A passerby?
Why was he standing there without moving?
Only then did April First slowly raise his head, wanting to see who was blocking his way.
But the moment he looked up, a wave of dizziness washed over him.
—Damn, seems like my blood sugar's a little low.
He had not eaten anything today before eagerly running to the Investigation Directorate to look into some files. In the end, not only had he been beaten up and thrown into a dark little room for most of the day, he had not had a drop of water until now—and the files were nowhere in sight.
His health had never been particularly good. He had kept his head down for so long just now that the blood vessels in his neck had been compressed. Then he abruptly lifted his head, on top of a whole day's exhaustion, and the dizzy spell instantly surged up.
April First's vision went black.
Before he fell into that sweet, dark whirlpool, he vaguely saw someone standing before him.
Blurred light obscured the person's face, leaving only a soft yet distinct outline visible.
The sight vaguely reminded him of that rainy night when he had encountered the old beggar. Someone had stood beneath a wall lamp then too, their face enveloped in a halo of light and fading away against the backlight.
A little like...
That was April First's final thought before losing consciousness.
The next second, he sank completely into darkness.
When April First opened his eyes, he found himself lying on a leather sofa.
A black-and-green plaid blanket had been draped over him.
April First slowly pushed himself upright and looked around in confusion. "This is... an office?"
It looked like an office.
An office he had never seen before...
"I remember falling asleep