Chapter 9

EP.9 Dream (1)

I blinked my blurry eyes. The view was as if I were looking out the window on a rainy day, but I could clearly see what was in front of me.

I looked around, curious.

Black, moldy spots were scattered everywhere, and the wooden furniture was worn out. Empty bottles of alcohol were scattered on the floor, and black garbage bags were carelessly tied and left around.

A cold wind that felt like it could cut through skin blew in and out of the broken window, and angry shouts and screams could be heard from somewhere.

I stared blankly at my surroundings and then turned my head. I saw a bug scurrying busily in the corner of the room.

A foul smell rushed into my nose. It was a nauseating odor, a mix of dozens of dirty smells that was hard to describe.

The familiar scenery, noise, and stench.

‘Ah.’

I blinked blankly. Come to think of it, it had been a long time since I blinked. Since entering the game world, my eyes had just been open the whole time.

This is my old house.

So, this must be a dream.

The moment I realized it was a dream, the situation just before I fainted came back to me vividly.

The tackle and the apple from Hong Yanhua.

Bai Ailing, whose smile was terrifying.

The freshmen welcome party that somehow started.

The countless attention I received.

The childish envy and jealousy.

Hong Yanhua and Yu Sei… the side characters' duel.

The synergy effect of spatial awareness, versatility, and magic affinity.

The thrilling sensation and the flickering spatial awareness.

Finally, Yu Sei's new form that slammed into me like a baseball.

‘Sigh…’

It was absurd. A sigh escaped me involuntarily.

Of all things, it had to be this. It had to fly at me at the worst possible time, right when I was focusing on my spatial awareness.

I thought I was about to gain some profound insight. But to faint at that moment… It felt like the world was against me.

Or maybe it was Hong Yanhua who was against me. Either way, it was a situation that made me sigh.

And the worst part was that I was having this kind of dream.

‘Damn it.’

Is this the only kind of dream I can have? Is there no other episode? I heard that dreams are mostly based on stimulating memories.

…Come to think of it, my strongest memories were from my childhood, so it made sense. Even after that, things were spectacular in their own way, but they couldn't compare to my childhood.

“Cough, cough…!”

Just as I was about to sigh deeply, a choking sensation hit me, and a dry cough burst out. Through my blurry vision, I saw my scrawny arms and legs.

My body was from my childhood, and the scars and marks from that time were still clearly visible. My bones were prominently visible through my thin frame.

But the burn on my right arm, which I had before the fire, was not there.

‘…So, how do I get out of here?’

I felt a strange sensation at the sight of this long-unseen scene.

I tilted my head and looked around.

Usually, when you realize you're in a dream, you're supposed to be ejected from it, right? I've heard stories on the internet where the moment someone realizes they're in a dream, all the characters in the dream turn to look at them, giving them goosebumps and causing them to wake up.

– Bang! Bang!

At that moment, the door was shaken roughly.

– Bang! Bang! Bang!

The rusty iron door groaned under the brutal knocking. The hinges, which looked like they were about to fall off, seemed to be playing castanets.

“Damn it. Hey! Come out quickly! How many days have you been overdue?”

From the sound of it, it seemed to be a loan shark. My biological parents had borrowed a lot of money from various sources, so visits from loan sharks were a regular occurrence.

At first, the loan sharks would only threaten and leave when my biological parents bowed deeply, but eventually, they lost their patience and started to get rough.

“Hey, this isn't working. We need to break the door.”

“Huh? Do we really have to, sir? It's easy to break but hard to fix.”

“Why should we care? They'll fix it themselves.”

– Bang!

The knocking stopped. Instead, after a short while, the doorknob was shaken violently, making a noise twice as loud.

‘Really…’

How long had they been at it to try to break the door? They were my parents by blood, but they were stupid, foolish, and utterly useless.

I was even more of an idiot for ever hoping for their affection.

I realized this too late.

– Bang!

“This is a good house. It's really sturdy.”

Bang! I had always hated the sound of knocking since I was a child. Whenever someone knocked on the door, something bad would happen to me.

– …Ah?

I hated the old, worn-out door. It didn't protect me from the outside world at all. Instead, its creaking only brought me great psychological fear.

