Chapter 64
“U, ueeuuee….”
Why is it that when a plane takes off, your lower stomach gets this ticklish feeling? According to super-ultimate high-IQ genius Ophelia, it's all about inertia and a pseudo-zero-gravity effect during acceleration and whatnot.
“Wow..!”
ㅡBeep!!
Sitting by the window and looking outside, I could feel the plane speeding down the runway. Before long, the nose of the plane seemed to tilt upward a little, and the ground began to fall away.
“Hooeek….”
ㅡBeep..!
It was my first time ever riding a plane, so everything felt really amazing. I even felt a little sentimental, thinking, So I might actually get to ride a plane one day.
“Oh right, Dangdang, did you switch to airplane mode?”
ㅡBeep?
“If you don't do that, you'll get taken away?? You'd have to go to the baggage hold?”
ㅡBeep-beep!!
Dangdang's face briefly had a round loading screen spinning around it before an airplane icon popped up with a poof. A desperate plea not to send it to the baggage hold, because it had properly turned airplane mode on.
“Heehee, good. Ophelia, this place has Wi-Fi, right?”
“Yes, that is correct.”
I wasn't sure whether it was because I had a good seat or because they simply provided it, but either way the plane had in-flight Wi-Fi. Unless someone on the same flight had posted a poop pic to the gallery and gotten IP-banned, that meant the gallery could be used without issue.
[Insaeng-an-mang-haetda : IP test
The plane's IP is alive]
-Anon : If they IP-ban us now, can't we use the gallery?
ㄴ Insaeng-an-mang-haetda : Since you can't turn on data, I guess not;
ㄴ Anon : Just wait
ㄴ Insaeng-an-mang-haetda : What the hell, lmao;
Well, I guess that wouldn't happen. It would be hard to track down the plane's IP with something like Tor or a VPN.
“The smartphone Your Highness is using is a model made for hunters, so it can connect to satellite Wi-Fi from anywhere.”
“Ah, right. That's how it was.”
Come to think of it, this phone was a ridiculously amazing hunter-only model made by Nova. They'd listed about 500 good points, and one of them was being able to use Wi-Fi anywhere.
-Do-shung-jwak : How does it feel?
ㄴ Insaeng-an-mang-haetda : Kinda cool lol
ㄴ Do-shung-jwak : Bring me a gift
ㄴ Insaeng-an-mang-haetda : How about eel jelly
ㄴ Do-shung-jwak : (Is it the beep-beep one?)
Come to think of it, since I was going abroad, maybe it would be good to buy a few gifts for the people around me. I should think about what to get. I'd be there for a whole week, so I still had plenty of time to think about it.
Maybe because it was daytime on a weekday, the gallery was fairly quiet with nothing special going on. The people on the plane were quiet too.
* * * * *
After that I ate the in-flight meal too (I couldn't really tell what it tasted like; it was Western food), and about two hours after departure, we started crossing over the Manchurian region, Earth's largest eroded landform.
Overall, everything felt like it was gradually getting tinted a little purple. There wasn't much that was interesting, so I lay back down in my seat. I thought I'd see a giant monster, but apparently not to that extent.
In the meantime, I went to the bathroom and spent another two hours bored out of my mind doing this and that.
“Huh..? Is it already night..?”
“Because the longitude shift is large, the time may differ from Korean time.”
“Ah, right. That's true.”
In fact, once it had completely gone dark, there seemed to be a lot of clouds, and everyone inside the plane seemed to be in the mood to sleep. I wasn't particularly sleepy, but once the lights went out and it got dark, I was just starting to get bored when—
ㅡJolt!
“Hooeek..!! Th-the plane's falling..!!”
Due to sudden turbulence, the plane started rocking back and forth and looked like it was about to drop to the ground. Even the in-flight announcement was basically saying, We're completely screwed, everyone; pray before you die.
:: Passengers, due to bad weather conditions, some shaking is expected. For your safety, please remain seated and fasten your seat belts. ::
“O, Ophelia..!”
“It's fine, Princess. It isn't a big problem.”
“Ughh..!!”
“As announced, please fasten your seat belt and hold on to any items that might fall.”
“B-Belt! Where's the belt..?!"
Because of these people's sense of aesthetics, I had no idea where on earth they had hidden the belt. It was dark inside the plane too, so I couldn't see well.
Dangdang, who'd been lying on my thigh, dramatically found the belt and finally managed to fasten it, but by then the plane's shaking had already stopped a long time ago.
“I, I thought I was going to die….”
“Turbulence that causes small shakes happens from time to time. The accident rate is practically nonexistent, so you can rest easy.”
“Waaah.”
I'm a first-timer on a plane, you know. My heart was pounding so hard my breathing got shallow, and my head was spinning. It had gotten dark outside too, so I thought we were stranded somewhere like the Amazon.
“Ugh... ah, I'm tired.”
After suddenly getting startled and scrambling around, I felt exhausted in an instant.
[Insaeng-an-mang-haetda : The plane was shaking like crazy just now and I seriously almost died, for real
I'm actually tearing up, my hands are shaking. I gripped the seat belt tight and got ridiculously tired. Give me a good-night sticker]
-Gyahong : Princess, sleep well ppyu-ppyuㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ
-Anon : If you sleep, you die
ㄴ Insaeng-an-mang-haetda : Ah, don't do that;;
-Anon : You won't die from riding a plane, so don't worry
ㄴ Insaeng-an-mang-haetda : Really;?
