episode_0016

“Dad…!!”

I shouted as I looked down at the scattered debris.

But there was no response from below.

I grabbed onto the crumbling rocks in a hurry.

However, at that moment, I began to hear the sound of flesh cooking in my hand.

The intense pain made me let go of my hand.

Was it to save me that my father endured this pain?

“Is anyone there…? Please help me. My dad is here…”

I cried out desperately for help from those around me.

But soon I realized that my actions were meaningless.

Everyone had already escaped through the exit.

Only the foot of the giant monster remained, destroying the entire department store.

“Dad, please tell me… Tell me you’re alive!”

I started digging through the rubble alone.

My charred fingers tore and sprayed crimson blood.

But no matter how much I dug, I couldn’t see my father.

In the gaps between the debris, only thick darkness swallowed my dripping blood.

“What should I do…”

When I gave up on life amidst the wreckage, I felt numb enough to reflect on my past life.

But the survival instinct awakened by my father plunged me into even greater panic.

That’s when it happened.

The moment the blue system window appeared.

“Miss Hansurin.”

As the world turned ashen, the blue window appearing in the air asked me,

“What is your wish?”

My wish…?

Are they asking for my wish in this situation?

“A strong power that can lift even giant rocks.”

The system window seemed to indicate that it could provide that power immediately with an accept button.

If such power existed, of course, I would accept it.

I didn’t think whether this window was real or fictional mattered.

Right now, saving my father was the priority.

Without hesitation, I reached out towards the ‘accept’ button.

But my stubborn hand stopped abruptly just before touching the window.

It was because the system presented me with another choice.

I stared blankly at the sentence typed in front of me.

“An eternal beauty that does not deteriorate.”

Does that mean my broken face will be restored?

Beyond restoration, will it be eternal…?

As I pondered that sentence, my mind was filled with all sorts of thoughts.

If I were to get a new body…

I must escape outside this building quickly.

Just walk out through that wide-open exit where no one remains.

However…

I gazed at the rock fragments intently.

Once again, I pushed my face into the dark crevice.

And I asked.

To my father, whose state of being alive or dead I couldn’t ascertain.

“Dad…”

“Are you alive?”

With each repetition of my question, my voice grew softer.

“So… You’re really dead?”

I asked one last time.

But the darkness remained silent.

Yes.

I’ve done enough.

Crushed under this massive debris, he doesn’t even respond.

He’s gone.

He’s undoubtedly gone.

I stared at the system window.

My heart began to race wildly.

Power and beauty, I looked back and forth between these two words several times.

Meanwhile, the department store was filled with the eerie cries of the monster.

The sound was so loud that the shattering of glass could be heard from all around.

The unsettling cracking noise began to dictate my decision.

The department store, swaying like a sandcastle, no longer gave me any time.

“…”

In the end, I made a choice.

“Is this… okay?”

As I pressed the button, the system window vanished.

Afterward, I examined my body all over.

I checked if the supposed ‘beauty’ had begun to manifest.

But there was no change in me.

My face was still completely melted, unrecognizable as male or female.

My limbs were charred and resembled burnt twigs.

A bitter laugh escaped me involuntarily at the lifeless outcome.

Was the system window just a fantasy brought on by impending death?

“I’m sorry, Dad…”

The end of mockery was guilt.

It feels like the system window tested my selfishness.

If I had really chosen option 1, I might have gained strength like in a fairy tale.

Like Samson who gained superhuman power on the brink of death.

And for me, who sold out my father in blind desire, nothing happened at all.

In the words of a handsome villain.

A villain…

I plopped down next to my father’s trace and rested my weary shoulders on the debris.

Yes.

Since I’ve become a villain, I’ll be stubborn one more time.

“If we meet in heaven, we’ll fight again then, right.”

The daughter saved by her father’s sacrifice eventually gives up her own life.

Her stubbornness and desire for dreams were so immense.

Perhaps even more than the monster in front of her.

“—.”

How long had my eyes been closed?

I hear someone’s voice.

A man’s voice I’ve never heard before in my life.

I toss and turn, barely lifting my head.

“Are there any survivors-!!”

A firefighter with a headlight on looks towards me, and I quickly hide.

I can’t be rescued in this condition.

I have to hide somehow…

“…”

As I crouch my head, I feel something strange on my thigh.

White flesh appears over muscles that were completely burnt.

Thinking I must have seen it wrong, I carefully examine my body again.

It wasn’t just my thigh.

Eyelids appeared over protruding eyes, allowing them to close and open again.

