Chapter 94
Yu Dohyun’s room was starkly empty. There weren’t even common decorations like posters or picture frames that might offer clues about him. Yu Dohyun, who had just replied to Cha Suhyun’s text message, lay down on his bed. I kept reminding myself that this was someone’s dream. That these scenes I was witnessing weren’t real. That they could be just simple dreams, or perhaps remnants of Yu Dohyun’s… desires. I still couldn’t understand why they were appearing to me, though I could only guess that since I had absorbed his mana, a part of him had become a part of me. It had to be just that much.
Yu Dohyun blinked as if sleepy. However, he didn’t readily fall asleep, as if waiting for something. And what Yu Dohyun was waiting for appeared promptly.
[Concluding the day. Would you like to view the goal achievement rate?]
I was extremely shocked—if my physical form had been present, I would have screamed. So Yu Dohyun… summoned the system.
“View.”
Yu Dohyun said in a casual voice.
[Briefing the goal achievement rate.]
[Administrator ‘Yu Dohyun’, welcome to the briefing site!]
[Would you like to see ‘Yu Dohyun’s’ current ability stats? (Changes have occurred)]
“Show me.”
[‘Yu Dohyun’s’ abilities: Regression (9/10), Save (3/3), Goal Achievement Reward (Unlimited), Goal Modification Authority (Passive)]
[Automatically displaying routes opened so far.]
[Normal Route (0/1), Special Route (1/1) “Completed!”, Hidden Ending (In Progress)]
[‘Yu Dohyun’ is currently progressing through the Hidden Ending route. Current progress: 75%. 25% remaining until Hidden Ending collection. Not much left! Keep going!]
[The Hidden Ending is]
“Skip that and just show me the goal achievement rate.”
[…Moving directly to the goal achievement rate.]
[‘Yu Dohyun’s’ goal is ultimate happiness. You have passed a total of ‘7’ stages toward that goal.]
[‘Stage 8’ is happiness with Cha Suhyun. Try to promise eternal happiness! The other party will gladly accept it.]
[After that… ending… error…]
Yu Dohyun frowned, but he wasn’t surprised. It seemed that this sudden error wasn’t his first experience with it. I too had encountered situations where content would break or disconnect like this while dealing with the system, though not directly as “errors,” which made me wonder if this was a chronic issue with the “system.” But Yu Dohyun responded differently.
“Error check.”
[Self-checking the error. Opening system structure with administrator privileges.]
[The check will take some time. 0%… 15%… 30%…]
Yu Dohyun waited patiently, as if this was normal.
[Error check complete. The problem seems to be skipping ‘Stage 2’ of the goal process! Would you like to return to ‘Stage 2’? This will consume 1 unit of the ‘Regression’ ability.]
“You crazy bastard.”
Yu Dohyun muttered the curse. Returning to Stage 2 probably meant dying again and going back there. If he had to keep following the stages to achieve his goal, how did Yu Dohyun manage to skip “Stage 2” in the first place?
[Briefing the contents of ‘Stage 2’. ‘Stage 2’ is…]
“Shut up.”
Yu Dohyun closed his eyes. The system immediately went quiet. To think it would obey so well. Apart from feeling indignant, I became curious about what Stage 2 was. Somehow, I had a strong premonition that I absolutely needed to know.
*
When Yu Dohyun fell asleep, my consciousness also sank into the abyss. And then, very naturally, I opened my eyes again as Yu Chanhee.
“Chanhee!”
The one looking down at me was Yu Hyunjae.
“Oh, Yu Hyunjae… When did you come…”
I momentarily staggered as the world spun around me.
“Get up carefully. You’ve been lying down for a week.”
“A week?”
“Yes. A whole week.”
Looking at the phone placed beside me, it was exactly one week since the day I collapsed. So, bleeding like that and swimming through Yu Dohyun’s consciousness—whether real or fake—had lasted for a week.
“Is this Hansung Hospital?”
“Yes. It’s a VIP room, so people won’t be coming in and out. Don’t worry.”
Yu Hyunjae thought I was concerned about people.
“Why are you here?”
“Huh?”
“Didn’t you say you were going to England?”
Yu Hyunjae looked down at me incredulously.
