episode_0045

Episode.45 Dream within a dream, inner world

I feel like my body is floating.

When riding a roller coaster at an amusement park, there is a feeling of floating that stimulates the abdomen.

But now I feel like my entire body, not just my abdomen, is floating.

It floats like a balloon filled with helium gas.

Little by little, my eyes opened and light filled them.

The glimpse of the scenery was a green meadow.

A flat land full of green light. And strangely enough, there was only one tree on that plain, one that could be called the World Tree.

The tree was that huge.

I couldn’t tell if it was really a world tree or not.

The world tree reminds me of an elf in a fantasy novel.

The tree was about 100 meters away from where I fell.

‘… Are you down? I? I definitely…’

I barely got up on my knees and the ground.

‘Ugh, where am I… Chaewon?’

I suddenly called Chaewon first.

I think that she, who can talk comfortably, has become indispensable in situations like this.

I stood upright and looked around.

As expected, it is a flat land with nothing around.

There is only one large tree on the grassland.

“Oh…”

If you look closely, there is someone under a tree that looks like the World Tree.

And it’s not just one person.

When you look at it from a distance, you can’t really tell.

First, I walked to meet the guys in the shade under the tree.

But where is this place?

Why am I… in a place like this?

What were you doing before you passed out?

Why did I lose my mind in the first place?

‘I don’t remember.’

If you try to force yourself to recall a memory, important parts will come out as if there is fog in your head.

If you keep going like this, you’ll end up staying up all night thinking about even the smallest details.

Still, thanks to some random thoughts, I was able to reach the shade under the huge tree sooner than expected.

‘As expected, it wasn’t just one person.’

There were two people enjoying the cool breeze in the shade.

‘huh? ‘Cool breeze?’

At least I think it was winter before I fell.

As I slowly looked back at the memory based on what I found to be contradictory, I vaguely remembered it.

The process by which I arrived here.

Harin is an S-level healer who looks after everyone like a benevolent saint, even though she is just blind. The only position at that high level is a healer.

Of course, the way I looked after others was wrong.

Anyway, it seemed like I met her after a long time, met the president of the association, and came to my house together for some reason.

When I coughed up blood at home, she immediately realized that I had vomited blood and used her healing skills on me.

However, despite the effects of her overwhelming healing skills, the symptoms of the disease did not improve and only slightly weakened, and it was not completely cured.

I think I heard that they didn’t like it and that they would anesthetize me and give me precise treatment.

The last scene I clearly remember is the scene of me being anesthetized inside the house.

So, is this the world of my dreams?

Is this a world where it becomes a forgotten memory when you wake up?

“It’s finally here. Aren’t we making people wait too long for a little topic?”

“This is the guy you were waiting for… No, I didn’t even explain, so how did you know?”

“That’s right, you know it when you see it. In this wide inner world, other than trees, there are only three species that can be called living things. And, more than anything, that guy is familiar. As if looking in a mirror.”

What are you talking about?

One was wearing a white mask with no special decorations and was sitting on the grassland floor with a tree as his back, and the other… looked like a familiar person.

That familiar person was definitely not a person when I met him.

The person was wearing strange black armor.

I felt like I could feel the cold just by approaching it.

I prepared to pull the sword from my inventory.

But the system didn’t work.

I stood there, maintaining only rudimentary vigilance.

Those two didn’t seem to have any hostility towards me, but I still thought it would be a good idea to check just to be sure.

“You guys… what is it? Where am I?”

“Kkkk, you really don’t know anything?”

The person wearing the white mask stood up, patted his butt.

The person wearing the white mask said as he took off the mask.

“How should I explain it… First of all, this is your inner world. And I am a dragon who came in there with that nigger.”

“Nigger, I know that people like you have no right to call me that nickname.”

The person called ‘Nigger’ clearly remembered me as the dungeon boss in the Black Gate, which was full of skeletons.

There, it was just a boss with nothing left, but here, it had flesh on its face.

The black armored guy called ‘Nigger’ had his helmet pulled down to hide his face.

“Inner world? What do you mean ‘dragon tribe’?”

“I’ll explain. First of all, I don’t know if you remember me.”

I nodded to show that I remembered.

“Do you remember? I’m glad the explanation seems to be faster.”

“Is this idiot my junior~”

A person who introduces himself as a ‘dragon’ who puts masks into subspace.

That’s definitely inventory.

Do those dragons also have a ‘system’?

‘But my system doesn’t work here…’

“I am a body that no longer exists.”

“A body that doesn’t exist? What does it mean?”

“The place we lived in was destroyed a long time ago. Didn’t you just take my breath away right now?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“Didn’t I tell you this before? My reality has long since ended. In the first place, I was just an illusion created from your memories.”

“Okay, let’s say you are like that. Then what are these self-proclaimed dragons?”

“Me? I’m real. Still alive.”

So how did we get here?

You mentioned the inner world earlier… but is it possible to just go in and out of someone else’s inner world?

“You can clearly see that you are embarrassed. You are still a rookie, so what did you believe in when you came into such a place~”

The dragon seemed to be mocking me.

“Don’t panic. You’re not that kind of vessel, are you? Because this is like a dream within a dream.”

Is it obvious that I’m embarrassed?

“No, wait a minute. ‘Nigger’ There are a lot of things I want to ask the dragon people other than you.”

Oh, by the way, that ‘nigger’ does not refer to skin color.

He has rather light skin color.

