Chapter 2

...What the heck? I ate ochazuke for breakfast and rushed to work, so why am I so hungry??

To begin with,

"Where am I? Why a jungle...?"

I’m too hungry to even make a proper complaint.

Still, is my memory confused? The bag I was carrying is also gone.

Let me try to calm down. Deep breathing like “Hii Hii Foo” is too cliché, so I shouldn’t do that. Yeah, stay calm (I think). Then, let’s try to remember one thing at a time.

First, my name. Satou Yuriko. I’ve met four people with the same name in my life, and one of them even had the exact same characters. It’s a pretty common name.

My age... I’m in my thirties. Since I know it clearly, I don’t need to say it.

My job, a chef. I work at a traditional Western restaurant, a 20-minute walk from my house.

I’ve been working there for 10 years and have finally been recognized as a full-fledged chef.

Boyfriend, none for the past four years.

Lately, food and alcohol > men, so it’s no wonder. I just can’t get excited about men. Thinking about the various forms and realities of the men around me in the past, I don’t dream about men. I don’t even have the energy to dress up. I’ve always had an average face and height. Maybe because I didn’t care, they didn’t see me as a woman either.

...No good. I’m getting off track.

Well, anyway, my hobby is food exploration. My special skill is wine tasting. I remember myself clearly.

The last memory I have... is around the time I was heading to work.

I woke up late one morning. I only had 10 minutes left until my shift started.

So, I boiled water while getting ready, turned leftover rice into ochazuke, and wolfed it down.

I put the dishes in the sink, put on my down coat, stuffed my phone into my bag, did a quick check, and rushed out of the house. It was a snowy landscape.

And it wasn’t soft snow. It was almost like an ice rink.

Wait, isn’t this story taking a weird turn? So, what happened next?

People were slipping and falling all over the place as they were commuting or going to school. I tried to be careful and walked as fast as I could.

Then, all of a sudden, I heard a scream from behind. I turned around in response to the voice and saw someone sliding, pulling more and more people into the chaos, heading straight for me.

Before I could even think about dodging, I was swept up in it and the next thing I knew, there was a utility pole right in front of me. After that, nothing.

What is this? A comedy!