Omega Manual chapter 60
Miracle Appears Twice
For the first hour of walking, he didn’t feel anything.
From the second hour, Shelley began to feel his head heavy, his steps floating, and the originally easy steps became very difficult.
After passing through the gorge, ahead was a vast expanse of wilderness. The yellow wild grass covered the collapsed rubble, and only small rodents passing through the gaps would make rustling sounds. Other than that, there was only the endless sound of the wind.
He stopped under a large tree, sitting on the ground, taking out a piece of bread from his suitcase, and slowly nibbling on it.
Beside his feet was a collapsed house, under the rough bricks, lay a fragmented human skeleton, silently staring at the sky, for who knows how long.
Except for small creatures that have mutated to adapt to the radiation environment, there should be no other creatures willing to approach this area.
Would he also lie calmly in a place where the wind and sand blew, staring at the empty sky day after day, like this skeleton?
After finishing the bread, when Shelley stood up from the ground, it took twice as much effort as usual. He leaned against the trunk for a while before dragging his suitcase and slowly continuing forward.
If possible, he still wanted to die at the foot of Mount Yinbu.
It seemed that he had used all his stubbornness to persist in this matter throughout his life.
From childhood to adulthood, he never had a rebellious period. Whatever his father arranged for him, he did. Whatever his family wanted him to learn, he learned.
Even if he learned what adults wanted him to learn, he would not be praised. Even if he became the CEO of the family business, it would only be taken for granted.
Before the meteor shower came, he thought he would live his whole life under such a taken-for-granted gaze.
24 hours a day, taken-for-granted genius, living as a shadow in the eyes of everyone’s respect and admiration.
After becoming an Omega, he undoubtedly became a commodity, but who could say that the Shelley Manta printed on the product promotion poster was not a commodity?
When the time as a commodity was too long, so long that he didn’t even know how to rebel, he could only walk forward stubbornly, like a child, regardless of who tried to pull him back.
Halton would definitely laugh at him.
If he had known from the beginning that he went to Mount Yinbu against all odds just to die there, he would definitely show a mocking smile, thinking he was an irretrievable fool, and then refuse the job.
Thinking of this, Irey Halton’s face inevitably appeared in Shelley’s mind, no matter how he tried to dispel it.
He took out his phone from his pocket, checked his position against the GPS map, but his eyes couldn’t help but drift to the number of the other phone in his contacts.
He didn’t even annotate that number with Irey Halton’s name, but simply wrote “Phone 2.”
But along the way, “Phone 2” and his chat records had accumulated quite a bit.
December 25th.
Phone 2: I seem to be able to use this now, it’s almost like sending a text message, just type and send. Does it cost to send one? It shouldn’t be expensive, right?
This Device: …Who would charge you? Meteorites?
Phone 2: Hahaha, you’re right.
December 29th.
Phone 2: Breakfast is on the table, I’m going to buy soy milk, if you wake up early, you can eat first.
This Device: I want sparkling water.
Phone 2: [Voice]: I don’t recommend you drink sparkling water early in the morning, that thing is unhealthy and easy to burp, its only advantage is that it’s cheap, don’t try to save money for me. Choose between soy milk and milk.
This Device: …Milk.
January 7th.
Phone 2: Where are you?
Phone 2: Gone?
Phone 2: Did you go out? Answer the phone.
Phone 2: [Voice]: Damn, I’m really impressed, can’t find you for half a day and it turns out you’re in the shower, how long are you going to take a shower? Do you have to scrub off a layer of skin? When will you finish—forget it, I guess you didn’t take your phone in with you.
Phone 2: [Voice]: I’ll come in and find you, don’t get scared.
[40 minutes later]This Device: ? I didn’t bring This Device into the bathroom, I can’t see your messages.
Phone 2: It’s okay, it’s free anyway.
January 9th.
This Device: Are you asleep?
Phone 2: Not yet.
Phone 2: Is something wrong?
This Device: …Nothing.
Phone 2: If something’s up, say so, if you can’t sleep I’ll accompany you for a walk.
This Device: …
This Device: Why do we have to use phones to communicate when you’re lying next to me?
Phone 2: Because it’s free.
Phone 2: Have you seen Duhaat’s Midnight Clock? I heard that at midnight, they light up the neon lights on the church bell tower, visible from the other side of the city.
