First Customer: The Boy Who Could Not Laugh

At night, Cotidia.n.u.s welcomed its first customer for the day.

"I have very slow reactions. Whenever my friends are all laughing, I don"t get it, so I can"t laugh along with them. They all call me boring, and even call me abnormal." A little boy slowly revealed the things that disturbed him.

"Are you saying, that when you should typically laugh, you do not laugh?" The man asked gently, as he wore a light smile on his face that made one feel well.

"Yes…that"s what I think. Because everyone else is laughing." The little boy responded as he nodded.

"Yes, indeed." The man picked up his stylus pen, and then lowered his head to speedily write his diagnosis down on the tablet. Then, he lifted his head again. "Sir, because you are not yet eighteen, please show independent proof of your ident.i.ty."

"Okay." The little boy took out a half transparent card out of his pocket. After he used his fingerprint to unlock it, he handed the card over to the man.

"Thank you." After the man used the card reader to read the data inside of the card, he returned the card to the little boy. "All right, now all you have to do is sign here. The surgery fees will be directly deducted from your bank account."

"This…" The TV screen showed a little boy looking at a surgery permission book. Unable to make sense of what he was looking at, he tried very hard to think about what those characters on the page represented.

"Please do not worry. This is only a little surgery, and it will not have any effect on your body." The man pointed at the risks and the aftereffects on the doc.u.ment and explained, "It only takes 30 minutes, and then you will be able to become normal."

"Yes.." Even though he didn"t really understand what the surgery was about, the little boy could still understand what no risks and no aftereffects meant. The little boy hesitated momentarily, but still ended up signing his full name onto the tablet.

"Please come with me." The man made an inviting gesture. Then, the little boy left his chair and followed the man to the surgery room.　　

The man really hadn"t tricked him. The surgery went by very quickly. The little boy only closed his eyes to rest, and when he opened his eyes again, the surgery was already complete.

There weren"t any feelings of pain or discomfort. The little boy couldn"t help but suspect that he had been swindled. It was okay if his money was gone now, but since his independent proof had apparently no effect, he wasn"t willing to return to the days when he would have to listen to his parents.

"Please be a.s.sured Sir. You will quickly find that you have already changed." The man spoke, upon sensing the little boy"s suspicion.

The boy who had been seen through revealed an awkward expression and then quickly left Cotidia.n.u.s.

On the way home, the little boy was suddenly stopped by one of his friends.

"Edward, don"t be so anxious to get home. There"s a good play to be watched somewhere else." His friend didn"t give the boy any opportunities to reject him. With one hand on his shoulder, he was dragged away.

The little boy saw that there was a crowd of people from afar who had all gathered together. From time to time, the crowd would laugh.

His friend weaved through the crowd with the boy and they quickly reached the front.

At the front he saw one person wearing a mask. Another person was currently using all sorts of methods to mess around with a nameless mixed-breed animal. The entire ground was filled with a green liquid, signifying that this entertainment was almost about to draw to a close.

When that animal screeched from the immense pain, the little boy couldn"t help but feel disgusted. He really wanted to leave this place; he didn"t want to look at the scene before him anymore!

But the arm on his shoulder seemed like iron shackles. This arm made glued his entire body to the ground.

The little boy could still remember that night when he had watched the entertainment show before him with a pale face. His friends were watching him with peculiar expressions.　　

When the animal screeched again, the little boy felt extremely disgusted and couldn"t stop himself from uttering a sound.

After bracing himself from the peculiar gazes that were pointed at him, the little boy clenched his hands into fists, and then opened his mouth.

Without any warning, the little boy"s mouth began to laugh heartily, without his control.

Completely unable to understand his own conduct, the astonished little boy continued to laugh.

When he heard his laughter slowly merge into the laughter of those around him, the little boy suddenly realized that he was no longer different from the people around him.

Gradually, the little boy"s conflict in his heart also disappeared…

"If the people around you are already sick, then you should also be sick.

"Because only then will you be considered normal."