Lee's heart was racing. He silently prayed to any kind of deity that ever existed for help; hoping this was a nightmare or just some temporary event.
All Lee could think about was his mother and sister. Maybe they were spared by this "temporal pause".
The only thing Lee could do was pulling out his phone from his right pocket and dialing his mother's number.
"Please answer the call..."
"Please.."
After about ten seconds, Lee's mom still hadn't answered the call.
*No...Come on. Come on!*
The call ended, activing the answering machine
"Answering machine service. The number is currently unavailable. Please call back later. "
*Damn it!*
Lee hung up the call, desperately trying to figure out what went wrong.
The shopping center's wifi was offline, while mobile data was still active. The five bars of signal were all gray, meaning there was no mobile network.
No network, no connection, and therefore no internet.
This meant that radio stations were all frozen in time and most probably, so was the rest of the world.
The only exception was Lee and his phone, which, for some strange reason, were unaffected by this anomaly.
*Ding ding.*
"Uh?"
That was the sound of phone messages, snapping Lee back to the present.
"The phone?"
"But you shouldn't work without an internet connection."
Lee immediately checked the message, hoping for some solution.
The message came from an unknown number dialed 2880844666777.
*I've never seen a number like that, much less one that starts with 288.*
Lee clicked and opened the message
Lee stared silently at the phone screen for a whole minute. Something mysterious had just contacted him for a job.
*It doesn't make sense. Or maybe it does and I am not understand a cabbage.*
*"Watching you"?*
*What the hell? A stalker?*
These words terrified him to death. Someone had been watching him for who knows how long, and now it decided to reveal itself by freezing the world.
Lee began to type a reply, anxiously expecting either an answer or a sudden attack at any time.
*Ding ding.*
*Help?*
Lee's brain processed what he had just read.
His breathing grew less heavy and more controlled; but confusion and shock thickened even more.
*Narratio Ex-Machina? Did he mean Deus Ex-Machina?*
Lee began to type a message as his mind raced over what he knew so far.
*Narratio Ex-Machina… Don't tell me that some kind of deity or a being that governs a Cosmos wants me out of all humans.*
*And what if he transmigrates me to some other world?*
Lee finally finished his message and clicked to send it.
At the mere thought, Lee froze with fear.
He began turning constantly around, expecting something to happen at any moment.
*Ding ding.*
Lee turned his gaze back to the phone, reading the new message.
His eyes widened at the sight of the message.
Lee's breath stopped for a second, a suffocating heat spread through his body, and he barely held back tears of fear.
*No, absolutely not. I'm not staying her a minute longer.*
Driven by adrenaline, or maybe survival instinct, he started running as fast as he could toward the exit.
He held the book tight against his chest while in his right hand he clutched the phone, in case another message arrived.
The idea of stealing something didn't please him at all. But the book was surely an important piece of this mystery, and every second mattered.
Once Lee passed the counter, the phone rang again.
*It must be some death threat. I don't even want to read it.*
Lee was about to leave the store.
However…
*Slam!*
Lee bumped into something and fell onto his backside, dropping both the book and the phone, to his left and right respectively.
*Ouch! What was that?*
He held his head with his right hand, trying to ease the pain.
*What a blow...It hurts!*
He turned his gaze upward. The exit was in front of him, but something had just prevented him from leaving.
*A barrier? Are you serious?*
Still seated, Lee kicked at the exit, feeling as though he were hitting an invisible wall.
*It trapped me! Damn it!*
He remained on the ground, waiting for the pain in his head to fade, then stretched his left arm to grab first the book and then the phone.
Luckily, the phone had fallen on its case side, without scratching the screen in any way .
Unluckily, Lee had no other option but to read the message.
*Necessary?!*
*What part of "necessary" involves me and whatever you have in mind?!*
Lee let out a deep sigh,trying to calm himself down. He could have complied with the requests, and maybe, after some time, he would have found a way to screw it and make a false promise.
Lee froze in shock.
*A job? I'm only 17. Wouldn't that be child labor?*
*Deep breath.*
*Well, even kidnapping would be.. But I'm curious. I should ask him what kind of job it is talking about.*
Narratio immediately replied to the message.
*Archivist?*
A lightbulb went on in Lee's mind. He turned the book to inspect its cover.
*The bookstore… Am I supposed to be the librarian in some magical library?*
Lee stared at the cover, silent and pensive.
The experience would be rather interesting. Working in a fantastical library with who knows what or who knows who would be worth it. A fantasy turned reality.
On the other hand, Lee was alive, had a family who loved him, a future, and had nothing to give up.
Besides, there was no guarantee that if transmigrated he'd survive, gain overpowered abilities, have the same comforts, or good company.
His mind was having problems to produce a thought; he had no idea which choice to make to find the solution to the dilemma.
Lee he placed his hand on his forehead, trying to think with every brain cell of a valid answer that could get him out from that problem; after mutterinh a few prayers to himself he began writing.
...
Not even a second passed before Narratio immediately replied.