the place. Minnie sighed helplessly.

  On the way back to college, Shirley asked May about the mysterious girl, but May only replied that she was probably a drug addict and didn't mention a word about the subject of their conversation. For some reason, she decided it was better not to mention it.

  ───── ??☆?? ─────

  May left when it was already dark and returned when it was dark again. Such was the fate of those who chose to live so far from the university. Right now, all she wanted was a hot shower and to go to bed.

  “Hey, May!”

  Please, no. I don't have the nerve for this. Why does it always have to be me? Why does some weirdo always have to pick on me?

  “I'm in a hurry,” she said, quickening her pace. She had no intention of talking to her for another second.

  Minnie followed her for a while, but finally May seemed to have lost her. To be sure, she wandered around a few more streets until she was sure she wasn't following her.

  Finally, delighted that she had lost her, she could go to her apartment with peace of mind.

  She pressed the button for the sixth floor and took the elevator to the top. Then she entered her tiny apartment and closed the door thoroughly, not wanting anything bad to happen.

  After taking a warm shower, she threw herself onto the bed.

  She picked up her phone, hoping for some entertainment.

  Huh? What's going on?

  For some reason, the Internet wasn't working... Everything had been fine just a moment ago. She was slightly confused.

  I did pay my Internet bills, didn't I?

  For a moment, she wondered if there might be some kind of outage. Nothing like this had ever happened to her before, but it seemed unlikely.

  Power outages happened from time to time, but the internet? She had never heard of such a thing. She thought it was most likely a problem with her internet provider, with whom she didn't feel like dealing today.

  I'm so tired anyway.

  She decided to go to bed and deal with the internet outage the next day. After all, she could survive one day without the internet.

  She went to a comfy bed.

  She lay there for a long time. Furthermore, she kept checking the clock, and before she knew it, it was exactly 3 a.m. For some puzzling reason, she couldn't fall asleep, even though she was exhausted. She had never had insomnia before.

  At that moment, she suddenly recalled the peculiar blonde woman from earlier. She claimed that May was currently in a nightmare. She cackled quietly to herself.

  Was it impossible to fall asleep while dreaming?

  However, she quickly abandoned the thought, as she considered the idea itself laughable. She was a rationalist and a firm believer in hard facts. And this crazy woman named Minnie couldn't give a single argument to back up her words. Even an idiot would have come up with something if they had been living in such a scenario for ten years.

  She put a pillow over her head and wailed silently. She was trying so painfully to fall asleep.

  Maybe it was because of those energy drinks I had this morning? It had never happened before, but I guess…

  Suddenly, something woke her up, and from outside the window she heard loud screams! She jumped out of bed and secretly peeked out the window, where she saw dead bodies lying on the street!