Phone 2: There’s still time now. I’ll take you to see.
January 11th.
Phone 2: Let’s go out for some hand-grabbed rice, it’s explosively delicious.
January 12th.
Phone 2: [Baby, I miss you.gif]
Phone 2: [Little rabbit kisses.gif]
Phone 2: [Why are you ignoring me.gif]
This Device: ????
Phone 2: I can use emojis now. I was wondering why a bunch of pictures kept popping up when I typed before, turns out they’re emojis.
Phone 2: This phone is really smart. How does it know when I want to use emojis?
This Device: …
Phone 2: [Baby baby.gif]
Phone 2: [Bunny nibbling carrot.gif]
Phone 2: [Does wifey miss me.gif]
Phone 2: [Wifey, give me some attention.gif]
This Device: No more emojis! Otherwise, I’ll confiscate your phone!!
Phone 2: [Wifey, received.gif]
This Device: …
January 13th.
Phone 2: Leaving tomorrow?
The last message lingered on the question sent from the other end, with no further follow-up.
Because after receiving this message, Shelley saw Halton in the yard and put away his phone to answer his question face to face.
Neither of them, at that moment, had any idea that this would be their last communication.
In the wind and sand, Shelley clenched and then slowly released the phone. His fingertips moved away from the message, the screen went dark.
He was already gone.
In these few days, he had enough time to return to the vicinity of Leisau, and in a few more days, he could safely return to Lansai, back to his hometown.
By the time he reached Fuba Port and headed for Mount Yinbu, Irey Halton would surely be able to sleep comfortably in his own home. That would be good.
That was also the outcome he had hoped for.
Although the intense pain radiating from his heart had made his hands tremble and his progress difficult, it would all pass. Everything would end. He would die at some yet unrisen dawn, his bones gnawed by insects and rats, sinking into eternal silence.
It was enough. The borrowed life he had clung to for more than eighteen hundred days and nights had already been prolonged. Meeting Irey Halton once was a miracle amidst decay and decline.
Miracles don’t happen twice.
He shouldn’t be so greedy.
Four hours, or five hours, gradually, Shelley could no longer estimate his travel time.
Everywhere his eyes could see was storm and dust, the wild grass-covered wilderness looked the same no matter where he went. The sun slowly sank into the western valleys, the temperature gradually dropped, breaths turned into white mist, and the cold wind howled from all directions.
As he stumbled over the gravel underfoot, realizing he had likely miscalculated his stamina even with food and water still somewhat plentiful, he found himself struggling to even stand.
He had thought that with sufficient food and water, he could at least walk to the next town, rest briefly, and then continue on to Fuba Port, and from there find a way to get to Mount Yinbu. Yet, he had only walked for half a day, and his body was protesting loudly, his consciousness becoming increasingly blurry.
The cold wind of the wilderness felt like icy blades, he thought of opening his suitcase to find a coat, but then felt too hot, wishing to take off all his clothes to feel comfortable.
So he simply sat down beside his suitcase, curling himself into a ball.
Too ambitious, he thought.
He was going to die here.
Die tens of thousands of miles away from the finish line.
At that moment, he heard what seemed like the distant sound of an engine.
His consciousness was gradually slipping away, making it difficult for him to discern whether the sound in his ears was a hallucination or reality. Regardless of which it was, the sound grew louder and closer, until it reached a point where he could even hear the sound of tires rubbing against the ground, and the hurried opening and closing of doors.
He didn’t have the strength to lift his head, but he faintly heard a string of curses.
His drifting mind even had the leisure to think that it was quite remarkable for someone in the world to blend so many types of swear words into a single sentence of one language, spoken so smoothly. It must also be a remarkable skill.
Then, he felt himself being wrapped in a thick coat and lifted up. The person who lifted him rudely wrapped him in cotton cloth, making sure every corner was secure and no wind could leak in.
Shelley felt like he was being pulled out of icy water, his body gradually warming up, his senses slowly returning.
“Are you so damn eager to go reincarnate?” the person said,”Dying in this godforsaken place, even the Grim Reaper can’t find you when you’re dried up like jerky!”
There was only one person in the world who dared to talk to him like that.
Shelley opened his eyes and met Irey’s bright, fiery eyes.