13~Big Clean-Up, ASAP!
The night in this world was drastically different from his past life. Back home, it was hard to see stars at night, but in Caleburn’s night sky, stars were abundant and dazzling, a purely natural sky untainted by industrial pollution.
Dillin sat on the balcony of his dormitory, two fingers holding a cigarette. The burning smoke, mixed with nicotine, emitted a smell of low-quality cigarettes.
He took a deep drag, exhaling a long puff of smoke, and the trembling hands that had been shaking since a while ago eventually calmed down.
Tonight, he was once again insomnia-stricken.
Since coming to this world, he always suffered from insomnia. He would often wake up in the middle of the night and then completely lose the ability to sleep.
Perhaps it was because there was too much to think about; his mind was too cluttered during the day, making it hard to sleep at night. Or maybe it was due to mental weakness and recurring nightmares that prevented him from resting peacefully.
But no matter what, Dillin wasn’t really focused on the reasons behind his insomnia, nor did he have the energy to figure out the cause. He had already gotten used to his new habit of sitting on the balcony smoking a couple of cigarettes after not being able to sleep.
Don’t misunderstand. Before being accidentally killed by a delivery truck chasing KPIs at the end of the year, Dillin was a three-good student who stayed away from cigarettes and alcohol, ate well, slept well, and generally felt pretty good.
These bad habits were all acquired after the穿越 (reincarnation). The original Dillin actually disliked the smell of cigarettes, and even disliked people who smoked.
He didn’t think smoking was cool or chic. His financial situation couldn’t support his purchase of such luxuries anyway, and the cigarettes he could afford were the most accessible ones.
High EQ: People-friendly.
Low EQ: Cheap.
This world did have cigarettes, but the manufacturing process was definitely not as advanced as in his hometown. Dillin hadn’t smoked in his previous life and couldn’t compare the cigarettes from both worlds.
Anyway, none of it mattered. Smoking was no good thing, and it was better not to touch it if possible.
Dressed in only a short undershirt, he sat on the balcony for a while, and then seemed to remember something. He took out the “Golden Moth” hair accessory from his pocket and kept looking at it back and forth.
Indeed, this was a fantasy world where magic existed, and all sorts of unbelievable things really could happen.
Feeling somewhat awkward, he pinned the butterfly hair accessory to the side of his hair. Through the reflection of the floor-to-ceiling window, the young boy sitting on a small stool, supporting his head with one hand, had dead-fish-eyed eyes, and the golden butterfly pinned lopsidedly to his side hair seemed more noticeable than himself.
The boy, whose gender traits hadn’t fully developed yet, adorned with a female hair accessory, combined with his nearly shoulder-length hair, made him look like a lazy short-haired girl.
He inserted the cigarette b*tt into the nearby glass jar filled with cigarette butts, closed his eyes, and chains of golden runes radiating from Dillin spread out. The young boy’s skin and appearance changed bit by bit, his black hair smoothing down and infused with dazzling golden brilliance.
The black-haired boy had transformed into a little elf sitting on a stool whose feet didn’t even touch the ground.
Looking at the reflection in the floor-to-ceiling window, Tillysha cupped her little hands under her chin as her pink legs swung back and forth.
She hadn’t fully transformed into her godlike form, and her face was inexperienced yet delicate and youthful. If she hadn’t seen it with her own eyes, she would never have believed that she’d one day turn into a little elf girl…
“Hack…hack…” The instant transformation ended, Tillysha began coughing nonstop, a deep physiological discomfort forcing her to cover her mouth and nose.
The cloud of smoke from the cigarette still lingered in the air, and cigarette butts overflowed from the glass jar nearby. Every breath felt full of smoke particles.
Surrounded by this nauseating stench of nicotine, Tillysha felt her hair had already absorbed too much of this disgusting smell, making it feel oily and sticky.
How disgusting! Is this really how bad tobacco can smell?!
Jumping down from the stool, she looked around the room. Although it wasn’t too dirty, it wasn’t exactly neat either. Things were mostly in their places, but the sight made her shiver.
The bedside table was cluttered with books unsorted, a few unwashed clothes piled on top, the bed left entirely unmade, the blanket tossed to the side like a knotted dried fish, the trash bin was overflowing, and worse, the floor. Until now, she hadn’t noticed, but after transforming into an elf, Tillysha felt as if there was a thick layer of dust on the floor.
This place was like a giant garbage dump. Just staying here made her feel uncomfortable to the point of insanity. How on earth had she lived here for so long before?!
Tillysha couldn’t figure it out, but she knew she could no longer stay a second in this dump!
Her pink little feet stepped into oversized slippers as Tillysha rushed into the bathroom. She made a makeshift mask with a towel to temporarily cover her nose and mouth, tied her hair into a simple ponytail, and grabbed the mop and broom from the bathroom…
After nearly an hour of cleaning, Tillysha let out a sigh of relief as she threw the last bag of garbage by the door.
The cleaning was temporarily done, but the room still had that cigarette smell. If her financial situation allowed, she would have rushed to get several bottles of perfume to coat every inch of the floor and walls, until the disgusting cigarette smell was completely covered.
She’d rather be suffocated by the cheap perfume than smell this nauseating tobacco smell.
The smell of tobacco, was it really that harsh? Didn’t she use to be fine with it?…
Removing the mask, she wiggled her little nose, almost fainting. Immediately, she put the mask back on.
She couldn’t take it anymore; she had to quit smoking!
Just thinking about how this filthy nicotine had filled her nose, throat, and even her lungs made her feel nauseous.
Let’s just take out the trash first.
Opening the door, she realized her super noticeable Elf ears before stepping out.
She couldn’t keep wrapping them with bandages every time, could she? That would look too weird.
She had an idea.
Tillysha remembered the headphones she had drawn from the Golden Moth yesterday and took them from the drawer.
These feather-like earmuffs headphones fit perfectly on her head and covered her Elf ears.
Most importantly, nobody but her could take them off. Moreover, wearing them gave her a sense of protection, almost like a top-tier helmet!
