Chapter 303: Backache

Chapter 303: Chapter 303: Backache

Seraphina Sinclair woke up with an aching back.

Her small wooden bed wasn’t exactly soft to begin with, but Seraphina had specifically traded for several quilts to pad it from underneath, then topped them with a carefully chosen bedsheet, making the little bed quite cozy and soft.

But last night, she had slept on the stone floor with only her bedding for comfort.

Seraphina felt like she’d been run over by a truck; every bone in her body was protesting.

She sat up and stretched her stiff neck and shoulders. A series of soft pops and cracks echoed from her bones, startlingly clear in the quiet morning.

Sunflower was still curled up by the bedding, its head buried in its leaves, completely still. It was as if it hadn’t yet recovered from last night’s lethargy—or maybe it was just because it wasn’t eight o’clock yet.

Its Hunger Level hadn’t recovered, so naturally, Sunflower was listless.

Seraphina didn’t look at it again.

She pressed a hand to her lower back and grimaced as she stood up, each step tugging at her sore muscles.

The physical discomfort would have been one thing, but as Seraphina shook her groggy head, she felt her thoughts were like waterlogged cotton—heavy and sluggish.

Her sleep last night had clearly been terrible. The chill and hardness of the floor seemed to have seeped into her very bones, leaving her brain sluggish and unresponsive.

She tore open a meal voucher and, as usual, was transported to the washroom.

To try and clear her head, she cupped her hands with water and splashed it hard against her face.

The biting cold pierced her skin, sending a shiver through her entire body. It was as if an ice pick had chiseled a crack in her muddled thoughts, allowing a sliver of clarity to seep in.

"Sss..." She drew in a sharp breath, staring at the faint dark circles under her eyes in her reflection. Her features were tight and drawn from lack of sleep and the lingering stiffness.

After a moment’s daze, she blankly raised a hand to her face and muttered, ’Aren’t I supposed to be a superhuman now?’

’How can one sleepless night still affect me this much?’

Seraphina was confused, but her foggy mind wouldn’t allow her to think it through.

She’d spent quite a bit of time in the washroom. By the time Seraphina returned to the mobile cabin, the waiter had already laid out her meal.

The impeccable smile was still fixed on its face. It gestured toward the food with an open palm, inviting Seraphina to begin her meal.

Seraphina obliged.

Today’s breakfast was a bowl of steaming minced meat congee, sprinkled with finely chopped green herbs.

They were chopped so finely that Seraphina couldn’t tell what they were.

Alongside it were two pork chops grilled to perfection, the fat crisped and rendered, and a small dish of sweet and sour pickled berries.

It was a sumptuous spread, to say the least.

But Seraphina had no appetite.

She sat at the table, her gaze landing vacantly on the food before her.

Steam rose in wisps from the congee, blurring her vision.

The savory aroma of the grilled meat mixed with the sweet and sour scent of the berries. Normally, it would have been mouth-watering, but right now, it just made her stomach turn.

She suddenly realized that her condition was more than just a simple lack of sleep.

It wasn’t as if Seraphina had never pulled an all-nighter before. In her previous world, sleepless nights were practically a rite of passage for young people.

Even after pulling consecutive all-nighters for a deadline, she’d at most be mentally exhausted and slow to react the next day. A good sleep was usually enough to get her mostly back to normal.

But this was different. An ache that seemed to radiate from the marrow of her bones, a head that felt like it was filled with lead, a complete loss of appetite, and even a faint sense... a debilitating weakness, as if she’d been completely hollowed out?

’This isn’t normal.’

Especially since her current physical constitution was countless times better than before.

Logically, even after staying up for half the night and then sleeping fitfully for the rest, her mind shouldn’t be this foggy.

This feeling was more like...

’A fever?’

The word flashed through Seraphina’s mind, bringing her train of thought to a halt.

’What? Can I still get minor illnesses like this?’

Though surprised, she still took out the Advanced Medical Kit to "diagnose" herself.

The waiter stood off to the side.

It observed Seraphina’s odd behavior but didn’t say a word.

This was one of the more recently added articles in the waiter’s code of conduct: regardless of what strange things a guest may do, they are to be ignored unless the guest initiates conversation.

Seraphina, in turn, ignored it.

The Advanced Medical Kit indicated there were no treatable illnesses.

In other words, not only did she not have a fever, but the aches wracking her body weren’t a physical ailment either.

That was strange.

’If the problem with my body isn’t a physical problem, then could it be...’

’A problem with my Spirit?’

The moment the thought surfaced, even she found it a bit absurd.

But then she thought about what happened yesterday: the impact of the ring’s Spiritual Attack, the feeling in her body when she was hit by that Spiritual Pollution... She compared that feeling to how she felt now.

Seraphina: "..."

’Well, mystery solved.’

But the solution to this mystery was not one Seraphina was happy about.

A common cold or a fever would have been as easy for the Advanced Medical Kit to fix as swatting a fly.

But if this was spiritual damage caused by Spiritual Pollution...

Seraphina had no idea how to fix that.

She silently put away the Advanced Medical Kit and stared blankly at the sumptuous but unappetizing breakfast on the table.

Her stomach still felt heavy, but her rational mind told her she had to eat.

She forced herself to pick up her spoon and eat the congee, bite by mechanical bite. It slid down her throat, its taste—which was actually quite pleasant, warm and savory—muted, as if she were tasting it through a thick veil.

After forcing down most of the congee and one of the pork chops, Seraphina felt she had reached her limit.

She pushed her plate away and waved a hand at the waiter.

The waiter stepped forward and cleared the table with a smile. Its movements were silent and swift, and it still offered no unnecessary words.

But then, as if just now noticing it, Seraphina’s eyes suddenly lit up. She reached her consciousness into the Silver Moon Earrings, but just as she was about to retrieve something, she hesitated.

After a moment, she took out the solidified piece of Auric Young anyway.

The waiter noticed her action. It stopped what it was doing and wiped its hands clean.

Only then did it accept the solidified Auric Young, its long, pale fingers holding the piece of metal up to examine it carefully in the dim light of the mobile cabin.

Its movements were unhurried, its gaze focused as if appraising a work of art.

Seraphina, however, grew more anxious by the second. After a moment of internal struggle, she couldn’t help but ask, "This thing... can it come back to life?"

"Come back to life?" the waiter repeated. Its voice was as steady as ever, but the words made Seraphina’s heart tighten.

"Guest, are you referring to restoring its original... fluid life form?"

Seraphina nodded, not bothering to hide the hope in her eyes, though it was tinged with anxiety.

"It was alive before. It could move, spin in circles, even learn simple things. But now..."

She looked at the lifeless piece of metal in the waiter’s hand. "Can it go back to the way it was?"