Acceleration

Having arrived at the destination, Sohee led me to the room with the testing machine.

It seemed she usually kept records there, as the smell of paper filled the air from all directions.

“No way… what is all this…?”

I stared blankly, mouth agape, at the piles of documents spread out before me.

Since she said she’d show me the data, I’d only imagined a few stacks of paper.

But there seemed to be no end to the amount of documents Sohee was bringing out.

“That’s Hayeon-i’s record over there, and the one next to it is Ellie’s.”

Looking where Sohee pointed, I found a small envelope crammed full of papers.

I opened it and began to examine the contents inside.

“Hmm…”

I’d expected it to some extent, but as I thought.

The writing inside was a jumble of words I couldn’t understand.

“This is Harang Oppa’s.”

Kung-

Sohee, who had pulled a large box on a cart, said that as she placed the box on the table.

I wore a dumbfounded expression at the sight.

“Harang? Why do you have my Oppa’s…?”

Sohee tilted her head at my question.

She looked as if she was asking if I didn’t know.

“Didn’t Oppa tell you?”

What was there to tell me?

It was common for me not to talk to him except when eating.

Sohee blinked at my reaction and opened her mouth.

“Can I have that for a sec?”

“Ah. Okay.”

As Sohee requested, I handed over the stack of documents I was holding.

Sohee pulled out a single sheet of paper fluttering from inside the stack.

The thin document had an unidentifiable graph drawn on it. Sohee placed it on the table so I could see it, then began rummaging through the other stacks of documents.

“This is Hayeon-i’s, this is Ellie’s… and this is Harang Oppa’s.”

Three documents placed side by side like that.

Each of them displayed an unidentifiable graph.

The one that was said to be mine recorded a very consistent value, but Ellie’s repeatedly soared upwards and then plummeted downwards.

Harang’s was generally similar to mine. The one difference was that it showed a momentary surge to a very high value.

“Mine is consistent, Ellie’s is very unstable. And Harang’s spikes up momentarily.”

“That’s right. It’s a graph of the brainwaves recorded when testing the three of your reaction speeds. To be more precise, it’s what you all look like when you’re feeling what we call White Pain.”

I nodded diligently at Sohee’s words. I didn’t want to interrupt her, because it seemed like she was about to tell me something important that I didn’t know.

“Want to compare this with that?”

Sohee handed me another document with a different graph recorded on it.

I began to compare the two documents she gave me.

The first document was Ellie’s.

Watching the graph jump around wildly up and down made me feel dizzy.

The second one I checked was also Ellie’s.

However, this document’s graph showed a fairly stable pattern.

Though it wavered slightly, it stretched out in the middle.

“Both are Ellie’s?”

“Yeah. The second one is the most recent record.”

“Hmm…”

“The difference between the two. Do you get it?”

“The brainwave readings have become stable? Does this have something to do with me?”

Sohee nodded at my question and opened her mouth.

“Hayeon-i knows this too, but that White Pain isn’t a sensation that normal people can feel.”

I nodded calmly.

Then Sohee’s explanation continued.

“A sensation that only a very small number of people around the world can feel. A blessing that allows you to use the same time more. Of course, in Ellie’s case, it must have felt like a disease or a curse.”

Sohee said that and pushed a stack of documents towards me.

All of those documents had suspicious graphs recorded on them.

They were all brainwave recordings of different people.

“This is…?”

“Records of people experiencing similar phenomena.”

I nodded at Sohee’s words and scanned through the stack of documents.

The values were all different, but they all had similar commonalities.

In the initial section, they all recorded low values, then suddenly spiked to high values in a very short moment.

And that was it. The graph, which had plummeted again, continued sideways without any upward or downward fluctuations.

“It’s very different from you, right? That’s why many people pass by without knowing their talent. Because they don’t feel anything normally.”

“This… how many seconds can these people maintain it for?”

“On average, about 3-4 seconds? 10 seconds is the limit at most. There may be people who can maintain it for longer than that, of course, but that’s what the data I could get shows.”

Sohee got up from her seat and started turning on the testing machine.

The whirring sound of the testing machine coming from all directions sounded familiar.

“On the other hand, Hayeon-i is very stable. You can enter that time very long and whenever you want. Right?”

“Ah, yeah.”

“That’s why I needed Hayeon-i’s record. In order to fix Ellie’s symptoms, I needed a very stable guide.”

“G, guide…?”

“It’ll be easier to talk inside. Can you go in for now?”

“Ah. Okay…”

As Sohee requested, I got up from my seat and headed towards the large capsule.

I didn’t forget to take off the coat I was wearing and fold it neatly to the side.

As I went inside the capsule and connected to the test game, I arrived in a space that was all white.