“How could I go?”
“Why can’t you go?”
“How could I leave when you’re like this?”
“Wow.”
I couldn’t respond right away because Yu Hyunjae was being so direct as soon as I woke up.
“What if I had never woken up?”
“Then… I would have no reason to go to England.”
“You’re amazing, but so am I.”
“That’s a compliment, right?”
Yu Hyunjae laughed and buried his face in his arms folded on the bed. Thank goodness. I heard his muffled voice.
“Hyunjae.”
“Yes?”
“What if this situation is a dream and I still haven’t woken up? What do you think?”
“This is a dream?”
“Yes. When I wake up, a completely different situation is unfolding.”
“Are we there?”
“You and me?”
“Yes. Are we together like this?”
“That’s… I don’t know.”
“I wonder… Would I try not to wake up from the dream?”
“I had a dream.”
“Yes.”
“My brother… lived until he was twenty-three?”
“Brother Dohyun?”
“Yes. But… it was so vivid.”
“That situation?”
“Yes. It was incredibly real. Everything was so vivid. And you know what? We weren’t there.”
“Not at all?”
“Yes. Mom was telling my brother he was her only son.”
“…That’s a dream.”
“Huh?”
I stared at Yu Hyunjae with a dumbfounded expression.
“That’s definitely a dream. Right? Then who are we, breathing and talking like this? It’s us.”
“…That’s right.”
“A dream is just a dream. This is reality.”
“I guess so.”
“Even if it was a dream, when you wake up, we’ll still exist here.”
“…”
“So don’t worry too much.”
Yu Hyunjae kissed my forehead. I nodded, feeling the warmth from his lips. Yes, that was a dream, a false reality, and the current me is real. Everything else is an illusion, and only the present is real.
If that’s the case, were all my past selves who died countless times fake?
*
Due to Han Jaemin’s restraint and the eyes of those around us, I couldn’t see Yu Hyunjae off at the airport. Yu Hyunjae said he could return in a week, but no one knew for sure how it would turn out. Thinking about just lounging around listening to Eden South music… all the busy past seemed so long ago.
“Hey, Han Jaemin.”
“What?”
“Who did you plant at the school?”
“Plant someone?”
Han Jaemin deliberately put on a pensive expression.
“You’d be really disappointed if you knew.”
“Why? Is it someone I know well?”
“You’re still suspicious of Go Hankyul, aren’t you?”
“Who said that?”
“If I told you he was the one I planted, would you cut ties with me from now on?”
“Well… I might reconsider that guy’s access to our house.”
“It’s him.”
“What?”
“Hard to believe?”
“Are you crazy? Tell me properly.”
“See? You don’t believe it. Why do you ask when you won’t believe me anyway?”
“Hey. Can’t you speak straight?”
“Anyway, it’s not him, so don’t worry. My head’s already about to explode because of you, so stop chirping beside me.”
I closed my mouth. Well, he said it wasn’t Go Hankyul, so… I felt a strange sense of relief. Maybe it’s not true that there’s no one in the world you can trust.
“Right now, investors and shareholders are going crazy because of you. What are you going to do? Do you know how much we’ve lost because of you?”
“Just kill me then.”
“Geez, now Chanhee’s become a complete psycho.”
“Only now you realize? When you said you’d be my guardian, where was all this? If I suddenly die without a trace, it’ll all be because of you.”
“Every time I see you, I think…”
Han Jaemin uncrossed his legs and said:
“You don’t seem afraid of dying at all.”
“…That’s nothing new.”
“Even the toughest person will change when facing actual death… whether positively, negatively, or by giving up.”
“But.”
“You just don’t care. If I had to categorize it, it would be resignation, but it doesn’t even feel like you’re giving up anything.”
“…”
“Are you some kind of immortal or something?”
Han Jaemin giggled to himself, probably thinking he’d said something silly.
“What if I am immortal? So even if you kill me again and again, I’ll keep living and follow you to the end.”
“Ah, fuck, that’s creepy.”
With Han Jaemin’s not-at-all-frightened reply, I turned to look out the window. It was a moment when I freshly realized that I, who didn’t fear death, was truly a different being from others.
