The yelling, the cursing, the gossip—it was all so loud her ears were ringing.
Elaine Baker had actually woken up a while ago but didn’t dare open her eyes.
Never in her life did she think her end would come from something so ridiculous—just a routine site check and she ended up getting hit on the head by a falling brick.
The hard hat on her head had cracked clean through. That brick must’ve weighed a ton.
Next thing she knew, she’d opened her eyes into a completely different world—one from an old retro novel she’d read before. And now she’d become a minor, barely-named character. Also called Elaine Baker.
Someone who didn't even count as cannon fodder. The original story barely mentioned her at all.
The male lead? Matthew Klein, an educated youth sent down to the countryside.
He was all proper and good-looking—definitely a far cry from the rough guys in the village.
The “original” Elaine had a thing for him at first sight. Kept sneaking glances too. Before long, everyone in the village had picked up on the vibe and teased them like crazy.
Matthew, on the other hand, had zero patience for it. From his point of view, the original Elaine was trying to guilt him into something he didn’t want. So he always kept her at arm’s length in public.
If he had really been that honest and upfront in private too, Elaine might’ve respected him more. But the guy was a two-faced jerk.
Back then, food was scarce. For someone like Matthew, who was book-smart but not used to manual labor, even filling his stomach was a struggle. All those books wouldn’t earn him work points. Just surviving was hard enough, let alone eating well.
He knew the original Elaine liked him, and still let her bring him food in secret.
Later, when college entrance exams came back, he got into a military academy no problem. Even found his powerful dad. Still, he couldn’t get over the shame of his days scrounging for food behind closed doors.
What the original Elaine saw as kindness, he saw as a painful reminder. Of just how low he’d once stooped to survive.
Lying there, still pretending to be passed out, Elaine wanted to jump up and cuss him out.
A quick image flashed through her mind—the original Elaine had also been hit on the head. Matthew had seen the whole thing and just walked away like nothing had happened.
Now? Elaine just wanted to save face.
No way could she let anyone find out she got brained while secretly delivering food to Matthew Klein.
So embarrassing.
Grace Mitchell, her mom in this world, was crying her heart out. “Matthew Klein, you ungrateful brat! If anything happens to my Elaine, I swear I'll make you pay!”
This woman was strong. Every time she shook her daughter’s body, Elaine felt like she’d puke.
She had to stay “unconscious”—couldn’t just open her eyes without an excuse or the whole village would burst into laughter.
If she was going down, she wasn’t going alone.
Grace trembled all over as she held her girl tight, sobbing like the world was ending.
It was the first time Elaine ever felt real motherly love. Almost took her breath away—literally.
She raised a shaky hand to push her mother away. “Mom… don’t cry…”
Grace looked down at that pale little face and her heart just ached. “Oh baby, finally! Tell me, where does it hurt?”
“Mom, I was just walking by and BAM—someone nailed me with a brick!” Elaine quickly added when she saw Grace tearing up again, “Don’t cry, Mom. I'm okay. Doesn’t even hurt.”
Truth was, she was terrified her new mom might crush her with another one of those love-powered hugs.
But Grace thought Elaine’s concern was for her, and that just made the waterworks even worse.Crying and cursing all at once, she shouted, “Damn it, which heartless jerk messed with my poor daughter?”
“Elaine, what were you doing at our commune?” The one asking was Lily Ross, a fellow commune member who arrived two years ago. Like the original Elaine, she also had a thing for Matthew Klein. “Don't tell me you tripped yourself and now want us to pay for it?”
Enemies meeting face-to-face never ended well—Elaine and Lily never got along.
Elaine had a hunch Lily was the one who threw the brick.
No proof though.
Still, she was cranky now, and whoever dared to mess with her was just asking for it.
“What, we can’t even pass by your commune now? Why are you in such a hurry to wash your hands of it? You scared I’ll say you bricked me?” Elaine snapped, her voice sharp. Mid-rant, she winced—her head felt ready to explode.
Lily scoffed. “Come off it. Everyone knows you came here to find Matthew. Now that he’s not around, you’re making up drama?”
That really stung. People had been gossiping, sure, but hearing it said out loud made Elaine want to bury her face.
At the mention of Matthew, Elaine looked heartbroken. “Mom, just before I passed out, I saw Matthew. But... but—”
“But what, honey? You’re scaring me here. Was it Matthew who hit you?” Grace Mitchell asked, panicked.
“No, but he just watched me fall! And then he leaned in with those huge nostrils of his—looked like two black holes! I was so freaked out I blacked out!”
...and silence fell like a rock.
Everyone stood there frozen, minds all conjuring up the same horrifying image of Matthew’s apparently massive nostrils. Could they really be that bad?
Elaine's stomach turned. She figured she might have a minor concussion.
Grace, shaken out of her nose-hole nightmare, bent down, full of pity again. “Oh, sweetie, you’ve always been a skittish one. Of course those huge nostrils would scare you!”
If Elaine hadn’t felt so awful, she would’ve rolled on the ground laughing.
Was her mom always this dramatic? What a pro at running with the most ridiculous excuse.
But she was too sick to laugh. Instead, she shoved her mom aside and promptly threw up.
That alone made the villagers think maybe the nose story was true. I mean, seeing her pale as a ghost, dry-heaving? Poor girl looked genuinely scared sick.
Grace nearly broke down. Her baby girl, raised so delicately, now suffering like this?
She hurriedly called the others to help carry Elaine home.
Sure, she wanted to find the lowlife who hurt her daughter—but her safety came first.
As Elaine was taken away, the villagers did what they did best: gossip. Soon, everyone was talking about Matthew’s monstrous nostrils, completely forgetting about the head injury.
*
It was blazing hot out, yet Elaine was drenched in cold sweat.
Lying lifelessly on the bed, her eyes stared blankly at the ceiling—that brick to the head had knocked her clear into a book.
Seriously, at her age, body-hopping into some fictional side character? Wild.
She'd spent years alone back in her world, and now here she was, surrounded by parents and three older brothers. The crowd alone was nerve-wracking.
If she slipped up even once, she’d be found out.
Lucas Baker, her little nephew, peeked over the edge of the bed, worry covering his tiny face. He tilted his head and asked in his baby voice, “Auntie, are you okay?”
Elaine swallowed. “What if I told you I’m not really your auntie…”
Before she could finish, Lucas bolted, his stubby legs pumping.
“Grandma! Auntie’s brain really broke!”
