“I’m hungry.”

What kind of situation was this?

I quietly looked down at the children who were only half my size.

Their hair, caked with dust, was grayish-brown. In contrast to their dirty appearance, their deep blue eyes sparkled mysteriously like sapphires.

“……”

The gaze of the two boys poured onto me.

More precisely, towards the cup noodles in my hand.

***

What I saw before me was a dark corridor.

I shuddered at the cold rising from the moss-covered walls and marble floor.

‘A castle? A temple? It looks just like a building in Europe.’

Though I’d never actually been there, we all had the civilization of the internet.

However, this place wasn’t as splendid as the ruins featured on travel blogs.

‘I don’t believe in ghosts, but.’

Rather than a glamorous art museum, it was closer to a well-made haunted house.

I tapped the mushrooms growing on the wall as I sank into contemplation.

‘Why am I here?’

The new hypermarket near my home was in the midst of a huge sale.

‘Domestic pork 1,110 won per 100g. Sweet pumpkin 500 won each. 5 cucumbers for 1,000 won. Cup noodles 100 won per person.’

The market was packed during the evening hours.

The time sales and first-come-first-served sales were a war among housewives.

Especially the shelf stacked with cup noodles at 100 won per person…

“What’s wrong with you?! Where are you looking while walking?!”

“Look here, how old are you to speak informally!”

It was a scene of older men politely inquiring about each other’s ages, following the older women.

With their friendly physical greetings, the cup noodles stacked on the shelf rolled and scattered everywhere.

“Oh my, please stop!”

Amidst the women trying to break up the fight, a beef and vegetable flavored cup noodle rolled over.

It was the moment I unconsciously picked up the cup noodle.

‘Huh?’

At that moment, I felt my head spinning.

‘Must be orthostatic hypotension.’

Thinking simply and looking ahead, everything had changed.

“…Where is this?”

Spores stuck to my low-heeled shoes.

A long black dress and white apron swayed with my movements.

‘I was wearing sneakers and jeans, wasn’t I?’

Looking around, I saw a wall mirror in the distance.

I approached the mirror as if entranced.

“…Who?”

Brown hair reaching the chest. A pretty face with vivid green eyes.

The dress worn by the woman in the mirror resembled a maid costume cosplay.

‘She looks like someone from the Middle Ages. A lady-in-waiting?’

If there was something that didn’t fit at all, it was that the woman who looked like a lady-in-waiting was holding a cup noodle.

It was the same small beef and vegetable cup I had picked up.

‘Is this a dream?’

When I moved my hand, the woman in the mirror moved the same way. The cup noodle was the same.

“…This is really strange.”

My voice was a bit thinner and higher-pitched than my original voice.

“Ah, did I faint perhaps?”

I might have collapsed while picking up the cup noodle.

If this was a dream, everything made sense.

‘It’s been tough lately.’

Every day was busy without a moment to spare, working part-time jobs while looking for employment.

‘But still.’

To collapse so suddenly like this.

‘There were so many people at the market… Wouldn’t at least someone have done something?’

I wouldn’t die young since I grabbed the thread at my first birthday ceremony.

‘Then I just need to wait for the dream to end, right?’

The moment I thought carelessly, my stomach growled.

“Why am I hungry in a dream?”

My stomach was clamoring to put food in it quickly.

‘There’s no way this could be reality.’

I could clearly feel the sensation of hunger and the cold air around me.

‘Cold, hungry, and sleepy…’

These were the three essentials of a beggar.

I hugged the cup noodle preciously. It was a moment when I desperately craved hot broth.

‘Let’s fill my stomach first at least.’

I held the cup noodle to my chest and passed by the mirror.

Fortunately, I soon found the kitchen.

Boil water and wait.

That’s how cup noodles are supposed to be.

“Careful, careful.”

Put the seasoning in the cup noodle and pour in the water.

“Mm, it smells delicious.”

A delicious aroma rose with the hot steam.

‘Now it’s time to wait.’

Just as I turned around with a relaxed mind.

“I’m hungry.”

“Aaagh!”

I almost threw the cup noodle I was holding.

‘What, there’s no one… Wait a minute.’

Only then did I realize I needed to lower my gaze.

‘Children?’

Dirty blonde hair covered in dust.

Their faces were so pale that I almost mistook them for little blue-eyed ghosts, no, spirits.

“Who are you?”

“I’m hungry.”

When I asked, trying to calm my startled heart, all I got back was the answer that they were hungry.

The twins’ gazes were fixed on the cup noodle I was holding.

As the standoff with the inexplicable little ones continued.

I unconsciously exclaimed.

“Ah, it’s been 3 minutes.”

The sensation in my body was telling me.