-Yangi-gyeon : (good-night sticker)
ㄴ Insaeng-an-mang-haetda : (mint twin-tails wearing a crown)
“Ahh... I should sleep now.”
My whole body suddenly felt all limp and slack. I'll just sleep for a little while and wake up.
* * * * *
ㅡRattle, rattle….
“Mm.”
“Princess, have you woken up.”
“Ophelia... did you sleep too?”
“I rested a bit. What would you like to do about the in-flight meal?”
“So it was mealtime...”
For some reason the area around me felt oddly busy, so there was another reason I woke up. The in-flight meal they serve about an hour and a half before arrival must be starting now.
“I don't really.. I'll eat something tasty at the airport.”
“Understood.”
Ophelia didn't really take the in-flight meal either. Instead, she gave me a piece of bread she'd gotten during the snack time I slept through, and maybe because I was hungry, the bread tasted good.
“The bathroom...”
“I'll accompany you.”
“N-no, it's fine. I'll go alone.”
It definitely seemed like it was daytime outside the window, but somehow it was vaguely dark. Like a classroom on a cloudy morning with the lights off.
ㅡTrickle
“Unya-nya.”
ㅡBrrr
Since the business-class seats were warm, I'd taken off my padded jacket, and coming to the bathroom like that made it feel a little cold. My body trembled slightly, but maybe that was just because I needed to pee.
An hour passed like that, with my stomach a little empty, my vision all murky, and my body drowsy. Scenes I couldn't tell whether I'd seen in a dream while dozing or not flashed by.
With about 20 minutes left before entering England, we descended beneath the clouds and started seeing British cities? directly.
“Wow...!”
ㅡBeep-beep!!!
It felt different from Korea, I guess. It's a bit on the outskirts, sure... but London is still the capital, right? And yet there are almost no tall buildings, and it really feels medieval.
The streets are so pretty I'm already excited.
“Dangdang! You can't go in before me! I'm first, okay?!”
ㅡBeep!!
“You say that's something you seize by force? Y-you little brat..?!"
“Princess, we'll be landing soon, so please make sure you haven't forgotten any belongings.”
“Hmm..! Maybe I should leave Dangdang behind and pretend I 'forgot' it...”
ㅡBEEEEEP!!!!!!
“Mwahah, I'm kidding.”
:: We will soon be landing at London Heathrow Airport. Please return your seat backs and tables to their original positions, and fasten your seat belts. ::
“Ooh... finally...!”
Landing was less eventful than I'd thought. The plane's wheels gave a small thunk against the runway. Then, with a soft whir as it gradually slowed down, it touched down anticlimactically.
“Princess, let's depart.”
“Yes!”
I gathered everything and stuffed it into my pockets, and put Dangdang back on my head too. Following Ophelia, I slowly walked toward the plane exit, and the flight attendant lady greeted me as well.
“Goodbye. Please have a wonderful time.”
Looking at it, it wasn't tailored to the customer at all; she was just repeating the same line like a goodbye robot with her eyes shut. Honestly, I thought it would be like those photos of presidents on overseas visits—coming down the airplane stairs and being dropped straight onto the airport floor.
But although it seemed like we were outside the plane, some kind of indoor space just kept continuing, which felt odd. Then I came to my senses and realized we were inside the airport building.
“When did we get in..!”
“Princess, we'll move now.”
“Ah, yes!”
I walked along the long gray-walled corridor, moving with only Ophelia's back to guide me. The internet works fine thanks to the hunter privilege, but for some reason I didn't feel like using my phone.
Dangdang only translates the speech of the person I'm talking to, so I couldn't understand the chatter of the foreigners around me. Likewise, the conversation between Ophelia and the immigration officer was too convoluted for me to follow.
“Princess, would you please hand me your passport.”
“Ah, just a moment?”
Ophelia asked for my passport, so I rummaged through my pockets and handed it over. After waiting a moment, Ophelia turned slightly to the side and showed my face to the immigration officer.
“Heh-heh-heh, how cute.”
“T-thank you..?”
And then, stamp!
Bang, bang, bang—you're British now. One of the British Empire's...
citizen.
“Wowwww....”
Beyond the glass doors and farther in, Heathrow Airport. So many foreigners! So much English!
“Princess, I'll go get the suitcase. Would you like to come with me?”
“Ah, I'll go with you. It looks like it'll take a while.”
I feel safe when I'm with Ophelia, but if I'm alone, I'm really scared. Europe's still full of pickpockets, isn't it? I have so many precious things in my pockets.
ㅡCrinkle
“Ah, this is trash.”
I threw the bread bag from the plane into an airport trash can. Following behind Ophelia, I stared for a while at the conveyor belt where the suitcases came out—I kind of want to ride one sometime—and when our suitcase came out, Ophelia lifted it neatly and took it with her.
And finally, at long last, outside.
“It's kind of humid.”
“That's because it's a west-coast marine climate. It's humid year-round, and temperature changes aren't very pronounced.”
“I see...”
“Huh, the antenna on Ophelia's ear is gone.”
“Yes, I temporarily deactivated it. It could be noticeable.”
“It feels kind of amazing.”
Ophelia looked at me intently, then opened her mouth.
“Princess. Where did you put Dangdang?”
“Huh? On my head... uh.”
Dangdang got pickpocketed.
“Dangdang, come back!”
ㅡPoof..!
Dangdang reappeared in my arms thanks to the summon skill. Looking at its face, it seemed like it had been terribly wronged.
“Hehe, sorry. I forgot.”
ㅡBEEP!! BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP..!!!!