The reason he is called a nigger seems to be a nickname given to him because he is particularly obsessed with black armor.

‘Or not.’

“Don’t call me a nigger.”

“Kkkk, after all, humans are fun?”

**********

So, I asked the self-proclaimed ‘dragon tribe’ many questions.

I was skeptical about his answer, but all I could do was believe him.

The first question I asked was whether living creatures can appear in other people’s dreams.

How did you enter the inner world? I asked.

The answer to that is simple.

“What? Hehehe, this is why I like humans. It’s fun, right? There is no need for entertainment just by having it nearby. Listen, the way to do it is just to think that you want to go in. I didn’t really use any magic or anything. Of course, I’m a dragon, so I’m good at magic, but I can enter other people’s minds like breathing. Ah, I remember where I used to live, there was an old wizard who devoted his life to researching to get into other people’s minds. Besides, the old man’s secret taste is -“. There was a lot of unnecessary talk, but there was useful information.

Useful information…?

I could tell that it was just an ugly creature that boasted of its natural talent.

The next question I asked was about the dragon race.

“They are dragons, so how can they take on human form? You’re asking a stupid question. I never thought it would be at that level. Honestly, I got a little bored. Polymorph, polymorph.”

The next question I asked him was what was his relationship with the ‘nigger’ guy.

“Ah~ You could say that we are enemies. Right nigga? I taught you swordsmanship since you were young.”

“… Right.”

“Why did you work so hard back then? Let’s hear the reason.”

“There was no particular reason. Just, if it wasn’t going to be the peak, I wouldn’t have even started.”

“Did you approach the training with that kind of determination~”

There were only words I couldn’t understand.

That last sentence was like something I saw in Apocalypse Now.

Anyway, if you want to understand that…

The last question I would like to ask is to ask back what the dragon clan said earlier.

contents is…

– ‘I can clearly see that you are embarrassed. You are still a rookie. What did you believe in when you came into such a place?’

am.

I asked where ‘that kind of place’ was.

“Why, you know? That… a place where greenish poison flows slowly like lava and has one leg. You got the ‘system’ there, right? The system was created to express each person’s favorite game as the most popular game of the time. Hmm… Then, are you familiar with the term ‘EX level dungeon’?”

A shiver ran through my entire body.

I felt like I could find out everything I was curious about here.

**********

“Ha, is it time to go back now…”

“What? I can’t believe I’m already back, I still have a lot to ask!… Yes, I wish you could at least explain the EX-level dungeon and the system-”

“Kid. You figure it out on your own. That would be more fun. Oh, there isn’t much time left until you wake up, so I’ll have to try some fun magic. This is a new magic I discovered. What do you think? Would you like to try it out?”

Maybe a system and an EX-level dungeon… an EX-level gate? I thought it might be an opportunity to learn about such things, so I nodded my head in response to the dragon clan’s suggestion.

But as soon as I answered, my body turned pink.

Pink smoke billowed out.

“How did this happen? Please explain right away.”

“I can’t explain at length because I don’t have time. This is looking at your love history. Nigger, take a look too.”

“Hmm, I see.”

The black armored guy who heard that said with interest.

“You’re stupid, you guy. If you live like that, you won’t be able to close your eyes even when you die.”

“That’s an experience, right?”

The dragon tribe asked if this was an experience.

“Okay. If you end up in trouble no matter which side you choose, it is better not to choose either side at all.”

“Choo, listen to it as advice.”

I don’t know what you’re talking about.

I felt like if I asked again, I would hear something really harsh.

“Hey kid, what do you want to do?”

I couldn’t answer that.

Because the inner world began to close.

In other words, I wake up from my dream.

This means that the anesthesia wears off and you return to the real world.

I could no longer open my mouth in this dream within a dream.

It’s just that here too, my eyes close as if I’ve been injected.

The next time I open my eyes, I will definitely…

It must be the real world.

“Kid, next time we meet again… we probably won’t be able to talk this leisurely then.”

– Tuk.

My vision was completely dark.

**********

Just blink your eyes.

“This is…”

“Are you conscious?”

I heard Harin’s voice.

This time, unlike before, I was lying on the mattress by myself with a blanket instead of a lap pillow.

But the problem is that I am not wearing any clothes.

He wasn’t even wearing underwear.

“Harin, what have you done to me?”

【I’m crazy… I’m done now.】

‘Chaewon?’

【Hee! I, I, I didn’t see anything, really!】

‘What are you talking about? You were watching, right? Quickly explain what happened.’

I moved a little towards Chaewon.

【Go, don’t come any closer! You beast! Ah… how did this happen! It was an indecent act that could not have happened to an innocent girl like me…】

‘What, what do you say?’

【I can’t even get married anymore.】

Chaewon says things that don’t make any sense.

“You, Kolok. Are you feeling okay?”

“Huh? I’m not sure yet… But, what happened to me?”

“Hehe… It’s not ‘received’, it’s ‘shared’. To say that I was hit is a bit too much.”

“What should we share… Where did all my clothes go?”

Harin said as she lifted the collar of her coat that had fallen down.

“Is that important? It is important that the treatment is successful.”

【To see something like that in real life… Is my chastity over?】

“You are saying that you will not look after me the next time we meet in bed. Have you ever done that?”

I do not know.

I don’t remember.

I don’t even know when I said something like that.

“Ha… Now I have no choice but to take responsibility for me.”

Judge.

I didn’t do anything?

When I woke up, I realized that it had already been committed.

I started to miss being under anesthesia again.