Ch.16Lucid Dream

I couldn’t see any floor number. As the elevator doors opened, the smell of chemicals wafted in.

A hospital? Or a company office?

I tried to move my body, but the floor wouldn’t let me go.

A man in a white coat stood in front of the elevator. Disheveled hair and a servile impression. His awkward posture only strengthened that impression.

“Excuse me?”

“…I still have authorization. I can approach now. Then I can fix this…”

Without even glancing my way, the man walked past the elevator and stopped in front of a door.

The man held his card key hanging from his neck to the door’s lock.

Beep-

[Unauthorized user.]

“What!”

Beep-

[Unauthorized user.]

“Impossible!!! Already-“

Beep-

[Unauthorized user.]

[Continued access attempts may result in immediate termination.]

Despite this, as the man tried to use his card key again.

Click. Click.

Another sound of footsteps approached. This time, a tall, thin woman. She also passed by me and approached the man.

“Chen. The injunction regarding the revocation of your Class A researcher status has concluded. All your authorizations were frozen ten minutes ago.”

“What? That’s impossible!!!”

“Your argument has been dismissed. The Council has not permitted any further experimentation, and you will soon be referred to the disciplinary committee. As for the ‘results’ of your last experiment…”

“No. That’s not true.”

“It’s time to accept it. You touched something that should have been left alone.”

“No! I can solve this! This is a problem I created. I know best how to fix it! The only way is…!”

“If I may offer my personal opinion, Dr. Chen. Nothing is more foolish than trying to wash blood with a bloody knife. The Foundation will find another way. And that’s no longer your concern.”

“Another way…? This is literally something that could completely erase this world. How do you propose to stop it?”

Swoosh-

The elevator doors closed again, and this time the lift started going up.

When the doors opened, I saw that same man. He had changed from a lab coat to comfortable casual clothes and looked more gaunt overall.

“I will fix my own mistake.”

The location was an apartment hallway. In the long corridor, besides the man, numerous people were present. A middle-aged woman with a cast. A girl with sunken eyes. There were strangely many women in the crowd.

Drag-

The man began moving something heavy. Through the crowd, down the corridor, to the elevator at the opposite end.

Another elevator door opened, and the man stepped inside.

Swoosh-

A moment later. The doors of both elevators began to close simultaneously.

Cheers echoed throughout the corridor.

“Huh?”

Wait.

I thought I saw a familiar face in the crowd…

The elevator continued upward, now back to the first floor.

My bound body began to move again and…

Ding!

I opened my eyes, feeling a light impact on my head.

“Mmm…”

The room around me was dark. I was lying in bed.

“What the…”

Rustle. As I lifted my arm, my pink pajamas rode up.

Was I asleep? So all of this was a dream?

I brought my hand to my chest.

…I’m a woman. Me.

Holding my slightly throbbing head, I tried to recall my memories.

I had locked the door to escape the rampaging Park Sungjin. Then I showered with Yoon Daju who was being dramatic about dying, and dried my hair. I must have fallen asleep without realizing it. I was definitely exhausted. One incident after another without any rest.

I hope I didn’t fall asleep while drying my hair.

I got out of bed and moved outside.

“What are you doing?”

The living room was bright. Choi Serim and Yoon Daju were sitting on the sofa, looking at a laptop.

“Oppa, you’re awake?”

“How long did I sleep?”

“About ten hours.”

“That’s a lot.”

It’s already morning outside. Maybe because of the dream, I don’t feel particularly refreshed.

“Dabin.”

“Yes.”

Choi Serim called me in a quiet voice. Her eyes remained fixed on the laptop screen. Did I do something wrong?

“What is this on the laptop?”

“Ah, right. That’s what I found on the internet before.”

“A program? A virus?”

“Um… I don’t think it’s either. It seems like a person since it can converse. Like… a person trapped in the internet? But in file format. That kind of feeling, I guess.”

It’s hard to explain something that makes no sense no matter how you look at it.