***

Sohee stared at the small girl standing blankly beyond the large monitor.

Her most precious friend, Hayeon.

The talent she possessed was more overwhelming than anyone else’s, she could say.

And such a girl was pushed back by a small girl named Ellie?

That was impossible.

Sohee stroked the coat of her friend, whom she was holding tightly in her arms, and opened her mouth.

The faint scent wafting from it was fragrant.

“Shall we start the test for now?”

[Yeah!]

Sohee listened to Hayeon’s answer and began the test.

It was the same test as usual.

Sohee checked the graph being recorded next to the screen and nodded.

When the target flying towards Hayeon deviated from a certain speed, Hayeon’s brainwaves began to rise rapidly.

Very stable, continuing without shaking.

The test reached the final stage like that.

Drawing the same very stable values as usual.

[Is it all over? Shall we go outside now?]

Sohee didn’t answer her friend’s question.

Her gaze was fixed on the values that Hayeon’s brainwaves were drawing.

There were no problems with the values. Very stable.

In Sohee’s opinion, Hayeon’s reaction speed could be faster.

[Sohee-ya?]

“Ah, sorry. Can you do it one more time?”

[Ah, yeah, it’s no problem, but…]

“Then I’ll start.”

Starting the test anew, Sohee brought out Ellie’s past records and began to compare them with Hayeon’s.

Ellie’s brainwaves, shaking unstably, began to show a pattern similar to Hayeon’s as time passed.

But, it still wasn’t consistent. As time passed, Ellie’s brainwaves rose sharply and climbed to a higher region.

Sohee, who had been watching the scene quietly, suddenly opened her mouth.

Towards her friend who was undergoing the test.

“Hayeon-ah. Would it be okay to increase the speed a little more?”

[What…? You’re going to increase the speed even more from here?]

The answer didn’t matter. Sohee set the test’s progress speed 10% faster than before.

At that moment, the graph that Hayeon’s brainwaves were drawing momentarily drew an upward curve before falling down.

[Hayyaa!]

Sohee thought as she listened to the cute shout coming from beyond the screen.

The brain is a truly amazing thing. Even if you can do it, if you think you can’t, you arbitrarily set limits.

As if that’s the limit for you.

It wasn’t much different from the flea experiment in a box.

Only then could Sohee understand why Hayeon had been so greatly pushed back.

Hayeon and Ellie are different. Unlike Ellie, whose output fluctuated wildly, Hayeon always recorded consistent values.

Hayeon had arbitrarily set a constant level without highs and lows, a very stable value, a line that wouldn’t strain the brain.

On the other hand, Ellie wasn’t like that. The brain, which was always spinning wildly, had no safety device.

Every day, it quickly soared to the limit before plummeting downwards.

That’s why she knew. How much her maximum output was.

There’s a difference between those who have gone to the end and those who haven’t.

Sohee stroked her lips and began to increase the speed even more.

***

The test doesn’t end.

Normally, Sohee would have called me and taken me outside.

She would have come out like that and wiped the sweat from my cheeks with a towel.

But, Sohee demanded that I do more testing.

I thought it was no problem. I thought it would be easy to play one or two more light games.

“Hiyat!”

A target that quickly brushed past barely grazed the tip of my sword.

It was definitely the same grade of test as before.

But, for some strange reason, the attacks were starting to miss.

“Sohee-ya!”

[Yeah.]

“Did you, did you increase the speed?”

[I raised it a little. How is it?]

“I, I’m tired!”

I looked up at the sky and made a tearful face.

I didn’t know where Sohee was looking at me from, but I looked in the direction where I felt her presence anyway.

My head was throbbing. I wanted to stop now.

[You look like you have plenty of room to spare?]

“Room to spare, my ass!”

I wore a desperate expression and swung my sword.

As my thoughts accelerated due to the White Pain consuming my head, the speed of the surrounding targets began to slow down.

But, unlike usual, the attacks were off.

The targets were moving faster than expected.

When I went outside, my whole body would definitely be soaked in sweat.

Just like Ellie after finishing the test, I would definitely be slumped on the floor, steaming from my whole body.

[Really can’t do it? Is it hard? Is it the limit?]

Listening to Sohee’s words, I could recall the figure of my physical education teacher from the past.

In my past life, when I was still Harang, I was in the track and field club.

When I started running on the track, the physical education teacher would stick right next to me and run with me.

And he would nag me in a very nervous tone.

‘Is that the limit? Can’t you run faster? You can do more!’

“Ugh!”

It was not a good past. Recalling the past memories full of the smell of sweat made me feel nauseous.

[Is this the limit now? Should we end it?]

Sohee’s words scattered blankly.

I shook my head and stretched out my sword.

I felt like I was going to throw up.

“Ugh…”