The Story of Your Life

The long sleep seemed endless.

But in the gaps between that drowsiness, Huai Shi was startled awake by a sound beside him. Opening his eyes, he saw a shattered ceiling.

He was in some abandoned temple.

Through the collapsed roof, he could see the glittering stars. It did not feel as though he were in distant space at all, but rather somewhere in the Present Realm.

Beside him, a bonfire blazed fiercely, radiating warmth.

Huai Shi tried to move, only to feel agonizing pain deep in his bones. He could barely budge, and he could not even feel half his body...

It was numb.

Because a husky larger than a motorcycle had half its ass planted on his chest, roasting itself by the fire as it slept like the dead, snoring loud enough to shake the heavens.

A massive snot bubble swelled from its nose, and drool had pooled into a large puddle on the ground.

In its sleep, its tail swept across Huai Shi's face now and then. Unable to help himself, Huai Shi sneezed twice, then shoved the dog's tail and that half of its ass aside.

At last, he could breathe easily.

If he had woken up any later, he might have needed an amputation.

Huai Shi sucked in a cold breath and forced himself upright through the pain, leaning against the wall as he looked around.

The empty temple had yet to be cleaned up, and the statue of its god had vanished without a trace.

Only voices drifted over from the direction of the entrance.

Izzy and someone else.

The noble-blooded man from the Americas was no longer smoking a cigar. Instead, he stood below the steps with his head lowered, as if listening to a reprimand or instruction.

"...Please convey my regards to Mamagiriya."