# 159
“…Jaekyung-ssi?”
Even when Iyeon called out again in a daze, Jaekyung didn’t answer. Iyeon’s voice echoed through the empty space, followed by an eerie silence.
As if he had come here alone from the beginning.
“Jaekyung-ssi!”
Iyeon’s voice grew louder. He had been here just moments ago. Looking at the straight corridor, Iyeon couldn’t believe it and started running. Pitter-patter! His urgent footsteps echoed loudly. Only after rushing to check the hole near the stairs did Iyeon accept the fact that Jaekyung had disappeared without a trace.
What should I do? Frowning in bewilderment, Iyeon turned his head. In this situation, there was logically only one place where the missing Jaekyung might be.
The tightly closed door was as black as an abyss.
Iyeon slowly assessed the situation. Quite some time had passed since the two of them entered the building. If Sano, who was waiting outside, hadn’t noticed anything strange, or if he had noticed but couldn’t enter, continuing to wait would be a waste of time. Iyeon himself, who was inside, had to find his own way out.
“This really looks ominous…”
After a brief grumble, Iyeon moved his feet. There was no guarantee that standing still would solve anything. Even though Jaekyung had disappeared, unless the Dabalsin had killed and dragged him away, there was still a chance. It would be best to move as quickly as possible.
Standing in front of the door, Iyeon raised his voice.
“Jaekyung-ssi? Are you in there?”
There was no answer, but he had expected that. White sand gathered thickly around Iyeon. Stretching his arm through the sand that rippled around him protectively, Iyeon firmly grabbed the doorknob.
“You’d better not be dead already.”
Muttering that, he applied force to his hand. Creeeeak. The black door slowly opened its maw.
What followed was pitch-black darkness.
And then he opened his eyes. A pure white ceiling filled his vision. A beeping sound reached his ears.
“…”
Iyeon tried to speak by moving his lips, but his heavily congested voice wouldn’t come out easily. His throat felt dry and thick. Like someone who hadn’t spoken for a long time…
Click.
That’s when it happened. A small door sound came from the other side. Iyeon tried to turn his head toward the sound, but strangely, his body wouldn’t move. Even though it was clearly his body, he couldn’t budge an inch, as if he were restrained. He tried to furrow his brow in confusion, but even that wasn’t possible.
Calm footsteps approached Iyeon steadily, then paused. Perhaps surprised to see Iyeon’s open eyes, a high-pitched voice soon followed.
“Patient, are you conscious?”
At that point, Iyeon realized what scene this was. No way, impossible… While he denied the horrible suspicion, the neat-looking woman quickly pressed a bell to report to the medical staff. A voice like a death sentence flew into Iyeon’s ears.
The pristine white bed. Medical devices lined up around him. IV fluid connected to the back of his hand. A private hospital room. Hospital.
He had experienced this situation before.
“Patient Lee Jeongyeon has woken up!”
It was when Jeongyeon had just woken up after losing his gi-ryeok for 2 years.
It felt like he was dreaming. Iyeon remembered exactly how he got here. He came for a ghost experience, then entered some variant, Jaekyung-ssi disappeared, and he went through the door. The memory was vivid since it had just happened.
‘Is this one of Dabalsin’s abilities?’
Jaekyung’s voice mentioning the lack of data flashed through his mind. It seemed like an attack related to the target’s mind. There was no way the Dabalsin, whom Iyeon had never encountered before, would know about his past.
If that was the case, Jaekyung must also be under mental attack. The fact that he wasn’t dead yet was somewhat fortunate, but the situation wasn’t good enough to relax completely. Either way, they needed to escape this illusion.
At least Iyeon was better off than Jaekyung. It’s a verified research finding that higher superpower rankings correlate with greater physical and mental strength. Among variants, some had mental-type abilities, and there was basic training available for mental attacks… though he wasn’t sure how useful that would be.
Theoretically, there were two ways to wake up from this kind of mental attack: deliberately distort the illusion to create a serious imbalance, or have someone outside remove the cause.
