Split Zone No.13

What’s happening here? Why would I see that boy and that stocking lady here in the real world? Didn’t they both die in the Split Zone? Did they fake their deaths?

But that’s impossible...

This was exactly the same thing that happened in the Split Zone.

I walked over quickly to the boy.

The boy sat up slowly. My eyes were on the stocking lady as I wondered what she’d do next. Would whatever happened in the Split Zone happen here again?

If that were to happen, who would help the boy when the stocking lady picks on him...?

I was right here, but there wasn’t anything I could do to help him this time...

The stocking lady pursed her lips.

I held my breath as I stared at her.

However, that cold expression on the stocking lady’s face changed to a forgiving one in the very next second. She helped the boy up and asked with concern, “Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere? Do you need me to send you to the hospital?”

I heard mumbles from the crowd. “I guess she won’t be avoiding responsibility for this.”

“Yeah. It’s rare to see people like that these days. People usually try to get away or push the responsibility to others when an accident happens, or they’d blame the victim for knocking into them on purpose. Some fights even end up in the police station.”

“Well, it’s understandable that people aren’t very willing to take responsibility with so many people getting in accidents on purpose just to get some money out of it.”

“Yeah, that’s true too.”

I turned back to the two of them after hearing some of the discussion around me.

Although both of them looked exactly the same as the individuals I recognized from the Split Zone, it was obviously not going to end in the same way here.

The boy’s eyes opened slowly. His eyes were clear, but he had this look on his face which made him look much older than he was. He was so pale and he looked very weak, just like that boy I saw in the Split Zone.

“I’m fine,” he said quietly with an indifferent tone as he pushed the woman’s hand away before struggling to get up on his own.

The crowd stirred.

“Is he afraid to say that he’s hurt?”

“I think he’s too young and too afraid to say it. Look at that woman, she doesn’t look too friendly. Maybe she’s just pretending for now. She might show her true colors a little bit later.”

“Yeah, look at how unsteady he is. I think he’s really hurt. Is it an internal injury? Should we persuade him to allow her to bring him to the hospital?”

“Are you kidding? Why be nosy? He’ll just have himself to blame if he refuses to go to the hospital.”

I was not surprised by all that discussion that was happening around me, but I felt uncomfortable with it. I frowned at this, wondering what it was that made me so upset.

The stocking lady seemed to have heard some of the discussion around them. After standing up, the boy struggled to break away from the crowd.

The stocking lady knitted her brows and there was a look of annoyance which flashed past her face, but my eyes might have fooled me.

She chased after the boy and smiled as she stopped him from leaving. “I’m worried if you just leave like that. What if your organs are damaged? That’ll be serious. I’m at fault anyway. Just come with me to the hospital, child.”

This set off another wave of discussion.

“Where can we find someone that kind? That boy didn’t even ask for money and she’s volunteering to send him to the hospital?”

“Yeah. I didn’t know kind souls still exist.”

“Huh, it’s probably not kindness. She’s probably from some rich family and she doesn’t need that money anyway. This would be peanuts to her, and she’d probably even have enough money to settle the matter even if she had killed someone.”

“I guess that’s true. She probably doesn’t need the money.”

My brows knitted further.

The boy seemed surprised that the lady stopped him as he turned and stared at her. He then said, “Okay. We’ll do that.”

The lady smiled. “Okay, let’s get into my car. I’ll send you to the hospital.” She then began pulling the boy towards her car.

The crowd was blocking her path, and she had to continually say, “Excuse me please. Thank you.”

A path parted for her, but there were some upset faces around. They looked as if they were suspicious of this lady and there was doubt if she was really going to send the boy to hospital.

The stocking lady did not say or do anything out of the ordinary, so everyone made way for her in the end.

When she was walking over to the driver’s side after settling the boy into the front seat, a voice said, “Is she really going to the hospital? She wouldn’t try to do something else, would she?”

The lady looked like she heard it as there was a minute change in her expression, but a smile returned after a split second. She remained silent, and the crowd quietened.

Something felt amiss and I rushed to catch up.

I felt a little hesitant when I saw the boy get into her car. If I simply existed in this crack in space and I was invisible to the world here, would I be able to ride a vehicle?

But my gut told me to follow them. I felt that it wasn’t a simple coincidence that I’d be seeing these two from the Split Zone.

After a moment of hesitation, I stuck a leg out and tried to get into her car.

I could actually pass through this car. I didn’t need anyone to open the door for me to get in, and I could ride in it when the lady ignited the engine. This didn’t make sense.

I looked around me. I was in the back seat. I reached out towards the lady from where I was. My hand passed through both the seat and her body. They weren’t able to see me at all, but why was I able to ride in this car?

I tried to focus MF in my body as if I was in the Split Zone, but I couldn’t feel anything that remotely resembled MF in my body.

If I could still focus MF within my body, then I’d have thought that it was my MF which enabled me to ride in the car. Now that I didn’t have MF nor did I belong in this world, how could I actually do such a thing without being noticed by anyone or affected by anything at all in this world?

Or was I able to leave with them because I simply wanted to do so, and this ability stemmed from my mental consciousness?

But why would I be without MF if that was the case?

Was my MF existing in some other form in this crack in space? Was it something that would be calculated differently in this particular plane of existence?

But even if I cannot calculate it, I should still be able to feel its presence.

But...

The woman spoke as I was lost in thought wondering about how I could actually get on the car.

“You really think that you didn’t get hurt at all?” She spoke very calmly, and I couldn’t tell what she might really be thinking behind that calm demeanor.

The boy mumbled an affirmative response as he continued staring straight ahead.

Silence ensued.

The atmosphere was weird, as if something was being suppressed.

I took a deep breath as I tried to calm my nerves.

Click.

The lady exited the car and said to the boy, “I’m going to get some stuff. I’ll be back very soon. Just wait for a while. The hospital is right in front. We should get you checked just to be sure.”

The pale boy nodded. He was so pale that he looked like he was indeed suffering from some sort of internal injury. From his gaze, he seemed to be suppressing some sort of pain.

I floated over to the driver’s seat as the lady left. I turned to look at the boy, trying to figure out what it was he might be hiding.

The boy started coughing suddenly. His face turned red from all that coughing.

He must have been injured.

I walked to where the lady was headed for.

She had entered a supermarket a short distance away.

There weren’t a lot of people in it at this time of the day. The lady didn’t look like she was planning on buying anything either. After looking around her, she sneaked into the washroom.

After standing outside the washroom for a bit, I decided to follow her in.