Everything had happened suddenly, without the slightest warning. If the pain hadn't been so real, and the wound on her back hadn't still been bleeding, Angel might have thought she had fallen into some kind of illusion.
She frowned and looked around. The street was still quiet, but a group of people in assorted outfits had appeared in the distance. They seemed to be patrolling the streets with some purpose in mind. Soon, their gazes settled on Angel, their eyes gleaming as though they were sizing up prey.
They're exempt from the "curfew"? Does this prohibition only target outsiders like me, or does it only punish Beyonders? Angel's thoughts raced as she considered the possibilities.
She wasn't particularly worried about the immediate danger. No matter how many ordinary citizens there were, they couldn't threaten her, and the punishment for violating curfew probably wouldn't escalate too quickly. Offenders had to be given a chance to correct their behavior. Otherwise, whoever made the rules wouldn't have started with flogging; going straight to the death penalty would have been more convenient.
But based on her experience with the laws of the Dream City, she believed the citizens patrolling the streets before her were likely part of the law enforcement system, or at least had been involuntarily caught up in the anomaly. If she attacked them, she would probably face a punishment more severe than flogging.
Since I can't fight them or escape this city, I'll hide for now...
Before the patrollers carrying hunting rifles, pickaxes, and shovels could approach her, Angel slipped into the Mirror World, leaving a slowly fading mirror image behind. The locals froze, wondering whether they had seen a ghost.
Watching from within the mirror as the residents of Berdan City slowly dispersed, their expressions somewhat vacant and clearly