Fingers that were oozing blood are now healed and smooth.

Is my body really healing?

My whole body tingles.

It’s itching and trembling madly at the same time.

I look at a glass shard embedded in the debris.

Fresh flesh appears on my face that I thought I would never see again.

At that moment, I realize the system’s words were not false.

That realization ignites a fire in my fading life.

Finally, I rise from the rubble on my own.

And I wave my hands frantically towards the firefighters.

They soon spot me and urge me to come out.

In truth, my body was already perfectly fine, but I forced myself to rely on them.

I still don’t know why I did that.

I just wanted to pretend to be a little more hurt.

On the way out to the exit, I kept looking back at the debris where my father was.

But the debris where he was buried was eerily quiet.

As if nothing had happened.

“…”

Time passed, and I was sent to a survivor camp.

To confirm the whereabouts of a missing family in the department store.

“Mr. Kim00. Deceased. Mr. Kim00, currently alive and being escorted to Boramae Hospital.”

The firefighter recited the names of those trapped in the department store in order of their initials.

At his words, people laughed and cried.

Father’s surname ‘Han’ was placed last among them.

I waited for Father’s turn while listening to everyone else’s names.

That time felt like torture.

Every time a name was called, my whole body shook uncontrollably.

I thought it was because of my recovered body.

But soon, I realized it was not because of the newly formed flesh.

Why am I feeling anxious…?

I didn’t do anything wrong.

Father must have passed away then.

He must have been crushed under such a huge piece of debris and couldn’t have survived.

And it’s better if he’s alive.

Father is alive, and I’ve regained my body, isn’t that the best scenario?

I’m not wrong…

Anyone… anyone would have done the same.

“Ms. Ha00, deceased. A joint funeral bus is arranged behind the camp.”

Father’s surname draws closer.

My heart pounds wildly.

My whole body tingles.

I start scratching the new flesh that has emerged.

My body itches so much I can’t bear it.

People sitting beside me start looking at me with fearful faces.

They begin to push their chairs away from me, trying to keep their distance.

“Han Soo-ho, you have survived and been transferred to Korea University Hospital. Are you the guardian?”

Father.

He was alive.

I shot up as if seized by a fit.

At that moment, everyone at the camp turned to look at me in unison.

They clearly wore smiles of relief, seemingly congratulating me.

But to me, their gazes felt terrifying, as if I had been exposed and accused.

“Han Soo-rin, is that correct?”

“Yes…”

As my name was called, people began to murmur.

Those who recognized me from my modeling days still marveled at my beauty even in such circumstances.

In a situation where lives were at stake.

Every time those words reached my ears, my lower lip trembled uncontrollably.

“There is a shuttle bus heading to the hospital. It will depart in 10 minutes. Please board.”

Throughout the bus ride, I felt unfamiliar.

The fact that my father was alive was undoubtedly a joyous occasion.

Yet, along with it came a wave of guilt for not doing everything in my power to save him.

It felt nauseating, like water and oil mixing together.

I arrived at the hospital embracing that torment.

I must apologize to my father.

I must apologize without fail.

Even as I rode the elevator upon reaching the hospital, that was all I could think about.

But I… couldn’t bring myself to say it in the end.

Guided by the attending physician, we arrived at the intensive care unit.

My once handsome father’s face was completely wrapped in bandages.

Between the bandages, dried blood stained the area.

“Dad…”

“He can’t hear you due to being unconscious.”

“Is he going to be okay? Once the bandages are removed, will he be back to normal?”

The doctor shook his head.

“It might be difficult for him to make it through today.”

“What do you mean…?”

“We contacted the guardian to arrange a final meeting time.”

With a sigh, the doctor stepped aside for two women.

As he left the intensive care unit, he left me with a single sentence.

And that sentence, which I struggled to comprehend and hold onto, ultimately shattered me.

“If he had been rescued just a little earlier, things might have been different… I’m sorry.”

“Just a little… earlier?”

If back then, I had chosen strength over beauty.

If with that strength, I had cleared away the debris immediately.

Would my father still be alive?

I sank to the floor of the ICU.

Inside the room filled only with the sound of biorythms, I blankly stared at my father.

“Dad…”

I grasped his cold arm.

And I knelt down.

“I’m sorry…”

“At that time… what happened to me?”

“I was so scared. I didn’t have the courage to live with that horrifying appearance.”

Even with my confession, there was no response from his bandaged arm.

It remained as cold and unyielding as a statue.

The price of shedding my skin.

It was my father.