The Witch's 0.5 Strike

Good morning, this is Hosshi.
This is a continuation from last time.

I had been silently sorting items on the Piri-Piri lane, but when I tried to lift a slightly heavy load (a case of beer), it happened...
My lower back...
A sharp pain like an electric shock shot through me, and my body jerked involuntarily. 😭
It was the first time in my life that
“Ugh!!”
had come out of my mouth so naturally.
Is this the rumored Witch's Strike!?

No, not yet... I can still move somehow...
I'm lucky it's only about a 0.5 strike...
Besides, things were already tense because I had done something that felt like lashing out, so it wasn't exactly an atmosphere where I could say,
“I hurt my back, tee-hee! 😋”
There was less than an hour left in the first half (until the break)...
No additional time...
Can I make it through?...
Thinking such useless thoughts, I waddled around like a penguin and somehow managed to get the work done.
But since I'm an old guy, waddling doesn't look cute at all.
If anything, it just makes me a creepy old guy. 😇

I managed to endure until the break, and I waddled along far behind everyone else as they shuffled off to the break room.
When I finally reached the break room with great effort, it was past 2:30 AM, so many people were already sleeping like avant-garde sculptures.
I couldn't even sit down comfortably, so I grimaced (from the pain) and wandered around the forest of sculptures like an old guy looking for a place to lie down.
It was a bizarre sight, but not a single person showed any sign of caring.
Or rather, this seems to be a space where you shouldn't take an interest in your neighbors. 🙄
In the end, there was no way there would be a place to lie down, so I headed into the second half.
It was a different lane than the first half, and the faces were different too.
However,
I have almost no memory of what happened from here on...
I only remember that I endured the pain and did my best. 😢
I vaguely remember the brightness of the morning sun when I finished my shift, completed the clock-out procedures, and stepped outside.

As it happened, I had three days off from my main job starting the next day, so I rested well and managed to get to the point where I could barely move, and it didn't significantly hinder my main job, but it was really dangerous.
However, I ended up spending a lot of money on a rigid corset and going to an osteopathic clinic for acupuncture treatment. 😭
My balance since starting the side job has gone even further into the red...
Well, I decided to think of this as a valuable experience and do my best to put it to use next time. 💪