18. The Road Not Taken (5)

With a sensation like my belly button was being yanked, my vision was dyed with darkness.

It felt like I’d been sucked into a pitch-black cave.

“It’s inside my shadow.”

Before I could even ask, Juha’s voice came from behind me.

No, was it beside me? Maybe even in front…

I flailed my arms and legs frantically, but I couldn’t get a proper grip on my body.

A strange sensation like my whole body was floating, and even control over my body was slowly fading away.

Into the deep abyss, little by little, slowly…

“…Jihu-ya. Stay conscious…”

Before I knew it, Juha’s voice was echoing like a ringing in my ears, so I couldn’t even understand what she was saying.

I was just sinking endlessly deeper.

Whether my eyes were open or closed, I couldn’t tell, and I wasn’t even sure if I was breathing.

In the endlessly flickering consciousness, I barely managed to pull out one word.

Seo Juha.

Seo Juha led me here.

…But why? Wasn’t she avoiding me since that day?

I clutched my throbbing head and continued to think.

I hadn’t received a single call from her during the practical exam, and even during the month-long temporary vacation, we never ran into each other.

After school started, I would wave and say hello whenever I accidentally saw her face, but she would deliberately ignore me and pass by.

So I just assumed she still had awkward feelings towards me.

Why would she suddenly come to me and do something like this?

Even her urgent-sounding voice was gradually fading away from my ears.

Suddenly, I had a feeling that something was wrong.

‘My body… won’t move.’

If she was just planning on talking, there was no need to go this far.

No matter how angry she still was, Seo Juha wasn’t the kind of person to do something this dangerous.

Already, the wave of numbness was climbing up my neck and slowly consuming my head.

It felt like a nasty grip was binding a part of my body, making that area feel like it wasn’t even part of me anymore.

The wave of emptiness crawling over my head devoured my nose, tore at my ears, and dug into my eyes.

The gray and white fleshy mass trapped inside my skull was also slowly solidifying, unable to overcome the encroaching darkness.

And so, I became a doll.

A brain doll, stripped of all senses and only able to continue thinking.

Thanks to holding on tightly to my fading consciousness, it gradually became clearer again.

That bizarre sensation of being the only one existing in the empty 13.8 billion light-year universe.

Then, someone’s voice faintly echoed in my head.

• Welcome to the Sea of Consciousness, Jihu-ya.

Seo Juha’s voice… No, someone was ‘borrowing’ Seo Juha’s voice to speak.

As soon as I instinctively realized that, she continued in a tone that seemed excited.

• You guessed it right away. That’s right, I just briefly snatched it when I saw the shadow being pushed onto you. Seo Juha probably didn’t even notice…?

I naturally received the words even though I didn’t say them out loud.

In the first place, I doubted whether the organ called a mouth even existed right now.

Maybe what I’m thinking is being transmitted to the other person at the same time.

• Because this is literally the ‘Sea of Consciousness.’ Nothing other than consciousness can enter. Well… if you do it right, you can even feel other senses.

As soon as she finished speaking, an extreme pain, as if my eyes were being gouged out, assaulted my body.

Pain… I can feel it. Some of the five senses that had been taken away were returning.

The process of regaining sensation from numbness was, frankly speaking, utterly horrific.

Only after a few hellish seconds had passed was I able to carefully open my eyes and look around.

• Beautiful, isn’t it…? Imagine that each of those shining stars is a human consciousness.

The universe I saw with my own eyes was closer to light than emptiness.

A very bright and brilliantly shining light at that.

And the Milky Way spread out before my eyes, formed by the gathering of such lights, was so beautiful that it completely captivated my wary heart.

Frankly speaking, for a brief moment, I even wanted to stay in this space forever.

But I quickly pulled myself together.

Who is the one who is speaking to me so familiarly through Seo Juha’s mouth, and what is the reason for showing me this scenery?

I constantly thought, trying not to focus on the captivating sight.

‘Why did you bring me here?’

• Well… I just wanted to see you after a long time…? You probably can’t feel it because your sense of touch is gone, but I’m still right behind you.

The fact that she’s saying such things in Juha’s voice makes me feel strangely mocked and angry.

Sensing the intense anger in my emotions, she chuckled slightly, as if embarrassed.

• Don’t get so angry. I wanted to see you too, in my own way. Hmm… now that I think about it, there are a few things I should tell you.

