Eve Nightburn tossed the two notes into the trash bin and then sat back on the bed, picking up her phone.
When she checked the time, she realized it was already afternoon.
“Did the boss send a message?”
Eve opened the message and skimmed it. The gist was: “Young man, you were doing so well, why resign…”
And then, the tone shifted at the end: “Well, that’s that. Hope we meet again someday.”
Nice. Not a single word about this month’s salary. Very realistic.
At least the boss had the decency to pretend to save her some face. A good boss indeed.
“Time to grab some food.”
Eve pocketed her phone and prepared to head out for lunch, considering she had skipped both breakfast and lunch.
She left her rented flat and made her way to a restaurant.
To save money, Eve didn’t even take the bus—she walked the whole way.
But as she walked, she didn’t notice how much attention she was drawing from those around her.
A little loli as adorable as her appearing out of nowhere on the street was bound to turn heads.
In fact, one or two perverts even walked straight into roadside trees by accident.
But Eve was oblivious to all this. Right now, she just felt really, really hungry.
“I really want strawberry cake…”
As she walked, she fantasized about the sweetness of strawberry cake.
But she quickly shook her head to dismiss the thought.
“No, no, too expensive!”
Yet the moment she rejected the idea, it popped right back into her mind.
“But I really, really want it!”
For a moment, Eve felt like her left and right brain were at war.
While her mind was busy fighting itself, her feet had already carried her to the front of the cake shop.
The second she saw the shop, emotion completely overpowered reason.
“Whatever! I’m already here! Whether I die sooner or later, I should at least enjoy my last days—buy it!”
Eve immediately dashed into the shop and asked the clerk to pack a slice of strawberry cake for her.
“One strawberry cake, please!”
Hearing the little customer’s request, the clerk paused the video she was watching on her phone, grabbed a bag from the counter, and walked over.
Following Eve’s request, she took a small boxed strawberry cake from the display and placed it in the bag.
At the counter, Eve opened her payment app and looked around for the shop’s QR code.
She turned her head left and right but couldn’t find it.
“No scan-to-pay option?”
Eve found it strange. In this day and age, QR code payments should be everywhere, right?
Hearing her question, the clerk suddenly looked awkward…
Eve’s height was just about three centimeters shorter than the counter—and the payment QR code was pasted right on the countertop…
In short, she was too short to see it.
Suppressing her secondhand embarrassment, the clerk gently reminded her, “Um… little girl, can you hand me your phone? I’ll scan it for you.”
“Oh, sure.” Eve didn’t quite understand but handed over her phone anyway.
After scanning the code, the clerk returned the phone to her.
Looking at the payment screen, Eve suddenly felt deeply insulted.
So it was because she was too short!
But she didn’t dwell on it. She just wanted to pay quickly and leave this embarrassing place behind.
“How much is it?”
The clerk finished packing the cake and announced the price: “15 yuan in total.”
Seeing such an adorable little loli buying food alone, the clerk couldn’t help but wonder—shouldn’t such a young child have a parent with her?
Just then, the shop’s speaker announced the payment.
“Payment received: 15 yuan.”
After the transaction, the clerk handed the packed cake to Eve.
Eve took her purchase and prepared to leave.
But just then, the clerk suddenly called out to her, “Hey, little girl…”
“What is it?”
Eve turned around, puzzled. She had already paid—was there something else?
“How old are you?”
“23.”
The answer slipped out of Eve’s mouth before she could think.
“Huh?”
23? The clerk wondered if she had misheard.
Eve immediately realized how absurd her answer sounded.
She spun back around, flailing her arms in a flustered attempt to correct herself. “No, not ‘two’—’ah’! I meant ‘ah, 13’!”
13? That made a lot more sense, though she still seemed a bit too short for that age.
“I see. But little girl, you’re still quite short. My cousin’s daughter is 12 and already 1.6 meters tall. At 13, you still have time to grow taller if you eat well.”
“Mhm, bye, sis.”
Suppressing her embarrassment, Eve politely bid the clerk farewell and left.
As she walked home with her strawberry cake, she couldn’t stop thinking about the clerk’s last comment.
12 years old… 1.6 meters tall… What kind of natural-born beauty was that?
Was that even fair? No, it wasn’t!
And the reason it wasn’t fair was because that height was nothing short of an insult to her current self.
“Wait, why am I obsessing over some random kid I’ve never even met?”
For a moment, Eve felt like her sanity was slipping.
Back in her rented flat, Eve placed the strawberry cake on her desk, ready to enjoy one of the last few good meals before her impending demise.
“Right, my final days should be special, sacred even.”
She had heard that in Japan, words held mystical power—something called “kotodama.”
Today, she wanted to try it.
“Hmm… what was that phrase again?” Eve racked her brain, trying to recall the classic scene that appeared in almost every anime.
“Oh, I remember!”
Eve clasped her hands together and recited:
“Itadakimasu~”
After this “prayer” to the divine meal, she unwrapped the cake and dug in with her fork.
Once she finished, she tossed the trash outside and returned to her desk.
She pressed the power button, booting up her computer.
An endless vacation, endless tomorrows, endless time—leading to endless laziness. If only she had endless life too.
Eve wanted to make these final moments joyful. It felt like the kind of madness that comes with knowing the world is about to end.
Except this apocalypse belonged to Eve Nightburn alone.