– Ouch…

Bang! The walls even vibrated. A tower of beer cans on one side collapsed.

The busy bug fled from the wave of beer mixed with cigarette ash.

– Click.

…The movement of the doorknob, which had been shaking wildly, suddenly stopped. Soon, the twisted doorknob broke into two pieces and fell to the ground.

– Rattle…

A hole appeared where the doorknob had been. Through the gaping hole in the door, I met the gaze of a black marble.

“There's only a kid here.”

“What? Damn it, where are these guys running off to after leaving a debt?”

Ah, that moment.

The point where, due to the growing debt and the loan sharks' frequent visits, my biological parents finally abandoned me and fled.

The black marble disappeared. The rusty hinges groaned.

The door creaked open──

.

.

.

“—Ha Yul!”

“…! …?!”

I was jolted awake by the sound that hit my ears. Someone was shaking me gently by the shoulder.

The soft sensation of the bed beneath me. As my trembling mind became aware, my spatial awareness unfolded, and information flooded in.

Red, orange, white, and green.

‘Ah.’

It was different from before. It wasn't a black background with green outlines.

The orange sunset shining through the curtains outside the window. The white and yellow flower petals and green stems in a vase, bathed in the sunset light. The pristine, white space unique to a well-maintained hospital room.

The scene was so vivid in its various colors that I couldn't help but let out a silent exclamation.

And Hong Yanhua, who was holding my shoulder and shouting urgently…

“—Ha Yul! Are you awake!?”

‘What?’

I was lying on a hospital bed, and Hong Yanhua was half on top of me, shouting something.

“Ha Yul! Are you okay?! Breathe! Breathe!”

“…!? …?”

Breathe? What did she mean? As I tried to move, my body wouldn't respond. My chest felt tight. Something was wrong…

“Ah, choke…!”

“Ha Yul…!”

Ah, I wasn't breathing.

The moment I realized it, my throat tightened. I couldn't exhale the air in my chest or inhale new air, a suffocating situation.

“Ugh…! Choke…”

What's happening to me? Why is this happening all of a sudden? My stomach churned, and I couldn't control my breathing.

Before I could understand what was happening, Hong Yanhua, who had been anxiously watching me, suddenly hugged me.

My body stiffened at the unexpected action.

“It's okay! It's okay… Breathe in, and out…”

“…Inhale, choke…”

“Good. One more time…”

My stiff body relaxed as it met her warm body. It felt as if I were immersed in warm water, and warmth spread throughout my body.

Was Hong Yanhua supposed to have a high body temperature? But even if that was true, it was too high.

I realized the answer. It wasn't that Hong Yanhua's body temperature was high; it was that my body temperature was very low.

“Breathe in, and out…”

Following her careful breathing guidance, I slowly inhaled.

And exhaled.

It was a natural action, but it was incredibly difficult. It felt as if a large rock were sitting on my chest.

My body was so cold. A fear of freezing and breaking at any moment overwhelmed me.

Without realizing it, I clung tightly to what was in front of me. The softness that enveloped me brought a warmth I had never felt before.

“Ugh, hmmm…?”

“It's okay.”

In this embrace, I felt as if I would be protected forever. It was a comfort I had never felt from the creaking old metal door.

“Gasp… Huh… Huh, huh…”

“It's okay. Everything is okay…”

As I caught my breath, Hong Yanhua kept whispering softly in my ear, telling me everything was okay. Her hand, which had somehow moved to the back of my head, gently stroked my hair.

My body, which had felt like it was about to suffocate, gradually calmed down. My scattered thoughts began to piece together.

“Huh… Ha…”

“Are you better…?”

With my breathing finally under control, I checked Hong Yanhua's expression. She was hugging me tightly, her worried eyes looking down at me.

‘Ah.’

Color and light.

Something I had forgotten for about ten days.

And even now, this moment was not something I was seeing with my real eyes, but information I was getting through spatial awareness.

But…

Her short, bright red hair tickled my face. When it met the orange sunset, it was a scene that could be called a masterpiece.

Her eyes, which seemed to be crafted by the world's best jeweler from the world's finest ruby, blinked.

…The world, now colored, was incredibly beautiful.

Oh.