However, if both Jaekyung and Iyeon were inside the illusion, the latter method was impossible. Only one option remained, but Iyeon instinctively knew it wouldn’t be easy. The situation wasn’t as simple as he thought.
Currently, Iyeon was sitting blankly, leaning against the hospital bed. The body that had just woken up after sleeping for 2 years was very weak. He was in a state where even drinking a glass of water was difficult without a caregiver’s help. It was as if he had really gone back 2 years. The realism was unnecessarily high.
But aside from that, Iyeon couldn’t move freely. It was impossible to control even blinking or breathing. He was clearly inside the body but wasn’t its owner. It was like experiencing a possession.
‘How am I supposed to distort the situation when I can’t speak or move?’
Iyeon grumbled. It was called possession, but he was almost a spectator. All he could do was observe the situation and immerse himself in Jeongyeon’s emotions. Iyeon could feel Jeongyeon, the actual owner of the body. Jeongyeon’s thoughts and feelings were being transmitted precisely to Iyeon.
In fact, that part was a big problem. Sharing minds.
The emotions of ‘Jeongyeon’ from 8 years ago vividly overlapped with his own. Confusion, worry, fear, doubt, longing… The fragile child’s mind couldn’t properly grasp the situation. He would only understand that this was a hospital.
But ‘Iyeon’ knew what would happen next.
Click. The previously quiet hospital room door opened again.
By then, Jeongyeon had regained enough strength to at least turn his head. As he turned his gaze toward the source of the door sound, he saw several people. Medical staff in gowns and uniforms, and people in black suits. The once-quiet private room quickly became crowded.
“How are you feeling, patient?”
At the doctor’s simple greeting, Jeongyeon’s insides churned. Holding back the questions he wanted to fire off rapidly, he answered obediently.
“…I’m fine.”
“Have you heard that you’ve been lying down for 2 years?”
“Yes… you told me earlier.”
Jeongyeon glanced at the nurse who had given him the information. The nurse’s eyes met his, looking at him with pity.
Honestly, being told that 2 years had passed after closing and opening his eyes lacked reality and was hard to believe, but seeing the strangely unfamiliar machines made it somewhat plausible.
Just yesterday, he had rescued Sano from his uncle, and it seemed he had also saved his mom and dad… Come to think of it, did Sano escape safely? Would he be able to meet him? With these carefree thoughts, Jeongyeon examined the group of adults again. Indeed, they weren’t there.
“But… my mom and dad…”
At his cautious voice, a man in a black suit stepped forward.
“We are Lee Jeongyeon-ssi’s lawyers. We have been acting as proxies until Lee Jeongyeon-ssi regained consciousness.”
Jeongyeon tilted his head without answering. Proxy? Why would that be necessary? You could just talk to my parents. At this childish and naive question, Iyeon quietly clicked his tongue.
He had clear memories of this time. He would probably never forget it for the rest of his life.
“Are my parents working? Do they know I’ve woken up?”
To the stupid question.
“Lee Jeongyeon-ssi.”
A somber tone.
“…To get straight to the point, your parents passed away recently.”
Followed by a terrible answer.
“…What?”
Only after a very, very long silence could Jeongyeon barely utter one syllable. His voice, so small it could be mistaken for a breath, trembled precariously.
It could have been a surprise party of sorts. Maybe they were just happy that Jeongyeon had woken up, so they were playing a prank to surprise him… This absurd hope faded quickly. A cold, static atmosphere filled the hospital room. The lawyer’s face didn’t look like he was telling a lie at all.
“Um, isn’t it too direct to say this to someone who just woke up…”
“We considered that too, but thought you should know as soon as possible.”
“Still…”
The voices of adults speaking in hushed tones buzzed like tinnitus. Jeongyeon just blinked quietly like a broken doll. Is this a dream? If I sleep and wake up, I’m actually still fourteen and my parents are next to me…
“Lee Jeongyeon-ssi.”
“Patient.”
Mom would say that this time was really dangerous, tell me not to get hurt…
Dad would hug me from beside her and tell me he loves me…
That would be reality.