“Interesting.”

Choi Serim responded briefly.

“See, unni. I told you not to delete it.”

“What? Did you delete it?”

“No. It was noisy so I put it in the recycle bin.”

“Ah…”

I think I understand the situation now.

Click. Click. As Choi Serim moved the mouse to retrieve the file, a notepad immediately popped up on the screen.

– Is this a joke??????????????????????????????????

– I almost died!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

“I need to use the laptop. Is it going to keep doing this?”

“I’ll try to fix it.”

I took out my smartphone that I’d been keeping just in case.

As soon as I turned it on, strange characters kept appearing on the screen. I couldn’t use my phone for a while because of this.

Vrrrrrr-

Now it’s vibrating on its own. I turned off the vibration and placed the phone face down on the floor. Then I unplugged the charging cable and connected it to the laptop.

– What’s this? A smartphone?

“Yes. It’s broken, can you fix it?”

– Wait.

– I can fix it but

I immediately closed the notepad and moved the file.

Since smartphones don’t have a basic notepad app, I wondered how we would communicate, but when I checked, a KakaoTalk chat room had been created.

– Ah

– Not enough storage

– It’s so hard to fix I can’t even talk

– Hey

– Answer me

– Me: Good job

– Me: Notifications muted

– ??????????

I blocked the chat notifications.

A chatbot that only talks when needed has been created.

“It should be fine now.”

“Thanks.”

“Oh right. Oppa, you need to go see people today.”

“Huh? Who?”

“The people living here. They went out to explore the apartment and arrived safely yesterday evening.”

“That’s good.”

“But they said they wanted to hear something from you. They told me to bring you when you woke up.”

“Ah…”

Other people… My feelings are complicated about what I should say.

I brought the server to the 7th floor. Because of that, we lost Choi Jun-gi and Park Sungjin. If all this is my fault. What should I say?

“It’ll be fine. They’re all good people, even if a bit sensitive.”

“Yeah…”

“Wait! Oppa, where are you going?”

“Are you going out in pajamas? I’m going to change clothes.”

“I put clothes in the closet, find something that fits!”

“No.”

I went back to the room and changed clothes.

Just a hoodie zip-up. Sweatpants below. The same clothes I wore yesterday.

“What’s with those shabby clothes?”

“These are the most comfortable.”

It’s not that I didn’t open the closet. I was planning to wear something modest if there was any. But it’s packed full of feminine clothes, you evil Yoon Daju.

“Come back in. I’ll pick clothes for you.”

“No.”

I resisted with all my might as Daju tried to pull my hand.

My right hand is injured and I can’t even use it. Isn’t this too much?

“I really don’t want to!!”

“Are you really going to go like that? In front of people you’re meeting for the first time?”

“Wearing women’s clothes is more embarrassing!!!”

Choi Serim sat at the table, laughing.

“Noona! Help me!!”

She just kept laughing, leaving the laptop aside.

So, to cut to the conclusion. I lost again.

“……”

“Cheer up a bit.”

Being dragged around by someone like this. It’s really maddening. Now she’s trying to force me into women’s clothes???

But what Yoon Daju opened wasn’t the closet, but the cabinet at the back.

“Actually, I hid some more masculine clothes here. I’ll get them for you.”

“What?”

My head feels dizzy.

“Hey. Are you crazy?”

“Fun, isn’t it?”

“Are you playing with me???”

Squeeze.

“Aaack, really!!!”

A bright colored t-shirt with a cardigan on top. I originally chose a hoodie, but Daju blocked it with all her might.

Plain cotton pants below. Daju had picked out a pleated skirt, but this time I resisted until the end.

“That’s better. You look much nicer now.”

“……”

“Let’s go.”

Together with Yoon Daju and Choi Serim, I moved to room 702 where people were said to be gathered.

Knock knock knock.

The door opened without any greeting.

An expressionless man peered through the gap, then slightly pushed up his glasses.

“Come in.”