That 3 minutes had just passed.

Thud.

I instinctively opened the lid.

‘Look at that steam.’

An incomparably more delicious smell spread out than when the lid was closed.

At that moment, one child’s eyes sparkled brightly.

The other child was also glancing at the cup noodle, pretending not to.

I quietly observed the children.

Their cheeks, which should have been plump and glossy like others their age, were sunken and dried up.

‘It’s upsetting even though it’s a dream.’

Even if the little ones were illusory beings, the feeling of pity was greater than ignoring them.

Although it was just cup noodles, still.

“Do you want to eat?”

“Yes!”

At those words, one child nodded enthusiastically.

But the child next to him pulled the little one back, flinching.

“Why.”

“You’re not going to learn your lesson even after what happened before?”

The child whispered in the little one’s ear.

I had no idea what they were talking about being tricked before.

“I didn’t put any poison or anything in it.”

Have they never seen cup noodles before?

I thought maybe they were suspicious of it.

“Here, look.”

I pulled up the noodles from the cup noodle for them to see. And then, nom.

“Mmmm, delicious.”

JMT.

An exclamation came out naturally.

As expected, my body clock was accurate, and the noodles were perfectly cooked.

Gulp.

Once again, I heard the sound of the children swallowing their saliva.

After watching me eat the cup noodles, the wariness in their eyes had diminished greatly.

“Here, try it. Ah.”

“Ah.”

I twirled the noodles with my chopsticks.

The twisted noodles, just right for one bite, gently settled into the wide-open mouth.

“It’s so good.”

Tears even welled up from how delicious it was.

The chewy and salty noodles were the charm of ramen.

‘I hope it’s not too hot.’

When I blew on the broth to cool it down before feeding them, they exhaled “whew” through their tiny mouths while still eating deliciously.

“It’s spicy. But what can I do when it’s so tasty?”

The long-drawn-out end of the sentence was quite cute.

‘Eating while crying. How versatile.’

Even while thinking that, a strange sense of pride crept up.

I gestured to the child behind.

“Let’s eat together.”

Flinch.

The child next to the little one stepped back at my call.

Are they still suspicious?

But they must be hungry.

“I’m telling you it’s really okay. Just try one bite and then we’ll talk.”

It sounded a bit like I was coaxing them, but classics usually work well.

I twirled some noodles on the chopsticks and brought them to the child’s mouth.

“……”

Growl.

It was the sound coming from the stomach of the child who was trying to sneak away.

The child’s cheeks turned bright red.

The tightly closed mouth began to waver, then carefully opened.

“That’s right.”

It’s not good if you blow on it.

The ramen was sucked into the child’s small mouth.

The way their cheeks moved as they chewed was incredibly cute.

“…It’s delicious.”

Along with a gulping sound, a small exclamation burst out.

Their eyes became wet and sparkly, as if it was really delicious.

But one bite wouldn’t be enough to fill their stomach.

I twisted more noodles onto the chopsticks and fed them again.

“Me too! Me too!”

The little one next to them chirped.

“Hehe, so soft and cute.”

When I fed them a small piece of fish cake, a grinning face came back.

“It’s all gone.”

Feeding them alternately, before I knew it, only the broth was left.

The red, sloshing broth was entirely my share.

‘They say it’s full of sodium and MSG, but who cares.’

Sometimes, lukewarm broth could be a small comfort.

‘This taste is life.’

I nodded my head, savoring the philosophical sensitivity.

“I’m full.”

The little one was sprawled on the floor, holding their full belly.

The other child’s expression had softened a lot too.

“But why? You usually didn’t give us any even when we begged.”

The little one tilted their head with an innocent face while patting their full stomach.

“Me?”

I was the one who was actually confused.

But the foreign child nodded as if it was obvious.

“Yes. Eileen.”

Eileen, you say?

The moment the child muttered someone else’s name.

My head felt like it was about to split open and my vision turned white.

‘What is this?’

Countless pieces of information and memories began to flood into my mind like a tidal wave.

A self-proclaimed healing novel where the female protagonist ‘Elcious’ awakens as a saint and saves all sorts of men.

The novel I had eagerly read, even baking cookies, was quite a masterpiece.

‘Why am I remembering this novel?’

I looked at the children hugging each other with shaking eyes.

Eventually, I began to see blurry afterimages of the illusions this body’s owner had committed.

‘Eileen Hallen.’

The nanny of the abandoned twin princes.

She was the culprit who abused the children and turned them into villains.

‘Blood and flesh splattered and bones separated…’

Her final fate for abusing the children was death.

‘Don’t tell me, it wasn’t a dream but possession?’

And now the predetermined future is mine.