Just say it quickly and get lost.

I don’t know who you are, but if you want to see me, you should talk to me face to face.

Judging by the fact that you can stop time almost completely and have a conversation like this without any restrictions, I guess you’re an existence outside the norm…

The existence of the person presumed to be the writer, whom I could only contact once last time, came to mind.

• You have a lot of complaints. Okay. I’ll just tell you two things. Let’s just do that much for today, and we can talk about the rest slowly in the future… So, first. You’re planning an operation to infiltrate the National Intelligence Service this time, right? Take Seo Juha with you.

Suddenly, Seo Juha?

Wasn’t Alice enough anyway?

I couldn’t guess her intentions at all.

• Don’t forget that I’m always watching you. You haven’t been on such good terms with Seo Juha lately, have you? Reconcile naturally, have some of the sex you’ve been putting off… and there will definitely be a moment when you need her.

How the hell do you know that…?

She only says what she wants to say and doesn’t answer my questions at all.

• Well… just imagine it yourself. And second, sometimes you need the courage to never look back on the road not taken. Ah, think about the meaning of these words yourself… It wouldn’t be fun if the meaning was clear, would it?

It wouldn’t be fun if it was clear.

Hearing those words, a thought suddenly flashed through my mind.

There was definitely someone who said something similar to me.

It’s been almost two months, but I still remember it clearly.

Jet-black bobbed hair, black eyes with a bewitching red glow.

An unknown woman whose thoughts and hidden abilities were completely unknown.

I was finally able to instinctively sense it.

You, Pira Hyun, right?

Even to the question I asked with strong conviction, she just chuckled.

The clear vision becomes blurry again.

The stars that filled the universe also flickered slowly, and then went out like fluorescent lights.

Only after my eyes were completely covered in darkness did she whisper to me.

• Hehe, see you later.

And my consciousness was cut off.

* * *

“…Jihu-ya, Jihu-ya!”

When I opened my eyes, it was a space that looked no different from before.

The same pitch-black darkness, faintly shining starlight, but the only difference was that my five senses were intact.

As soon as I came to my senses, I felt someone hugging me.

“Jihu-ya… are you okay? You suddenly lost consciousness… Were you too shocked that I brought you here by force…? Do, do you hate it here…? Should we just go to my house? I haven’t met people often lately, so I think I might have been too reckless… I’m sorry…!”

Soft and full sensation…

Warmth that is vividly felt on the skin as if I’m not wearing anything…

Juha was holding me in her arms.

“Where is this…?”

“He, here? Ahaha… I was just going to bring you inside and talk a little… but somehow I ended up coming all the way here. This is… inside my shadow.”

Before I could even answer, she continued to speak.

As if she was going to pour out all the words she wanted to say for the past few weeks, she kept talking while looking me in the eyes.

I naturally closed my mouth and listened to her gaze.

“I’ve been thinking a lot since that day too. What you were thinking when you said those words… Everyone has their own circumstances, but I kept having stupid thoughts. Is there a way to coax you, won’t you come back to me if I don’t talk to you for a long time… But well, that didn’t happen.”

“That’s because I thought you didn’t want to talk to me…”

“Hehe, you don’t have to say it. I think I know a little now.”

What does she know?

Like before, she keeps saying things I don’t understand.

No… it wasn’t Juha before. Let’s not be mistaken.

“You said your ability can affect the human mind, right?”

“Uh… yeah.”

She remembers.

I hoped she would forget it if possible.

Unconsciously, I ended up having thoughts that I shouldn’t have.

I put my hand down as it was, which had been fumbling in my pants pocket.

There’s no way there would be a cell phone since this isn’t reality.

“At that time, you said it wouldn’t work because I wasn’t human… but if you find a way.”

Wait a minute.

Let’s organize my thoughts a bit-

“If you find a way, then erase my painful memories.”

What should I say?

Did she find out everything about hypnosis?

What kind of painful memories is she talking about…?

“Please, Jihu-ya.”

Without even having time to think about the answers to the questions that filled my head with confusion, my vision flickered once again.

Feeling a familiar sensation, I lost consciousness once again.

And after a long time, when I came to my senses, familiar yet unfamiliar furniture came into my blurry vision.

After thinking for a moment, I was able to recall where this was.

Seo Juha’s house.

First, I had to find out where she was.

Barely lifting my staggering legs, I stepped inside the tightly closed door.