BXBX NOVEL Chapter 141 141. Manny, Part IV
Editor: Aelryinth
While rubbing himself against her leg, Manny was kicked by Jenna’s feet and knocked away.
"What is she doing without using a leash? I think she is the owner of a dog. It’s too dangerous."
"She kicked the dog. Isn’t that abuse? Let’s report it."
Surprised by the people speaking around her, she looked around and noticed a white dog yapping as if he were dying. Jenna hurried to hug the dog, since she felt a moment ago that she had something on her feet, which now seemed to be the dog.
"Oh, sorry. Are you sick? I didn’t see you. I’m sorry."
Jenna patted the puppy’s side and looked around. It was to find the owner of the dog, but no one seemed to be his master, particularly those who crossed the street while cursing at her.
His owner might have been absent for a while, but she could not move around with the puppy, and so she gave up crossing and turned back.
"Where’s your owner? I don’t think you are an abandoned dog because you are clean and shiny."
The puppy looked up at Jenna. His black-haired eyes were glistening and well-groomed, not only his fur, but even his pink ears. Not knowing what to do, Jenna stopped down in front of the busy crosswalk, dropped the dog and crouched beside him.
"Where’s your owner? Why have you become alone?"
Manny felt deep loneliness in the eyes of the girl talking to him.
"Yap-yap..."
When the dog licked her hand, Jenna felt consoled. As she gently patted the dog’s round head, Jenna murmured, "I’ve been alone after my parents died two years ago. But I still can’t get used to it. I was so annoyed by their nagging and meddling, but now I miss them so much. So, if you’ve been scolded by your master and run away from home, go back."
Jenna continued again as the puppy gently wagged his tail as if he understood what she was saying. "I want to die sometimes. My life is too burdensome. It is too much to last a month with a part-time job even if I survive eating ramen, boiled rice or dried seaweed. I can only pay for my utility bill, telecommunications fees, food expenses, and monthly rent. I can never dream of spending some money on things like such as alcohol and cigarettes; all I can do is to change my mood by drinking mixed coffee sometimes."
Jenna apologized to the puppy with a feeling of regret as she said that. "So even if you lost your master and are alone, I can’t take you. So shall we wait here until your master comes looking for you? I think it’ll be better than being alone if I am with you."
By saying so, Jenna thought it was a good thing that now was not winter. If it was cold, if she went back home with the dog, she would never give up this puppy.
Without the ability to feed him, Jenna could not do such an irresponsible thing. She decided to wait on the street, hoping that the owner would show up and take the puppy.
Jenna stroked Manny’s head, watching the glowing neon signs and the happy smiles of the passers-by. Jenna who had been so silent for a while looked down at Manny and smiled sadly. "I wish I could die and be born again, and live a life where I could eat delicious food, wear pretty clothes in a rich house, and do what I wanted to do. What if you are born as a person, not a dog, that depends on someone like this? If you do not want to be a person, I hope you will meet a good owner and live a good life. My life fits the saying, ’A dog lives better than I do.’"
Jenna took off the cardigan that she was wearing, felt sorry for the puppy sitting on the ground, laid it on the ground, and sat the puppy there. "I hope your owner is capable of buying you a dog cushion that is more expensive than an eight-dollar cardigan. No, even if your owner doesn’t have that ability, I hope your owner is someone who won’t abandon you. You were not really abandoned, weren’t you? Please say yes."
Manny raised himself from the cardigan he had been sitting on, worried with sad eyes, and rubbed his head against Jenna’s hands as she petted him. Then he licked Jenna’s hands for the last time and ran away.
Jenna watched the white puppy’s unannounced departure, and looked around to see if its owner had appeared, but there was no sign of the puppy and his owner anywhere...
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Manny kept his eye on Jenna and appeared before her soon after, in the form of a mature dog. "Are you dreaming of a splendid life? Are you dreaming of a new world? Call me anytime if you want to get out of your current life. My name is Manny."
Mani showed her multiple choices, acting as if he had given her a chance to choose the future. If she thought she had chosen it, she would not have any resistance. However, no matter where she chose, Jenna would become what Julietta was.
Manny instigated Jenna to move her soul into Julietta’s body. When Jenna, who seemed gentle and kind, asked for an ability for the dimensional shift, he was embarrassed, but he was able to move on to picking something up in moderation.
After the successful completion of his work, Manny managed and examined the lists of other dimensions, until he was summoned by the Lord God one day.
"You villain, do you know what you’ve done?"
When the scolded Manny looked so puzzled, the Lord God severely rebuked him, "You changed the owner of the star, who was still shining into a different soul. Are you out of your mind?"
Manny noticed that what the Lord God had said was a recent incident was some time ago and protested, "The ink was so dim that I could hardly see the name of the list. It was almost dead."
"So how does it make sense to take the soul out and put another soul in it while it’s still alive?"
"I was afraid that if she was completely out of breath and I put in a new soul, she would be in trouble. The star was shining, but the name of the list was almost erased... I thought it didn’t matter if she was going to die anyway."
The Lord God sighed deeply. "She was not dead. The soul you’ve taken out is wandering aimlessly. What are you going to do?"
"No, she isn’t dead? So why the hell was the list in that condition?"
He explained to Manny who had given up, wondering why that had happened.
"Unfortunately, her luck was not that good, she was born with a star that was too heavy for her soul to bear. You had to let it go until she died, so she could reincarnate. Because of your mistake, her soul, free of its heavy burden, freely spread its wings and she didn’t die."
"Huh, I can’t believe it."
"Find a body for the soul to enter at once. The five-year-old soul has wandered through time and space, and has rapidly aged in a short time. This is why it’s dangerous to take out an undead soul. Try to find a body suitable for the child’s mental age and erase her memory so that this is not known. This time, you can only put in a new life while the body and soul are completely separated. Do you understand? Put her soul back into the world you took it from. I’ll decide your punishment for you by your success at this job."
After being scolded by the Lord God, Manny began to look for the right body with a swollen face. In fact, there were people dying, but he had to look around for a considerable amount of time because the soul and the body had to fit together. In the end, Manny was able to find a toddler at an orphanage.
After a few days of watching, Manny tried to put Julietta’s original soul, which had been on standby, in as soon as the poor young soul had left the body.
"Huh? What’s wrong?"
Manny was bewildered when her soul kept bouncing out of the body. If he didn’t settle her soul in a hurry, the organs would lose their function or begin to decompose.